Show 4 IE LE or tilt or MY LADY of ahe bout waa KIN ET ETC BY mel I 1 copyright A Q mcclurg A co 2210 SYNOPSIS jick jack keith a virginian now a bof ner plainsman id 1 riding along alms tha santa ye trail on the lookout tor for roaming war hartles ot of atger he notice IL a camp r a distance and then sees baca a team attached to a wagon and at full gall gallop pursued by inen men on ponies when kell keith reaches the calron the raiders have hava mass maes acred two men and departed lie ile searches arthea ae tho the victims finding paper and a locket with a comans womans portrait portra gafers t lie ile resolves to hunt down the murderers keith la Is ar roste mated d at carson city charged teh arged with thi murder hla his accuser being aru ioan n named ta d black hart alart lie he goes BOOB to jail tally fully res realizing the peril per of 01 swift border justice A companion n hta his cell la Is a dekro 0 who w 1 0 icim he lj Is noto neb and chath that JK knew tha t h e family back in virginia Neb Neba aya says one ot of ho murdered men was waa john other gen wilile walte waite for ftc ft 1 y arl an officer in the confederate army thal TM Th fl Vains clai naman man and neb escape from the i CHAPTER vl VI continued 1 1 it was the quiet confident voice ot of co cointa minand sad of one satisfied with hla his plans and the obedient negro breathing hard never dreamed of at op nil all instinct of slavery hold held him blin to the dominion of this white roaster master keith leaned forward staring at the string of deserted ponies tied to the tall rail success depended on his choice and lie could judge very little to in that darkness men are w cre ailing in alona the street to their right on foot and horseback and the saloon saloan on the corner was being well pat ro ned A glow of light streamed forth mom from its windows and there was the sound of many voices but this joan ow alley was deserted and black ath the e fugitive stepped boldly forward that otherwise be might startle athe ponies and thus create creat tit an alarm guided 1 by a i hor semans instinct he swiftly ran his hands bindi over the tb aril animals malls and made quick selection t here neb talfo fako this fellow iliad lea d him quietly down tho jbv bank and anah 6 e thrust b t the loosened rein into the blacks pl clis acks hand an air instant later he had cho chosen sen ilia his own mount and was silently moving lit in the same bamo direction although the night t thare was so black that tb at the obe klemt U to bati already entirely tl 1 elk lug I 1 I 1 lei 0 T VO 1 as r fut 0 cy t at IM P Idl fATO bl t 14 1 ht 0 A afi WIL I 1 SM uv w r 4 IsE a adwa n r ra 4 1 dirito 1 t M r T y ak i 2 i I 1 U ph 4 ak lid 5 nt 11 J ki 4 1 if 1 v i 1 y 01 tn 41 1 17 A W t fil iu w A IX aa I 1 0 ahr iV wf J i 10 it fl i n into ip iw i W sj ah er K S all I 1 inong Z if cju W a ay t M yf sw ay iy pt I 1 lit 4 lit im till ag irwy Y had tha pr brosl 0 cr Y ra r ap aage ottem u pa 11 6 4 1 aw 0 r to N 01 OW 1 afi t alf fc eap 1 l an aw alti luar eat fe I 1 wi r e 4 aso zw jtb 0 K th i f alf ti MT ati 0 11 afe fuhei ft hei tl eli apa rW fib aea ig y jai ris dwity ww ity ti 0 alb 1 0 elk lie 6 4 4 si 9 ad jr aurba 11 A 3 loav w v t 4 fotr I 1 M luji I pj q oro it an fn av ga A SW www T R A lit ya i 7 AICIA the men could see nothing but this solid meet of 0 water rushing down them from out the tha black void ani then vanishing below once keiths horse half fell plunging nose cose under yet gaining foothold again before the rider had bad deserted hla his saddle A dim darkness ahead already revealed the nearness of 0 the southern bank when nebs nebb pony went down suddenly swept fairly oft air its legs by some come fierce eddy in tho the stream keith beard heard the negro guttural cry and caught c aught a glimpse of him as an the two we a were e sent whirling down the coiled rope of the lariat grasped in his right hand was hurled buried forth like a shot but cams came back empty not another sound reached him hla his own horse went steadily on feeling his way until he was wag nose against the bank with water merely rippling about his ankles keith driving feet again into the stirrups headed beaded him down stream wading close in toward the shore leaning forward over the pommel striving to see through the gloom ile he had no doubt about nebs neba pony making land unless struck by some driftwood or borne to the center ot of the stream by the shifting force of the current but it if neb had tailed failed to retain hla his grip he might have been sucked under by the surge of waters A hundred yards below he found them dripping and weak from the struggle yet otherwise unhurt there were no ut yat haeb neb ahr tak t erang B jil I 1 g bt lug atlhia pitso WIT la babe i ot wil u up 1 itah wa put pan left asi 17 aksa aKS 1 i y ft e I 1 arr A A S va N of af 40 14 I 1 lila his wyit alff hen iba adotta aa tho the awo wo p was ih into M p I 1 as t one ona liuiS fae iw rdo cwi I 1 vj a n blom blo M a to am will pl on X 0 11 4 lop J ag r 4 osa V i W P e la lu 4 4 albl al tl I 1 k 9 tj 1 11 i 1 I 1 ami as 7 ai av gea atly ji F gt atty as Ty arding ang nath A in 7 YU 1 aw qi Q i I 1 S A hundred and fifty miles as tho crow flies files and sand ally all the way except for the valley of salt fork come on now and keep alose loae for its ita easy to get lost in these and hills keith had kidded ridded that hundred and aid fifty miles of sandy desolation before but had never been called upon to make such a journey as this proved to be lie ha know knew there was waa littia to tear fear from human enemies tor for they were riding far enough east of the santa fe trail to be out of the path of raiding parties while this desert country was shunned by indian hunters it consisted of sand bill after sand hill a drear waterless waste where nothing grew and mid the dread sameness of which a traveler could only find passage by the guidance of stars at night or the blazing sun aun by day they had covered ton ten miles of it by daybreak their paules traveling heavily fetlock deep but could advance no further with the first tint of rose in the east the brooding storm burst upon them in wild desert fury the alerce wind buffeting them back lashing their faces with sharp grit until they were unable to bear the pain the flying sand smote th them ernin in clouds driven with the speed of bullets in vain they lay flat urging their ponies forward the tha beasts maddened and blinded by the merciless lashing of the sand refused to face the storm keith all sense of at direction long since lost ir g 04 R 0 r 4 Z r U 0 41 1 rf A ka 1 19 1 aff P r uy wa U kvat A ya raight ahead of you rolled wearily from the saddle baddke ke burrowed under tho the partial of a sand dune and call called ea upon neb to follow etim with their hands banda and teet they made a slight blight windbreak wind break dragging the struggling ponies into its i protection and burrowed themselves there the clouds of sand over them so thick as aa to obscure the sky and rapidly burying thorn them altogether as though in a grave within an hour they were compelled to dig themselves out yet it proved partial escape from the pitiless lashley the wind howled bowled like un loosed demons and the air grew cold adding to the sting of the grit when some sudden eddy hurled it into their hiding place to endeavor further travel would mean certain death for no on ono a c could 0 u IQ havo have guided a course for a hundred feet through the tempest teca peat it was waa three before it died sufficiently down for them L to 0 venture out L lin even in thon then the air remained full of sand while constantly shifting ridges made travel difficult only grim necessity the suffering of the ponies for far wat water or and their own need for soon reaching the habitation of man and acquiring food brovo them to the early venture they must at un the valley of the salt forte fork that 1 night or else perish in the desert there remained re no obber choice tying kerchiefs over their horses eyes and lying flat themselves they succeeded in n pressing slowly forward winding in and out among tho shift ing dane danelia lil with only the wind to lo g tilde guide them it was an awful trail afie brofft sinking deep in drifting sand th the e s st ugulina ponies so BU ox ez 0 austed that their riders finally dismounted and staggered forward on foot leading them stumbling blindly after one the negros horse borao dropped and had bad to be lashed to ita ila feet again once keiths pony stumbled and fell on him hurling burling him face down into tho the sand and lie he would have died there lacking sufficient strength to the dead weight but for nebs assistance As it was bo be went staggering blindly forward bruised and faint from hunger and fatigue about them finally closed in black and starless yet fortunately with a gradual dying away of the storm for an hour past they had been struggling on doubting their direction wondering dully it they thay were not lost and mer merely oly drifting about in a circle they had bad debated this fiercely once the ponies standing dejectedly tails to the storm neb arguing that the wind still blew from the south and keith contending it had shifted into the westward the white man won his way and they staggered on uncertain the grasping the first ponya talt tall to keep krom from being separated from his companion some instinct of the plains must have hava guld guid od ed them for at last they dragged themselves out but from the desert the sand studer irader foot changing into rock and then to short brittle grass brass at which the ponies nibbled aag erly the stopa slop led gradually downward the animals scenting water and struggling to break away swaying in their saddles the riders let them go go and they niver stopped until belly leep deep in the stream their noses burled buried the men shivered in their saddles until at last satisfied the ponies consented to bo forced back up the bank where they nibbled at the short tufts ot at herbage but in a manner expressive of at weariness keith flung himself on the ground every muscle of 0 his body aching hla his exposed flesh still smarting smart lne from the hall hail of sand lie ile had not the slightest conception as aa to wh where ere they were except lie he knew this must be the salt fork ut terly confuse confused contused cont used i Jh by the emaze maze of shifting shit ting dunes d e through I 1 they r ness of the night yielded no clua as to t their point of emergence the vol ume lime of water in tho the stream n loni a wand suggested that in their wandering 1 they must have drifted bafit ward and come coine out much lower down than had been originally intended if I 1 so then they might be almost directly south of carson city and in a section with which ho be was totally ed one was however certain they would bo be compelled to wait tor daylight to ascertain the truth and decide upon their future movements keith arose reluctantly and re removed amov the saddles from the animals bob bling them so BO they could graze at will neb was propped up beneath an out cropping of the bark bank which partly prot protected elated him from the wind a mere hulk of a shadow keith could not tell teli whether he slept or not but made mad 0 no effort to disturb him A moment he stared vacantly about into the black silence and then lay down pillowing 10 hafl head bead upon it a saddle lie he found it impossible to sleep the chill of 0 the wind causing him to turn and twist in vain search after comfort while unappeased hunger gnawed incessantly wa ilia eyes ranged about over the dull gloom of the skies until they fell again to the earth level and then he suddenly sat up halt believing himself in a dream down the stream how far away be could not judge there gleamed a steady yellowish light it was no flicker of a camp tire fire yet remained stationary surely no star could be so low and large nor did h he recall any with th that a t p peculiarity e cul larity of color if such a miracle was possible in n the heart of that sandy desert he be would have dworn sworn it was a lamp thin ing through a window dut but he had never hoard heard of any settler on the salt fork and almost laughed at the houglin hou glit glat believing for the instant his brain played him some elfish trick yet that light was no illusion he rubbed his eyes only to see it more mor clearly convinced now of its reality lie IQ basti hastily lr across and shook net into semi s dragging ill him in bodily up tip the bank and pointing down the stream do you see itt he be inquired acx bously there straight ahead of yo the te negro stare stared d shaking with cold and nd scarcely arcely Bc able to stand alone attybe it am de mean massa jack he la muttered thickly or a goblins gob llna lan lantern langorn torn bawd I 1 dont jest like do da looks oh ob dat ting we wen I 1 do and keith laughed uneasily L at tho the negros fears all I 1 wanted to know was waa it you saw what I 1 saw a lamp shining through a window neb what in heavens name it 1 can be doing here I 1 am unable to guess but im going to find out it it means sh e I 1 or an and d food boy oven even it we hae bay e to ajit for or it como come on the horses are arc ajo c arid and well discover w what batts Is babl bebley it light yonder IT ato i it the sur surest s hindlea alon tj on ono I 1 la fh vae e manner born |