The Clio messenger., 1921-05-19

| or savages on the warpath. There had
been no attempt TO plumber, or de-
stroy. The very fact that the ponies
remained undisturbed convinced him
that this was no deed of Indian raid
ers. That 1t might have been white out
laws 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 off cattle on the
| range. In this case there was no ap-
parent object-they had taken moth
ing, neither food nor stock. Then it
must have been Macklin.
His sudden disappearance was, at
least, proof he must have had hand
in It. But why? To what end? Shelby
| Strengthened up, a new flash of intel
igence in his eyes. Perhaps this all
harked back to that early mystery In
her life. She had told him that Cal
kins had taken her from place to
place, apparently always afraid that
he was being followed. Was 1t pos
sible that he had been hunted down at
last; that he recognized the approach
of the end and had committed suicide
on that account? And was this strange
seizure Of Olga part Of the plot, either
Of revenge, or restitution? This ex-
olanation seemed more probable than
any other; in way II appeared TO fit
the case. although he possessed no
more knowledge of what IL all meant
than he did before Only, evidently
all that had been desired was posses
sion Of the girl, and that was deemed
of sufficient Importance to even justify
murder. He had been left for dead,
in order that she might be borne away
alive.
No longer doubling but what this
theory at least approximated the
truth, Shelby faced the facts frankly,
and with no further hesitation. 1t
was up to him to act promptly; there
was no one TO whom he could turn for
help. His eyes darkened, and his jaws
set. All right then. he would certain
| ly give the Kid run for his money.
There must be some trail left; such
| deed as this could never be accom-
| plished without leaving some mark
behind. Whether they travelled on
foot or horseback, the party must
surely leave some trace Of passage,
and Shelby, who had been the best
trailer in his regiment, felt confident
of being able to run the outfit down.
| With this once settled In his mind,
/ nd ic y,1o -
by threw off his depression, and be-
came cool and resolute. First he
searched over every foot of ground
within a quarter Of a mile Of the
house, seeking to discover just how
Macklin had operated, and, whether
or not, he was alone. The result was
only partially successful. The hard
packed earth revealed little of value.
Down below the cabin on the sloping
side Of the hill, he found the mark of
high-heeled boot such as the Kid
wore, and, foot or so beyond, the
plain impression Of moccasin. A
hundred yards to the north the I'm
prints were again visible, making 1t
clear to his mind that the fugitives
|
The girl was evidently being carried,
and two men must have been engaged
on the job, one Of them possibly an In
dian. He passed straight on to the
ford to verify this theory, and here
the mud exhibited clearly the move
ments of both the fellows, while close
at the waters edge he came upon
| lt,,1v x-tlN tdh fla ri
had evidently hurriedly dropped in
guidance.
| 1t was clearly manifest now the d.
rection In which they had disappeared,
but Shelby remained unsatisfied. He
could not believe that they would at
tempt to escape thus on foot with
their burden. If Macklin had one as
sistant, 1t was highly probable there
| would be others also engaged In the
| affair. The opposite shore was de-
serted, and he crossed over, wading to
his thighs In the swift water, with
rifle flung forward, and eyes intently
! searching the further bank. The trail
was plain at this point; he could
easily trace the steps OF both men
| passing up narrow gully into the
first line Of bluffs, and there, In lit
tie open glade, he found where horses
had been tethered and tramped the
turf. They had evidently been held
for some time; had entered from the
north down a slight coulee, and de-
parted westward along a shelving
bank. There were five animals, all
mounted, to judge from the deep i'm
press of hoofs, and he followed their
passage as far as the crest Of the
bluff. They were well reyond view, of
course by this time, at ross that rough,
broken country, but he satisfied him
self that they were heading straight
for the Bad Lands.
Shelby knew now something Of what
he must contend with. The act Of alb
| duction, and attempted murder, was