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Show j GIFT OF THE DESERT H M I By RANDALL PARRISH j w Copyright by J H A. C. McClurg ' Co. j " 3 MlXIX'flrillllnTIIIIITITtlllyiTTIIIITirltirTSIiiinTIITTIITTTTTTTTTTTTTTfj THE STORY THUS FAR SYNOPSIS. On. the Isolated Meager ranch, on the southern border, Deborah Meredith, trained nurse, is In attendance on Mrs. Meager, whose husband has recently re-cently been killed. Immediately after the death, Bob Meager, Mrs. Meatcer's stepson, arrives and takes possession. He Insults Deborah and she resolves to leave, but there seems no possibility possi-bility of her getting away. Meager Mea-ger g-loats over Deborah's plight H tells her he has sent for a Justloa of the peace, who will matry them tomorrow Horrified, Horri-fied, the girl secures a revolver. The Justice, Cornelius Garrlty, scoundrel and bosom friend of Meager, arrives with a pRrty, among them the "Frisco Kid." notorious desperado. Despite Deborah's protests, the Justloe performs the marriage ceremony. She escapes and reaches her room. There she stuns Meager with the revolver and ruBhes to the stables, hoping to secure a horse and escape. There she meets the "Frisco Kid." Somehow Some-how he inspires her with confidence confi-dence and she explains the situation. situa-tion. The "Kid" tells her his name Is Daniel Kelleen, that he Is no friend of Meager. They ride off together into the desert. Presently Pres-ently she realizes that Kelleen Is the "Frisco Kid." but doesn't fear him. Deborah hears the story of the "Frisco Kid." Kelleen disappears dis-appears and Deborah is seised by a man who carries her to what is apparently a cave. CHAPTER X Continued. 9 Deborah's searching eyes, now able to distinguish objects with some clearness, clear-ness, scanned the rock walls to the obscured entrance. At first she could not be sure, but finally the vague outlines out-lines of the man seated on the rock became be-came visible. He was huddled forward for-ward In such grotesque posture as scarcely to appear human, but gradually gradu-ally the girl realized what the uncouth shape must be, could even detect the long, scraggly beard, the great breadth of shoulders, and the rifle, on which he leaned. With this discovery came the Instant assurance also that the fellow slept soundly. A thrill of hope brought courage, and new strength to her limbs. Might it not be possible for her to steal forward silently, and then, with a sudden spring, clear the obstruction of vines, and gain the free day without, before the slumbering guard could even comprehend what had occurred? The horse was not a hundred hun-dred yards away, and even If she had to leap boldly from off the shelf of rock, she would willingly dare all for a chance at escape. Yet she had not advanced ad-vanced three steps until she realized the Impossibility of the effort the sleeping body utterly blocked the passage. pas-sage. She could perceive the fellow now with some distinctness, a giant of a man, with long, apelike arms, bare and hairy, an oddly formed head, almost al-most pear-shaped, long hair shading the face, and a black beard sweeping to his knees. Slowly, silently, without actually knowing why, the girl drew back into the deeper darkness behind her, guiding herself with one hand against the rough wall. Into her mind had come the faint hope of another egress somewhere, the very purity of the air suggesting such a possibility, he even Imagining she felt a draft upon her cheek. Yet there was no glimmer of light. Once her groping foot struck against fragments of rock left lying where they fell. She bent down better to assure herself of the obstruction, and her exploring fingers touched a pick. It was a mine, then ; this secret excavation had been man's work ; Nature may have pointed the way, but this tunnel itself originated through lust of wealth. Her captors were not outlaws but men crazed by fear of losing what they had uncovered uncov-ered in these rocky hills. Yet this knowledge rendered her situation no whit less dangerous. Deborah crept forward over the pile of debris, discovering that this fall of stone did not denote the ending of the passage. Suddenly her groping hands revealed a sharp curvature In the tunnel, tun-nel, and she worked her way about the corner with utmost caution. Then she stopped, rooted to the spot, her heart almost ceasing to beat. Far above, up what appeared to be a sharply inclined chute through the solid rock, came streaming down a single ray of daylight, Its faint reflection reflec-tion resting directly upon the upturned face of a dead man, stretched on the tunnel floor. Deborah, startled, swayed back against the wall for support, staring down Into that white, upturned face, clearly revealed within the little pool of light. It was the fare of a young man, his dark, wide-open eyes staring blindly up Into vacancy, his brown hair cut short, almost good-looking even In death, with cheeks freshly shaven. This last was what aroused the girl, brought her back quickly to life and action. He had the appearance appear-ance of having shaved that very morning; morn-ing; the stubble of his beard was not even visible. Then she noted two other facts his revolver was In the holster at his waist, and the hand, held upright up-right against the side wall, grasped folded paper. He had Just been killed, not more than two hours before surely, and In no duel perhaps he had fallen to where he lay while climbing that narrow passage above. But the wound? There was none visible not even a bruise on the face. As a woman, wom-an, Deborah shrank from touching the body, but her training as a nurse ln- stantly conquered. She must learn the truth, disagreeable as the task might be. On her knees, exerting all her strength, she partially turned the body the man had been shot In the back. She seemed to comprehend It all In a flash, vlsioning the scene as she rose quickly to her feet. He must have done the deed that older man with the beard shooting treacherously from behind. It had been deliberate murder. But the purpose was not so clear. To all appearances the assassin had never even approached his victim after he fell. Confident of the deadly accuracy of his aim, he had left the Inert body lying where It struck, untouched, un-touched, not even the dead man's gun being removed from Its holster, or the folded bit of paper released from those gripping fingers. The unspeakable, treacherous horror of the act appalled Deborah. There must be some reason behind It all. It was too cold, cruel, deliberative not to have definite cause. No speculation now could solve the mystery, but the murderer still lived ; he was back yonder In the darkness she had just left. He would no more spare her than he had shown mercy to this other victim. If he still slept she must take advantage of the moment for escape the one chance up that long passage toward the gleam of light at the top. She stepped across the dead body, grasping her skirts tightly In one hand ; then hesitated for an Instant, obsessed by a new thought. Perhaps that paper might explain all, might prove the very key to all this mystery. She bent, and wrested it from out the stiffened fingers, hastily endeavoring to learn what It contained. It was a thick, tough sheet, the folds showing yellow and dirty as though it had been carried a long while, and there was writing Inside, In fine penmanship, but so Indistinct her eyes were unable to decipher a single word In that dim light. She thrust It Into the bosom of her blouse, her eyes anxiously searching the only possible way out:- It scarcely promised even that, as revealed by that single ray barely illuminating illu-minating the passage. Apparently an Irregular sized hole, worn between layers of solid rock by the action of water, It led upward at a sharp angle, and, while wide enough at the lower extremity to permit the entrance of a full-grown man, seemed to contract at (he upper opening so as to make it very doubtful If an ordinary body could squeeze through Into the open air beyond. Yet Deborah felt that she had no choice but to accept this single chance of deliverance. She could not remain there with the dead man, nor retrace her steps backward to where the murderer remained asleep on guard. Her belt was still about her waist, but its holster was empty. Before Be-fore beginning to climb, she drew the dead man's gun from its scabbard, and stuck It Into her own. As she did so the light from above glimmered on a pearl-studded handle, and a barrel of blue steel. At first the climbing was not difficult, diffi-cult, the slope gradual with the walls sufficiently wide apart to afford comparatively com-paratively easy passage. Drawing herself forward by her hands, with feet groping In the darkness below for any projection against which they could rest, she won her way upward, almost Inch by Inch, soon creeping over a narrow shelf, able, finally, to sit upright within a shallow niche at one side, where the stone hud been hollowed out for a few Inches. She was breathless from the hard climb, her heart beating rapidly. She could see nothing, hear nothing, yet her mind pictured again the dead face of that boy staring up at her she could not go back to that I Nor to that other living horror beyond ! She must go on; better to die there, caught helplessly help-lessly In that rocky hole, than ever to fall atraln Into the power of that beast. She listened Intently, hearing nothing; then lifted her hands to feel upward. She lifted one foot, seeking a fragment of rock to rest upon. Then a flare of red lit the Inferno, a dull, muffled report echoed along the Imprisoning Im-prisoning walls, and a bullet brushed her hair, flattening itself on the rook beyond. She shrank back Into the little niche, scarcely certain of her escape, and rested there on her knees, not venturing ventur-ing to move. The shot had come from below; of that there could he no doubt, but there was no other report, no movement to reveal any presence. Deborah had no question as to who had fired it must he the man she had fled from In the outer care. He must have seen her outlined against that round opening above. It was a miracle she bad escaped; but to have seen her the fellow must have stood directly beneath, beside the body of the dead man. Perhaps he would be there still, peering up to learn the result of his shot, wondering where she had disappeared so quickly. She wsb safe enough where she was, be hind that barrier of rock, and she drew the revolver out of its holster, and listened eagerly for any sound of guidance from below. If he made any effort to climb up, she meant to shoot to kill. She dare not venture to advance her face around the rock edge, for fear the movement might bring her Into view against that vista of light. The fellow was evidently waiting and watching Just as she was, disconcerted by her strange disappearance. No doubt he half believed his bullet had found Its mark, that she had fallen, either wounded or dead, Into some crevice, but was afraid as yet to venture ven-ture up that narrow tunnel. She could not remain there Indefinitely waiting for him to gain courage to attempt the ascent. Her hand, with the weapon In It, reached noiselessly out beyond the edge of the rock, and pointed downward. A stone rattled below and her finger pulled the trigger. The muffled report echoed back from the rocks, the red flash of the discharge dis-charge faded Into darkness, and the pungent smoke blew back Into her face ; but there was nothing else. No cry, no crunch of a falling body, no thud of lead. She listened helplessly, half crazed to empty every load from her poised weapon Into that silence below. What could it all mean? What had happened behind that black veil? An hour passed, an hour of dreadful watching, of tense expectation. It seemed to her the blue light streaming through that opening was already losing los-ing its power, as though the sun was going down. If she would escape she must go while she could yet see the way. Desperate as the chance was, It must be accepted. She did not look down, or permit herself to think of the possible danger lurking below, with lips closely pressed together, and heart beating rapidly, she drew herself her-self up, inch by Inch, bracing her body against the side walls as though She Listened Eagerly for Any Sound From Below. in a chimney, making use of every projection as a support to either hand or foot, and thus steadily approaching the opening overhead. Her courage had returned ; there had been no attack at-tack from beneath, no evidence of life. Deborah reached the end of her climb breathless, her limbs aching from exertion, her heart sinking with dismay. It never could be accomplished, accom-plished, the passage of her body through that narrow opening to the world without. How sweet the fresli air felt; how beautiful the blue arch of sky, yet It was hopeless of attainment. attain-ment. The very madness of the thought proved her salvation. Crazed for the moment, she began to dig fiercely with her fingers ut the obstruction, ob-struction, tearing at a projecting point of rock, which suddenly yielded to the furious attack, a stream of loosened sand pouring after. Little by little, madly tearing at the sides of the orifice, ori-fice, she managed to wear away every fragment back to the solid rim of rock. She unbelted the revolver and flung It through the opening; then drew herself her-self upward, fearful every instant of being Irretrievably caught, yet finding find-ing purchase below for her feet sufficient suffi-cient to thrust her slender body steadily stead-ily forward. At last her shoulders emerged into the outer day, and she was enabled to drag the rfst of h'r body over the rim of rock. Utterly exhausted. Deborah lay on the sund, gasping for breath, conscious only that ehe had found refuge In a shallow ravine. She lay there outstretched In the shadow of a steep bank, without with-out strength even to lift her head. CHAPTER XI More Complications. Deborah felt that she never would regain power to rise, yet this total exhaustion passed away, as she began to breathe more easily, and finally she sat upon the sand, gazing abtkl her |
