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Show - - u I M-- , - ,,- I- df -T n r ) -b ?3GlAtl,CS KpAMDALUPAl?DIri-. TVSi Coyrlril, A. C. McCluif Co.. Ul VNOPSIa. Jack Kellh. Vlrglnisn now bnr-rW bnr-rW tutjntman. la rl.llu nl..n ths Hum F trail nn Ih. I.iotuul f,,r r.mln war Kanla of urim II nntlci-t a rsinp rr II I fllttem snd thrti st a Irani slta-h1 In a wst'in an1 at full (aJlup pursued br mm on ponlca CHAPTER II The cna of Tragsdy. Whatever nuicMt b lb nature of tha tragedy II would be orrr with loon before tbla. and thoae moving blar auota away yonder lo the west, thai ha bad discerned from th bluff, war undoubtedly tha departing raiders There u nothlnri left (or Kellb lo do eicepl determine tha fata of tha unfortunates, and (lira Ibalr bodlaa decant de-cant burial That any had seraped, or rat lived, wal altogether unlikely, anlees. perchance, aomrn had bean In Um partr. In which caae I hay would have been noma away prisoners Confident that no hottllet would ba lnl behind to observe hla movrmFnla. Keith pressed steadily forward. lead log hla horae. lla had thua traversed fully half a mlla before coming uiion any evidence of n flitht here lha pur uvra bad apparently coma up with too wajcnna. and rlrrlad out upon atthar alda. Krom llialr ponies' trarka User muat have been a doien In tha band I'erhapa a hundred yards forth-ar forth-ar along lay two dead potiloa Kalth examined tham closely both had bees rlddan with anddlaa. tha marka of to clnrhea plainly vlftble Kvl-onUy Kvl-onUy ona of tha wagon mulea had also dropped In tha tracca here, and bad baan dragged along by hla mates Juat beyond rama a audilan depression In tba pralrla down which tha wagons bad plunged so heavily aa lo break ona of tha allot: lha wheal lay a faw ( yarda away, and, omawhat to tba rlghl, there lay tha wrark of tha wan on llaalf, two daad mulct atlll In tha traces, tha vehicle ttrlppad of con-lanu con-lanu and charrad by fir a A hundred feet further alonn waa tha other wagon, IU tongue broken, tha canvaa top ripped oien. while between tha two ware scattered odds and enda of wearing apparel and provisions, with pile of boles smoking; grimly. The remaining mules were gone, and no semblance of Ufa remained anywbere. Keith dropped bis reins over his hones head, and. with Winchester rocked and ready, advanced cau- ' lloualy. i . Iieatb from violence bad long alnce become almoat a commonplace occur- i retire lo Keith, yet now he ehrank for j an Inatant as hla ayea perceived tha figure of a man lying motion leu I across tha broken wagon tongue. The grlizled hair and beard were streaked I with blood, the face almoat unrecog i sizable, while the handa yet grasped . a bent and shsttared rifle. Kvldently the man had died fighting, beaten down by overwhelming numhera after eipendlng hla laat shot Then those fiends had acalped and left hlin w here ba fall. Fifty feet beyond, ahnt In loo back, lay a younger man, doubled ap In ft heap, alto scalped and dead. Tbat was all; Keith scouted over ft wide circle, even scanning the stretch of gravel under tha river hank, before ba could fully sstlsfy himself there vara no others In the party. It Beamed Beam-ed Impossible that tbeee two traveling alone would have ventured upon such trip In the face of known Indian hostility. Yet they muat have dona ao. and once again hla llpa muttered: ! -Of all tha blame fools!" Suddenly he baited, atarlng about OTur the prairie, obsessed by a new r thought, sn aroused suspicion. There l bad appeared merely the hoof prima V of tha one norma alongside of the I1ae-: I1ae-: Ing wagons when they first turd out from tba trail, and that horse flad , been newly ahod. Hut there ware two V daad ponlaa lying back yonder; neltb-. neltb-. er shod, yet both had borne saddles. Ji Mora than this, they bad been epur- red, the blood marks still plainly via- y tula, and ona of them waa branded; ba remembered It now, ft star and ar- row. What could all this portend? ' Was It possible this attack waa no " Indian affair after all? Waa the disfiguring dis-figuring of bodlaa. tha scalping, mere- , )y dona to make It appear the art of aavagea? Driven to Inveatlgatlon by tbla suspicion, he patted agnln over . tha trampled ground, marking this J time every separata Indentation, av k ery falntast Imprint of hoof or foot, i There waa no Impreatloo of mocra- J sin anywhere: every mark remalulng a was of booted feet. Tha Inference waa auirtrlently plain- this hsd beeo k the ded of white men, not of red; foul J murder, and not savage war. V Tha knowledge seemed lo sear Keith's brain with lire, and be sprang ( to hla feel, hamts clinched and eyes blailng. He could have believed this Df Indium. It was according to their '1 nature, their method of warfure; but tha rowardllnets of It, the atrocity of ' Ihe art, as perpetrated by men of bis own rare. Inttanlly aroused within t him a detlra for vengeance. lla a wanted to run Ihe fcllowa down, to jlnover their Identity. Without thinking of personal danger be ran forward on their trail, which led dl-Lilly dl-Lilly cvtward, along tba Una of cottonwooda These served lo con-real con-real bis own movements, yet for the moment, burning with paatlon. be waa utterly without caution, without slightest ten no of peril. He mutt know who waa guilty of surh a crime; he felt capable of killing them even at he would venemoua anakes It waa perfectly plain trail to follow, for the fuKltlvei. apparently convinced of safety, and confident their cowardly deed would be charged to Indian rnld-ers. rnld-ers. had made no particular effort at concealment, but bad ridden away at a gallop, their horsea' hoofa digging deeply Into the toft turf. On thit retreat re-treat Ihey had followed closely along the river bank, aiming for the ford, and almost before he realised It Keith was himself at tha water's edge where the trail abruptly ended, staring vaguely across toward the opposite shore. Kven aa he atood there, real-Itltig real-Itltig tha futility of further pursuit amid the mate of land dunea opposite, the ahnrp reports of two rifles reach ed him, spurts of smoke rose from the farther bank, and a bullet chugged Into the ground at hla feat, while another an-other sang shrilly overhead These shots, although neither came tufnclently near to ba alarming, served serv-ed to send Keith to cover. Cool head-ed head-ed and alert now, bis first mad rsge dlttlpnteil. he manned the oppntlte bsnk cautlnualy, but could nowhere Keith had already stumbled upon the truth, and waa determined to verify It. Heruro In Ihla conception of Ihe situation, sit-uation, yet atlll keeping wary aye about to guard agalnat any treachery, the plalntman. dlacoverlng tpsda In the nearest wagon, haatlly dug a bole In the aiind. wrapped the dead bodlet In blniikett. and depotlted them there In. piling above tha mound the char red remains of boiea aa some slight protection sgalnat prowling wolves He senrrhed the clothing of tha men, but found little to reward the effort, a few letters which were allpped Into hit pockets to be resd later, soma or dlnsry trinkets hardly worth preserr Ing eicept that they might assist In Identifying tha victims, and, about the neck of the elder man. rather pa rullar locket, containing portrait painted on Ivory Keltb waa long time opening thla, the spring being very Ingeniously concealed, but upon finally aucceedlng, he looked upon the features of ft woman of middle age. a atrong mature face of marked refinement, re-finement, esreedlngty attractive atlll, with smiling ditrk eyes, and a perfect wealth of reddish brown hslr He held the locket open in his band for lovers! mlnulet wondering who aha could be, and what pottlblc connection connec-tion she could have held with the dead. Homethlng about tbat face V J A Bullet Chugged Into tha Ground at Hla Faet- dlaoover any evidence of life Utile by little iie comprehended the alius-Hon, alius-Hon, and" decided upon his own action. ac-tion. Tba fugitive! were aware of bis presence, and would prevent bis crusting the stream, yet Ihey were not at all liable to return lo tbla side and thus reveal their Identity. To attempt any further advance would be madneas. but be felt perfectly secure ffom molestation so long as ha remained re-mained quietly on the north ahore Thoae shots were merely warning to keep bark; the very fart that the men firing kt'pt concealed waa proof positive that they almply wished to ba left alone They were not afraid of what he knew now, only deilrout of not being Been. Confident as to thla. he retreated openly, without making the slightest effort to conreal his movements, until be bsd regained the scene of murder. In evidence of the truth of hla theory no further thots were fired, and although he watched that oppotlte sand bank carefully, not the slightest movement revealed the pretence of others. That every motion mo-tion he made was being observed by keen eyes he hsd no doubt, but this knowledge did not dlsronrert him, now that tie felt convinced fear of re-vealment re-vealment would keep bis wstrhers st a safe distance Whoever they might be they were evidently more anilnua to etcape dlacovery than he was fesr-ful fesr-ful of attack, and potaetted no dettre to take his life, unless It became necessary to prevent recognition. They atlll had every reason to believe their attack on the wagons would be credited to bottlle Indians, and would consider It far safer to remain concealed, con-cealed, and thus '.isrbor this supiiotl-tlon supiiotl-tlon Tbay could Dot suspect tbat tolling up Into hla own held peculiar fascination for blm, gripping til in with a atrauga feeling of familiarity, touching touch-ing some dim memory which failed lo respond Hurely be had never aeen Ihe -original, for ahe waa not one to ba easily forgotten, and yet eyes, hair, ezpreaaion. combined to remind him of anme one whom he had Been but could not bring definitely to mind There were no names on Ihe locket, no marks of Identification of any kind, yet realising the aacrednetB of It, Keith slipped tiie fragile gold chain about hla neck, and tecurely hid the trinket beneath his shirt It was noon by this time, the sun high overhead, and his horse, with dangling rein, still nibbling daintily at the short grata There waa no rea son for bis lingering longer. He swept his gate the length and breadth of the desolsle valley, and across the river over the sand hills All alike appear ed deserted, not a moving thing being visible between the bluffs and Ihe stream. HUM he hsd the unpleasant feeling of being watched, and II made !m restless and eager lo be away. I . he earlier gust of anger, the spirit merely changed Into a doKged resolution resolu-tion to dlNcover the iierpetrators of this outrage and bring them to Justlre for the crime The face In the locket teemed to utk It of hi n, and his nature na-ture urged retponte Hut he rould boe to arcompllth nothing more here, and the ptalnamsn swung himself him-self Into the ssddle He turned his horse's head eastward, and rode away. From the deeply rutted trull he looked bark to wher the fire still smoked In the midst of tbst desolate silence. CHAPTER III An Arrest Tile Bunts Kn trull was far loo ei-paten ei-paten to m tufely trine led alone and It brtisd li light, but Keith ronsld eanl It better to put sufficient space lasween himself sml those whom be felt riinnilent were still wall hlng his rofvenientt from scrots the river. Ib tnucti they might rlready suspl cltu hit dlscuverlot he iKittetted no mrsnt of knowing, yet. cnntrlous of thrlrown guilt, they might esally leel safer If he were alto put out of tha wiy fie had no anticipation of open atark. but mutt guard agalnat treacb err. At he rode, hla ayea never left tbwe farssay sand dunes, although ht perceived no movement, no black dot even which he could conceive to ba a pottlhle enemy Now thai ha pattewed ample time for thought the situation bersma more puisllng Tbla tngedy which be had accidentally tumbled ui-nn mutt have had a rauae ttW than blind rhanre It waa Ihe crnlnitlon of a plot, with some rea aco behind more Imt-ortatit than ordinary ordi-nary robbery Apparently Ihe wagons rontslned nothing of value, merely the rkthlng. provisions, and ordinary utrnills uf sn emlgrsnt party. Nor hid the vlrtlma' porketa been rare fttly aesrrlied Only tha mules hsd bern tskrn hy tha raiders, and they wnit M small Dooly for surh art ma (TO I1K niNTINl'KDl |