, 1922-11-03
CONTINUED From Yesterday


CHAPTER III
Eve picked W her rife. She was
trembling violently. Then. master
s,r her emotion, shs walked over to
.he mack. placed ouintanz's rifle and
nacki1aw in II, cooliy hoisted Il TO
her shoulders and buckied I. there.
Over her soulder she kept an eve
on ou,ntzua who crouched where ne
had fallen. u~nst.rrinE, his deadly
eyes watching Scr.
SIZE placed the muzzls OF her rife
sxsinst his stomach, rested II So
holding it with one hand. aud her
finger at the triSger.
Az her brief order he turned out
both breeches pockets- She herseW
stopped and Drew the Spanish clasp
Knife from It's sheath At his belt. took
= n,s.ol from Tire holster. another out
~ his hlo pocket. Reaching up n
behind her. she dropped these into
"Naybe, she said Slowly. your
ankle Is broken. III send somebody
from G;satt lake to find you But
vbsthnr you've a broken bone or not
,.o,I.u no, go very far. ouintnna- ..
After I'm gone you'll be able TO
,,e. yourself. But you can't GET
swav. You'u be followed and caught.
g. N Won can walk at all you'd bet
ter 60 in TO Ghost Lake ana sNe
yourself I'd. It's that or
you've got a watch. Don't sur OF
touch that rap for haf an houi'
And that's all"
As she moved away toward 'no
Drowned Valley trail she looked BACK
At him. His face wac put
his black eyes blaezd.
aIf ever you come into this forest
again. she said. my father VIII sure
TO her horror ouintana slowly
,-lnned at her. Then. still grinnins'
he niacod the f~orefinger Of his let
hand between his teeth and bit IL
wbstever he meant by the ses-
,,,re II seemed unclean. horrible; ana
nc gIrl hurried on. seized with an
erha,minr loathing through
-rhIcb a sort OF terror pulsated IKE
sv;l r,emoniuon IN a heavy anu
tortured heart.
Straight into :he fire Of dawn she
sned. A rale primrose hsht gum
msred through the woods: uees,
n,.bes. underground turned a oushy
S,-.Io AlreaSy the few small CLOUDS
ersrna.d were edged with fiery rose
Tnan of a sudden. a shaft of flame
- oye- the forest. The u had
risen. ~, -of,
Fastening, she searched the soL'
r,tb for any imprint OF her AN
49, foot. And eve in the yam
s.arch she hoped TO find him az ZONE
~l,7,rrled on burdened with Two ri'es
and a ack still nil nervous ana =
omiyer from her encounter with
ssrcIv. surely, shn thought. il he
,.d missed o~uintana in Drowned
vaIIev he would not longer In tina,
zh.st,v MACE; he'c' come home can
a. HE men. take counsel, perhaps
,t,s, over star Pond was dissolving
Golden powder in the binding
~ the sur. The eastern win
- ,anes In Clincb's Duno glittered
az tbourh the rooms inside were all
on fire. ava
.or,,b she hurried. ran across the
rrasz 10 the kitchen door which
swung aiar under its porch
v.Dad" she called. "Dad.'
onlv her own frightened voice ecsi'
,sd in the empty house. The bed lay
undisturbed as she had made He was
not In n Of the rooms; there were
no signs OF him.
sIoyl,- she descended to the kitchen
He was not there. The food she mad
nrepared for him had become cold on
a chilled range.
For a long while she stood staring
through the window at the sunlight
outside. Probably, since Quintana
had eluded him. he'd come home for
somethinE to cat. Surely, now
that Quintana haG escaped. Clinch
would come back for breakfast.
Eve slipped the pack from her back
and laid it on the kitchen table There
was kindling in h wood-box- she
shook down the cinders, laid a fire,
soaked it with kerosene, lighted 1t.
filled the kettle with fresh water.
In the pantry, she cut some hame,
and found eggs. condensed milk, but
ter. bread. and an apple pie. After
she had ground the coffee she placed;
all these on a tray and carried them
into the kitchen
Now there was nothing moro TO do
until her father came. and h sat
down by the kitchen table to wait.
Outside tho sunlight was becoming
warm and vivid. There had been no
frost after ali-or. at most. merely a
white trace in the shadow-on a fall
len plank here and there-but not
enough 20 freeze the ground. And
in the sunshine. II all quickly turned
to dew and giittered and sparkled in
T. million hues and tints like gems
she had poured into her fathers
Joined palms-ysterday-thcre at the
ghostly edge OF Drowned Valley.
At the memory, and quite mechan-