Show JN r r ILAI 6 W 04 s SYNOPSIS jack keith a virginian now a bor der plainsman in i riding along the santa ke 1 trail on the lookout loo lout fur or roaming wr vor vo r parties ot of savages lie it notices a camp tire fire at a it distance and then sees a team ett attached ached to a EL wagon and at nil full gallo gallop pursued by men on when keith keitg reaches the I 1 ho wagon 1 the 0 ralden raiders have mas mass acred rid two mm men anil and departed he ile searches ear chea the victims finding paper end and a locket with a woman portrait lie ile resolves ree olve to hunt down the murderers ers keith ie is ar reeled at canon carson ity charged with the murder his hi accuser being a ruffian named mack kart dart ll 11 goes to jail fully ins inc the peril of swift border justice A companion in his hi cell Is a negro who nefro tells him ho h is 1 neb nth and that he knew now the trio keith family back in Nl virginia rgina neb nth one of the murdered men wae was J john my n hibley the other hen gen stills W ills watte waite formerly an officer in the confederate atily the plainsman and neb escape irna fri n the cell col I 1 and later the two fugitives become lost jos in the sani desert they come u upon a cabin and find if its lone tone occupant to be a young whom keith recognizes aa as a singer ho e saw aw at carson city the girl explain explains that she he came there in earch search of a brother who had from the army A mr induced her to coma come to the cabin wh while it he ought sought to lo 10 rate cato her tier brother hawley appear appears and keith helth in hilins hi ling recognizes him ae as black hart lowler trips to make love to the girl irl th there ra f a terrine irelle battle in the n alten room in which keith overcomes black bart dart CHAPTER XI continued the action haa has otly 01 ly really begun ho he assured her still retaining his hold upon her band hand this was merely a iry skir and you mus prepare to bear our part in what follows wo we have settled mr hawley for the present prea ent and now must deal with hi his rang gang oh what would I 1 have done if it you bad to by la a here I 1 let us oot not think about that we here and now have a busy bight before us it we get away safely give me the ropo rope first goidl here nob you must know bow to use this not toi too tight but without leaving any play to the arms take tale the knife out of his bell belt now for tho the cloth miss bliss Mac macaire latre please do not call roe me chati dut but ou eald said it kiako piako make any terence dl ICe rence what I 1 called oa ou 1 I thought ought it ddn t then but it docs does now I 1 oh ob I 1 see we are already on a new footing tooting yet I 1 must call you some thir g she besita hesitated ted just long enough for alln to notice it either she had bad no substitute ready at band hand or else doubt ed the advisability of confiding her real name under present circumstances to one so nearly a stranger you may call me hope 11 A name certainly of good omen he returned I 1 from this moment I 1 shall forget christie maclaire Macl alre and re member only alls miss hop all ril ri ht bt neb now turn over a chair and sit lt your man min up against it it he lie will rest all the eisler la in that position until bis his gang arrive arrives lie thrust bla his head bead out of the door peering cautiously forth into the night an I 1 listening A single horse ably the one hawley had bad been riding was tied to a dwarfed cottonwood alar the corner of the cabin nothing else living livius waa was visible 1 I am going to round up tip our horses and nd learn the condition of II awley s outfit he be in a low voice 1 I mayi way be gone for fifteen or twenty minute minu tel and trean meanwhile while miss hope get ready tor for S long tide neb stand here close beside the door and it any one une ties wes to come la in brain him with your gun stock III rap three times when I 1 miltn he ito sl loid out into tho the silent night and crept cautiously around the end of at the dark cabin the distinct change in the girls girl altitude attitude of at friendship toward him her every evident desire that he hilink well of her together with the providential anity for escape had left him full of conn dence the gambler had played blindly into late their hand hands and kuh was quick to accept the ad vantage it U wae was a risk to bim himself self to bg be sure thus turning 1 to the northward et the clear duty he owed the girl jeff such a choice almost luo live he ile certainly could not drag her along with him on his flight into the wild comanche country extend ing beyond the canadian she must at the very leant least be first returned to the of ilc the emi semi along the arkansas after tb had been accomplished be would zorader his hi own he lie wonderer won derel if hope really ws wit tier her tuf and whether it 11 as the imely cognomen orber or her SIM nama name th it t she was christie maclaire Macl alre by he had no 00 yet that ar artista embellishment wae was probably merely a assumed 1 for the work of the concert b ball a I 1 I 1 bobb be and hawley could scarcely 1 be mistaken mista keu ae its to her denti ty in this respect and indeed she bad had never openly dented the fact I 1 1 she be did not at alt all eem seem to be that ind sled and keith mentally coa tier her with numerous s ishom hom he bad had somewhat intimately along the border circuit it was as difficult to associate lr her with that clase she must have cogno originally from some excel lent family east 1 end been dairen to the life by necessity she was wan nore to be pilled ban than blamed hotta acid co j puritanical view views of t itte lots au ex i lad boon too rotch and I 1 of d unc walle for ahat tret beit he bc flung te to I 1 THE 4 A LE OF THE RANDALL althor ormy labry or aie waa kin 0 DY 1 A Q mcclure co nac to an ideal oll 0 womanhood which could not be lowered Ilo however wever interested bo he might otho wise feel no christie maclaire could ever eer find entrance ent ranco into the deepe deeps of bis his heart bere where dwelt alone the rier nory of bis his mother lie ile found tho the other horses turned into the corral and waa was able from their restless movements 1 to decide they numbered eight A fire nearly dully at the farther comer corner of nf the enclosure and he crawled close enough to distinguish the tb recumbent forms of men sleeping bleeping about it on the ground apparently no guard had been set the fellows being worn out from their long ride and cond con Adent dent of in this isolated spot besides De sides hawley had probably assumed that duty and told them to get what whatever eier sleep bleep they could how ilow over ever the gate sale of the corral opened beside their tire and keith dare not venture upon roping any of their ponies or leading them out past where they slept there might he be clippers in tho the cabin bible with which be he could cut the wires yet if it one on of the gang awoke and discovered the herd absent it would result la in an alarm and leid led to early pursuit it was tar far eater to use their own ponies he ile would lead Ilaw hawley leys horse quietly 0 A 01 I 1 01 11 7 J the ey easy manner in which she rode rods relieved him of anxiety through the water ater ant u they could mount on the other thore shore this plan filled settled ho he went at it softly riding the captured animal while rounding up the others and fastening the three to stunted trees on the opposite bank everything within jhb cabin remained exactly as he had led left it and ho he briefly explained the situation naming haw ilaw leys bonds again carefully while do ins ing so 0 o itell lie II 11 remain there all right until his trien find cad him he det declared lared post lively na uil that ought to giro give us a food good six ix hour hours tart start conje come bliss hope every count now lie hid held her arm not unconscious of its round 1 as he be helped her down he the rather steep bank through the dense gloom then the two men joined b binds ands and nd carrying her between them hajj ilij the shallow stream the borses lore not rot yet sufficient ly rested reste to bo be risky accepted skir ir burdens meekly enough and with tc ic arcely a word spoken the th circe rode away oab into late the stocia of the tight CHAPTER XII through the night bradaw ws keith had bad ver little to guide bla him As be could not determine whether tills cabin on te tie salt fork lax las to east or treat west of the usual cattle trail leading down tu to the he Canad canadian lap yet he felt reasonably bared cited that th general trend of the country lying between the smaller kaream mid the ralley of the arkansas Ark anra would be bt albl 1 ir w to that v win vib ib which tg was already acquainted tt it woj merely rely u ild id stretch of sandy across which their horses would leavo scarce A ini 11 aa birti ly any til t il and even that little would be quickly obliterated by the first puff of wind As they drew in toward tue the river valley this plain would change into sand dunes baffling and coffus ing but no matter how bard hard they pressed forward it must bo be daylight long before they could hope to react these and this would give him unit tunit to spy out tome some familiar land mark which would guide them to the tord ford Blean meanwhile hile he be must head ae as dl erectly north as possible trusting the horses to ile I 1 footing tooting it waa plains instinct or rather long training in the open which en abbed him to retain any true sense of direction tor for beyond the narrow fringe of woods along the stream nothing was visible the eyes scarcely able even to distinguish where earth and sky met they ad danced across a bare level without elevation or depression yet the spud appeared sufficiently solid solla so t tt 4 their horses were forced into a awing owing ing lope and they seemed to fairly press aside the black curtain which as instantly swung shut once more and closed them in the pounding boots hoofs little noise and they pressed steadily onward closely bunched together so as not to lose each other dim spectral shadows flit ting through the night a very part pan of that grim desolation surrounding rounding cur them no one of the three felt ilka like speak peaking log the gloomy brooding des de ert oppressed them their vagrant thoughts assuming the tinge of 0 their surroundings their hope centered on escape keith rode the rein of the woman a horse lu in bis his left hand and bending low in rain vain effort at pick ing a path lie ito had nothing to aim toward yet el sturdy confidence in hie his expert plat him sum dent clent sense of direction lie had bad noted the bark of the the direction atthe wind and nod steered a course accordingly straight northward alert to avert any variation the girl rode easily although la in a mans addle saddle the stirrups much too long keith glanced adda aside with swift aft approval at the erectness neen with which she he zat sat the loosened rein in her band hand the light slight of her form lie could appreciate horsemanship and the tuy macnei in which she he rode rell relieved eyed him of one anxiety it even caused him to break the silence you are evidently accustomed to riding bliss ilore ohp glance across at him through the be darkness dar kne as though suddenly ud denly our ur from thought her words not comin coming quickly 1 I cannot remember when I 1 first mounted a bone horse la in earliest carll earli pit pst child hood surely LI although though I 1 have not rid ilea ien much of late tb one la in ilke a 6 rocking chair ile belonged to your friend mr sir 11 awley abe hb drew a quick breath her face fare again turned forward ho bo who in 1 that min db vo you knohr 1 I possess a passing acquaintance fie be answered uncertain yet bow mud muck tu tell toll her but tempted to reveal all in test of her real reil character few do not who live along tho the kansas border do you mean he be Is a notoriously bad character arader ch 1 I have never heard beard of his being held up as a model to the young miss bliss bliss hope he returned more soberly convinced that she truly possessed no real knowledge regarding the man and vas as not merely pretending innocence I 1 I 1 had bad never beard him called clawley before and therefore failed to recognize him under that respectable name dut but I 1 knew his voice the moment he entered the cabin and real iced that some devilment wax was afoot every town along thia this frontier has his record and I 1 ve met him maybe 1 a dozen times in the past three years I 1 0 ve o Is known as diack black bart dart ie is a gambler by profess profession inn a desperado by reputation and a cur by nature just now I 1 suspect him of being even deeper in the mire than this ile could tell by the quick damping of her hands on the pommel of the saddle the effect of his words but waited until the silence compeller compelled her to speak oh I 1 dlan didn t knowl you do not believe that I 1 ever suspected such a thing that I 1 ever met him there understanding who he was wast no I 1 do not he answered wb what at I 1 overheard between betseen you convinced mayou mo you were the victim of deceit nut nul our going to that place alono alone waa wan a most reckless act she lifted her hand to her eyes her bead head dron drooping ping forward it abat he told methe out station of a ranch T TO BE |