The circle banner. [volume] (Circle, Mont.) 1914-1939, 1920-04-16

| or our encOunterlng Sucn party. In
: soldiers are all coming up from tn
South and are bound to force Blac
Hawks warriors to the other bank o
the Rock. There will be nothing bu
barren country east of here. What d
you say, Miss Eloise?" 81
Her eyes met mine bravely, withou
shadow of doubt in them.
II shall go wherever you say" sh'
replied firmly; 81 believe you viii
know best"
"Then decide on this route. Once
| we get beyond the swamp those fel
| lows are going to have hard tasl
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 can again and then start"
Kennedy stood up and stared about
us at the disolate scene, the express
ion of his face proving his dissatisfac-
ton with the prospect.
90 course, I'm goin' long with
YER cap" he acknowledged, dryly. 81
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"
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 her
position on the grass.
rs he right?" she questioned, look
ing up at me. us there any real dam
ger of Indians?"
"Some, perhaps; it is all Indian
country, north and east of here-or
has been. / am not denying that, but
this danger does not compare, in my
mind, with the peril which confronts
us in every direction. I am trying to
choose the least. Our greatest diff
Guilty will be the lack of food-we
possess no guns with which to kill
game, only pistols, and an exceedingly
small stock of ammunition. That is
what troubles Tim; that, and his
eagerness to get back down the river
He fails to realize what it would mean
to you to fall again into Kirby's
hands,"
do you realize?"
do /? 1t is the one memory which
controls me. Tell me, am l not right?
You despise the fellow; you are will.
ing to face any hardship so as to es-
cape him?"
Il would rather die than have him
touch me. Surely you cannot deem it
possible that l could ever forgiven
mo; that would be hard to con-
ceive; and yet l wished to hear the
words from your own lips. Will you
answer me one thing more-why did |
you first assume the character of .
Rene, and why did you repose such
instant trust in me?'
81 think 1 myself hardly knew" she
admitted timidly. 1T all happened,
was born of impulse, rather than
through any plan. Perhaps it was just
he woman in me. After my father
lied, Della thought it best to tell us
he story of Rene's birth. This-thfs
vas such a terrible tale, and later we
sought all through his private papers,
hoping he had taken some action to
set those two free. There was no
)roof that he had, no mention, indeed,
except a memorandum of intention to
'efer the matter to Lawyer HaineS at
he Landing. This merely served to
confirm what Della had told us, and,
is Haines had gone to st. Louis, we
we're unable to see him. We We're all
f US nearly crazed. So suggested that
We run away, and drew money out of
ny private account for that purpose.
ly only thought was to take a steam
r up the Ohio, to some place where
re were not known, and begin life
yer again. Oh, you cannot under
tand-I had no mind left; only a
lind impulse to save them"
| caught her hand in mine and held
. firmly. /.
Perhaps do understand. It was
" knowledge of this very condition
hitch first brought me to you"
"You heard about us on the boat :
lie Warrior? Did father tell your"
"No; it was Kirby. He was actual
= proud of what he had done-boast-
i to me of his success. l have never
nown man so heartlessly conceited.
loise, listen. You may have thought
lis was largely an accident. It was
Of; it was a deliberately planned,
plot. tell you that Joe
irby is of the devils own breed; he
not human. Rene's father told him
st of the peculiar conditions at Beau
ire"
"Rene's fatherI Does-does he still
ye?' il
mo; but he did live for years after a
, disappeared, supporting himself by p
mbling on the lower river. At one v
ne he and Kirby were together. At I
r he died Kirby Investigated his il
DRY in st. Louis and found that it Il
as true. Then he laid this. plot to s.
in control of everything, including u
th of you girls. The man drear.ed d
owning Beaucaire, of possessing all a
contained. He was willing to risk
erything to carry out his hell-born OF
heme, and to ruin everyone who in 81
rfered with him. | am telling you CT
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