The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1925-02-20
eyes, instinct with the fOreknowledge

eyes, instinct with the foreknowledge
of death.
Lee was sick with the fear that he
would either find the girl dead-bat-
tered almost out of recognition among
the rocks-or missing; drowned in the
torrent below.
He searched every inch of the sur
rounding terrain within radius of
three hundred yards, and then aban-
doned hope. Anger, boiling up within
him, assisted in reviving strength He
would follow her murderers and shoot
them down like the wild beasts they
were.
Before leaving the side of the in
jured horse Lee drew his automatic,
which had remained buckled in his belt
holster throughout the fall, and merci-
fully ended the animals life with
single shot over the heart
Now there remained the pursuit,
vengeance-then the original duty of
picking up Peily. But he swore that
he would take one man, not three, to
Manistree
And, with the decision, he retraced
his steps, until once more he stood be-
side the gorge between the dead
horses
The contents of the packs had burst
from the broken canvas and lay scat
tered everywhere, but the rifle was not
to be found Two or three cartridges
at the edge of the chasm, were all Lee
found
Reluctantly he came to the con-
clusion that his rifle lay at the bottom
of the river.
He turned doggedly to take up the
pursuit again. But as he was passing
the girls horse, something yellow and
shining on the ground caught his eye.
He stopped to examine l.. Long
tresses of pale, yellow-brown hair
coiled round his fingers.
1t was the hair of the girl!
He tried to pick it up, but the ends
were pinned under the dead animal,
probably caught in the broken girth
The ends that lay upon the ground APP
peared to have been roughly severed
with a knife.
There was no doubt it was the girls
hair, and the tresses must have been
severed within a few inches of her
head, for there was more than three
feet of them in view, trailing along the
ground.
He tugged at them to detach them,
but it was matter of considerable
effort, and he only succeeded in re-
leasing them strand by strand. At
last, however, he managed to detaeh
them, and, after a moments hesita-
ton, he thrust them into the bosom of
his shirt.
And theii af sudden he understood
what had happened, and his heart
gave bound. The girl had not been
flung into the water.
She must somehow have become
pinned by the hair beneath her horse
ing on her, and her hair had been
cut off to effect her quick release.
She was not dead. She had been
carried off by the two rufians.
1t was nearly dark when Lee
crossed the pass second time. And
he went on, under the light of the
moon, scanning the trail ahead of him.
and the river bank for the kidnapers'
encampment. But hours went by. and
he did not come upon it, and only the
dark river, with its twisted, desolate
banks, and the eternal forest dis
closed themselves.
In the small hours the wind veered,
bringing with it storm Of icy, pelting
rain, which changed to a driving sleet.
The whistling pellets stung and
whipped his face, and all through the
storm Lee continued to struggle on
ward.
1t was superb exhibition of the
force Of will. Hour after hour he
went on, until, in the beginning of that
hour before the dawn when everything
grows still, when the first faintness Of
the dawn begins to mingle with the
darkness, he became conscious that
the river had widened into lake, one
arm of which, thrust out before him,
barred his course. On either side OF
this lake the forests had given place
to reedy swamp.
And, lifting up his eyes, he saw.
upon low elevation in front of him,
the log huts of the Free Traders
camp.
Then he knew that the long chase
had come to an end.
And with that the man shook the
fatigue from him, KNOWING that he
must hold on to all his strength and
wit for an hour or two longer, and
that what he had to do he must do
quickly, craftily, boldly.
He did not know how many men
were in the Free Traders headquar-
ters, but he must save the girl, get her
away.
The arm Of the lake that was thrust
out between the elevation and the end
of the trail was no more than two hun
dred yards, if as much, in width.