| Show P 1 drw h aa it 1 kelln 0 le 2104 li ath t ff W t I 1 00 P V 49 no I 1 TA 1 ke 01 I 1 I 1 e ti L es I 1 THE KILLER SYNOPSIS at th tile death d th of till his oater foster father atlear at liar druc bruce duncan a in an eastern city receives a mysterious message sent dent by a mrs ross ilos sum him peremptorily to southern or oregon to lo meet unda linda aruca bruca B ce has hag vivid but baffling recollection ol of lila his childhood in an or Vhana ph anage re before ilia big adoption by newton no W ton duncan with the girl linda at his destination trails end news that a message 0 has ha been sent to bruce Is received w with it h marked displeasure by a man introduced to the reader a ad simon leaving the train bruce la in astonished at his apparent familiarity with the surroundings though to hla his knowl efto lie he lias has never been there on the way eimon wirna warns him to give up his quest and return east bruce refutes mrs biro rosa aged and infirm welcomes him with emotion blie hastens hastena him on en tin his way the end 0 of alne needle trail bruce finds hla his childhood playmate unda linda the girl telli tella him of 0 wrongs committed byan by an enemy cladi on her family the bosses rosses lands occupied by the clan were stolen from the bosses rosses Itoi acs and the family with the exception of bf aunt elmira biro llosa and herself wiped 7 aped out ay assassination braces father matthew rolger folger als was one of the victims ills hla mother had fled with bruce and linda the girl while small had been from the orphanage and brought to the mountains lindas father had deeded lilg bid lands to matthew rolger folger but the agreement which would confute tits the claims to the property had been lout lost braces mountain blood responds res ponda to lo the call of the tha blood feud A giant tree the sentinel pine in front of cabin seems to braces excited imagination to be endeavoring to convey a message bruce sets out in fit search ot 0 it a trapper named hudson a witness to the agreement between lindas rather father and matthew matther folger A gigantic gantle gi grizzly known as the killer Is the terror of the vicinity I 1 CHAPTER XIV 5 simon turner had given dave dae very erv definite instructions concerning lits embassy to hudson adson li the first thing tills druce bruce will ft III do simon lind had said bald ilia Is to hunt bunt up u Ift hudson idson the ono one living ing ronn man that witnessed abat agreement between hoss and old folger one reason Is that lie hell 11 want to verify lindas story the next nest la Is to persuade the old man to go down to the courts with him blin ns as ills witness and what you have to do Is line him up for for our side first you think 1 daves eyes wandered about the lie room you jou think the ilia best way 1 I bo be tellin you sou to do it if I 1 think so simon laughed a sudden grim syllable dave dap youre a bloodthirsty devil I 1 see hee what youre thinking ot of ot of a safer way vay to keep him from telling but you sou know tho word I 1 sent out ogo go ensyl the wisest course to follow at present the valley people pay more attention to such things than they used to ilia hie fewer the killings ilia he wiser WO we will be if liell hell keep quiet for the hundred let him liae have it in peace dave forgotten but ills his features were sharper and more than ever eer aben lie he coma camo in sight of hudsons Hud sons just after tile the tall fall of darkness of the hie second day out the trapper was cooking hla his simple meal a blue grouse frying ft inga in ills his skillet coffee boiling and flapjack batter ready for tile the moment the lie grouse was done daves thoughts returned to tho the burl hundred red doll dolia in ills pocket ft a I 1 good sum aum in the hills A brass rifle cartridge such as lie he could fire in the thirty thirty that he carried in the hollow of ills his arm cost only about six sit centa the net gain would bl be the figures hew flew quickly through tits ills mind alnemy nino dollars and ninety four cents quite a good piece of business jor for dave but the trouble was that I 1 simon might find out the word had gone out for the present at least to t go easy such little games as occurred to dave now as lie he watched I 1 the trapper in the firelight with one hundred dollars d 0 it of the clans money in his own rocket poll L t lind had been prohibited until further notice I 1 the thing looked so simple that dave squirmed all over with annoy itne it hurt him to think that thal tile the hundred dollars that lie carried wag to be passed over without a wink of on an eye to 16 this bearde bear dei trapper and the only return tor for it was to be a promise that hudson would not tes tiby in druces behalf and a hundred dollars was real money I 1 just u little matter of a single glance down his tine rifle barrel nt at the figure in the silhouette of the fire glow and a half ounce I 1 of pressure on the lie hair trigger half with himself he dropped on one ne knee nad raised the weapon the trapper did not guess his presence the blood leaped in daves veins I 1 but brt he caught himself with a lwrence Lw rench ch lie realized that simon had find ce epo spoken ep true when lie said raid flint the old I 1 flays days were weri gone that the arm of the ila lav rea clied further farther titan than formerly forn beily and it might even i stretch to this ills far place ile he remembered simons infractions the quitter quieter we can do these things tho the better the clan leader had said if we e can got get through to october thirtieth falth with no U the safer eater A it p s for us go an easy as dae this hodson out if 1411 liall keep still stall for a hundred let film have it in pence peace I 1 dave slipped his rifle into the hol bol dow of hla his art arr and continued on down the fealt trail ile he try to stalk in ia a moment hudson heard beard his step and louled ap ney met in a circle of brenc jr p i 1 p 7 V 1 it Is not the mountain way to fraternize quickly nor ore are tile the mountain men quick to show allow astonishment hudson hod had not seen another human being since ills his last visit to the settlements yet ills voice olce indicated no surprise nt at this visitation illoway lowdy Il IIo wb lie grunted ll Ilott dl dave dae replied illow how about grubl help yourself supper just ready dave helped himself to the food of the lie manthai man that a moment before lie ho would lune have slain and in tile the light of tile the high pro ore that followed tile the meal lie he got iowa owa to the real business of the visit 1 I suppose youve bouc forgotten foi gotten that little deed you iou witnessed between old mat folger and ross twenty jers ngo ago dave anio began easily ills his pipe between ills tooth judson hudson turned with a cunning glitter in his big eyes ees dave saw it and grew bolder who wants me to forget it hudson demanded remanded 1 I aint iwald that anybody arants you to dave daie 1 I asked you it if you ou had hudson was still a coment stroking absently li lits is beard bear if you ou want to know knon lie he sad aa d 1 I 1 nent forgotten hut but there just a i deed there was on agreement too 1 I know all about hint flat agreement dave confessed you do oil hi 0 a do ibi 1 I I 1 aint likely to ti forget I 1 dave studied lafin closely ant what good la is at t to do you to ier lie demanded T r aint saying amt its going to do me hiie any good at present I 1 nent got goi nothing again bl the turners lin ners always bein been nil all right to tome me between them and the lie Is 18 past tin and done although I 1 know just in what wai ivay rolger held tant land and no transfer from him blia to you ou was legal but all put part of tile the past As long its as the turners tin tiers continue to bo be my ni friends I 1 dont see why anything ani tiling should ae be said about it dave dae speculated it vas wholly plain that the old inan had not cef et heard of druces return eherd was no need to mention him were glad you ou are ofir friend 11 dave went vent on put but we dont expect no one bostur to stu friends with alth us its unless they hey benefit to some small extent by it how flow many furs do you lou hope to take tills year ear not enough to pay to pack out maybe two hundred dollars in bounties before new year coyotes and wolves 11 then ronile fifty or seventy sem nty five dollars without bothering to set the traps come in so had bad it coine la in bad but it buy much ili ese days A hundred would br bo better A hundred it Is dave told him with finality nn allty tho eyes above aboe the dark beard shone in the firelight the money money changed hands they sat eat a long time deep in their own thoughts all we nye ask dave said 1 lii that you jou dont take sides against ila ni ill remember of course you want me in case care im ver ever subpoenaed enad to recall signing the deed itself yea tea wod want you ou to testify to that of course they chuckled together in tile the darkness then they turned to the binn blankets ill show low you ion another trail out tomorrow hudson told him it cornea comes I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 7 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 V 11 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 I 1 W I 1 I 1 dave helped himself Hlina elf to the food of a f the man that a moment before he would have slain into the glen that you passed to night the canyon that the killer lias has been using lately for a hunting ground 4 CHAPTER XV I 1 the killer hal ltd isid an unsuccessful night he had batted the long hours though at tho the mouth month of the trait trail but only tho the little People such as the rabbits and similar folk that hardly constituted a single bite in hla his great jav ja I 1 lind conis comei lite way now ti ow it was waa morning and it looked asat as if ito ho would have hare to go hungry ile he started to stretch ills hl gat muscles intending to a albush but tall all at once I 1 I 1 by EDISON MARSHALL author of the voice of the pack lie he froze again into a lifeless gray patch in tile thickets there were light steps on the trail again they were the steps of leer deer but not of 0 the great wary vary elk this time instead it was just a fawn awn or a yearling doe at least such a creature as ag had not yet learned to suspect every turn in tile the trail the forest gods lind had been good to him after all lie ile peered through the thickets and in n a moment more he had a glimpse of 0 the spotted skin it was ft as almost too easy hut but even een as a tile the killer watched tile the prize was simply taken out ot of ills mouth A gray wolfa old anale that also lind just tin on I 1 unsuccessful hunt bunt had been stealing through the thickets in search ot of a and lie came out on tile tha trail not fifty feet distant halfway between the lie bear and the fawn the ono one was nna almost jig surprised as the other tile the fawn turned with a n frightened blent bleat tin and darted away the wolf swung into pursuit the henr bear lunged hinged forward with a I 1 howl of raye rage ile he leaped into the trall trail mouth then ran ran as fast as lie le could tu in pursuit of the lie running wolf lite ic wl hiis a too enraged to stop to 0 think that a grizzly bear has never yet kt been able to t overtake a wolf wol once the win bilm logs legs got well into action at first lie he think about anything lie had been cheated too many times ills ilia first impulse was wag one of and overpowering wrath ri fury that mount meant death to tile first alli ll li trea dea fure lire that tio lie not inet ilist in it a single second ila ho realized that tills this wild chase wes bailly failly good tactics offer after all the chances for a meal ivere still rather good the fawn red and lite wolf wore were in the open now and it was as wholly evident that the gray hunter bunter ifould overt nUo the ilia quarry in another moment roo ment it wil was 8 true that tile killer would miss iniss tile ho pleasure plea suie of allaying ills his own game tho the ecstatic biow to the shoulder and the bite to the throat that followed it in tills this case tile the wolf would do that part of the work for him it was just a simple matter of driving tile he creature 11 away from tits his dead hut but tit at that instant fate took it ila hand d in the merry marry little chase to the fawn it was nothing but a sharp clang of metal behind him and an answering shriek of pain sounds that lint in its tenor it heard but dimly hat bat it was an unlooked for and bragle reality to the wolf ills leap was avns suddenly arrested in midair mid air find and ha be wits vw hurled hulled cruel metal tooth teeth had find seized his leg lee find and a strong chain held him when lie ha tried to escape ho fought it with desperate savagery the fawn leaped lc aped on to safety but there was w aa no need of 0 the grizzly continuing its pursuit everything had turned out quite well for him after all A wolf Is ever so much more filling than tiny any kind of seasonal fawn and the old gray pack leader was imprisoned find and helpless in one of hud sons traps 0 0 0 in the first gray of morning dave turner started back toward his home ill go with you to the forks in the trail hudson told him film 1 I want to tako take a look at of ray my traps anyhow at the some same hour as soon as it was light enough to see druce bruce was finishing lite breakfast in preparation for the last lap of ills his journey ile he had passed the night by n spring on a long ridge almost in oe eye range of hudsons Hud sons soua camp now lie he was preparing to dip down into tile the killers glen turner and hudson followed up tile the little creek the first of hudsons Hud flud sons sets proved empty the tecona was about at a turn in the creek and if a wall of brulli made it impossible for him to tell at a distance whether or not lie he had made a ditch but when still a quarter of a mile distant heard beard a souad that he thought ho he recognized it vita a high sharp agonized bark that dimmed into w a low whine 1 I believe le ive got a butow eor ti a wolf tip lip there lie sold said they hastened their sp stepi the whole hole ure loomed suddenly before their eyes there was lie no wolf volf in the trap the steel had sprung pricing ing but only culy a hideous of a foot bet between ticen tile the as the bone hod had beai broken bliar ply off on as a man might break brank a match in ills his fingers there was ito ing wolf lite life lind had gone out of 0 tile the gray body many minutes before the to tivo men mell saw all these things filings as a background only dim details about the lie central figure but the thing that froze them in their tracks with terror was tile great gray form of the killer not twenty foot feet distant beside th the man aled body of at the wolf the yenta aventa that followed thereafter came in such quick succession as to seem simultaneous one cne traction fraction of tin mi instant ally all three arce figures stood motionless the two men staring blaring the grizzly half leaning aver ver his prey ills nead head turned timed hla his little red rd eyes ees full of hatred he uttered one hoarse sav age note n sound in which all hl ills hatred and lite lila fury and ills hist savage power were made manifest whirled with incredible speed ard charged hudson did not even have time to turn there wits HUH no defense his alg gun wai wag f trapped strapped on his bis back nod aven eun it ishad it had been to ta bis hands its iti bullet would not at have nattered mattered tile sting of a bee in honey robbing the alie only possible cliance chance of breaking that deadly charge lay in the thirty thirty doer rifle in daves arms arasi hit but the craven who held it did not even fire ile ho was standing just below the lie outstretched limb or of a tree and alio weapon fell ell from his hands ns an lie swung up tip into tile the limb the fact that hudson stood weaponless ten feet away tn in the clearing did not deter deice him blin in |
