The Snowflake herald., 1922-12-29

dIsputable fact that Size made q rather
alluring picture-eyes bright and hair
dark and strong arms bare to the ell
bow-as she came riding down the
pine-needle trail.
She came to the opening of the dim
mer trail and turned down it. She
entered still glen, and the color in
her cheeks and the soft brown of her
arms blerIaed well with the new tints
of the autumn leaves. Then she turned
up a long ridge.
The trail led through an old burn
bleak, eerie place where the fire had
swept down the forest, leaving only
strange, black palings here and there
and she stopped in the middle of It
to look down. The mountain world
was laid out below her as clearly as
In relief map. Her eyes lighted as
its beauty and its fearsOmeness went
home to her, and her keen eyes slowly
swept over the surrounding hill tops.
Then for long moment she sat very
still in the saddle.
A thousand feet distant, on the same
ridge on which she rode, she caught
+ sight of another horse. 1t held her
gaze, and in an instant she discerned
the rather startling fact that it was
saddled, bridled. and apparently tied
to a tree. Momentarily she though
that it's rider was probably one of the
Turner's who was at present at work
on the old Folger farm; yet she knew
at once the titled lands were still too
far distant for that. She studied close.
ly the maze of light and shadow of the
underbrush and in moment more dis
tinguiShed the figure of the horseman.
1t was one of the Turners-but he
was not working in the fields He was
standing near the animals head, back
to her, and his rife lay in his arms.
And then Linda understood.
He was simply guarding the trail
down to Martins store. Except for the
fact that she had turned off the main
trail by no possibility could she have
seen him and escaped whatever fate
he had for her.
She held hard on her faculties and
tried TO puzzle it out. She understood
now why the Turner's had not as yet
made an attack upon them at their
home. It wasn't the Turner way to
wage open warfare. They were the
wolves that struck from ambush. the
ra'tlesnakes that lunged with poisoned
fsngs from beneath the rocks. There
WAS some security. for her in the Folger
~.
She had Il strong man to fight for her.
q loaded rifle, and un'ler ordinary con
tlitiOnS the Turner's could not hope to
batter down the oaken door and over
whelm them without at least some loss
of life. For all they knew, Bruce had
a large stock of rifles and ammunition
--and the Turner's did not look for
ward with pleasure to casualties in
their ranks. The much simpler way
was to watch the trail
They had known that sooner or
later one of them would attempt to
ride down after either supplies or aid.
Linda was mountain girl and she
knew the mountain methods of sproce-
dure; and she knew quite wefIs what
she would have had to expect if she
had not discovered the ambush i'm time
Sne didn't think that the sentry would
,aotually fire on her; he would merely
J shoot the horse from beneath her. 1t
would be simple feat by the least
of the Turners-for these gaunt men
were .marksmen, if nothing else. It
wouldn't be in accord with Simons
plan or desire to leave her body lying
still on the trail. But the horse killed.
flight would be impossible, and what
would transpire thereafter she did not
dare to think. She had not forgotten
Sinon's threat in regard to any attempt
to go down into the settlements. She
knew that it still held good.
OF course, if Bruce made the excur-
sion, the sentry's target would he
somewhat different. He would shoot
him down as remorseiessly as he would
shatter lynx from tree top,
The truth was that Linda had
guessed just right. Its the easiest
way" Simon had said. They'll be
trying to get out in very few days.
If the man-shoot straight and to kill
If Linda, plug the horse and bring her
here behind the saddle"
Linda turned softly, then started
back. She did not even give sec
,ond's thought to the folly of trying to
break through. She watched the sen
'tinel over her shoulder and saw him
turn about Far distant though h,
was. she could tell by the movement
he made that he had discovered her.
She was almost four hundred yards
away by then, and she dashed her
horse into gallop. The man cried
to her to halt, a sound that came dim
and strange through the burn anJ
then bullet sent up cloud of ashes
a few feet to one sde. But the range
was too far even for the Turner's. and
she only urged her horse to a faster
pace.
Shp flew down fIto ra, :,