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Show Ci A Consequential Hold-U- p By Charles S. Reid iCopyrlcht, ty Daily Story Pub. Co.) Bsrrymores memory was haunted by the vision of a womans face. He bad seen It but once, and this bad been In the dining-caof a Northwest . ern Limited train. After lunch be bad In search of the owner of that gone face. But, although he sought dll genUy from one end of tho train to the other, he could not find her again; and since that time It had been a mat ter of much mystery to him how he could have missed her. It was near sundown, and Barry more was returning horseback from a trip over the mountain. On coming round a certain bend In the road, he was brought to an unexpected standstill by the silent command of a whose muzzle had been to a level with his head. brought Your money, or your life!" The words had a familiar sound In narry mores ear. He had read them often In his dime-nove- l days. But the voice which now had uttered them In reality, and In no uncertain manner, at a distance of less than six feet, was that of a woman. This woman was neatly attired and sat her horse gracefully. But over the lower part of her face was a mask. commanded the "Come, quick! would-brobber. "I am a desperate woman, and I do not care to take any Hanc chances by allowing delays. over your valuables. He handed over the purse with an 111 grace and started to ride away. Hold! The muzzle of the weapon was thrust a few Inches nearer. Your watch, please! Well, I must say, you are grasping, for a woman. Slipping his watch from his pocket he placed that, also, In the ' pretty hand outstretched to receive it. You have a fine signet ring, suggested the female road agent. .Please allow me to keep this.. Barrymores tone had become one of The ring was earnest pleading. given me years ago by my mother. Sentiment has no part in the business upon which I am engaged. Give me the ring, please. And if I should refuse? A bullet in your shoulder first And If that should fail to bring me r six-shoot- e to terms? been enacted merely to win a wager; and I shall have to keep this ring for a short time to prove my victory." In returning Barrymores property, the young woman had unwittingly relaxed her guard over the pistol hand; and. Barrymore, quick to see his opportunity, suddenly grasped tho wrist of bis captor and wrenched the weapon from the hand that had held It. A little scream of surprise and consternation escaped the lips of the masked woman; and. lashing her horse, she made a hasty attempt to But Barrymore had gallop away. caught the bridle rein of her horse, and at the same time had covered the masquerader with her own weapon. First, you will please hand over my signet ring!" he commanded. Tho young lady quickly complied. Now, please let me go?" she I have been quite foolish." pleaded. So you have; and I am now a desperate man. That is a handsome diamond brooch you are wearing. "Ah, my mothers " Sentiment has no part in the business upon which I am engaged. The brooch was unclasped, and the parting neckband displayed just a little more of the girls beautiful white throat Now, will you oblige me by removing the mask?" Please Oh, I cannot I cannot! me? trembled. The voice spare "You will please remove your mask! Barrymore made the trigger of the pistol click audibly. "Oh, spare me! It was all "The mask. I am growing more desperate with each moment of delay." Protestlngly, the young ladys hand went to her mask, and she lifted it from her face. Then Barrymore gasped. The revealed face was the same that had been haunting his memory the face of the dining-car- . Amazement, rapturous delight and satisfaction mingled in his breast; but his pistol hand remained steady. Barrymore realized that his opportunity had come, and he exclaimed: There is something miraculous In this! And, believing that this meeting has been brought about in answer to the earnest prayer which has been in my heart since first I saw you three months ago, I am determined I shall not lose you again. Back here is a country parson. Ride a little in advance of me and move in that that direction. Barrymore indicated by a motion of his head. Why, what do you mean? I mean that you are going to marry me. I am now going to put away this weapon; but remember that I have It handy; and fail in one single instant to obey my commands during the next hour, and you will have only yourself to blame for the awful tragedy which will follow. Surely you cannot mean what you The young ladys bosom rose say? and fell tumultuously. Did I not tell you that I am a desperate man? Only the deepest earnestness appeared in Barrymores face, as the eyes of his captive searched his countenance. The two riders now moved forward, and In a little while they came in sight of a small cottage painted red. On a front veranda sat a little pious-lookin- g man, reading. Barrymore leaned forward and whispered into his com- Perhaps a bullet In the other shoulder would serve to help your education." You are a regular pirate. The woman laughed, and the tone of her laughter was very far from being in line with the business she professed. Barrymore slipped the ring from his finger and gave that, too, to the woman who had the drop on him. Now dismount. Ha! do you know that you are taking a pretty good risk of being caught when you burden yourself with my horse? I shall not burden myself very far. In fact, I merely want to delay you as much as possible. Dismount, will you? To oblige you. Barrymore dismounted. Now get on your knees and thank me for sparing your life. Never! Barrymore thrust his hands into his pockets and threw back his head. And, he continued, if there is to be any pistol play, you may as well begin the shooting. The woman laughed again. ' You may remount your horse, she said. When Barrymore was again in the panions ear: saddle, she handed back to him his Remember, even to hesitate will be to invite a tragedy. purse and watch. The ring shall be returned to you The girl nodded and sighed. DisThis farce has mounting at the parsons gate, Barry later. she declared. . more astlatf-- the youag Udy to alight; and, aide by aide they entered the house. For years this small cottage had been noted as a sort of Gretna Green; and the clergyman who resided there had learned to ask few questions and to proceed to business when a young couple entered the house. Onco more on the road and out of sight of the cottage. Barrymore rode close beside the horse of his bride, who, beyond her subdued responses to the minister, had remained silent "Your llpa to mine Just one moment, d sweetheart" Barrymores tone now was very tender; and his companion yielded to the passion of his caress with apparently more willingness than the situation might warrant But, sighing a moment later, she mused half aloud: My husband will understand, of course, that life." 1 did It all to save my "What Is that?" Barrymores heart suddenly sank within him. I said that my husband" Then yots are the wife of another?1 The girls lips parted In a sudden and merry peal of laughter. Are you not my husband, goosey?" Barrymore looked Into her eyes, then his heart thumped for Joy. "Then you are not an unwilling bride? His arm bad started about her waist "Why should I be, when this termination of our meeting had been planned by your sister, with my acqui- escence?" What? You do not mean Louise?" She and I were classmates, you know. But of course, you didnt know; and you didnt know that I was to be her guest out here." "They you are Ethel Morrow?" "You mean, I wa3 Ethel Morrow. Barrymores arms went round her, and he crushed her lips with a kiss. And what about the hold-up?- " "Well, really, that was not a part of the plan. I was doing that, as I told you, to win a wager. Louise contended tliat a woman could never have the nerve to do a thing like that; and we decided , that I should try it on you. And you tried it, with results alto- gether unexpected." Unexpected, but not Unsatisfactory? Her answer was a kiss. Shot Through Tube. A novel experiment to demonstrate the practicability of a pneumatic parcel carrier was recently tried in Chicago. The parcel shot through a short length of sample tube was a He traveled at the boy. rate of 16 miles an hour, and was In no wray the worse for the journey, j. M. Masten, superintendent of the railway mail service, and Postmaster Campbell of Chicago witnessed the experiment, as representatives of the post office department, which is look-n- g into the device. The inventor declares that with a tube between New York and Chicago mail can be she from one city to the other in seven hours. Boy ld Buds Age with Parent Tree. According to a government botanist at Washington there is reason to believe that buds share in the growing old of the parent plant. He illustrates his meaning in this way: Supposs the average life of an individual plant say a tree to be 100 years, then a bud removed when the parent plant is 50 years old will also be virtually 50 years of age, and if transplanted by grafting will be able to live on the graft only 50 years more. Sea Snakes Hard to Get. Collecting sea snakes for the scien tific institutions is a difficult process. If the collector is to obtain anything like a fair proportion of the 50 odd species he must cruise through Malayan seas in a small boat and be ever on the watch. The only way to obtain a series of the species is to shoot them. Sea snakes come regularly to the surface for air, but the collector is lucky if he gets one out of everj ten snakes he sees. -- AVENGED HIS TRAGEDY PAL IN THE HISTORY OF A KANSAS TOWN. Newton, In the Early 70s, the Scene of Remarkable Affray That Ended In the Death of Nine Persons. The (own of Newton, Kan., was the arena of the storm and stress of the times that tried men's souls and placed every life In the balance," said Back in the a retired cattleman. 70s It was what might have been called tho trocha of civilization. The Santa Fe railway was Just building Into the town. It was on the line of the cattle trail. Cattlemen from Texas and the southwest drove up great herds, some as large as 3,000, and sold It them to the northern market. miles around, for was an open range with good grazing all the way to the Seminole. The town was filled all the while with cattlemen and Newton soon became known all over the country as the Par I s of the West "Among the many who blew into Newton along about 1875 were two young men, who as eager hearted boys had left their homes on the farms and gone out into the world One was to make their fortune. called Sid Bloodsaw, who came from Illinois, and at first was well supplied with money. Another, Ted Bland, hailed from Iowa. He was a young fellow with plenty of sand. Bloodsaw and Bland became fast friends. Both had lost all their money at three card monte, and there was a touch of sympathy between them that After they had made them akin. fallen short of funds, they tried several things, but, like the tiger, everything went against them. Starvation stared them in the face. They could get no work and were hungry. While Bloodsaw was absent one night his partner ventured into one of the dance halls as a looker on. He got to drinking and became involved in a difficulty with a Texan. Bland had pawned his gun to buy food, which showed to what depth he had descended. The Texan killed him. His body was laid out for burial next day when Bloodsaw returned. He had made a few dollars and he spent it all giving Bland as decent d burial as possible. That night Bloodsaw crept through the darkness and looked in at the dance hall where Bland had met his death. He found the same crowd of Texans, eight in all, one of whose members had shot his friend. He heard the music mingled with the loud guffaws of the men who counted lightly the life of a penniless stranger. He went around to the back door of the dance hall and nailed it up. There was so much noise in the hall and the men and women had given themselves over so completely to the merry orgie that his work attracted no attention. The front of the hall was occupied by the bar. He vaulted the counter and told the mixer of drinks to get out, and that worthy obeyed promptly, giving the alarm as he departed. Then the Texans made a rush for the intruder, firing as they came. Using the counter as a barricade, Bloodsaw greeted the onslaught of the Texans with two bullets from his revolvers. Both took effect and two men fell dead. Two others stumbled and fell over their mates, and Bloodsaw put a let each in their bodies. By this time the other four had become terror-stricke- n and made for the rear entrance. Here was the chance that the mans strategy had planned. When the fleeing men rushed to the door.and found it barred, they turned to and met another fusillade from Bloodsaws battery. When his revolvers were emptied eight desperate Texas cattlemen lay dead on the floor. Several shots had been fired at Bloodsaw, but only one took effect, that making a slight flesh wound. Chicago Inter Ocean. ' |