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Show I) SEVENTH EPISODE I Diplomatic Negotiations. ' The fierce struggle between Liberty I ! and the sentry looked as though it was ! I golnz to end In a victory for the girl. f She had pushed him away from her, and raising his gun, which she had 5 managed to wrest from him, was just I about to bring it down on his head, I when two Mexican; entered, with V Therese. They caught her just as she I was about to run through the gate, jj Thrusting her Into the hut with Lib-j! Lib-j! erty the three men departed to inform Fate had decreed that Pedro was not I to meet the terrible death Lopez had I planned. The wild horse had dashed I-' away madly and carried him several I miles, lashed to Its back. Then, as it I reached a turn in the road, which as-cended as-cended a rather lofty hill, it lost its ) footing and horse and rider toppled over the edge and rolled over and over to the bottom. The horse had broken Its neck, but Pedro was unharmed, and managed to unloosen himself. He staggered stag-gered to his feet, somewhat dazed. . But he was too weak to stand and sank down on the ground. Then, his thoughts returned to Liberty. She was j In danger; he must go on until he I reached Rutledge and Inform him of rj what had happened at the hacienda. I , Again he tried to lift himself, but, at 'K that moment his gaze was attracted to I the crest of the hill. A party of men j were approaching on horseback, and, i I os he strained his eyes he was able to make out the figure of Rutledge rld-fj rld-fj Ing at the head of the column. He fj tank back on a bowlder and waited for JF them. As they rode up the captain dls-ffi dls-ffi mounted and ran over to the Mexican, fc? who told him what had transpired 4 Unce he left. With an oath, Rutledge J: Bprang Into his saddle, and, after see-If see-If Ing that Pedro was given a horse, the U' rangers dashed off to the rescue of In the meantime Lopez, surrounded L by several of his aides, Including Man-.jjg Man-.jjg nel, was planning a terrible fate for the Americans when they Teturned to the H "We will get the powder," he grinned, fi-j Mand blow these Americans to hell !" P "What do you mean?" asked Manuel. I " "Lead them Into a trap," continued I Lopez. "We will undermine the halt ha-lt cienda, lure them into It and then you I " "Vvill see what wIlL happen." Then he turned to one of the Mexicans. "You U Dhlco, must handle this. See that the I place Is burled In dynamite. Then get K the detonator and the wire." H At that moment the sound cf horses' hoofs outside the hacienda attracted nty tne attention of Lopez and his aides, j il Every man reached for his gun and j 1 Waited. The next Instant the door was thrown open and Alvlra with two of j! J his officers stepped into the room. I ., 4Ah comrade," said Lopez, as he IJB .Bhoved his gun back into its holster. All but Lopez and Alvlra then left U ,-lhe room. When they had gone, Lorn Lo-rn pez went over to the side of his friend. 'fflk"The gringos will be here In less than M two hours," he grinned. "When they S arrive, they will receive their first w tyisson." Then they both left the house. The fl men had already started to carry out their orders, and severnl of them were jjfl (digging great holes around the haclen-jjp haclen-jjp Aa, while others were bringing up the 1 , egs of dynamite. The kegs were dc-; dc-; I posited and then carefully hidden by 1 dirt." A longlcoll of wiro was brought up and connected to'Uach one of tho kegs, whilo one end was fastened to the detonator which was placed some distance away. Alvlra and Lopez superintended the work, and when everything was ready they hastened to the servants' quarters, where they 'warned the Mexicans to take their belongings and escape. While this was being done, the horses were brought up and held outside the hut where Liberty and Therese were imprisoned. Manuel had previously gone to his father's room and prevailed on him to get his things together and start for Mexico City, where he would be safe until everything was over. Tho old man had heeded his son's advice and was busy packing up his helonglngs. When Manuel returned to the horses he found Liberty and Therese had been taken from the hut. They were standing stand-ing outside, struggling madly with the Mexicans who were binding them. Lopez Lo-pez and Alvlra stood looking on in grim delight. Then Lopezx directed his men to put Liberty and Therese on the horses which had been brought up for them, as he and Ahira prepared to mount their own steeds. Seeing that the rest of the men were ready to start, the party rode some distauco away from the hacienda and stopped while Lopez gave directions to the man at the detonator. "When the gringos are well within tho hacienda push the handle down," he said. Now it happened that Liberty's horse had stopped right beside the man, who stood with his hand on tho handle of the detonator. Her courage rose. She summoned all her reserve strength, and with one mighty effort threw herself from tho saddle and landed on the Mexican. The Impact forced the man's body down on the handles of the detonator, de-tonator, and an Instant later a terrible report was heard, followed by a tremendous tre-mendous crash. Lopez and his men turned and looked. A great cloud of thick, black smoke arose before them to a height of a hundred feet, followed by blast after blast as the dynamite exploded, sending send-ing the debris high into the air. The explosion wrecked the hacienda and some of the other buildings near by, but It did not hurt the Americans as they had not yet entered the' danger zone. The leader was infuriated as he realized real-ized that his trap had been destroyed. and wrote as he dictated. When she had finished he snatched the note from her hand and taking it outside placed It In Thercse's clenched fingers. The men had already mounted their horses. Lopez was at the head of the column, col-umn, and as Liberty noted their horses were headed in the opposite direction to Los Alamos, she sank to the ground and made an arrow on the sand. Then she reached in her corsage and drew out a small American flag and dropped It beside the arrow. In the meantime, Rutledge and the Major had reached the hacienda and found it In ruins. After a thorough search of the other buildings, Rutledge returned to where the major was standing with some of the rangers. "They've taken her away," said Rutledge. Rut-ledge. At that moment, Pancho, who had been injured as he hurried out of the hacienda when the explosion occurred, came staggering up to the party. He told them everything, and how the plot of Lopez had failed. "Which way have they gone?" asked the captain as he supported the wounded wound-ed man. "I heard them say something about Las Alamos," he answered. "All right men ; wo will go after them !" shouted Rutledge as he turned Pancho over to one of his men, and leaped into the saddle. Then the rangers dashed away. FinJ ally they reached the spot where Therese Ther-ese was still lying unconscious. The column came to a halt, and Rutledge leaped from his horse and took the note from her hand. "'They are taking me to Lns Alamos,' Ala-mos,' " he read aloud to the others. "Las Alamos Is fifty miles from here," he remarked. "There is no water wa-ter between here and there." "We had better camp here for the night," suggested the major. "Unless their canteens are full, they'll never be able to make the trip," said Rutledge. The men began to pitch their tents while Rutledge and the Major prepared to make their headquarters in the hut, which had been deserted by Lopez a short time before. Therese was brought Inside and two of the soldiers were trying to resuscitate her. After Rutledge had spread his blanket blank-et on the floor he walked to the door and stood there watching the rangers and troopers who were preparing to get some rest. Suddenly his eye was 1 attracted by a small object In the dls- . , .'.. ' A Great Cloud of Thick Black Smoke Arose Before Them. He snatched his gun from his holster and leveled It at the girl's head. Then he changed his mind, but as he shoved It back again In his belt, he shouted: "You'll pay dearly for this, damn you 1" They had no time to lose now, for the Americans could be seen descending descend-ing the hill towards them, and after Liberty was thrown back Into the saddle sad-dle they retreated post haste. After riding hard for some time Lopez Lo-pez and his men arrived at a deserted hut at the edge of the desert, where he commanded the party to halt. Dismounting, Dis-mounting, the leader went inside, directing di-recting Manuel to follow. "Bring the American girl and Therese Ther-ese here!" he said to Manuel. The officer left him and returned a little later with Liberty. "Therese is exhausted," said Manuel. "She has fallen from her horse and Is lying outside." "Good," replied Lopez. "Now we'll see if those Americans can follow Lopez. Lo-pez. I want to make your wife write n note stating we are taking her to Las Alomns. If they attempt to follow us they'll never reach there alive not a one of them !" Then he'went out. Manuel and Liberty were now left in the hut alone. He stood staring at her for a moment. Then, as he slowly walked towards her he said: "Now you see what comes of your not loving your husband. If you cared for me, just a little, I could save you now 1" "I would prefer death to you !" she I exclaimed. "You have spoiled my life, and nothing you could do would surprise sur-prise me now." "Very well then," he continued, "writo that note then." And he handed hand-ed her a pencil and paper. She hesitated. "Quick, we have no time to lose!" he shouted as he covered her with his gun. Liberty looked up at him with appealing ap-pealing eyes. But they failed to move the heart of Manuel, who stood waiting, wait-ing, his finger on the trigger. She lifted lift-ed the pencil with trembling fingers tant sky. He studied It for a moment, and then went for his lleldglasses. "Here comes an aeroplane, Major," he said as he watched the object which was coming directly towards them rap-Idly. rap-Idly. The Major, who was at that moment fixing up a crude bed for himself and Colonel Dalton, dropped everything and hurried to the door. "By jove, so It Is!" he exclaimed. "And he's coming right here, tool" Almost before he had finished speaking speak-ing the aviator began descending from his great height and volplaned to earth, landing not fifty feet away from the hut. As the machine stopped the aviator jumped out and Rutledgo and the Major Ma-jor ran towards him. "Major Winston?" Inquired the messenger mes-senger as the men approached. "This Is Major Winston," replied that Individual ns he put out his hand, "A telegram from Washington," said tho man as he handed it to the ofllcer. The Major hurriedly opened it and read aloud: " 'Major Richard Winston Commanding Troops K and D, U. S. Cavalry. Orders From Washington. Cease Invasion pending diplomatic negotiations. Signed General A. J. Cranston Commanding 2nd Dlv. TJ. S. A.' " "Diplomatic negotiations," said Rutledgo Rut-ledgo thoughtfully as the Major finished. fin-ished. "They have killed our men; they have stolen and destroyed our property, and outraged our women I Diplomatic negotiations, huh !" (TO BE CONTINUED.) .tr |