THE SUNDAY FICTION MAGAZINE, MARCH 26,
' I!
"Victoria," repuea Karney. "xnat's . tur
. flcient reason for waiting until we know
the truth- Then I won't stand for the,
killing of an unconscious man, anyway."
He"a nothing but a beast a mad dog;
Insisted Curtiss. -He should be killed for
what he Is. rd never hare thought to see
yon defending the man who killed your
sister." '
"Don't be a fool, Curtiss,', snapped
'Barney. "Wt don't know that Victoria's
dead. The chances are that this man has
- been helpless from fever for a long time.
probably made by your shot last night.
If he recovers from that he may be
' 1 able to throw aom light on Victoria's
disappearance. If It develops that lie has
accounting not you. As X said before, I
do not believe that this man would have
. harmed a hair of my sister's head."
"What do you knew abont htm ?" de
manded Curtiss.
"I never saw him before," replied Bar
' ney. I don't know who he is or where-he
cams from: bat I know "Wen, never
mind what T know, except that there
Isn't anybody going to kill him other than
- Barney Custer. '
"Custer's right," broke In Brown. "It
woohf be murder to kill this fellow In .
' 'conclusion, Curtiss, that Miss Custer Is
dead. " If we let yon uu tuts man ws
' mlgnt ns aesxroymg, vor oesi cuance xe
' locate and rescue her." -
: " As they talked the gaunt figure of the
" wolfhound, . Terkoz, crept into the cave.
: He had not been niiea by the Arab's
' blow, and a liberal dose of cold water
Then the.
two rushed in
and seized
V ictoria's
rifle; a mo
mentiaiershe was roughly
dragged to
ward thelead'
er of the ill
favored gang:
poured over his head had. helped to hasten
returning consciousness.
He nosed, whining, about the cavern as
though in search of Victoria. J
The men watched him in silence after
Brown tiad said: "If this, man harmed
Miss Custer and laid out Terkoz, the
beastH be keen for revenge. Watch him,
and if Curtiss Is right there won't any of
ns have to avenge your sister. Terkoxll
take cars of that I know him." . '
"Well leave it to Terko," saM Bar
ney. .
After the1 animal had made tne' com
plete rounds of the cave, sniffing at every
crack and crevice, he came to eacb of the
watching men, nosing them carefully. -
Then he walked directly to the aide of
the unconscious Nu, licked his cheek; and,
lying down , beside him, rested his head
upon the man' breast so that his fierce,
wolfish eyes were pointed straight and
watchful at the group of men
opposite him.
"There!" , said Barney,
leaning down and stroking
the beast's bead.
The hound whined up into
his face; bat when Curtiss
approached he rose, bristling,
and, standing across the body
of Nu, growled ominously at,
him. '
"You'd better keep away
from him Curtiss,". warned
Brown, "He' always has had
strange way with him in
bis likes and dislikes, and he's
a mighty ugly - customer to
deal with when he's crossed. - He's killed
one man already a big Wamboll spear
man who was stalking Greystoke up in
the aorta country last fall. Let's see if
he's gottttn for the rest of us."
One by one Terkos suffered the other
to approach Nu; only- Curtiss seemed to
rouse his savage, protective instinct.
"As they discussed, their plans for the
Immediate future, Nu opened- his eyas
with a return of consciousness, -
At sight of the strange'' figures about
him, be sat up and reached tar his spear?
but Barney had had the foresight to re
move this weapon as welt, as the man's
knife and hatchet from Ills' reach.
As the cave man came to a sitting pos
ture Barney laid a hand upon his shoul
der. - . w - ' - - .
"We shall not harm you," he said, "If
yon will tell ns what has become ef my
sister." Then, placing bis lips close to
the others ear he whispered: -wnere is
Nat-ul ?"
Nu understood but the single word,
Nat-ul; but the friendly tone and the hand '
upon bis shoulder convinced him that this
man was no en em v.
"Nu does not understand the stranger's
tongue," he said. . -
Then he asked the same question as
had Barney: "Where Is Nat-uir f s
But the American could translate only
the name, yet It told him that here in
deed was the dream-man ef his sister.
; When ft became quite evident that the
they said to him, and that he was in no.
condition to march, it was decided to
Bend him back to the ranch by some of
iiiv oauns wrrera iwki wwiuiw ins -
searching-party, ; while " the -others eon-'
tinued the search for the missing girt.
Terkoz suffered them to lift Nu in their
arms and carry him outside, where he
was transferred to a rude Utter construct
ed with a saddle blanket and two spears
belonging to : the Waxirt who had. ac
companied them. . ' .
-, Barney felt that this man might prove
tits asy : to ue sotnuon - ei victoria's
-whereabouts; and so, for fear that he
might attempt to escape, he decided to ac
company him . personally, knowing that
the search for his - sister ; would proceed
ss thoroughly without him as with.' Ia
the meantime he might be working out
some plan whereby he could communicate
with the stranger." ' -:-
Aitd so they set , out - for the ranch,
- (Cittinve on P9 9) - . '