The Raymer enterprise., 1921-06-16

these cliffs. Eet may be several daya
before ! will dare act: you must be
patient. When we come will bring
arms, but didn't dare touch any to.
night"
You will not tell me where my wife
is being heldY
"What good. senior! You could aid
her not at all. There Is no great harm
coming to her yet. Sacrista why you
worry about her7 / bring her with
me; did not promisey'
"Yes, / trust you. Pancha." be said
warmly, "and will do Just what you
say. But-but. don't you understand
II knew where she was l would feel
better"
She laughed almost srnrnfully.
Bah! what the difference, senorl
You not know II ! told you. But It's
not far away; perhaps by daylight
you might see eet from up there; log
house all alone under the blun. Yet
you lie hid. senior. and trust all to me.
II have promised that"
Good. senior; / win CO."
She drew her hand away. and he
knew she was gone. although no move
ment Of her figure could be distin-
guished. Shelby swung the bag Of
provisions again to his shoulder. and
began feeling his way blindly forward.
he had retained the knife, with
which he had effected escape from the
Abin. and. although the point Of the
blade had been broken. he did not feel
entirely unarmed. There was no pos
sibility for him to lose the way, the
unbroken walls shutting him tightly
In, 20 that even the star-decked sky
was invisible, while the path be must
follow led almost disxily upward. It
was boulder-strewn. and he fell twice.
yet toiled steadily on, never permit.
ting his hand to leave the guidance Of
the wall to the right, and carefully
testing the placing Of each foot In
fear Of some pitfall. he could neither
Judge time nor distance. yet II was
long before light came into the sky,
when he finally clambered over q rock
barrier across the path. and came
upon shelf Of stone. the left wall Of
this strange cavern abruptly disap-
pearing. Fearful Of what precipIce
might yawn there. a. soon a he again
attained his feet Shelby nattened him.
self against the one rock front remain
ing. scarcely daring to venture for
ward more than an inch or 10 At a
time. A few feet brought him to the
caves mouth, a mere hole. scarcely
wide or high enough to receive his
body. he explored the black interior
to the length Of his arms. finding It
larger within than at the entrance.
She insisted there was no danger. and
the silence seemed to prove the place
contained no inhabitant. Doubtless
the open shelf Of rock would be ex-
posed to view from the valley below
with the first flush Of day. To avoid
discovery he must creep in ont Of
sight.
This was accomplished without DIFF
ficulty, the door being fairly level. and
the roof rising 50 that he could almost
stand erect. Shelby explored every
inch Of the space. knife In hand, and
not entirely satisfied until the task
was completed. It was only a boz Of
. place. less than fifteen seet long,
and perhaps half as wide. narrowing
at the top, a. though In some great
cataclysm Of past ages two masses Of
rock had been hurled together, leaving
this little jog between. It was hot In
there. and Shelby. dragging after him
the bag Of provisions. removed his
coat. A few moments later he rolled
It into the form Of a pillow. and lay
down. staring up at the black vault.
He could think now. recall all that
had occurred so swiftly, and weave
this and that together. BE had acted
recklessly; there WIS no doubt Of
that. No one but a blind fool would
have ever ventured alone into this
place to free a prisoner. He should
have ridden to Ponca. and called upon
his friends for help; perhaps he might
even have been able to obtain the
services Of troop Of cavalrymen from
the fort down below-the major knew
him and would believe his story. Why
hadn't he done this7 Why had he been
so rash. and bull-headed7 The an
swer flashed into his mind. a. though
some voice had spokefr-it was love
Of Olga Carlyn! He knew It instant.
ly; made no further effort to deceive
himself. Lying there in that black
silence. staring blindly upward. he saw
the woman again as plainly as though
In the fiesh-saw her. and knew that
he loved her. Her eyes smiled at him,
with such wistfulness In their depths;
there was nothing sullen about her ex-
preston any longer: she was all wom-
an. and-he loved her.
He covered bis eyes with an arm.
and rolled over. Godl wasn't thers
anything he could do but waltz Hs
felt Wild to act; to accomplish some
thing: to strike some definite blow In
her behalf. His wife! She was his
wife-Olga Carlyn! II meant much to
him now. How deathly still II was !: