The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1920-05-04

corral. he had seen them while com
ing down. No. that theory might be
dismissed nj once. and secretly he
was glad IL was 50 easily disposed
OF 1t had vaguely haunted him az
first, causing him 10 dread the die
covery that Il might DO true
Then what was uuef Who could
be guilty OF such an outraFcf tndians1
white outiawsf Joe Macklin1 These
three po3rihllitica remained. hut the
first two seemed impossible. lie was
used 60 indian foray, but this act
bore no resemblance to the work OF
ssvages on the warpath. There had
be.-n no attempt 10 plumber or de
stroy. Tho very fact that the ponies
remained undisturbed convinced him
that this was no deed Of Indian raid
ers That II might have been white
outlaws WINS not quite 20 easily dis
missed There were desperate men
hiding out yondcr In tho Had Lands.
but no never had known Of their
vcuturing 20 attack any settler. ex.
ecpt occasionally 20 run Off cattle
on the range. In this case there was
no apparent object they had taken
nothing. neither food nor stock.
Then u must have been Mackiin.
But. II 80. how could tho deed have
been accomplished. and what purpose
could the man havcr Why should
he depart afoot. and was II possible
for him 20 overcome the giri alone.
and without alarm To be sure the
fellow know exactly why're pho Iwas.
and thai hr Shelby had gone down
TO the stable. lie had time enough
FOR tho work. while his sudden dis
appearance was. AZ least. proof he
MUST have had hand In a. Hut
whyf To what end Shelby straight.
cncd up. new flash OF intelligence.
In his eyes Perhaps this all harkcd
back Ca that early mystery In her
life. She had told hsn that caikfnn
had taken her from place TO place.
apparently always afraid that he was
being followed. Was Il possible THAI
no had been hunted down at Last
that he recognized the approach %
tho end. and had committed suicide
on that account And was this
strange seizure % OiEa part % tho
plot. either OF revenge. or rrntitu.
tom This explanation seemed more
probable than any other. In way Il
appeared 20 tit tho case. aitho he
poascEsed no more knowledge OF
what Il all meant than ho dld before
only. evidently all that had been
desired was possession % III. girl.
and that was deemed % sufficient
Importance 10 even justify murder
He had been left Tor dead. In order
that she might be born. away alive
III this theory was correct. then
Joe Maeklin was an agent. acting
under orders. and paid for his work
Eie had come TO Ponea on the trail Of
Caikins. his presenc. had become
known. and led directly TO tho sui.
edo Of tho cid man. Then. 20 better
accomplish his purpose. the foiio~
had accompanied th-rn 10 the ranch.
satisfied that hi. task would be eaaacr
performed out on the lonely Cotton
wood than In town Perhaps he oper.
Ated alone. perhaps not. II no had
conscderates Il would be very easy
for thofn to haso reached the place
In advance.
No longer doubung bu, ~ha, this
theory at least Appropriated the
truth. shelby faced the facts frankly.
and with no further hesitation. II
was up 20 him 10 act promptly. there
was no one 10 whom he could turn
for help. Ills eyes aarkened. and
his Jays set An right then. he
would certainly give tire Kid a run
for his money. There must be some
TRAN left. such dr~si as this could
never be accomplished without icav.
ing some mark behind whether the
Kid was alone. or REsisted by others.
tho departure with the captive had
been made IN fun ASSURANCE that the
husband had been ioft behind dead
They would not expect pursuit. or
even that tho crime would BE- sliHcov.
cred for several days In this con.
fidenc. they would probably move
slowly. and with no special effort
at conceaimcnt Anyhow. whether
they Travelled on foot. or horseback.
tho party must surely leave some
trace of passage. and Shelby. who
had been the best trailer in hts rcgi
ment. felt confident OF being able to
run the OUTFIT down
With this once settled In his mind.
and his plan Of pursuit outlined.
shelby threw of his depression. and
bccsame cool and rcsoiute He was
both soldier and frontiersnan, train
ed and disciplined 10 action: he know
now what to do. and how best to do
Il Burning with eaEernesz his heart
k.fa
stu controlled himself firmly, NOV.
fng with deliberate caution. Ffru, he
searched over every foo, Of ground
within quarter Of a mile OF tho
house. seeking TO discover Just how
Mackhn had operated. and whether
or not he was alone. Tho result was
/ only partially successful. The hard.
packed earth revealed little of value
Down below she cabin, on tho sloplnr
side OF tho hill, he found the mark
OF n highhceled boot. such as the
Kid wore. and, a foot or so beyond.
tho plain impression OF n moccasln.
A hundred yards TO the north the
imprints were again visible. making
II clear TO his mind that the fugitive.
we're then making for the lower ford
The girl was evidently being carried
and two men must have been en-.
gagged on the job. one Of them pos
sibiy an indian. He passed straight
on 10 the ford to verify this theory.
and here the mud exhibited clearly
the movements Of both the fellows.
while close at tho waters edge he
came upon n narrow pink ribbon,
which the girl had evidently hurried.
ly dropped in guidance.
IT WAS clearly manifest now the
direction In which they had disap.
peared, but Shelby remained unsatis.
fled. He could not believe that they
would attempt to escape thus on foot
with their burden. II Macklln had
one assistant. 1t was highly probable