The state herald., 1921-03-11

did II mean? Whai must II mean
this last one? He knew the meaning
of the first-dropped by chance he
had n very plausible surmsc as to the
story of the other, the one with the
knife thrust through 1t ut the three.
gnbled cabin, But this onc--this last
one?
The man wanted To hide that bit of
cloth right there. But why? The Pearl.
hunter raked his brain for the answer
Why? He must have been ignorant
that the other was hidden behind the
chink, or why should he have taken
such pains to hide this oneg He was
probably ignorant of the fact that he
had dropped the other one In the cab
In thnt night; possibly did not know
where he had lost II. II was even con
celvnble that the loss of II may hnve
occnsloned him no small anxiety. II
he did not know that he had dropped
the other mask in the cabin, he prob
ably wns unaware that the pcarlhunt
er knew him. The young man sat still
long time over that thought.
That he could with such apparent
readiness supply himself with another
mask after the first was lost suggested
n nearby rendezvous. undoubtedly
somewhere in the Flatwcnds-a ron.
dczvouS, or n confedrrarc But that
was unlike him-to have Il confcd.
,,I.
And his horsc-hc would not likely nj.
low himself TO get far from II. He
wouldn't dare ride 1t into the village.
Rocket, the famous thoroughbred OF
The Red Mask. was well known. And
horse can not be easily disguised.
But always, no matter where his
thought struyed. like man lost In
the woods and travelling In n circle. he
invariably came back to the starting
point--the question Why did he hide
the mask In the cabin? One thing was
certain. He didn't hide 1t without n
purpose.
He seemed 10 feel some Intangible,
indeiinable force for evil forming
about him-like spider webs across the
face; dellcateiy effective: hldcously ef.
ficlent. A kind Of dread crept out of
the silence and the solitude and
rrlpped his spirit. Danger; denth--
the Red Mask lugglcd with them as n
King juggles empires. Why didn't he
draw there in the saloon; wSy dldn't
he draw nt the fence? Thelc was
death In his eyes.
The scene ins the cabin thu first
evening crossed his ritm, when by
chance he had learned the secret Of
the mans identity; n secret shared
by no one else in the Flatwoods:
secret he dared not reveal for want
Of proof. He had often thought Of II.
Tonight freshened 1t in his mind com
polllnglyi the strange actions of his
mother; her farinG scorn; how She
mad sprung from her chair and beat
the intruder OF with the imperious dig.
nifty OF her eyes. Her story, the one
MI too brief word that had reached
him out of the sealed past. came TO
him again. Long and long he sat with
his head bowed over the table.
Dawn nt the east window surprised
him. He stepped TO the cabin door
The square OF moonlight upon the floor
was pale and sickly. Great shaft. OF
bronze thrust mp out of the east ana
iimmcd the stars. A mist lay along
the river like n cloud that had fallen
from the sky and loved the warm
earth so well that II refused to return.
He stood In the door md watched
he world wake up-his world; the
only world he knew. A half sleepy
twittcr here and there among the
trees; cronk down by the waters
edge: n squnwk over In the bayou: and
on the higher ground trlll now aud
then OF distilled witchcry-he knew
them nll. every voice. A crow wal.
lowed along In the purple light and
rasped the silence with his rnucouS
call He was answered by another
from somewhere across in the bot
IONS. The woods lifted Its thousand
voices: multitude shouting. ms at the
coming OF hero. And the hero wns
nt hand. The gates Of dawn opened
and he drove In. Bronze turned Ia
gold; the hills away In the south barred
the!r heads; sof, breeze crooned
along over the trees and blew out the
morning star.
In the enrly light the Penrlhuntcr
searched the ground about the door.
step for any tracks that might have
been left by the night prowlcr. In
the hard and moldy open ground he
found the marks OF boot. The heel
had only touched the ground once or
twice. He was struck by la small
size. i, was said by some that the
Red Mask had been gentleman aud
mn artist before he took to the road
The Pcnrlhunter could well believe II.
for certainly no other boot In the Flat.
woods could leave n print so small.
''hc heel had been somewhat worn
80 that the nails protruded slightly,
They had left very distinct row OF