OCR Text |
Show Molly MDonmd tA TALE Ol THE mONTJER By 'Kandall RsRlSn to jdoroT "Keith oTOe ipBcspdcrr McvLady ? HE. DcubrlLadyoo Bk jSouthV e(c.cc. liHTati 1tusitvUootf h M$W doPVBJflHT 1912 BY A.C.rTilURO ft CO. annum Bat silent, thinking, and tho Bcout smoked quietly, occasionally glancing toward his companion. Finally Final-ly ho apoko again, his volco barely audlblo, "That llttlo girl you Bent In with us Is hero yet." Tho Sergeant was conscious that his cheoks flamed, but ho never looked up. "Yes, I saw her as wo camo In." "She's nBkcd mo about you onco or twlco; don't seem to forget what you did for her." "Sorry to hear that." "No, yer not; couldn't no man bo sorry to hnvo a girl like that take an Interest in him. Taln't in human nature. na-ture. What did yer tell bor about me? ' "Tell her!" surprised. "Why, I only advised her to hang close to you It anything happened. I didn't exactly like tho stylo of the Lieutenant." "Thot's wat I thought. Well, she's dono It, though thet hasn't pried her loose from Oasklns. He's hauntln' her like a shadow. It's garrison talk they're engaged, but I nln't bo sure 'bout thet. Sho an' I hev got to bo pretty good friends, though o' course, it's strictly on the quiet. I ain't got no Invite to officers row ylt. She's asked me n lot 'bout you." "Interesting topic." "Well, I reckon as how sho thinks It is, onyhow. Yesterday sho asked mo 'bout thet scrimmage yer had down on tho Canadian. She'd heerd 'bout It 'somehow, an' wanted tho story straight. So I told her all I knowed, an' yer oughtcr seed her eyes shlno while I wus sorter pnlntiu' It up." "Oh, hell; let's drop It," disgustedly. "The Lieutenant hero yet?" "Suro; his Company Is down on ! Monument, but ho got special detail. He's got a pull, Oasklns has." "How Is that?" "His old man Is Senator, or something, some-thing, an' they say, has scads o' money. Knyway, tho kid finds tho army a soft snap. First scoutln' do-I do-I tnll ho over had when you met him. Didn't hunt no danger then, so fur ns I could boo. Nlco little dude, with a "swelled head, but popular with tho ladles. I reckon McDonald nln't ob- ijcctln' nono to his chasln' after Miss Molly; thct's why he's lot her stay In this God-forsaken placo bo long. Well, 'Brick,' I reckon l'vo told all tho news, . nnd hed bettor movo 'long." "Hold on a minute, Sam," nud Hamlin, Ham-lin, suddenly recalled to earth, reached for tho haversack hanging on tho Iron bedpost. "Moylan, tho fellow who was killed In tho coach with us, had this bag. According to Miss McDonald, ho bought It hero Just beforo starting on tho trip. Seo this Inscription; thoso aro tho tntlalsof an old acquaint-nnco acquaint-nnco of mlno I'd liko to trace. Any I Idea whero Moylan found It?" 1 Wesson held the bag to tho light studying tho letters. "Fourth Texas hoy? That your regiment?" Tho Sorgeant nodded, his lips tightly tight-ly pressed together. I "Must hov como from Dutch Charllo's outfit," the scout went on slowly. "Ho picks up all that sorter I truck." j "Where Is that?" "In town thar, under tho bluff. Wo'H look It up tomorrow." CHAPTER XIV. Under Arrest. Ono by ono tho barrack Ushts went out as tho tired troopers sought their beds. Hamlin extinguished lila also, nnd only ono remained burning, left for emergency noar tho door, which flung n faint glow over tho big room. I3ut tho Sorgeant's reflections kopt t him nwako, as ho sat on tho foot of 1 his bed, and stared out of tho open 1 window into tho darkness. Thero was , llttlo upon which to focus his eyes, a i 1 tow yellow gleams along officers' row, whero callers still lingered, nnd tho glow of a flre in front of tho distant i guard-house, revealing oconptonnliv tho black sllhouetto of a passing sentinel. senti-nel. Few noises broko tho silence, except ex-cept the strains of some dtstuut musical mu-sical Instrument, and a volco far away saying good-night. Onco ho awoke from revery to listen to tho call ol tho guards, as it echoed from poBt to post, ceasing with "All well, Number Nine," far out beyond tho stables. Tho fnmlllar Bound Borvod to recall him to the reality of his position. What waB tho uso? What business had ho to dream? For months now ho had kept that girl's faco befora him, in memory of a few hours of happiness hap-piness when ho had looked into hor dark eyes and heard her pleasant speech. Yet from tho first ho had known the foolishness of It all. Ha was nothing to her, and could novor become anything. Even It ho cloared his paBt record and stepped out of ths ranks into his old social position, tha chances were sho Would never overlook over-look what he had been. Her gratitude meant llttlo, nor her passing Interest In his army career. All that was tha natural result of his having saved hei It Revealed a Woman Shrinking Against tho Yellow Stone Wall. life. Ho possessed no egotism which permitted htm to think otherwlso. years of discipline had drilled into him a consciousness of tho impassable gulf between tho private and the officer's offi-cer's daughter. Tho latter might bo courteous, kindly disposed, even grato-lul grato-lul for services rendered, but it must end there. Tho Major would seo Uiat It did, would resent bitterly nny presumption. pre-sumption. No, thero was nothing else possible If they met as moot they must in thnt contracted post It would bo most formal, a mora exchango o( reminiscence, gratitude expressed by a smilo and pleasant word Ho could expect no more; might esteem hlmselt tortunnte, indeed, to receive oven that recognition. Mcanwhllo ho would en-deavor en-deavor to strike Lo Fevro's trail. There wero other interests in tho world to consider besides Molly McDonald, Mc-Donald, and his memory drifted away to a homo ho had cot visited in years. But thought would not concentrate there, nnd thero arose beforo him, as ho Uy thero, the face of Lieutenant Gnskins. wearing the samo expression of Insolent superioilty us when they had parted out yonder on tho Santa Fo trail. "Tho cowardly llttlo fool," ho mut-tored mut-tored bitterly under his breath, grip ping tho window framo. "It will re-quiro re-quiro more than his monoy to bring her happiness, nnd I'll never stand for that. Lord! She's too sensible, aver to lovo him. Good God what's that!" It leaped out of tho black night three flashes, followed instantly by tho sharp ifports. Then a fourth this time unmistakably a muskot barked from behind officers' row. 'In tho flare, Hamlin thought ho saw two black BhudowH running. A volco yelled oxcltedly: "Post SIxl Post Slxl" With n Blnglo leap tho Sorgonnt was across tho Bill, and dropped silently to the ground. Still blinded by tho light ho ran forward, Jerking his rovolver from tho belt. As ho passed tho corner cor-ner of tho bnrracks tho sentry fired again, tho red flash cloaving tho night In an instant's ghastly vividness. It rovenlcd n woman shrinking against tho yellow stono wall, lighted up her faco, then plunged her again Into obscurity. ob-scurity. Tho Sergeant caught tho glimpse, hnlf bcllovlng tho vision a phantasy of tho brain; ho had seen her face, white, frightened, agonized, yet it could not have been real. Ho tripped ovor tho stono wall and half fell, but ran on, his mind In a turmoil, but certain cer-tain soma ono waB racing beforo him down tho dark ravlno. Thero had been a woman thero! Ho could not quite, blot that out but not Bho; not Molly McDonald. If If It wero sho; if ho had really scon hor fnco in the flare, If It was no dream, then what? Why, ho muBt screen her from discovery, give her opportunity to slip away. This was tho ono vaguo, dim thought which took possession of tho man. It obscured nil clso; it sent him blindly crashing over tho edgo of tho ravlno. Ho heard tho sentry at his right cry hoarsoly, ho heard excited shouts from tjio Qnon windows of tho barracks: then his feet struck n man's body, and ho went down headlong. Almost at tho Instant UioBontry was upon him, n gun-muzzlo pressing him bnclf. ao ho nttempted to rise. "Bo Btlll, ye hell hound," was tho gruff order, "or I'll blow yer to kingdom king-dom como I Sergeant of tho guard, quick herol Post Number SIxl" Hamlin lay still, half stunned by tho shock of his fall, yet conscious that tho delay, this mistake of tho Bcntry, would afford her ample chnnco for escape. es-cape. He could hear men running to-ward to-ward them, and his eyes caught tho yellow, bobbing light of a lantern. His hand reached out and touched tho body ovor which ho hnd fnllon, feeling a military button, nnd tho clasp of n belt It was a soldier then who had boon shot. Could sho havo d-mo tt Or did sho know who did? Whatover tho truth might bo, ho would hold his tongue, let them suppose him guilty for tho time being; ho could establish Innocence easily enough when It came to trial. Theso thoughts Unshed through his mind swiftly; then tho light of tho lantern gleamed in his oyos, nnd ho saw tho faces clustered about. "All right, Mapcs," commanded tho man with tho light. "Let tho fellow up until I get n look at him. Who thq boll are you?" "Sergeant Hamlin, Sovcnth Cavalry." "Darned If It nln't. Say, what doei all this mean, anyhow? Who's shotl Turn tho body over, somebody. Bj Oodt It's Lieutenant Gnskins!" Hamlin's heart seemed to leap lnta his throat and choko him; for an Instant In-stant he felt faint, dazed, staring down into tha still fnco ghnstly under tho rays of tho lantern. Onsklnsl Then sho was concerned In tho affair; ho really hnd seen hor hiding thero ngalnst tho wall. And tho man's oyes wore open, wero staring in bewilderment bewilder-ment nf tho faces. Tho Sergeant of the 8uard thrust tho lantern closer. "Lift his head, some o' yer, the man's allvo. Copley, got somo wnter, an' two of yer run fer tho stretcher log It now. Wo'll havo yer out o horo in a ralnuto. Lieutenant. What happened, sir? Who shot yer?" Oasklns' dulled oyes strayed from tho speaker's faco until ho saw Hamlin, Ham-lin, still firmly gripped by tho sentry. His lips drew back rovoallng his teeth, his oyes narrowing. "That's tho ono," ho said faintly. "You'vo got him!" Ono hand went to his Bldo In n opasm of pain, and ho fainted. Tho Sergeant laid him back limp on tho grass, and stood up. "Where is your gun, Hnmlln?" "I dropped it when I fell over tho Lieutenant's body. It mu3t bo back of you." Somo ono picked tho wenpon up, nnd held it to tho light, turning tho chambers. "Two shot3 gone, Sergeant." "Wo heard three; likely tho Lieutenant Lieu-tenant got in ono of them. Sentry, what do you know about this?" Mapes scratched his head, tho Angers An-gers of his other hand gripping tho prisoner's shoulder. "Not bo awful much." ho replied, haltingly, "now I come tor think 'bout it. T wns a mighty dark night, nn" I never saw, ner hoard, nuthln' till tho shootln' begun. I wub back o' officers' row, an' them pistols popped up yere, by tho corner o" tho barracks. I lumped an' yelled; thought I heerd somebody runnln an' let drlvo. Then lust as I got up yere, this fellor como tenrln' 'long, an' I naturally grabbed nlm. That's tho wholo of it." "Whnt havo you got to say, Hamlin?" Ham-lin?" "Nothing." "Well, yer better. Yer in n mighty bad box, lot mo tell yer," angered by tho other's Indifference "Whnt was tho row about?" Tho cavalryman stood straight, his faco showing whlto in tho glow of tho lantern. "I told you beforo I had nothing to say. I will talk tomorrow." ho returned re-turned qulotly. "I submit to nrrest," "1 reckon yer will talk tomorrow, and bo damn glnd o' tho chnnco. Cor poral, talco this fellow to tho guardhouse, guard-house, an' stay there with him. Hero comes tho strotchor, nn' tho doctor." Hnmlln matched off silently through tho black night, surrounded by a do-tall do-tall of tho guard. It had all occurred so suddenly that ho was bowlldorcd yot, merely retaining sufficient con-BcIousneBB con-BcIousneBB of tho circumstances to kcop still. If they were assured ho was" guilty, then no effort would bo mado to traco any others connected with tho nffnlr. Why Qneklns should havo identified him ns tho assassin was a mystery probably it waB merely mere-ly tho delirium of a sorely wounded man, although tho fellow may havo disliked him sufficiently for that kind of revengo, or havo mistaken him for nnothcr In tho poor light. At any rnto tho unexpected identification helped him to play his part, and, If tho Lieutenant Lieu-tenant lived, ho would later acknowl-odgo acknowl-odgo his mlstako. Thero was no occasion occa-sion to worry; ho could clear himself of tho charge whenover tho tlmo camo; half his company would know ho waB In barrackB when tho flrjng bo-gnn. bo-gnn. There were women put ou tho walk, their Bklrts fluttering ns thoy waited anxiously to learn tho nows, but ho could not fictormlno If sho was among them. Volcos nskod questions, but tho corporal hurried him along, without making any reply. Then ho was thrust roughly Into n stono-llncd coll, nnd" loft alone. Outcldo in tho corridor two guards were stationed. Hamlin snt down on tho Iron bed, dazed by tho sllonco, endeavoring to collect his thoughts. Tho nearest guard, leaning on his gun, wntchod carefully. Voices reached him from outside, echoing in through tho high, iron-barred iron-barred wJndov, but they wero distant. tho words Indistinguishable. As his brain cleared ho gave no further thought to his own predicament, only considering how ho could best divert suspicion from hor. It wnB all a confused con-fused mazo, Into tho mystery of which ho wns unnblo to penotrnto. Thnt It was Molly McDonald shrinking there in tho dark corner of tho barracks wall ho hnd no doubt. Sho might not havo recognized him, or Imagined that ho saw her, but that spear of light had cortalnly revealed a faco not to bo mistaken. Whlto ns It was, haggard hag-gard with terror, half conconlod by straggling hair, tho Identification was nevertheless complete Tho very pit-couancBs pit-couancBs of expression appealed to him. Sho was not n girl easily frightened; fright-ened; no nipro promiscuous shooting, howovor startling, would havo brought Hat look to her fpco. Ho hnd spon hor In dnnger boforc, hnd tested her coolness under lire. This meant something some-thing altogether different. What? Could It bo that GnsklnB had wronged tho girl, had Insulted her, and thai sho, In response, had shot him down! In tho darkness of conjocturo there seemed no other ndequnto explanation. Tho two wore Intliunto; tho rumor of nn engagement wns already circulating circulat-ing nbout tho garrison. And the stricken strick-en man hud endeavored to Bhlft the blnmo on him. Hnmlln could not bo-llovo bo-llovo this wns dono through any do-Biro do-Biro to lnjuro; tho Lieutenant had no cnuso for personal dlsllko which would account for such an accusation. Thoy had only met onco, nnd then , brlofiy. Thoro was no rivalry between ! them, no nnlmoslty. To bo sure, Gas-1 kins hnd been domineering, threatening threaten-ing to roport a small breach of discipline, discip-line, but In this his words and actions had boon no moro offensive thnn was common among young officers of hla quality. Tho Sergeant had passed all memory of that long ago. It nover , occurred to him now as of tho slight-1 est importance Far moro probable did it nppoar that Gnskins" only mo-1 tlvo was to shield tho gtrl from possible pos-sible suspicion Whon ho hnd realized that Hnmlln wns n prlsonor, that for somo reason ho had been seized for tho crlmo, ho had grasped tho opportunity oppor-tunity to point him out as tho assassin, assas-sin, nnd thuB delay pursuit Tho chances woro tho wounded man did not oven recognize who tho victim was ho had blindly grasped nt tho flrst straw. But supposo ho had been mistaken? f Supposo that woman hiding thero was Bomo ono clso? Supposo ho had lmag- ' lned n resemblance ,ln that sudden flash of rovealment? What then? Would Bho caro enough to como to him when sho learned of tho arrest T Ho laughed at tho thought, yot It was a bitter laugh, for it brought back a now realization of tho chasm between them. Major McDonald's daughter Interesting In-teresting herself in a gunrd-houso prisoner! Moro thnn likely bIio would promptly forget that sho had over beforo be-foro heard his nnmo. Ho , must bo growlns crazy to prcsumo thnt sho permitted him to remain on her list of friendship. Ho got up and paced tho cell, not- I lng as ho did so how closely ho was watched by tho guard. I "Havo you henrd how badly tho Lieutenant was hurt?" ho a&kcd, ap- proachlng tho door. I Tho uenlry glanced down tho corri- dor. j "Ho'll pull out, all right," ho replied re-plied confidentially, his lips closo to tho door. "Nothln vltnl punctured, i You better go to bed, an' forgot it till mornln'." I "All right, pnrdnor," nnd Hnmlln I returned to tho cot. "Turn tho light down n llttlo, will yon? Thoro, that's i bettor. My conscience wonlt trouble mo, but that glaro did." With his faco to tho stono wall ho foil asleep. (To bo continued) |