The Manchester journal. [volume] (Manchester, Vt.) 1861-current, 1920-12-09

~ mat theory fright b. Dismissed -
obce. and secretly - uas glad Il sas
- easily disposed Eft had vaguely
haunted him a. arst. causing him 70
dread tie discovery that Il might b.
true
Then shat vas uusl who could be
guilty ~ such 81 outwEe7 Indians ?
white outiaWs7 Joe Mackiinf These
three possibilities alone remained but
tie arst tao seemed quite lmpnss bile
lie VAS used % Indian foray. bit This
sct bore 10 resemblance e. tie Nork
q sagnges on the earpath There had
been no attempt 20 plumber or de
stroy The very fact thai the ponies
remained nndisturbed convinced him
that this VAS 90 deed % Indian raid.
ers That Il might have been white out
avs was noi quite So easily dis
missed There we're desperate men
hiding ont youder IN the Bad Lands
bar he never had known OF their ven.
turing "a attack any settler. except oc
caslonally Ia run 90 cattle on the
range In this case there was no np.
parent ohiect--they had taken moth
Iug. neither food nor stock. Then Il
mus have been Mackin
His sudden disappearance was at
least. proof be must have had hand
in Il. Bot Why To what end Shelby
enlightened M new fash Of inrei.
Hgence 10 his eyes Perhaps this al
harkcd back 60 that early mystery IN
her NE She had told him that Cat.
kinS had taken her from place 70
place apparently always afraid that
he was being followed Was II pos.
sible that he had been hunted down ~
last that he recognized rhf approach
OF the end. and had committed suicide
on that account And NHs his strange
seizure Of Olga part ~ the plot. either
of revenge. or restitution This ex
PLANTATION seemed more probable Than
any other in . way II apueored 10 NJ
the case although he possessed no
more knowledge of what u all meant
than he did before. Only evidently
all that had been desired was posses.
sion OF the girl. and that was deemed
OF sufficient importance 10 even justify
murder. He had been left for dead
IN order that she might be borne away
alive.
No longer douhting bur what this
theory at least approrimated the
truth shelby faced the facts frankly
aud WIN 40 further hesitation Il
was up To him To- act promptly. there
was no one 10 whom he could turn for
help. His eyes darkeued and his Jaws
set All right then he would certain
ly give the Kid y run for his money
There must be some trail left. such
deed as this could never be accom-.
plished without leaving some mark
behind Whether they travelled on
foot, or horseback the party must
surely leave some trace Of passage
and Shelby. who had been the best
trailer In his regiment. felt confident
of being able 10 run the OUTFIT down.
With this once settled in his mind,
and his plan Of pursuit outlined, Shell
by threw OF his depression and be.
came cool and resoluie Firs, he
searched over every foot OF ground
within a quarter OF a mile OF the
house, seeking to discover Just how
Macklin had operated. and. whether
or not, he was alone. The result was
only partially successful. The hard
packed earth revealed little Of value |
Down below the cabin on the sloping |
side Of the hill he found the mark Of |
! high-heeled boot such as the Kid |
wore. and foot or so beyond. the |
plain impression OF moccasin.
yards to the north the I'm
prints were again visible, making II
lear TO his mind that the fugitives
we're then making for the lower ford
The girl was evidently being carried,
md two men must have been engaged
N the job. one Of them possibly an In
Han. He passed straight on TO the
ord 10 verify this theory, and here
he mud exhibited clearly the move.
nents Of both the fellows. while close
L the waters edge he came upon a
harrow pink ribbon. which the girl
ad evidently hurriedly dropped In
II was clearly manifest nov the d.
ection in which they had disappeared
Ut Shelby remained unsatisfied. He
ould not believe that they would at.
empt TO escape thus on foot with
heir burden II Macklin had one as {
Istant, II was highly probable there {