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

meet MS at the ford-once across the
creek we can decide which way to
travel; there must be four hours Of
darkness vet" .
/ picked up the trailing rein of my
horse and slipped my arm through it.
Tim faded away in the gloom like a
vanishing shadow. The young woman
next me, strapped securely to her sad.
die, made no movement, exhibited no
sign of interest; her head and body
dropped, yet her hands grasped the
pommel as though she still retained
some dim conception of her situation.
The face under her hood was bent for.
ward and shaded and her eyes, al
though they seemed open, gave no heed
to my presence. I touched her hands
thank God, they were moist and
warm, but when / spoke her name it
brought no response.
I started forward on foot. leading
my horse, the others trailing after
through the darkness. Knowing moth
ing of the way, I was thus better able
to pick the path. yet I found this not
difficult, as it was rather plainly out
lined by the forest growth on either
side. The trail was clay with a few
small stones embedded in it, and the
horses made little noise in their de-
scent, except once when Elsie's animal
slipped and sent a loosened bit of rock
rolling down to splash in some pool be-
low. We came to the bank of the creek
at last, a narrow stream, easily ford
able, but with a rather steep shore line
beyond, and waited there a moment I'M
til Tim emerged from out the black
woods at u right and joined us. He
was mounted, and, believing the time
had arrived for more rapid movement,
| also swung up into saddle and ranged
the girls horse beside mine.
They were not stock to be proud of,
vet they did fairly well, Tins mount
evidently the best of the four. The
going was decidedly better once we
had topped the bank. We may have
ridden for two miles without a word,
for, although I had no intention of pro-
ceeding far in this direction, I could
discover NO opportunity for changing
our course so al to battle pursuit. That
Kirby and Rale would endeavor to
follow us at the earliest opportunity
was most probable. They were neither
OF them the sort to accept defeat with
out a struggle, and, after the treat
ment they had received, the desire for
revenge would be uppermost. Nor
thus far would there be any difficulty
in their picking up our trail, at least as
far as the creek crossing, and this
would assure them the direction we
had chosen. -
Then suddenly, out of the mysterious
darkness which closed us in, another
grove doomed up Immediately in our
front, and the, trail plunged sharply
downward into the depths of a rugged
ravine. Twas obliged to dismount and
feel my way cautiously to the bottom,
delighted to discover there was a
smoothly flowing, narrow stream, run
ming from the eastward between high
banks, overhung by trees. It was q dis
NAL, gloomy spot, a veritable cave of
darkness, yet apparently the very
place I had been seeking for our pur-
pose.
Kennedy"
Right yere. sir. Lord, but it's dark
found enything?"
"There is a creek here. I don't know
where it flows from, but it seems to
come out of the east. One thing is
certain, we have got t" get off this
trail. If we can lead the horses up
stream a way and then circle back it
would keep those fellows guessing for
a while. Come here and see what you
think of the chance"
Eye let me go ahead with the, niger
CURL, an then follow after us, leadin'
Miss Beaucaire's boss. BY JENNY crick-
cts. faint deep nough fer ter drown us
anyway, an / amt much Altered o. the
dark. Thar's likely ter be sum place
whar we kin get out up thar. Whar
the h. are them hosses?"
We succeeded in locating the animals
by feeling and I waited on the edge of
the bank, the two reins wrapped about
my arm, until / heard the others go
splashing down into the water. Then I
also CROPPED my. own way cautiously
forward, the two horses trailing be-
hind me, down the sharply shelving
bank into the stream. Tim chose his
course near to the opposite shore, and
l followed his lead closely, guided
largely by the s%plashing Of .Elsie's ami
NAL through the shallow. water. Our
movement was a very slow and eau
tious one, Kennedy hating frequently
to assure himself that the passage
ahead was safe. Fortunately the bot
tom was firm and the current not par
ticularly strong, u greatest obstacle
being the low-hanging branches which
swept against us.
/ think we must have waded thus to
exceed a mile when we came to a fork
in the stream and pumped into a tan
gle of uprooted trees, which ended our
further progress. Between the two
hvsn - ~ 49, = GAo~ - 1slxy~ -..E a.