The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-04-29

now" she said simply. "And I am %
delighted to understand everything.
There are four Of us here, counting the
mulatto girl, and we are in hiding not
far from Yellow Banks" !
Tins eyes fell upon the map, lying
%outspread on the ground. i,
An whit did We think wus best,
cap?" he inquired grave'y. "'Tain't
likely we got all summer ter sit round
we're an talk In. 'Tain't such a bad
place. but by notion is we ought ter
be joggin' long"
milne also. Come over here, both
Of You, and I'll give you my idea. I
figured our chances in this way"
In n few words ] explained my
choice of route, pointing it out on the
map and telling them briefly why l
was afraid to seek refuge either at
Fort Madison or Fort Armstrong, or,
indeed, at any Of the nearer settle
ments. Eloise said nothing, her gaze
rising from the map to our faces az
we debated the question, for Tim
spoke his mind freely, his stubby fore
finger tracing the course l had indt-
Gated.
"An' whar do yer reckon are them
Injuus-the hostile ones; this yero
bunch O Black Hawks? .S'pose we'd
run inter Il raidin' party O them red
bucks. ! amt got much hair, but /
kin use whit / hav' got"
II am net sure, Tim, but I would
ever prefer that to being Overtaken
by Joe Kirby and the gang he'll prob.
ably have with him." L retorted, my
gaze on the questioning face Of the
girl. "However, there is little chance
Of our encountering such a party. The
soldiers are all coming up from the
South and are bound to force Black
Hawks warriors to the other bank OF
the Rock. There will be nothing but
barren country east of here. What do
you say, Miss EloiseT"
Her eyes met mine bravely, without
q shadow Of doubt in them.
II shall go wherever you say" she
replied firmly; ~ believe you will
know best"
"Then decide on this route. Once
we get beyond h swamp those fell
lows are going to have Il hard task
following us, unless they have an In.
dian trailer along with them. We
have been here several hours; the
horses must be rested. Let's eat what
we cin again and then start"
Kennedy stood up and stared. about
us at the disolatc scene, the express
ion Of his face proving his dlssatisfac'
ton with the prospect.
so course, Pm Il goin' long with
yer, cap" he acknowledged, dryly. "
never wus no gutter, but this yere
trip don't look SO ID easy ter
me, fer all tibet. I'll wake up tibet
Clark CURL an then saddle the bosses
l watched him round the corner OF
the cabin, not wholly at ease in my
own mind, then gathered up the map
and replaced it in my pocket, aware
that ElOise had not moved from he
position on the grass.
"Is he right!' She questioned. look
ing up at me. Is there, any real dan
ger of Indians?'
"Solne, perhaps; it is all Indian
country, north and east of here-Oi
has been. | am not denying that. but
this danger does not compare, in my
mind, with the peril which confrOnts
us in every direction. l am trying tc
choose the least. Our greatest diff
Guilty will be the lack of food-Wt
possess no guns with which to kill
game, only pistols, and an exceedingly
small stock of ammunition. That il
what troubles Tim; that. and his
eagerness to get back down the river
He fails to realize what it would meal
to you to fall again into Kirby's
hands,"
"Do you realize?"
"DO 1? It is the one memory which
controls me. Tell me, am / not right.
You despise the fellow; you are will
ing to face any hardship so as to es
cape him."
II would rather die than have hin
touch me. Surely you cannot deem il
possible that l could ever forgiven"
mo; that would be hard to con
ceive: and yet | wished to hear the
"oluS from YOUR own lips. Will you
answer me one thing mOre-why die
you first assume the character of
Rene, and why did you repOse suct
instant trust in me?'
II think I myself hardly knew" sht
admitted timidly. at all happened
was born Of impulse, rather thar
through any plan. Perhaps it was JUS
the woman in me. After my father
died, Della thought it best to tell us
the story Of Rene's birth. This-this
was such a terrible tale, and later We
sought all through his private papers
hoping he had taken ON action tt
set those two free. There was nc
proof that he had, no mention, indeed
except a memorandum of intention tc
refer the matter to Lawyer Haines al
the Landing. This merely served to
confirm what Della had told us, and.
NO ~. Lnl A- ~ ~-s~ --1