Theatre. I I CHAPTER XL. The Man In the Shadow. Two hundred feet. If one. Hopi Jim fell from the lip of the cliff Then sud­ denly the thing that had been Hopi Jim Flade was checked in Its headlong descent by the outstanding trunk of a tree, vver which it remained, doubled up. limp, horrible . . . The miniature landslide that had been caused by bls fall went on, lettllr.g gradually ns the slope be­ came less sheer. Only part of it, a double handful of pebbles, gained tho bottom of the canyon. Its mufn< d Impact on the ground round his feet roused the man who had compassed the handit'B death from the pose be had unconsciously as- Burned on the Instant of firing. He stepped back, and snatched up a case containing binoculars. Not befofe the glasses were adjusted to his vision did he find time to re­ spond absently to th« alarmed and In­ sistent inquiries of his two compan­ ions, a man of his own age and a girl of some years less, who had been wakened from their rliep by the re- port of the rifle. Now the latter plucked 11U sleeve, momcntarilj' deflecting the glasses from the object which they were fol­ lowing SO sedulously as it moved along the heights; a wildly running horse with a woman bound helpless upon its back, both sharply in sil­ houette against the burning blue. "Alan'” tho girl demanded, "what Is It? Why did you fire? Why won't you answer me? What Is It?” “Judith," Alan replied tersely, again picking up with the glasses the run­ away horse that fled so madly along the perilous and narrow track of the hill trail. The name waa echoed from two throuts as Alan swung sharply and thrust the glasses Into the hands of the girl. of "Judith," to poignant solicitude, the back of-that crazy broncho- help­ less! See for yourself; one false step —suppose a stone turns bentath Its hoof—she'll he killed!" While th<' g'rl focused upon that speck that flew rky Alan turmd to the hobbled m ar by and seizing a saddle tnrew it over the back of one. At this the other man turned to his side and dropping a detaining hand Upon his arm naked: "Wbat are you going to do?” Alan ehook the hand oft r.nd went on with his si if appoint! d task "Go after her. Tom. of course," he replied. ' What else? That animal is crazy, I tell you "Even so," Tom Bareus argued, "you enn’t climb that hillsid en horseback - and if you could, you'd bo too I:.to to catch up, much less pri vent un ac- cident—•" "I know It. But suppose it doesn't fall . . . You- know what's beyond these lillls- deserts! And the girl in helpless. I till you. bound hand nnd foot. Think of her being c;-riled that way—all day, perhaps face up to this brutal sun! File'll go mad If uonie- thing Isn’t done—" "You’ve gona mad yourself already," Mq Bareus contended darkly. “What's it to you if she does? Suppose you do succeed In rescuing her: what then? As soon as she gi ts on her plno she'll try to stick a knife into you--like ns not What's she been chasing you fur, all over tills land of the brave nnd home of tin' free, but to take your fool life' And now you wunt to meritin' 1 I*- i z A. ’■ a . t t 1 Moistened His Parched Throat. Lipa and yourself to her, out of sheer, down­ fight foolishness In the head! 1 sup- lose you'll like mo to call It chivalry: i'll tell yon what I call it—lunacy!" "Don’t be an ni«!" Alan .responded temperately, gathering the reins to­ gether and instinctively lifting a foot tc. the stirrup. “Who warned us yv terdny In time to prevent our b-'ing crushed by Hurt rock? Judith! Why was she sofmrated from Marrophat and the others alone up there when that beast rneaki it up behind her—>O. 1 law him—I saw It all and grubbed her and roped her to that brouco -if It wasn't Iterative she had broken with them ter good and all and started to baht on cur aide?" “You're raving." Rat cue commented In a hopeless tone lie looked to the girl Ress Miss Trlu«—reasou with thia madman—" ’'•aiislvg Ih. glasses, the girl cam-» •■■nlldently to her lover’» II Ms. » told i for the boni»- •^»Law rather, d F i ■ 1 him. I to avert It—no mnttc«- what we may have suffered at Judith's hands?" With an Indignant grunt, but con­ siderate nene the less, Mr. Ilarcus caught up the glasses end turned his bark. . . . “Go on!" be grurrbi. d, | rt tending to Ignore the hand Ainu offered him from the saddle. 'Tve git no pat'cnce with you . . . But go!" he Insisted, of a sodden. rclzfrg the hand and pressing ft fervently, ".'.nd God go with you, my friend?” Then hoofbeats !iarp and follow him ns quick as may bo." ho urge I Light­ ning will never strike us to 'eng as we stick to Mr. Law of th " charmed life— but I don’t mind telling you. once out of his company, I'm just naturally afraid of the dark!” CHAPTER XLI. Alan had fallen In ills dizzy blindness, bhe found him insensible, lying with to HR and r.hake lil o the top of a caqias tent in a gale. At the same an arm b nt under him in a pose tit t a mighty gust of wind swept frightfully suggestive of dislocation. athwart the waste, hot a a furnace- Yet when sho turned him on his back bl.-wt. In a trice dust enveloped man and released the arm. he made no and horse, a stilling cloud of super­ sign to indicate that the movement heated particles that stung the flesh liad caused him the sliv.nest pain. There was a slight cut upon ills like a myriad needles. And then dark- n*ss fell, tlm twilight of hades, a cop­ brow, a bruise about his left temple. per-colored pall. Nothing remained She tore linen from her basom, be­ neath her coarse flannel shirt, and with visible beyond arra s length. Bliudcd. half suffocated, unspeak- sparing aid from the ca-.tun, washed cb’y dismay-id and bewildered, the the cut clean and bandaged it. Thon seeing that the storm held bri 'icho swung round, back to tlie bl: . t. and refused to badge another I with fury unabated, fli: rose, recon­ noitered and returned to < x rt all her incn. Himself more than half-dazed, but I strength and drag tho unconscious still hounded by his nightmare vision I man across the dry bed of that ancient of Judith. Alan dismounted to escape water-course and under the lee of its being torn bodily from the saddle by farther bank. There, sitting, she pillowed his that hellish sandblast, and seizing i the bridle sought to draw the horse head upon her lap. and bending over him made her bedy an additional shel­ on with him. He wasted his strength in that en- ter to him from the swirling clouds d avor: the animal balked, planted of dust And for hours on end Judith nursed its hoofs deep in tlie sand, stiffened its legs and resisted with the stub- him there, scarce daring to movo b irnn. ss of a rock: then, of a sudden, save to minister to his needs, bathing jerked his head smartlyf snapped the his fevered brow and moistening his bridle from his grasp and flung away, parched lips and throat. In the course of the first hour she scudding before the storm. Pursuit was out of the question: was onco startled by the spectral vis- indeed, the bridle was barely torn The Trail cf Flying . _ Hoof Prints. In the still air of that young day the chill cf night lingered stubbornly— ; and would until the shadow of the eastern rampart had crept slowly down the canyen's western wall, tele­ scopi <1 upon ft. If and vanished, let­ ting in the run to in ike the place a I pit if torment and of burning. Refresh! d from rest and exhilarated Í bi ; horsed I by this grateful coolness, responded willingly to the first light touch of Alan's sj i.r. In a twinkling the overnight camp dropped from view bi hind the rounded should r of a hill­ side, mesquite-cloaked. Then fr qi Its first spirited* flight tile horn1 settl'd down to steady go­ ing. lengthened its str!'! ', and ran for leagues with tho long apparently ef- ft rtlcss and tlr lots lope of the plains- brid brcnclpf. ventre-a-terre. Alan's departure f:om cz.rnp had tlcipaifd by a round quarter-hour appearance on the unper trail friends cf the rl in bird t to numb' r of four or five, who in I li dlBcovi n d nnd ri covt red his b< called lifs death murder aud pl ilged th* ms* ivi s to its nvongement laying responsibility for the putative cpimo nt tin' doer of the man and woman to be seen In the canyon. Immediately below the sc* ne cf He ,1 Jim's fall. Between tho m ment when discov­ ery of tlie nun on tile ridge trail ill- terruptid their ihnplo ami hurried breakfast and that which found Hose : nil Bareus mounted on (lie hick of “Rosa—Miss Trine—Reason With the Madman— tin ir own borin' anil making tlie best ' of their way down th“ canyon in pur­ from his hand before Alan lost sight I ion through the driving sheets of dust suit cf Alan, but little time had of the brcncho. of a horse that plodded up the arroyo, elapsed. For a moment he stood rooted in bearing two riders on its back. And even with Its double burden, consternation as in a bog—with an Weary with the weight of its double their horse made It.'Hi r tirin' upon arm upthrown across his face. burden, it went slowly and passed so the broad lower lei I than those who Then the thought of Judith re- near to Judith that she was able to followed the ridge trail By mid morn­ curred. . . . recognize the features of her sister ing, when tin v approach* d the foot­ Head bended and shoulders rounded, and Tom Bareus. hills Hint ran down to the ill's* rt. the began to forge a way into the teeth Be sure she made never a sign to pursuit waa more than a mill' In the of the sandstorm. catch their attention. rear Hiid shut off to boot by il 111O11O- How long hv fought on, pitting his Within the next succeeding hour lithic hill, while Alan was many a i trength against the elements, cannot the coppery light lost something of weary mile tn advance. be re ckoned. its hot brillance, took on a darker lie sat upon liis horse Just then, at In tlie end ho stumbled blindly down shade, and then one darker still. Twi­ standstill upon tho summit of n round­ a «light decline and w»s abruptly light stole athwart the desert, turning ed knoll, tli*' Painted Hills lifting up conscious that lie had in some way its heat to chill, its light to violet. behind Him, the desert before unfold­ found shelter from the full force of tho Growing mere intense, the cold ing like a map—but like a map all wind. eventually roused the sleeping man. blurred. He staggered on nnother yard or And hardly had Ills eyes unclosed Only In tlv> near foreground was two, breathing more freely, and blun- anything definite to b • distinguished di red into a rough ribbi d wall of rock and looked up into-the eyes of Judith In tlie impact of Hr t Bunbl ten waste— —some sporadic outcrop, ho under­ bending over him than he started up bleu* lieil tnrih patterned in almost or­ stood. whose bulk stood between him , and out of her embrace, got unstead- . Ily upon his feet and after a moment derly arrangement by sagebrush and and tho storm. cf pause, watching her rise in turn, gnarled cacti. At tlie distance of half He thought to a time, until strode away -or. rather, staggered— n mile nil blended into one vast plain the storm had its greatest with the gesture of exorcism. of glaring gray that rtretched ovi r strength: but as his shoulder Uncomplaining, hugging her new­ the round of the world to n broken gratefully agaii reek and born humility to her with the ecstasy wall of purple hills that ru led drui.k- scrubbed the dm i f the anchorite his horse hair shirt, only In the haze n ili .1 southwest. eyes he saw what he at first conceived Was Judith out there, rmnewhere, to be a hallucination: Judith Trine Judith followed him patiently, at a lost, defenseless, forlorn, impotent to standing within a ya::’, nf him, alive, little distance. Not far from where he had rested lift u hand to shield her face frcin the strong, free. , there was a break in the overhanging blast of that savage run? lie stared incredulously, saw hi r Staring ivii. :t'li n :'lading hand. He recognize him. open her mouth to wall of the arroyo. Through this he discerned nothing that moved u|>on Utter a wondering cry that was inaudi­ scrambled painlully, reaching the level cf the de a rt only after cruel effort, tlie surface of tho d. ert but its ble. and come quickly nearer. ■ the unheeded woman at his heels. myriad I. td vil-i Ji -'n t monoto­ “Alan! You came for me! You fol­ A brief pause there afforded both nously tin Ir infernal il.-.i: e ma>al>:e. lowed me, through all this!" time to regain their breath and survey Or- as si l ined tiiore prohibit w -i He threw o.T her hand with a bitter ttie desert for signs of assistance: it b I io ba. k tin i > sinong the Painted laugh—that was like the croaking of a hills, lying Mill mid lifeli i. crushed raven as it issued from his bone-dry offend nene, other than what they beneath Hie wel 'lit of that fallen throat—and In momentary possession might accomplish through their own i xerticns For leagues in any quarter horse? cf hysteric madness, reeled away from it stn tclb d w ithout a bri ak other than No reef fer Alan till ho know . . the woman and the shelter of the rock tho black cleft of the arroyo, gleaming Descending tlie knoll he r. ined his and delivered himself anew to the a bleached and deathly white In the Ini glug mount back Into th» trail, fol- mercy of the dust-storm. moonshine—like the face of a frozen loi Ing Its winding ccui o through tho world. foothills «nd round the base of that CHAPTER XLII. W ith tacit consent both turned that monolithic mountain toward die junc­ way, Alan leading, Judith his pertina- tion with the rldgo trail, miles away. Open Mutiny. 1 us shadow, with never a word or It approached the hour of noon be­ Though she had been schooled to hoi 1 sign I < tw en them to prove that either fore ho gained tlie point where the tho vt ry name of Law In loathing un- two trails joined anil struck ent acie < . speakable and to think of Alan as a was aware of the other's company. But this was a state of affairs that tlie desert. And here ho discover, J | mortnl enemy anil as eno whose death what lie thought indisputable indica j Hi n.i could prepirlv requite the cruel could r.i t long er.dure. Judith had the tlim that «the fright of Judith's het o i injury that had been done her father; price to pay for her own trials, suf- li ring and privation: the strain began had per-lst< d i nnd though the man himself had Abandoning Immediately nil nm q . laughe 1 to iv wa hi r first Involuntary to tell sorely upon her. She reeled 'i.ditly as she walked, weaving a of returning through tho hills b> the j eonf* . sien of taat love tor him which ridge trail, he turned and swung awav | now consumed her being with Its in- winding trail across and across the at the best pace lie could spur from iatiiib:e tlr* s. she swallowed her straighter line cf footprints that his broncho, delivering himself Into chagrin and followed him with the marked Alan's course through the or­ the pitiless embrace of that implaca­ rciicitude of one Mho-“ !cve can rocog dered pattern of the powdered sage­ brush. ble wilderness of sun and sand I'.i.e no’wrong in its object. Through And of a sudden she collapsed. At long Intervals lie would check all tlie rernainiler of that day of terror Instinct alone made Alan glance the brcncho and. reeling tn his saddle, she wu never far from his side. endeavor to sweep the desert with his ov er shoulder: fer she had made no M ith the nu ekr. ss of the strong. binoculars. sound whatever. File in-ide her e k his shadow. An.l And toward the middle of the after­ He turned and came directly back she was now the stronger, for «he hail noon ho fancied that somithing re­ to her. knelt beside her. lifted her had more than nu hour’s rest beside warded one such effort. - -i. thin • head, pillowed It gently on his arm the waterhole which he had missed for an Instant swi m athwart th< Id and plied her in turn with the dregs on the way of that rocky windbreak. oftheel,-.. . of the canteen. Sooner or later his strength must fail to move like a weary horse with a With a sigh. a stifled moan and a him and he would need hir; till then human figure bound to its back little shiver, she revived. she w«s content to bide her hour. Put now the phenomena were ills- ’ He helped her gently to regain her It befell presently in startling rash­ rernlble which, bad h tv en m *re des­ feet, passed an arm round her. ion; she was not a yard behind him ert wise. Mould have made him In this fashion they struggled on in when he vanished abruptly s'*.I th'tik before h. iintur. d farther strange, dumb ccmpianionship of mis­ But the next moment Judith herself from th«.« inn, already bt youd ery and wonder. was trembling on tho cruwbl'ng brink reach as they were. Thus an hour passed; and for all cf an arroyo of depth and width in- His first appre'- -ted warning cam * <’ th. ir desperate struggles neither could rm'”: ’. !<, ta. cb €UI Cf tahi u 04 »cctuvd ® tim: the 1 oht .n the mountainside i ¿¿.utanu. L.j.a i__ _ <-i .denti), k? >ag * yaid tba ni-uxr. _________ I Behind them other lights appeared, two staring yellow eyes that peered up over the horizon, seemed to pausa a time in search of the two, then leaped out dirtctly toward them. Of this they were altogether ignor­ ant; and when a deep droning sound disturbed the desert silence, like the purring of tome gigantic cat, both both as- as­ cribed it to the drumming of their laboring pulses. The two lights were not a mile be­ hind them when, silently, without a sign to warn the girl, Alan released her, tcck a step apart and dropped as if shet. Instantly she was kneeling by his side. But in the act of bending over him she drew back and remained for several moments motionless, staring at those twin glaring eyes, sweeping down upon them with all the speed attainable by a six-cylinder touring car negotiating a trackless desert. When Judith did move it was not to comfort Alan. On the contrary, her first act was to draw from her pocket a heavy, blunt-nosed revolver, break it nt the breech and blow Its barrel clear of dust. Her hand went next to the holster on Alan’s hip. From this she extracted hi3 Colt's .45, treat­ ing it as she had the other. Then she crcuched low above the man she loved, as if thinking perhaps to escape notice from the occupants of the motorcar. If that were her thought, it was bred of an idle hope. Alan had chosen to fall in the middle of a wide space so arid that not even sagebrush had ven­ tured to take root there. When the glare of the headlights fell upon them it was inevitable that discovery should follow. The motor car stopped within twenty feet. Three men jumped out and ran toward the pair, leaving two in the ear—the chauffeur and one who occupied a corner of the rear seat: an aged qjan with the face of a damned soul, doomed for a little time to live upon this earth in the certain knowl­ edge of his damnation. As this happened, Judith Trine leaped to her feet and stood over the body of Alan, a revolver poised in either hand. "Halt!" the ordered imperatively. "Hands up!” The three who had alighted obeyed without a moment's hesitation; her father's creatures, they knew the daughter’s temper far too well to dream of opposing her will. In the six hands that were sib houetted against the headlights’ radi­ ance, three revolvers glimmered; but at her command all three dropped harmlessly to the earth. Then, sharply, “Stand back two paces!” she required. They humored her unanimously. Darting forward, she picked up and pocketed the three weapons, then with one of her own singled out the men she named. “Now, Marrophat—and you. Hicks— pick Mr. Law up and carry him into tlm car. And treat him gently, mind! If*one of you lifts a finger to harm him, that one shall answer to me.” Still none ventured to dispute her. The two men designated, without a sign of disinclination, stepped forward. One lifted Alan Law by the shoulders: the other took the legs. Between them they bore him with every care toward the motor car. But now a second will manifested itself. The man in the rear seat lifted up a weirdly sonorous voice: “Stop!" he cried. “Stop this non­ sense! Drop that man! Judith, I command you—” “Be silent!" the girl cut in sharply. "I command here—if it’s necessary to tell you.” There was a pause of astonishment. Then the old man broke out in exas­ peration that threatened to wax into fury: "Judith! What do you mean by this? Has it indeed come to this that my own daughter defies me to my face?” "Apparently!" she shot back, with a short laugh. "Judge for yourself!” “Have you forgotten your vow to me?” “No. But I take it back and cancel it: that is my privilege, I believe. . . . Silence!” she stormed as he strove to gainsay her. “Silence—do you hear?—or it will be the worse for you! ” As well command the sea to still Its voice: her father raged like a mad­ man that he was, for the time being divested of his habitual mask of frigid heartlessness. And seeing that there was no other way of quieting him, the girl turned to the third man. "Now Jimmy!" she said crisply. "Into that car—and be quick about It —and gag him!” “If you do,” her father foamed, "I’ll have your life—” A flourish of her weapons gained Instant obedience. She stepped up on the running board and shot a quick, searching glance at the face of the chauffeur. "Straight ahead, my man!” she said. "Make for. the nearest pass through those hills yonder, and don't delay unless you are anxious for trouble. Off you go!” The car began to move. She swept the three men in the desert a mocking bow. jumped into the body of the car and slammed the door. They made no effort «Xo plead their cause and secure passage even as far as the edge of the desert; doubtless they knew too weH the futility of that, she thought, as she settled back in a seat, chuckling with the memory of those three masks of dismay unmiti­ gated. It was not until five minutes later, when she straightened up from making Alan comfortable that she realized what had made them so content to abide by her will. Then she heard their voices lifted togethdr in a lca^shrlU howl tha. quickly answered by fainter yells irouT a distant quarter of the desert, the# by pistcis popping and flashing some two miles away, then by a growing rumble of galloping hoof3. The night glasses in the car afforded her flashes of a body of several horse­ men—some six or seven, she judged— making at top speed toward the spot where Marrophat. Hicks and J.nimy waited beside a beacon which t hey had built and lighted. Half a dozen sentences exchanged with the chaufTeur advised her that these were horsemen from tho town of Mesa who had charged them?’ Ives with the duty of avenging the death of Hopi Jim Slade. A sardonic chuckle from within Trine's gag goaded the girl into a sul­ len fury. Exacting his utmost speed from tho chauffeur, under penalty of her dis­ pleasure, she set herself to revive Alan. With the aid of such stores of food and drink as the car carried, this was quickly enough accomplished. Strangling with an overdose of brandy, too little diluted with water, Alan sat up. grasped the conditions in a flash, and gained further informa­ tion as he devoured sandwiches and emptied a canteen. The mountain pass was now, he judged, a mile distant, The light on the hillside, according to the chauf- feur, was that of a prospector who had camped there temporarily. There was nothing, then, to be feared from that quarter, but solely from the rear —where the horsemen, having picked up Marrophat and his companions, had instituted hot pursuit, and were now strung out in a long, straggling line, three horses carrying double the farthermost—perhaps a mile and a half away—one with a single rider the nearest, well within three-quar­ ters of a mile. Nobly mounted, this last came on like the wind, gaining on the motor car with every stride; for his horse was trained to such going, whereas the car at best could only labor heav­ ily in dust and sand. None the less, it had won to a point within a quarter of a mile from the pass before the horseman got within what he esteemed the proper range, an J opened fire. He fired thrice. His first shot winged wide, his second by Ill-chance ripped through a rear tire of the car, thus placing upon It an additional handi­ cap. while his third sought the zenith as his hands flew up and he dropped from the saddle, drilled through the body by Alan’s only shot. A long-range pistol duel was in progress before the car had covered half the remaining distance to the pass. By the time it entered this last, which proved to be a narrow ravine with towering side of crumbly earth and shale and broken rock, the pur­ suit was not a hundred yards behind, while the firing was well-nigh contin­ uous. Two hundred feet' above the trail two men were working with desperate haste at some mysterious business— though none noticed them. Only the chauffeur was aware of a woman running down the hillside at an angle, to intercept the car several I X- “Straight Ahead, My Man!” She Said, hundred yards from the mouth of the pass. As it drew near the spot where sho paused, waving both hands frantically, the head of the pursuing party swept into the mouth of th* ravine. At the same time the chauffeur no­ ticed that the two men on the hillside were following the woman pelknell, throwing themselves down the slope with gigantic leaps and bounds. And then a great explosion rent the peaceful hush of night—that till then had been profaned by the pattering cracks of the revolver fusillade. As the roar of dynamite Bubsided the entire side of th« hill shifted and slid ponderously down, choking the ravine with debris to the depth of some thirty or forty feet, burying the leaders of the pursuit beyond hope of rescue. Only a instant later the motor car jolted to a halt and Alan pulled him­ self together to find that Rose and Bareus were standing beside the door and Jabbering joyful greetings, mixed with more or less incoherent explana­ tions of the manner in which they had come to seek shelter for the night in the prospector’s shack and, roused by the noise of firing and recognizing Alan in the car by the aid of spy­ glasses, had with the prospector's aid hit upon this scheme of shooting a lend.!!de n between the pv ;u.t and lta devoted uuarry. _____ . i