The Arvada enterprise., 1920-02-05

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alone; amt got no trace ov the girl or
her mother, I reckon"
Where I crouched in the shadows I
could gain NO glimpse Of the approach
ing figures. but heard the crunch Of
their boots on the gravel Of the drive
way, and q moment later the sound Of
their feet as they mounted the wooden
steps. Kirby must have perceived the
forms Of the other men ~ soon ~ he
attained the porch level. and his nat
urally disagreeable voice had q snariy
ring.
''That you, Donaldson1 Have either
Of those women come backr'
"No." and thought the sheriff.
answer was barely cordial. I'VE amt
seen nobody. What did you learn
down at the Landin'f'
Nothing" savagely. Haven't found
a. D. trace except that Hainea
hasn't been home since before dark ;
some Niger came for him then. L.
that girl safe insidel"
"Sure; just as you left her. but she
won't talk. Tim tried her again. but
it's NO use; she wudn't even answer
him."
"Well, BY Heaven I'll nnd q way to
make her open her mouth. She knows
where those two are hiding. They
haven't had no time to get far away,
and I'll bring her to her senses before
I am through. Come on, Carver; I'll
show the wench who's master here. II
I have to lick her like 4 common mig.
ger"
The front door opened, and closed.
leaving the two without standing In
silence. the stiffness between them
finally broken BY q muttered curse.
I drew back hastily. but In silence,
eager to get away before the sheriff
and his deputy should return to their
seats BY the porch rail. Ny original
plan Of warning the women Of the
house Of their peril was blocked. com.
pletely overturned BY the presence Of
these men. Beyond all question those
had hoped to serve were already
aware Of their position-someone had
reached them before me-and two at
least were already in hiding. Why
the thiSl. the one most deeply In
volved. had failed to accompany the
others, could not be comprehended
The mystery only made my present
task more dimcult. Why should Della
the slave. disappear in company with
Elolse. the free, and leave her own
daughter Rene behind to face q stu.
alton more terrible than deathf
could not answer these questions; but
whatever the cause the result had
been the complete overthrow Of the
gamblers carefully prepared plans
Not that believed he would hesitate
for long. law or no law: but Donald
Ron. the sheriff. refused to be q party
to any openly illegal act. and this
would for the present tie the fellows
hands. Not until Miss Eloise waa
found and duly served with the evic.
tion papers would Donaldson consent
to take possession Of q single slave
This might still give me time for &C
tion.
I slipped along In the shadow Of
the house. without definite plan Of &C
tion but with q hrm purpose to act
Tho side door I knew to be securely
locked. yet nrst Of all II was essen
tial that attain to the interior. But
one means to this end occurred to
me-the unshaded window through
which the glow Of light continued ia
stream. found I could reach the
edge 6f the balcony with extended IN.
gers. and drew myself slowly up un.
I'll ] clunE to the railing. with feet
finding precarious support on the
outer rim. This was accomplished
noiselessly and from the vantage
point thus obtained was enabled to
survey a large portion Of the room.
I clambered over the rail. assured
by the hrst glance that the room waa
empty. and succeeded In lifting the
heavy Sash . few inches without any
disturbing noise. Then II stuck, and
even A. ventured to exert my
strength to greater extent to force II
upward. the single door directly oppo.
site. evidently leading into the hall
was hunE violently open and I sank
back out Of view. yet instantly aware
that the nrst party to enter was Joe
Kirby. He strobe forward to the table.
striking the wooden top angrily with
his nst and knocking something crash
In. to the floor.
"You know where she In. don't you I,
he asked. IN the aame threatening
tone be had used without.
''Of course do: didn't I help put
her thersr' II was Carver who 70.
piled. standing In the open doorway.
~Then bring The husay In here,
| ! will make the wench talk II
have to choke Il out Of her: she'll
learn what Il means to be Q nigger."
I he'd but Q moment In which to
observe The man. for almost immedi.
ately Carver hung the door Of the
room opsn and Kirby swung impa.
tisatly about to face the entrance. M.
cspt for possibility of this attract.
iAg ths attention Of ths Newcomer
was In 10 opectal DANCER a boanR a..