The Adair County news., 1922-11-07


pletely escape. swept through him.
They were worth fighting for, those
fertile acres.
Not for nothing have hundred gen.
erations Of Anglo-Saxon people been
tillers of the soil. They had left a
love of it to Bruce He knew what
it would be like to feel the earth's
pulse through the handles of plow, to
behold the first start of green things
in the spring and the golden ripening
in fall to watch the fiOcks through the
breathlesS nights and the herds feed
ing on the distant hills.
Bruce looked over the ground He
knew enough not to continue the trail
farther. The space in front was bathed
in moonlight, and he would make the
best kind of target TO any rifleman
watching from the windows of the
house. He turned through the coverts,
seeking the shadow of the forests at
one side.
BY going in a Quartering direction
he was able TO approach within two
hundred yards of the house without
emerging into the moonlight. At that
point the real difficulty of the stalk
began. He hovered in the shadows,
then slipped one huRdred feet further
to the trunk of great oak tree.
He could see the house much mora
plainly now. True, it had suffered nei;
lect In the past twenty years 1t need
ed painting and many of it's windows
were broken. Bruce rejOiced to see
that there were no lights in the east
wing of the house; the window that
Linda had Indicated in the note was
just a black square on the moOnlit
wall:
There was a neglected garden close
to this wing of the house. If he could
reach this spot in safety he could ap-
proach within a few feet of the house
and still remain in cover. He went
fiat, then slowly crawled toward it.
Once light sprang up in a window
near the front, and he pressed close
to the earth. But in a moment it went
away. He crept on. He didn't know
when watchman in one of the dark
windows would discern his creeping
figure. But he did know perfectly Just
what manner of greeting he might ex-
pect in this event. There would be a
single little squirt of fire in the dark
ness, so small that probably his eyes
would quite fail to catch it. If they
did discern it, there would be no time
for a message to be recorded in his
brain. 1t would mean swift and GER
tain end of all messages. The Turner's
would lose no time in emptying their
rifles at him, and there wouldn't be the
slightest doubt about their hitting the
mark. All the clan were expert shots
and the range was close.
The place was deeply silent. He
felt growing sense of awe. Ip a mo-
ment more, he slipped into the shad-
Ows Of the neglected rose gardens.
He lay quiet an instant, resting. He
didn't wish to risk the success of his
expedition by fatiguing himself now.
He wanted his full strength and
breath for any crisis that he should
meet In the room. where Linda was
confined.
Nevertheless, the stock of his rifle
felt good in his hands Perhaps there
would be a running fight after he got
the girl out of the house, and then his
cartridges would be needed. There
might even be moment of close work
with what guards the Turner'S had set
over her. But the heavy stock used
like club, would be most use to him
then.
Many times. he knew, skulking fig
ures had been concealed in this gar
den. Probably the Turner's, in the
days of the blOOd-feud, had often wait
ed in its shadows for sight of some
one of their enemies in lighted win
dow. Old ghosts dwelt in it he could
see their shadows waver out of the
corner of his eyes. Or perhaps it was
only the shadow of the brambles,
blown by the wind.
Once his heart leaped into his
throat at a sharp crack of brush be-
side him; and he could scarcely re-
strain musculer jerk that might have
revealed his position. But when he
turned his head he could see nothing
but the cOverts and the moon above
them. A garden snake, or perhaps a
blind mole, had made the sound.
Four minutes later he was within
one dozen feet Of the designated win
dow. There was a stretch of moon
light between, but he passed it quick
ly. And now he stood in bold relief
against the mOOnlit house-wan.
He was in perfectly plain sight of
any one on the hill behind. Possibly
his distant form might have been dis
cerned from the window of one of the
lesser houses occupied by Simon's kin.
But he was too close to the wall to
be visible from the windows of SimOn's
house, except by a deliberate scrutiny.
And the window slipped up noiseless-
ly in his hands.
He was considerably surprised. He
had expected this window to be locked.