The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-09-16

one OH on MIN, an start the minute
II gets dark enough so them lads can't
see what's goin' on out yere."
Wen fight our way through7"
mot a fight, my son : Wen make
II so softly that not son-of.a-gun viii
ever know how 1t happened. When
they wake up Wen be twenty miles out
In the desert, an still goln'. Thar's a
big log cllnglng ter the upper end o.
tn rock. | saw L when I fust come
over. an bout an hour ago | crept
back through that gully an took n
good look. A shove will send IL floatin'.
An with good pair o. legs to steer
with, thar amt nuthin' TO stop II this
side the curve, an don't calculate
any O. the rife brigade will be down as
fur as that. II sounds blame good ter
me, jim; what dye sayf"
| Westcott's hand went out. and the
fingers Of the two men clasped silent
| ly. There was no need for more
speech they understood each other.
The night closed down swiftly. as II
does in the West, the purple of the
hills becoming black ms though by
some magic. There was heavy
cloud hanging In the Western sky. con-
stantly sweeping higher In pledge of
a dark night. The banks uf the stream
Ne"ama obscured. and finally vanished
altogether; while the water ceased to
gllmmer and turned TO an lnky black
ness. Fights twlnkled In the distant
shacks, and the front of the Red Dog
burst into illumination. Brennan
chuckled, and pointed his finger at
the glare.
Lacy amt fergettin' the profit In
all this" he whispered hoarsely. "The
boys are goin' ter be dry. an he'll sell
'em all they wnnt-wouldn't mind II
had some myself Is II dark enough,
mater"
"The sooner the betterl"
That's my ticket. Come on then.
but don't make n sound; them lads are
more liable TO hear than they are to
see us. Let me go first"
The log was at the other end OF the
little island, but there was a consider
able rift In the rock surface. not deep,
but OF sufficient width TO permit the
passage of body. The Jagged stone
made the way rough IN the dark. and
Westcott found himself nt the upper
extremity, gashed and bruised by the
contact.
Brennan lowered himself into the
water, assisted In the downward climb
by some low, tough bushes whose ten
drills clung tenaclously to the smooth
rock. Westcott followed silently. and
found footing In about three feet Of
water. where II swirled around the
base OF the island. Brennan put his
lips close TO his companions ear.
"Got yer cartridges tied up7 That's
all right; hand 'em over. You hang
on to the outside, an I'll push Off. II
yer have ter paddle ter keep In the
current, don't let yer hands er feet
come to the surface-understand
Certainly"
"All right then; are you all seti
Holy smoke this is going to be some
yacht ride"
The log did not even crate as II loos.
ened its slight hold on the rock, and
began the voyage downstream. The
current was swift enough to bear
II and its burden free from the island
although II moved slowly and noise
lessly an its way. The two men deep
ly submerged on either side. with heads
held rigid against the wet bark, were
lndistinguishable. Out from the deep
er shadow, Brennan gently controlled
the unwieldy affair, and keeping II as
nearly as possible TO the center, by the
nolseless movement of hand under
water. No alarm greeted Its progress
and at last, confident that they were. al
: ready safely below the extent of the
guard line, the two men, clinglng to It's
wet sides, ventured to kick out quietly
and thus hasten Its progress. II came
ashore at the extreme end OF the curve
and, after moment of intent listen
ing, the voyagers crept up the sand
and In whispers discussed the next ef
fort of their escape. The belts were
unstrapped from about the log. reload
ed with cartridges and buckled around
dripping waists, before they clamberet
,, cautiously up the low bank. The road
, was Just beyond, but between then
and II arose the almost shapeless form
of small house, mere darker
shadow In the gloom OF the night.
"Where are. we?" questioned West
, colt.
; "Just back OF old Beecher's shack
He's trucking down Benson way, but II
, liable TO have some grub stored inside
; was countin' on this for our com
| mlssary department. Come on, Jim
r time IS money just now"
: The door was unlocked, and In les
2 than ten minutes they emerged one,
r more into the open hearing their spoil
y -Wescott, slab OF bacon and small
frying pan: Brennan paper sack o
Y cornmeal. with couple OF specimen
Of canned goods. He had also resur
I rected gunny sack somewhere, II
0 which the things were CAREFUL.
4.