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CHAPTER I.
TRR nUIN-WMinana.
re!"
VhC Is It?"
k. CA s[ij—one of thn vigilantes,
j, or tljn name i« lost!”
1'lit-w ejaculations. spoken rapidly
and excitedly, broke the sllenco of a
weird und tragic scone In one. of tho
lovelic'i yulloys of the Tar West.
'limy were directed toward a man
wlnfinni suddenly uppearnd upon a land-
arape which for o'er an hour had held
half a dozen human IIcures, who had
been lurking In the vlclnlty'of a lonely
■trntrh of rallioad.
The time was night, relieved by the
, tilt tpdt
ement exerrieued, to olio of the men.
II )„ it?* Mkad tht poraon MdiM*
'jjYou visited the station?*
■There was no one then?"
■No one but tho depot agtfit.*
■You aro euro?" (
■I'isltlvo *
■Uo thoro again and roconnotter. £f
thero are any others arrived alnco wi
came, return and rooort at once.”
“All right.” .
Danton returned to the leador’s ride,
who had walked away from tho paou
where Uaugor Ralph lay.
“Evorything la arrangod for tho wreclk,
Captain,” ho aald to Dospard. “As to
.yondor enemy— ranger, doctlvo and vigi
lante—the blow with tho Iron bar has
settled him You aro aure the girl wilt
be on the Ira n.”
■Inez'.'” ‘ ,; .
“Yes.”
“Of course* she wllL^ I received posi
tive Information, Remember, Danton,
that sho Is of more value to us than tho
booty. ”
“That's all right. You and I will
look out for.thn girl, and the others for
the booty. Hut If she should be killed?”
“Then I benefit just so much, that's
all,” replied Dcspnfd, coolly. “What
refulgcuco of a September moon, Its i makes me iWieasy Is Hanger Ralph's ap
rays Just begluulnc to lllumino mount- j [learancc aero. ”
am u'.J valley with a raro crystalline! “Why so?”
I "Hi'cguso he was Jhe of hor dead
■ciiiy. j "Because lie wai
ilall a mile d slant, when's tho river father’s companions.
rtujl-
tkA'cu, from
|ht M a single
doe to
begat
bowels
W. Z. f
©n*y,I
81X MLy
TURKS
stretched a dim silver threw) of
ance, a lonely station
v hich glimmered tiff light#
* lantern.
At the spot where tho sl'oVy opons, tho
single railway track curved ovor a high
trrstlo work and their" descended on a
sharp grade Inward the station and tho
stream. e
l‘*or years this sa^flon, especially tho
course pursued hy* T tho railroad, which
was a recently constructed hranhli of the
groat I'aclfic system, had been known as
tho Done Canyon trill. The station was
called Ton-spot, anfatho nearest sottlti-
nicnt was twenty miles over the moun
tain at Miner's dutch
llcyond that stretahed an alternation
of plain and hill and valley, Infested
even at the time of our nhrratlvo by
uiuiaudlisg hands of savages.
The region wu* one In which a rough,
uncultured set of miners and rangers
resided, and outlaw hands found It a fa
vorite hold for their operations.
As has beefi stated, one hour previous
to the utterance of tho words that bogln
this r haptor half a dozen men rode up
to the scene, dismounted sllontly, led
their hersos to it thicket near by, and
then became massed together near tho
railroad 1
Here fot soma moments they were on-
gnged In some mysterious movements
about thn rails. One of t,holr number
went down thn tracks to the station,
returned, muttered an ominous “All
right," itud* then their dusky figures
moved hither and thlthoiv Not, an audl-
word was spoken until a tall, fill]-
1
I Sen
Well?
"Inez’s fathor wasflfco of his old-tlmo
frlonds. lie probMtfy warnedlitm of his
ronogudo ro'atlvo," '
“Yourself?" r>
"Exactly If dj' oven If tho girl were
dea<l, my claim might bo disputed, or
ray past record would prevent my ap
pearing to secure the fortune^ - No, Dan
ton. the only way Is to get possession of
the girl; and I love hor just chough to
want to marry hof; Your men Insisted
on a wreck to secure what booty the
train had I takfc tho chances of the
accident killing the girl. AtalL evonts,
she must bo secured by us, or fir death
assured before the night Is ovMR
“You are a relative of Robert Tracey,
hor father?"
“A distant one—but thn only one aftor
her. ” *
“And thn fortund?"
“Is a mystery. In a way, and was left
by Tracoy In possession of an old roclpso
known as Hermit lien.The story Is too
complicated a one to relkto now. Ro
member, tho girl Is <4ur especial care;
when the dlsastor comes, search for
hor. ”
“All right, Dospard. Let, us got with
tho boys. Tho trnln will b6 duo now
In a short tlino ”
Tho two men moved some distance
away, to whore an obstruction consist
ing of logs, rocks and Iron had boon
piled on thn track.
At thpt moment tho man Vance, whom
Danton had sent to thn depot, roturnod.
“Well?" askod tho latter.
“No ono thero but tho depot, agent.^
boarded man, evidently tho leader or t.lu> . “And tho mnn wo had to sotilo yon-
party, startled his companions with the j dor?" •
“I guoss ho hnd just arrived, for two
rf"\
party
xelaniatlon; %. |
“tint lb cover 1 Someone Is coming!" *1
Joinooho was coining stnilgl)t down
the trtf eke—a man past middle ago. stal
wart, rugged, and attired In the garlfof
a, frontiersman.
Rlspall. wa- a careless and lelsuroly [
one. as if ho had gut tlrcil of waiting lor ; tho train
the train r.t the dopot and was strolling I "Evidently
ahmft to kill lime until lw;artivod.
Albupawarc of the perilous ambuscade
that lay In wait for him, Jiit was not, con
scious of tile presence uf-o’foe until he
turned a curve In tho rails and fell back
with a startled cry:
"What’s this! An obstruction on thn
mad' The »’ro at it again! Redskins or
outlaws lliere’n danger afloat for tho
night train, suro ”
He turned to hasten back to tho .sta
tion At that momont six dusky forms
•rose from tho ImshoH that lined tho
side of tho tracks ».
“Fire!"
“Who Is heV*
“A spy—ono of thq^vlglluntos! Down
him. or the game is lost. "
Thor© was a blinding hla/.o of light,
and six revolvers llashod in the moon-
llght.
“Mlssod him- after him! Ho must
not escape and give tho alarm!” cried
the leader of the coterie.
The Htranger had indeed been missed.
He must have been magically alert, for
as the bullets whistled past him ho drop
ped to the ground and they flew ovor his
head.
“You Hooundrels! Como on, whoevor 1
you are!”
His voice, clear and stentorian, rang
out like an indignant roar of defiance
and courage
He hud again sprung to his feet and
bad drawn his own revolver.
At that moment his enemies made a
united rush for the spot whoro ho was.
He was forced to retreat a stop or two
A creeping vino entangled his foot, and j
ho foil violently tack ward.
“Take that!”
The words wero spoken hy the leader,
as ho reached the prostrate man.
“Dospard—outlaw and ronogado! I
know you Coward! villain! If I was
at fair odds with you ”
The words wero silenced suddenly.
The louder of tho band—tho man ho j
had railed Dospard—hud raised a curved
Iron hat he held in his hand. It do- !
scorified with terrific force, cutting a
cruel gush in the forehead of tho cour
ageous stranger, stunning him to Insen
sibility.
Despanl s eyes wore a haunted, fright
ened expression, and his face was deathly
pale us he surveyed his unconscious foe.
“You’ve settled him. Uer.pard," spoke
one of tho men us hecrowdod to his side.
"\\ hut tioos it moan?”
Dospard spoke In an awed tono.
“What mean?"
“That man.”
“You know him ”
“Know him! I.ook again, Jim Dan-
ion Ahl I thought you wou’d recog
nize him,”
Desp^rd’s companion peered close at
the face of the prostrate man.
“Hangor ltalph!” he gasped out.
• “Yos. Dr- you remember when last
we saw him. and we left him to die a
prisoner in ft cavo iu tho Utah hills? He
had eroB8oo. our trail, determined to
bring us to Justiro for a stage robborv.
He swore then that he would be avenged.
He escaped NY hat cun his presence
here mean but disaster to our plans?
Hi* objoct is the same as our own to
meet th© girl who stands between mo
ami a royal fortune, it is an ill omen,
Danton. I fear. 1 tremble.”
••l or a dead man!” scoffed Danton.
jeeringly; “for lie is certainly dead this
time.”
“He may have friends near at hand ■
“VN© can soon find that out Hut no,
would not walk t«» his fate that
horses were standing outsith* tho station.
1 cut thorn loose for fear of accidents. ”
“Two!” whispered Despard, In an in-
tonse tone to Dunton. “Do you hear?”
. *<yes.”
“Kimger Rnlph expected someone on
wav If he knew
ed our *lans- ”
were h re vr suspect*
“And that one was tho girl who Is tho
object of all our plots—Inez Tracoy.”
CIIAPTIfilt II.
TOO LATK.
“The scoundrels! I)yko Dospard, my
score uguinst you—doopor than ever, for
this cowaidiy act—will bo a terrible ono
when your day of reckoning coinns!"
The words omanatod in a pained,
gasping tono of voice from tin* spot
whoro u few minutes previous thoy hud,
to all seeming, viewed the dead form of
Kangor ltalph, the border scout and de
tective.
Hanger Ralph himsolf spoko, but his
haggard face and pain-stricken eyes told
that the blow Despard had dealt him
was a terrible ono in its efforts
Under it ho had gone down like a shot.
Utter Insensibility had finally given way
to dawning consciousness, but so feeble
and confused tha’ he con'd scarcely raise
himsolf on one arm.
The blood from a ghastly wound on
tho head deluged Ids face and showed a
deep gash that would leave a s ar to his
dying day.
His head wa* dizzy, his sight blinded,
his strength seemed leaving him. Lie
ossnyod to ariso, and then, with a
groan, foil back exhausted.
Suddoiuv every norvo seemed to thrili
to quirkonod action, and he forgot his
wound and his helplessness for the mo
ment
“The train!” he gasped, wildly. “I
hail forgotten It Oh, those villains!
They have piled an obstruction on tho
track. Too plainly 1 see Dyke Des
pair's plot The girl—Inez. He knew
she was coming here, and with his rene
gade associates seeks to provent hor ap
pearing to claim the fortune hor father
loft her. I must prevent this awful
crime. 1 must save tho life of tho child
of my old frlond, who intrusted her to
my care. What shall I do? Single-
handed, I cannot cope with theso armed
ruffians. Thero is but one man at tho
dopot, tint ho may he able %to telograph
for aid or stop tho train. Ah, it Is use
less. That blow has robbed mo of my
strength. ”
Ranger Ralph spoke these last words
in a despairing tono, for a second effort
to rise proved futile.
“I’ll crawl to tho depot, but I’ll outwit
those scoundrels," he muttered grimly, a
momont later.
Ho was outside the range of tho vision
of the men grouped on the tracks twenty
feet away, and besidos they paid no
further attention to the foo they believed
to be dead. Slowly, painfully, Ranger
Ralph began to creep through tho under
brush. It was a terrible task for his
enervated frame, but ho finally saw in
tho distance the single signal lamp of tho
station.
l'rodous moments were slipping by;
he realized this, and the thought nerved
him to renewed effort.
Ten minutes later the single occupant
of tho station, a young, handsomo man
of about twenty years, startod from
reading a paper as a suspicious sound
echoed from the direction of the door.
His hand sought the revolver at his
belt, as ho remembered the perils of tho
times, but dropped it to his side, and ho
uttered an amazed cry as his glanco fell
upon the strange figure that tilled tho
doorway a moment later
“tlreat heavens, man!” he criod: “what
does this mean?”
Ho stool staring in blank horror at
the blood-covered form of Ranger Ralph,
who had crept over tho threshold.
“Help mo to a chair, quick!” gasped
: tho almost exhausted scout.
Injwti jou have fallen!* .1
t hart bairn ♦ha victim ot •*)
ly Md brutal attaint ■
■Whor»*-by whom?*
' Htjjhad lifted the tcout to a chair and
was trembling with exoltomcnt as.he
discerned aomo mystery Id the manner
of his visitor.
Din latter did not answer his question
directly. I ns toi<J, his cyos, failing on
a dock within a railed Inclosure of the
dofot, ho askod tumultuously:
>Tho train—when will it arrlvo?"
..It Is duo In ten minutes."
A. “Stop Itl"
■ “Stop It?" cried tho other. “Why, maul
r hat do you moan?*
“What l say!" criod Ranger Ralph,
wildly. “Qon’t waste time with Idle
questions. f A hundred llvos lie on tha
turn of a moment of tlnio. Telegraph
ahead and )i4yo tho train stoppadl*
“Im possible!"
“Why?”
“Because It has already passed the last
station. ” • J
Hanger. Ralph uttorod ,a groan y of da-
spair. t I i
“Thon'tecuro aid and hastaafetd tho
curve!" ho criod. Y
“Explain yourself. Why are yol
Incoherent—so excited? There ll d
ger?”
“Terrible, danger. *
“From whom?”
“Train wrockors."
Tho young man startod violently.
“It canndt be!” bo criod.
“Yo., there ure six of them, led by
\Dyko Dospard, a notorious outlaw. Is
there no ono near?”
“No one. Rouse yonraolf, man. To
gether wn may be ablo to dlsporso those
scoundrels "
“Impossible. I could not walk a step
unaided."
Tho othor hastened to a window and
looked out toward the south
“Tho dopot agent Will arrlvo shortly,”
ho said, In hurried, anxious tonos.
“Are you not the agont?" askod Itangor
Ralph, In some surprise.
“No; 1 was waiting for tho train here.
Ho has a slek family at his home, tlvo
miles from here, and asked me to tako
charge while he took soino medicine
over to them. But ho said ho would ro-
turn before the train arrived."
"And before then It may bo too late to
stop tlio train. Oh, cannot something
bo doneI"
With his helpleosness, delay and Inac
tion was torturo to Rangor Ralph.
"A signal!” cried his companion, sud
denly; “I will outwit these scoundrels.
Quick, now, tell mo whoro they are.”
In brief but gruphlc language the
scout Imparled the dnslrod Information.
The otlior listened with tho closest
attention and Interest, Ills eyes gleaming
with latent oxcltomont and courageous
dotormtnntlon.
When tho recital was concluded ho
sprang to the projecting window where
tho dopot lantern was
Itangor Ralph watched him cautiously
ns he saw him extinguish tho lantern.
“What aro you going to do?" ho
asked.
“Signal and stop tho train."
“llow?”
“With this lantern.”
“You cannot pass the wrockors.”
“I must and will. Once beyond thorn,
I will rollglit the lantern, and hasten oc
until I moot thn train "
“Hasten, for hoavou's sakol” cried the
scout, In Imploring tonos. “Seal the
trnln Is almost now duo.”
Without anothor word, tho young mar.
sprang through tlio doorway, tho un-
lighted lnntorn In ono hand, a rovolvej
111 thn other.
[to db continued.j
One nr Herrmann'. Great Tricks.
People have repontedly asked mo
which of my tricks have pleased me
tlio most and which I take most delight j sweetheart again.
CANDY CATHARTIC
25c. 50c.
TIE FIFE AND DRUM.
“Late: theu^
ALL
DRUGGISTS.
"Thte i* lift,” crlaa the life;
"Ooihe, oh, come," Bhouts the drum.
bared flashes
Aa the steel that
light;
Heart and pulse quicker bent,
As fast, down the street,
lb heard the wild rhythm of volunteers'
feet_,
Marching forward to fight!
"Leave the wife!" screams the fife;
“Leave the home," booms the drum,
And the blood answers hot In the
cry.
What are children or wife
To the glory of Btrtfe,
To the call to the death or to glorious
life?
Let us live, ere we die!
Mid the strife is the flfe;
)rowned by gun Is the drum,
Bared steel is now dinted and gory;
fet, strain as we may,
Tiere are some that must stay
And forget, In tho duty done bravely
each day.
Chance for honor and glory.
AVENGED BY fi SERPENT.
When I got George's letter telling me
that all was ready for our reception
and we were to come at onco I was de
lighted. Within a week we—mother
and I—were on our wny out. and in
about three weeks’ time found our
selves between the swampy shores of
tho Essequtbo, nearing Georgetown
where on the quay the dear fellow was
waiting to take us up to tho home he
bad made for us on his plantation.
George Haden and I had met a year
before during his visit to the old coun
try, and the big, quiet, sunburned man
and I, who tell this story, had fallen In
love with one another almost at first
sight.
We were to have been married before
he returned to Guiana, hut he was re
called suddenly by the death of his
only brother at Rio, nnd It was arran
ged that I should follow later with ray
mother.
You can—or, rnther, you can’t—Im
agine how delighted I was to see my
But I was startled
iu performing. Naturally the effort that
brings the greatest success is regarded
by a man his boat.
I consider the trick of restoring the
shattered mirror as my most famous
one. This I hnd the honor of perform
ing before the Czar of Russia upon an
invitation to give an exhibion at his
court.
It was dona unexpectedly to the spec
tators, and was not down on the regu
lar hill. While playing billiards with
the attaches of the conrt after the
performance, the C/.ar being pres
ent in the saloon, I shot a bnll
with all my strength against a plate-
glass mirror extending from floor to
ceiling.
It was shivered into fifty pieces.
Consternation was depicted on every
countenance; nnd none more plainly
than my own.
Whilo tho Czar courteously waived
my apology, considering the destruc
tion of the mirror as trilling, and order
ed the game to proceed, I could easily
see that my awkwardness made a dis
agreeable impression.
With the Czar’s permission I exam
ined the mirror to estimate the damage
done and the possibility of repairing it.
While so engaged one of the snite
playfully challenged me to exercise my
art and mako the mirror w hole again,
never dreaming that his challenge wns
the very cue I wanted, and not con
sidering tho acceptance of it as pos
sible. I hesitated an instant and then
ordered tho mirror to be covered with
a cloth, entirely concealing it from
viow.
On tho removal of tho cloth, after
ten minutes, tho mirror was found with
out a flaw, aud as perfoot as before the
damage! I will leuve it to my readers'
imagination to decido how this trick
wns done.
Kubbit’s-Foot Philosophy.
Some mon aro balloonists by pro
fession; others by inflation.
Debt is the devil, and independence
is paradise.
I would rather one woman trusted
me than that I should gain many
friends.
Lifo is a chance iu the lottery of
death; your ohaucois sure, but whether
it is a blank or not depends largely on
yourself.
Wliou the snow fell ho wished to
mow my lawn; when tho sunlight
made my grass grow, he wns a snow-
shoveler by profession; by genius, he
was a tiamp.
The first blue-bird is the one we
notice most.
Tho dandelions are tho spun gold of
spring-time.
A hundred petty virtues are not
worth one genuine noart-touch.
Open defeat is better than under
handed victory.—Arkansaw Travelers
and a good deal troubled by Ills appear
ance; he looked thin nnd worried. At
flflrst I put it down to his grief at
Harry’s death; but later after our
quiet wedding, on the way to my future
home I gathered by degrees there wns
more than that.
His brother Harry had married a
Spaniard—a beautiful woman—who
had died nearly eighteen years before,
leaving him with one daughter Teresn.
It was chiefly on this girl’s account
that George hnd hurried back, ivid lie
had mentioned In writing to me that
he had brought her up from Rio to
stay with him in Guiana until other
arrangements could be made. Since
then I had heard little of her, and al
most, Indeed, In my own happiness
and excitement, forgotten her very ex
istence.
Now, my questions elicited from
George that she was not a plensant-
tempered young woman, or easy to get
on with, but my worst anticipation did
not touch the reality.
We came up the river in a small
steamer, which dropped us at my hus
band's very wharf, and we three walk
ed up a slope through a wonderful
tropical garden to where a long, white
washed, green shuttered house shone
clean and bright In the evening Bun.
On the veranda stood a tall figure In
a pale yellow gown, hor black hair
crowned with crimson hibiscus. A
splendidly handsome woman!
She looked at me In a half disdain
ful way.
"So you are my new aunt?" she said
casually.
"And how do you do, Uncle George?”
Her calm assumption of superiority
was unbearable. George—big, steady,
good-tempered man that he was—flush
ed with anger.
"Never mind, my dear. She knows
no better; and it won’t be for long."
But It was for longer than we reck
oned. Sho xvaB to have been sent to
her godmother, who lived in Madrid.
But the old lady was ill, and begged us
to keep the girl a while longer.
It was trying l» a degree, and each
day got worse and worse. Teresa's
temper waB somethlng unbearable, and
her general lack of manners only
equalled by her sweetness when there
wus anything to be gained by It. Still,
for my husbaud’s suke. 1 bore with her.
Toward the end of the cool weath'-r,
our old English overseer died, and, ns
a stop-gap, George took on a young
Spanish-Amertcan, Ramon Martinez.
Ramon was a smart looking fellow,
hut there was something In Ills black
eyes which repelled me. I always felt
a shrinking repulsion 'or the man, and
George didn't care much for him. Still,
It was necessary to have someone who
understood the sugar, and men who
knew anything were so scarce you
couldn’t pick and choose.
Teresa who loved the cheap gayettes
of Rio, had been nearly bored to death
all the winter, Ramon was a godsend
to her, and the two used to chat in
Spanish every evening over their coffee
on the veranda.
Sometimes 1 blame myself for letting
them lie so much together, but, to tell
the truth, the relief of getting rid of
her even for an hour or two was very
great. And how could I know what a
scoundrel the man was, or what un
speakable wickedness those two were
brewing together.
And now I must pass over the events
of the next ten months and tell you
what liapi>ened on that dreadful day
which so nearly proved fatal to all my
happiness.
Old Juan, a half-caste Iudlan em
ployed on the place, came up that morn
Ing wanting to see my uusband. They
talked for a tme, and then I saw
George go out with a gun on his shoul
der He saw me at the window and
called out something, but I could not
hear what he said.
He was a keen collector, and I sup
posed It whs some rare bird or beast
he was after.
The day passed and the short, trop
ical twilight was closing over tho for
est when I saw George returning. He
was followed hy two natives, who
slowly dragged some long, heavy ob
ject up the path to tho house. This
they pulled along trailing In the dust,
round to the south end of the home,
where George's so-called study, roally
a sort of a museum, opened hy two
French windows on the lawn.
n.
I was dressing for 8 o'clock dinner, so
did not go out. Soon I beard George's
long stride pass up stairs by my door
to his dressing room, which lay beyond
my room at the extreme north end of
the house.
To make you understand what fol
lowed, I must partly explain how the
house was built. It was from north to
south, long and narrow with a veranda
all the way round. A wide hall ran
through from east to west, and a long
narrow one from north to south. The
dining room was the front room at the
north end, under my room, George’s
study at the south, under the room
Teresn occupied. There were two
staircases, one at each end of the house
A couple of hundred yards away, high
er up the slope at the back of the house
was the cottage were Martinez lived.
He, Martinez, generally dined with us,
and was to have done so this night.
Now, so far as I know, and Judging
from what we made out afterward
from letters v/e discovered In the cot
tage and In Teresa’s room, this Is what
brought about the tragedy which fol
lowed.
Ramon must long before this have
made up his mind to marry Teresa.
Her small fortune was an irresistible
bait to the Indolent Southerner. The
only thing that troubled him was that
she was not of age for another three
years, and George was her guardian
and sole trustee. He knew well enough
what George would say or do If he onco
heard of his pretensions. With a man
of Ramon’s type—absolutely consclenc-
less—the next Idea wns simply to get
George out of the way, Once get rid
of the Uncle, and what was to hinder
his making off with Teresa and her
money.
Undoubtedly he Instilled these ideas
into Teresa's mind, and she, her sullen
temper already aflame at the hint of
opponltion, was soon ripe for any mis
chief. Whether this precious pair had
already concocted any definite plan I
don't know, hut that thoy were only
waiting a chance what follows proves.
On this particular evening Teresa
had dressed earlier and gone down.
A French window was open, and in tha
moonlight which had already succeed
ed the dusk sho caught sight of some
thing moving through It, undulating
In rustling coils up from the grass be
yond.
Terrified, she dosed the door and
stood an Instant panting with fright.
What was It?
Suddenly It flashed across her. She
had just before seen from her window
the men bringing In her uncle's spoil,
a great anaconda, or waterboa, the
largest and most powerful constristor
In the world. This was Its mate. Her
chance had come. Always, before din
ner, her uncle would go to his room to
fetch the cigar he lit immediately din
ner was over. He would go once more
—for the laat time-
How can I Imagine her stealing
quietly away from the back door with
stealthy footsteps up the stairs to her
room and sitting there watching the
clock, counting every moment till the
gong should summon her uncle to his
fate behind that closed door.
Closer and closer crept the hands to
8 o’clock, and still she sat and watched
Suddenly, In tho hall below, sounded
footsteps across the polished boards.
Unnaturally loud they seemed aa they
passed slowly down the passage be
neath. Thero was the sound of a turn
ing latch, an instants’ pause, and then
—one long, horrible sound, half shriek
half yell which grew shriller, then
muffled, and then abruptly ceased.
That shriek I heard with almost
equal distinctness away at the other
end of the house. To this day I can
sometimes hear it, and It comes back
to me In dreadful dreams.
I heard my husband rush from his
room and his flying feet down the stair
way. Other sounds I heard—cries of
terror and alarm, burring footsteps
and slamming of doors. Then I sum
moned strength to follow. As I ran
through the hall two shots rang out In.
quick succession. A frightful pound
ing, like a dozen sledge-hammers
going at once, ensued; and the next I
heard a scream of maniacal laughter,
and Teresa rushed by me and out into
the night.
The next thing I remember ts George
voice, In tones of strong command.
“Keep back, Marlau!” he called
“It is no fit sight for you."
III.
I stood there In the middle of the
passage , while around the open study
door stood a little knot of native ser
vants. Their faces were ashen with
terror, and the white of their eyes gog
gled horribly. A thin smoke floated
out of the room, and the keen smell of
gunpowder filled the air. The throb-
ing beat had almost ceased and George
passed into t .e room, while I stagger
ed back, and sinking into a chair in
the hill, fainted dead away.
I need hardly explain what had hap
pened. The wretched Ramon had
come In earlier than usual to dinner;
had, contrary to his usual custom gone
to the study, evidently to leave the
pass-book for the day, and had walked
straight into the trap set for another.
Those horrible coll3 had crushed him
to death long before even George could
reach the spot; while the great Bnake.
In Its terrible agonies, had rent the
wretch's body in a shocking way,
leaving it an unrecognizable mass.
That was what Teresa had seen.
The shock no doubt had crazed her.
When she ran out, she went straight
to the river, at least we suppose so,
for we never saw anything of hor
again.. There are nlllgators in those
waters.
The best pencil eraser obtainable Is
sponge rubber, which artists use. and
which may be found at any art store.
It is a little more expensive than the
ordinary very satisfactory eraser but
is well worth the difference.
In all countries more marriages take
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