Evening star., 1923-09-08

,,e uessed geo TO die. q strong man esaie
up ap5 arg brushed his tormehters aside
OF the mire Then the biggest ,iwaFf
OF o, al AL, let ny a huge smear straight
at hlm' His rescuer stood In the
way ana was struck. fete felt the
tnaalI nanas that held hls grow cold and
to do san.sSS m agony he tried to help.
stu in the bog, and he could uo
nothing. until Hrsily an angel foateG
dVinr anu foured something into the
so snah's. mouth. and as she did
<ne man grew instantly stronger,
90 ahkers closing once more on
| UP m gratitude, and the angel smiled
At him! Pete, with new hope in his
heart, moved his knees and found
ne could help himself little when
the angel smiled. She seemed to
bathe his, burning head with culu
ltll1 as she smiled. Even as she
did SO. the dying man looked on.
smiled family and said he could live.
With Il sigh, Pete rested his head on
soft green grass that somehow took
| the place of the swamp. He stretched
his aching limbs 1uxuriousiy and
! slept the sweet sleep of man
kissed in his dreams by a beautiful
woman,
Sunshine, flooding full in his face,
greeted Pete as he reluctantly opened
his eyes for moment to stare VA
cantly about. Almost at once his
eyes rested on the drawn form. of
Hawkins. and the scene OF the night
4 tefore with all of its horror. came
! back to him. He had slept long
| and forsaken his wounded friend.
With startled cry he sprang up
from a mattress on the floor and
! made for the wounded mans bed
eide. AS he did so form bending
! over the sick bed turned and faced
him. Steel blue eyes that wanted
TO lie merry, but obviously under
storm restraint. met his. and he
stopped as though facing an ap-
partition. Was he still dreaming?
Cold words shattered his doubts. II
see you are up. MIR. Allen. Your
patient passed the crisis at Midnight
vividly young, yet drawn with care,
turned to go.
Potter wheeled confusedIy from
| mad rush to the sick bed, to detain
| the lair apparition moment longer.
Wait. Angel. l mean, am l dream
ing7 Who are You; why are you
i here?'
! The girl raised her hand for silence
There may he burglars on the Bar
| barry Coast" her words were eloquent
with fine sarcasm. but certainly there
are no angels there" So saying, she
closed the door softly behind her.
stunned by the rebuke, Pete re-
! called his words of the night before.
Nothing mattered now. however, but
the life of Hawkins, and he turned
and softly tiptoed to the bedside.
Hawkins breathed evenly and well.
rested on Peter.
! We'll. boy. I've been-there-and
, back" he gasped slowly and with
| great effort then reiapsed into life
| giving slumber.
Pete. greatly refreshed by his sleep
| and still dwelling on the soul-satis-
| flying dreams he had had. pulled a
into the sunshine; A heavily armed
man sat beside a Are directly In front
| of the window. Clicking of poker
! chips and occasional loud voices as
sailed his ears from the adjoining
rooms. The scene of the near mur-
| der. trampled snew, and the trail of
: blood still bore mute witness to the
| aeonies of the day before. and he
shifted his gaze to the sick bed. Re-
alizing that his friend was being
| nursed back to life, only in all prob
ability to be foully murdered later on,
| for some unknown reason. sat badly
with the mountain sunshine and snow
! without. He remembered the fifty
, thousand dollars. hiding, so his cap
/ tors thought, in the mountains. Re-
| alization of his own helpless position,
, soon to be arrested as he was. and in
! all proba bility for the murder Of his
sters was carried out. flashed through
! his mind. Nevertheless. even these
thoughts failed somehow to strike
! terror to his heart. Instead. gre ten
: fields and laughing blue eyes danced
before him. Who was zone of
the gangster's wives. perhaps Yes,
! undoubtedly. yet what would have
! happened to Hawkins without her?
| He looked fondly into the face of the
! sleeping man. Did she only nurse
! fifty thousand dollars? But certainly,
, why else. Was she not one of the
! gangsters, living in the same house
with them? His lips curled bitterly.
| What wouldn't woman stoop to?
| If she only didn't look so much like
| the angel of his dream, Peter sighed
| and looked once more through the
| window.
| A sudden start brought him to his
! feet and he pressed close to the glass.
The figure of a man coming up the
| trail seemed to blot out the sunshine
and drag the swamp of Pete's dreams
along with him toward the house.
Pete thought back, then like a flash
| he remembered him. 1t was Butler
Garrett! The man he drank with at
the Gold Nugget saloon A feeling
of relief came over him. only instantly
to leave him as he thought of the
! letter to his father: 1t was Butler
who talked to the boy who carried
the letter for San Francisco
AS the man approached the door. a
| feminine voice greeted him.
Good morning, Butler" 1t rang out
-"Buller," she called him Butler!
Pete " inced. as the voice went on:
We've been expecting you all night
! long. Got your Mr.. Burglar all right"
The two were inside the house now
pate nh
lightly to the door to follow the con-
versation. She was still talking. But
why did they shoot this poor moan-
taineer? Is that part of the plan, too?"
, Pete heard her ask.
| Then. he's dead?" Butler seemed
| No" she answered. hes still
! alive"
Hell. Get me AL, hurry up"
As Butler thus spoke to the girl
! Pete stirred uneasily. How dare the
| brute order het about SO! AS he asked
| himself this question. he heard the
! approach Of man followed by angry
words from Bull
What's this AL, Hawkins amt
bumped"
! Were bumpin' fer money. amt
! we?" Alguin retorted.
achin' fer cash. Amt va allus got
! yer dough-"
! Sure. but we're collectin this time
fer keepin 'em alive. Listen" (Alguin
got confidentiaD the dip in there
! slips this Hawkins bloke the wad.
| fifty thousand bucks; he caches it in
the hills. jigs up and they go after it.
! see? Hawkins, when fits pipes er
workin' again. tips us where the su-
gar lays; blooey, we cash in all
around. get me?"
Gotta Butler srunted. where
| they ato"