Evening star., 1921-12-18

had crept almost to his shoulder now.
, He filled a pan with snow and set il
on the stove. Then. bending close to
the blaze. he thawed the newspaper
| from his wound and began his agon-
izing task
IT was In vain. Only the probe of
surgeon could withdrawn that bull
let from Its resting place: only a sur
| geon's skill and antiseptics could stay
the Injection that he knew had al
ready set in. Slowly he laved the
| wound. taking painful comfort in the
touch OF the hot water. Then. with a
! strip of cloth torn from his shirt. he
bandaged his hand and turned to the
! warmth of change of clothing and
the old sheepskin jacket hanging on
a hook near the bunk.
| He was ready for food now, and he
devoured it eagerly-the canned pro
visions left there in the autumn for
| the lost men of winter. Then he pre-
| pared to go, to travel onward through
| the night in his circular trip back to
the railroad.
Carefully he hid the clothing he had
discarded. He bent to cast the blood
stained paper on the flames As he
, opened the stove door the freight
CLEANED on his tired. pain-lined face.
He raised the paper-his jaw dropped
! and he knelt there staring at the
sheet. A name in the headline, shor'
dispatch from San Francisco: THAI
was all. but II turned the world back
! fer Bart Carson. Cheated.
So that was why she had been on
that eastbound train. That was VIII
her eyes were red from weeping.
why the courage had sprung to life
Within her. why she had shot him,
Cheated, He read the dispatch tone
lessly:
"SAN FRANCISCO. December %
Walter A. Walker, thirty-seven, for
merly of Rawlins. Wyo. was struck
and instantly killed by an automo-
bile here today while crossing q
street Failure to hear the horn Of
the motorist was responsible for tn
accident"
And beneath it was the "oftiee
note
Walker was the husband of Mrs.
Lou Walker. who achieved much no.
toriety several months ago by indu"
| ing Bart Carson, the train robber.
! who now is terrorizing Wyoming rail-
roads, to confess. On the night of his
escape from the penitentiary Mrs.
| Walker was almost successful in ef-
| fecting his recapture, but Carson mad"
his getaway just as the sheriff ar
rived. She prepared to leave for San
| Francisco Immediately upon receipt
! of the telegram announcing her hus-
| bands death"
| Cheated. Tricked again beaten.
harried. outwitted, Slowly, Bart Car
son stuffed the paper into the fire and
watched it burn, watched it until IL
had become only black. crinkled
mass amid the embers, Then heavily.
wearily. he rose and stalked from the
cabin back into the night.
| The snow had ceased falling. The
sky had cleared, and the stars Were
shining through the branches of the
| few pines about the little shack.
Duly Bart Carson wondered what
they resembled. then after long
time he realized. Candles he NUT
J tered, ION a Christmas tree! Well
I've got my present"
And he stood for a long moment
staring at the night-the vacant gaze
of a beaten man. He had stolen for a
single purpose, that he might gain
the money with which to track an
enemy In the light of what he had
read. the romance of his quest had
faded The future held nothing now.
he was only a lonely. broken. cheated
lcowpuncher. racked with pain. gaping
out into a world of tangled. snow
laden pines and underbrush, mottled
hills, drift-filled ravines-and a spot
which moved in the distance.
There was no need for conjecture.
The smoke. the faint lights of a fire.
visible for miles, had done their work.
A moment the convict stood unde
cided. Then. flash of the old reck-
lessness flooding over him. he turned
and re-entered the cabin. An hour
later sheriff left his horse hun
dred feet away and creeping sound
lessly to the little snow-banked win
dow, peered within, On the bunk he
deserted the outline of a human form.
1t was enough. He went to the door
and opened it carefully, only to halt.
THAT you, Price?"
i X * -
1.-THE tone was sleepy and petulant.
The sheriff hesitated. That was
not his name-and he had never heard
Bart Carson's voice. Perhaps-a mis-
take
\ mo" He blurted it. IT'S Sheriff
Henry. Who are you
i Quit yer kiddin'. Price. I amt
feelin' set for it. Gimme a drink.
will you?"
The sheriff moved closer to the
bunk. For second his gun hand
dropped. A cry! A thudding kick as
, a heavily-booted foot shot forth. The
; gun clattered to the floor as the
sheriff doubled from the blow in his
stomach. A second more and he was
PROSTATE. Bart Carson standing over
him with the six-gun. calmly regard
ing him in the dying light of the fire.
A grin came to the cowpuncher's pale
lips as his gaze caught the CLINT of
handouts protruding from pocket.
He forced his bandaged hand slowly
forward. and, hooking the manacles
with a crooked finger. dangled them