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Show I; NINETEENTH EPISODE I The Avenging Angel. I Upon srriTlns: In Washington, Rnt-I Rnt-I ledge went at once to the office of J j !he secretary of war. It was not difficult to discover that Bob was a stranger In these parts, for bis clothes, while of fairly good material, ma-terial, were not quite up to the stand-H stand-H rd of those worn In the eastorn part )f the country. In fact, they differed lo much from the styles of the capital that occasionally people turned and milled as they scrutinized his outfit. A guard at tho entrance to the building build-ing interrupted his progress with a Question as to whom he wanted to see. gB Bob accepted the inquisition good-na-tursdly, and took the big fellow into bis confidence to the extent of explaining explain-ing somewhat the nature of his business. busi-ness. The guard listened, with apparent appar-ent interest, as Bob related some of the border troubles, and when he had Qnlshod the fellow accompanied him to the door, far down the corridor, which boro the words, "Secretary of War." Then he left Rutledge, Bob hesitated a moment, and then opened the door and entered a large room which was occupied by several large easy chairs, two clerks who were bending over their desks; and a wall full of maps. He paused Just Inside the door and took off his hat. One of the Clerks looked up, and then rose nnd Came over to hl. (I ! "Is the sorrotnry in?" asked the I ranger as he stepped up to tho rail which separated him from the rest of tho room. I "Your name, please?" inquired the clevk. "Robert Rutledge, captain of the Texn& Rangers." replied Bob, as ho pulled himself up proudly. "What do you wnnt to see the secretary secre-tary aboUi?" continued the other very sternly. "I'll tell him that," answered Bob, j who was not favorably impressed with his Interrogator's manner. "He can't soe you," the other Informed In-formed him as he started to walk away. "How do you krtow. unless you ask hint?" inquired Bolt, who was getting peeved. I "Before I ask him roust know tho nature of your business," said the 1 clerk. "I want to see him abovit an American Ameri-can girl who has been captured by a band of Mexican bandits." the ranger Informed him somewhat nhruptly. Rutledge was fast becoming Irritated by the fellow's attitude. "Just a momeut," said the clerk as he started towards a big door, at tho J other end of tho room, which evidently led to the private office of the secre- j tary of war. I Before ho reached there, however, an officer came through tho doorway, , closing the door softly behind him. Tlir subordinate turned to him, nnd With a sarcastic gesture toward Bob, j said : "This rube expects the government govern-ment to send an army, I guess, into j Mexico to get his girl." Rutledge overheard the remark nnd, j leaping over the rail, ho walked up to i the fellow and floored him with a well- directed blow on the Jaw. The offl- ! cer startod for him, but Bob stood I grimly facing him. "Now, then, you stand hack, or you'll ; get the same '" ho said as he waited for him to raise his hand. But the offlpcr heeded not the warning of Rutledge, The Duel Between and the next instant the two were I struggling together. While they were grappling, two other men entered the office and overpowered Bob, who was no match for so many. "Arrest him," commanded the offl-I offl-I cer to the men who were holding Bob. Although he attempted an explanation, explana-tion, the officer was firm nnd refused i to listen, with the result that Bob was ' led to Jail. Before being locked up, be requested permission to 6end a tel-, tel-, egram. This was granted him, and he wrote a message to Major Winston, telling him of the trouble he was in, : and requested that he come to Washington Wash-ington as soon as possible, after which J he was pluced In a cell. While Rutledge sat a prisoner in the Jail, trying to devise some way to save Liberty and Pedro from tho Mexicans, Mexi-cans, these two stood in Pancho's hacienda ha-cienda watching Lopez and his murderous mur-derous band, which were now within a few feet of the place. Finally the old trustee, who was at first tempted to rush out and face the bandit, reconsidered, and putting his gun awny, he decided to try and throw the leader off the scent. So, advising Liberty and Pedro to remain out of sight, he stepped outside Just as Lopez pulled up his horse within a few feet of the doorway. "Have you seen the senorita and that slave of hers, Pedro, around here?" Inquired Lopez as Pancho approached. ap-proached. "They rode by here, not long since," replied Pancho. "They were headed towards the American border, and were going in that dlrectlou," he added add-ed as he pointed down the road. Lopez studied tho face of Pancho for an instant, and then, assuming to believe him, the bandit started his horse and beckoned to his men to follow. fol-low. After ho had felt certain that he had saved them, Pancho returned to the house and reported the coast clear to Liberty and Pedro, who cautiously made their way outside, to where they had hitched their horses. However, the bandit leader was not so certain that Pancho had told him the timth, nnd, after making a short detour, ho started back towards the house just as Liberty and Pedro wero about to mount their horses. They saw him. and quickly putting the horses In the bnrn, the three made a dash for the hacienda. They reached there Just in time, for Lopez saw them and opened fire Just as they closed the door. Inalde, the three started to barricade tho doors, i 1 ben Pancho told Liberty and Pedro that he would steal out another way and go to the peon settlement for hMp. And, picking up B gun, he started out. But he did not get far, for Lopez nod his men quickly surrounded the house, and one of tho bandits, seeing Pancho as he started toward the set tlemont, called to the lender. "I'll get this mnn," said Lopez. "The rest of you capture the two In the hacienda." ha-cienda." Liberty and Pedro had secured arms and ammunition, and wero looking out anxiously, awaiting the attack, while Pancho turned and, seeing Lopez, rushed into the barn, warning the bandit back with his gun, which was leveled straight at the chief of the bandits. Lopez, realizing his danger, paused and looked around for some way to gain tho barn under COVer, But, seeing see-ing there was no other way, he advanced ad-vanced In the opn, firing as he went. Ills shots struck only the barn, for j he had no way of tolling Just where Pnneho was located within. But Pancho saw him, and he knew that at , last he had the bandit at his mercy. I He stood behind tin big doors and. 1 putting the muzzle Of the gun through j the crack, lie fired straight nt Lopez ' as the latter approached, Tho first I shot missed him, but tho second struck hira in the chest, and he heaved a sigh of satisfaction as he saw the Mxl nn fall to the ground with n mrse. Seeing that Lopez was laying quite still, Pancho opened tho doors and started towards him. As Lopez saw him approaching he cautiously reached for his gun, and before Pancho realized real-ized what had happened, the bandit fired, hitting him In the side. He dropped to his knees, and then the two started crawling towards each other, shooting as they closed, uutil they were but a few feet apart. While the duel between Paneho and Lopez was going on, the bandits wero firing Into the hacienda Liberty and Pancho and Lopez. r Pedro returning their fire behind the barricade and wounding three of them. The men and women In the peon settlement, hearing the fusillade, came running from their houses. They reached Pancho, who told them to go to the hacienda and scvo Liberty and Pedro. While two of them remained to assist Pancho, the others ran towards to-wards the house. The Lopez men saw the peons, and, after an exchange of shots, two more bandits dropped to the ground, while the three or four remaining escaped, leaving their leader at the mercy of Pancho. Liberty and Pedro, seeing the bandits mount their horses and ride off, realized that assistance had I arrived. Pedro, with some of the pe-' pe-' ons started after them, while Liberty went to Pancho. Pedro took charge of the peons, and led them across a ravine, and, as the bandits rode back they were picked off, one by one. until finally they were I all wiped out. Then he started back to the hacienda. In the meantime. Liberty had returned re-turned to the house, with the peons who wore carrying Pancho. They took him inside, where Liberty revived him. As she was bending over him, Pedro entered and reported the death of the remainder of the Lopez band. "Where is Lopez?" asked Pedro, as his hand grasped his gun. "Pancho finished him," 6ald Liberty Poftly without looking up. "Some of the peons have taken his body away." "Thank God for that," said Pedro, as his eyes brightened. "That's the best news I hear in long time." But, although Pancho had killed the terror of tho border, one of the bandit's ban-dit's bullets had found' Its mark, too, and, as Pancho lay there sturlng up into the eyes of Liberty and Pedro, ho knew his end wot near. The only consolation con-solation he had was the satisfaction of destroying Lopez before the bandit discovered how bndly he had Injured Pancho. His breath came thick and fast, and ho found it difficult to speak. He motioned mo-tioned Liberty to come neurer and, as she bent over him, he whispered his last words, which were, in effect, that her property, which had been Intrusted In-trusted to him, as one of her trustees, would now revert to her. He struggled to raise himself, and, resting himself on one arm, he whispered whis-pered a blessing to her, and then sank back on the bed, lifeless. (TO BE CONTINUED.) |
