Gunnison news-champion., 1921-02-04

tomorrow Wen Settle This Case"
app rance quite at his ease. I.aud
'clo-,I the door and the prisoner heard
HIN secure II With stout wooden
bar he stood there mo'lulIess. en-
de- ring 20 collect his thoughts.
III. mile 20 longer on his lips ad-
jus Is hts eyes iu the darkness.
1..7o wns a window high up. but
-, ..' =Iy too small for the passage Of
bl- .-s,y. yet sIEhi CLEAN "f star
IE' found Its way through the open.
In nlrh was further barred ny two
ST. Wooden SHAKES He stepped ST.
Ter across and tested them. finding
IL, -'iItly embeilhed In the logs. He
fe , way cautiously about The room.
wi DO was Of small iImensIon, con-
tn . ouIy single stool. and cot:
tn "uyr was punchcon and the walls
OF u- heavily pIusiered with mud.
], rIaCe offered apparently no op-
pnr nifty for escape. and Shelby sat
do on the edge Of the cot dlscour-
hg,.A
lie could distinguish the voices OF
H. 'nrce without plainly enough 10
d.rrrmlne VITO was speaking. but their
w,-a- were IndlsrIuEulshHble- Then
n, nurmur finally ceased. and he
th.srhI one uf the men had left the
h".s.. perhaps both. yet that was
hn-Wy likely Someone remained GER
uuly. for there was movement. and
IT, sound Of feet. mingled with the
c'- u dishes. pancha was evidently
cr,arfug on the table His thought
e,rr,rgd on her. Had he made mis-
irae IN thus suddenly cuntidinE his
true story 10 her earsl Yet so far as
he knew, she had said nothing to In
jure him. and had made no effort TO
reveal his secret indeed her actions
lind rather expressed fesr of i.aud.
and n certain sympathy for him: sure
ly fhni wn~ what he had read In The
depths q her eyes, Yet huw could
this he accounted for? She must GER
tainly be one with these others; ;
brought up probably from chilhhood
In the atmosphere o. crime, and Ger
tainly loyal 10 her brother. II nothing
else. What then could possibly Iniu-
cnce her TO show him the slightest
consideration!
He sat with head In his hands, en-.
ieavoring to solve the mystery. and,
out from the dark, possible explana.
ton flashed into his mind Macklin.
Gould any relation she might have
with this fellow account for desire
TO wish his escape aliveT II might;
The fact that he was already the hus-
hand of the woman Macklin planned
10 marry would quite naturally ex-
plain the entire situation under Ger
tain conditions. II that rascal had
made love to her, and now deliberate
ly planned 10 desert her for another,
the Spanish blood would account for
all the rest. BY heaven: that must
he IT! He recalled the InsIstence OF
her questioning; the flash of her eyes,
the threatening CLEAN of her white
teeth. Unconsciously he had touched
the secret spring, and unloosed the IL
ger. Jealousy was the weapon-a love
turned to hate. the fury of woman
sconed- To get Olga out OF her path
forever. she would risk anything. dare
anything. Here then. was his one and
oniy chance.
But could the girl serve him. even II
she desired to do so? He realized
the seriousness Of his position; his
helpiessness without some outside aid.
He had been blind fool to venture
into this den alone; and even blind
er fool to claim friendship with Han
ley. The morning would find him com
pletely exposed and he had little
doubt what form vengeance would as
sumo Mt the hands Of these men. He
was like a condemned man In his cell
waiting heiplessly for the certain hour
Of execution. Worse than that. even;
for his fnte must inevitably seal also
the fate OF his wife. Her only chance
Of rescue lay In his efforts, and he
| was helpless. There was not a thing
he could do; yet he tried again and
again desperately, testing the punch
cons Of the floor. block by block. dig
ging at the dried mud between the
logs Of the wall; endeavortng to gain
scme leverage upon the hinges Of the
door, and tugxing once again furious
ly at those wooden stakes protecting
the narrow window. His fingers bled
from ne frantic effort to thus loosen
something. to yield him an opportuni-
y to really exert his 'ssrengths These
eRoets were utterly useless: thefe was
not . spot Of weskness to be discov-
eresa5 r. the place had been originally
Constructed ~ . prison II could not
have heen mere securely built. Men
taIly and physically exhausted. be