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Show .;. ' BY GEORGE HORTON X .' OopyrighUd, 1SKX5, by TU Bobba-Uarrffl Coapta CHAPTER XXII. - ; A Hard Shot. Th number tf Chines who emerged rrom.thej forest wm surprising. There Jvi hM been hundred of them, at j Jt ' twenty of whom were mounted. There could be no further doubt as to their purpose In thus torturing Ptenka. openly and In full Bight of the Pushkin. ! Tney hoped that his comrade, maddened-by maddened-by the eight, would rush to hla aid Immediately.- or would fall into the trap later, bellevtn- that the Chinese had rone away nd left-him there to suffer. So great waa their astonishment now. when they realised that only one person was coming to Stenka's rescue, that they ceased shooting: and atood staring In wonder. And atlll Hardy ran on. across the wide anf shallow river, hla eyes fixed on that spectacle spec-tacle of agonv. At last he stopped, for the Urn had come for him to do the thing he must do. He could get no nearer without with-out the absolute rertainty of being shot down. There was no other way. H would not have ben possible for Stenka's friende to reach that cross without all being be-ing picked off from the woods. He cast one glance at the shore, measuring the Alatarjee with the keen, accurate eye of marksman. Then he removed his glasses and wiped the moisture, tears, perhaps, from his eyes. Replacing them, he aimed at Ptenka. and prayed: "Receive his soul, oh. God!" He fired. The head stopped that dreadful moving from side to aide, and Hardy could feel, even at that distance, that the eyes were ! fixed on hit own. In comprehension. He will believe, to his dying day, that there was gratitude In them. He had mlsred. : however, and now the Chinese, grasping his purpose, began shooting at him in ' esrnest. and several of the horsemen ! urged their steeds Into the water. Wltn 1 the bullets scattering all about him. Hardy Har-dy set his teeth and fired again. Poor Stenka's sufferings were over. His chin fell forward on his breast and' his body collapsed limply on the wooden peg thrust between his thighs. "Thsnk God!" cried Hardy, and turning, turn-ing, he ran back toward the boat, ran madly, desperately, as he had run but once before, and that waa the time when he heard the Princess scream and saved her from the brigands. On he ran over the hard sand covered with a sheet of rippling water, carrying his rifle low and bending at the hips. He realised that every step was taking him farther from those savages on the shore, was putting a greater distance between himself and their rifles. He scarcely believed be-lieved that he could get away without being be-ing wounded. If they would only kill htm outright, or would hit him In some spot that would not prevent his running! He listened, as a hare before the rniraulng hunter, for the sound of the guns, and still he ran on. But the Chinese did not shoot again, and now from the Pushkin came half a doien men to the rescue, deployed In open formation, like a troop of trained soldiers, with their eyes fled on something behind him They" were shouting to him. but Hardy could not understand He turned, looked, and knew why the enmy had ceased shooting. Thev feared killing their own horsemen, who were between be-tween him and the shore and bearing down on him rapidly. There were at leat a dozen of them, and In a mlnu'e more three, better mounted than the others, oth-ers, would have been upon him. These were bending close to their horses' necks, snd were armed with long swords to cut him down. The American aimed at the horses and fired rapidly, three times. One of the animals, mortally wounded, sank to his knees, while the others, stung and maddened by the bullets, bergrre unman ageable and ran snorting back toward the Manhur1an shore Th CnfM'-kn now- came ,,p turning turn-ing In a volley on the mounted brigands, emptier) one saddle mo! compelled the entire en-tire party to retire, whlh thev did slow-lv. shaking their swords at the Russians and yelling imprecations They were destined, however, to lose one more of their number. num-ber. The man whose horse Hardy had killed was making frantlo but unsuccessful unsuccess-ful efforts to get awav. his leg being pinned down beneath the lead animal. To him one of the Rourlats ran up. and wren"hng the man e own sword from his hand, cleft his skull with It and left him there with his dead steel When Hardy again reached the deck c4 the Pushkin the General and the Captain each shook his hand in si'ence. and the Princess, ber beautiful eve rd with weeping, said to him "It was an act of mfy, my friend, for whi-h we nil thank yon The soul of brave Ptenka. now in heaven, will be grateful to you." "It was a hard thlrg to do." replied Hardv. fa'nf almost to falling, "but I could not endure the sight of the agony -I coiiii not bear to have you look at (t Tt Is what I should have wanted sonic one to do for me." he added, as though further eteruiaton were pecessarv. "Then." said the Princess, with a sad. solemn smile, "it was a Christ-tike at. n riil of sublime couraee. and so T shall ever regard i' But you are faint, rr.v friend Go and lie down avd be sure tha' the Virgin and all the 5311.'? appp've what you have Just done." "Thanks, a thousand thanks"' mur mured Hardy. "If you approve. I am s ire that t was right." An ! ptiH 'here were no sign" "f help. no sounds of galloping hoofs, on the mllltarv road vondr. Tha' wound it and "'i' "f tl-o dark fores", or stretched like n long whit- ribbon hv the side of tho yellow river t To Be ( 'ont inued. I |