The Pulaskian., 1921-01-20


 remained undlsturbed convinced him that this was no deed of Indian raid CTS. That 1t might have been white out laws was not quite so easily dis missed. There were desperate men hiiing out wonder 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 ob1ect-they had taken noth- ing, neither food nor stock. Then if must have been Macklin.
 His sudden disappearance was, at least, proof he must have had hand in 1t. But why2 To what end2 Shelby strengthened up, a new flash 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 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- planation seemed more probable than any other; in a way it appeared to fit the case, although he possessed no more knowledge of what 1t 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 doubting but what this theory at least approximated the truth, Shelby faced the facts frankly, and with no further hesitation. It 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 1y give the Kid a 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. and his plan of pursuit outlined, Shell by threw off his depression, and be- came cool and resolute. First he searched over every foot of ground within a quarter of 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 a high-heeled boot such as the Kid wore, and, a foot or so beyond, the plain impression of a moccasin. 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.
 
 and two men must have been engaged on the job, one of them possibly an h. 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 a narrow pink ribbon, which the girl had evidently hurriedly dropped in guidance.
 1t was clearly manifest now the di- rection in which they had disappeared, but Shelby remained unsatisfed He, could not believe that they would at tempt to escape thus on foot with their burden. If Macklin had one as- sistant it 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 a 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 inn press of hoofs, and he followed their passage as far as the crest of the bluff. They were we'll beyond view, of course by this time, across 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 ab- ducticn, and attempted murder, was no sudden temptation essailing Mack