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Show . I'jMWlUllui I I I W II I I II fk Questioji of Goufage T ilon't rnir, 1 think It's perfect h henitlrm of jou to bo so tmlllTcreiit n'out him; one would think jouMrnru i hi lie bit nliontivlmt Urcamoofliltn." 1 iidlow put hla nrm nronnil hertitul liltnl ItrrfacoKothnt he could lool. Into her i'ncr.' "l'crhr;M I'm not bo Imllf-.-rent, nftcr nil," he mild. "Toll rue lint you wish me toilo, nntlT'llfrotlo it. If I hate to let the fiimnce frecxo vhip the men turn out to hunt for hi m " 'riint U tthat ought to be done tomorrow, to-morrow, nnywnj. Henlcr'aonptonRU lur fi ther to rliln nlonir the moiintnlii to rw If nnyone hnsheiud of hlm.nntl Ifenrj "III ro toDunbnr. If thry cmi i llnd out nnythlns, I think Jim oujrht (o If' t up n search part). Now. Tom. there'll one tlilnir more. Tell me ou thought lliiffh uouhlu't hnipnu,-Ihliifr hnipnu,-Ihliifr to do with the feud If ho knew tiliout It?" I.udlow snw he wns upon the brink nml brnccd himself for the plunge, bu he rinshcly naked: "When did I nj any thing lll.ethnt?" "Whv, jou remember the first tlmi Me weie talking iihout him nnd Hester' jou nnld he'd lme to he cry mucl i'iaiig-d fi-oui the man jou used t know If he consented to naauine nni such teBponilhilltlcH." "Did 1 say that?" "Of couifco you did; nnd I innt to know what It mennt, and nil nbout It." "Whj . I didn't mean nnj thing in pnr-tlculnr, pnr-tlculnr, except that Hugh unsnlunyan penccnblo fellow iv mnn who molds iob Hi a cat plcka her uy around n pool of water " "Therc'a more than thnt to It, Tom. dear, nml jou might just nt well tell me firm ns last. Hasn't ho been talking to you about tills this Idiosyncrasy of hls7" ijtullow dropped into his ehnlr mIHi n gronu. "I knew just how It Mould be," he Mild; and then he told her what he could remember of the eoineisntion in which Klngbrand had confessed his In-nhlllty In-nhlllty to fnco danger und the bcnrlng this would hne upon hln relations with Hester nml her family. "Ho Mud he wiis going to try to light It out with himself, nnd Unit If he failed mc needn't he surprised If he turned up inliiMng, because he wouldn't hne the face to ny gooil-hj-. .Vow j ou know t he w hole of It, nnd mIij- I haien't been borrowing uny trouble about his disappearance 1 concluded nt onu- that he'd runde n-miss-go of his light and had decided thnt dlscictloii was the better part of nlor." Mis. I.udlow pursed up her lips nnd walked ulilly mound tohcrplncnnt tlio dinner-table. "Tom," he sold, Bmlllng berencly across the table nt him, "I'm poUllielj- ashamed of jou. Do oil suppose sup-pose for u moment that Hugh Mould liae stnjid here nil this time making Jove to Hester when he Knew rdl along that )w wasn't going to haie the cour-uge cour-uge to stand U for her when he got postcious things, nnd 1 don't know which is the more ridiculous his nb-Hiiriillly nb-Hiiriillly In telling jou, or joum In be. llclng hint." I.udlow fell back hi his chair In nn nttitude of helpless despair, "Helen, mj denr, j'ou'd mnko nn nngel weep; you would, Indeed! What hae I to do Ludlow full back In hla ebalr In an atutuda o1 balpleaa daapalf with It? How um I icsponslblo for It'i Who made me tho godfather to till ehuekleiMieaded Infiint?" "I'lcnse ilon't bo tingle, Tom," the fald, sweetlj-. "It doesn't become you. You know yoti nlded nnd nbetted him In this foolish notion, nml then to think that jou'd sit down calmly In the belief be-lief Hint he'd uinnwiij without saying n word! It's too peifettlj nhsurd for iiujthiugl What jou should do is to telegraph onjbody jou can think of right nwm, nml If jou don't henrnnj-thlnghj henrnnj-thlnghj to-moriow morning j 011 ought to take the men nod sent eh ciorj- foot of tho mountain till jou llnd him." J'or leplj' ho liutidedherthetHoines-Kiges liutidedherthetHoines-Kiges fmm McNnlnillo nnd DunUir, rtddlng that he had questioned the conductor con-ductor on hl wit liome. "Then jou hnu'ii't been qulto ns hnid-hciirted as I thought you were. Can't you think of iinjono else to tele, graph?'' "Xo." "II1110 jou suspcetrd the. Ilj minis of Imilng uny thing to do witliit?rt "IM suspect them imlekly enough If them weio the (.lightest grounds forn motile; hut thcieisu'tn shadow of rcn-son rcn-son for thinking that they'd mnkuwnr on Hugh" "I'm Imps not; only 1 thought they might huie ideiitllled him in soiuo wny with tho hntlmers." I.iullou acnutcd the Idea; and during Iho afternoon he Instructed tho mine bume to hum tholr inun gnther nt "Tho LnutoU" onrly tho folluwlug nioinlng, piepared tolnako 11 tliorougli MMiteh for tho mlwilug mnn. After supper tho colonel's man enino down with 11 nolo from Heater. Nothing Noth-ing had been lieu id of lllughrniiil, a hrir, nml tho writer naked If the ecnrcli 1 arty had been nrmnffctl for the next day, nddlritf thnt th colonel rml Henry wUheil to join It. J.wllrrw ncnl l.u word thnt In- would 1- nt 'The t-nurels" nt in curl hour in the morning morn-ing with n lnnnj 1 . n us Iip could gnther, nml Mr. I.u.ilow wrote a post- crlpt to his note, nsklng Heater to spend tho tiny with her. Tho third da.Vof KlngbrcmVBnUienee dtw ned hot nnd clear, and when Ludlow Lud-low reached 'The Laurels" with his ncii lie found thq colonel nnd Henry uniting Impatiently, Aflcr n rhort fonsulliitioii nml the nrmtigpment of n definite plan, the qupat bogntij nr.d ns .oon ns tho men were out of nlfiht Hester mounted nnd '-ode to Tre-gni Tre-gni then. The suapenao of the pretlous tiny had hwn hard to endure, but II I1.11I been mixed with the hoim that nomo of the menna en pUued movi.I I ilng ne-i of n cheering rnlure. Wlien her fn liter nnd brotlur ifturned from theli frulilewi orrrm's, 1 rd the had rend Liulluw'a note, t' p.hl ' egnn t" lenlle In I'ntu) enrnert vlut ihepro lorgitl tit "itiinlv mem t lot liPi.atulj she was gl id inoiin'li toi" .ipt 110m the ordeal of nrtiihd -n.!. 1' . f .tit Ing Ii . 1 tii'.Sou saw !d ;:,i)h;inif 1 down the to 'd. md 11 et In al ihoiloor. "iid t!ie 11.111 f it t it I forejou left?" t-hr ii,(,u ii.'. p. lit ' h r arm1 ntoitntl thf gw. 1 . u1-' 1 iid Ui'diagher f the ciolsltlu g-rooni. "Yea; they l.nd phiiined to throw n line all the'wuy lie loss tho mountain, moving it northwnril, so ns to covcrthe whole plntcnu." "Thoj enn hardly fall to find him; that Is, if he still on tho mountnin," replied Mrs. Ludlow. "Oh, J en, Helen, but just think of It this In the thlrdihiy! They ctiuaenree-ly ctiuaenree-ly hope to dud him nllie If nny nccl-dent nccl-dent htia happened." Hester's olce hetrnyeil her emotion, nnd Mis. Ludlow hastened tocnmfoithcr. "You mustn't be discouraged, denr; It'll come out nil light I just feel thnt it will. All tiny jestcrday I was just nB blue ns could be, but now I nm sure we'll licnr goodncwBbefoielong," 1 "I wish 1 lould be: but I can't; und Tie tiled so hank All night longlwns haunted by tho most diendful pictures , of him ljlng in Rome desolate place. Sometimes It Bcemed ns If he wereonlj iroiinded, hut nt others Ids fuec was liihl nnd ghnstlj-. Oh.ltMnstcrrlblel" "Poor deai!' Milil Mis. Ludlow, sj mpnthet ieally, "docs It mean ko much ti) jou?" ll -ier eoicred her face with her hr . nnd the compassionate com-fniler com-fniler huw a tmr tikl.le down 0110 of Iho shnpelj fliiger. "There, there, Ulster, deni; don't cry: I know jou luu't talk nbout it j'et, not even to inc." The girl lool ed up with her cheeks nthinie "And jou know why I enn'tl It' shameful to eieu think of such n thing!" "No, It isn't, not ftom mj- point of ilew; jou intiBt lememher I know iinio tlilngi. on tho otiier side, und If Hugh hasn't spoken It's because ho has been lcstulned Iry it nobler luotiro than most men could llndn place fori Oh, jou needn't hide jour face agnin: I'm mil going to do Ilia wooing for him; j'ou'll (I111I ho inn do that for himself, Borne daj', and then he'll tell j-ou nil nbout it." Heater tot.e and rrossid to tho window, win-dow, Lommnudlng tho lcw of the mountnin, nnd Mrs. Ludlow went nwny to attend to her household duties. When she looked In nn hour later, the girl was still sluudiiig nt tho window, looking with wistful cj'cs nt the foroat-elad foroat-elad slopes of the ('rent hills, ns If becking beck-ing to rend the acerct ot Iho tnj'stcry on th" fair p.iges of the himlscape It wns.t long wcniy dnj for the two women, wom-en, and in the nfteiuoon Hester announced an-nounced her tntoptlon of returning to "Tho Laurels." "I shall heur sooner, If I go back," she said. In reply to Mrs. Ludlow's effort ef-fort to detain her. "and tho flclny Is pitlfullj hard at best." "Shan't 1 lime .lohn get out the phaeton, so Tcui ill lie j-ou up?" "No," teplicd Hester, with her fnee nerted. "I think It will be better for me to go bj rn.vaelf. If If It should turn out as I fmr, 1 should want to he qultuiilonu for awhile." Mrs. hiidlow understood, nnd did not seek to change her plans; and after the girl had disappeared In tho windings of the mountain load, the tcmler-herirt-nl little woman took the ncont place nt the window, wntchlngcngcilj' for the 111 si signs of tlio returning search-part). search-part). She wns standing thcie jet when the Mm went behind the mountain nnd tho first stragglers of tho party began to appear In the toad; and she was trying try-ing so enrnestlj-to distinguish the form of her husband among t he men that she did not hear him when he cuteied the 100111. A single glance nt his face ills-hpurtcnc.il ills-hpurtcnc.il hor, und she could not find woids to frame the question that found better speech In her eyes. "No, wo didn't find him," snid Link low, ginielj', answering her thought. " We ijunrteiedcierj' foot of the plateau und looked nil along under the cliffs on both brows of tho mountain, Hi 'a not up there, dead or nllie. Ami that isn't ill: tho McNubh was blown up again lust night. Mrs. Ludlow M-ciucd not to hnio hen nl the Inst sentence, for alio put her at ms about hor husband's neck nnd hid her fnee on his lioaom, sujlng, mftlj : "Oh, poor, piHirlleater!" XL tiir ntm.mriQ (f htair. Oood resolutions, b.iel.ul by w lintevcr plenof wlihubllitj or necessity, t.rc not aliiajs oritaiii to bear fiuit nlttr their kind. When Kinghrnnd Hung himself down ltcsldo tho log to wait for the dawn, he fully Intended keeping awake In older to takoniHuntngeof theenilicsl light for the beginning of the new m ilcnior. 80 inn the.ih'il tklirmlnatlon, llllthewho wntehen innj not lio qulctlj with oloaed ejes, and when lilugbrnnd spmug to hiu feet out of n sound sleep tho inoinlng was faradvnmed. Itepiouehli ,f lilimclf remorsefully for I1I.1 want of Igllnnee, ho mulled the itetullsuf the plan which hadinggestid Itself in theni;ht,itud mnt immediately immediate-ly to noilc. Jfe (list nu'ertaliifd half thu length of the log by uk 11x111 lug It with the rope, nnd with the clinic nmou thus ohtniucd he gauged tli- w,tNii, width of the iacru until he fom d 11 point w hi-iv the walla uppio.i ! d 1 n li other so nearly ns loimikatht i.it 1 u-1111T u-1111T armco ciirre-ponU enact I wit 1 Ida menMirimcnl, Tho next step 11 as to out tt hi 11 two pieces of eqnsl length, nn 1 . 1 o trltis- it out Into tho better Ugh1 1 tliBiipoftuit,lnMRirotvyn)laedi'i o lug It down tipon'nnothri piiekngc of food similar to tho one found In the snino spot 011 the previous morning It .mn welcome urflrtrc. and he stopped woik long enough to ('Hour the linul eorii-bread and grtvisj 1 on, thin' m ' that tho daintiest lulllfas iei brought hlmhy thewi ll-t rained wain r In the grill-room of his New "i 01 k luh 1 h-il not liecncatrnuit'inkeenerrellah. "it must bo thc-iioman," ho soliloquized; solilo-quized; "It cnu'tbohnj one else; and If these fcllowa hnio put their deilllsh plot in motion I'll git no more rations f 1 iiii that source, beenuse thej- were to 1 send hernwny to-diSy,Aftcrall, though, I don't know as It mnkes much dlffei- 1 ! 7sV.WvnV-. r4av 1 . . y-M Ita holatad tha ether vlaca of wood after him. once; If another night finds me still In this hole I shnn't enre much what becomes be-comes of me." I'll! lino; tho shnilpw of dcspoiuleney into words had tho ciTcet of defining it, nnd he shook It oltrcsolutelj'. "That'll never do; thero must bo no Ifsniid onds nbout It: l'io Just got to get out of here while this daj light bints," He swallowed tho last mouthful of bread and fell to woTUngntn, beginning to cut 11 grooi 0 ni 011ml tho middle of the log by Incessant and careful stiokes of tho pick. In'tmnliig tho pleco of timber, he saw where thomauutalucct's shot hail plowed a deep funow In It, and he knew tlien that thobiuiseonhlt arm had been tnado by tho glancing and hnlf-spcut bullet. He scarcely heeded the gum icuiimlcr, and italic bent pati tntlj tohlH work he thought howqulck-Iv howqulck-Iv the Euhool of priultlon and hardship begins to Impress Its lessons of Indifference Indiffer-ence upon the mind. There nio many things easier of nc-lomplhhment nc-lomplhhment than the cutting In two of n six-Inch htlelt of tough oak w 1th the dull point of n pick as n substitute for an n; und the muscles of lllngbrnnd'a back and nrms w ere In painful tebclllon, nnd his hands werp bora and blistered, long before tho thing wns done. As 11 college man, ho had been inthcrfomlaf athletics, and tho training ot the unherblty gymnasium, reaching up tliiough tho oicrlylng years of bo-dentnry bo-dentnry habit, gaio him the power of endurance nnd enabled him to keep steadily nt work in uplto of the protests if b.ick 11. d rimn und hnuils; but this 'id not l tu the i.cutrncHsof the pain. 11 d d .1 dull tho hum (ijfouy otnppre hensiou that seized upon him ns he raw how Blowly tho cutting progrosacd. Notwllhatnndlng his prcscieruuco nnd tho feierlah enoigy with which he Moil.ed, tho hands of Ida Mnteli marked tho hoMr of noon w hen tho last remaining; remain-ing; fibero of tho wood gnio way under the blows of the pick, and, stopping only long enough to get a drink of water fiom the Kiol, hu carried tho pleoea to 1 lie point determined by the measurement measure-ment with tho rope, nnd began to fit ono of them breast-high between the icrticnl walls ns the first round of hi ladder. "Ily Jorol tnlk about, special proil-deneo proil-deneo what chance would I lime If this bit of timber hadn't tumbled down hcte?" It wusneomfort to think aloud In the dead alienee of the place. "Now, If I nun wedgo till" bo it will hold in" A linlf-doAiii trials went for nothing, nnd ho bnt down to worry It out In theory. "H'h too long that's wlmt'a tho matter w 1th It; hut If I out It plY it may bo too short for t lie noxt place, nnd thnt won't do. Let mo sco; 1 wonder If I couldn't dig n Htllo step for tho lawei end," Ho was on Ms feet again In n moment, picking a shnllow hole In tho Mftwiwl-stone. Mftwiwl-stone. Tho expedient answered the purpote, nnd when thr lop wua adjusted ho trlt'd It, firat by littles and then by climbing- up and jumping upon Ik It hold, nml ho forgot h 1 achoa and pubis In tho exultant Joy q success. "That tltliqonitriltralt : I f 1 enn 11 1 one, T can fit (ho other? n,l 1 1 git ttto hnug of It prusenlly, V , 1 mn work faster It oughtn't tu t ! 1 timiiilup six of these to enrrj 1110 to tlio top; six, or possibly scon" scanning tho cleft nboie him "ami I'm got fiio hours or such a matter to do it In. At thatralo it'll bo dark when I get back to Ludlow's, Lud-low's, but that won't matter. An hour will gio me nil the t Into I want at Tom's, and wo can figure safelj1 up to ten o'clock." Then tho folly of planning so far nhend while ho was still In n prUon Hint for twodnjsnnd nhnlf had resisted nil his eilorts to brenk It struck him like the rebuke of a taskmaster, task-master, nnd ho slid down from tho log with n mild Imprecation pointed at his own ingnrics, "Thnt's just like me," he muttered, "sending my Imagination Imagin-ation across the rhcr before the brldgo la eien planned. Work la tho word, you speculnthc Idiot! Do you hear thnt? Work!" To his great nstonishincnt, the word seemed to bilng nn iinswcr from tho upper world, nml ho inn to tho other end of the eniern to listen. The halloo was repeated, nnd hennswered it with nil thl: strength of Ids lungs; once again ho heard tho crj', hat this time It wns fnluter, nnd after that the silence was undisturbed. Allie to tho Importance of utilizing every moment of time, King-brand King-brand returned to his woik; but thoex-plilng thoex-plilng glimmer of the hope raised by tho answering shout left n feeling of depression which would hnio un manned him had ho known thnt ono of tho senrchlng miners hail nctunlly looked down Into tho cnieui nt the moment when ho was climbing down from the first step of his problematical Htnlr. Continued next wick |