The Adair County news., 1922-03-21
H'You CO en- Alone From Here, senor."

/ lC ~ ~%&
s'You CO en- Alone From Here, senor"
osEling 70 her yet. Sacrlsta! why you
sr5rry about her? I bring her with
qne; did not promise?"
sEYes. I trust you, Pancha," he said
warmly, "and will do just what you
szy. But-but, don't you understand?
HI knew where she was l would feel
aeSter."
She laughed almost scOrnfully.
bah! what the difference, senior?
Gpa not know if told you. Eut It's
Uos far away; perhaps by daylight
r9u might see eet from up there; log
hcsfSe all alone under the bluff. Yet
yUa lie hid, senior, and trust all to me-"
y have promised that"
Good. senior; I will 60"
She drew her hand away, and he
koew she was gone, although no move
soant Of her figure could be distin-
gEished. Shelby swung the bag of
provisions again to his shoulder, and
began feeling his way blindly forward.
he had retained the knife, with
which he had effected escape from the
cabin, and, although the point of the
hasde had been broken, he did not feel
es1frely unarmed. There was no pos
saality for him to lose the way, the
sTsbroken walls shutting him tightly
In. 50 that even the star-decked sky
WAS invisible, while the path he must
folf0w led almost diZZily upward. II
WIS bOulder-strewn, and he fell twice.
yet toiled steadily on, never permit
ting his hand to leave the guidance Of
Ehe wall to the right, and carefully
testing the placing of each foot in
fear Of some pitfall. He could neither
badge time nor distance, yet it was
7n1g before light "ame into the sky.
~Aan ne finally clambered over rock
BARRIER across the path, and came
stpoa a shelf of stone, the left wall of
97is strange cavern abruptly disap-
reAring. Fearful Of what precipice
gzsgAt yawn there. as soon as he again
STAINED his feet Shelby 1attened him
self against the one rock front remain
Gag, scarcely daring to venture for
ward more than IN inch or so at a
Sarse A few feet brought him to the
cares mouth. a mere hole, scarcely
wide or high enough to receive his
AOAy. He explored the black interior
~ the length of his arms, finding it
Rssger within than at the entrance.
She Insisted there was no danger. and
sisS silence seemed to prove the place
csssiained no inhabitant Doubtless
ta,s- apen shelf of rock would be ex-
pissed to view from the valley below
with the first flush of day. To avoid
discovery he must creep in out of
sight.
This was accomplished without diff
p seulty. the floor heiTfg fairly level. and
she roof rising 50 that he could almost
sand erect. Shelby explored every
0ch of the space knife in hand. and
BOT entirely satisfied until the task
zas completed. 1t was only box of
a place, less than fifteen feet long,
sad perhaps half as wide, narrowing
as the top, as though in some great
xataclysm of past ages two masses or
ssek had been hurled together, leaving
sAls little jog between. 1t was hot in
1here, and Shelby. dragging after him
ahe bag of provisions, removed MS
coat few moments later he rolled
Il into the form Of a pillow, and lay
down, staring up at the black vault.
- z,11 oil
Aad occurred so swiftly, and weave
this and that together. He had acted
Eseklessly; there was no doubt OF
that No one but blind fool would
have ever ventured alone into this
place to free a prisoner. He should
aave ridden to POnca. and called upon
ais friends for help; perhaps he might
even have been able to obtain the
services Of a troop Of cavalrymen from
the fort down belOw-the major knew
sim and would believe his story. Why
hadn't he done this? Why had he been
30 rash. and buli-headed? The an
sTer flashed into his mind, as though
some voice had spoken-it was love
af Olga Carlyn! He knew it instant
"; made no further effort to deceive
himself. Lying there in that black
efence, staring blindly upward he saw
the woman again as plainly as though
In the fesh-saw her, and knew that
he loved her. Her eyes smiled at him,
with such wistfuIness in their depths;
there was nothing suIlen about her ex-
preston any longer; she was all wom-
an. and-he loved her.
He covered his eyes with an arm,
and rolled over. Godl wasn't there
ANYTHING he could do but wait? BE