Copyright 1928-1984, Harold Titus.
WNU Service
CHAPTER XII—Continued
ann] Gens
“What shall I say?" she asked, In a
whisper.
“Nothing,” the man replied. “There
is nothing at all to be sald , . . iz
there?”
“Oh, you gave me such a start!"
“You'rethefirstone, . , . I'm . ..
I'm too full of things to talk, now,
Emma."
He made an odd gesture toward the
wall and looked about.
“We're In the upstairs front room If
we're needed,” she said, “Is . . . Is
there anything you need yourself?”
He did not reply for a moment
Then. heavily:
“Yes.
A little later. . .
The woman did a strange thing, then.
She snatched up her apron and pressed
it tightly against her eyes.
“She didn’t remember!” she sobbed.
. “Oh, what'll happen In this house
next
“1 wonder,’ Martin muttered
I wonder!”
fhe left him, and he moved almost
hesitatingly into the living room. He
stood a long time jnst within the
threshold and then went slowly about,
from pleture to table, from book shelf
to mantel, hands in his coat pockets.
Before this old photograph he stood
for a long interval; beside that worn
rocker he remained with bowed head,
as one might who is suffering . . . or
worshiping. When he approached the
couch where he was to sleep that night
his legs seemed to fail and he half
fell, half slumped to his knees. He
let his face down to the bluukets and
his fingers clutched them, gripping.
gripping until the knuckles showed
white, And a great, shuddering
moan slipped from his deep chest.
* * # » » * *
Blalne prowled
Your help, likely. , ..
"
“Yes
Grimly, Bird-Eye
Tincup that night He had let John
Martin out as he drove through the
mitip street ; then proceeded to a livery
barn where he stabled his team.
Un the way he had sighted Ben Ell
ott but later, although he took up a
position before the post office and
watched passers on either side of the
street he did not see him
He began making inquiries and founa
that Elliott had been about town but
evidently Blaine was always some lit-
tie time behind him.
Failing thus, he went to locate Ben's
team and stood In the swirling saow
waiting. Stores closed. The aura of
light which their frosted windows had
thrown into the storm became fainter
as one by one they went dark. Bird.
Eye chewed and stamped to keep warm
and watched and listened. And after
a long hour's vigil proved fruitless he
moved aimlessly away, along down the
alley.
At the rear of Joe Plette’s hotel he
watched movement through a lighted
window which gave into a back entry.
A man was there, closing an Inside
stairway door behind him. He turned
and buttoned his mackinaw with hasty
movements and Blaine «drew hack into
the shadows. The man within was
{ed Bart Delancey. The door
opened; the man stepped out. He
crossed between Bird-Eye and the
Hzhts, carrying snowshoes, Blaine fol
lowed as the other went swiftly down
the alley and then struck out past
the depot toward the tracks
“Well, now!” Bird-Ere muttered to
himself. “Saints . . . Why all this
rush, I'm wonderin’ [™
A chill which had nothing to do with
the temperature of the night struck
through him. Red Bart, fleeing town?
Surely. he went as a frighteved man
might go. Or as one whose er-
rand is completed,
Out into the street, then, went the
Irishman, and into the pool room.
“Has anybody here seen Misther El
liott 7" he asked loudly and men looked
up from their games at the query,
Yes, this man had, two hours ago; the
butcher bad talked to him at about
eight. . . . None other. To the
dance hall, next, and his queries were
repeated. Then hastily back to see
Ben's team still standing patiently in
the deepening snow, past Dawn Me.
Manus’ house to find only a faint light
in the Eallway, and from there to Able
Armitage's at a run.
Had the judge seen Ben Elliott? He
had not; and excitedly Blaine ex.
plained his empty search, the hasty de-
parture of Red Bart, the neglected
team.
Able dressed and they went out to-
gether, searching the town, Inquiring
of late passers,
“Somethin's happened I” Bird-Eye de
clared. “Somethin's went wrong with
th’ b'y, Able! We can’t folnd out
what ut is ontil mornin’. Thin, believe
me, we'll have help a-plenty 1”
“How so?
“Lave ut to me, Able!”
Through the night, ten minutes later,
a team went swiftly westward, They
left town at a gallop; they breasted
high drifts across the way In frantic
plunges, came to a blowing stop at the
Hoot Owl barn. A moment later Tim
Jeffers sat up and in sleepy bewilder-
ment fought off the man who shook
him and demanded that he wake up
and listen,
. . . » . » LJ
The storm subsided before sunrise.
carefuily,
It was a vast, rolling country, and
across It, from Hoot Owl toward Tin-
cup, went teams. Five of them formed
a sort of procession, drawing logging
sleighs, Across the bunks planks had
been placed and on the planks stood
and sat men; they were silent men,
who drew on cold pipes, whose faces
were set and grim whose eyes betrayed
excitement. The Hoot Owl crew, this,
following Tim Jeffers and Bird-Eye
Blaine to Tincup to solve a mystery.
In an orderly manner they left the
sleighs and stond in groups while
teamsters unhitched and led thelr
horses Into a livery barn,
Able Armitage came hurrying and
he, alone, was welcome in that phalanx
of Intent men. Others of the town
saw him gesticulate as he talked with
Jeffers and Blaine, saw him shake his
head and spread his hands as one will
who has no answer for a pressing
question.
Old Tim turned to the crews and
motioned them to him. The men gath-
ered close and Ustened while he spoke
briefly, Then the compact huddle
broke, Jeffers emerged and started for
the main street, that body of shauty
boys falling In to move shoulder to
shoulder behind him.
It was a strange spectacle, for that
peaceful Sunday morning! Doors were
opened; men and women peered out
Then they emerged and stood to wateh.
Now and then one hailed an acquaint.
ance in the marching company but
none replied to such greeting. Has
tily caps and coats were donned and
along the sidewalks followed a grow-
ing crowd of the curious
The breath vapor of the men rose in
a cloud. No other spoke. Far down the
street a small boy yipped excitedly,
across the way two women were mut-
tering to one another, flinging quick.
excited questions, disciaiming knowl
edge for fitting responses
They swung Into the main street, old
Tim wallowing (n the long drift at the
corner, his men trampling it down be
hind him. On down past Able's aince,
past the pool room and then, witnout
a word of signal they halted. . , . The
halt was before the bank. over which
Nicholas Brandon had his offices and
his living rooms.
The silence as they stood, every ope
of the hundred faces upralsed to those
windows with the lettering which pro
claimed the tenant, was portentous.
And then Tim lifted his clear, strong
volce,
“Brandon!” he shouted.
don”
“Branden !® Tim shouted again and
his men stirred behind him, swayed,
giving up a low, short mutter.
“Come out, Nick!” a teamster shout.
ed, voice thick with repressed excite
ment. “Ay, come out!” another cried,
Movement, then, where they bad
expected movement. Up above a face
appeared in a window, Nicholas firan
don looked down upon them. They
could see his lips compress as he dis
cerned that crowd.
“Come down, Brandon!
This was Tim again, his volce edged
with sharpness, as he might speak to
a rebellious man of his crew.
Brandon moved and threw up the
gash,
“What do you men want? he de
manded sharply, In the tone of one
who has been long accustomed to make
demands.
“We want Ben Elliott!” Jeffers an-
swered.
“Elliott? He isn't here. What wonld
he be doing here? What could 1 know
of him?
A mumbling, a stirring behind Tim.
“We want Lim. We want you to
help us find him !™
“You're d—n right!" |
you skunk!”
or we'll
town I”
Tim held up a silencing hand against
this outbreak. Then he address Bran
don.
“Elliott came to town last night, He
hasn't been seen since. His team
was found where he left It. There's
only one man in town who'd have an
object In getting him out of the way.
We've come to that man: to you,
Brandon. We want Elliott!”
Brandon's lips writhed.
“I teii you, 1 know nothing" He
slammed down the sash and cut the
rest of his sentence from their hearing
80 those men did not know that his
volce broke sharply as panic laid Its
hold on him,
“Nick Bran-
« “Tell us
“Show him to us
wreck your whole blame
He turned his back deliberately to
the window. Then, In frantic lunge.
he reached the telephone and rang the
bell,
“Give me the jail!” he sald excited-
ly. “Quick! The jailt”
Outside a growing, mounting roar
sounded, like the volce of an approach-
ing wind. Then came a sharp shout;
a loud curse. Then quick silence again
as Tim Jeffers reasserted his leader-
ship and demanded that they move
only as a unit. But this order pre
valled for a brief moment.
“Smash In the door; it's locked!”
someone cried. “Take him until he
gives Ben up!”
“Good boy I"
The ball of Ice, east In the street
from some horse's foot, now picked up
and flung stoutly, crashed through an
office window,
Brandon cowered as a yell of ap-
proval went up, and pressed his face
close to the telephone.
“Hickens? , . . Art! This Brandon!
There's a mob out here and—"
“I've seen it!” The sheriff's volce
trembled. “I saw ‘em come in. I don't
know what—"
“Get down here, then, and be quick
about it! Get down here and scatter
them!
Brandon waited for the ready ac
quiescence which always had come
from the men he had made, from offi-
cers of the law and judges and public
officials both hign and low.
“Are you there” he demanded ¢'
iy as a shrill yip came from
street.
“Yes, Mr. Brandon. | hear you but
But what d'you expect me to
do against a mob alone? [-—"
“Alone! You're sheriff, yon fool!
You've the law behind you! Bring a
gun and hurry!”
“But that crowd, Nick! Why, they're
the best men in the north. They'd tear
me to ribbons! They're good men and
they're mad. You better get out the
back way If you can!"
With an oath Brandon flung the re
celver from him as snother window
pane exploded to fragments, Abandon.
ed to that muttering mob, and by a
man whose political career he had
shaped with his own hands! From a
safe vantage point he looked out A
half dozen men were pulling at a sign
post. The street was filing with peo
ple; his people, his employees. They
were wide-eyed, excited, and he saw
a dozen of them, men who had whined
and groveled before him, laugh and
Jeer as another missile spattered on
the bricks outside.
He ran down the hallway and looked
out a window in the rear. A grim
guard of three men stood there, ready
and waiting for him to attempt fight
that way.
He went Into his sleeping chamber
and took down a rifle from its rack
on a pair of antlers. He threw open
the chamber but It was empty. He
jerked open a dresser drawer and
pawed through it in a fruitless search
for cartridges, cursing because be
found none. His breath was ragged
as he threw the rifle on the bed and
rumpled his hair wildly.
“Bring Elliott out!" “Show us Ben I
“Get a rail!” These and other terri
fying cries stood out above the con
stant mutter of the mob,
Brandon rushed back to the front
office and waved his arms for sence
as he stood In the shattered glass of
his window, but the sight of him only
provoked boots and Jeers which were
forerunners of a great billow of sav-
age, snarling rage.
The men were having trouble with
the sign post. He heard the stair
door tried and a volce ealled: “Hustle
with that post!”
Coming! They were coming In to
get him!
He could not .atisfy them! He did
not know where Elliott wasiy Last
night Delaney had promised to try
again but he had not come to report,
though Brandon had waited late. And
now the crowd was howling for El
ilott; lacking Elliott, they would take
him.
He covered his face with his hands,
tried to stop his ears. In those menac-
ing cries he heard the knell of this
reign, For years he had ruled by the
force of his will and now that force
was not enough. Bit by bit, Ben El
liott had caught the fancy of the coun-
try and now, with that group of stout
men as a rallying point, the entire
town was setting up a demand for the
the
whose father has disappeared with a
randon sends Duval to beat up Ben,
to open the letter,
time Is set. Ben discovers Dawn
ue is not a child, as he had su
over which his Rom Paned:
wa, ia makes
apparently believing him gulity,
woods, Elliott Is fired on, and 4
believe him dead. “Aunt Emma”
Lydia to acknowled
ruse to make his eneriy
on the woman
Elliott and Dawn are rece
pleading for her love
Crocheted Rug Uses
New Modern Design
|
|
!
i
lott. They would have Ben Elliott.
his arms, standing close to a broken
window.
warning, I'm giving!”
great gell,
fers hastened toward them with ges.
tures of protest.
“Hold your heads, now! Give us
Hoot Owl boys a chance. We'll get
what we come for or we'll take Tincup
apart. But no destroyin’ of property
until everything else fails!”
His will prevalled a moment. He
lifted his face to Brandon.
out and show us Ben or must we come
and get you? We won't walt much
longer.”
An opening, there, a chance to de-
lay,
“Coming!” Brandon croaked “I'm
coming I”
crowd and burst into shrill words,
Coming? Like the devil, he would
go! He was ransacking drawers, now,
gi
i
1
3
:
i
; 1
Jl ES
He Could Not Satisfy Them.
dumping thelr contents on the floor In
his frantic search for rifle cartridges
that should be there
The noise outside increased; more
people were coming to Join the erowd.
It seemed as though the whole town
must be there.
He sought a key for a locked trunk
and could not find it. He tried several
but his hands shook so that he might
have falled to make the proper one
operate, even had he found It
Again Jeffers’ volce, demanding his
presence, came out of a strange
silence.
TO BE CONTINUED
Origin of Domestic Dog
Mystery, Authority Says
Cloaked in mystery is origin of the
domestic dog. Those who question the
genesis at all are likely to accept the
belief that the wolf was the common
ancestor of ail breeds, but there is
much evidence to upset this theory, as-
serts P. F. Ricketts, in the Detroit
News,
Dogs may be divided into two types
~the wolf (lupine) group which has
erect ears and hunts by sight, and the
hound (saluki) group which has drop
ears and follows its prey by scent. It
is hard to believe that this latter group
descended from a wolf, because its
type, temperament and general confor
mation forbid it
Also, there Is earlier evidence of the
This crocheted rug called *“Con-
rug is made In solid
in black and the background in
green and lavender. When finished
it measures about 21x30 Inches and
colors suggested are only one com-
bination, many combinations can be
worked out to match the colors in
the room in which it Is to be used.
This rug will prove a practical as
well as beautiful rug In any room in
the house,
Full instructions for this rug and
25 others are Included in rug book
No. Both braided and crocheted
rugs are found in this book.
Send 15 cents to our Rug Depart-
ment and this book will be sent to
ou tpaid.
Be moMB CRAFT COM.
PANY. DEPARTMENT C, Nine
teenth and St Louis Avenue, St
Louis, Mo,
Paclose stamped-self addressed
envelope when writing for informa-
tion.
pry
0.
Canadian Sourdoughs Seek
Legendary Cavern of Gold
One of the most amazing gold
hunts In Canada’s mining history is
planned by Alberta prospectors.
Without procf that it even exists,
hardened sourdoughs are planning
to hunt the many hills of the White
Court area for the legendary “gold
cache” of Old Moostas, seventy-nine-
year-old Indian, around whose
naried figure a legend of fabulous
riches and superstition was weaved
by prospectors several years ago. At
that time he saved a tribe of Indians
from starvation by bringing back a
“bag of gold” from the secret cache
in the hills
Moostas belleved that the gold was
put in the cache by the “Great
Spirit” for use only in time of dire
need, and died without revealing
where it was, and refusing to tell
how he found It
The cache is believed to lie among
the hills in the White Court district.
It is described as a “prospector’s
dream--a cave lined with pure gold.”
The legend is that although Moos
tas knew of the existence of the
cache for years, he visited it only
once. Several years ago, when an
Indian tribe in White Court district
faced starvation, Old Moostas hitched
up two ponies and went into the
hills,
Two days later, he walked into a
trading post at White Court, dumped
a “poke™ of gold nuggets on the
counter and bought out the store.
He distributed the food and other
goods among the starving Indians,
and then retired to a lazy existence
on the Indian settlement
Then started a long battle of wits
between prospectors and the old In-
dian. For years white men tried to
wrest the secret from him, They
plied him with questions and made
many enticing offers, but the old In-
dian rebuffed them with stoleal si-
lence. For months his every move
ment away from camp was closely
watched, but Moostas never visited
the cache again,
America’s Health Army
Numbers Over 1,500,000
fike the modern Whippet. In these
same protrayals, a strong dog, similar
to the British Mastiff, is shown. This
brings up the question of a third type.
More than 1,500,000 persons in this
country, according te an estimate In
the Statistical Bulletin, issued by
one of the leading life insurance
| companies, are employed directly
| or Indirectly In caring for the sick
and preventing disease In this coun-
| =
theory.
for all domestic dogs.
try—about one for every BO persons
otherwise engaged,
The list includes 161,000 legally
qualified physicians, 24000 sttends
ants, 204,000 nurses, 150,000 *“prace
tical nurses,” nearly 5,000 physiothe-
rapists, clinleal-laboratory workers
and masseurs; 70,000 dentists, 14.
000 dentists’ assistants, 2,000 oral
hygienists, 20,000 dental technicians
and assistants of various kinds; ap.
proximately 806,000 osteopaths, chiro
practors and “healers,” 47,000 mide
wives, 5,000 chiropodists, 20,000 gp
tometrists ; 553,000 hospital superine
tendents and other hospital persone
nel, 5,000 clinical attendants, 11.500
health department workers, and seve
eral thousands in private health ore
ganizations; 125,000 registered phare
macists, 17.000 asssistant pharmas
cists, about 60,000 apprentice pharmae
cists, and 2,500 medical-social work
ers~Literary Digest.
=
She now uses
CLABBER GIRL
Exclosively
Advice te Girls
Some girls who set out to be agree
able score a victory over those whe
spend hours trying to look pretty.
Many a Friend Recommends
BLACK-DRAUGHT
People who have taken Black.
Draught naturally are enthusiastio
about it because of the refreshing
relief it has brought them. No won-
der they urge others to try it! .. ,
Mrs. Joe G. Roberts, of Porterville,
Ala, writes: “A friend recommended
lack-Draught to me a long time
ago, and it has proved its worth to me.
Black -Drasght is good for constipation.
I find that taki Black-Draught prevents
the bilious headaches which I used te
have™ . . . A purely vegetable medicines
for relief of ”
CONSTIPATION, BILIOUSNESS
CHILDREN
Like Milnesia Wafers
MILNESIA
WAFERS
Tine!
PIMPLY SKIN
from clogged, irritated pores,
can be relieved, improved,
and healing aided with
Resinol
Boucle, 31.98 In Complete line of knittl
yarns. Write for 206 free samples. MAGH
YARNS, 5214 Walnut, Philadelphia,
AIL
LT
NR (VIE 1
Kidney Poisons
ly, for functional kidney disorder pery
mits excess waste to stay in the blood,
end to poison and upset the whole
system,
Use Doan’s Pills. Doan's are for the
kidneys only. They are recommended
the world over. You can get the gene
ving, time-tested Doen's at sny drug
store,