, 1922-11-01
Continued From Yesterday
EPISODE ELEVEN.
The Place Of Pines

fallen out OF his pocket
O,t,,-,a shined him with an ehec
- torch. picked up the Wl
T-b.n hollinE the torch in one 49,
-, through the dead man :
no-tets very thoroughly
when ouintana had finished POI.
~ 1at morocco case "eIe
On Of Jewels. And 0uintana vas
~ wonder and suspicion
--.,,,..lv he looked uoon the dead
-ipon the slittering oonten's rs-
level o but always ms So.
,-.-ted 10 the dead. Inc
.h,dov- Of a smile edged Oiher9 -
ouirtana'a lips grew EraNer'
.,o,vlv. ike on who does ms 'ni"s
aloud; IN me
,,sui Cllnch? Are there uu'S
tbsn :yo sets OF precious h'on
two Flaming Jewels2-two gems %
E-,site IKE there never has h'en "a
~ ~. worr sxceD' only w more
or IL one set fa.se2 have
7 here one set OF paste fansimiesF
Nv frlen. Clinch. why 90 you Nc
.ha-o an. smile at me so YER iunhy
ru,a Won are amuse7 1
am wondering what o have done 10
me. my frlen' Ciinch.
Eo- a while he remained kneelins
Au-,ds tho dead. Then: All. bah" he
aid. pocketing the morocco cas- ana
getting TO his feet
He moved n little way toward the
omen trail. stopped. came back stooa
his rifle against a tree.
For n while he was busy with ms
sharp Spanish clasp knife WHITING
and fitting together two peeled WIGS
Tben no placed Clinch's hands palm
20 palm upon his chest, laid the cross
=, MS breast. and shined the result
with complacency.
Tben Quintana took off his hat
LAM sdike'" he said you ~
n mani . AIHos
The nieht had turned frosty. ouin-
,sna wet 20 the knees and very tired.
moved slowly. not daring to leave the
trail because OF sink holes
What he had to have was a fire; ne
realized that. Somewhere off the trail
In big timber If possible he must
b,,ild n fire and master this defdiy
shin that wns slowly paralyzins All
power of movement.
Al las: he came to a place OF pines
-firs. growth giants towering into
night. and, looking up, saw stars
Infinitely distant, where perhaps
those things called souls drifted like
wisps of vnpor.
when the fire took. ouintana's
thin dark hands had become nearly
useless from colo He could not have
crooked finger to trigger.
For n long time he sat close to the
niaze. slowly massaging his torpid
limbs. but did not dare strip off his
footgear.
later he ate and drank languidiy'
looking up at the stars speculatins
as to the possible presence OF Mike
Clinch up there.
what a chase C1inch had led him
after the Flaming Jewel. n now
C1ipch lay dead in ii forest-faint-
" smiling. At what7
In n very low, pa%ssionless voice
ouintana cursed monotonously as he
razed into the fire. In Spanish.
French, Portuguese, Italian, he
remembered Clnch's daughter. and
cursed Clinch. After a little while he
cursed her, e~,aborately, thorough
". Wishing her black mischance
awake and asleep, living or detd-
Presently ouintana sep after his
ovn fashion-that is TO say. looking
closely at him one could discover a
rlimmer under his lowered eyeltds.
And he listened always IN that kind
of sleep. As though a shodowy part
Of him were detached from his body
and mounted guard over It.
The audible movement of q woot-
-ouse venturing into the firelit cir
cio awoke ouin:ana. Again a drop
ninr leaf amid distant hirches awoke
him. Such things. And so he slept
with his wet feet to the fire and his
rifle across his knees; and dreamed
Of Eve and of murder, and that the
Frming Jewel vas but a mass of
gl-ss.
At that moment the cir, Of whose
white throat Q%uintana was dreaming,
and whining family in his dreams'
stood alone outside Clinch's Dump,
rifle in hand. listening, fighting the
creeping dread that touched her slen-
der body at times - seemed to touch
her very heart with frost
Clinch's men had gone on to Ghost
Lake with their wounded and dead,
where there was a filter shelter for
both. All had gore on: nobody re-
mained to await Clinch's homecom-
ing except Eve Strayer.
It was not yet dawn, but h girl
could endure tho strain no longer.
with electric torch and rifle h
started for the forest, almot running
at first; then, among h first trees
moving with caution and in silence
along the trail oyer which Ciinch
should long since have ~journeyed
homeward-
But nowhere could she discover
ANY impression resembling her step
father's-that great. firm stride and
solid imprint which so often she had
tracked through moss and swale n
which she knew 81 well.
once when h got w from her
knees after close examination OF the
muddy trail. she became aware of the
slightest faint in the night air-stood
with delicate nostrile quivering-ad-
vanced. st.ll conscious of the faint,
,-- aA..rNI- a.