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Show THAT G'RLcf JOHNSON'S I By JEAt K.A.TE LVDLXM. Ak ,f "M m ..W ,Wr. - r.H. Bultml ArmtlBi In An of rnn. in Ibn Vaar !"- t gllt Smllh. la lb iluir of t Libfsotn of Lonetru. at Wa.hinema. D. C. CHAPTER VII. I Tht Btrayad Cow. ' Dolores sat In tho doorway wt.lt-lng wt.lt-lng for her father's roiiirr fir n tne tavern. He had been to 1 1. r house whlla ahe waa over the mountain, and ' bad hla auppHr. Hho hersrlf I ad v nn . aothlng. for she had no aiioii In pits of hor walk over l'ii ni .innta.n. 1 8 ha was quite Idle, hrr l.rv.da In ' tholr old llstlofe attltttdo In it-r Inn. hor dark hod resting snaliit H" unpalnted d'Kir post, her giave laeu and thoughtful eyes ralsd ' hearoiia. The moonlight fnllinc arrow hor fare di-flicd It cl it and porlect i as marhlo; upon the rlran br.ro nKir j behind her lay her shadow hx ai:J ! dark. i Tha nlKht waa allerl; Ihu di Haul aoond of nido singing 'rn" ' 1;,v' era died away; the llrhts went "l one afler Brother In I'c bis low houaea. Dotons hcran to wnm'er vaguely why her father did not ruine. Midnight had paired; the bom Hiked way one by uno on the hU clock. H In the corner, the mo.,u hum round and golden above Iho mii'Wnin p-ii.s la tho woet; In the mil a sttnk of whltor llnht appeared, br-a-ici il and deepened. The girl's s'.ntlnw disappeared disap-peared from tio doer; ll lay In fr. lit of her on the door atoue. The cow w as cropping the srn m on tho roadside, her brrsll.lig tic p mil eunlentnd. I.odle. tho next nelg'tb r. came up the road with a luickei. Ilia well waa low In thla dry weather; Johnaon'a well waa public propoity at audi tiniea. "A ahoer day," he slid p.li.s;ci. ally, al-ly, looking at the brlndto. Doloroa rouaed hi-rlf. a alnw thought coming to her mind. "1 hnvo I been waiting for my ruber," alio Mid. I "la ha atlll at the tavern?" I I Lodla held the hu kot suspend, d B half way down the well; a dull sur-M sur-M prlaa waa the leading etprevalnti on V hla fare. "Don't ye know whore he went. D'loreaT Warn't yo hyar whim ho kern up for hla gun an" atanml tir hunt ther cow owcr yandor on th.-r mounllngT Ther cow la( hyar; Where's yer fey ther?" A audden aharp fi-or woke In her mind; alie arose and fared lx)dle. tho sunlight on her head. "If he went over on the opposite mountain to hunt Hrlntllo and haa not returned ho mult have IohI hla road, or gotten hurt, or aoniolhlnK t keep him." !"Yea," aald l.odle. alowly. An thoya want liltn cl ther court toriluy; f he ain't thyar they'll kimi fer him; theye aweared they'd hey him, for ther thing kyant bo ruled toll ho goea." , He awung the bucket up on Iho dge of the well and panned down the road In alienee, hla alouchlng figure Ilka a blot on the exquisite landscape Breakfast waa ready, and Ihilorca wont In and act Ihe potatoes and bacon ba-con at ono aide of tho health; the coffee waa ready to mnke: ahe never mads that till it waa ready In hn drank. When all waa ready within ahe went out to the Imnk under tht plnoa. The run win hlph ami warm. I but under Iho pines tho shadows were cool and dark; and thorn sko waited for hor father. lly and by the men of (lie n'tllo-ment n'tllo-ment started over tho moiinlnln In grotipa of twos nnd threeit. Dnloiea watched thorn en. erarcn lakluK her eyes from Ihem till their alow hinu flyuroa fnded and blended with tho yellow muil and tho runuid pat ha. Ah they pnsaed they anki-d for her falhor. She arata and faced Lodla, every one receiving the aame roply. I.ator, aa Dolores watched, a yellow oloud of dust arose where tha road and tha sky aeemed to meet. She watched It mechanically. Aa tho cloud appaarod and drew nearer out of It appeared a body of hornemen riding at a sharp pare down the rouKh mad. They alurkencd their pace as they came up. Tho girl was plainly discernible dis-cernible In hur print gown under Iho plnos. They halted at the rickety gato. and ono of them dismounted and went up tho walk. He remuved his hat as ho drew near Dolores "Miss Johnson?" Sho hCHltnted a moment; the n mo was uutamiliar to her siivo as tirted by younK On en. Thou she bent her head In reply. "Your fuller?" "Ho la not horo," she rnld. slowly. I "Whore can wo find him?" "1 do not know." "Dot wo must find him." He frowned sternly; hla fare and voire wero authoritative. "He la summoned to appear In court to day In the tlreen can; the law cannot wait. Can you g.te ua no Idea where we can flud him?" "No." He returned to hla compnnlona and reported that Johnson was not there; Ma daughter did not know where bo as. They held a consultation. If It were p;lhle Johnson must be found and brought to court that day; law ami rlitlit must not bo delayed. Hiding ifown the mountain thry halted at Iho t ivrrn. The tnvei n keeper's wifo came uiit m meet them. Thy avked fur water; ahe aald water was atarca on tha mountain, - - fKr. r "Out wi muat find him." hut she could give Ihem cider If that would do. They replied that rider would do very well In fart, much better than water for their purpose, for tbey tad a rough tlmo before them. Aa they drank they asked for the host. He was away, aba aald, gone over Ihe mountain to tha town; a trial waa being hold there, had they not heard of It? Nearly every one had hi'Md of It; It waa making a atlr. Folks were excited about It; thore waa to he a trlnl there, and Johnson had thoy ever heard of Johnson? waa all they were waiting for to lay tli n guilt where It belonged; ha knew more about It than most folks; some thouKht Did Johnson go? No, not that ahe know of, and aho would know. He went over to the oppoalte mountain last night to hunt his cow. In what direction did Johnson go? She waa not sure; aha believed he wont right down the road across tha valley. There was a bridge across tho river If ono followed tha rosd along tho foot of the mountain a bit. Jenkins had seen her there, and he told Johnson so at tho tavern; Johnson John-son wert right over to hunt hor; he took hla gun In ratio he came acrosa game, but that was useletia un'osa ho wero luckier than tmunl, for Johnson ki lou shlltli HS to hnvo lurk. ics. ttio cow ra:ue hark; she had lost her bell; ho would expert to find her by Ihnt; flimbll ts.H he would keep on burtitiK; he hadn't sense enough to know she would mott dkoly romo homo by herself. Tint it he did not wliih to return ror reasons best krown to himself Johnson was shirtless, but ho was no fool about somo things. Ills girl now had about as little sense as was possible. 8he did not even know when she van wo!) off; ahe was like lutr ntothor for all tho world, only worso. Aa for Dolores, ahe socmcd to like him to talk to her; she was not In the habit of talking much; she never talked with her nelghbora, she folt above tlimn ; hn was Ihe Judgo'a son, and, no doubt, sho felt flattered that ho took notice of her. Their men never said murh to her, for thoy did not like her. Vayhe aho went over the mountain. Well, maybe ahe went because whe wished to go. How could ahe anawor for her? Perhaps ('nuld they find Johnson If they trlod? Sho did not know. The oppo-alto oppo-alto mountain waa a dnngeroua place; there were aharp ledgea and turna and deep chasms; fulka seluotn ventured over there except for hunting; they had no cause to go. Did they want Johnson? He waa not In the habit of gonf off; ha never wont hunting except on their own mountain; ha had no g ahead In him; he was shiftless and at waa bla daughter daugh-ter only worse. Thoy had accomplished tholr errand and paid her liberally aa they arose to go, more determined than ever to find Johnson were It a possible thing. CHAPTER VIII. Tha Search, The duputlca rode slowly down the mountnin. The road waa hard for their horses and uncertain, besidea It was strange to them and straiiKo ground was unsafe. They talked little. lit-tle. On lenvlng tho tavern one of Ibcin remarked thnt the woman knew wh it she was talking about, and nuw they would find JoIiuhou If aurh a thing were possible, for thry had more reason than over to tlnd him. They rodo along the foot of tho mo-Mitala In search of tho path of whlrh Ihe woman spoke. There w no road here as along the other moit-tain; moit-tain; a narrow line half hidden ? long grass ami tatialed hushes str gled In and out raprlelously. as thoiif to puztle Its followers, now up ll' mountain side, again straying nut i' tho valley meadowa nearer the rivet's moaning. Above, among the pines, t blue bane was tangled, hiding all r yoml; the dread mystery of Ihe mountain moun-tain clung Ilka a gnrmont about It. ' The men rode on In silence; thr waa a solemnity around them tint hushed all light words. The ennrniltJ of their undertaking dawned mors and more upon them; to search fof a man In that wilderness with the moan-tain moan-tain a haert for his hiding place- on 4 Ita robe of hexe for hla shield waa absurd. ab-surd. There were chasms and dsn-geroua dsn-geroua places, sharp turnings ant winding paths, ledgea hidden by hart that would swallow a man aa core plotely aa a acpulcher, and leave PI trace, m -slve mcka overhead thai I tremor of the mountain would hid upon them. No wonder the men grf silent and allowed the horses to hs" their way; man could not follow ta dangerous, hidden palha; only brsts Instinct could find the safe places. t They came at last to the path bp the mountain, and the horaea refustd to take It until urged by whip and spur. It was a path that shielded all beyond It, aa though the mountain had made a fastness that none could break. The horses lolled up alowly, slipping now and again on tha treach. emus ground; the tangled bushes and low bougha swept them as they passed; nhovo the pine boughs parted enough for a min i head to pais untouched un-touched beneath. Now and again the bushes and ferns; great mcka loomed path seemed lost In the wilderness of ahead and tho path that aormcd cut off turned sharply and wound up tht mountain: again and again the horse-hoofs horse-hoofs paused on tlto edge of a chasm half hidden by haze, and the nirn with white fares held them up by main force from the ghastly depths beneath their very feet. Their voices, aa they ahouted In hopes of a reply had Johnson lust his way, Bounded grueaome In the loneliness. Halt way up the mountain they paused and fared aliout. It waa useless, use-less, they said, and foolish to follow the path up higher; uo man would wander up there of hla own free will; faring the law were preferable; one know what to expect from It. Her death laid hla trapa In secret and lured hla victim on; he waited at every corner and lurked near every rock; he waa above, below, and before them; be reigned In the mountain's heart. If Johnson wera thore hs might stay there; tholr Uvea wera of mora vahu than hla; they would r turn to the town and report tha utter hopelesanesa of the search. It would be wlsor to search for him nearer home; to hide from the law ahowed that ha waa cowardly, and a coward would never come there. They would atop at the tavorn and apeak toe woman again; her words mlght.be wiser than thoy thought. And they would speak again to that girl o( Johnson's; sho might be mure wllllni to talk, and ahe was no foul. , (To be continued.) |