Gunnison news-champion., 1921-02-11

UT.T4T NI - AA@ ANIAu
Of his situation ressserret itself. be
sat Up conscious OF Stiffness In every
join,. yet reinvigorated by several
hou-S O, rest He faced g day Of in
activiry. q hard demand upon a man
Of his temperament. and be was as
SLOW Hs possible over q measer break
fasr his eyes continually wandering
towurf the narrow opening. as his
mind sEain reviewed the Occurrences
Of The day before
Finally. unable TO rezis, the temp-n-
iiou !0uEer. he yentured TO thrust his
heal through the entrance 10 learn
something more definite as 70 his sur
rountlngs. All he could perceive was
the shelf Of rock. with a considerable
coping about its outer edge. together
with q few feet Of the descending
tran- On the other hand n new cleft
appeared In the front Of the clir over
y shsdowIng him. and t- suspicionei
ihat the path he had followed The
might previous continued upward
was. perhaps that secret passaEeway
which PanchA had said led finally To
the top of the gorge. and along which
she planned 10 guide their future es-
cape Beyond the outer edge Of the
shelf Their. was nothing but sky vIsi-
bic. and. believing the coping would
conceal his movements from ohserva-
tiou below, Shelby pushed his way out
through the opening. and crept on
hands and knees TO where he cautious
iy could gaze over.
He was higher up on the clir than
he had previously realized. although
its PERCEPTIONS front yet lowered men
acInGly above. The view below was
Ike that OF distant picture. It's de-
tails Indistlnct He felt no longer any
special fear Of being observed. how
ever and leaned far enough forward
10 see clearly up and down the broad
valley. His position lay somewhat re-
moved. around the angle OF side
rayIne so that he could no, trace the
entire course OF the Cottonwood. or
even discern the waterfall beneath
which he had entered the Hole. Yet
h. had q glimpse OF the main stream.
could pick out what he believed TO be
the log house from which he had es-
capped. while. within a grove so as to
b. scarcely dlstinguishabie. appeared
the roof OF another. smaller building.
He would not have noticed this. but
for thin spiral OF smoke arising from
the chimney. Fancha had said the
place where Olga was confined was
visible from this spot. Could this be
III 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-defned 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
ly 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 settlemen'sI or
was II possible that the troops had al
ready struck. and driven the rem
nants Of scattered war parties into
inns ilpAf AbA III flAt'l 'hrf
their presence in such numbers rem
dered his own position SO much more
precarious. and increased the danger
surrounding Olga. He felt that. In
spite OF his pledge TO the Mexican girl.
he could not remain In his hiding
place quietly. without endeavoring to
learn more of what had actually oc-
CURED during the night.
Indeed he could perceive no reason
why he should remain entirely mac
tive. At the very best she could ac-
complish nothing before night. and
had heic out very little hope for even
then. There were no signs that ne
was being sought after down below. 1t
might be that in the excitement OF
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 In
trailing him. What was the use, when
he must eventually surrenderi II
would he a simple matter to steal eau
tionsly 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. 1t would be far better for
him to know. Besides, this would be
no disioyalty to Pancha; even II she
sought him he would still be in the
path she must follow. and. so long ms
he remained undiscovered. Just where
he was concealed could make no pos
sible difference. The argument salts
fed his mind. because he felt he must
act: must make some effort OF his
,wu.
Descending was far easier than the
toilsOme climb through the darkness
II the night before. There was moth
ct.vhs o. 81 - 81,