The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-01-29
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Copyright by A. c. McClurg & Co.

evidently is not eager Tor. callers.
Where is that fellow?"
Somewhere over in that thicket, l
think. AT least his voice sounded
from there. You discovered nothing
In the boat?", A. >.
sOn1y q rag and some fishing tackle.
Come; We'll have to plunge in some
where"
She followed closely as l pushed a
passage through the obstructing I'M
derbrush, finally locating Sam at the
edge Of a small opening. where the
: light was sufficiently strong to enable
us to distinguish marks Of a little-used
trail leading along the bottom of a
shallow gully bisecting the sidehill.
At the crossing of a small stream we
noticed the imprint of several feet in
the soft mud of the shore. One plainly
enough was small and narrow, beyond
all question that of i woman, but the
others were all mems, n being clad
in moccasins. Sam, still ahead, start
Ell to Chamber across the trunk of a
fallen tree, hut came to a sudden halt,
sEas.,. .c---=ru III something c"''-
cealed from our view on the other
side. .2. ". j..
"Good Lord O. mercyT he exclaimed
excitedly, whats dat?"
I was close beside him by this time
and saw the thing also-the body. of
Il man lying on the ground.
wait where you ne Rene" / ex-
claimed, waving her hack. "There is
q man lying here beyond the log.
Come, Sam we will see what he looks
like" ~ f's@ -.s..'.
He was slow in following, hanging
back as I approached closer to the
m%otionfess form, and I could hear the
mutt6r1ng Of his lips. Unquestionabiy
the man was dead; of this l was as
He lay on his face in a litter of dead
leaves, and almost the first thing I
: noticed was the death wound back of
his ear, where a ~large-caliber bullet
had pierced the brain. His exposed
hands proved him a negro, and it was
with b feeling of unusual %fepugnance
that I touched his body, turning 1t
over sufficiently to see the face. All
at once / knew him, unable wholly to
repress q cry of startled surprise as
/ stared down into the upturned
face-the dead man evidently III
dered, shot treacherously from behind,
was Free Pete. 1 sprang to my feet,
gazing about blipdly into the dim
woods, my mind for the instant dazed
by the importance of this discovery.
What could it mean? How could 1t
have happened? BY what e had
he reached this spot in advance of us;
and at whose hand had he fallen? He
could have been there only for one
purpose, surely-in an attempt to
guide Eloise Beaucaire and the quad
room Della. Then what had become
Of the women2 Where were they
now2
stumbled backward to the support
Of the log, unable to answer any one
of these questions, remembering only
In that moment that / must tell Rene
the truth.
'Tell ~me-please," she begged. "Is
the man dead? Who is he, do you
know"
EYES," / replied desperately. "He is
dead, and I recognized his face. BE
is the negro Pete and has been killed,
shot from behind"
"Pete." she echoed, grasping at the
log to keep erect, her eyes On that
dimly revealed figure in the leaves.
free Pete, Cartoons Pete? How
could he have got here? Then-then
the others must have been with him.
What has become of thelny'
"It is all mystery; the only way to
solve It is for us to go ". It can do
no one any good to stand here, staring
at this dead body. When we reach
the cabin we may learn what has oc.
CURED. Go on ahead, Sam, and we
will f0llow-don't be afraid, boy It
is not the dead who hurt US"
She chung tightly to me, shrinking
past the mo,iOnless figure. She was
not s0bbing; her eyes were dry, yet
every movement, each glance exhibit
ed her depth Of horror. I drew her
closer, thoughtless Of what she. was,
my heart yearning to speak words OF
comfort. yet realizing there was moth.
Ing left me to say.
not mind me-" she said, paHs-
ing before the utterance Of each word
to steady her voice. 81 am not
going to break down. Tit II the
snutienness-the shock. I'll shall be
strong again IN q minute"
''You must be-" / whispered, TOR
their lives may depend on Us"
It was q short path before US and
became more clearly defined as we ad-
vanced. "a sharp turn brought US into
full view OF the cabin, which stood
ii q small opening, built against the
sidehlll, and so overhung with trees
20 to be invisible, except from the d.
Eection Of our approach. We could see
1nly the side will, which contained
sne-open window. and was Z onesroona
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