Vernon Parish Democrat. (Leesville, La.) 1917-193?, 1920-10-07

The door fitted so closely she could |
not even determine its exact outlines.
Bafled, her glance wandered about |
the cell, seeking vainly for any sign |
Of weakness, and then, giving way ut
terly to her despair, the girl flung her
self on the bench, covering her eyes
to shut out those hideous surroundings.
What should she do2 What could she
do? What possibility Of hope lay in
her own endeavors? From what
source could she expect any outside
help?
After those first moments Of COM
plete despair, there came greater calm
ness, in which her mind began to grap-
pie with the situation. These outlaws
would never dare to take her life.
There was no occasion for them to re-
sort to so desperate a deed. And
why should Lacy desire to take her
life2 Most assuredly he did not, or
the act would have been already accom-
plished. The very fact Of her hav-
ing been transported such distance
was sufficient evidence of his purpose.
4nG AuELCAy buSBC%lCu AACA
mission in Haskell; they were afraid
she knew more Of their plans than she
really did. The telegram, stolen by
Miss La Rue, had convinced the lead
ers that she might prove dangerous if
left at large, and they determined to
hold her helpless until their scheme
had been worked out and they were
safely beyond pursuit. That was I'M
doubtedly the one object Of her capture.
Lacy had no knowledge that Mendez's
band was at the rendezvous; he sup
posed them to be on a cattle raid to
the south, with only a man or two of
his own left as guard over Cavendish.
CavendishI Her mind grasped clear
ly now the fact that the man was not
dead. It had not been his body found
in the Waldron apartments, but that
Of some other man substituted for
purposes of crime. Cavendish himself
had been lured westward, waylaid in
some manner and made prisoner, as
she and WestcOtt had suspected.
Through the cooperation of Lacy
he had been brought to this desert
den, where he could be held indefinite
ly, with no chance of discovery-kilIed
| if necessary. She had heard of such
places as this. read of them, yet never
before had she realized the possibility
of their real existence. 1t all seemed
more like a delirium of fever than
an actual fact. She rubbed her eyes,
gazing about on the rock walls, scare
~ sure she was actually awake. Why,
one might ride across the desert, and
! pass by within a hundred yards of its
rim, and never even be aware of the
existence of this sunken valley. Yet
these men must have made use of it
for years, as a place to hide stolen
cattle, and into which to retreat when
ever pursuit became dangerous.
Those huts without were not new.
/ ly built, and this underground cavern
had been extended and changed by no
small labor. What deeds of violence
must have happened here; what
scenes OF unbridled debauchery this
desert rendezvous must have wit
messed. She shuddered at the thought,
comprehending that these cells had
never been chiselled without a pur-
pose, and that she was utterly help
less in the hands Of band of thieves
and cutthrCats, to whom murder
meant little enough, If 1t only served
their ends. Mendez, 40 doubt, was
brute and monster, yet It was Juan
Cateras whom she really feared-he
was cruel, Shiny. seeking to hide his
hatefulness behind TINT hideous smile ;
and he had already chosen her for
his victim. Who would save her
Mendez? Lacy? She did not know
and somehow neither of these was the
name which arose to her lips, almost
in the form of prayer; the name she
whispered with a faint thrOb of hope
in its utteranee-Jim Westcott.
The big miner was all she had to
rely upon; he had been in her mind
all through the long ride; he arose
before her again now, and she well
coined the memory with a conscious
thrOb of expectation. Those people
back there could not conceal for long
her absence from him; if he lived he
would surely seek her again.
Her womanly instinct had read the
message in the mans eyes; she was
Of interest TO him, he cared; it was
no mere ordinary friendliness which
would bring him back !; no! not even
their mutual connection with the case
of Frederick Cavendish. Her eyes
frightened, and a flush of color crept
into her cheeks. She believed in him,
in his couTage-he had appealed to
her as a man.
Suddenly she seemed TO realize the
yearning Of her own heart, her utter
faith in him. BE would come, he
must come even now he might have
discovered her sudden disappearance
and suspected the cause. He would
never believe any lies they might tell
that she had departed without a
word, without message-he would
find out the truth somehow; he was