8 Nr.n gf Music Mountain Br PRANK H. SPEARMAN Author of "WHJSPERINO SMITH" (CopjrlgLl br Cb'f Scr;bnir 3ot) (Continued) SYNOPSIS. . CHAPTER I—On Frontier day at Sleepy Cat. Henry de Spain, gunman and train master at Medicine Bond, is beaten at target shooting by Nan Morgan of Music Mountain. Jeffries, division superinten dent, asks Pe Spain to take charge of the Thief River staze line, but he refuses. CHAPTER ll—De Spain sees Nan danc ing with Gale Morgan, is later derisively pointed out to Nan on the street by Gale. anO Is moved to change his mind and ac cept the stage line job. CHAPTER III—De Spain and Lefever Tide to Calabasas Inn and there meet Gale Morgan with Deaf Sandusky and Sassoon, gunmen and retainers of the Morgan clan. Morgan demands the dis charge of a stage driver and De Spain re fuses. De Spain meets Nan but falls to overcome her aversion to him. ' "After Him :** cried Lefever hotly. De 'Spain looked Inquiringly at the guard. Scott shook his head. "That would be sail right, but there's two other Cala ihasas men in the gap this afternoon It ■wouldn't be nice to mix with—Deal ;Sandusky and Harvey Logan." "We won't mix with them," suggest ed De Spain. "If we tackle Sassoon, they'll mis ■with us," explained Scott. He reflect ;ed a moment. "They always stay at Gale Morgan's or Duke's. We might sneak Sassoon out without their get •ting on. Sassoon knows he is safe In jthe gap; but he'll hide even after he gets there. I've got the Thief River irun this afternoon—" 1 "Don't take your run this afternoon," 'directed De Spain. "Telephone Sleepy !Cat for a substitute. Suppose we go iback, get something to eat, and you jtwo ride singly over toward the gap jthis afternoon ; lie outside under cover to see whether Sassoon or his friends (leave before night—there's only one !way out of the place, they tell me. Then I will join you, and we'll ride in before daylight, and perhaps catch him ( while everybody is asleep." "If you do," predicted Scott, in his 'deliberate way of expressing a eondu jsion, "I think you'll get him." It was so arranged. De Spain joined his associates at jdark outside the gap. Neither Sassoon inor his friends had been seen. The ;night was still, the sky cloudless, and [as the three men with a led horse rode Scott Was the Flr*tto Reach the Tree* at midnight into the mountains, the great red heart of the Scorpion shone 'afire in the southern sky. Spreading jout when they rode between the moun tain walls, they made their way with out interruption silently toward their .rendezvous, an aspen grove near which jPurgatolre creek makes its way out of ithe gap. , Scott was the first to reach the trees. The little grove spreads across a slope ■!half a mile wide between the base of (one towering cliff, still bearing its 'Spanish name. El Capitan, and the gorge of the Purgatolre. To the east of this point the trails to Calabasas and to Sleepy Cat divide, and here Scott and Lefever received De Spain, who had ridden slowly and followed jScott's injunctions to keep the red star to the right of El Capitan all the (Way across the sinks. Securing their horses, the three Stretched out on the open ground to •wait for daylight De Spain medi tated first on how he should capture Bassoon at daybreak, and then on Nan Morgan and her mountain home into .which be was about to break to drag put a criminal. Sassoon and his malice ■oon drifted out of his mind, but Nan remained. Her form outlined in the mists that rose from the hidden creek seemed to hover somewhere near un til Scotfs hand laid on the dreamer's shoulder drove It suddenly away. Day was at hand. De Spain got Tip and shook oft the chilliness and drowsiness of the night It had been agreed that he, being less known in the gap than either of his Companions, could beat attempt the dlf THURSDAY EVENING, The Scribb Family—They Live Right Here in Harrisburg—By Sullivan ■ HtWlfli-MOTHEi? I? COMIN6 OONT TELL Me IT j [ RiiT-I HAVEN'T TIME —ill "™* ""SI \ ITS U> J : MOTHER WANT? TO [ "ANDSO HERMLSH TOOK. J"]-, BE BROUGHT FRCM THE- J I OH.A II8 *" ) (lis MOTHER-IN-LAW HOME 110 „ U RA '■ O J° N C THE LN MJOMM ncult capture, Bob Scott, who Knew the recess well, repeated his explicit directions as to how De Spain was to reach Sassoon's shack. He repeated his description of its interior, told him where the bed stood, and even whero Sassoon ordinarily kept his knife and his revolver. De Spain gave his horse his head— • It was still too dark to distinguish the path—and advanced at a snail's pace until he passed the base of El Capitan, when of a sudden, as he rode out from among high projecting rocks full into the opening, faint rays of light from the eastern dawn revealed the narrow, strangely inclosed and perfectly hid den valley before him. De Spain caught his breath. No de scription he had ever heard of the nook that screened the Morgans from the outside world had prepared him for what he saw. From side to side between the frowning cliffs which rose, at points, half a mile Into the sky, it was several miles, and the gap was more than as much in depth, as It ran back to a mere wedge between un tamed Superstition peaks. tsvery moment that he pushed ahead ■rarned him that daylight would come suddenly and his time to act would be short. The trail he followed broad ened into a road, r.nd a turn brought him up startled and almost face to face with a long, rambling ranch house. The gable end of the two-story portion of the building was so close to him that he instantly reined up to seek hiding from its upper and lower windows. From Scott's accurate description he knew the place. This was Duke Mor gan's ranch-house, set as a fortress al most at the mouth of the gap. To pass It unobserved was to compass the most ticklish part of his mission, and with out changing his slow pace he rode on. No bullet challenged him and no sound came from the silent house. He can tered away from the peril, thinking with a kind of awe of Nan. asleep, so close, undA- that roof—confident, too, he had not been seen—though, in*mat ter of .act, he had been. Other cabins hack toward the north ■wall could be seen dimly to his right, but all were well removed from his way. In due time, as Scott had ad vised, he saw confronting him, not far ahead, a small, ruinous-looking cabin shack. Dismounting before this, he threw his lines, shook himself a little, and walked up to the cabin door. It was open. De Spain called gruffly to the cabin Inmate. There vas no. answer. He hitched his trouser band near to the butt r his revolver with his right hand, and laid his left on the jamb of the door, his eyes meantime boring the darkness to the left, whero Sassoon's bed should be. The utmost scrutiny failed to disclose any sign of it or any sound of breathing from that corner. He took a few steps toward where the man should . nsleep. and perceived beyond a doubt that there was no bed In the corner at aIL He turned toward the other corner, his hand covering the butt of his gun. "Hello, Shike!" be called out In a slightly strained tone of camaraderie, addressing Sassoon by a common nickname. Then he lis tened. A trumpeting snore nnswered. No sound was ever sweeter to De Spain's ear. The rude noise cleared the air and steadied the intruder as if Music mountain itself bad been lifted off his nerves. (To Be Continued) "The Insider" By Virginia Terhune Van de Water Chapter XXIII Copyright, 1917, Star Company. "I wop4£r," Tom Morton suggested j timidly, "If you could coach me?" j 1 laughed aloud. "I!" I ejaculated.! "Never! mi' dear boy, didn't I con-; fess to you that I myself failed along I the same lines in which you failed. \ As it was, I only passed mathematics ( by the skin of my teeth." "Then," his face falling, "it means a summer school for me." "I don't see why," I argued. "Your | father could engage some one to come! to Hillcrest to coach you. Of course,, it would have to be some one whom, he liked —some agreeable person. But I there are such." Tom started to his feet, struck by a swift inspiration. "I've got it!" he exclaimed. "Mr., Parker might come! Oh, if he oniy, would! If father will only have him! You see," sitting down by me again, i "that's right in his line. I guess he! has a little money of his own—and j more coming to him when his mother ( dies—at least one of the boys told me I 80. "Old Mr. Parker left everything to j his wife, and at her death Mr. Hugh j Parker will have enough to live on 1 comfortably. But he loves to teach, j and he's fond of boys. So he makes a llvlr.g for himself by coaching vari ous fcMps up at school who are back ward in their work. He lives in the school town, you know, and can be near his mother. I wonder if he'd, be willing to spend the summer in j Connecticut with us." "I had not thought of Mr. Parker's coming." I said truthfully. Tom had rushed on eagerly, but j now his manner changed. "It's too j good to be true," he said drearily. "If I want it, father will oppose It." I "Why?" I argued. "Doesn't he like; Mr. Parker?" "Yes," the boy acknowledged. "He I says he likes him very much, and j that he was" surprised to tind him such a nice chap. I suppose he took j it for granted that any friend of nine j would be a pill of some sort." "Tom," I said gently, "don't talk like that of your father. He is fond and proud of you—and you must know he Is." A I.itUc Pica He shrugged his shoulders. "After a certain fashion he's fond of me. He's never proud of me. He hasn't cause to be. I guess fathers don't love their sons as they do their daugh ters. Father loves Grace. So does Aunt Adelaide. They want her with them all the time. They sent me away to school when I was only a little chap." "Didn't you want to go?" I ques tioned curiously. "I don't know—but I guess I did. I didn't get on well at home. But I don't want to talk about that now. Miss Dart. You're awfully kind to me. and some time when I know you better perhaps you'll let me spill over my grouches to you now and then." "Certainly I will," I said. "You know that if all goes well I shall be Hillcrest myself next summer." "I know it. and I'm mighty glad. And if Mr. Parker could only come, wouldn't it be great? I'd promise to study like a bear—honestly I would. But what's the use of talking about it? The very fact that I propose it | will make father take the other ; side." "Then why propose it?" I asked. "Why not let me do it?" "Oh, I say." his face lighting up again, "you're all right! Are you sure you don't mind?" "Bure." I replied. 'Only. Tom, you must let me choose my own time. And meanwhile don't antago nize your father by being glum nr.d sulky. Forgive me for saying that but really, you know, all this is rather hard on him." I had always liked the lad. Now I knew that he had good stuff in him as he looked me squarely in the face. "Til promise you to do my best, Miss Dart." His eyes rested on me with that JLAHRISBURO TELEGRAPH keen, penetrating gaze I had seen in the eyes of his mother's portrait And as I gazed into the dark brown depths, I spoke softly. "You are just like your mother, aren't you, Tom?" "My mother?" he repeated won deringly. "Why, you never knew her, did you?" "No," I told him. "I never did. But I have seen her picture over your bed. She had a very interest ing face. I wish I had known her." The keen eyes softened suddenly and the full lips twitched. "I guess she was well all that a fellow would want a mother to be," he said unsteadily. "I remem ber some things about her that peo ple would think I might forget. But I don't and won't, no matter what happens." Then, as it' ashamed of his mo mentary weaknesses, he pretended to be looking around for Grace. I suspected that he turned his eyes away that I might not see the tears that had started there. What Grace had spoken of as the "scold ing" from his father, his frank talk with me, his chagrin at his failure, had shaken his usual self-control. "Where under the sun is that kid?" he demanded In mock irrita tion. "She's always going oft somewhere. Grace!" raising his voice. "Come along home with Mtsd Dart. It's luncheon time, and Aunt Adelaide will be peeved if we're late. There's no use in going more than halfway to meet trouble." "Don't be so cross," Grace com manded as she joined us. "I wasn't cross," he muttered. "But it's getting late and luncheon will be ready." He fell Into step beside me and Grace looked at him in surprise. "Are you going to walk along home With us?" she demanded. Her tone showed that she was not pleased at the idea. "Yes," Tom nodded. She made no comment, but, slip- DAILY DOT PUZZLE 3. I 2 2. i a '9 I • 2o • • TfT. 91 • •'6 I m • • 18 .• • ° 17 3 ping her hand into mine, pressed close to me. Tom glanced down at her with a bitter little smile. "She doesn't seem overjoyed," he murmured. But I pretended to be thinking of other matters and made no reply. (To Be Continued.) Miss Fairfax Answers Queries CHOOSING A PROFESSION Pear Miss Fairfax: I am almost nineteen, a graduate from public school, and had one term in high schol. I have been staying at home for four years and am experi enced in housekeeping. I have also taken a course in dressmaking, but would not care to make a profession of this. Now I would like to gd* to some good school and take up a good profession and do not mind paying for it. I have been told my voice is good. Beside singing I have thought of designing and china painting. L>. R. G. No stranger can advise you what proression it will be wisest for you to pursue. I cannot tell how good your voice is nor yet how much artistic ability you possess. And more im portant than either of these things, I know nothing about your willingness to work and struggle as any cne who There Are 1810 Calories Per Pound in FRANKLIN HHSUGAR A food-calory is a measure of energy contained in food which will impart a certain amount of heat when assimilated by the body. The significant fact about sugar is that 98.9% of its caloric energy is available to the body! It is this remarkably high percentage of digestibility which makes sugar so valuable a food. fc— """} \ M*roMs J ' "JANKLIN Sold lo 2,5 i 10, 25 And 50 lb. cotton bogs, refinery pecked packed at the refinery Franklin Granulated is highest quality cane sugar— clean, clear and dry—and there's "A Franklin Sugar for every use 99 Granulated, Dainty Lumps, Powdered, Confectioners, Brown 'APRIL 5, 1917. wants to make a real success of their profession must do. Harper's Bazar has established a bureau to help peo ple in choosing the school for their vocational training. Why not write to the head of this bureau for assist ance? By BEATRICE FAIRFAX WHY NOT RELIEVE HIM? Dear Miss Fairfax: I have been going about •with a young man for quite a while now, and it Is a settled matter that we are to be married. We are not engaged as yet because he thinks it is not a good Idea to get engaged when he doesn't earn enough to get married on, but expects to get a good position soon. Now this is all right, us I know he is earnest, but the other night he told me that a woman was greatly interest ed in him and was going to give him a very good position, such as he could not. obtain without her influence. I have questioned him about this woman and he said there is absolutely noth ing between them, only her interest in him. Although I trust him, it seems almost impossible these days to be lieve that a woman would do such a thing for interest only. What do you suppose the truth can be? WORRIED. Do you mean that it seems impos sible nowadays to believe in disinter DON'T FLIRT; IT IS SILLY HABIK Beatrice Fuirfax Points Out Dangers; Don't Let Strange Men Stop You Bp Beatrice Fairfax Don't flirt! Don't risk chance ao quaintances! Don't encourage what you take for admiration on the part of people yo- happen to pass on the street! Don't ever permit strange men to talk to you, or even to imagine that they might if they chose. The girl who flirts lays herself open to a number of charges. That she is undignified aud lacking iu modesty is true enough. But she may sacrifice dignity and modesty because she is desperately lonely and has no better way of making acquaintances. But there could be no worse way of mak ing acquaintances—and it means that hardly ever will she make friends. The girl who flirts gives the man with whom she flirts what he con siders a right to go on being free and easy with her, since that is how he began to know her. She classes herself in with women of no dignified or even moral standards. She fairly brings upon herself unpleasant famil iarities which the man she has so lightly met either imagines she will welcome or uses to test her. She cuts herself off from knowing fine men, since they would be almost ashamed to have as a friend a girl whom other men can sneeringly claim they met through flirtation. If because you like a man's looks you let him talk to you, and he turns out to be au unspeakable person whom you should never have known, you have placeu yourself in the way of two dan gers. The "unspeakable person" can boast that he knows you and knows you because you were weak enough to permit him to sneak into your life byway of a cheap flirtation. In flirting a girl sacrifices reputation and the right to demand dignified treat ment, for the one chance in a million that the man who meets her lightly and idly and to gratify the fancy of a moment is going to be worth know ing, or to believe that she is worth knowing. ested kindness? As a matter of fact, this woman may be actuated by mo tives of inipersonal generosity or by a feeling that your fiance is the man for a certain place, if you trust him, why not rely on his honor to meet the situ ation, whatever it is, instead of mak ing yourself miserable by suspicion and putting the suggestion of danger ous possibilities into his mind? 4 THE FIANCE OF A DOCTOR Dear Miss Fairfax: I am engaged to a young physician. The other evening we went to the the ater not very far from my home. He was called on a case during the per formance, so he told me that he would not be back again; I felt embarrassed walking home alone. Next evening I told him how I felt, and he said I must expect such things as his time is so uncertain. Wlint ought I do In a case of this kind? J. V. L. A doctor's wife is called on to sacri fice herself again and again for her husband's profession. A physician must minister to others and people do not wait his convenience to die or be born! Unless you are ready gracefully to acceipl situations where you must put yourself second to his profession, do not marry a man of medicine, for you will not aid him in his career.
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