Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1920-12-30

Not robbery, surely, for the place had
not been ransacked, or anything re-
moved from his pockets. Yet surely
resemblance to a savage raid. h
questions were unanswerable; no
mental effort gave him any clue, yet
his strength was rapidly coming back,
and with it a 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 it the night
before. He blew out the light, took
down one of the rifles from the wall,
loaded it, 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 it 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-
ney 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 it might be
true.
Then what was true? Who could be
guilty of such an outrage? Indians?
III olllaNo: JUG 1utSAl1l. A1lCS
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
remained undisturbed convinced him
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 men
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 the
range. In this case there was no APP
parent object-they had taken moth
ing, neither food nor stock. Then it
must have been Macklin.
His sudden disappearance was, at
least. proof he must have had a hand
in it. But why? To what end? Shelby
Strengthened up. a new flash of intel
ligence in his eyes. Perhaps this all
harked back to that early mystery in
her life. She had told him that Cal
kins had taken her from place to
place, apparently always afraid that
he vas being followed. Was it pos
sible that he had been huntsd down at
last that he recognized the approach
of the end. and had committed suicide
on that account? And was this strange
seizure Of Olga part of the plot, either
Of revenge. or restitution? This ex-
PLANTATION seemed more probable than
any other; in a way it appeared to fit
the case, although he possessed no
more knowledge of what it all meant
than he did before, Only, evidently
oil that had been desired was posses
sion of the girl, and that was deemed
of sufficient Importance to even justify
murder. He had been left for dead,
in order that she might be borne away
alive.
No longer doubling but what this
theory al least a~pproXimated the
truth. Shelby faced the facts frankly,
and with no further hesitation. 1t
"oS W. W iii ~ .dCt piOlnullS ilCle
was no n TO whom he could turn for
help. His eyes darkened. and his jaws
set. All right then, he would certain
ly give the Kid q run for his money.
There must be some trail left; such a
deed as this could never be accom-
plished without leaving some mark
behind. Whether they travelled on
foot, OF horseback. the party must
surely leave some trace of passage,
and Shelby. who had been the hest
trailer in his regiment, felt confident
of being able to run the outfit down.
With this once settled in his mind,
and his plan of pursuit outlined, Shell
by threw off his depression, and be-
came cool and resolute. First he
searched over every foot of ground
within a quarter of a mile of the
house. seeking to discover just how
Macklin had operated. and, whether
or not, he was alone. The result was
only partially successful. The hard
packed earth revealed little Of value.
| nnrpn hnIoyy tho ooh;r nv kI,o elDosor