Gunnison news-champion., 1921-02-11

tween her lips -TheLe Is nothing to
DO but fOlIusE the gulch- 4 husdred
yards and there l. an opening At the
r -hf. q small eve You viii feel eet
Hirh your hand You need have no
you there. That + where you xiIl
Wal' until ! come
shelby tried II vain 10 distinguish
- outlines. he could only be sure o..
ter presence by the voice
~D0 not uss any FIRE she went on
vH-uiar'y -0r show you-sIf by day
iI=h'. They wilI seek you. and watch
rheS. cIiFs- Eet may De- sev-ral days
before I will dare act: you taust b.
patient. When We come ! will bring
arms. hu, I didn't dare touch any To-
night
You will not tell me where my wife
0. haiuE hsldT-
What good. s-nor' Y"1 could aid
her no, a. an There Is no great harm
coming 10 her yet. SacrIsta! Why you
voTry uhou, hort bring her with
me did not promIseT
"Yes. trust YOU. Pancha." he said
warmly. "and will de- just what YOU
say. Ru'-hur. don't you uHd-rs'sndf
n | knew where she was would feel
bc''s-"
She laughed almost sconfully.
"Bah' what the difference. senorr
You not know II told you. But tits
not FAR away: perhaps by daylight
you might see cot from up there log
houss I'll alone under the hluT. Yet
you lie hid. srnor. and trust all TO me"
Il have promised that"
Good. senior: ! will go"
She drew her hand away. and he
knew she was gone. although no move
men, Of her figure could be dlstin.
gulsi.d. shelby swung the bag of
provisions again 10 his shoulder. and
begnn feeling his way blIndly forward.
He had retained the knife. with
which he had effected escape from N.
cabin. and. although the point Of the
blade had been broken. he did not feel
entirely unArrnet. There was no pos
sihili'y for him 10 lose the way. the
unhroben walls shutting him tightly
III. ~ 'ltA' fhfl NV NHNE 7flf-Akf-l NNF
was Invisible. while the path he must
follow led almost dizzIly upward. I.
WHs h0ulder-strewn. and h. fell twice.
yet tollcd 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 pitfnll He could neither
SaA q,
long before light came into the sky.
when he finally clamhered over rock
barrier across the path. and came
upon q shelf OF stone. the left wall OF
this strange cavern abruptly disap-
penrlng Fearful Of what precipice
might yawn there. as soon as he again
attained his feet Shelby hattened him.
self against the one rock front remain
Ing, scarcely daring TO venture for.
ward more than an inch or so nj
time. A few fee, brought him to the
caves mouth. mere hole, scarcely
wide or high enough to receive his
body. He explored the black interior
To the length Of his arms. finding 1t
larger within than at the entrnnce.
sue lH~lNA'Nl filfff WIS no anu
the silence seemed to prove the place
contained no lnhnbltan,. Doubtless
the open shelf OF rock would be ex-
posed 10 view from the valley below
with the first flush OF day. To avoid
discovery he must creep In out OF
sight.
This was accomplished without diff.
ticulty. the floor being fairly level. and
the roof rising So 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. II was only box OF
Q place less than fifteen feet long
ana perhaps half as wide. narrowing
at the top. as though In some great
cntaclysm OF past ages two masses OF
rock had been hurled together. leaving
this little jog between. II was hot In
there. and Shelby, dragging after him
the bag of provisions, removed his
coat. A few moments later he rolled
II into the form OF n pillow, and lay
down. staring up al the black vault.
He could think now. recall all that
had occurred so swiftly. and weave
this and thai together. He had acted
recklessly: there was no doubt Of
that No one but blind fool would
have ever ventured alone into this
place to free 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 a troop Of cayalrymen from
the fort down below-the major knew
him and would believe his story Why
hadn't he done this? Why had he been
so rash, and bull-headed? The an
swer flashed Into his mind. as though
some voice had spoken-it was love
Of Olga .Carlyn! He knew II instant
iy; 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