The Adair County news., 1922-03-07
CHAPTER VII.
The Trail to Wolves, Hole.

| more. The vague shadows of the two
men had vanished. but their progress
through the underbrush could be plain
ly distinguished. Feeling themselves
absolutely alone IN that wilderness
neither made the slightest effort to
proceed silently. Shelby sat upright
on the edge Of the gully, straining his
eyes through the darkness.
A strange fortune had brought him
the very information he most needed.
His whole thought centered instantly
on the fate of the girl. What course
would she choose under these circunS
stances, when the facts were finally
revealed to her? Undoubtedly she be-
lleved him dead; her captors would
impress that fact upon her first of all.
so as to make her realize her COM
plete helplessness. Besides, she cared
nothing for him; had married him in
differently, merely to thus escape
| from q worse fate. He could not hope
that loyalty to him, under such condi-
tions, would greatly influence her de-
cision. Somehow the thought hurt
Shelby, and brought to him the knowl-
edge that he did care. He cared very
much indeed, and this truth colored
| his thought and decision.
he dare not follow those men at
present; he could only wait where he
was, and plan his course of action.
| There was no danger of his losing
| them, for he knew where they were
| going, and, in a measure, at least,
| about who they were, Shelby had
never been In that strange sink known
as Wolves hole, but he had talked
with man who had. An immense
/ hole in the Bad Lands, through which
| flowed a branch of the Cottonwood, a
| strange malformation of nature, so
| completely concealed as to be invisible
until the surprised traveller stood on
fits very edge, and stared down into
the gloomy depths below. The walls
were precipitous, impossible except
on foot by daylight, and at only two
points could the sink be entered on
horseback; from the west beneath the
protection of a cataract, where the
stream plunged headIong over high
ledge of stone, and from the other
Il
extremity down narrow ravine
through tunnel scooped out. by some
torrent in Iong-past ages. Originally
discovered by wandering trappers,
who camped there out of the winter
storms, it had later become the head
quarters for an Illicit Indian trade In
liquor, and finally the rendezvous for
criminals of all kinds, eager to get
beyond the reach of the law. 1t was
rumored that there was actually a
town there, with women of a class.
with a certain rude attempt at gov
ernment by a few self-constituted au-
thorities.
Shelby visioned all this in his men,
ory, questioning his chance of ever
successfully invading such a spot with
out arousing suspicion. It was plain
Iy proven by their testimony that
Macklin was taking his captive to this
spot for safe hiding. He and his In
dian accessories had ridden on. anx.
ious to reach this security with as 1T
tie delay as possible. But would Shell
by dare to follOw2 To be sure, except
to the Kid, he was unknown. which
might make him welcome. Yet the
danger of detection was great.
Apparently, there was no other
feasible way in which he could hope
to serve Olga. He weighed this, with
no conscious thought of himself, cold.
ly and deliberately counting the
chances, and decided to make the at
tempt.
Convinced as to his duty, and urged
| to II by the personal interest he felt In
the girl. Shelby cast all hesitancy
aside. He would make the attempt
fortune had surely favored him thus
far. and might again. He went back
to where the buckskin waited, mount
ed the animal, quiet enough by this
time rode down to the edge of the
stream. and sal silently in the saddle
while the beast drank. 1t was a dark,
clear night, the stars overhead like
lamps in the sky, the air cool and
fresh. He turned the pony up the val
ley, making no effort to hurry the anil
NAL. desirOus only at present Of keep
| iiS wei III lile rear Vi IIle Two DOTSS-
men ahead. He knew the course they
| would take, must take, up the valley
of the Dragon as far as the great
bend, and then across the plateau un-
til they reached the Cottonwood. He
would simply follow cautiously until
daylight. then search for the trail to
make sure, and endeavOr, from some
elevation. TO pick them up with his
| field glasses.
The grass in the valley was thick,
but not long. 1t presented no obstacle
to travel, but the horses hoofs made
no noise. Finding the rider undemon-
| strative, the buckskin lowered his head
and moved forward steadily at rapid
walk, Shelby swaying in the saddle,
haif asleep, yet keenly awake to any
| unusual sound.
Hour after hour passed. the valley
narrowing as they advanced, the hills
on either hand growing darker and
more sharply defined, and the ribbon
NE Il -