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Show THE GRANTSVILLE was aware even that Nan had gone into the gap again. Bob Scott waa at Thief Blver. De Spain telephoned to him to come up on the early atage, and turned hla attention toward getting In- -' formation from Music mountain without violating Nans Injunction not tv frustrate her most delicate effort with her unde. As a possible scout to look Into her present situation and report on It, could point only to Bull Page. Bull was a ready Instrument, but bis present value as an assistant had become a matter of doubt, since practically every man In the gap had threatened within the week to blow his head off though Bull himself felt no scruples against making an attempt to reach Music mountain and get back again. It was proposed by the canny McAlpin to send him in with a team and light wagon, ostensibly to bring out his trunk, which, If it had not been fed to the horses, was still In Duke's barn. As soon as a rig could be got up Page started out It was late November. A far, clear air drew the ranges sharply down to the eye of tbe desert as If the speckless sky, lighted by the radiant sun, were but a monster glass rigged to trick the credulous retina. De Spain, In the saddle in front of the barn, his broad hat brim set on the Impassive level of the western horseman, his lips seeming to compress his thoughts, his lines over hls forearm, and his hands Into the pockets of his snug leather coat, watched Page with his light wagon and horses drive away. Idling around the neighborhood of the barns In the saddle, De Spain saw him gradually recede Into the long desert perspective, the perspective which almost alone enabled the watcher to realize as he curtained his eyes behind their long, steady lashes from the blazing sun, that it was a good bit of a way to the foot of the great outpost of the Superstition range. De Spain's restlessness prevented his remaining quietly anywhere for long. As the morning advanced he cantered out on the Mnslc mountain trail, thinking of and wishing for a sight of Nan. The deadly shock of Pardoloes story had been dulled by days and nights of love and his pain. His loneliness had quieted hla Impulse for vengeance and overborne him with a He realized how profound sadness. different his feelings were now from what they had been when she knelt before him in the darkened room and, not daring to plead for mercy for her uncle, had asked him only for the pity for herself that he had seemed so slow to give. Something reproached him now for his coldness at the moment that he should have thought of her suffering before his own. It was while riding In this way that his eyes, reading mechanically the wagon trail he was aimlessly following for no reason other thun that It brought him, though forbidden, a little closer to her arrested his attention. He checked his horse. Something, the trail told him, had happened. Page had stopped his horses. Page had met two men on horseback coming from the gap. After a parley for the horses had tramped around long enough for one the wagon had turned completely from tbe trail and struck across the desert north; the two horsemen, or one with a led horse, had started back for the gap. All of this De Spain gathered without moving his horse outside a circle of thirty feet What did It mean? Page might have fallen In with cronies from the gap, abandoned his Job, and started for Sleepy Gat but this was unlikely. He might have encountered enemies, been pointedly advised to keep away from the gap, and pretended to start for Sleepy Ckit to avoid trouble with them. Deeming the second the Mc-Alp- in Br FRANK H. SPEARMAN Author of WHISFttlNO BUTH . lOapfilsM Sy Chodoi SulboorV Booa) CHAPTER XXVII. - -1- 7- Hope Forlorn. There were hours In that night that cadi had reason long to remember; a 'night that seemed to bring them. In (spite of thdr devotion, to' the end of 'their dream. They parted late, each trying to soften the blow as It fell on jthe other, each professing a courage jwhlch, in the face of the revelation, 'neither could clearly feel. In the morning Jeffries brought 'down to De Spain, who had spent a sleepless night at the office, a letter from Nan. De Spain opened It with acute misgivings. Hardly able to believe his eyes, he slowly read: Dearest A wild hope has come to me. know tha truth of this terrible story as It really is. Buppoee we should be condemning poor Unde Duke Without having the real facts? Bassoon (was a wretch, Henry, if ever one lived1 a cures to everyone.' What purpoee he could serve by repeating this story, which . the must have kept very secret till now, I dont know; but there was some reason. must know the whole truth I feel that I I, alone, can get hold of it, and that you would approve what I am doing if you .wore here with me in this little room, Where I am writing at daybreak, to show you my heart Dong before yon get this I shall ha speeding toward the sap. I am going to Unde Duke to get from him the exact truth. Unde Duke la breaking has broken- - and now that the very worst has come, and wo must face it he will tall ne what I ask. Whether I can get him to repeat this to you, to coma to you, to (throw himself on your pity, my dearest One, X dont know. But it is for this I am going to try, and for this I beg of your love the love of which I have been so proud! that you will let me stay with him until I at least learn everything and lean bring the whole story to you. If I van bring him, I wllL And I shall be safe with him perfectly safe. Gale haa been driven away. Pard-alo- e, I know I can trust, and he will be under the roof with ms. Please, do not try to come to me. It might ruin everything. Only forgive ms, and I shall be .hack with what I hope for, or what I fear, very, very soon. Not till then can X bear to look into your eyes. Tou have a better right than anyone in the world to know the whole truth, cost what it . (nay. Be patient for only a little while Perhaps we dont NAN. With who said, afterward, 'heIt was Jeffries never to be tbe bearer hoped again of a letter such as that Never until he had read and grasped the contents of Nans note had Jeffries seen the bundle of resource and nerve and sinew, that men called Henry de Spain, go to pieces. When he was able to speak he told Jeffries everything. It is my fault, he sold hopelessly. I was so crippled, so stunned, she must have thought I see It now that I was making ready to ride out by daybreak and shoot Duke down on sight Its the price a man must pay, Jeffries, for the ability to defend himself against this bunch pf holdup men and assassins. John Lefever, Jeffries, Scott in turn took him In hand to hold him during three days, to restrain the fury of bis resentment, and keep him from riding to the gap In a temper that epch of them knew would mean only a tragedy worse, than what bad gone before. Even three days of tactful representaed tion and patient admonition from counselors did not accomplish all they hoped for In De Spains attitude His rage subsided, but only to be followed by a settled gloom that they knew might burst into uncontrollable anger at any moment A report reached HcAlpin that Gale Morgan was making ready to return to Music mountain with the remnant of Sandusky's gang, to make a demand on Duke for certain property and partnership adjustments. - This rumor he telephoned to Jeffries. Before talking with De Spain, Jeffries went over the information with Lefever. The two agreed It was right, In the circumstances, that De Spain should be nearer than Sleepy Gat to Nan. Moreover, the period of waiting she had enjoined on him was almost complete. Without giving De Spain tbe story fully, the two men talking before him let the discussion drift toward a proposal on his part to go down to Calabasas, where he could more easily keep track of any movement to or from the gap, and this they approved. De Spain, already chafing under a hardly endured restraint, lost no time In starting for Calabasas, directing Lefever. to follow next day. It added nothing to his peade of mind In tbe morning to learn definitely snow-cappe- d half-slippe- deep-roote- d d NEWS, GRANT8VILLE, UTAH, ward the east It died away and toward the west It was cut off by the Superstition peaks. De Spain, without giving the weather signs much thought, recognized their Import, but hla mind was filled with his own anxieties and he rode smartly back toward Calabasas, because he was not at ease over the puzzles In the trail. When he reached the depression where the horsemen hail, without any apparent reason, turned south, he halted. Should he follow them or turn north to follow Pages wanderings? If Page had been scared away from the gap, for a time, fie probubly had no Information that De Spain wanted, and De Spain knew his cunning and persistence well enough to be confident he would be back on the gap rood, and within the cover of the mountains, before a storm should overtake him. On the north the brown curtain had risen fast and already enveloped the farthest peaks of' the range. Letting his horse stretch its neck, he hesitated a moment longer trying to decide whether to follow the men to the south or the wagon to the north. A woman might have done better. Bnt no good angel was there to guide his decision, and In another moment he wua riding rapidly to the south with the even, brown, misty cloud behind him rolling filgfier Into the northern sky. CHAPTER XXVI 1 Bob It Ill ride wl ye myself, Henry. I worked for your father " You're too old a man, Jim " 1 swlft-movln- the north the rising curtain had darkened. Toward Sleepy Cat the landscape was already obliterated. In the south tbe sun shone, but the air had grown suddenly cold, and In tbe sharp drop De Spain realized what was coming. His first thought was of the southern stages, which must be warned, and as he galloped up to big born, with this thought In mind he saw, standing In the doorway, Bull Page. De Spain regarded him with astonishment How did you get here T was his sharp question. Page grinned. Got what I was after, and cra back soonern I expected. Half-wa- y over to the gap, I met Duke and the young gal on horseback, headed for Chlabasas. They pulled up. I pulled up. Old Duke looked kind o ganted, and it seemed like Nan was In a considerable hurry to get to Sleepy Gat with him, and he couldnt stand the saddle. Anyway, they was heading for Calabasas to get a rig from McAlpin. I knowed McAlpin would never give old Duke a rig, not If he was In the saddle. Theyve . got your rig !" cried De Spain. The gal asked me If Td mind accommodatin em, explained Bull to save time. They headed north exclaimed De Spain. The light from the - 1 fost-chang-l- across his sky fell' horse and figure. McAlpin, followed by a hostler, appeared at the barn door. Bull nodded to De Spain. Said they wanted to get there quick. She flgerd on savin a few miles by strikin the hill trail In. So I takes their horses and lets on I was headin for the gap. When they got out of sight, I turned round g Even as he spoke, the curtain of mist overhead blotted tbe sun out of the sky. De Spain sprang from his saddle with a ringing order to McAlpin. Get 1" up a fresh saddle-hors- e A horse cried the startled barn boss, whirling on the hostler. The strongest legs In the stable, and don't lose a second! Lady' Jane; up with her! he yelled, bellowing his orders Into the echoing barn with his hands to his mouth. Up with her for Mr. de Spain In a second I Harmon I Becker 1 are Lanzon What In h you all do ing? he roared, rushing back with a fusillade of oaths. Look alive, everybody!" d swift-rollin- 1 -- 1 1 and putting his ear Intently against the wind for the faint hope of an an- g snow. She fell at once Into an easy reaching step, and De Spain, busy with his reflections, hardly gave thought to what she was doing, and little more to whnt wns going on about him. No moving figure reflects the lmpns-slv- e more than a horseman of . the mountains, on a long ride. Though never so swift-bornthe man, looking neither to the right nor to the left, moving evenly and statuelike against the sky, a part of the wiry beast under him, presents the very picture of Indifference to the world around him. The great, swift wind spreading over the desert emptied on it snow-lade- n puffs that whirled and wrapped a cloud of flakes about horse and rider In the symbol of a shroud. De Spain gave no heed to these skirmishing eddies, but he knew what was behind them, and for the wind, he only wished It might keep the snow in tbe air till he caught sight of Nan. The even reach of tbe horse brought him to the point where Nan had changed to the stage wagon. Without a break In her long stride. Lady Jane took the hint of her swerving rider, put her nose Into the wind, and headed north. De Spain, alive to the difficulties of his venture, set his hat lower and bent forward to follow the wagon along the sand. Wltb the first of the white flurries passed, he found himself in a snowless pocket, as It were, of the advancing storm. He hoped for nothing from the prospect ahead; but every moment of respite from the blinding whirl was a gain, and with his eyes close on the trail that had carried Nan into danger, he urged the Lady on. When the snow again closed down about him he calculated from the roughness of the country that he should be within a mile of the road that Nan was trying to reach, from the gap to Sleepy Cat But the broken ground straight ahead would prevent her from driving directly to It He knew she must hold to the right and her curving track, now becoming difficult to trail, confirmed his conclusion. A fresh drive of the wind buffeted him as he turned directly north. Only at Intervals could he see any trace of the wagon wheels. The driving snow compelled him more than once to dismount and search for the trail. Each time he lost It the effort to regain It was more prolonged. At times he was compelled to ride the desert In wide circles to find the tracks, and this cost time when minutes might mean life. But as long as he could he clung to to track her exactly. He saw almost where the storm had struck the two wayfarers. Neither, he knew, was insensible to Its dangers. Whot amazed him was that a man like Duke Morgan should be out In It He found a spot where they had halted and, with a start that checked the beating of his heart, his eyes fell on her footprint not yet obliterated, beside the wagon e, 1. more probable conclusion, De Spain, absorbed In his speculations, continued toward the gap to see whether he could not pick up the trail of Pages rig farther on. Within a mile a farther surprise awaited him. The two horsmen, who had headed for tbe gap after stopping Coming I yelled one voice after anPage, had left the trail, turned to the other from the depths of the distant south, down a small draw, which would stalls. De Spnin ran into the office. screen them from sight, and set out nge across the desert caught his horse, stripped the rifle No troll and no habitation Iny In the from Its holster, and hurriedly' began direction they had taken and It uncinching. Hostlers rnnnlng through seemed clearer to De Spain that the the barn called shrilly back and forth, second horse was a led horse. There and De Spain springing up the stairs was a story in the Incident, but bis In- to his room provided what be wanted terest lay In following Page's move- for his hurried flight When he dashed ments, and he spurred swiftly forward down with coats on his arm the hoofs to see whether his messenger had re- of Lady Jane were clattering down the slid from sumed the gap trail and gone on with long gangway. A stable-bo- y his mission. He followed this quest al- her back on one side as Bull Page most to the mountains, without recov- threw the snddle across her from the ering any trace of Page's rig. He other; hostlers caught at the cinches, halted. It was certain now that Page while others hnrriedly rubbed the legs of the quivering more. De Spain, hla had not gone Into the gap. on McAlpin's shoulder, was givhand De and annoyed, Spain, Perplexed from the high ground on which he sot ing his parting injunctions, and the his horse, cast his eyes for over the barn boss, head cocked down, and eyes desert. The brilliant sunshine flooded cast furtively on the scattering snowIt as for as the eye could reach. He flakes outside, was listening with an atscanned the vast space without detect- tention thnt recorded Indelibly every ing a sign of life anywhere, though uttered syllable. Once only, he Interrupted: Henry, none better than he knew that any abundance of It might he there. But youre ridln out Into this thing alone from McAlpin that Gale Morgan, wltb-I- n Ills gaze caught something of Interest dont do it I cant help it, snapped De Spain twenty-fou- r hours, had really disap- on the farthest northern horizon, and No word of on this his scrutiny rested a long time. Impatiently. Calabasas. from peared n Jt's a man kina. any kind had come from Music moun-jtoi- A soft brown curtain rose Just above I cant help It one at Calabasas line the To No blue u the earth sky. against for duyi. cool-head- snow swept down the sinks In a mad blast Flakes torn by the fury of the gale were stiffened by the bitter wind Into powdered Ice that stung horse and rider. Casting away the useless carbine, and pressing his horse to the limit of her strength and endurance, the unyielding pursuer rode in great colling circles Into the storm, to cut In, If possible, ahead of Its victims, firing shot upon shot from his revolver, Henry " Dont talk to me Do as I tell you I thundered De Spain. McAlpin bowed his head. Beady! yelled Page, buckling the rifle holster in place. Still talking, and with McAlpin glued to his elbow, De Spain vaulted Into the saddle, caught the lines from Bulls hands, and steadied the Lady as she sidestepped doze nervously McAlpin following and dodging the dancing hoofs as he looked earnestly up to catch the last word. De Spain touched the horse with the lines. She leaped through the doorway and he raised a backward hand to those behind. Running outside the door, they yelled a chorus of cries after the horseman, and, clustered in an excited group, watched the Lady with a dozen great strides round the Calabasas trail and disappear with her rider Into the whirling De Spain Rides Alone. He had ridden the trail but a short time when It led him in a wide angle backward and around toward Calabasas, and he found, presently, that the men he was riding after were apparently heading for the stage barns. In copper-colore- Scott U he ws here, ud never report could hardly carry, and the let you do e track. The sight of It was an electric shock. Throwing himself from bis horse, he knelt over it In the storm, oblivious for an instant of everything but that tills tracery meant her presence, where he now bent, hardly half an hour before. He swung, after a moment's keen scrutiny, Into his saddle, with fresh resolve. Pressed by the rising fury of the wind, the wayfarers had become from this point, Do Spain saw too plainly, hardly more than fugitives. Good ground to tbe left, where their hope of safety lay, had been overlooked. Their tracks wandered on the open desert like those who, losing courage, lose their course In the confusion and fear of the Impending peril. And with this Increasing uncertainty In their direction vanished De Spains last hopes of tracking them. The wind swept the desert now ns a hurricane sweeps the open sea, snatching the fallen snow from the face of the earth as the flattening the foce of the waters, rips the foam from the frantic waves to drive It In wild, scudding fragments across them. De Spain, urging his horse forward, unbuckled his rifle holster, threw away the scabbnrd, and holding the weapon up In one hand, fired shot after shot at mensured Intervals to attract the attention of the two he sought lie his rifle ammunition without eliciting any answer. The wind drove with a roar against which even a rifle sea-gal- e, ed swer. Suddenly the Lady stumbled and, as he cruelly reined her, slid helpless and scrambling along the face of a flat rock. De Spain, leaping from her back, steadied her trembling and looked underfoot. Tbe mure had struck the rock of tbe upper lava bed. Drawing his revolver, he fired signal shots from where he stood. It could not be far, he knew, from the Junction of the two great desert trails the Calabasas road and the gap road. He felt sure Nan could not have got much north of this, for he had ridden In desperation to get abreast of or beyond her, and If she were south, where, he asked. In the name of God, could she be? He climbed again Into the saddle the cold was gripping his limbs and. watching the rocky landmarks narrowly, tried to circle the dead waste of d flow. With chilled, the awkward fingers he filled the revolver again and rode on, discharging It every minute, and listening hoping against hope for an answer. It was when he had almost completed, as well as he could compute, the wide circuit he had set out on, that a faint shot answered his continuing signals. With the sound of that shot and those that followed It his courage all came back. But he had yet to trace throngh the confusion of the wind and the blinding snow the direction of the half-burie- answering reports. d Hither and thither ho rode, this that, testing out the location of the slowly repeated shots, and signaling at Intervals In return. Slowly and doggedly he kept on, shooting, listening, wheeling and advancing until, as he raised his revolver to fire it again, a cry close at hand came out of the storm. It was a womans voice borne on the wind. Biding swiftly to the left, a horses outline revealed Itself at moments In the driving snow ahead. De Spain cried out, and from behind the furious curtain heard his name, loudly called. He pushed his stumbling horse on. The dim outline of a second horse, the background of a wagn man all this on, a unheeded. They were his eyes passed bent on a girlish figure running toward him as he slid stiffly from the saddle. The next instant Nan was In his anna. way-an- storm-beate- CHAPTER XXIX. The Truth. With the desperation of a Joy bora of despair she laid her burning cheek hysterically against Ills cheek. She brows rained kisses on his and snow-beate- n eyes. Her arms held him rigidly. He could not move nor speak till she would let him. Transformed, this mountain girl who gave herself so shyly, forgot everything. Her words crowded on his ears. She repeated his name In an ecstasy of welcome, drew down his lips, laughed, rejoiced, knew no shamefacedness and no restraint she was one freed from the stroke of a descending knife. A moment before she bad faced death alone; It was still death Bhe faced site realized this but It was death, at least, together, and her Joy and teurs rose from her heart in one stream. De Spain comforted her, quieted her, cut away one of the coats from his horse, slipped It over her shoulders, In- cased her In the heavy fur, and turned his eyes to Duke. The old mans set, square face surrendered nothing of implacability, to the dangers confronting him. .De Spain looked for none of that He had known the Morgan record too long, and fuced the Morgan men too often; to fancy they would flinch at the drumbeat of death. The two men, In the deadly, driving snow, eyed cuch other. Out of the 'old mans deep-se- t eyes burned the resistance of a hundred storms faced before. But he was caught now like a wolf In a trap, and he knew he had little to hope for, little to fear. As De Spain regarded him, something like pity mny huve mixed with his hntred. The old outlaw wns thinly clad. His open throdt was beaten with snow, and, standing beside the wagon, he held the team reins In a bare hand. De Spain cut the other coat from his saddle and held It out. Duke pretended not to see, and, when not longer equal to keeping up the pretense, shook his head. Take it," said De Spain curtly. No." Take It, I say. Tou and I will settle our affairs when we get Nan out of this, he Insisted. Duke's voice, as was Do Spain I can Its wont, cracked like a pistol. say all I've got to say to you rigbt here." 1 No." Yes," cried the old man. (TO BE CONTINUED ) |