The Pulaskian., 1921-03-03

| coping about it's outer edge. together with few feet of the descending trail On the other hand a new cleft appeared in the front of the cliff over l shadowing him, and he suspicioned i that the path he had followed the night previous continued upward was, perhaps, that secret passageway 1 which Pancha had said led finally to { the top of the gorge, and along which she planned to guide their future es- cape. Beyond the outer edge of the shelf there was nothing but sky visi- ble, and believing the coping would 4 conceal his movements from observa- ! tion below, Shelby pushed his way out l through the opening, and crept on 1 hands and knees to where he cautious ly could gaze over.
 He was higher up on the cliff than ] he had previously realized, although l it's precipitous front yet lowered men, l acingly above The view below was like that of a distant picture, it's de- tails indstinct He felt no longer any i special fear of being observed, how l ever and leaned far enough forward ]
 i to see clearly up and down the broad valley. His position lay somewhat re- moved around the angle of side ravine so that he could not trace the l entire course of the Cottonwood, or even discern the waterfall beneath which he had entered the Hole. Yet he had a glimpse of the main stream. could pick out what he believed to be the log house from which he had es- caped while, within a grove so as to be scarcely dfstinguishable. appeared the roof of another smaller building. He would not have noticed this. but for a thin spiral of smoke arising from the chimney Pancha had said the place where Olga was confined was visible from this spot. Could this be it? He stared down a long while, but without reward.
 Yet there seemed to be much pass ing and repassing along the main val ley; black, ill-defined figures of men on horseback almost constantly visible. He was surprised at the number, never having supposed that this colony of outlaws was so numerous. An other thing, while he could not clear lv distinguish such small objects at that distance, the majority of these riders had the appearance of being In dians. Could they be Sioux warriors gathered here in preparation for some raid on the exposed settlements? or was fl possible that the troops had al ready struck. and driven the rem nants of scattered war parties into this Hole for refuge? In either case their presence in such numbers ren- dered his own position so much more precarfous, and increased the danger surrounding Olga. He felt that in spite of his pledge 10 the Mexican girl. ne could not remain in his hiding place quietly. without endeavoring to learn more of what had actually oc- cured during the night
 Indeed he teuld perceive no reason why he should remain entirely inac- tive Al the very best she could ac- complish nothing before night. and had held out very little hope for even
 then. There were no signs that he was heinz sought after down below II might be that in the excitement o1 other happenings. his escape had been considered as of minor importance that Indian Joe convinced that he could never get out of the Hole unob. served took no immediate interest ir trailing him. What was the use, when he must eventually surrender? Il would he a simple matter to steal eau tiously down through that deep cleft in the rocks, as far, at least, as the stream below He would be concealed all the way, and once there, hidden securely among those thick bushes, he might then learn what was actually occurring. Ii would be far better fol him to know Besides, this would be no disloyalty to Pancha; even if she sought him he would still be in the path she must follow, and, so long as he remained undiscovered, just where he was concealed could make no pos sibe difference The argument satis. fled his mind. because he felt he must act; must make some effort of his own.
 Descending was far easier than the toilsome climb through the darkness of the night before. There was noth- ing in sight so far as the mouth of the ravine where it opened into the main valley. Beyond that he could per ceve moving figures, and occasionally hear the sound of a distant voice. It was clearly evident to his mind that something unusual must have oc- curred-some news of disaster or ap- preaching danger-to arouse such ex- citement among the citizens of the Hole; and he also felt convinced that this more important thing had for the time being. at least rendered his own escape matter of small considera. tion If any attempt had been made