The Concordia sentinel. (Vidalia, Concordia Parish, La.) 1882-current, 1920-12-11

DRY came back, ana ne managed 10 III
one hand to his head, his numb fin
gers touching a CHASTITY scalp wound,
the clOtted blood mating his hair. He
had been struck a desperate blow, and
was doubtless left lying there In the
belief that he was dead, yet apparent
ly the skull was not crushed, and the
night air had CONCEALED the blood.
With a supreme effort he drew him.
self into a sitting posture, and stared
rather blankly about at the objects re-
vealed In the gray dawn.
The sight as instantly restored MS
memory; the cabin door stood wide
open, Just as he left it, and within the
lamp still burned on the table, In the
midst of the dlrtied dishes. She had
not returned, then; he had been lying
there alone all night. The realization
maddened him to effort, and, by grasp
ing at the door for support he attained
his feet, and stood there for mo-
ment, swaying dixzily. Exactly what
had occurred he could not determine;
the whole affair seemed more like
dream than a reality. He had left her
there apparently cheerful and happy,
the laughter in her eyes a memory TO
linger with him; he had not been aD-
sent to exceed thirty minutes, and not
so far away but what any cry would
surely have reached his ears. Yet
when he returned she had vanished
utterly, leaving everything untouched.
Whatever occurred must have been
brought to pass almost Immediately
upon his departure, before she even
began the work of cleaning up. But
how could such a thing happen with
out any alarm? Why, the Kid was
working within ten feet of the house,
and must have heard the slightest
sound of struggle. The Kid where
was he anyway? What had become of
the fellow all this time? He was no
where in sight when Shelby retraced
his steps up the path. Could 1t be
that the Kid was the one guilty of this
deed? If so, what was his object?
Not robbery, surely, for the place had
not been ransacked, or anything re-
moved from his pockets. Yet surely
this was not Indian work; 1t bore no
resemblance to. savage raid. The
questions were unanswerable; no
mental effort gave him any clue, yet
his strength was rapidly coming back,
and with it grim. determined anger,
which urged him into action.
First he went through the deserted
house, room by room, seeking for the
slightest sign of guidance. but finding
none. Everything remained precisely
as he remembered seeing 1t the night
before. He blew out the light, took
loaded 1t, and then, feeling his old
strength returning, cautiously stepped
out through the front door. The buck
board stood there, gaunt and stripped.
except for the box between the rear
wheels. He peered into this. and
found 1t still half filled with bundles.
Macklin had not completed his job,
other evidence being furnished by the
extinguished and overturned lantern
on the ground just beyond. But there
was no sign visible of any struggle.
Surely she had not left Of her own
choice. That was unthinkable. She
had appeared cheerful and cOntented,
even actually interested In the new
life; besides, If she possessed the
slightest desire to escape, he had Of
fered her every opportunity on the
way out, and she had refused. Surely
she would never have come way out
there to make her disagreeable jour-
neg over again at night. Even If crazy
enough for such an attempt, the effort
would never he made upon foot, and
all three ponies were in the corral; he
had seen them while coming down
No. that theory might be dismissed at
once, and secretly he was glad it was
so easily disposed Oft had vaguely
haunted him at first, causing him to
dread the discovery that 1t might be
true.
Then what was true2 Who could be
guilty of such an outrage? Indians
White outlaws? Joe MacklIn? These
three possibilities alone remained, but
the first two seemed quite impossible
! He was used. to Indian fOray, but this
act bore no resemblance to the work
Of savages on the warpath. There had
been no attempt to plumber, or de
strOy. The very fact that the ponies
remeined undisturbed convinced hin
! that this was no deed Of Indian raid
ers. That it might have been white out
laws was not quite so easily dis
missed. There were desperate mer
/ hiding out yOnder In the Bad Lands
but he never had known of their ven
turing to attack any settler, except &C
casionally to run off cattle on thu
range. IN this case there was no ap
parent obiect-they had taken moth
ing. neither food nor stock. Then i
must have been Macklin.
His sudden disappearance was. a
least, proof he must have had hanC
In it. But why? To what end? Shelb!
Strengthened up, a new flash of intel
ligence IN his eyes. Perhaps this al
harked back to that early mystery II
her life. She had told him that Cal
kins had taken her from place t,
place, apparently always afraid tina
he was being followed. Was it pos
sible that he had been hunted down a
last; that he recognized the approach
of the end, and had committed suicid
on that account? And was thfs strang