The Raymer enterprise., 1921-07-07

Laud that he would leave her and mar
~ you. II drove her crazy and she
shot"
Il can understand that-yes." Olga
burst forth, "and later she was sorry.
! believe II was she who came back
and took the body away"
Il hardly see how that theory helps
much. How could she take himT
perhaps she may know some Sc
cret passage There might be one un-
derneath. ] do not know. yet In what
other way could the body have been
removed?"
Shelby shook his head gloomily, his
eyes searching the floor for any evi-
dence and finding none. To all ap-
pearances It appeared smooth and
solid.
Il don't know" he said. "That Idea
may be as good as any. You might
take this broken knife Of mine an
see II you can start anything. What
was goin' on out thereT' -.
Nothing much that I could see.
There are men hiding behind the bank
OF the creek; think they are Indians.
and there may be others off to the
right In the weeds"
Just guard left there to see that
we don't get away. They'll wait until
dark and then try to burn us out,
! reckon; the bucks don't like my
shooting. That was a rifle"
"Yes; the bullet struck the log"
He crossed over and looked out anx.
iously.
Il thought It might be signal. but
guess not. Don't seem to be any
thing moving"
He Strengthened up again, his eyes
surveying the room. III we only had
two more In this outfit we might give
those Gevils run for their money.
The trouble Is we can defend only
two sides, an they know it-anyhow,
Laud does. I'm goin', to haul this
bench over on that side; then you can
stand up there. and shoot through that
hole In the window while pepper
them from here In front. Well make
It hot while It lasts"
She watched him shift the bench,
and then stood upon 1t to look out.
The sun had gone down, and the val
ley swan in purple haze. II she
would utilize what little light still re-
mained, she must search at once.
Nothing out there3"
Il can see nothing moving. It Is
growing dark. Let me take the knife" +"
He gave It to her. and she got down
upon her knees on the floor, anxiously
testing the openings between the
blocks with the broken blade. Shelby
turned his head occasionally, barely
able to distinguish pr movements, yet
felt little confidence in the success Of
the effort. Any attempt at escape
through the door would be suicidal; In
all probability, In spite of the silence,
and seeming loneliness of the scene
without, dozen rifles were even then
| trained on the entrance, ready to
shoot them down the instant either
appeared And there was no other
way out, unless 1t might be through
some secret passage existing under
ground. Macklin had certainly dlsap-
peared somewhere; the vanishing of
his body was no miracle, and this
theory Of how 1t might have been ac-
complished alone appeared reasonable.
In spite Of his doubts. the man held
to a measure Of hope; nothing else
than this remained which he could
cling to: their only chance lay In
some such discovery. Yet the woman,
cropping on her knees In the deepen.
ing darkness gave no sign Of encour-
agement. Shelby could bear the strain
no longer In silence.
There Is nothing to be found?" he
asked anxiously, mo appearance Of
trap" ... ..
She lifted her head, with face
turned toward him. 81
Nothing that seem able to move"
she answered. II have found a block
which does not appear to At as tightly
as the others; can get the knife
blade between, and It doesn't seem
to touch any earth below, yet the
slab Is immovable."
LET me try my strength"
.He started back to join her, but at
| tfAt instant there came q sudden
burst Of rifle fire without. bullets
thudding into the cabin walls. the
| sound punctuated by savage yells.
Shelby whirled about instantly, and
| dropped to his knees with eyes peer
Ing out through the opening between
| the logs. Olga also deserted her
search, and climbed to her post Of de-
fense on the bench. The bullets did
no damage, generally finding billet In
the solid logs, although few crashed
through the panking Of the door. To
Shelby the meaning was sufficiently
plain; the real danger lay, as he ex-
pected, at the rear; all this noise was
being carried on merely to attract
their attention. He called across, un-
able to see his companion, but well
aware where she was.
"Don't waste any SHOT until you see
something within range. Those fel-
lows out there are just plugging away
blIndly. They'll never rush this side.