The Glenwood post., 1921-01-08

'stanf more, HIldreth pushed through
the buckbrush and stood revealed In
the moonlight. A-u oH'97
II there is one quality that means
success in the mountains 1t is con-
slant, unceasing self-control. Gran
ston thought that he had 1t. But per-
haps he had waited too long for Hill.
dreth to come; and the strain had told
on him. He had sworn to take no
false steps; that every motion he
made should be cool and sure. He
didn't want to attract Hildreth's at
tention by any sudden movement. All
must be cautious and stealthy. But
in spite of all these good resolutions,
Cranston's gun simply leaped to his
shoulder in one convulsive motion at
the first glimpse Of his enemy as he
emerged into the moonlight.
The end of the barrel struck q
branch of the shrubbery as 1t went
up. 1t was only soft sound; but in
the utter silence 1t Travelled far. The
gun barrel caught the moonlight as 1t
leaped. and Hildreth saw its CLINT in
the darkness.
He was looking for trouble. He had
dreaded this long walk to the settle
ments more than any experience of
his life. He didn't know why the let
ter he had written, asking for an
armed escort down to the courts, had
not brought results. But 1t was
wholly possible that Cranston would
have answered this question for him.
This same letter had fallen into n GER
tain soiled, deadly pair of hands
which was the last place in the world
that Hildreth would have chosen, and
It had been all the evidence that was
needed, at the meeting of the ring the
night before, to adjudge Hildreth a
merciless and immediate end. Hill
dreth would have preferred to wait in
the hills and possibly to write another
letter, but a chill that kept growing
at his finger tips forbade 1t. And all
these things combined to stretch his
nerves almost to the breaking point
as he stole along the moonlit trail un-
der the pines.
A moment before the rush and whir
Of the grouse flock had dried the roof
Of his mouth with terror. The tall
trees appalled, him, the shadows fell
upon his spirit. And when he heard
this final sound, when he saw the
CLINT that might so easily have been a
gun-barrel, his nerves and muscles re-
acted at once. Not even fraction of
second intervened. His gun flashed
up and a little. angry cylinder of
flame darted. as a snakes head darts,
from the muzZle.
Hildreth didn't take aim. There
wasn't time. The report roared in the
darkness; the bullet sang harmlessly
and thudded into the earth; and both
Of them were the last things in the
world that Cranston had expect
ed. And they were not moment too
soon. Even at that instant, his finger
was closing down upon the trigger,
Hildreth standing clear and revealed
through the sights. The nervous re-
sponse that few men in the world
would be self-disciplined enough to
prevent occurred at the same instant
that he pressed the trigger. His own
FIRE answered, so near to the other
that both Of them sounded as one re-
port.
Most hunters can usually tell, even
II they cannot see their game fall,
whether they have hit or missed. This
was one Of the few times In his life
that Cranston could not have told. He
knew that as his finger pressed he had
held as accurate bead" as at any
time in his life. He did not know still
another circumstance-that in the
moonlight he had overestimated the
distance to the clearing. and instead
Of one hundred yards 1t was scarcely
fifty. He had held rather high, And
he looked up. unknowing whether he
had succeeded or whether he was face
to face with the prospect of duel
to the death in the darkness.
And all he saw was Hildreth, rock
ing back and forth in the moonlight
a strange picture that he was never