Cavalier County farmers press. (Langdon, N.D.) 1920-1921, 1921-02-10

and took the body away"
u hardly see how that theory helps
much. How could she take him?"
Perhaps she may know some Sc
cret passage. There might be one I'M
derneath. do not know, yet in what
other way could the body have been
~removed?"
Shelby shook his head gloomiIy. his
eyes searching the floor for any evil
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
e it you can start anything. What
was goin' on out there?"
Nothing much that l could see.
There are men hiding behind the bank
OF the creek; I think they axe Indians,
and there may be others off to the
right in the weeds"
Just a guard left there to see that
we don't get away. They'll wait until
dark and then try to burn us out.
l reckon; the bucks don't like nv
shooting. That was a rife"
"1es; the bullet struck the log"
, He crossed over and looked out any-
! iously.
Il thought it might be a signal. but
guess not. Don't seem to be any,
: thing moving"
f: He Strengthened up again. his ewes
surveying the room. eff we Oplv had
TWO more in this outfit we might give
those devils a run for their money.
Inc 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 I pepper
them from here in front. Well make
it hot while it lasts"
She watched him Shift the bench,
and then stood upon it to look out.
the sun had gone down, and the val
ley swan in a purple haze. If she
would utilize what little light still re-
mained. she must search at once.
Nothing out there?"
~ can see nothing moving. 1t is
growing dark. Let me take the knife"
He gave it to her, and she got down
upon her knees on the floor, a%nxiously
testing the openings between the
blocks with the broken blade. Shelby
turned his head occasionally. barely
able to distinguish her 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, a dozen rifles were ever then
trained on the entrance, ready to
shoot them down the instant either
appeared. And there was no. other
sway out, unless it might be through
some secret passage existing under.
ground. Macklin had certainly disap-
peared somewhere; the vanishing of
his body. was no miracle, and this
theory of how it 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.
,HTlorr 81. nn+b;,, D., h> f,,,J ~, H.,
asked %anNiously, mo appearance of a
trap?'
She lifted her head. with face
turned toward him.
"Nothing that I seem able to move"
she answered. 81 have f0und Il block
Which does not appear tt fit as tightly
us HE others: | car get the knife
blade between, and ii doesn't seem
to touch amy earth below. yet the
slab is i~mmovable.'
Lei me try my strength"
He started back to join her, but at
that instant there came a sudden
burst of rifle fire without, bullets
t%hudding into the cabin walls. the
sound punctuated by savage yells.
shelby whirled about instantly. and
dropped to his knees with eyes peer
ing III through The opening between
the logs. Olga also deserted her
search, and climbed TO her post of de-
Tense on the bench. The bullets did
no damage, generally finding billet in
the solid logs, although Il few crashed
through the planking of the door. To
Shelby the meaning was sufficiently
plain: the real danger lay, as he eX-
pected, at the rear; a. this noise was
being carried on merely to attract
their attention. He called across, I'M
able to see his companion. but well
aware where she was.
Don't waste any shot until you see
something within range. Those fell
lows our there are just plugging away
blindly. They'll never rush this side.
Keep your eyes wide open though.
Pm going back. and try to knock off a
board from that rear window. If L
can get 4 few shots out there We'll
block their little game. You hear?"
yes; ! think one or two are crawl
49,