The Arvada enterprise., 1921-04-28

str0y. 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 70 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 of cattle on the
range. In this case there was no ap-
parent objsct-they had taken moth
Ing, neither food nor stock. Then It
must have been Aacklin.
His sudden disappearance was, at
least. proof he must have had q hand
u It. But why1 To what endf Shelby
Strengthened up. a new fash Of intel
ligence 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 It pos
slble that he had been hunted down at
last; that he recognized the approach
Of the end. and had committed suicide
on that accountl And was this strange
seizure of Olga part Of the plot, either
q revenge. or restitution This ex-
PLANTATION seemed more probable than
any other; In q way 1t appeared to 1T
the case. although he possessed no
more knowledge Of what It 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 Appropriated the
truth, Shelby faced the facts frankly,
and with no further hesitation. Il
was up to him to act promptly; there
was no one to whom he could turn Tor
help. His eyes darkened, and his jaws
set. All right then. he would certain
~ give the Kid a run for his money.
There must be some trail left: such .
deed a. 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.
and his plan Of pursuit outlined, Shell
b. threw OF his depression. and BE-
came cool and resolute. First he
searched over every foot Of ground
within Q quarter Of Q mile Of the
house. seeking to discover Just how
Aacklin Aad operated. and, whether
OF 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, be found the mark Of
high-heeled boot such ~ the Kid
wore. and. foot o. 20 beyond. the
plain impression Of q moccasln. A
hundred yards to the north the i'm
prints were again visible. making It
clear to his mind that the fugitives
were then making for the lower ford.
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 q
narrow pink ribbon. which the girl
had evidently hurriedly dropped In
guidance.
1t was clearly manifest now the d.
rection In which they had disappeared.
but Shelby remained unsatisned. He
could not believe that they would At.
tempt to escape thus on foot with
their burden. II Mackllh had one %.
sistant. II was highly probable there
would be others also engaged In the
affair. The opposite shore was de.
serted. and he crossed over. wadlng to
his thighs In the swift water. with
rife hung forward. and eyss 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
nrst 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 . slight coulee. and de-
parted westward along 4 shelving
bank. There were I've animals, all
mounted. to Judge from the deep i'm.
press Of hoofs. and he followed their
passage a. far a. the crest Of the
blum. They were well beyond view. Of
course by this time. across that rough.
broken country. but he satisfied him.
self that they were heading straight
for the Rad Lands.
Shelby knew now something d what
he must contend with. The act Of ab-
duction. and attempted murder. WAS
no sudden temptation assaillnG Mack.
lin. but undoubtedly part Of Q weli-or.
eanixed plot. Whatever their object.
Ave men wer< concerned In the out.
rae. their intention probably the
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