Show biaz of t he der i SYNOPSIS seeking death to escape dishonor at the th hands bonds of a drunken desperado eon bony savaran save r in it allow 11 0 we h heiselt herselt aselt to be rescued by her a suddenly udden y repentant attacker the girl Is R bolt appointed physician to the navajo indiana indian j living 0 on n an n arizona sheep ranch with her b rather brother serge serce hla him wife llla lila and their ott dinall 11 11 daughter babs baba she Is engaged 1 to rodney blake wealthy now new yorker b tut u I 1 her bar heart to la with the friendless navajos cavajos a and d she ehe evades a wedding S bonya onys pu Is little moon wife of two fingers a navajo through the crisis 0 t an illness two fingers to la deeply crateful Orate frale ful sonya again meets meats the he man whose advances she had repulsed on lono lone mesa asa UG he tells her he bitterly regrets his action L sonya la is affected but unforgiving on teina lone mesa less she again comes upon the strange young man when he reiterates his sorrow borrow over ever lit his a misconduct she indicates tor for gi veness and urges him to abandon 0 n h his 19 life of 0 in lawlessness w from concealment sonya witnesses the transference ot of objects from an airship to her attacker at a dance the she demands that ho he tell her his name lie ile says bays ho he Is 13 starr stone but that he goes foes by a different name in this region lie ile leaves the dance with a tall tierce fierce blex mexican lean with whom he Is mysteriously associated sonya realizes she Is falling failing in love with a man whom she can only class as a renegade and and outlaw outlaw and that she ehe can never marry make blake an influenza epidemic among the indians keeps sonya busy she and stone declare their love for each other all doubt in the mind of the girl being ended the mexican bandit surprising the pair at a meeting place takes stone away and warns the girl I 1 ajile hereafter to lot let his eleuto lieutenant na a alone one CHAPTER IX 12 tile the dark threat falls rodney blake had brought a friend with him A tall quiet man by the name of marston sonya herself again to all outward appearances met liim film at breakfast ills face arrested her A keen face hut but still as s arctic tec fee its eyes penetrating everything they met slie she felt uneasy under them as it if they could read the secret of her heart beart rod seemed to know him well but she was soon so taken up with her ber own problem that she had no time to study this stranger who sat and smoked and asked odd questions of serge her problem of what and when to tell rod blake how to break her sacred word to ask him to release her rod who had said that no mart man no people no country should ever take lier her from him but sir air carstons marstons Mar Mars stona tons questions were very strange were there any people in the country whom lie he serge did not knowl know any strangers about any airplanes flying off the regular lane above the new port at williams no said serge positively only the regular mall mail planes and so BO far off that we only hear their engines why just wondered said john marston but rodney blake smiled and leaned forward tapping his cigarette ash in lis his saucer 1 I may as well tell you folks that youre entertaining an angel unawares or rather to quote the gentry hes bes always after a fallen one mr marston Is the governments crack man of the secret service whose rare talents are enil enlisted sted only as a last resort lie he Is here on a mission of tits his own I 1 merely accompanied him as an excuse to be here lie ile emilee and looked at sonya marston fingered his cigarette looking down gravely for months our department in new york has been beca puzzled by a certain matter a serious matter to this country which has been bafflingly mysterious by our department I 1 mean the federal narcotics narcotic ii bureau A steady flow of mud or pure raw opium has been coming through which we could not cot trace we have reason to bellee it Is coming in ou on the west coast of mexico at Maz atlan to be exact brought inland and across the border by faff fast and private planes and sent east by train from somewhere about the middle of the line fine I 1 am here about the middle to see what I 1 can ace I 1 need not tell you that this knowledge Is dangerous for anyone to possess and that it must be held in the utmost confidence chiefly because of that one across the border el capitan diablo as he be Is known who Is medicos cos king racketeer anyone tampering with el capitan tampers with death I 1 should not have told you this tf if rod had not spoken as he did let me impress again the danger of any mention of this affair to anyone sonya savaran net et her lips which had suddenly gone dry laid down the knife in her trembling hand she had bad her answer at last bastl I 1 the answer to that night on the dance hall floor to the little gray ship chip settling so swiftly on the sand at the canyons mouth to starr stones renunciation of love lore and all it meant the answer to starr stone himself and that answer was IM capitan diablo el capatan diablo who terrorized the north of mexico who raided mines who levied taxes on the poor and who cruci crucified fled his double crosser sl to know too much of el EI capitan diablo and ever leave his service was to die and ones friend also who might share that knowledge ones friends friends maybe his relatives with dilated eyes the girl looked round he be table at serge at llla lila at al little cuba babs lilas face was pale but bul serge was talking eagerly by georgel george 1 he was saying his fist ott or the table there have been stran gerti bern here and anal id stake my last doltar dollar sonya gonya you remember that chap chai by VINGIE E ROE copyright doubleday doran co inca service you danced with at the Neld lingers and the funny thing that happened sonya did not speak and serge went on excitedly there was a dance at a neighboring neighbor ln ranch and my sister was dancing a str stranger on ger when the biggest mexican I 1 ever saw appeared and dropped a hand on tile the strangers shoulder the man followed him out id forgotten the Inel incident dent what sort of looking mexican dont know only that lie he was monstrously tall and broad marston sat in silence for a little time el capitan stands six feet three in his boots he said then who was the man he tools took away if 1 should make a guess which I 1 never do said the other id say it was quince number fifteen the wildest white man in mexico and el diablos Dla Dia blos ablest lieutenant I 1 ive e heard of film put but tits ills master owns him body and soul they say on the border that twice HI el Cap capitani itans spread him up after its his little custom of crucifying any and all who incur tits his anger only to take him down again nos iles too valuable to kill but some day the butcher will be too mad to think of that id hate bate to be in quinces shoes sick to her foundations sonya Sav savaran arill excused herself and john marston looked curiously after her the rest of that day was waa like a nightmare to sonya she had to be about the house to help llla lila with the work and rod was everywhere every here she went leaning fondly on her shoulder tipping her face to look into tier her eyes whispering of that future which she knew could never be misery was her portion through it all she sorrowed sor rowed tor for the blow she must deal him sooner or I 1 4 f A and then stark drama took the silence and the still shadows later for herself ID her fear and her loneliness and tor for the disaster she might some day bring on OD this house and tear fear rode her like a witch whenever she thought of starr stone riding to the border with that prince of butchers el capitan diablo what ails you sona asked rodney blake you dont hear half im saying nothing she tied lied of course I 1 do you ou do nott youre obsessed with something Is it these d d indians if yo you dont stop that rod she flamed ill not forgive you I 1 told you once that ones life is his own I 1 still think so not a womans comans when she has given her promise he said calmly it then belongs to her man im sorry you take that attitude she said my life will never belong to any she did not finish tor for the flashing bashing thought that already her life was not her own that for better or worse it was irrevocably connected with the precarious existence of starr stone quince of the border the time was ripe to tell rod the truth yet she did not speak it seemed that something stronger than llian herself some vital caution held hack back the words llla lila sonya told tile the other woman later ive got to get away by myself a while or op go crazy you know kno w I 1 want to think 1 I know said llla lila go ahead ill keep rod here but oh ob sonya do be care careful full 1 I 1 have a strange feeling in my heart today a premonition of evil when will you be bacar hack around evening dont worry ill only ride the desert for a while maybe go at as far as town well said llla lila uneasily do be careful and she stood on tiptoe to kiss the taller woman so sonya rode away on darkness and rodney blake stood watching her with a strange strang expression in his bis eyes it was far aar past noon coon when she tied darkness to the hitching tall rail beyond the general store and climbed the worn steps to the porch at the hol low sound of her booted feet on the th floor parks tat fat and oily and wide eyed came swiftly from the open door of the back region of the store lie H was hastily putting something in the pocket of ills white linen vest as he came and fumbled his damp hand free to greet her now as lie he readied reached out his bis hand band the small object alisch lie had so hastily hidden in the sagging pocket tumbled out it struck the floor with a strange bound of weight an and for some gome reason sonya stooped and picked it up even before the man could catch it as it fell til ill take it he said quickly give it hero here but again for some dim reason sonya held field the little thing and looked at it curiously it was a flat narrow can about the size she of f the little can in which serge got his tobacco for his pipe and it was shaped very much the same hailing a rounded top and a flat bottom dut but there the similarity ceased for this container was made of solid bruss brass and thickly and beautifully carved with chinese characters while at the lower edge tile the small belligerent figure of a fighting cock stood boldly out in has relief and it was unbelievably heavy for its size this much she saw and felt before the proprietor of the store reached out and took it from her so quickly as to be rude ile he fairly snatched it and dropped it once more inore in the sagging pocket then he be laughed unctuously rubbing ills hla wet palms together A new tobacco miss sonya he said for my personal use very select and I 1 may say costly now what can I 1 do for you today looking at him curiously sonya named her small purchases and he bustled about getting them from shelf and him bin and turning idly the girl looked directly into two dark faces under mexican hats bats which peered furtively at her from around the door jamb she knew with a thrill of portent that they were the same two mega meet whom she had seen that day long back with starr stone when be had brought her purchases out to the car in parks parke place their black eyes stared steadily at her and turning again she caught a flash between them and the stores owner chilled and frightened she gathered her things and went swiftly out mounted darkness and rode from the town at a long lope she knew instinctively that she had stumbled on something of importance and that parks was in some dim way a part of it oh what was it all about 1 where was starr stone and what would his master do to him starr stone and parks and planes and contraband sent east from some where along the border about the middle about here she knew deep in her heart she knew what sir mr marston would give a lot to know what bat lie he had bad come here to find what rod nod blake would help him find if lie he knew rod elake blake rod 1 blake on starr stones trail ue he would b be e as unrelenting as el EI capitan capatan if 1 once he knew all the shining things the sweet things that sonya knew the dark things the evil things which she knew too the whole terrible thin thing was too much for one girls loving heart to hold bold and sonya felt as if the tha bottom were falling from the universe as if soon she and all tier her little world would be destroyed her hands clenched tl tight ht on her reins were tee ice cold the heart in her breast as cold and the shadows 0 of twilight were beginning to fall across the great levels of the sage tile the sun was down behind the bad lands and then from high up and far away a sound fell on her ears the thin small sound of engines in ID the blue coming rapidly nearer she stopped and looked up anxiously and presently she saw lt it a tiny speck that grew and lowered until it was circling over her seeking a place to land it was the little gray ship she had soen seen before the powerful blunt nosed thing which could land and take oft off with such incredible swiftness it was down its bouncing bo unclog tall stilled its engine throttled down but running and a man was climbing over the hide bide coming toward her across the sand was it could it be starr stone site she peered hard for a glint of bronze hair beneath tits helmet hut but could not see it nor hla eyes behind the disfiguring goggles gu ggles and then he was here close at darkness hend head and tits his hand was on the bit she saw then that he was dark a mexican that abat another like him was waa coming from the ship and then stark drama took the silence and the still shadows for sonya lighting fighting tor for her it life fe carne came out of her saddle saw darkness sailing away in a panic of fright tits his empty stirrups flying felt the sund giving under her stubborn feet saw the ship loom large as a her captors brought tier her struggling to it felt her hands held behind her she was lifted up and put over the side aide into a gray leather seat a strap was buckled tightly around her the man who had first approached her climbed into the pilots seat the other squeezed d in somewhere nt at her back and side the engine roared for a moment the plane quivered surged ahead surged raster faster its tall came up an and 3 almost immediately the vast spread of the desert began to drop away beneath with a gasp casp stifled oo on her ashen lips sonya was away among the stars TO dart BB treasure chests not disturbed in lake esan in the caucasus chests of treasure thrown into tho the lako lake years ago to sa save ve them from invading armies still lie there but the natives dont know how to salvage them and foreigners arent allowed to try |