Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1922-08-11

the very course he feared. Only his
illness kept her from going away. She
looked out, her mind In a turmoil Of
doubt.
Big Muskeg was at It's loneliest. The
gale was driving the snow before 1t in
clouds like spray, and the wind howled
through the gap in the bluffs. AS the
girl stood there she fancied that she
heard cry come across the frozen
swamp.
She slipped on the hooded coat
which she had left In the store, and
went slowly toward the portage, lis
tening intently. The driving wind had
swept portion Of the trodden road
clear Of the fallen snow. In this, near
the edge Of the muskeg. she saw the
imprint Of mans snowshoe coming
from the swamp. Her eyes, trained to
observation, detected Instantly that
there had been a loose string under
the ball Of the foot, which had trailed,
leaving an oblique blur across the
impression.
There was the one imprint, and no
more. And, as she looked at 1t, a gust
Of wind drove a cloud of snow over it,
obliterating it. Molly stood up. The
discovery, which seemed Of no impor-
lance, passed from her mind. Again
she listened.
Then, with the uncomfortable feel
ing that she was being watched, she
started and peered into the under
brush. A pair Of beady eyes watched
her. They were those Of Jules, the
half-witted deaf-mute. For the mo-
ment Molly was startled. Then she
stepped forward, and the Muskegon
vanished soundlessly among the under
brush.
AS the girl stood there she thought
she heard the cry once more. At once
she was running down to the edge Of
the swamp and, standing her ground
with difficulty in the fierce gale, she
peered out, sheltering her eyes with
her hand.
Then, dimly out Of the whirling
snow, she saw a figure stumbling to-
ward her, bearing on It's shoulder
something that looked like railroad
sleeper.
Sometimes it vanished from her
sight in the circular whirl Of sleet,
at others reappeared, stumbling into
the drifts, but ever nearing her. 1t
was within twenty-five feet Of her
when it slipped and there followed
the crash Of the rotten Ice beneath It's
feet. The figure broke through the
slushy layer into the muskeg below.
Thus Wilton Carruthers came to the
portage for the fourth time. And on
this occasion he was saved by the dead
man, for whose lifeless body he had
risked his own life. For, as he fell,
still clutching at what he bore, the
stiffened form slid out over the IN
broken surface and held him head and
throat above the bog.
In a moment Molly was running to-
ward Wilton. Once his head went I'M
der, and she cried out In despair, but
he reappeared, and seemed to cling
automatically to his support, for his
eyes were closed and he was uncon-
scious. His face was frozen white;
1t was only the contraction Of the
frozen sinews Of his fingers that gave
him his hold on Joe's body.
It was then that, In her horror,
Molly recognized Wilton. She crept
toward the break, and lay down on the
ice, cropping toward him with her
hands. She shouted to him to hold fast
and, finding that he was already I'M
conscious, crept cautiously nearer over
the cracking surface.
Then she saw what 1t was that Will
ton had been carrying, and she recog-
nized Joe. Stunned momentarily by
the shock, she nerved herself to the
task Of rescuing the living. She still
crept forward until the upper part of
her body extended across the break.
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