Show STUDENT LIFE ride in with the two pack mules and procure them It meant his absence for five days at least and the prospect to Mrs Carrol could not have been pleasant She had by this time mastered the small details of camp life but Carrol’s helplessness the realization of the great distance from human aid the mysterious atmosnhere of the pine forest stretching away at the back of the camp and the all penetrating insistant loneliness of the high altitude caused her to feel an unbear-aj)l- e dread of those five days Rogers felt something of this and without saving so resolved to ride past the Swede’s ranch and if possible induce him to go after the supplies in which case he could return to the camp But when he arrived there Ol e was gone and the place showed unmistakable signs of having been permanently deserted so he continued on towards town cheered by the thought that since the Swede had left the no harm could come to the lonely woman As he approached the camp on his return he became possessed of a subtle feeling of fear and disaster int3rorjide yet insistant enough that had he been in any way cowardly he should have fled The feeling grew in intensity until he rounded the point of trees that had hid the camp There everything was in disorder and he instinctively adjusted his revolver for action The tent had been pulled down and part of it was gone A few camp utensils were also missing but the saddles horses everything else rne 243 were as he had left them except for the disorder that existed everywhere and because of the man’s weakness the pair would certainly not have attempted a journey on foot Everything pointed to foul he at once placed Big Ole and play responsible for it He relieved the mules of their packs and caught a fresh horse intending to ride at once to the ranch and arouse the men there for a search for the Swede and the man and woman But as he changed the saddle from one horse to the other he caught sight of a rectangular mound of stones at the base of a large pine only a hundred yards from the tent sight and in plain view He was surprised at not having seen it before and went to investigate The removal of a few stones revealed a find so ghastly that he turned cold and for a second helpless with fright The bloated face of the consumptive looked up at him He recovered himself and fought against an almost overpowering desire to leave the place His sense of right demanded that he examine the corpse before it became further for evidence that decomposed might lead to a solution of the mystery The dead body could not account for his fear he had been alone with other dead bodies but there seemed something in the atmosphere so terrifying so horrible that it took all his will power all his inborn hatred of cowardice to keep him there He carefully removed the stones and thoroughly examined the body There were no |