Emmons County record. [volume], December 21, 1922, Image 2

About Emmons County record. [volume] (Williamsport, D.T. [i.e. N.D.]) 1884-current

Image provided by: State Historical Society of North Dakota

                
PAGE TWO
to aou
mail's
to to*
CHA
Bruce
mlllarl
to his
Bruce
tnnrra,
baste
Needle
ft
4J
brouK
ted a
tut
(he
been 1
Wlnlm
CHAJPTER
Bimon, bHbea
llStbtrSrkn^?
the fo
ta dis
his
Bruce,
wounds
victim.
Uty.
the
1
•v^
Edbon Marshall
Author cTTheVoke ofihePbdc
IOutfiroHcMtf by
Irwin Muerrf
tjtlU t«tb'«( fete (oatar
.....
ZknlJitjiAim»trd'W.
US
etzU bbt
CH
knows
lays plaas
LlnOa
perado
f)
CHAPTER XVItLrnp.
finds a note, presumably —,
tar him she has Men MOnsgied
Turners.
CHAPTER XXX.—Bruoe
mon's trap, and Is made
CH ASTER XX
attempting to real
clan, after a mock
HN bound, laia MNII
whenttneKiller hj».dirt»lh
a call ttvr ntstft
the reborn of, the
slaylnc of Bnice by
anlv$fo^tKni& and1
it was pig
Into 81-
They crept up from the shadow,
and holding their rifles ready, opened
the door. They were somewhat sur-
Swr
expected
threshold.
Cofftpighl hi Little
These were mountain men and they
had been In rifle duels before. They
had the rare Instincts of the beasts of
prey In the hills without, and among
other things they knew .1t wasn't wise
to stand long In an.open doorway with,
the firelight of the rained pine behind
They slipped quickly Into the dark
ness. Then they stopped and lis
tened. The room was deeply silent.
They couldn't hear the sound that
both of them had so''confidently ex
pected—the. faint breathing of a dying
man. Simon struck a match. The
room was quite deserted.
"What's upt" Bill demanded..
Simon turned toward him with a
scowl, and the. match flickered and
burned out in his fingers. "Keep your
rifle ready. He may be hiding some
where—stlU able to shoot."
They stole to the door of Linda's
room and listened. Then they threw
It wide.
One of their foes was in this room
implacable toe whose eyes were
Ught.. But It was neither Bruce nor
Linda. It was old Elmlra, cold and
sinister as a rattler In Its lair. Simon
cursed her and hurried on.
Holding his rifle like a club, he
swung through Into Brace's room,
lighted another match, then darted
into the kitchen. In the dim match
light the truth west home to him.
He turned, eyes glittering. "They've
gone—on Dave's horse," be said.
"Thank God, they've only- got one
horse between 'em and cant go tut
You ride like h—1 up the trail toward
f.
ra| Cold and Stnister
ln Ite Lair.
aa a a'
prised -to. flnd.lt unlojiked. The tnitti
left thus by design
1
the store—they might have gone that ™?bered
way. Keep dose watch and shoot! "rm
when you can make "em out."
"You mean—" Bill's eyes widened.
"Mean! I. mean do as 1 say. Shoot
by sound. If you can't see 'em, and
don't lose another second or shoot
:. you, too. Aim for the man if
chance offers-but shoot, anyway.*
ttmiipng. Vh0UK^1,
em-
take the trail around the moun
tain."
They raced to their horses, untied
them, and mounted swiftly. The dark*
ness swallowed them at once.
CHAPTER XXIX
that they wen loet and slmlwslf WSIIF
deripg in
Of all the sensstlons.th«t th« wilder-'
nesa can afford, there are few more
dld^i^/irlsh them to endrde, dreadful to the qMt It Is
tbe^fiar dobr^.wiid dls-1 never pleasant to loee one's bearings—
.. and in the night and the coid and
miles from ny fiMfidlr habitation .It
e* two MniAers cathw is- particularly hard to bear. Bruce
f^the as»old menace of the wilder-
c".
ness as never before. It always seemed I
to be crouching, waiting to take a
man.at a disadvantage{ and like the
gods that first make mad those whom,
they would destroy. It doesn't quite I
play fair. He understood now certain
wilderness tragedies-of'which he had
heard bow tenderfeet—lost amodg
the ridges—had broken Into a wild
run that had ended nowhere except
In exhaustion and death.
Brlce himself felt a wild desire to
lash his horse into \a gallop, but he
forced- it bade with all his powers of
will. His palmer, saner self explained
that folly with entire clearness.. It
would mean panic for the horse, and
then a quick and certain death, either
at the -foot of a precipice or from' a
blow from a low-hanging limb. The
hone seemed to be feeling its way,
rather than seeing:
They were strange, lonely figures,
in the darkness and for a long time
they rode almost In silence. Then
Bruce felt the girl's breath as she.
whispered.
"Bruce," she said. "Let's be brave
and look this matter in the face. Do
you think we've got a chance?"
He rode: a long time before he. an
swered. He groped desperately -for.-a
word that might bring her cheeri but
It was hard, to find. The cold seemed
to deepen about them, the remorseless
snow beat into his face.
'IJnda," he replied,, "it is one of
the mercies of this world for men. al
ways to think that they've got a
chance. Maybe it's only .a cruelty, .in
ou* case."
thing .else. I haven't the leiuit. way
of knowing whether we are on the
right trail."
"I knew that long ago. Whether
we are on any trail at alL"
"I've just been thinking. I don't
know how many forks It hps. We
might have already got on a wrong
one. Perhaps the horse Is turned
about headta
glittering and strange In the match-! Simon's stables."
She spoke dully, and he thrust his
arm back to her. "Linda, try to be
brave," he urged. "We can only take
a chance."
The horse plodded a. few .more
steps. "Brave! To think that it Is
you that has to encourage me—In
stead of my trying to keep up your
spirits. I will try to be br&ve, Bruce.
And if we don't tire through the
night, my last remembrance will be
of. your bravery—-bow yon. Injured
and weak from loss of blood, still re-
to
*ve
not badly
body between—I wouldn't be here at
a 1 AlL" ., ..
The feeling that they had. .'lost the
1
In the depth of gloom even the
wild folk—usually keeping so close
a watch on those that move on
the shadowed tralls-rdld not see
Linda and Bruce ride pott.
The darkness Is usually their time tot
of dominance, but tonight most of
them had yielded to the storm and the
snow: They hovered In their coverts,
What movement there was among'
them was mostly toward the foothills
focJhe message bad gone forth over
ierness that the cold had come
ne little gnawing folk,
for another night's work at
filling their larders with food, crept
down into the scarcely less Impene- "We must stay oat of sight «f the
treble darkness of their underground trail. But somehow—I can't help but
burrow*. Even the beam, whose furry *ope he won't try to follow us on
coats were impervious to any ordinary such a as this,"
thfm
£®*r?an£ i***? W»t )oet It doesn't alonemean
iL8^eJ?ta* 7?® "^tnlng loss of'tiJe estat»-for which h* would
but ceased and in an.instant It had nu bls Uft Jtist ss he has a doien
become ^parentby teart- tha*. It means defeat^a thlng that
tag to the animal's instinct could the ,• would come hard to ai^
twill be^ kept at allj almost at ooce j&t got
j:
•v
m:
"I think I ought to tell yon some-
word to
injured," he told
her gently. "And there are certain
things that have come dear to me
lately. One of them is that. except
for you—throwing your own precious
ma 10K
I *rew upon them.. Once they
tbeyU duck off In the bnish, sate halted to adjust the blankets on the
H.*®? get throng, everything Is lost saddle, and they listened tor any
sounds that might indicate that Simon
was overtaking them. But all they
heard was the soft rustle of the leaves
under the wind-blown snow.
"Linda," he asked suddenly. "Does
it seem to you to be awfully cold?"
She waited a long time before- she
spoke. This was not the hour to
make quick answers. On any decision
might rest their success or failure.
"I believe I can stand itr-a while
longer," she answered at last.
"But I don't think we'd better try
It's getting cold. Every hour it's
colder, and I seem to be getting weak
er. It tent a real wound, Linda—but
It seems to have-knocked some ef my
vitality out of me, and- I'm dreadfully
in need of rest I think we'd better
try to make a camp."
"And go on by morning light?"
"Yes."
"But Simon might overtake us
then."
I He drew up the horse, and .they sat
trance creeping OVCT them. They I the beat of the snow. "Don't make
""2
mtouke
that, Bruca," she
told him. "Kemember, that mless he
overtakes before we come into the
slowlybead near pntMtion ofthe courts, bU whole
a
all sense of direction was lost to them, keep tint warm." 4,
The snow and the darkness obscured meu-^fcatradP
outllne^f the Hdges against tte "Batrad. Nothing els^
Si^11 WM wholly invisible „«®ut .to aplte^^lt «e-mnst
benwth them. l. can^ WeTl get off the trall—If we^e
After the ^t hundred yards they stUl oo lt—and try to slip through to
had nowayof knowing that the bone morrow. Yon am what's going to hip
was actually on the tralL WUle anl-? peo If we Mep on gotag thU wsjf
mals Intherllght of day cannot aaa rfn know SI «s£T4»a« Taad
nearly- so far .or Interpret pearly ao —and
dearly as human beings, they usually} "Andtbat ^dieed andhmxaessnan
muA bette^ Just as much danger signals as
}»»v the aotart of Simon's horse bdilnd
"dfatlodi na. It means that the eoM and the
nil tut, and, bewildered by the show atid the fear are getting the
rldgea, has permitted hls dog to lead
him-Into. camp. But nature has-never
devised a. creature that can-see In the
otter daijkneat and the glootn that
enfolded them now simply un
fathomable. Bruce found ifr^ Increas
ingly bard to bdlm that the hone's
«yei could: make oot any kind otf dim ing. It% two fuU day's rlde, soinx
pathway in' the pine needles The fsel-1 fast, the best we can go—and-God
lng grew oo him and oo Ltoda as wdl, knows what will happen before the
fin wttbln blm that Mil
bettor of ua. IJnda. lt's a race with
death. Dant misunderstand me or
disbelieve ma It lsa't Slmoo alone
now. Ifs the cold and the snow, and
the. fear. The thing to do Is to make
.camp, keep as fum sip we can In our
blanket^ and push on in the morn-
?1Tben turn -off the tfealfc Brae*"
the girl told Mm.:. V:r.:'
if** ilont know that we're even' oa
the..'tralL^r-^
1,i-
vTurp off, anyway. AJS long we*
stay together—It doesn't matt«."
She. spoke 'very quietly. l%ea be
felt a gtrange thing. A warmth which
even that growing, terrible ctdd could
^,^(M.ii4(]f«JliS
not transcend swept over him. For
her arms had crept out under his
arms'and encircled his great breast,
then pressed with all her gentle
strength.
No word of encouragement, no
cheery expression of hope could have
meant so much. Not defeat, not even
the long darkness of death Itself could
appall him now. All that be had giv
en and suffered snd endured, all the
mighty effort that he had made had
In an instant been shown in its true
light a thing worth while, a sacrifice
atoned for and redeemed.
They headed off into the thickets,
blindly, letting the horse choose the
way. They felt him turn to avoid
some object in his path—evidently a
fallen tree—and they mounted a slight
ridge or rise. Tben they felt the wet
touch of fir branches against their
cheeks.
Bruce stopped the horse and' both
dismounted. Both of them knew .that
under the drooping limbs of the tree
they would find, at least until the
snows deepened, comparative shelter
from the storm. Here, rolled In their
blankets, they might pass the remain
der of the night hours.
Bruce tied the horse, and the girl
unrolled the blankets. But she did
not. lay them together to make a rude
bed^-and the dictates of convention
ality had nothing whatever to do with
It If one Jot mate warmth could have
been achieved by |t theee two would
have lain side by. side through the
night hours between the same blan
kets. She knew, however., that more
warmth could be achieved If each of
them'took a blanket and rolled up in
It thus they would get two thick
nesses Instead of one and no openings
to admit the freezing air. When this
was done they lay side by side, econ
omizing the last atom of warmth.
The night hours were dreary and
long. The rain beat Into the limbs
above them, and sometimes It sifted
through. At the first gray of dawn
Bruce opened his eyes.
His dreams had been troubled and
strange, but the reality to which he
Wakened gave him no sense of relief.
He fought a little battle, lying there
under the Snow-covered limbs of the
fir tree. Because it wss one In which
no blows were exchanged, no shots
fired, and ao muscles called Into ac
tlon,.lt was no less a battle, trying
and stern.- It was a fight waged In
bis-own spMt, and It seemed to rend
him In twta. ...
The whale Issue was dear In his
mind at once. The cold had deepened
In theee boura of dawn, and. he was
slowly, steadily freezing to death.
Even how the blood flowed less swift
ly In his veins. Death Itself, In the
moment had lost all horror for bim
rather It .was a thing vtt peace, of
ease. All. be ha,d to do was to lie
s|tllL. ..Just-close his eyes—and soft
shadows would drop over him..
They would drop over Linda: too,
She Isy still beside him perhaps they
had already fallen.The war he had
waged ao long and so relentlessly
would. end, in blissful calm. Outside
there was only snow and cold and
\v4t4-J**
-V ^5
Flrst Oray of Pawn Bruoe
Opened "his Eye*
V,•
wreddng lli^lia andpain,oalyfurtber
coofllct wlth tlreless enemies, jnflj
strog^a to t«ur his.. agwilMd bo4r to
pieces and the bitterness o£,dij$^ la
the end. He saw hls diances plain as
•he Jay.beneath that grily sky. &ven
wv, ptifeaM HaM was apte tbnh.
.Oaly: twpllttle shellrremalMd
with which to combat hlmr and lie
doubted thiu his womded arm would
hoid the rifle .ataajly- There were
weary. Innumerable milesL between
them and any sheiter, and oioly the ter
rible, tmd^tortat l«y beWeea
-.Tlicai why' oer tih atiil 2nd' let'
the curtains felll This was an eaay.'
tranquB passing, and hearen alone
knew wbat dreadfbl mode of egress
wofiM be 'bls lf he roee to battle fur
tb«. AU -tha, argtuhent seemed on
But hlgh- ahd ^right aby«i» all this
burned the IndomttaMe flarae of his
spirit To rise, te flgfeti to strtiggle
ttf- ylrtd hatlt the Power
I^Bfet geptjMd! ^To stand flrai even
"aa the
rpinea
^tibiemselyea. '...The' dom-
i|nlMvi^toen Vbai l&da Imd found
ki'thla uu ta mm, and he set
his InpiRtta. like' iron.''
:vHsl. shook /off. the mists of the frost
flr.hls bnlh. vQalckly he knelt'br Un»
da, and rtrook h« shoulders In his
handji. i3be opened her eyes.
"Oet up, Linda," he said gently.
"We haye to go on."
She started to object but message
J1*.***rii-.-. .-'J
*S
A
in- his eyes kept her from Jt. His
own spirit went Into-bar. He helped
her to her feet
"Help me nll the blankets," he com
manded, "and take out enough food
for breakfast We can't stop to eat
It here. I think we're in sight of
the main trail whether we can find
It—in the snow—I don't know. We
must get farther Into the thickets be
fore we stop to eat"
They were, strange figures in the
snow flurries as they went to work to
roll the blankets Into a compact
bundle. The food she had taken from
their stores for breakfast he thrust
into the pocket of his coat the rest
with the blsnkets, she tied swiftly on
the horse. They unfastened the ani
mal and for a moment she stood hold
ing the reins while Bruce crept back
on the hillside to look for the trail.
The snow swept round them, and
they felt the lowering menace of the
cold. And at that Instant those dread
spirits-that, rule the wilderness, Jeal
ous then and Jealous still of the In
trusion of man, dealt them a final,
deadly blow.
Its weapon was Just a sound—a loud
crash in a distant thicket-Hind a
pungent message on: the wind- that
their human senses were too blunt to
receive. The horse suddenly snorted
loudly, then reared up. Bruce saw as
In a tragic dieam the girl struggle to
hold him he saw her pulled down In
to the snow and the rein jerked from
her hand/ Then\the animal plunged.'
wheeled and raced at top speed away
Into the snow- flurries. -Some terror
that as yet they could not name.had
broken their control Of him and In an
Instant taken from them this One last
hope of safety.
CHAPTER XXX
Bruce walked over to Linda, wait
ing In the snow on iter knees. It was.
not an. Intentional, posture. She had
been-Jerked down by the plunging'
horse, and she had not yet complete
ly risen. But the sight of her-sllght
figure, her raised white face, her
clasped hands, and. the remorseless
now of the wilderness. about her
moved Bruce to his depths.
He saw her but dimly in the mow
flurries, and she looked as If she were
In an attitude' of pnyer.
He came rather slowly,:-and he even
smiled a little-, And' sheVgave htm^a
wan, strange Uttje smile in retunL
"We're down to cases at last," he
said, with, a. rather startling qutet
ness of tone. "Yon see. what it
means?"
She noddedC then got to her feet
"We can walk out If we are let
alone and given timer It Isn't that
we are obllged to have, the horse^ But
otfr blankets .are on ite back, and this
storm is steadily becoming a blizzard.
And you see— time Is one thing,that
we don't have. No human being can
stand this cold for long unprotected."
"And we can't keep going—keep
warm by walking?"
His answer was to take out bin
knife and put the point of .the steel to
his thumb nail. His eyea strained,
then looked up. "A little way," he
C. O. SMITH
I-
an.
Bwered, "but we can't keep our main
directions. The sun doesnt even cast
a .shadow on my nail to show us
which Is west We could' keep up a
while, perhaps, but there Is no end to
this wilderness andr at noon or to
night—the result would be the same/*
"It means—the endf*
"If 1 can't catch the hone. Fm go
ing now. If we. can regain the blan
kets—by getting In rifle rangeof the
horse—we might make somestat of
shelter In the snow and-last out nwrij
we can see our way and get our bear
ings. You don't know of any shelters
any cave'or cabin where we might
a
"No. Ithen are-some ,in the -hlU%
bat we »n't see our way to flnd them."
"I know. I should have thought of
that And yota. see^ we can't build a
fire here—everything Is wet and the
snow Is beginning to i^blrl so we
couldn't keep it going It we should
stagger on all day In this storm and
this anew, we cooldtft endun th#
night" He smiled again. "And 1 want
you to dlmb a, tree, and stay there—
until I cwnf-badt".
She looin& at hlm dnllyr^ 'What's
the- use, Bruce? Yoo won't coma
back. Yonll chase flie thing until you
too# yoo, Yon don4 know
when to' give up^ And If you want
to come tM|dk—foa couldn^t find the
way,:, 1d fptag with yoq.
-j ."Nft?',~ Ooce more she started to
•Uaobey, but the. grave dliqJeasure in
his «y«N restrained her. "It's going to
taka an my stroogqi to fl^t timugh
that snow I must go fast—and may
be lift ind death wOl bave to defend
wv^oiir atni^::M,«he end of :tha
tna Ym' iaiiat save it—the llttle
you have left -Since I must. $ake
tha rifler-to shoot ihe horse if I can'.t
catch him—you must dlmb ai -tna
Yon'kn^-why."'-'
^Partly to .hbli to* Oam if
1M
comet thlp, |nqr And partty—"
"Becaw there's sooe danger In
that thicket beyotidr ha interrupted
her. "The bone's terror was real—
bealfles,you heard theeoumLK might
ha only jiuna..(8!qttt might b»^
•the. JOlliir.: 8wlng .yosr.anna uni
?*og«l« aft j^ «ap^^|tiMp th»:iiiooa
ilQwtef. wont: ^e. fpne lon*.^
A
,L",
PromisiBg
"Whatman you- going,, to be. when
yoa^grow np,
'Till' going to he ..an old-inaid
A a a W 5
'Cause I don't. think
rd
'like to
kiss a man hu^red ^e^ tell
him he's handsome every tfane: I. do
shopping. I'd rather earn money raid
buy'things for myself."
mwmmmPIP^ "r
'••»^P»r?
'i*
December 21, 1922
--r
LBVTOlf, D.
CH* SHOP
w. HWTON Fn».
the next Wednesday.
-i "l
A. L. PORK ft CX).
PtoettweSt'-v-ii-
Licensed
,1 CHAA OCWBijmX
•. AMontriMMr
Linton,. I£osdi Da&ota"
•iLv
EODB AND
BRADDOCK—
ns
COHPANT
D.
Wearepaytag tfc^h^giisat p«r*
4* -PRIOE
Um'
HIDES «SD EICCS,
•a.,ire
Wto are
et lacf^st
dHish in ilia
_____
i.
Mrs. Murphy is on the sick list this
week. 'j
ST
Word was received Tuesday by the
W. O. W. lodge of the death of
Frank Smear at his home in New
4
Mrs. C. T. Barton went to Kintyn
Tuesday, to attend the meeting of the.
I estion Auxiliary.
Mr. O.. R. Martiani is laid up with
lame bade.
Hazel Martiani was unable to at*
tend school Thursday on account of
sickness. i':
-J ".•"•'j'"
Mrs. F^. M. Long received word
Tuesday mooting of the death of Iter
son-in-law^ Mjr. McCrae, at his home
in.Des Moines, Iowa. Mrs. Long left
Tuesday noon for Des Moines. .TOe
heartfelt sympathy of her many
friends go with her on her sad mis-
Union church Friday evening at 8
o'clock at the church. It is desired
that the board of trustees and all
members of the community who in
interested attend this meeting, as a
very important question as how to
eliminate the church defot is to be
discussed..
Mr. L. M. Doerschlag lett Monday
afternoon-for 3iis home in Pasad«ia»
cm.
The Sunday Sch«ol will give a^Qttas
program at the church Sunday, evening
at 8 o'clock.. Various committees
have, been appointe^4nd it is thdr" v»
desire to see that wigoot time,la en
Joyed by all the youngsters
There will he preaching scrvieas
Sunday evening, Dec 17th, at 7:80
o'clock by Rev. Green.
"Follow die ^uccetffuL" Enroll
noyr. Send' names of. iptereated^'
friends mid g^et Success Magazine
free. Write F. L. Waddns, Pres.-,"
806 Froni Street, Fargo, N. D.
:&%.x
"bi'' a meeting --of tSi
fa*
Reason Why
(inspecting Mand'a
Mrs Smith
hooise) GracioysI^ Whv do yra tarn
siijeh a. high .bed fftr your little boy,
KrV honest
Mrs, Jones: So tKat we can hear
him tf he falls out. You have aa Idea
IPrtiatrhearsf' aJe®en we in! .•. m-x.
"*tc rir
•do s^he Ttin
thing to bejstadfa4,1^ut,not obeyed.
j. I'U.ljrt
J).B.CCOURSEj
bank^told
easy" stipno^
cmrie^-aad' go to Dakota
liydQege,Fargo,N.D. :^ie
Now she has a fine position
vraitheNcMthernTrustCo^Fargo.
Bankers know th4t D. fi C. gmdiH
ates are thoroughly trained, make
splendiddependableempldyees.
Ntariy700baliks employ' 'Dakota"
gndintes. .Albout'2wl^w1ie!^Mne.
^"Ci'tw^.+O'.being