Gunnison news-champion., 1921-01-21


With @ supreme effort be drew him
self Into a s!ttiag posture. and stared
rathsr lrausiy shout AZ the objects re
veaied 10 the gray dawn
IT, -hi as Instantly restored bis
neu0ry. the cabin door stood @Ide
open. 'si as be left IL. and within the
lamp SIN burned on the table. IN the
nidsr u 'hs dirtisd dishes. She had
rot ?, Irued then be had becn lying
thers one all night. IT, realization
madd ei him 20 ssrort. and. by grasp
Ing ar the door for support be attained
bis feet and stood there for a mo
rnent svaylng dizIily. Exactly what
had occurred be could DOT determine:
the ~ hole affair seemed more like q
dreau rhHn q reaiity He had left her
fheT" 1Uparen;ly cheerful and happy.
hinge uIth him; he had not been ab-
sen; 20 exceed thirty minutes. and not
so faT aWay but what any cry would
surely have reached his ears Ye;
whrl te returned she had vanished
utterly. leaving everything untouched.
whareyer occurred must hny. been
brought TO pass almost immediately
upon hiS departure. before she even
began the work OF cleaning up. Blu,
how could such thing happen with
out any Hlarmf Why. the Kid vas
working within ten feet Of the house.
and must have heard the slightest
SOUND of a struggle The Kid whore
wAs hr uuywHyf WHIST had become OF
the fellow all this tim.r He was no
who In sight when Shelby retraCed
his -r-ps Up the path, Could 10 he
Ia he Kid 'Sns the one guilty 0f this
dec n so. what wus his ohtect7
Not -abbery. surely. 'or the place had
bO' h"sl ransacked. or anything re
mor ,. from his pockets. Yet surely
this was not Indian work: Il bore no
re~eru nIGuce 20 savage raid The
quss'.Uus we're unanswerable: no
meu'aI effort gave him any clue, yet
his strength was rapidly coming back.
and with II o grim. determined anger.
whlrh urged him into action.
F.-sf be went through the deserted
horar room by room. seeking for the
sl.-Iest sign 81 guidance. but finding
noaa Everything remained precisely
as hc remembered seeing II the night
bcsH-c. lie blew out the light, took
dosrn one OF the rifles from the wall.
loaGrf II. and then. feeling his old
ST. 9Th returning. cautiously stepped
our through the front door. The buck
boari stood there. gnunt and stripped
eN.rpt Tor the box between the rear
Wltnf's. He peered into this. and
found II sim half filed with bundles
Mrcsl!n had not completed his job.
Other evidence being furnished by the
eHrtHruished and overturned lantern
or the ground just beyond But there
was no sign visible OF any struggle.
Surely she had not left Of her own
choice That was unihinkabIe She
had appeared cheerful and contented.
even actually Interested In the new
lgfe. besides. II she possessed the
slightest desire 10 escape, he had Of
fered her every opportunity on the
way out. and she had refused Surely
she would never have come way ou,
there to make her dIsarreGnble jour
hey over again nj night Even II crazy
enough for such an attempt. the effort
would never he made upon foot. and
Ill 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 II was
so easily disposed Oft had vaguely
haunted him al first. causing him to
dread the discovery that II might be
true.
Then what was true1 Who could he
guilty Of such an outragef indiansI
White ouilawsI Joe Macklinl These
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
n sayages on the warpath. There had
heen no attempt TO plunder. or de-
stroy. The very fac, that the ponies
remained undisiurbed convinced him
hat rhis was no deed Of Indian raid
ers. That II might have been white out
avs 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 oc-
casionally to run on cattle on the
range. In this case there was no ap-
parent object-they had taken MOTH
ing. neither food nor stock. Then II
must have been Mackiin.
His sudden disappearance was. n
Ieaxt. proof he must have had hand
in II. But wbyf To what end, Shelby
straightened up. new flash Of ipfel.
ligence In his eyes Perhaps this all
harked back to that early mystery in
her life. She had told him that Cal
kins bad taken her from place TO
place. apparently always afraid that
he was being followed. Was II pos
sibls that he had been hunted down n
last: that be recognized the approach
Of the end and had committed suicide
on that account? And was this strange
seaxure Of Olga part Of the blot. either