The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1923-07-12

! could ,ot ride. But he wouldn't die
for a vile. To leave him here where
the rli 'iers would find him might
mean a confession wrung from him
that wo, III tell of the getaway trail
by Spur 'ock and Nipple peaks. He
shook Hahn by the sound shoulder.
"Brace up" he said. "You can hide
in Split Rock cave. I'm going to put
the girl In there. Take another drink.
Pick up some grub, There's water In
the cave You can come out soon's
the coast Is clear"
"IIl not be coming out" said Hahn
huskily. But it's a good move" He
weakly collected the bottle, some
scraps Of food.
Pllmsoll stopped over Molly, coming
out Of her faint, and gagged her
with her own scarf as her eyes
opened and looked at him. He took
IF her belt and strapped her arms
behind her back. Then. despite his
wounded wrist. he lifted her easily
| enough and strobe with her out of
the door. Hahn following.
( Hahn's horse was standing there
| ohediently with pendent reins anchor
ing it! Blaze and Piimsoll's black
were nlpping grass in the little corral
where they had been placed. Blaze
whinnied at the sight, or the scent,
Of his mistress. PlilnsOll turned lnto
a cleft. stopping at a rock whose al
most fiat surface was level with his
feet. q great mass Of granite that
some freak of ~weathering or convul-
sion of earthquake had split almost
in half. Into the crevice a wild
grapevine had twined, and died.
Can you make II, Hahn?" he asked.
The dealer nodded and kneIt, using
his sound arm TO aid himself by the
tough fbers, braclng with his knees.
Down some ten feet in the crack he
looked up. his CHASTITY face pallid in
the shadow, with an attempt at a grin.
"GOod-by, Pllm,'' he said. "Good
luck What do | do with the grip
keep her from calling out. She's
gagged hut she might try 1t. Make
her nurse you. Do anything you d-n
please with her!"
Hahn dropped out Of sight. Plim-
soil did not wait, but picked Molly
up from where he had deposited her.
a helpless bundle, on the rock.
"The bottoms soft down there" he
said. Sand. II amt more than. IF
teen feet. Down you go, you HI cat
They'll have a fine tine locating you.
And you've got a dying man for com.
pany. He'll be a Sead one before
morning"
He lowered her, feet down, released
her and watched her disappear. He
swung about and ran back to the
corral, his hurt arm t%hrobbing with
his exertion. He fling himself into
the saddle of the black horse, once
leader of a sllckear herd Of wild mus
tangs, magnificent fer speed and sym.
metry, worthy a better master, and
galloped out of the corral. out of the
Side-ravine, into the open park. The
rough towel about BIS arm was becom-
ing soaked. Every jump Of the black
horse seemed to Increase the bleed.
ing. The squirt # fictitious e. ergy
that had carried him through since
the arrival of Cookie was dying away.
But he was on a mount that none
could match. he vas going on a trail
that was hard 20 follow, practically
unknown. Unless he was headed off,
he could break through. At Nipple
peaks he could rest, attend to his
wound.
A shout, a br"ct whistling past that
nicked the stations ear and sent him
plunging and bucking. warned him
that his enemies had found the way
in and were after him. He did not
look back. but bent forward in lis
saddle and sunk the spurs into the
blacks TANKS. The half-tamed mus
tang's indignant bounds spoiled the
aim of the marksmen, and, though the
steel nosed missiles hummed like bees
about them. they gained the shelter
of the same trees that had covered
Cookie. Belly almost TO ground, the
black swept over the cropped turf at
racing speed. the drum of his hoofs
like distant thunder. crest high. Grim.
~scn-satin nostrils fiaring, mad at the
sting Of the red notch In his eur.
Round the elbow Of the Hideout
with Brandon's men distanced. into
the gorge at the south end. A wild
scramble up a steep slope and the
way to Spur rock was clear. Pllmsoll
smiled grimly. "D-n them, I'll beat
them yeti" For a second he was sill.
houetted against a skyline. then hs
plunged down. Fresh droppings told
him that Reynolds had won clear. He
was safe from pursuit. II the wound
he should have ~cauterized It. But .
He refined In for a moment. The
sound Of a shout rang In his ears. II
was AN echo. he fancied, II must bs
an echo. flung back from the noun
tain walls ahead. But II could NEAR
nothing else than a v~iew-hallo0. Some
ono had glimpsed him disappearing