The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1922-02-13
Copyr!ght, BY Doubleday, Page Il Co.
= Continued from Page p


ing. He wished TO- see for himself just
what the damage had been to the
trestle. and he hoped to meet Goff or
4 Ball. or Torrey, and learn some
thing that would be to his advantage.
+ Before he had covered two miles, he
had seen two of the enemy skulking
I through the woods, and he recognized
/ them for Torreys from Jerusalem
Cove and Hatton's He'll; he knew it
by their very swarthy skin, their high
cbcckhones and their coarse black
baIr the outcroppings Of the Cherokee
Indian blood in them. They looked
cunning and wicked. Dale loosened
in its holster the big revolver that
Major Bradley had persuaded him to
carry for his own protection. John
Moreland had taught him how to use
t firearms. ~s ~ ,...@ St33r.5yS.s HI, g.
st point near where. the little
4 stream that flowed past. the Halfway
switch emptied into Doe river, where
+ Doe river turned almost, squareiy to
the left, Dale halted abruptly. He had
seen a man dart behind a scrubby oak
some thirty yards ahead of him; quite
naturally, he concluded that. the fell
low meant to Waylay him, and he, too,
stepped behind tree, big hemlock.
-. A silent minute went by Then Dale
put his hat out on one side Of the tree
and peeped from. the other side; it
was an old trick that Grandpap More
land had told him about. "A rifle
cracked promptly and sharply, and a
bullethole appeared in the rim of his
hat. ,a@ &&ur1.,st l.. >. .%.3E So
Following it, there came the coarse,
bass, voice of Black Adam Ball, the
mountaineer Goliath:
'You CANT fool me-. !, Jest shot to
put a hole in yore new hat and to
show ye at I amt, no bad shot. You
CANT hit my hiatt 5 '.14. TIT, 81. q
| Dales temper, the temper that had
always been so hard to Keep under
ooltwl, rose quickly. Hegtried to rea-
son with himself, and couldn't; his
ysseuion mastered him. He snatched
the big revolver from itssAslelster! and
lecckt1 it. With as steady hand as
i ever held weapon trained, lie began
to take aim at Balls SLOUGH hat, the
! half of which was in plain. view at one
She VI the scrubby oak. t..
II fooled you once, back there, in
+ the. middle of the river he cried hot
ly, t:.and< now I'm going. to fool you
again !" I Sael:,t. Z - ...
There was. In his voice, that old, old
primitive rage, which frightened him,
and puzzled him too, in his better mo-
ments. %5:>tt't "a@5-s-35 g.,
He let down the bead until it was
barely visible in the notch, and eased
off the trigger. The revolver roared
| and spat forth tiny tongue Of fame
and little cloud of white smoke. Ball
sprang erect wheeled, and fell crash
ing to the leaves! IT..
| Dale dropped his weapon. He went
as white as death, and his: two hands
clutched uncertainty at his throat. He
was a murderer! No, he. Jwasn't-fis
bullet had gone wild; t,,had struck
Balls head on the other side Of the
j tree, by accident. But how could he
: prove that it had been an accident?
I. Would any jury believe him? 1t was
4 far: from probable. - I'D q. -
- He stepped from behind the hem
lock-, and went toward the writing
Goliath, whose legs only We're visible
/ now. Nv rtr 7ss"%%,,a n F. Sc, -, " IT,.
Then third shot rang out on the
morning Stiffness. 1t had been fired
! from a point some little distance
= away and Dale's condition of mind at
/ the moment was such that he didn't
! even note the direction from which
! the sound had come. He was unhurt,
i and he had not heard the whine Of a
I bullet or the pattering of shot on the
2 leaves When he looked about him,
! he saw no one (; neither did he see any
telltale smoke. Perhaps, he thought
| dhnly, it had been st sguirrel-hunter
j that had fired that shot. He forgot
about it very quickly for the time be-
/ ing, and went on toward Adam Ball,
who now was lying perfectly still.
There was bullet-hole through and
| through the great, shaggy Head. The
!, face behind the Short curly black
UtdLu..rAiiso Vi tLlS-sss S'Lol tS3o heS -
soIpstone. The giant hillman was
/ dead. -. Es -5't 4...&l ;: r.
Elf Dale knelt there beside Black
| Adam. Again he clutched ut throat
with his two shaking hands. and this
time he tore his blue flannel shirt. Ill
! the agony and all the re1liorse In the
I universe seemed to be gatherins there
! in his heart Never before had he
seen death. Its grim presence terrified
! him. That the deplorable hing had
! been an accident, due to his faulty
craftsmanship. mattered little. He
had killed a man, and the biood-red
{ brand of Cain was burning away on
! his brow; he was man in a he'll Of
7 his own making. And kileeling there
| Bill Dale sobhed :. great sob that
/ shook his broad shoulders as violent
/, ague would have shaken them. 4
lie tried TO look at the bh1e-edged
hole in the shaggy head ;at the Cruel
! BRITISH face that was soG che scolorless