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Show SOUTH CACHE COURIER, HYRlrtl, UTAH .uwWWWWWMW ,Wj The Red Lock A Tale of the Flatwoods By DAVID ANDERSON Author of The Blue Uooum IRWIN Illustrations by about MYERS 5 AWAVAVWAW.W.VW.'tt Copyright by The Bobba-Merri- Ca Continued. XVII 23 "Has Texle Colin passed the gate tday, Uncle Asbury? you know er, dont yu? 01 Sime Colins dater the purty leetle gal wl the brown hair an laughin eyes well, I reckon I do know er. No, she halnt passed the gate tday, nary way why? Oh she rid up this way Did she? no, she didnt pass. Ht 01 Sime hat hobbled a step closer. t let loose at last, didnt e? Dern shame, though, e had t be bumped off. Reckon they aint found the feller ylt that done It? The woodsman made no reply. It Is even doubtful If he heard. His mind was flying fast from point to point of every possibility that lay between CHAPTER He washed ; tightened the saddle girth; paid his toll and Black rock and the tollgate. the froth off Graylocks nose mounted. fr Thanks I that the drink. Uncle ." dont make no business o waterthe old man called after in hosses, him as he hes rode away, "but a boss like welcome t drink the well dry. house-boa- t the The concealed woodsman pondered the significance of it ; the possibilities of it ; the horrible threat of it as he galloped down the road. He glanced at the sun an hour of the tree-top- s. within half He had blun- Hopkins had just undercut but maybe the light would hold to redeem the blunder. His Jaw tightened and he gave Graylock the rein, closely scanning every inch of the road and every" foot of river that came into view as he passed. Two miles above Black rock, Just where a a mere wagon track, led off across the wooded bottoms, he found what he was looking for a mass of horse tracks, with a print or two of a boot heel that he knew. His lips twisted into a hard grin; tightened till they squeezed every mite of mirth out of It. He had lost the trail ; like a hound at fault, had actually run by It and here It lay, right where he had crossed it hours before. He had been bending low in the saddle. He straightened and rode caud tiously down the through the dank and dismal bottoms. Where the narrow d approached Mud haul he again found what he was looking for Brownie hitched to a tree, restless and prancing from side to side. Hiding Graylock In a thicket, he unbuttoned his blouse, loosened his revolver In Its holster and crept down the mucky bank toward the hiding-plac- e of the houseboat; crawled close to Its lurking place It was gone. Be came out of the bushes and found where the gangplank had freshly scarred the mud; searched the shore for footprints ; found them the marks of a shapely small shoe, and the print of a stylish boot heel. A speck of color caught his eye near the scar of the gangplank a spot of gold on the dank mud. He stepped forward and bent over it The next moment he had snatched up something and stood gazing at it a yellow orchid, flattened and faded, in all likelihood the very one he had found for her the Friday before lady slipper day. Over the mans fine face spread a light that transfigured it. But there was a task calling tense ; insistent; mayhap horrible. Taking out his pocketbook, he put the flower carefully away; frowned hard down the river shore. Knowing that the narrow led through the wooded flats almost to Alpine island, angled sharply and crossed to the bluffs something more than a mile above Black rock, he went back to Graylock, left Brownie prancing and pawing the weeds, and rode cautiously on down the river. Just short of the point where the narrow road angled toward the bluffs, he again hid Graylock, went on afoot some distance farther and stole through the trees to the river bank. Creeping down to the edge of the ater, with a caution so great that a crane wading a rod or two below failed to take the alarm. Jack crawled out among the limbs of a cottonwood that had uprooted and lopped over the stream and peered down the sides of me Island, lying less than two hundred dered him by-roa- d, n by-roa- by-roa- by-roa- d 'fds below A short distance down the south side, almost completely hidden among the willows and riding at the end of a rope hitched to a tree on the bank, lay a small houseboat with a skiff tied at Its side unmistakably the same tiny craft that had found concealment at the head of Mud haul. The woodsman was Just stealing back through the limbs of the cottonwood, with the bold intention of creeping farther down the bank and swimming out to the island, when a man came out of the snug little cabin, carefully closed the door, fumbled a while as If locking it and stood on the diminutive forward deck looking guardedly There was no mistaking the somber frock coat neck stock and high bat it was Caleb Hopkins. A moment he stood listening at the door; glanced around again In every direction, and slipped over the side of the houseboat into the skiff. As he rowed up around the head of the island and across the north channel to shore, he passed within less than fifty yards of where the woodsman lay concealed, his eyes hard and danger ous, his fingers betraying an almost irresistible inclination to stray toward the butt of the revolver at his hip. Drawing the skiff well In among the fringe of scrub willows, Hopkins glanced back in the direction of the houseboat, snarled out an Impatient exclamation and set off across the bottoms. The woodsman rose and softly followed; shadowed him through the tangle of bushes and vines and fallen logs out to the River road ; watched him cross, pick his way up the bluff and slip away among the trees of the upland. The unguarded safe, the bundles of money under the floor of the cabin at the homestead, crossed the woodsmans mind. But there was a far higher stake In his tense thought just then than safes and bundles of money. The frock coat and high hat were no sooner well out of sight than he sprang up from where he lay in the thicket at the edge of the bottoms and hurried back to the skiff; slid It out from the willows and crossed the channel to the island. There he hid it again and slipped through the tangle of underbrush and driftwood to where he could get a view of the houseboat. There reached him the dull sound of footfalls on the cabin floor, and the tiny craft rocked slightly as some one evidently crossed from side to side, but there was no sound of voices; from which he concluded that the unknown tenant was alone. In the fast gathering shadows he crept to the edge of the Island ; crawled with extraordinary care under the hand rail to the diminutive forward deck. The door he had watched Hopkins fumbling over he had locked padlocked on the outside. He stood still and listeneu some one was movlhg about inside the cabin, and a speck of light showed behind a narrow crack between the door and the jamb. Very guardedly he crossed the deck and brought his eye close to the crack it commanded a view of a narrow section of the room. A candle was alight somewhere at the side, and a shadow one shadow flitted about the floor. The shadow slid across the section that he could see; deepened; disappeared; and In its place Texie. She came to the door on the outside of which he was crouched and tugged at the latch, as she had probably done many times since being left a prisoner, but the stout padlocked hasp held firm. With an exclamation that held just a shade of petulance, she turned away. He watched her till she passed out of range of the crevice doubtless to sound the walls for some other means of escape. But the narrow opening had told him what it heartened him much to know. He took a bullet from his pouch: flattened it between his teeth; witii his powerful fingers forced It noiselessly into the keyhole of the padlock in such a way as to make it impossible to insert the key; jammed it so tight with the blade of his pocket knife that nothing short of a locksmiths tools could have dislodged it. Crawling along the gangway to the after deck, he rendered the padlock on the rear door equally useless; listened a moment to the quick restless steps inside; crawled under the hand rail to the bank and, with every precaution known to woodcraft to hide his trail, recrossed the Island to the skiff. current as he approached, ha deftly turned the prow; poled the little vessel into the slack water of the pocket and far up under the overhanging vines and branches, where It would likely escape anything short of the very closest scrutiny, either from land or water; hitched it securely to a tree on the bank; went back to the deck and stood listening. The girl Inside the cabin had repeatedly wrenched at the doors as the vessel drifted down the channel. Several times she had called the name of Hopkins, begging him to release her, doubtless believing it was he that set the boat adrift. To all this the woodsman had returned no answer. She must have known when the boat stopped, must have heard the scrape of the limbs and vines as it was poled up Into the pocket, for there followed an Interval of silence. He could not resist the longing to steal once more to the narrow crevice where the bar of candle-ligHe brought escaped. his eye close; peeped within. She was standing near the middle of the floor, listening Intently and apparently In deep thought As he watched, he saw a sudden light leap to her face and wake the wonder of her eyes. She crossed the floor ; came close to the door and, with the caution of a woodcraft almost as fine a his own, softly called: ht 130 Days Free Trial 12 Months to Pay This is your opportunity to try a SHARPLES Allsteel Cream Sepa- rator latest to try the very SHARPLES Improved Separator. The terms of the trial are so fair so s i m p 1 e so convenient that every farmer now operating an machine may try this wonderful new SHARPLES. All you have to do is write and tell us you would like to try out on your ed farm the SHARRUESIallstee (H3MI 9IP33QDEB Entire forged steel construction automatic variable feed at any speed turns with one finger automatics oiling strong and sturdy 600 lbs. per hour capacity gets ALL, the cream. and one will he shipped to you all express charges prepaid. You try it use it for a month and if, for any reason, you do not want to keep it, simply return, charges collect. SEND NO MONEY Big Allowance Given for Old Separator Jack I It took the utter sum of the mans We take all the risk and abide by your decision. Write now for details of the Free Trial Offer. resolution to keep still. He watched the wonder of her eyes transform to disappointment and despair; watched The Sharpies Separator her stand clasping and unclasping the slim fingers of her shapely small Company hands. West Chester, Pa. One consideration alone restrained him from beating to fragments the disabled padlock and setting her free-ri- ght in that stout cabin, with its doors secured by jammed locks that Yes, Why? Obedient could not be opened without breaking, The Boy Do you know, dad, that Wife Just put this parcel under securely hidden at the end of a covin some parts of Africa a man doesnt arm, Lancelot. ered trail, was the safest place In the your . or know his wife until he marries her? Er Husband right Henpecked Flatwoods for her just then. There left Dad Why single out Africa? dear? arm, would be hard faces and quick fingers In the cottage that night But even so, it was the most diffJhr Economical Trontportotlo icult thing the big woodsman had ever tried to do in his life to turn away from that door and go back to the red-roofe- d skiff. With set and serious face he rowed up the channel, around the head of the island, across to the mainland and carefully stepped ashore; dropped both oars Into the river; set the boat adrift; stood a moment watching it float away and, with extraordinary pains to hide his trail, hurried back to Graylock. , , .. CHAPTER XVIII In the Dead Night. Twilight had long faded into dark, the hazy stars seeming only to intensify the deep gloom of the woods, when Jack Warhope returned to Black rock, coming in by way of the and slipping the horses Into the barn through the cattle sheds. He crouched a long time on the kitchen step listening. No unusual sound disturbed the silence. Very carefully he fitted his key the same that had come so near causing him trouble at the inquest Into the lock; guardedly turned it; worked the door slowly open; entered; softly closed and locked It Stealing across the floor, he made his way to the small office room where the papers and safe were kept He tiptoed behind the curtains that hung over the entrance to a closet under the stair In the sitting room and stood still, his ears strung for every sound that rode the night It couldnt have been short of midnight, and his mind had gone back to the house-boariding safe and secure In the pocket at Alpine island, when there came the sound for which his ears were straining hands outside prying at the window of the west room. He drew his revolver, cocked It and took a position so that he could see through the curtains without causing them to move. There came a low sound of crumbling wood ; the muffled slither of cracking glass ; the soft grate of the sash as it was slowly raised ; finally the creak and the faint swish of the window-sil- l of clothing as somebody crawled through. The sounds were repeated Its Easy to Pay For a Chevrolet feed-pen- s, t, one , Everybody wants an automobile. Everybody can pay for a Chevrolet. Everybody can afford to own a Chevrolet. You can buy a Chevrolet just as you buy any other important necessity. Not one family in a thousand pays cash in full for a home. They make a substantial down payment, then pay off the mortgage with what they used to pay for rent, plus other savings. A Chevrolet can be bought just as you buy a stationary home. It earns its own way and you ride while you pay. It is the best paying investment any family can make because it provides transportation, saves time, and makes all outdoors your playground, bringing health and happiness to the whole family. 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It is Judge" Walter Ramseys new and superior way of making cofYou must take fee as given in 1637. an equal quantity of butter and sallet-oylmelt them well together, but not boyle them. Then stirre them well that they may incorporate together. Then melt together three times as JU tomuch honey, and stirre it Add thereunto powdfcr of gether. Turkish Cophie, to make It Electuary. Butter, salad oil, honey and coffee He shoved the skiff into the water, rowed up around the head of the island, down the south channel and back to the house-boaFastening the skiff to the rail, he unhitched the rope from the willow on the bank; sprang lightly to the forward deck, being careful to keep out of range of the crevice between the door and Jamb; picked up one of the two light poles with which such craft "are propelled; pushed off; suffered the snug little vessel to catch the drift of the current and, being careful to keep well within the shadow of the willows, let it drift down the channel. B ar down toward the lower point of I the island a narrow pocket gashed mixed a place Into the rather steep bank CareIgnorance Is supposed to be bliss, well known to the woodsman. but it Isnt even a good counterfeit. fully withdrawing the boat from the t. I own stores in the principal cities and by over 5,000 shoe dealers. WHEREVER you live, demand W. L, and Douglas shoes.They are made in all the popular styles that appeal to men and women who want stylish and serviceable shoes high-cla- ss to-dat-e, at reasonable prices. Corflex for Women Black Kid SELDOM have you had the 'opportuBlucher Oxford. nity to buy such wonderful shoe values Corset effect Rives Comfort you will find in W. L. Douglas shoes and Support! Arch. $7.50 in our retail stores and in good shoe stores everywhere. Only by examining them can you appreciate their superior qualities. FOR economy and dependablevalue, wear shoes that have W. L. Douglas name and the retail price stamped on the soles. Buy them at our stores or of your dealer. Refuse substitutes. e, In Gun Metal Calf. Combines comfort and service. 67 .00 SSS Writ for Illustrated Catalog, postage free. W. L. Douglas Shoe Co., 10 Spsrfc St., Brodtton, Mass. STAMPING THE RETAIL PRICE AT THE FACTORY TPiV ? |