The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-03-27
CHAPTER x-continued.

Sii' tNtNN 'iSb IN
opened his eyes, to discover himself
in his own room in the cottage upor
khe claim.
He thought he was dreaming; and
when at last he convinced himself OF
the reality of the four walls he i'm
sgincd that he had dreamed every
ching, from the assault to Sheila.
Then the honest face of Sam ap-
peared before him, like a dusky half
moon; and Winton had never seer
Sam with so much pleasure in his life
before.
whats happened?" he asked.
tits all right-it's all right, Mr..
Garrett" said Sam, putting a cup of
water to his lips. Winton drank
gratefully and, too weak to make in
quiries, went to sleep again.
Later in the day he awoke, feeling
more like himself. Sam was still at
his bedside, in exactly the same posi-
ton that he had occupied before.
"Sam, tell me what's happened"
said Winton in perplexity. did 1
dream about the burglary"
mo. indeed, Mr.. Garrett. But that's
all over and done with. If you'll go
to sleep, sir"
"Did l ride out into the desert?'
"Well-yes, Mr.. Garrett. But you're
back home now, and that's all"
Tell me how l got here at once,
Sam
"Well, Mr.. Garrett" said Sam re-
luctantly, Il happened to find you in
the desert
"How far outT'
about ten miles, sir. You were
los. and you'd tainted, and your head
was cracked open. You wanted to
fight me, sir. / had quite a little diff
Guilty getting you home, sir. And you
fell off the horse twice. You gave me
this, Mr.. Garrett," he continued, point
ing to one optic, which Winton no
ticed was discolored. But that's all
over and"
when, SamT
1.-TWO days ago, Mr.. Winton. You
see, your head had been cracked open,
and o weren't altogether RESPONSE
BILE. l don't think I'd have got you
home, Mr.. Garrett, if you hadn't sud-
denly collapsed. The doctor was quite
doubtful until this morning."
Sam said Winton humbly, "may
I shake hands with your"
Sans black hand went out and met
Winton's white one. After that Win
ton lay very still, thinking of Sheila.
1t was not until the following day
that he learned what had happened.
The police had discovered from the
evidence of natives in the adjoining
that Kash had been engaged ]
for weeks In the excavation of the
The expectation at the start
to have been that Winton
would make his headquarters In Ma
lopo. His presence on the claim
proved disconcerting; and since MUIR
der would have meant the certainty of
ultimate arrest, and the prescribed
penalty, Van Worst had resorted to the
chloroform outrage to avoid the COM
of o capital crime.
However, Burns had heard the men
the cottage, and had exchanged
with Kash, killing the Armen-
Ian, but suffering a serious head in
Jury from a blow by Van Vorst's re-
pieee of bone was pressing on the
speech center, for, though fully con-
scious and considered out of danger,
Ned could only utter meaningless
and was consequently unable
20 describe what had occurred.
They had tried to get his evidence
n writing, but the marks that he
upon the paper were meaning +
ess.
An inquest had beer held promptly. f
Burns had been exonerated, and q ver- {
Of justifiable homicide returned. c
for the information of the Y
.3echuanaland police, who hoped to q
ound up the fugitive. T
Van Vorst's action was the most Y
nexplicable part of the affair. The h
eneral opinion in Melopo was that g
and cautious purchaser of f
tolen stones in the country, had sud- Il
emily developed a streak of vicious h
ess and adventure. There had been
ak of sending a body of police into d
he native territories in pursuit of c,
i'm, but ultimately it was decided to b
all the border posts to watch II
)r him. Through one Of these Van Fl
orst must eventually pass on his ie
ay back to civilization. b,
What surprised Malopo most, per- st
apps, was the fact that Van Worst had e,
to such pains in order to secure a L
ngle stone of no extraordinary value
at least, not Of enough to make it's til
,ssession worth outlawry. Winton sy
lzzled over this for some time until al
leila's explanation suddenly came
lex into his memory. DC
II Davis and De Witt had plotted tn
e robbery, In order to get him into b.
cir power, they would stop at moth cl,
and they must have some knowl- re
-