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About The Springfield news. (Springfield, Lane County, Or.) 1916-2006 | View Entire Issue (June 30, 1921)
PAGE SIX THE SPniNGFIKLD NEWS ft aw., y - , . SI r L L ! Vi f '14 X Z"iJk. Cofyrtt. All Rights Reserved CHAPTER Xl-Continued. 19 "It'll nil quite cus.v." Gardiner con tinued. "Ami If It should fall there are n dozen other ways Just as easy. Hut we won't let It fall. We mustn't let It fall, on your account." "On my account? What more ac count mine than yours?" "Well, you see. Harris, no doubt, has your letter stowed awny some where, and It would make bad evi dence for you. 1 don't think It men tions me at all. Besides I know a way through a pass In these mountains, and If It doesn't turn out right why, I'm glad I know the way. You aee, I've nothing to lose, and nobody to worry over me. Hut It's different with you. Hiram. You have a wife and a fine farm down In Manitoba, and It would be Inconvenient for you to slip away without notice. So I say that on your account we mustn't let It fall." "You didn't say nothln" about that before, I notice," snld Biles. "You mustn't expect me to do your private thinking as well as that of the firm." Gardiner retorted. "You had the facts why didn't you patch thew together for yourself? You're In a mess now If things don't go right. But. as I said. I'm going to stick with you and see that they do go right" They rode along In silence In the gathering darkness. Had they been able to read euch other's minds they would have been astonished at the co incidence of thought. Gardiner was planning to make away with the mon ey when he got out of the building. Why ghould he divide with Biles Biles, who would only hoard It up. and who had plenty of money already? Not at all. Biles might sue him for his share, If he wanted to and could find him, to serve notice! On the oth er hand. Biles' slow wits bad quick ened to the point of perceiving that there lay before him a chance of mak ing $20,000 Instead of $10,000, if he only had the nerve to strike at the strategic moment. When he got -the Harrises out of the shack, by hook or crook be would leave them and follow Gardiner. He was much more than Gardiner's match In strength and he had little fear of the revolver, provid ed he could take his adversary una wares. If the worst came to the worst, and he could not give the Harrises the slip, he would take them with him, and they would all come upon Gardiner red handed with the loot. Then he would explain to Harris how he had discovered Gardiner's plot and frus trated It. The Idea grew upon Biles, and he rode along In a frame of mind bordering upon cheerfulness. It was now quite dark, and the horses picked their steps carefully along the hill side trails. At last Gar- Allan Sat Up in a Sudden Cold Chill of Terror. Had He Been Asleep? diner drew up and pointed to a heavy clump of trees. A faint glimmer of light shone through it. ' 'That's the shack," he whispered. They have a lantern there. We bet ter get off tho roud and tether our horses In this coulee." Tbey turned down a narrow ravine with scarce room to walk single file between the branching trees. They tied the bowses where the woods closed all about them, and there seemed no chance of discovery. Hpb. . Aullisr of J Th Cow UtnchcnXtC Illustration t-y J Irwin frt v - "Quietly, now," snld Gardiner, as they stole toward the old building. "Things seem to bo working out ns we planned, but we im:it make sure of every detail, so that we can change the attack If necessary." The two men stole up the rough road loading to the hut. The glow of the luntoru cnuie from the building, shining In a long, failing wedge from the snshlcss window, but seemed strangely obscure about the dor. As they approached this mystery wns re vealed ; a blanket was seen to hang over the doorway. "That's a good sign." whirred Garldner. "One. or both of them, are sleeping. That's why they feel the cold. If they had stayed awake they would have built a fire and perhaps walked about outside." They paused for a moment to listen. The night was moonless and starry, except where a bank of clouds came drifting up from the southwest. A moist breeze, smelling of soft, moun tain snow, gently stirred the trees about them. But from the shanty no sound could be discerned. They ap proached nearer, and still nearer. "Now. you go to the door, and Til take the window," Gardiner ordered. "Shove the hlunket aside a little and size up the situation before you speak. We must make sure they're there, and there alone." Gardiner waited until he snw Biles fumbling carefully with the blanket that hung In the doorway. Then he darted quickly to the window. While Allan snt In the little cahln he gradually became oppressed with a sense of great loneliness. From time to time he looked nt the face of his sleeping father, and suddenly the knowledge struck him like a knife that It was the face of an old man. Allan could see plainly the deepening fur rows In his strong, still handsome face. As he looked a vast tenderness min gled with his loneliness; he would have stooped and caressed hira had he not feared to disturb his slumbers. He looked upon the sleeping man now, with the wealth of a lifetime's labor at his side, and the bond of trust and confidence between them seemed so tight It brought the moisture to his eyes. He thought of the past years; of their labor on the furm together hard labor, but always relieved by their comradeship and mutuul ambi tions. Hla memory carried him still fur ther back back to the days when he wns a little child, and In the mirror of the durkness he could see his own biuall figure trudging In the track of the plow und bunging to the rein ends that dropped from the knot on his fa ther's ample buck. Back to the old sod shanty, with its sweet smell of comfort when the snow bent against the little window und the wind roared In the rattling stove pipe, and bis mother sat by the Are and plied her flying needle. Old lullabies stole Into Ins brain; a deep pence compassed him, and consciousness faded thinner and thinner Into the sea of the infi nite. Allan sut up In a sudden, cold chill of terror. Had he been u sleep? What cold breath of dread had crossed his path? He was no coward; the sense of fear wus almost unknown to him, but now It enveloped him, stifled hirn, set his teeth chattering and his limbs quaking. He had beard nothing, seen nothing. The gun wus In his hands as it had lain when last he remembered It; his father Mept by his tide, and near the wall lay the precious sutchel. And yet he shook In absolute, unrea soning, unfounded terror. His eyes wandered from the lantern to the door to the blanket hanging limply in the door; and there ihey stared and stayed as though held In the Kpell of a ser pent. Subconsciously, certainly with out any direction of will of his own, he raised the shot gun to his shoulder and kept It trained on the sagging Manlier. The blanket seemed to move! It swayed at first us though a light breeze had touched It and yet not as though a breeze had touched It. The Impulse seemed too far up about the height of a man's shoulder. The blood had gone from Allan's face; he wus ax one In a trance, obeying some Iron law outside the realm of the will and the reason. Ho cocked his gun and tightened his finger on the trig ger, und watched. And then, so plain that It must have been real, he suw stealthy fingers feeling their way abo-jt the blunket Then Allan fired. In an Instant be was wide awrke, and wondering terribly what had hap pened. The explosion blew out the lantern, and the building wns In utter darkness. Ills fattier was c'smberlng to his feet with "Allan, what la It? What l It. Allan r The blanket had been torn from Its hangings at by a heavy weight, and something was writhing In It In the doorway. Atlnn sprang up and would have rushed upon It, but In the durkness he collided with another man. Ills lingers found bis adversary's arm and ran up It to his throat, but before they could fasten In a fatal grip there was another Hash of light, and a hot pang stabbed him In the breast. There wns a strange gur gling In his lungs, a choking In his throat, n spinning dizziness In his head, as be staggered over the mass In the doorway and fell Into the night. Gardiner bad reached the window Just In time to see Allan's gun trained on the doorway. For an Instant he stood dumbfounded; there wns some thing uncanny In the sight of the young man sitting there In silent, absolute readiness for tho attack. He drew back to warn Biles, but be was too lute. At that moment the gun spoke; there was the sound of a heavy body falling, and stifled noises bore ample evidence of the accuracy of Allan's aim. But even In that moment of un- pi Things began to Co Badly With the Farmer. certainty Gardiner had not lost thought of their purpose, and his quick eye took In the sleeping form of John Harris and the location of the leather bag beside the wall. Without an In stnlnt's hesitation be vaulted through the window and, revolver In hand, be gan to steal his way softly toward the treasure. He had not taken three steps when Allan plunged full force Into him. He staggered with the shock, but recov ered himself only to find the young farmer's strong fingers clutching for his throat. It had been no part of Gardiner's plan that there should be bloodshed In the carrying out of the robbery, but be was a man of quick decision, who accepted conditions as he found them. A slight pressure on the trigger, and Allan fell. cough Ing, through the door, Gardiner retained hlrf sense of loca tion, and slipped silently to the wall. Harris was nu-hlng ubout the rotten tloor In the darkness, crying, "What Is It, Allan? For God's sake, what has hapH'iied? Are you shot?" and for bis own noise he could not bear Gardiner's stealthy movements. Gardiner's hand fell on a log of the wall, und his keen fingers traced their own wuy along It. Five Kteps, he Judged, und the bag would be at bis feet. At the llfth step his toe touched an object on the floor; he leaned over and raised the booty In his hand. By this time his eyes bad responded to the Intense darkness, und be could discern a square of grayer gloom where the window admitted the night. He moved rapidly and silently toward It, but utmost with the last step his foot slipped through n broken Kpot on the floor, and lie staggered and fell. The revolver wus throwu from his grasp, but ho was able to pitch the bag through the window as he crushed to the floor. The sound arrested Harris, nnd be fore Gurdlner could extrlcute himself the furtner was upon him. At first he seemed to think It was Allan, und felt about in the darkness without attempt ing to defend himself. This gave Gur dlner an opportunity; he wux able to clasp his uruiH ubout Harris' shins, and, with a quick turn of the tody, cast his udversary headlong to the floor. At the same moment he freed himself from ids entanglement and made another dash for the window. But HurrlH, still numbed from his heavy sleep, now reullzed that some kind of tragedy had occurred, and guessed enough to believe that Allan was a victim. From ids prostrate po sition, with one powerful leg he Inter rupted Gurdlrter's flight, and the next moment the two men were rolling on the floor In tucu other"! arms. Har ris wns much the stronger man of the two, but Gardiner was active and had some sklli In wrestling. Besides. Har ris had been taken wholly by surprise, and had no Idea who his antagonist was, while Gardiner had full knowl edge of nil the circumstances', and the struggle was less uneven than might have been supposed. Inwardly cursing the luck that hud thrown tho revolver from his band, Gardiner sought In the darkness for bis adversary's throat, nose, or eyes. Karris, seizing the younger man by the waist, lifted hint bodily from the floor and crashed him down again upon It, but the next In stant Gardiner bad one of his hands In both of his, und, bringing bis knee down with great force tin Harris' el bow, compelled him, nt the risk of a broken arm, to turn face downwards on the floor. Gurdlner again wrenched violently to break free, but Harris" grip was too much for him. so with the quickness and fury of a tiger be threw himself upon tho farmer's back and wrapped his free arm about his throat. With his air partially cut off Harris released the grip of hi other hand, and Gardiner Instantly took advantage of this move to bring both arms to bear on Harris' throat. Things began to go badly with the farmer; face downwards on the floor, he was unable to shake his adversary off. nnd wds losing strength rapidly with his chok ing. Gurdlner no longer sought an opportunity to break away; his blood was up and ho was In the fight to the finish, ruled at last by his heart In stead of his head. Had he been con tent merely to retain his present ad vantagn unconsciousness would soon have overcome his victim, but he tried to Improve his grip, nnd the attempt proved disastrous. Ills thumb, seek ing letter vantage, fell Into Harris' gasping mouth. Harris was no more depraved than most of mankind, but when fighting for life, and choking to death In the bands of an unknown en emy, he was ready to seise any advun tnge. and with a greut effort he brought his Jaws together upon the In truder. (TO 1IK C-OSTIM'KI) ) BISHOP CAME ALL PREPARED Talleyrand'e Costume for Visit to the "Wild West" Astonished Those Who Saw It Talleyrand, the witty Frenchman whose Minrp and pointed Millie kept I'nrls either wincing or laughing, once made a visit to America In the days before he laid aside the bishop's lawn and purple for the robes of a minister of state. And while In this country he made a visit Into the Wild West, which In those days could be found In Ohio. A friend chanced upon him In New York nnd was Invited to break fust, and after the meal was concluded Talleyrand withdrew to his bedroom and donned the suit In which ho pro posed to adventure Into the wilder ness. F.ven In those days New York had begun to draw sartorial distinc tions, and the friend, who was fa miliar with the mode of dress In this new country, was astounded almost to seochlcssnexs when Talleyrand stepped from his bedroom clad In full dress of a backwoodsman of the cen tury before. The bishop had thrown off his churchly garments for the fringed buckskin breeches ami coon Fkln cap of tho en rl lest of America's pioneers. Where and how he had achieved the costume wns a mystery; yet he saw nothing ridiculous In It, was In fact delighted with It, nnd thus clad, dopurted for the wilds of America. Lake's Peculiar Migration. Near Valdostn. In Georgia, there Is a luke three miles long and three quarters of a mile wide, with an nver age depth of twelve feet of water, which disappears every three or four years und then comes back again. It dlsHppears Into natural subterranean passages, taking two or three weeks In the process and leaving a beauti ful sandy basin. After a month or so the water begins to come back, and In n couplo of weeks It is the samo old lake. Funeral ' Arrangements. Teacher What Is the presidential aueesslon law, John? John the presidential succession law provides that If both president nnd vice president die the cabinet members will follow In succession. Boys' Blfe. Enlightenment. "Is this speech-making tour of yours a campaign of educutlon?" "I don't know how It strikes the audiences." replied Senator Sorghum, "but I must admit thut I am leurning a few things." Booze In Baby's Bottle. Magazine Story Ho was an only son. Ills futher, hearlly alcoholic, had died In his Infancy from pneu monlu 'contracted during a spree. Boston Transcript. The value of the argon gas In the air was not known until Its Introduc tion Into electric lamps recently. Tho woman who never sheds a tear ou uccount of u muu doetm't love blw. BOY-SCOUTS U'un.tih t I liy Ntillnniil ('tinrll f liny Hi out of Aiih-i I'M I the LEAVES FOR WORK IN FRANCE I.orno W. Bnrcli'y. director of the national council, department of (Mu nition, Boy Scouts of America. has a ; n In been loaned for the summer to the American committee for devastated France of which Miss Anno Morgan Is chairman. Mr. Barclay sailed for rraino In May ami will there direct five scout camps. This work Is prov ing a tiotablo contribution to the up building of war stricken France. A Mr. Barclay said In hi recent report : "These boys lived III ruined homes; tbey have been out of school for five years; there Is no plnce for them to find i uinpsnlon-lilp In their villages unless Ihey go to the wine shops. They have suffered so much that the) are undeveloped physlcully ntid mental ly, yet they crave good wholesome edu cation mid recreation. They only usk the chance to grow Into manhood with all the best scout Ideals of courage, self denial, honesty und endurance." Many boy scout troops In the Uni ted Mates have contributed $-" each, which means thut euch troop will have us Its guest ut one of the camps, a French boy, who will not only gain Immeasurably himself by the oxjM-rl-ence, but who will alio go homo enr rjlng tho inosnge of scouting with him to reiuii other boys und the com munity. Lome W. Barclay. This Is what u French hoy scout wrote last summer from the camp at Coinplegno : "What I am learning Is world the siiciiltce you made In lolling mo go from the work In the field. I will work all tho harder when I go homo but I must make u scout of every boy In our village too. "And they must know that It Is American scouts that have made this possible. Vive la France anil vivo I.' Ameriiue! We never salute our flag without seeing In Imagination the slur und stripe of another flag flouting beside our own !" 6AVE.THE-FOREST CAMPAIGN. As soon us I'rcsldcnt Harding uh pointed May 'SI lo -S us Forest Pres ervation week, the Boy Scouts of America Immediately offered their services in promotion of the cause to which they have all along been dell niiely committed. When tho fcecn tnry of agriculture wrote requesting I he co-operation of tho organization the national council, through Its chief fccout executive, gladly accepted the tusk nnd urged its Hcout leaders ull over the country to feet usy nt once. The plan U to have every scout troop promise to plunt tioes und cure for them, us inuiiy have been doing for some yours past, to spread forest firo prevention propaganda, throughout the country und get us n any people as pos sible In and out of Uio scout move ment actively enlisted In this impor tant cause. M . s. I - 4 4- '