Cleveland County herald., 1920-12-30

anu crossed tDe d0or. Snatching up some cold biscuits and strips of fried bacon, he hurriedly made six sand Wiches and stuffed them into his pocR- cts. Resting at the spring long enough to eat two of his sandwiches, be drained gourd of water, crossed the branch below the falls and hurried away up the bluffs into the deep woods.
 A mile and more north of the wa terfall, Wolf Run bends west to dou- ble and twist and loop through tan gle of hills and gulches known as Fox Den, the widest and most inaceessi~ ble district of the Flatwoods. The Pearlhunter had heard of the place He resolved to take his chances there The spot was no great distance above the three-gabled cabin.
 Away up the bare front of cliff hfs eye lighted on the mouth of what ap- peared to be a cleft in the rock. Wolf Run washed against q narrow ledge at the very foot of this cliff. He spread himself fiat against the face of the rock and strained from erevice to crey- ice. It was prodigious task, but all tasks have an end-either at the bot tom or at the top. The Pearlhunter's task finally ended at the top. Ii had to.
 The strata gaped apart half the height of a man, leaving q wide-epeD scar in the face of the cliff. It was per haps ten feet deep and seemed to be closed at the back by the dipping te- gether of the two strata.
 Rolling back as far within the open ing as the convergtng strata would comfortably allow. he dropped his bat tered head upon his arm to sleep the rest of the night away.
 The Pearlhunter walked with the woods. His limbs and breast and shoulders were so sore that he was half glad for the snug place to lie in, like q fox in his burrow, while the hounds beat up the woods at fault.
 Lack of water was the greatest drawback Thirst was already begin ming to annoy him. He took out his sandwiches and ate two more of them, saving the other two until later In the day. The salty bacon made the wa ter more tempting still. He drew back little space from the brink of the ledge out of sight of il. The sound of 1t still tempted him.
 Voices reached him suddenly, break ing upon the silence from around a sharp turn Of the gorge down stream. He drew his face back from the brink of the ledge and lay listening. II was far too risky to look. His ears made out three of them-three tongues, ali going at top speed. sure sign that eyes and ears were not as busy as they might have been. Opposite the cliff where the fugitive lay. the steps stopped.
 "What's that hole up there?''
 Ii was gruff and heavy voice that asked, thick still with the Hare of tere- per that had not yet cooled.
 Wolf den, more'n likely" answered one of the others.
 ''If we wus up tn bluff cross there furninst the hole. we could see in,S suggested voice.
 The other voices grunted; and the Pearlhunter heard them hopping back across the stream. heard them ciawing their way through the tangled under brush up the opposite bluff. The scar in which he lay dipped slightly to- ward the rear. He rolled back as far as possible, so as to have the protee- ton afforded by the slightly higher edge: stretched himself on his right side; and waited for them to come into view.
 Fortunately the sun hit their side of the gorge, and the PearlhuDtep could see them well, while, being on the shady side. and back in the dark ness of the scar, they could not see him at all. The three of them drew together in consultation. The Pearl hunter could not make out their words, but the manner in which they handled their rifles. which they had managed to drag up with them, indicated only too plainly the general drift of what was being said
 With a final nod all around, they faced the pocket, and one Of them raised his rife. The bullet struck the roof of the scar just in front of him, showering him with dust and bits Of 'ha'e T''e second f"od. The bullet passed close to his feet and lost it. self far back in the crevice where the two strata of shale converged. It was now the third ones turn. There came the hot spit of smoke ; the vicious slap of the report. But even before he saw the one, or heard the other, he felt something like a red coal sting his side just under the armpit.
 His sidel thousand flames had got at it. Something warm and sticky ran down under his tattered shirt and made 1t mussy. The flames reached 1 his face and twisted It. The air seemed to forsake the pocket. He crawled to I the front Of the scar.
 He couldn't take his eyes away from the water glancing along al the foot of the cliff. The flames had scorched 1 him dry. If he could only have one sup of the water to moisten his lips