The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1920-02-05
Copyright BY A. {. AcClurs q Ca.

- SOiAS ~ dASWcI yOu now. IQef0
- no need. Nothing can be done until
night, whatever we decide upon. You
will 60 back with us to the boatf"
Yes; I simply cannot stay here
her eyes wandering toward the cabin.
I took the lead on the return, find
Inc the path easy enough to follow in
the full light of day. The sincere hon
estys Of her plea-the knowledge that
she actually meant it-only served to
draw me closer, to strengthen my de-
termination not to desert. Her face
was ever before me as / advanced
brayeiy pathetic face, wonderfully
WOInaniys in its girlish contour-ap-
pealtng to every impulse Of my man
hood. admitted the truth OF what
she said-it had been largely love Of
adventure, the rash r~ecklessness. OF
yonth. which had brought me here.
But this was my inspiration no longer.
! had begun to realize that something
deeper. more worthy. now held me to
the task. What this was / made no
attempt toranalyze-possibly I did not
tare-but, nevertheless, the mere con-
ception Of deserving her In the midst
Of this wilderness was too utterly re-
pugnant for expression. No, not that:
whatever happened It would never be
tint.
The last few rods OF our journey
.ly through thick underbrush, and be-
y 18th the spreading branches Of inter-
ilactng trees. Suddenly 1 emerged
upon the bank Of the creek, with the
rude log wharf directly before me. I
stopped transfxed. staring at the wa
ter-nothing else greeteds my eyes;
both the boats were gone.
This unexpected discovery came to
like q blow the very breath
seemed to desert my lungs, as I
STARED down at the vacant stream. We
had been outgeneraled~ trtcked, and all
sur theories as to what had occurred
were wrong. The duty we had per
10rmed to the dead had cost us our
ewn chance to escape. Instead OF be-
Ing alone, 20 we had supposed, we
we're IN the midst aof enemies ; we had
Aeen seen. watched. and while we
Uttered ashore the murderers had sto-
en IN boat and vanished, leaving us
mere helplessly marOoned. All this
raj plain enough now. when 1t was
already too late to remedy the evil.
The struggling girl emerged through
the tangle Of shrubs and paused sud
denly at my side. her lips giving ut
terance to a cry Of surprise.
ssThe---the boat! It is not here1"
NO; there is not q sign OF It. Those
Fellows must be still In the neighbor-
hood; must have seen us when we
Arst came"
s1But what + we to dol"
1 had no ready answer, yet the echo
0f utter despair In her voice stirred
me to my " duty as swiftly as
though she had thrust 1 knife Into my
hide. DOT We must do something!
We could not sit down idly there In
The swamp. And to decide what was
IS be attempted raj my part. H Kir-
~ and whoever was with him had
stolen the missing boat, as undoubt-
edly they had, they could have pos
sessed but 0ne purpose-escape. They
q inspired to the act by q desire
20 get away, to fiee from the scene
ef their crime. They must believe
That we ere left helpless, unable to
pursue them or create alarm. Fet IL
4 was Kirby why had he fed so
swiftly, making no effort to take Rene
captive also7 It was she he was seek
ing: Tor the purpose OF gaining pos
session of her these murders had been
committed. Why, then. should he run
sway when ne must have known the
Girl was already Ia his grasp3 The
same thought apparently occurred to
her. s
"You--you believe that Kirby did
this7'
what other conclusion rs possible?|
know that he passed us Oh the
steamer--Sam saw him plainly. II
was his man. Carver, whom We found
dead il the hut. II could have been
no one else.n N.
.But = she questioned, unsatisfed,
ne WOuIQ nave only ~ reason Tor
being here-hunting me, his slave.
IhatsWas his one purpose, was II mott
IL he sasvsus then he plust have known
off my presence, that | was here With
YOU Why should he makesn o attempt
take meSwith hint Why should ne
steal our boat and run aWay3',
.ss(D nIe theory IS AZ good as an1loltheer,as
4 said ssanld milne ~ far have IN been
wrong What 10 ron make "
'sANNhp. sahi Ma. sahas s.zsS
take i gpessl sat this.
/" Pears like he said, d-eliberafeaHl
rubbing his a Nth one 6and
II mought IA yeBhapipenegdE dlslI1sytereI
N4ys sah. An AIM a-saGyin' L Wue
lEmought BE. MAYBE Masell KirbyI
IA sight WA "a
4eerd fer Y atayy.s3IH Gyij1(l
sailkIs.