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diff --git a/old/62946-0.txt b/old/62946-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index f2a1a56..0000000 --- a/old/62946-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,7354 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Lost -River Trail, by Jessie Graham Flower - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org/license - - -Title: Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the Lost River Trail - -Author: Jessie Graham Flower - -Release Date: August 16, 2020 [EBook #62946] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND *** - - - - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - - GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND RIDERS ON THE LOST RIVER TRAIL - - - - -[Illustration: “Elfreda Darted Ahead.”] - - - - - Grace Harlowe’s Overland - Riders on the Lost - River Trail - - By - - JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A.M. - - Author of The High School Girls Series, The College Girls Series, - The Grace Harlowe Overseas Series, Grace Harlowe’s Overland - Riders on the Old Apache Trail, Grace Harlowe’s Overland - Riders on the Great American Desert, Grace Harlowe’s - Overland Riders Among the Kentucky Mountaineers, Grace - Harlowe’s Overland Riders in the Great North Woods, - Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders in the High - Sierras, Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders - in the Yellowstone National Park, - Grace Harlowe’s Overland Riders - in the Black Hills, Grace Harlowe’s - Overland Riders - Among the Border - Guerrillas, etc., - etc. - - Illustrated - - PHILADELPHIA - HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY - - - - - Copyrighted, 1924, by - Howard E. Altemus - - PRINTED IN THE - UNITED STATES OF AMERICA - - - - - CONTENTS - -CHAPTER I—A Mystery of the Night - - “There is peril in the air,” warns the guide. - Overlanders take flight. Emma says the suspense is - killing her. “The worst is yet to come,” promises Stacy - Brown. Threatened by a forest fire. The Overland Riders - hasten to the relief of imperilled villagers. - -CHAPTER II—In the Demon’s Grip - - Inhabitants of Silver Creek deride Ham White’s warning. - Aroused at last. The fire demon roars. Miss Briggs - narrowly escapes. “The fire is yonder! Work, you - thick-heads!” A woman’s scream starts a panic among the - villagers. - -CHAPTER III—A Rain of Fire - - Ham White directs the fire-fighters. Great tongues of - flame. The panic increases. Grace urges village women to - the creek. Danger in the water. Elfreda Briggs is - carried away on the current. Land at last. The Overland - girl utters a thrilling cry. - -CHAPTER IV—The Lost Cabin - - The village is saved. Overland horses are missing. “Run, - girls! Run!” cries Grace. Ham White is excited. - Searching parties are organized. Emma concerned for her - “Hamilton.” Another member of the Overland party is - missing. “Help! I’m dying!” groans Elfreda’s caller. - -CHAPTER V—A Fruitless Quest - - Overland girls search the village for their missing - companions. Ham White hears more bad news. The guide - fears the worst. “There is another peril!” Only the - lieutenant knows that one of his party has slipped away - looking for the missing. - -CHAPTER VI—Facing a New Peril - - The wounded prospector tells his story. “Oh, you poor - man,” cries Elfreda Briggs. “They shot me for gold!” A - grave duty to perform. Miss Briggs’ legacy. Sam - Petersen’s horse hidden. Mountain bandits pay a visit to - Lost Cabin. - -CHAPTER VII—The Discovery - - “Hawk Murray!” breathes Elfreda Briggs. The Overland - girl keeps her nerve. Ready to defend herself. Startled - by the return of a bandit. “Lady, what about the saddle - over there in the brush?” he asks. Elfreda in the toils. - A strange thing happens. - -CHAPTER VIII—Stacy Takes a Hand - - “I’ll show you you can’t steal my beans and fish!” howls - the fat boy. Stacy proves himself a hero. Mysterious - shots put the caller to flight. “They’ve shot him!” - cried the girl. A voice from the shadows of the Lost - Cabin. An amazing disappearance. - -CHAPTER IX—Mysteries Multiply - - The journey to Silver Creek begun. Stacy helps himself - to beans. The welcome home. “Lost River” an Indian - legend. Words fail the fat boy. Miss Briggs confides in - Grace. Elfreda’s gold turns to stone. Sam Petersen’s - diary whisked from Grace Harlowe’s hand. - -CHAPTER X—The Man from Seattle - - “Hands up!” Peanuts are great civilizers. Overlanders - regard their guest with suspicion. Emma makes the fat - boy laugh. “Just another mystery.” “Now who are you, and - what is your game?” demands Ham White sternly. Stalked - by a shadow. “Quick! Something has happened to Elfreda!” - -CHAPTER XI—Believers in Safety First - - Guns bang and Stacy lies low. Struck on the head. “I - felt a hand under my pillow,” explains Miss Briggs. The - guide is disturbed. Emma offers to “demonstrate” for - him. Stacy alarmed for his trousers. Jim Haley makes a - mysterious disappearance. - -CHAPTER XII—A Successful Experiment - - Elfreda’s experience leaves her pale. More than one man - involved in the attack. White finds a trail of blood. - Stacy Brown votes himself the cross of war. The fat boy - up to mischief. Another shadow stalks the Overland - tents. A near panic in the camp. - -CHAPTER XIII—The Camp is Invaded - - Bears on the rampage. Ponies snort in fright. “We’ve got - them going!” cries Ham White. Havoc worked by marauding - beasts. One bear is killed. Stacy confesses that he - called the bears. The savagery of Nature let loose. - “They are coming! Move cautiously.” - -CHAPTER XIV—The Battle of the Beasts - - Howls are mingled with snarls. Coyotes attack the dead - bear. Wolves add to the uproar. A sight that thrilled. - The battle brief. Grace takes a shot and misses. Stacy - downs a lion. Slinking forms stalk the ponies. Beady for - trouble. A wounded man staggers into camp. - -CHAPTER XV—A Rude Awakening - - “It’s Jim Haley!” exclaims the guide. The mountain - ruffians wanted peanuts. White refuses to double-cross - the Overlanders. Ham White sees the “Forest Eyes.” The - old prospector’s secrets studied. Interrupted by an - intruder. “Who says a woman can’t throw a stone?” - -CHAPTER XVI—Bandits Take Their Toll - - Hippy and the guide search for a prowler. Guarding the - camp. An Overlander is missing. An anxious watch. The - search abandoned. Nora reassured by the guide. Ham White - admits that he has made a discovery. “Stacy Brown has - been forcibly removed!” is the startling announcement. - -CHAPTER XVII—A Test of Courage - - Two Overland Riders now missing. Hamilton White is - apprehensive. An all-night vigil. The guide sends wigwag - signals in the early morn. “Great danger to both!” Grace - Harlowe reads the fluttering message. A girl’s clever - strategy. “Hamilton White, I have you now!” - -CHAPTER XVIII—The Flaming Arrow - - Hippy finds himself in the toils. Visited by his - captors. “Keep quiet and listen to me!” warns a hoarse - voice. A long and trying hike. The Overlander restored - to his friends. “Isn’t that just like a man!” A guest - who is doubly welcome. A flaming messenger drops into - camp. - -CHAPTER XIX—His Fate in the Balance - - A letter from Stacy. The fat boy to “be shot at - sunrise.” In the hands of desperate men. A sudden flash - lights up Tom Gray’s eyes. Bandits’ demands are met. The - guide takes a hurried departure. A mysterious mission. - “It isn’t safe to say a word.” - -CHAPTER XX—“I’m Shot!” Cries Emma - - Tom leads in the long night journey. Battle sounds in - the air. Grace makes a pleasing discovery. A warning - against the mountain bandits. The Overland party - awakened by the crash of a rifle. The camp in confusion. - Emma Dean falls a victim. - -CHAPTER XXI—Stacy Seeks a Change - - Carried away on a horse. In the hands of rough men. The - fat boy forced to write a letter. His bluff is called. - Bandits hear bad news. Stacy takes advantage of his - opportunity. - -CHAPTER XXII—A Strange Visitor - - Emma misses an opportunity to “demonstrate.” A battle is - fought over the Overlanders’ heads. A thrilling duel in - the mountain meadow. “Something terrible is going to - happen!” An exhibition of great courage. A bandit’s - career ended. - -CHAPTER XXIII—A Thrilling Discovery - - Cat-foot Charlie arrives. A fallen hero. The arrival at - Three Mile Pass. The key to many mysteries. Sunlight - yellows the pass. “Look! Oh, look!” Grandma and the - Children! Elfreda Briggs comes into her own. A final - good-bye to forest and mountain trails. - -CHAPTER XXIV—The House of Happiness - - Overlanders visit Haven Home. A joyous Christmas - reunion. Stacy Brown makes a sensational entrance. The - pink and white bundle in the nursery. Surprises come - thick and fast. What the snowbird said to Emma and - Stacy. - - - - - GRACE HARLOWE’S OVERLAND - RIDERS ON THE - LOST RIVER TRAIL - - - - - CHAPTER I - - A MYSTERY OF THE NIGHT - - -“Lieutenant! Lieutenant!” - -“Eh? Wha—what is it?” muttered Hippy Wingate, rousing himself from a -deep sleep. - -“Listen, Lieutenant! There is peril in the air,” answered Ham White. -“I don’t know where it is, but I do know there is trouble afoot, and -that instant action is necessary. I don’t think it advisable to let -the others of our party know, so long as there probably is no -immediate danger.” - -“Humph! You men of the forest make me weary. Everything is a -mystery—a peril and so forth and so on. Ham, you’re a good fellow, -but you remind me of Tom Gray—always looking for trouble. What is -the big idea?” - -Hamilton White placed his lips to Hippy’s ear and whispered. A -little distance from them the camp was sleeping soundly. Not a sound -disturbed the forest night save the faint whisperings of the -tree-tops and the occasional twitter of a bird high up among the -branches. - -“You don’t say!” exclaimed Hippy, sitting up awake and thoroughly on -the alert. “Are you positive?” - -“Yes. It may be a matter of hours; then again minutes may cover the -time.” - -“What shall we do?” questioned Hippy. - -“Move at once,” answered the guide with emphasis. “We will lay our -course to the northeast and get as far away from here as possible in -the shortest possible time. We’ve got to break camp now, -Lieutenant!” - -Hippy Wingate sprang to his feet and began dressing. While doing so -he asked how they were to explain their hurried departure to the -others of the party, unless the whole truth were told. White said he -would attend to that. - -Hippy shook his head. - -“Ham, you have the Overland Riders sized up wrong. They aren’t -tenderfeet, not by a long shot, nor are they shying at danger any -more than you are,” declared Hippy with some heat. - -“Turn them out!” ordered Ham. “We can’t afford to waste a moment.” - -“All right, Buddy, I’ll turn them out. You will have to do the rest, -though. Turn out, you sleepy-heads!” roared Hippy. - -The response was almost instantaneous. The Overland Riders bounced -out of their tents, rubbing their eyes, staggering a little, for -they were not yet fully awake, and demanding to know what had -happened. Ham White, who was already engaged in packing their -belongings, paused long enough to reply. - -“Folks, we must break camp and get out of this right smart,” he -informed them. - -“What! Lose my night’s sleep?” wailed Stacy Brown. “Move if you -wish, but I stay right here until after breakfast, then I’ll think -about seeking new and more beautiful scenes.” - -“Mr. White, will you please tell me why we must break camp at this -hour of the night?” begged Grace Harlowe, stepping over to the -guide, and looking up into his face. “What is it? I know you must -have good reason or—” - -“Because, Mrs. Gray, some trouble has developed in the woods, and we -are exposed to it. I don’t wish to alarm you, and for that reason I -can’t explain just now, so please trust to me and don’t urge me to -give my reasons,” answered the guide, resuming his work. - -Grace directed a quick glance at the sky, and Elfreda Briggs, now at -her side, did likewise. The stars were clear white, and a light -breeze was stirring the tops of the big pine trees. - -“Grace, what do you make of it?” questioned Miss Briggs. - -“Nothing, J. Elfreda. Mr. White is an experienced guide, so let’s -hustle and pack for a move.” - -Emma Dean, who had dressed hurriedly, was now importuning the guide -to tell her what it was he feared. - -“If you will only tell me, I will demonstrate over it, and you will -see how quickly the danger, or whatever it may be, will pass,” she -said. - -“Pardon me, Miss Dean, I am too busy to talk. Please get yourself -ready for riding as quickly as possible,” replied Mr. White. - -“Oh, very well!” Emma elevated her chin and walked away. - -“Go on! Demonstrate! I know Ham is willing to try most anything -once,” urged Stacy Brown. - -“If Mr. White tried you once, I am quite certain a second trial -would be unnecessary, Stacy,” retorted Emma. - -“Wow!” muttered Stacy. - -“If my Hippy says it is all right I am satisfied,” spoke up Nora -Wingate, giving Hippy a playful pat as he passed her. - -“How demonstrate?” wondered Hippy. “Is this another of your fads? -You have been ‘concentrating,’ ‘reading nature,’ and doing goodness -knows how many other crazy things, on several recent journeys.” - -“Mine is not a fad, Hippy,” replied Emma with dignity. “What you -call ‘fads’ are simply demonstrations of Truth.” - -“Such as Arline Thayer put over on you last year,” chuckled Stacy -Brown, to which Miss Dean deigned no reply. - -“It is too bad that poor Arline’s health will not permit her being -with us this year,” murmured Grace. - -“Demonstrating,” resumed Emma thoughtfully, “is to breathe in -harmony, permitting no inharmonious thoughts to enter your being.” - -“Meaning what?” persisted Hippy Wingate teasingly. - -“Meaning, sir, that if you will think hard in the right way, -believing with all your might that certain things will come out as -you wish them to, you will find that they will.” - -“Good! I’ll just demonstrate a million dollars into my pocket -between now and morning,” promised Stacy. - -Hamilton White gave the Overlanders a quick glance of appraisal, and -nodded to himself. He admitted that perhaps he had not at first -formed the proper estimate of the party he was guiding through the -forests and mountains of the rugged state of Washington. All hands, -with the possible exception of Stacy, began work, and in less than -an hour the camp had been struck and the equipment loaded on the -ponies, the embers of the cook fire having been well soaked with -water. - -The girls of the party were still trying to solve the mystery of -their hurried departure as they mounted and started away with Mr. -White in the lead. They soon found themselves too fully occupied to -give thought to anything other than to dodging trees and low-hanging -limbs, for the forest was very dark. Hippy Wingate brought up the -rear, Stacy Brown in the middle of the line of riders, grumbling and -complaining with every jolt of the pony, now and then dozing off in -his saddle but suddenly awakening as a tree-trunk scraped his shin -or a bough smote him in the face. - -After an hour of uncomfortable riding the guide called a halt, and, -strapping on his climbers, began climbing a tree. He was out of -sight in a few seconds. In the meantime, Grace, gazing up to the -skies, noticed that the stars had now lost their whiteness and had -taken on a faded tint. This puzzled her. She did not know how to -interpret the change, unless, perhaps, it was caused by fog. - -“Did you solve the mystery, Mr. White?” called Emma in her sweetest -voice as the guide stepped to the ground and began removing his -climbers, for Emma had already attached herself to Hamilton White as -a man worth while. “What did you discover?” - -“Principally atmosphere, Miss Dean,” was the noncommittal reply. - -“I think you are real mean,” pouted Emma. “I am angry with you. Some -persons think it is clever to make a mystery of everything, and—” - -“Oh, demonstrate over it,” advised Stacy wearily. “It’s only -light-headed persons who thus reason.” - -“Indeed! That accounts for some of your peculiarities,” Emma came -back quickly. By this time the Overlanders were laughing over the -sparring of Emma Dean and Stacy Brown. - -“Please get under way,” directed the guide, vaulting into his -saddle. Grace and Elfreda took up positions behind him, and the -journey through the somber forest again began. It continued on until -about an hour before daybreak, when, in the faint light, the two -girls observed the guide moisten a finger on his lips and hold it -up, slowly turning the finger from side to side. - -Grace wondered, and did the same several times, observed -questioningly by her companion. - -“What is it?” whispered Miss Briggs. - -“I—I’m not certain,” answered Grace a little lamely. - -“This suspense is killing me,” cried Emma, joining the two girls. -“Unless my curiosity is gratified, I surely shall expire.” - -“Why don’t you do what you threatened to do, demonstrate over the -situation?” demanded Elfreda laughingly. - -“Hamilton doesn’t like me to,” returned Miss Dean flushing. - -“So? That is the way the wind blows,” chuckled Elfreda, and the -girls laughed heartily. - -“Hamilton!” murmured Grace. “It seems to me that matters are -progressing rather rapidly, Emma dear. Here we have been out less -than two days on our annual vacation in the saddle, and you are -calling our handsome guide by his first name. I am amazed at you. -I—” - -Ham White threw up a hand as a signal that they were to halt. Day -was dawning, and the waving plumes of the tall pines were now quite -plainly visible from below. - -“Stop here and take a light breakfast. Better not unpack anything. I -will be back in a few minutes,” said the guide. “These are orders,” -he flung back over his shoulder as he rode rapidly away. - -“It seems to me that our guide is rather bossy,” observed Nora -Wingate. - -“He isn’t!” protested Emma indignantly. “He is the finest man I ever -knew.” - -The others looked at each other and burst out laughing; then they -began teasing Emma as they ate breakfast standing beside their -ponies. Mr. White returned ere they had finished their light meal. A -quick, comprehensive glance showed him that his orders had been -obeyed. - -“You people think me an alarmist, I know, but the fact is I did not -wish to alarm you until I was certain. Now that I have been able to -get a clear observation, I know.” - -“The worst is yet to come,” grumbled Stacy. - -“Yes. You always bring this outfit bad luck,” retorted Emma. - -“Please, please, children!” begged Grace. “What is it, Mr. White?” - -“We are in the direct path of a forest fire!” - -There followed a moment’s silence, then Hippy spoke up. - -“What is the chance of our getting away from it?” he asked. - -“I am coming to that, and—” - -“Then the question seems to be, how much time have we to get out of -the way of this fire?” questioned Grace. - -The guide said that neither he nor any one else could answer that -question. - -“A forest fire is a sneaking demon,” he declared. “Sometimes one -sees no fire at all, then again it seems as if the whole universe -were ablaze. As a rule, persons who are caught in forest fires never -realize it until the fire has leaped upon them. This fire, so far, -is the kind you do see. Look up!” - -All eyes were turned upwards. They saw that the sky was covered with -a yellow haze. The haze seemed low. Birds were winging their way -northward, flying swiftly, and there were rustlings farther out in -the forest, and sounds of unseen creatures hurrying. - -“I wish Tom were here,” breathed Grace. Tom Gray, her much-loved -husband, now a well-known forestry engineer, was somewhere off in -that vast forest, making a survey for the government. Grace uttered -a fervent prayer for his safety. - -“I believe the fire is still some hours away, but the breeze is in -our direction, and bids fair to hold all day. By striking off to the -eastward and making good time, we have an excellent chance of -getting to higher rocky ground where we shall probably be safe,” was -the guide’s prediction. - -“_Alors!_ Let’s go,” urged J. Elfreda Briggs, with a touch of her -old-time lightness of spirit. - -“That is what I am getting at. I can direct you so that you folks -ought to make it, but I dislike leaving you,” added Mr. White. - -“Leaving us!” exclaimed Emma. - -“Yes. More than half a day’s ride from here is a village, a forest -mountain village, with women and children, who, perhaps, will never -know their peril until too late. It is known as Silver Creek, named -from the stream that flows through it, a stream that for about half -of the year is a swollen torrent—water icy cold, coming from the -mountain peaks in the north. In any event, they will need help, and -it is my duty to get there as quickly as possible. Lieutenant, will -you take it upon yourself to lead your party to safety, and let me -go on?” - -“That—that is for the girls to answer,” replied Hippy gravely, -turning to Grace and her companions. - -“Help will be needed at Silver Creek, you think, Mr. White?” -questioned Grace. - -“Yes. All they can get.” - -“Girls, I think we, too, know where our duty lies, do we not?” she -asked evenly. - -“Yes!” was the quick reply from Elfreda and Nora and Emma. - -“We are going with you, Mr. White,” announced Grace. - -“Oh, help!” wailed Stacy. - -A moment later the Overland party was riding at top speed, following -closely on the heels of the guided pony, knowing that upon their -speed in reaching their destination many lives might depend. - - - - - CHAPTER II - - IN THE DEMON’S GRIP - - -“Whew! The weather is getting hotter and hotter up here!” exclaimed -Stacy, fanning himself with his sombrero as they trotted along. -“Does it always get this way up here?” - -“Sometimes,” answered the guide, with a grim smile. - -The others of the party who saw the smile understood. - -“Hamilton, you don’t mean it is the heat coming from the forest that -we feel, do you?” questioned Miss Dean. - -The guide nodded and urged his pony ahead at a more rapid pace. The -others were keeping up a continual chatter, laughing and joking, and -Ham White wondered if they fully realized the peril that was -stalking them. Mr. White did not yet know the young people he was -guiding. Nor did they know him, which fact Elfreda Briggs voiced -when she spoke to Grace on the subject as they were jogging along. - -“There is something about Mr. White that I can’t interpret,” she -said. - -“And that is?” demanded Grace, regarding her companion with -twinkling eyes. - -“That is just it; I don’t know. I do know that Emma has an awful -crush on him, though I am positive that Mr. White doesn’t know it.” - -“It is nothing new with Emma, is it?” answered Grace laughingly. -“Let me see, how many men has the dear girl been in love with since -we went to France for war work with our college unit?” - -“Oh, I lost the count a long time ago. What is that?” - -“Snow. Look at the snow!” shouted Stacy, pointing to a shower of -white flakes that was sifting down over them. - -“Oh, it can’t be possible!” wondered Nora Wingate. - -“Yes, snow, and the temperature a hundred in the shade,” declared -Stacy. “This is a fine climate. I feel cooler just at sight of those -beautiful white flakes.” - -“What is it, Ham?” called Hippy. - -“Ashes!” answered the guide. “Ride hard!” - -The Overlanders understood now. It was ashes from the forest fire -that was following on their trail, and no further urging was -necessary to keep them going as fast as they could force their -horses. In a short time they were free from the feathery shower and -the air seemed fresher, though they occasionally caught a faint odor -of smoke. The Overlanders felt a certain relief, believing that they -had thrown off their pursuer, but Hamilton White felt no such -assurance. That taint of smoke told him more than the shower of -ashes had told him. It meant that the fire was creeping rather than -blazing high, and he knew that a creeping forest fire was a much to -be dreaded enemy. One never knew when or where to look for it, and -it had an uncanny habit of swooping down on one when least looked -for, and devouring. Ham increased his pace. - -No stop had been made in that long ride, except once to let the -sweating ponies drink from a cold mountain stream, and about -mid-afternoon the guide called back that they were nearing Silver -Creek village. The party caught their first glance at the creek, -whose shining surface indicated that it had been well named. It was -silvery, but ere they had followed it long, little waves of -mud-colored water were leaping up. - -There had been a severe storm in the mountains within a day, and the -flood was pouring down on its way to the lowlands. It was soon -roaring so loudly that they had to shout to make themselves heard. - -Then the village suddenly burst upon them, a settlement of several -hundred people, with stores and a post office that got its mail -twice a week by a post rider. - -The party of riders as they entered the village attracted the entire -attention of the inhabitants, who gathered about, and regarded the -newcomers closely. - -“Got anything to eat in this burg?” demanded Stacy Brown, slipping -from his saddle and grinning at the villagers. - -“Reckon ye can git something at the store,” answered someone. - -“Then me for the store!” - -Stacy left his pony and ambled into the general store, where Ham -White and Hippy already had gone. White was just greeting the -postmaster, who owned the place, as Stacy entered. - -“Forest fire?” jeered the postmaster, in reply to the guide’s -warning. “Never had any such thing at Silver Creek—never expect to. -Creek yonder will stop any forest fire that ever sprung a spark. -Look at it! Listen to it! I reckon you’ve—” - -“Stop it!” commanded White sternly. “I demand the help of the -villagers, and if they don’t make haste this town will be wiped out -before they get started.” - -Stacy helped himself liberally from the cracker barrel, listening -wide-eyed to the conversation. So long as the crackers held out he -was well satisfied to have the men talk and keep the storekeeper -occupied. - -“Who be ye?” demanded the man. - -“I am the guide of this party, and—” Ham whispered to the -storekeeper. - -“Eh? Oh, well, if that’s the case I reckon we’ve got to go through -the motions of stopping a fire that ain’t. What do ye propose to -do?” - -“Call these people together and tell them to get their axes and -begin to fell trees around the village. I will tell them which ones -to cut. Then I want them to help us backfire the grass around the -village; get out every pail and pan in the place. If there are any -barrels here, fill them with water. Cut boughs to whip out the fire -and keep it from getting away from us while we are backfiring. My -party will help. Have you seen any rangers here within a day or so?” - -“No. Bud Carver was passing through about a week ago, and he said—” - -“Never mind what he said. Get out and tell those people what they -are to do—” - -White was interrupted by a growl from the storekeeper, who had -grabbed Stacy by the collar and separated him from the cracker -barrel. - -“Here, ye young thief—” - -“Don’t you call me a thief!” protested Stacy. “I am paying for what -I get. I’d have paid in advance, but you were busy and I didn’t want -to interrupt you,” explained the fat boy lamely. “Here’s five cents, -and that is more than the whole barrel is worth. I’ll bet you have -had them here ever since Washington stopped being a territory—in -name.” - -Uttering a growl, the storekeeper stalked out to the porch and waved -the people to him. Hippy Wingate grasped Stacy by an arm and -propelled him from the store. - -“It is fortunate for you, young man, that there was nothing to eat -in the postoffice part of the place, or you would have helped -yourself and got in trouble with the United States Government,” -declared Hippy. - -The others of the party had led their ponies up to the porch and -were standing beside them, waiting for orders from the guide, each -one listening attentively while the storekeeper told the villagers -what Hamilton White had directed him to say. - -A loud laugh followed the remarks. - -“Ain’t goin’ to burn no grass ’round here! That’s stock grass fer -the cows and the hosses next winter,” warned one. - -“The grass is going to be burned, and if you don’t do it we shall do -it ourselves. If we fail, the forest fire will do it and take in the -village at the same time,” warned the guide. - -“Show me a forest fire and I’ll think about it,” demanded the man. - -“You have a nose. Can’t you smell it?” retorted Hippy Wingate. - -The villager laughed. - -“That smoke is from a bush fire on Bald Mountain where a feller is -clearing a pa’cel of ground fer a cabin,” jeered the villager. - -“The breeze doesn’t happen to be blowing from the direction of Bald -Mountain, my man,” reminded White. “It is coming from the opposite -direction. If you will use your brains, provided you have any, you -will find that the air from the south on your face is hotter by -several degrees than it is from the other direction. Get your axes -and the other things that Mr. Skinner has for us.” - -Still unconvinced, the man shook his head, and refused. - -“Tie your horses, Overlanders! We will backfire ourselves,” called -White. - -“Ye’ll get a charge of buckshot in yer carcass if ye do!” threatened -the mountaineer. - -“Try it!” suggested Ham White, giving the man a long, steady look in -the eyes. The protesting villager melted away. - -At White’s direction, the storekeeper got out all the pails in his -store, which, together with axes and grub-hoes, were cast out on the -porch. - -“You ladies must keep back out of the way,” directed Ham. - -“We shall do our part, Mr. White,” answered Grace. “Give us -something to do.” - -“Very well,” answered the guide after slight hesitation. “You may -fill all these pails with water and distribute them along the edge -of the village on the north side.” - -Boughs, green and tough, were quickly cut by White, who then -directed Hippy to start backfiring, which means firing towards the -approaching forest fire, the start of which is always a risk—the -risk of its getting away and burning that which the fire fighters -are seeking to protect. Only a small section at the edge of the -forest was fired at first, Ham White standing guard with Stacy, -ready to leap to the danger point if a blaze should begin creeping -towards the village. - -Not a villager lifted a hand to assist, but loud protests were -voiced when the pungent smoke from the burning grass settled over -them. - -“You will be in luck if you swallow nothing worse than smoke,” Ham -White flung back at them. - -There was something in this lithe, upstanding man of the forest that -held the villagers back from taking matters into their own hands and -driving the intruders from the place. He was everywhere, directing -Hippy where to fire, advising the girls where to pour water, -prodding Stacy Brown to keep that worthy from sitting down and -shirking his share of the labor. - -Perspiration was standing out on every face, and every face was red -from the heat of the flames that were rapidly eating their way -towards the big trees in the background. Ham White wanted to fell -those trees, but he could not do it alone, nor would the villagers -do it for him, so he did what could be done, and was glad that he -had such ready workers as the Overland Riders proved themselves to -be. They were resourceful, too, and soon understanding what the -guide was seeking to accomplish, went to it without further -instruction. - -“Miss Briggs!” he called, and Elfreda was at his side in a moment. - -“What is it, Mr. White?” - -“You are a level-headed woman—” - -“Thank you,” answered Elfreda smilingly, mopping the perspiration on -her face into sooty streaks. - -“I wish you would go around the right-hand side of this burn. The -smoke is blowing towards us now, so you will get little odor from -it. Go into the forest a little way and watch and listen and sniff. -Watch the ground, not the sides. Any indications of fire that you -discover, hear or smell, let me know instantly.” - -“Thank you, Mr. White. Carrying water is not particularly inspiring. -I am glad to do something that will occupy me more absorbingly. How -shall I get back here if you fire the right-hand side you just -mentioned?” - -“This side will be burned off by then, but don’t stand in one spot -many seconds at a time when crossing it. You might burn your feet. -Be careful that you don’t get lost. I trust you to take care of -yourself.” - -For a few brief seconds they held each other’s eyes, then Elfreda -turned and walked briskly away. - -“Please, Hamilton, won’t you come back out of danger,” begged Emma, -slipping an arm through his at this juncture. “I am terribly -nervous, but I am demonstrating for you with every fiber of my -being.” - -“Go demonstrate on the villagers—do something worth while,” advised -Stacy sourly. - -“I will after this is finished—I’ll demonstrate over you,” retorted -Emma. - -The guide made no reply, but turned back to his work. Elfreda had -already disappeared from sight. Hers was a responsible post, and -none knew that so well as Hamilton White himself, though Elfreda -began to realize it when she found herself alone in the forest. With -every sense on the alert, Elfreda devoted herself to following Mr. -White’s instructions. She could catch faint whiffs of smoke from the -south, but could see no fire. At first, she thought the odor was -from their own backfire, but after a little she was able to -distinguish a difference in the odor coming from the south. It was -more pungent, more overpowering, seeming to possess more substance, -more body, than did the faint smoke from the grass fire that reached -her nostrils. - -“I wonder if I had better run back and report? No. I will stay here -until I have something definite. I may be imagining.” - -Elfreda was now so far back in the forest that she could not hear -the crackling of the grass backfire that Ham White had started, and -she could but faintly hear the flow of Silver Creek. Soon a few -scattering “snowflakes” began falling about her, and from the -previous experience she knew what these meant. There was fire to the -south, though it might be many miles away. Elfreda was not -sufficiently familiar with forest fires to interpret these -indications with certainty. - -A low, rumbling noise, that might have been distant thunder, caused -her to listen attentively. - -“It might have been a train,” she murmured, then instantly recalled -that there was no railway within fifty miles. - -A breeze sprang up from the south and the tops of the trees bent -under it ever so little. Then suddenly Elfreda Briggs witnessed a -sight that, for the instant, paralyzed her—that prevented her from -moving a muscle. - -What, at first sight, looked to be a shining serpent, was wriggling -toward her, now and then breathing a little spurt of smoke. The -“serpent” disappeared, and she then saw others, all wriggling, -twisting, turning, disappearing, and suddenly appearing in another -spot a few yards away. - -“Merciful heaven, what is it?” cried the Overland girl. - -A little pine tree, not more than two yards in height, suddenly -became the victim of one of these shining “serpents” and burst into -crackling flames and was consumed in a few minutes. - -“Fire!” cried the watcher. Elfreda turned, startled, and fled -towards the “burn” that her companions had made. - -They saw her coming on fleet feet. Hamilton White waved to her to -keep to the right, for the grass was still holding fire on the -course she was following, but Elfreda took the gesture for a wave of -welcome, and waved back. In the next second she saw the guide -running towards her, followed by Grace. - -Elfreda darted ahead, and was nearly at the edge of the burn when -she came up with them. To her amazement, the guide picked her up, -then threw her flat on the ground. He rolled her over and over in -the blackened ashes of the grass, Grace assisting by vigorous pats, -for Elfreda’s skirt had caught fire. - -The blaze was out in a moment, and now the girl began to feel the -sting of burns. Assisted to her feet Elfreda was a sight, her face, -neck and arms black, little patches of white showing here and there, -accentuating the blackness of the rest. - -“Quick, take her somewhere and look her over. Get oil from the store -and put on her burns if she has any. Be lively. I—” - -“The fiery serpents are there!” gasped Elfreda. - -“What!” demanded the guide. - -“They’re there, darting all around just beyond the edge of the burn -in the forest. I don’t know—I think—” - -“Take her away!” commanded White sternly. - -The guide bounded across the burned space and plunged into the -forest. He came back a few moments later, even more rapidly than he -had gone out, never stopping until he reached the store porch. - -Something in Hamilton White’s attitude or in his expression silenced -the villagers who had gone into spasms of laughter at Elfreda -Briggs’ plight. - -“Men, the forest fire is yonder, less than an eighth of a mile -away!” he shouted. “It may not be too late to save the village, but -I think it is. Get your women and children down to the bank of the -creek. Bring water and wet down everything. Work, you thick-heads!” -There were murmurs of objection. A puff of hot air was driven -through the village, and a few moments later a blue haze settled -over it. A great silence fell over the people. It was broken by a -woman’s scream. - -“Fire!” yelled a man. - -“Fire! Fire! Fire!” - -The chorus was taken up by a hundred voices, and panic seized upon -the inhabitants of Silver Creek. - - - - - CHAPTER III - - A RAIN OF FIRE - - -“Wet down the roofs of all the houses. Keep your heads or you’re -goners!” shouted Ham White. - -The Overlanders had grabbed pails and filled them from the creek, -running with them to points where water soon would be needed. Stacy, -however, with his usual disinclination to work, took it upon himself -to boss the villagers, which he did very well. He appeared to be not -at all disturbed by the peril that menaced them. - -The sky was now heavily overcast. To add to the gloom, daylight was -fading with the prospect of a night of terror for the people of -Silver Creek. The air grew hot and the pungent odor of smoke sent -many into paroxysms of coughing. - -Hamilton White, cool and collected, was giving terse orders here and -there, and working with tireless energy. Hot puffs of wind drove -through the village streets, and that, he knew, was the vanguard of -what was to come. - -Men were working under difficulties but to good purpose, for the -guide was directing the work of covering roofs with wet blankets, -which were wet down as fast as water could be brought. The smoke -grew more dense, more suffocating with the moments, and, somewhere -off to the south, a roar like that of an approaching storm was -plainly heard. Ham White, hearing, understood. - -“Look! Oh, look!” cried Nora Wingate. - -Great tongues of flame were seen leaping into the air high above the -tree-tops of the forest. Sparks and burning embers were now falling -in the village streets. Overhead the air itself seemed to be on -fire. Sheets of flame were curling and rolling through the forest -like breakers on a reef. At one moment the sky would be lighted up -brilliantly, and in the next deep, impenetrable darkness covered -all. - -The terror of the villagers increased, and the Overland girls, on -their way to and fro for water, did what they could to calm the -women, but without great success. To add to the terror and the -peril, the village was now surrounded with fire on three sides. It -seemed to be growing more threatening with the moments, and the -clouds of soot became denser. - -“Oh, how terrible!” cried Nora to Grace Harlowe. - -“Yes, but one of the most tremendous spectacles I have ever seen,” -answered Grace, whose face, like all others about her, was so black -as to be almost unrecognizable. - -In all the excitement, however, the two girls found time to observe -and marvel. They saw streamers of fire appear to die out, and then -charge forward toward the village at race-horse speed, threatening -to envelop and devour it. - -The villagers started to run as their panic increased. - -“Stay where you are! You are safer here!” Ham White shouted in -warning to all. - -Houses were now catching fire, despite all efforts, and men worked -in a frenzy, for, if the fire once got a good start in the village, -they now knew that it would be destroyed. Some of the cooler heads -among the women lent much assistance to the Overlanders, but most of -them were too terrified to give any assistance at all. - -“Some of these women surely will perish unless something is done at -once,” said Miss Briggs. “Suggest something, Grace, for the love of -heaven.” - -“The creek! Help me herd them down on its bank,” answered Grace with -ready resource. “Nora! You and Emma must assist. Don’t hesitate. -Jump to it! There are men enough to carry water. Lives are of more -account than houses.” - -The girls sprang to their task with energy. It was not an easy task -to which they had assigned themselves, and the first of the women -sent to the stream had to be forced there. There were choking -protests, but the Overland girls gave no heed, as there was no time -for argument, and seconds wasted might mean loss of lives. - -“If your clothes catch fire, duck into the creek,” was the advice -shouted over and over again to the village women by Grace and her -companions. “Keep close to the shore or you may be swept off your -feet and carried downstream.” - -The latter part of the Overlanders’ advice was not heeded in every -instance, and now and then one of the girls found it necessary to -haul ashore some woman who was in danger of being carried away by -the current. - -As the heat in the village increased in intensity, shivering women -and children were standing in the creek’s cold waters, protecting -themselves from the burning air by covering their heads with wetted -articles of clothing. - -Another peril found them there. Logs, broken, charred tree-limbs, -were rolling and tumbling down with the stream. Something hit -Elfreda, who was dragging a woman to safety, and pushed the girl -under. Struggle as she would, Miss Briggs was unable for some time -to extricate herself, though she did manage to keep her head above -water. Her skirts had caught on the branches of what proved to be -the bushy top of a tree, and she was swept away on the current. - -After what seemed hours Elfreda succeeded in freeing herself, and -permitted herself to float while she rested, breathing hard from her -exertions. - -The village of Silver Creek had disappeared in the distance. A -roaring sound came to Elfreda’s ears, which she soon discovered was -caused by the rushing current of a turbulent river. - -“Mercy! What am I coming to?” cried the girl in her extremity. -Elfreda was frightened, but by no means panic-stricken. “Oh, this -surely is the end!” gasped the girl as she found herself suddenly -whirled into wild waters. - -It was Roaring River into which Miss Briggs had been swept from the -creek, and now her last hope seemed gone, for the stream was wide -and full of floating logs and brush, and here and there dark objects -brushed past her. The girl drifted on and on, chilled and exhausted, -but still possessing a strength of will that kept her from letting -go, as many another would have done in her circumstances. - -Of how long she had been in the water Elfreda had not the slightest -idea, but it seemed to have been hours, when suddenly she was halted -by the roots of a tree on the bank of the river, from which the dirt -had been washed away. - -Grasping at the roots, Miss Briggs clung there resting. After a -little she dragged herself over the roots and finally reached soft -yielding earth. - -“Thank God!” breathed Elfreda fervently, and stretching out she sank -into a deep sleep of exhaustion. - -When Miss Briggs awakened from that sleep the sun was shining, but -there was a yellow haze in the air, and the odor of smoke was wafted -to her on the morning breeze. Birds were singing in the trees, and -the earth seemed at peace. - -“J. Elfreda, you have done it this time!” she rebuked herself. “Why -did you ever go into that terrible water? Oh, what has become of the -others? This will never do. I must do something!” she cried, rousing -herself and standing up to look about her. - -What to do, was the perplexing question. It was then that Elfreda -discovered a trail. Trees along the trail had been blazed, but the -blazes were not new. The path had been used frequently, she -observed, and led into the forest. For that the Overland girl was -thankful. - -After brief reflection, Miss Briggs decided to follow the trail that -Fate had offered to her. It must lead somewhere, she reasoned. Had -Elfreda been more familiar with life in the forest she would have -known that this was either a trapper’s or a fisherman’s trail, but -to her all forest blazes looked alike, so she plodded on slowly, -keeping a sharp lookout for slashes on sides of the trees, and for -signs of human habitation. - -When an hour had passed, and the trail still led on, the girl began -to lose heart. She sank down to rest and think, but as she peered -underneath the low-hanging branches of under-brush and saplings, -Elfreda made a discovery that set her pulses beating. There, less -than fifty yards ahead of her, she saw a shack, and about it was a -hedge of evergreens that undoubtedly had been placed there by human -hands. - -“Saved!” cried Elfreda, springing to her feet, forgetful of the -aches and pains of a few moments before. - -The Overland girl caught her breath suddenly, and a rush of color -leaped to her cheeks, for Elfreda Briggs had made another discovery, -and with it came the realization that a most amazing thing had -occurred. - -Uttering a shrill little cry, Elfreda started forward at a run. - - - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE LOST CABIN - - -“The village is saved!” - -Hamilton White, blackened, red-eyed, his clothing scorched, made -that announcement as, at the break of day, he had opportunity to -look about him. - -“Yes, and not a life lost,” agreed Grace Harlowe, herself worn out -and disheveled. “It is a miracle. Mr. White, they should get down on -their knees to thank you for what you have done for Silver Creek. -Without your resourcefulness—Well, there would be nothing left of -the village or people.” - -“Thank you!” Ham White bowed and grinned through the soot on his -face. “The credit is due wholly to the assistance of the -Overlanders. In other words, the shoe is on the other foot.” - -“Well, what next?” demanded Hippy Wingate coming up, Emma Dean -following, and taking her place beside the guide. - -“Something to eat if we can find it, then to get out of here and to -dodge what is left of the fire,” replied the guide. “Suppose we go -down to the creek and wash our faces.” - -“Get out of here!” jeered Hippy. “With what? I haven’t seen anything -that looked like a horse since yesterday. I think our animals must -have gone downstream, and that we are all fixed for a long hike to -some place where fresh mounts can be had.” - -“Oh, Hamilton! Is it really true that the ponies have run away?” -begged Emma, linking arms with the guide. - -“Too true, little bird,” chuckled Hippy. “Thank you, Mr. Wingate. -Being a bird is better than being a donkey,” answered Emma. - -“And hop from bough to bough, and chatter and then chatter some -more,” finished Hippy. - -“While a donkey can only bray, and then bray some more,” was Emma’s -parting shot, which brought a shout of laughter from the begrimed -Overlanders. - -Hippy made a gesture of helpless resignation, and turned to the -guide to ask what they had better do. - -“We will find the stock somewhere to the northeast, provided they -have been neither burned nor drowned. Stock have an instinct that -tells them to seek high ground,” said the guide. “By the way, is -Miss Briggs in one of the houses resting?” - -“Elfreda!” cried Nora. - -The girls looked at each other with the same question in their eyes. -None had seen her since the evening before, and in the excitement -and confusion she had not been missed. - -“Girls, girls! Run!” cried Grace. “Go to every house in the village. -She must be here! She must be here! Hippy! Mr. White! Please help -us.” - -There was instant compliance, and half an hour later the Overlanders -met in front of the post office. Grace was the only one of the party -that had any information to convey. Grace had found the woman whom -Miss Briggs had tried to rescue, and ascertained that the last that -woman had seen of her was when Elfreda had given her a vigorous push -towards the shore. - -For the first time since the Overlanders had known him, Ham White -lost his composure. He steadied himself in a moment. Leaping to the -steps of the store he shouted to the villagers that were still -thronging the streets. - -“Men!” he said. “These splendid young women have helped to save your -town and your women and children. One of the young women, Miss -Briggs, is missing. She _must_ be found, and I want you men to form -a searching party. Get your breakfasts, but never mind anything -else. If you are men, which I believe you to be, you won’t have to -be urged. I’ll tell you what to do. Will you go?” - -“Yes!” The answer was a shout. And Hamilton White smiled. - -The guide directed the girls to steady themselves, and eat. As for -himself, he wanted nothing to eat except what he could carry with -him and munch on his way. White sent one searching party down each -side of the creek, heading the party on the left side himself, with -Lieutenant Hippy Wingate leading the party on the right. - -“Do not worry if we aren’t back as quickly as you might hope for, as -we shall be looking for stock—for our horses—at the same time,” he -urged. - -“Oh, Hamilton, do be careful of yourself,” begged Emma as the men -were starting away. “I shall demonstrate for you all the time you -are away.” - -Grace linked an arm in Emma’s. - -“My dear, how long have you known Mr. White?” she asked gently. - -“It seems as though I have always known him,” answered Emma -dreamily. - -“As a matter of fact, you have known him less than a week. It is -true we took him on the recommendation of the banker at Cresco, -where we made our start for the Cascade Range of Washington State, -and we know him to be a man of intelligence, a brave, resourceful -fellow, but there is still something about him that I do not -understand. I don’t believe he is what he represents himself to be, -but, if we should ever go out again, he is the man I should like to -have lead us. Just the same, that is no reason why you should be so -forward. Emma, well-bred girls are not supposed to wear their hearts -on their sleeves. Be a good fellow, which you are, but be -dignified,” admonished Grace smilingly. - -“I am and I do,” answered Miss Dean haughtily. - -“Now let us forget our little lecture, and do what we can to assist -the women of the village to get set, so to speak,” suggested Grace. -“We must not worry about Elfreda. I believe we shall find her and -that she is as safe at this moment as we are.” - -“I’ll demonstrate over her. I’ll keep saying to myself, ‘Elfreda is -well and happy. No harm can come to her because only error can mean -harm,’” promised Emma, bubbling and laughing. - -“Come,” said Grace. “Demonstrate after we have given some material -aid to these distressed people.” - -It was about this time that Elfreda reached the shack in the forest -and made the discovery that so startled her. Elfreda’s amazement was -caused by the sight of a human being, sitting on a stump near the -shack. The human being was short and fat. He was eating from a can -of baked beans, his big eyes regarding Miss Briggs soulfully, his -cheeks puffed out with the beans. - -“Stacy!” cried Elfreda. “Oh, Stacy Brown! Am I dreaming?” - -“Mebby,” mumbled the fat boy, digging more beans from the can. - -Elfreda ran to him, and in her joy at seeing her Overland companion, -she threw her arms about Stacy. In doing so she knocked the can of -beans from his hands, and the rest of the contents was spilled on -the ground. - -“Now see what you’ve done,” wailed the fat boy. “And the beanery -fifty miles away.” - -“Never mind the beans. What is this place?” - -“Lost cabin,” answered Stacy promptly. - -“How do you know?” - -“I don’t. I just guessed it. Hungry?” - -“Famished,” answered J. Elfreda. - -“Some more canned stuff under the floor of the shack,” he informed -her, waving a hand towards the cabin, and picking up the spilled -beans one by one, placing each individual bean carefully in his -mouth. - -“First tell me how you got here?” demanded Miss Briggs. - -“Came down on a Roaring River Liner—other words, a log. Where’s the -party?” - -“Trying to put out the fire at Silver Creek. Shall we try to find -our way back?” - -“What! With all that food cached in the shack?” demanded Stacy -almost indignantly. “So long as the food holds out and no fire comes -along, I stay right here. I know a good thing when I find it. After -I get enough to keep my strength up I am going down to the river and -catch some fish. Then we will have a real spread.” - -“Hopeless!” exclaimed Elfreda. “I am glad to see you, though. I -think you are right about remaining here for the day. When the fire -is under control our folks will search for us, and Mr. White will -pick up our trail.” - -“Yes. I left ‘feetprints’ in the river when the log rolled me off. -Did you ever observe how wonderfully prominent ‘feetprints’ in the -water are, Elfreda?” - -Elfreda gave her head a toss and walked to the cabin. It was a -typical forest shack. There was a plain deal table, two chairs, a -bed on the floor and blankets hung over a line. The dishes were -limited, but sufficient for one or two persons. She investigated an -opening in the floor, from which Stacy had lifted the trap door, and -found there a good supply of canned goods, some rope, axes, picks -and shovels. - -“A forest ranger’s shack,” she murmured. “Yes, I think that must be -it.” Elfreda helped herself to a can of beans, surveyed it ruefully -and carried it outside. - -“Have you the can-opener, Stacy?” she asked. - -Stacy shook his head. - -“How did you open your cans then?” Several empty cans lay about the -stump on which he was sitting. - -“With my teeth. Bit ’em open!” said the fat boy thickly. - -“Stacy Brown, you are impossible! I think I know a better way.” -Elfreda got an axe from the shack and attacked the can of beans. She -made a bad job of it, and most of the beans that were not mashed -flat were scattered about on the ground. These, the fat boy gathered -up carefully and placed in his own can. - -“Get another can. I’m busy, but I will open it for you. Girls are so -helpless.” - -“I am beginning to agree with you,” answered Miss Briggs, returning -to the cabin for another can. When she came back Stacy removed the -top of the can with his knife, and handed the food to her. - -“For this, you buy me a new knife when we reach a store somewhere. -Knives cost money, and I can’t afford to waste mine on girls.” - -“You shall have a new knife, and thank you very much for your -courtesy,” returned Elfreda. - -Stacy gave her a sidelong glance. - -“You look all fagged out. After you finish that can, better go in -and lie down. Besides, it won’t do to overload your stomach so soon -after a bath.” - -“Oh, you funny boy!” Elfreda laughed until two tear drops were -sparkling on her brown cheeks. “If you will catch some fish I -promise to cook them for you, and we will have a real spread. Yes, I -will take a nap, for I am completely fagged. Did you discover any -coffee in the shack?” - -“Uh-huh. I didn’t have time to make coffee. I’m too busy to do so -now.” - -Miss Briggs went to the shack, spread out the blankets for -inspection, and found them clean; so she laid them on the bed and -stretched out for a rest. Until then she had not realized how weary -she was, and, in a few moments, fell into a deep sleep. - -After a time Stacy took a nap by the stump, from which he did not -awaken until late in the afternoon. He did not know what time it -was, his watch having stopped on his wet ride from the village of -Silver Creek. The fat boy decided to go fishing. There was a bamboo -pole, hook and line in the shack, and this he got, after taking a -squint at the sleeping Elfreda. - -“Girls are such sleepy-heads,” muttered the boy, as he shouldered -the pole and went out, making all the noise he could, all of which -failed to awaken Miss Briggs. On the way to the stream he looked for -a rotting stump, one of which he eventually found, and with his -hunting knife managed to dig out some nice white grubs for bait. - -“Humph! They do look almost good enough to eat,” he muttered, -surveying some of the grubs in the palm of his hand. “I don’t blame -the fish for liking them.” - -Shortly after that the fat boy sat down on the bank with his line in -the water, thoroughly at peace with the world, and content to remain -where he was so long as the food held out. - -Stacy had not been fishing long when he heard a horse approaching, -but did not turn his head, his eyes remaining fixed on the fish line -that caused a little ripple in the stream as it split the current. - -“Hello, boy!” called a voice behind him. - -“Same to you,” returned Stacy. - -“Fishing?” - -“No. Just teaching this grub how to swim.” - -“Say, you! You’re too fresh. I’ve a good mind to throw you into the -river,” growled the newcomer. - -“Better not. I’ll get wet.” - -“Where do you come from?” demanded the man, his voice sharp and -incisive. - -“Up Silver Creek way. I came down here on the river packet to get -away from the forest fire.” - -“I mean, where do you live?” - -“Right here at the present moment. I don’t look as if I were dead, -do I?” - -“You may be soon if you ain’t more civil. What happened to the -village?” - -“Some people got singed, others got wet. I got a little of both -before I shipped.” - -The man got down from his horse and stepped around where he could -see the fat boy’s face. Stacy gave him a slow, sidelong glance, then -turned his attention to his line. He had a bite, and a few seconds -later he landed a fish. - -“Huh!” grunted the stranger. “Anybody with you?” - -“A few grubs in my pocket and myself, that’s all. Who are you?” - -“None of your business!” - -Stacy regarded the stranger blinkingly. The fellow was not a -pleasant-looking man, and a scar across one cheek gave him a still -more evil look. The horse he rode, Stacy observed, was a fine animal -and looked as though it could develop a lot of speed. - -“Where’d you get the nag?” questioned the boy. - -“Bought him. Didn’t think I stole him, did you?” demanded the man -indignantly. - -Stacy shrugged his shoulders, but made no reply. He resumed his -fishing. - -“Let me give you some advice, young fellow. This is no place for -children. You git out of here, and stay out. I’ll be back later, and -if you’re here then I’ll help you out on the run.” - -“Thanks,” drawled the fat boy without looking up. - -The stranger rode away, and Stacy resumed his fishing. He caught a -fine mess of trout; then the grubs gave out. Being too tired to -return to the shack just then the Overlander decided to take a nap, -which he proceeded to do. Night came on, and Stacy Brown was still -asleep. So was Elfreda Briggs, in the shack. Miss Briggs had not -moved since she lay down hours before. - -It was late when she finally suddenly roused herself and sat up. The -cabin was enshrouded in darkness. Peering out, she saw that it was -night. - -“Stacy!” she called. There was no response. Stacy Brown was sleeping -peacefully on the bank of Roaring River. - -Elfreda wondered what had awakened her so suddenly. Then all at once -she understood. She heard a horse approaching. The animal stopped -just beyond the cabin. Miss Briggs did not go to the door, but got -to her feet and listened. She thought she heard someone groan; then -all was silence for a moment. - -“Oh!” exclaimed the Overland girl under her breath as the door of -the shack was slowly pushed open. “Who is it?” she cried, with all -the steadiness that she could summon. Miss Briggs reached for her -revolver, but it was not in its holster. - -A man staggered in. She could see his figure faintly outlined in the -doorway. - -“Help! I’m shot—I’m dying!” groaned the man, and collapsed at the -feet of Elfreda Briggs. - - - - - CHAPTER V - - A FRUITLESS QUEST - - -“Grace! Oh, Grace!” - -After several hours of hard work assisting the women of the village -to untangle the confusion of their homes, the contents of most of -which were in the streets, Nora came running in search of Grace -Harlowe. - -“What is wrong, Nora?” begged Grace a little fearfully. - -“Have you seen Stacy?” - -“No. Come to think of it, I have not. Why, I haven’t seen him since -last night, either.” - -“Neither has anyone else, so far as I have been able to learn.” - -“Are you positive that he did not go out with the men this morning?” -asked Grace. - -“They say he did not.” - -“Chunky”—as his companions sometimes called him—“is probably asleep -somewhere about,” suggested Emma Dean. “You know what a wonderful -sleeper he is.” - -“I doubt it,” answered Grace reflectively. “Was he in the creek?” - -Nora said she did not know. - -“That makes two of our party that are missing. What are we going to -do?” begged Nora, tears of anxiety springing to her eyes. - -“We will search for him in the vicinity of the village. That is all -we can do. If we do not find him we simply shall have to wait until -the men return to-night,” decided Grace. - -“If Hamilton were only here he would know what is best,” complained -Emma. - -Grace gave her a look of rebuke. - -“Mr. White probably will find the boy. He will leave nothing undone, -of that we girls are certain, and we shall have to make the best of -a bad situation, which may not be nearly so bad as it seems,” -comforted Grace. “Come, let us take different directions and search -the village and its immediate vicinity.” - -“I have another one to demonstrate over now. I don’t want to -demonstrate over Chunky, but I suppose it wouldn’t be honest not -to,” complained Emma. “This is terrible.” - -The girls separated and made a careful search about the village and -out among the trees, as far from the village as they dared to go. -There were still many little smouldering fires, but there was so -little for them to feed upon that they could not spread. - -Not a trace of the missing boy did the girls find, though there was -plenty of tragic evidence of the deadly work of the forest fire -everywhere they went. The girls returned, giving up the task. - -“We must wait, and go on with our work. It will help to keep our -minds from our worries. My husband would be a great comfort if he -were here, for Tom is ever ready and resourceful,” murmured Grace. - -“He is no better than Hamilton,” protested Emma indignantly. “What -Hamilton doesn’t know about everything up here isn’t worth knowing.” - -The girls laughed at Emma, who turned away, face flushed and eyes -moist. They busied themselves all the rest of the day, but when -night came on, the searchers had not returned. Shortly after nine -o’clock, however, a shout told the anxious Overlanders that someone -was approaching. It proved to be Hippy Wingate and his party. Hippy -reported that they had not found a trace of Elfreda Briggs. He was -shocked when he learned that Stacy also was missing. - -It was an hour later when Hamilton White and his party of searchers -came in. They were leading a bunch of horses. - -“We got them all but one, folks,” he cried as the villagers and the -Overlanders crowded about him and his party. - -“But Miss Briggs!” wailed Nora Wingate. “Don’t tell me that—” - -“She was not found on the left-hand side of the river. We followed -Roaring River down to a point about fifteen miles below here. As you -see, we got all the mounts but one, and that one evidently was swept -away, else he would have been with his mates.” - -White was speaking more rapidly than was his wont, and Grace was -regarding him keenly. - -“Did you know that Stacy Brown is missing also?” she asked. - -The guide regarded her for a moment. - -“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “Don’t be disheartened, Mrs. Gray. -To-morrow I shall take the other side of the river and stay out -until I get a definite line on what has happened. It would have been -useless to remain out longer to-night.” - -After a little, when he had answered many questions, White beckoned -Grace aside. - -“You are a level-headed woman, Mrs. Gray, so I think it best to tell -you what I have discovered. I—” - -“I knew you were keeping something back. Tell me. The truth is -better than the suspense.” - -“No, I don’t agree with you. I found Miss Briggs’ hat and her -handkerchief on my side of the river. The men with me do not know -this. The current on my side of the stream set into a bend at one -point, then switched over to the right-hand side. That is why I am -going down the right-hand side to-morrow. To me the finding of the -hat is proof that our missing woman was really swept downstream, but -my confidence in Miss Briggs’ cool-headedness is so strong that I -believe she found a way to get out of the river.” - -“I hope so,” replied Grace quietly. “By the same token, I think we -shall find Stacy. If he succeeds in finding something to eat, he -will remain where the food is until it is exhausted,” she added with -a little smile. - -“Just so,” agreed the guide. “I am more disturbed about possible -peril to Miss Briggs after she escaped from the river.” - -“Meaning what?” demanded Grace. - -“That there is danger to the north of us—a peril worse than forest -fires or wild beasts.” - -“Yes, yes!” urged Grace. - -“I mean the Murrays.” - -Grace said she never had heard of them. - -“They are notorious bandits, cutthroats, robbers, everything that is -vicious. Did Miss Briggs wear any jewels?” - -“She did—a diamond ring that is quite valuable, and a jewelled watch -that was presented to her by the French government after she -finished her work there with our college unit in the war.” - -“They would kill for less than that!” was the disturbing -announcement of Hamilton White, as he turned abruptly away. - -Ham White did not wait until morning to resume his search. After -taking a light supper, and packing some “grub” in his kit bag, he -quietly forded the creek with one of the Overland ponies, then -disappeared in the darkness, headed downstream. Only Lieutenant -Hippy Wingate knew that he had gone. Ham White was headed towards an -adventure that proved to be a thrilling one, both for himself and -others. - - - - - CHAPTER VI - - FACING A NEW PERIL - - -“Sho—Shot!” gasped Elfreda Briggs, as the stranger lay huddled on -the floor where he had fallen. He was breathing heavily, and perhaps -it was this that brought Miss Briggs to herself. After long service -with wounded men in France, she knew what a bullet wound was, and -her first instinct upon recovering from her fright was to give first -aid. - -Elfreda had found candles and matches in the cabin, and these she -quickly procured, lighting two candles the better to see her -patient. She peered down at her unexpected guest, a long, lean -figure, his lined, unshaven face ashen from pain and weakness. -Elfreda instantly recognized the symptoms. - -“Oh, you poor, poor man!” she cried in a voice full of sympathy, and -placed a folded blanket under his head. Then the Overland girl ran -out to a spring just back of the cabin, returning with a basin of -cold mountain water. First giving the wounded man a drink, she tore -open the faded, worn shirt and bathed his wound, which she knew at -once was a serious one. - -This served to rouse the patient a little, and he regarded her with -searching eyes—eyes that were full of pain. - -“Tha—ank you. You’re a good girl. What be you doing here?” - -“I belong to a party, but was carried down the river from Silver -Creek village when the forest fire reached there. Never mind -that—tell me about yourself.” - -“The gang got me—Hawk Murray’s gang. Name’s Sam Petersen, and I’m a -prospector—was a prospector, but I’m done, finished now.” - -“Why did they shoot you?” - -“For gold, Miss, gold! But I hung on to my horse and got away. -They’ll be here.” - -Elfreda begged him not to worry, seeing that the thought of the -Murray gang excited him. - -“Promise me, for your own sake, that you will not let them find me -or know that I have been here. If they find out they’ll do the same -by you that they have done by Sam Petersen.” - -Miss Briggs caressed the gray head, and moistened his lips with the -cold mountain water. Then, as tenderly as possible, she dragged the -wounded man to the bunk at one corner of the room, where he might be -more comfortable. - -“It’s mighty good to have you help me, but tain’t no use. I’ve -staked my last claim and—listen!” Petersen roused himself, and a new -light flashed into his eyes. “I must tell you, and I must do it -quick. Reach in my pocket and take out the diary there. Hide it! -Left hand po—pocket. That’s it.” - -Elfreda hesitatingly drew forth a well-worn book, the corners of -which were broken down and the leaves swollen from frequent -thumbing. - -“There’s something else there, too. Take that, too; it’s your’n.” - -The Overland girl drew forth a small canvas bag, soiled and worn, -and heavy. It was tied at the neck with a buckskin thong, and at his -nod she opened the bag. She saw a handful of nuggets, some worn and -shiny, water-worn as they proved to be, while at the bottom of the -bag was some dust. - -“Gold!” murmured Elfreda Briggs. “Is this why they shot you, Mr. -Petersen?” - -“Yes, and for what’s in that diary. Mebby you’ve heard of Lost Mine, -a dried-up water course that the Indians say many years ago was -paved with gold.” - -Elfreda shook her head. - -“Crazy prospectors like Sam Petersen have been hunting for that mine -for more’n twenty-five years. Sam Petersen found it!” The man’s -voice had dropped to a thrilling whisper. A dead silence followed, -broken by the hoot of an owl near the cabin. - -Elfreda shivered a little. - -“It’s there in the book—all but how to get there. Hawk Murray and -his gang found out that I’d got this bag of dust and nuggets. They -knew I’d been prospecting for just what they’d been trying for a -long time to find, and they believed I’d found it. Hawk and his -bunch trailed me, and we had a shooting match. I downed one of the -gang, but Hawk got me. Lady, I ain’t a bad man—I’m an honest man, -but up here a man’s what he is, and if he ain’t able to shuffle for -himself he’s all set to be shuffled off one day.” - -“You are talking too much—exerting too much effort. Be quiet and -rest,” commanded Elfreda. - -“I got to talk. I got to talk fast. I ain’t got much more time. -Write down in the book what I got to say. Ready?” - -Miss Briggs nodded. “Lost River, north branch, Grandma and the -Children, three peaks dead east—and there’s the bed of Lost River. -In it is gold, shining gold, the promised land and—it’s yours. I -ain’t got no family.” - -“I don’t quite understand. Can you make it a little clearer?” - -“All yours and—” - -“Please don’t talk any more. I want you to rest. You are getting -excited. What is gold compared to a man’s life, Mr. Petersen?” - -There was no reply. - -Elfreda Briggs glanced at the face, then, leaning over, peered -closer. - -“Get rid of the horse—shoot him. They’ll be here soon after daylight -and then—” - -That was all. The tired old voice trailed off into nothingness. Sam -Petersen had staked his last claim. - -Tears trickled down Elfreda’s cheeks. A thin gray bar of daylight -was now creeping across the cabin floor, and with it came the memory -of the old prospector’s warning: “The Murray gang will be here soon -after daylight”—and then—“Get rid of the horse!” - -Realizing that perhaps her own life might hang on following -Petersen’s advice, Miss Briggs sprang up and ran out. Standing a few -yards from the cabin, there was a fine bay mare browsing on the -tender leaves of the hedge. The animal regarded her solemnly, and, -she thought, with a friendly approving look. - -“You poor horse! Shoot _you?_ I couldn’t do it, but I am going to -try to hide you,” declared the Overland girl. - -Gripping the bridle she led the animal off to the right of the cabin -until she reached a stream. Into this she led the animal for some -distance, and secreted him in a narrow pass that was well hidden. - -“I think I will take the saddle and hide that,” reflected Elfreda. -Upon second thought she decided to carry it back and hide it near -the cabin, for she recognized it as a fine Mexican saddle. The -saddle she did secrete in a thick growth of bushes about fifty yards -from the shack. - -As she approached the cabin her footsteps became halting. - -“What if they should come and find him here? Oh, this is terrible. -Where, where can Stacy be? Why doesn’t he come back?” - -It was not a pleasant task that confronted Elfreda Briggs, but she -went to it with lips set, face pale, and heart beating nervously. -She covered the thin old frame of Sam Petersen, and over it laid the -blankets. - -“Oh, this is terrible,” moaned the girl, then grew suddenly rigid. -The sound of approaching horses reached her alert ears as she stood -in the middle of the floor, every faculty on the alert. - -They galloped up to the shack and halted. - -“Hello the cabin!” called a rough voice. - -Miss Briggs pinched her cheeks to bring back the color that she knew -had left them, then summoning all her courage she stepped to the -door. That courage almost failed her when she saw before her six of -the roughest looking men she ever had seen. They were mounted on -lean, tough horses; there was a rifle in every saddle boot, and they -wore side arms as well. - -“The Murrays!” gasped the girl. “Sam Petersen knew whereof he -spoke.” - - - - - CHAPTER VII - - THE DISCOVERY - - -“Hawk Murray!” exclaimed Elfreda Briggs, as one of the horsemen rode -around the hedge and up to the door of the cabin. Elfreda recognized -the man by his long hooked nose that really resembled the beak of a -hawk. It was not a pleasant face to look upon. - -“Mornin’, Miss,” he greeted, with an attempt at politeness. - -“Good morning, sir,” replied Miss Briggs firmly, essaying a smile as -she said it, though she did not feel like smiling, for the eyes of -the rider seemed to be searching her very soul. - -“Do ye live here?” was the next question. - -“For the present, yes.” - -“Ye don’t reckon ye’ve seen a stranger on a bay mare passin’ here -this mornin’, do ye?” he questioned, leaning over and peering into -the face of the Overland girl. - -“No, sir. No one has passed here, so far as I know, since daylight. -I don’t know who passed before that. Why do you ask?” - -“We’re a posse on the track of a hoss thief. The bay mare he rode -was stole, and some gold he had was stole, too.” - -“Indeed!” observed Elfreda. - -“We trailed the thief this way, but back a piece we kind of lost the -trail,” volunteered the Hawk, grinning apologetically. “Be ye -alone?” - -“Oh, no. I am with a party. They are not here now, but I look for -them to arrive shortly,” she answered, trying hard not to appear -disturbed. - -“Well, so long. We’ll be on our way.” The man swung off his hat and, -wheeling his horse about, jogged along. Her heart sank as she saw -that the riders were taking a direction, which, if followed on, -would lead perilously close to the spot at which she had secreted -Sam Petersen’s horse. She regarded each man keenly as they passed -her, and theirs she saw on close inspection were hard, callous, -reckless faces. There was coldness, there was daring, in them. - -The last man in the line, younger than his companions, while his -face was also cold, appeared to be of a character different from the -others. There was a poise of the head, a grace in riding, and in the -manner with which he bowed as he swung his hat low, that singled him -out as a man somewhat above his fellows, in intelligence at least. - -The riders were out of sight in a moment, and, with their passing, -Elfreda Briggs’ knees grew suddenly weak. She staggered into the -cabin and sat down heavily. - -“Had they come in I don’t know what I should have done,” murmured -the girl, placing a hand on the diary that she had hidden in her -blouse. The bag of nuggets and “dust” lay in plain sight near the -bunk on which Sam Petersen lay. Elfreda hurriedly sprang up and -secreted the bag under the blankets. Then a sudden thought came to -her. She recalled that the old prospector wore a holster, and that -she had noticed the size of the revolver butt that protruded from -it. Instant determination to possess herself of the weapon seized -her. - -“They will return! I feel it!” she cried. - -It took but a moment to get the weapon and the cartridge belt, to -both of which the girl gave critical inspection, for Elfreda had -handled revolvers, both in France in wartime, and on their annual -summer outings in the saddle. The weapon was loaded, and several -rounds of cartridges still remained in the belt. - -“There!” she exclaimed, after strapping the holster on. “I at least -have the means of defending myself. Hark!” - -Hoof-beats were plainly audible, but they seemed to be those of only -one horse. A glance through the doorway, without revealing herself, -verified this. - -“It’s the good-looking one,” breathed Elfreda, retiring into the -shadows and giving her holster a shift. “I must go out. It never -will do to let that man come into the cabin,” she decided as she -stepped to the door with an expression of surprised inquiry in her -eyes. - -“Ye didn’t think I’d be back so soon, did ye?” he grinned. - -“I don’t think I looked for you to return,” Elfreda replied. “What -is it you wish?” - -“I reckoned as I’d like a drink of water.” - -“Wait. I will fetch a dipper. The spring is just beyond the stump -over yonder.” Elfreda was out with a dipper in her hand in a moment, -and held it up to him, but the rider did not take it. He swung from -the saddle and stood leaning against his mount, regarding her with -something like a twinkle in his eyes. Elfreda saw that twinkle and -was reassured. - -“I see ye’ve got your hardware on,” he said, pointing to the -revolver. “Purty sizable gun for a lady, eh? Ye didn’t have it on -when I was here before.” - -“Perhaps I was expecting more company after you went off. Why do you -ask?” - -The rider shrugged his shoulders. - -“Reckon I’ll take that dipper now,” he said, extending a hand for -it. Elfreda gave it to him, and keen as his eyes were, it is -doubtful if he discovered the fear that Elfreda felt. After stepping -back she got a broom and began sweeping up the cabin floor, which -she was still doing when the man returned from the spring. Hearing -him coming, she stepped outside. - -“Thankee,” he said, returning the dipper. - -“What would ye say, lady, if I told ye I wanted to search the -shack?” he asked. - -“I should say _no!_” was the emphatic reply. - -“And what if I decided to do it anyhow?” grinned the mountain rider. - -“I’d shoot you!” she answered coldly. - -“Sufferin’ cats! I believe ye would. Never can tell what these quiet -kind might do. Can I have a look at the little toy?” he teased. - -“You may look at the muzzle, if you wish.” - -The fellow laughed and slapped his thigh. - -“Ye’re a cool one, I’ll tell them all.” - -“Thank you.” Elfreda was covertly watching every movement of her -caller, every expression of face and eyes, and she could not but -feel that he was unusually confident about something. Rack her brain -as she might, she could not think what that something might be, -unless Hawk’s party had discovered the bay mare, which she did not -believe was a fact, for the party had swerved off to the right after -leaving the vicinity of the forest cabin. - -“If I reckerlect, lady, ye told the boss that ye hadn’t seen any -strangers hereabouts—a fellow on a bay mare, an old party and a -tough one.” - -“I told you no one had passed here, and to the latter part of your -question I am free to say that your party included the only ‘tough -ones’ I have seen since coming into the forest.” - -“So! I reckon I see the p’int. Lady, what about that saddle over -there in the brush?” - -Elfreda could feel her face going pale. - -“The—the saddle!” she gasped, but instantly recovered herself. “What -saddle do you mean?” - -“I mean Sam Petersen’s saddle. I’d know that leather among all the -rest in the Cascade range. He stole that, too. Now where’s the bay -mare? He sure didn’t ride her away without the saddle.” - -“Find him, if you want to know. Don’t ask me! As for the saddle that -you say is over yonder in the brush, draw whatever conclusions you -wish. Is that all? If so, I have work to do and will go to it,” -announced J. Elfreda with great dignity. - -“I reckon that’s ’bout all, ’cept that I’d like to look over that -shack.” - -“Very well, you may step up to the door and look in, but no farther -if you value your life,” replied Elfreda, turning her back on him -and stepping through the doorway. - -The visitor was not slow to accept the invitation. He reached the -threshold, and was about to stride into the cabin when he suddenly -found himself facing the old prospector’s revolver, held in the -steady hand of Elfreda Briggs. - -“You may take a look at the revolver now if you like,” she offered. -“Stay where you are!” - -A glint came into the man’s eyes, a glint of danger, but it faded -and he laughed. - -“Very neat, Miss. I think I’ll take a look at that bunk over there, -and that there hole in the floor with the trap door in it.” - -“Out! Instantly!” Elfreda’s voice rang out with a new note in it. - -The unwelcome guest’s hand sagged slowly towards his own holster. - -“Hands up! Quick!” - -The man obeyed, his eyes never leaving hers, nor did Elfreda’s eyes -leave those of her caller. While he undoubtedly, with his long -experience in quick work, could have dodged and drawn and fired ere -Miss Briggs was able to prevent it, he did not do so. Perhaps he -feared that she might hit his horse instead of himself, for that -animal was directly in range with her weapon. - -“Mount! Leave this place instantly! If you attempt to interfere with -me you will do so at your peril!” she warned. - -“Farewell, lady,” he answered mockingly. “I shall see ye just the -same, and ye will answer my questions next time.” The fellow swung -into his saddle, Miss Briggs still keeping her weapon trained on him -as she followed him out. - -Then she saw the man suddenly stiffen in his saddle, and what -followed came at such speed that she was dazed. The fellow’s -revolver leaped, it seemed to her, from its holster and met his hand -half way. There was a sudden report, and a faint puff of grayish -smoke from the muzzle. - -A fraction of a second, after the report of his weapon, brought a -shot from somewhere to the left of the Overland girl. The bandit’s -horse jumped, and to Elfreda it was plain that the animal had been -hit. It reared, and its rider toppled over and plunged backwards to -the ground. - -[Illustration: The Bandit Was Using Elfreda as a Shield.] - -“He’s killed!” cried Miss Briggs, dropping her own weapon and -running to the prostrate bandit who lay where he had fallen, his -face turned to one side, and half hidden by his sombrero. She gave -no thought to the peril that she might be inviting by aiding the -ruffian. Her one thought was to give aid. - -The girl was bending over him, when, in a flash, the fellow was on -his feet, and two sinewy hands had grabbed her arms and whirled her -about in the direction of the shot that had been fired at him. -Elfreda Briggs had walked into a trap! - -That was not all. A report at her ear was followed by another and -another. The bandit was shooting over her shoulder, using the -Overland girl as a shield. - -There were no answering shots, nor could Elfreda see what the bandit -had been shooting at, but she stood frozen, while he, alert and -cool, kept his gaze fixed on a clump of bushes a few dozen yards -ahead of them. - -Elfreda had not uttered a sound. She was trembling, but rather than -have the man using her as a shield know this she summoned all her -will power and gained control of herself. - -The bandit fired again. The shooting, so close to her ear, fairly -deafened her. Elfreda had another cause for worry, for she did not -know at what instant the bandit’s enemy might conclude to fire -again. To a person in her position, that was not a comforting -thought. No answering shot came, and the girl drew a long breath of -relief. - -Not a word had passed between them up to this point, but now she -spoke. - -“You coward!” breathed Elfreda. - -“Had to do it,” was the brief reply. - -“You will pay dearly for this,” she threatened. - -“Shut up! I’ll give ye a clout over the head if ye don’t, and I’d -hate to do that to a purty gal like—” _Bang!_ - -The bandit fired. Then a strange thing happened, and Elfreda was -hurled forward on her face with unexpected violence. - - - - - CHAPTER VIII - - STACY TAKES A HAND - - -“Wow! I’ll show you that you can’t steal my beans and my fish!” -yelled an angry voice behind Miss Briggs. The outlaw was pulling -himself together and unsteadily getting to his feet just as Elfreda -sprang to hers. Then there sounded a sudden whack, a grunt, and the -bandit again measured his length on the ground, after receiving -another blow on the head. - -“Stacy! Stacy Brown!” cried Elfreda, for it was Stacy who had stolen -up behind the bandit and clouted the outlaw on the head with a stick -just after the fellow had fired his last shot. - -Ere the man had fully recovered from this last whack, Chunky had -sprung forward and snatched up the bandit’s weapon. - -“Now you get out of this before I get mad. I’m only out of patience -now, but when I’m mad I’m a dangerous man. Get!” - -With his own revolver trained on him, the bandit evidently -considered prudence the wise course. He had not yet fully recovered -from Stacy’s last wallop, and staggered as he ran to his horse. As -he swung into his saddle, a shot from somewhere brought a grunt from -the fellow, and the Overlander saw the bandit shudder. - -“Don’t shoot! He’s hit,” warned Elfreda. - -“I didn’t shoot this time. It was someone else,” flung back the boy. -“You move, and you move fast. And next time you steal a fellow’s -beans and fish, you pick out some fellow who’ll stand for it!” - -The outlaw rode away at a brisk gallop, swaying a little in his -saddle, still considerably dazed from Stacy’s two wallops, and in -pain from the bullet that had hit him. - -“Stacy! Oh, Stacy!” cried Elfreda, running to the boy and throwing -both arms about him. “You wonderful boy! I never thought you had -such courage.” - -“Courage? I’m a hero! I always was. All I needed was the opportunity -to show that I am. I ought to have a medal.” - -“You shall have one. Do—do you think he will come back?” she asked -with an apprehensive glance in the direction taken by the outlaw. - -“Come back? Why, I should say he wouldn’t. That fellow is scared -stiff. You couldn’t drag him back here.” - -“There are others, Stacy. You don’t know all. They were all here, -and after they went away he came back and—” - -“Others?” Stacy’s face went solemn. “If that’s the case, I reckon -we’d better run while the running is good.” - -“I can’t, not yet. I must talk with you. There is something to be -done before we leave. But you were so brave, and all the time you -were hiding behind the bushes, letting that desperate fellow shoot -at you without your firing a shot fearing that you might hit me. It -was wonderful! What did you mean when you accused the man of -stealing your fish—had you seen him before?” - -“Of course I had seen him. He tried to interfere with me while I was -fishing for a mess of trout for you yesterday afternoon. I did get a -mess of them, beauties, too,” declared Stacy boastfully. “I finally -got tired; the bait gave out, so I ate part of a can of beans and -lay down for a nap. Well, I didn’t wake up, I guess, until this -morning. The fish were gone, and so were the rest of the beans. I -tell you I was good and angry. When I got here you were having your -misunderstanding with the ruffian.” - -“And you really were in those bushes shooting at him?” - -“I was in the bushes all right.” - -“But who fired that last shot that hit him?” demanded Miss Briggs -suddenly, regarding her companion narrowly. - -“The—the sec—That’s so. I wonder who did. He was some shooter. But -listen! I know. It must have been one of that fiend’s friends -shooting at me. He didn’t hit the fellow he fired at. Isn’t that a -good joke on the fellow in the bushes, and on the one that got hit!” -cried the fat boy, his assurance returning. “Tell me what has -happened here.” Stacy was stalking back and forth twirling the -outlaw’s weapon on his finger. - -“Come with me to the shack and I will tell you. Tragedy, not comedy, -has come to this place. I would have given anything could you have -been here to help me, for, Stacy, I needed help as I never in my -life needed it before. Listen, for we must lose no time in doing -what we have to do, and then get away from this unhappy spot.” - -They were in the cabin by this time. - -“A man came here last night, wounded and faint. I tried to help him, -but he was beyond help. Stacy, the poor fellow died. Those ruffians -had shot him. I do not think the man who shot him was the one who -made a shield of me, but it was one of the same gang.” - -“Di—died!” gasped Stacy. - -“Yes, in a few minutes after he got here. I have his horse hidden -some little distance from here.” - -“Whe—whe—where is he?” - -“There!” she announced gently, pointing to the bunk. “We can’t leave -him there, Stacy. There is something to be done, and I just can’t -bring myself to do it.” - -Stacy, his eyes large and round, backed hurriedly from the shack. - -“Come on out. I can’t talk in there any more,” he urged, and Elfreda -joined him at once. “Let me think. I can’t do it, either. I can -fight a bad man, or wild animals, but this—this I—I can’t. Why did -they shoot him?” - -“They said he was a horse thief, but I know better. He possessed -information that they wanted. This fellow that you sent away found -the man’s saddle, though I don’t know how he chanced to discover it. -The horse he may have discovered also, but I hardly think so. If -not, we can take the animal and try to find our way back to Silver -Creek.” - -“Yes. Let’s find the horse. We can send Ham White back to do what -you said. Where is the horse?” - -“We will go look for him, but we must proceed with caution,” said -Elfreda. “Take your revolver and I will take mine. You fall in -behind. I will lead because I know the way.” - -Stacy did not appear to relish the mission at all, but he relished -still less being left alone at the cabin, so he followed along -obediently. Elfreda proceeded with great caution, watching the -ground and the surrounding forest. - -“Keep perfectly quiet,” she warned, as they neared the spot where -the horse had been secreted. “Stay where you are,” added Elfreda in -a whisper, then crept forward. - -“This is spooky,” muttered the fat boy. “I don’t like what I can’t -see.” - -“Stacy!” There was alarm in Elfreda’s voice. “Come here!” - -He did not move as rapidly as he might, but a few moments later was -standing at her side, and Stacy blinked as his gaze followed the -direction in which she pointed. - -A handsome bay mare lay dead in the secluded spot. It was the horse -that Sam Petersen had left in her charge. - -“Shot! The brutes!” cried Elfreda. “They have shot her. Well, -perhaps that is better. Mr. Petersen asked me to dispose of the -animal or hide her. What a pity!” - -“I call it a good riddance. Say, Elfreda, you don’t suppose any of -that gang are hanging around here, do you?” questioned Stacy -apprehensively. - -“Gracious! I hope not. Come, let us get away from this place.” - -Stacy was quite ready to move, and took the lead, Elfreda following. -They lost no time in getting back to the cabin, but, as they -approached, Stacy again began to lag. - -“Aren’t we going down to the river and try to find our way back to -our party?” he asked as his companion started to enter the cottage. - -“Not yet. I have something to do in here first,” she made reply. -“Oh!” Elfreda sprang back. - -“Wha—wha—what!” - -“There’s someone in there,” she whispered. - -“Oh, wow!” Stacy jumped and started off. - -Elfreda looked her disgust, and, summoning her courage, stepped into -the cabin. - -“Who is it?” she demanded. - -“I was waiting to see how steady your nerves are,” answered a voice -that brought a thrill to her. A man rose and stepped towards her. - -“Mr. White! Stacy, come in, it’s all right,” she called, a happier -note in her voice. “I am so glad to see you, for I need you.” -Elfreda shook hands with the guide. “How long have you been here?” - -“I came in just a moment ago. My horse is down near the river, where -I picked up your trail and came up here. What has been going on -here? I believe there was some shooting up this way. So it sounded -to me.” - -“The Murrays have been here, and, had it not been for Stacy, I fear -something serious might have happened to me. Stacy really saved me, -even going so far as to let one of the outlaws shoot at him. Would -you think, from what you have seen of him, that Stacy is brave -enough to fight a duel with one of that gang?” - -Ham White looked solemn and shook his head. - -“Our party is very much worried about you, Miss Briggs—” - -“Oh, are they all right?” cried the Overland girl, flushing at -thought of her forgetfulness. - -“Every one of them, but we must get back to them as soon as -possible. Tell me the story.” - -Elfreda then related the whole story of her experiences, passing -briefly over her trip down the creek and the river, and relating the -story of the arrival of Sam Petersen and his death, omitting the -incident of the diary, as well as the story of the lost mine and the -bag of nuggets and dust. - -“Died here? Where is—” - -“There!” answered the girl in a low voice, pointing to the bunk. -“You and Stacy will please do what is necessary. I could do it if I -had to, but so long as you are here it is better not.” - -“What did the ruffian who came back here look like?” - -Miss Briggs described the man in detail. - -“That was Two-gun Murray, one of the most notorious gun-fighters on -the range. He has more brains than his brother, Hawk Murray, and -some personal charm, but he is a cold-blooded ruffian. Is he the -fellow you saw down by the river, that Miss Briggs has told me -about?” questioned White, turning to Stacy. - -“Yes. And he is the fellow who stole my fish and ate my beans,” -complained the boy. - -“I wonder what that crowd was after Sam Petersen for?” reflected the -guide, regarding the two Overlanders from beneath half-closed -eyelids. - -“He had something that they wanted—information or something of the -sort,” murmured Miss Briggs. Elfreda was not yet ready to confide in -the guide. She wished for time to think over carefully what Petersen -had told her, and to examine his diary critically. - -“I don’t quite get it, but I will,” he replied. - -Ham White got up briskly. - -“Come, Stacy. Let us do our duty.” - -“Just a moment,” begged Elfreda. “I wish to do something here first. -Will you two please step outside?” - -The guide gave her a quick look, and his face hardened ever so -little. He bowed and walked from the cabin. The instant he was out -of sight, Miss Briggs got the bag of gold and secreted it in her -blouse. - -“Mr. White, I am going out in the forest to think, while you are -busy here,” she added, stepping from the cabin. Elfreda’s face was -flushed. Hamilton White regarded her narrowly but merely nodded in -reply to her announcement. That nod was cold, and Miss Briggs -realized it. Her head was held a little higher as she walked away, -though she knew that self-imagined guilt was at the back of her -annoyance. - -Ham White knew that there was some purpose in the Overland girl’s -remaining in the cabin for a few moments; perhaps he came nearer to -knowing her purpose than Elfreda imagined. - -The girl sat down under a tree and thought. The bag of gold in her -blouse troubled her. Elfreda took it out and emptied the contents in -her lap. Apparently a small fortune lay there, but, as she gathered -up a handful of the contents of the bag, Elfreda Briggs made a -terrible discovery. - - - - - CHAPTER IX - - MYSTERIES MULTIPLY - - -“Miss Briggs, do you feel equal to starting back to Silver Creek?” -questioned the guide as she returned. “The sooner we get away from -here the better it may be for us.” - -“Yes. Anything to get away from this haunt of tragedy. How far are -we from there?” - -“About thirty-five kilometers, I should say, though it may be more.” - -Elfreda glanced at him quickly. - -“Were you in service in France during the war?” she questioned. - -“Yes.” - -“May I ask in what capacity? You know the girls of this party were -there with the Overton College unit.” - -“I was with the signal corps. To return to the subject of our -journey, I have a horse a short distance from here. You may ride -him, and Mr. Brown and I will walk.” - -“Walk! Walk thirty-five miles?” demanded Stacy in a tone that was -almost a wail. - -“I said thirty-five kilometers, not thirty-five miles,” corrected -the guide. - -“I don’t care which it is; thirty-five of anything is too far for -me. I can’t walk. I have a sore finger. I stuck it on a fishhook -yesterday,” protested the fat boy. - -“Very well, you may remain here if you wish. Come, Miss Briggs. We -must take along some of the provisions that are in the cabin.” - -“Mr. White found those too,” thought Elfreda, then aloud: “Have we -the right to do that?” - -“Within reason, yes. This is a forest ranger’s cabin, and one is -free to help himself.” Stacy ran in and filled his pockets with -cans, and the guide took a can of beans for himself and one for Miss -Briggs, directing Stacy to put back all but one of those he had -taken. The three then set out at a brisk walk, and at about a mile -from the cabin they turned off, and soon found the horse, on which -they placed the Overland girl. After mounting, she secretly tucked -the canvas bag into the saddle pocket. - -It was a relief to Elfreda not to have to walk, and further, it gave -her opportunity to study the wiry figure of Hamilton White as he -strode along in the rear of Stacy, whom he was urging along, much to -that young man’s freely voiced disgust. - -Shortly after noon they stopped to water the horse and to give the -rider an opportunity to rest. They then pressed on, for the way was -rough and progress slow. It was near night when they came within -hailing distance of Silver Creek village, and a great shout went up -from the Overlanders when they saw Elfreda. - -During the absence of the guide, the Overlanders’ missing horse had -come in, enabling the Overland Riders to resume their journey to the -Cascade Range. It was an evening of rejoicing for them, in which the -villagers joined, for the young women of the Overland party had been -of great assistance to them in their trouble. Not alone that, but it -was freely admitted that Ham White and the Overlanders had saved the -village from destruction. - -Early on the following morning, after bidding good-bye to the -villagers, the Overlanders rode away. On the way, Miss Briggs told -her companions of her experiences during her absence, omitting any -reference to the bag of gold and the diary. Even Hamilton White had -no idea that she possessed it, so far as she was aware, though -Elfreda was not so certain that he did not suspect her having the -bag of gold. - -It was noticed by at least one of the party that Miss Briggs and the -guide had little to say to each other that day; in fact, they seemed -to avoid each other. Not so with Emma Dean, who kept as close to -Hamilton White as she could, hanging on his words and showing her -keen interest in him in the expression of her eyes. At supper that -evening, however, Elfreda asked him a direct question. - -“Mr. White, have you ever heard of a stream known as Lost River?” -she asked. - -“I have,” spoke up Stacy Brown. “I fell in it the other night when -they had the fireworks at Silver Creek village.” - -“I believe there is an old Indian legend of some sort about Lost -River—something to do with gold or silver,” replied the guide, -giving her a swift, appraising glance. - -“Is there such a thing as an Indian legend about ‘Grandma and the -Children’?” persisted Elfreda. - -“Ha, ha! That’s a good one. Did they fall into the foaming flood -also?” demanded Chunky in a loud voice. - -“Children should be seen and not heard,” rebuked Emma sternly. - -“Is that why you are so quiet to-day, Miss Dean?” asked the boy. - -“I am quiet, Stacy Brown, because you so disturb the atmosphere that -one has to shout to make herself heard at all,” returned Emma with -great dignity. - -The Overlanders laughed heartily. - -“I reckon that will hold you for a few moments,” interjected Hippy -Wingate. “Got anything more to say on the subject, young man?” - -“Not a word.” - -Stacy did not even join in the laugh that followed. - -By this time they had finished their supper, and Elfreda nodded to -Grace to indicate that she wished to speak with her, and the two -strolled off without attracting attention. They were soon out of -earshot, and Grace suggested that they go no farther. - -“Now what is it that is troubling you, J. Elfreda?” she asked. - -“I have a guilty conscience, dear Loyalheart, and I must confess to -you.” - -“I knew you had something on your mind,” nodded Grace. “So far as -concerns your having a guilty conscience, that is impossible. You -only imagine it.” - -“After you have heard my story you will think differently. Grace, -you don’t know all that took place in the forest cabin—all that -occurred in connection with the death of the old prospector.” -Elfreda then related the story in detail, giving the real reason, as -told to her by Petersen, for the attack of the Murrays. “Have you -your lamp, your pocket lamp?” - -Grace produced her flashlight, and Miss Briggs, taking it from her, -turned a bar of light on the diary that she had removed from her -blouse. - -“This is it, Grace, and here are the notes I made of what Mr. -Petersen told me. I haven’t read the writing in Mr. Petersen’s -diary—I haven’t had the heart or the inclination to do so. I feel -like a thief.” - -“Elfreda!” rebuked Grace. - -“Then you think I have a right to keep this—this thing?” - -“Why not? You say he has no family, no relatives. What you have -shown me is, in reality, the will of a dying man. He gave you what -he had in payment for your kindness to him. So far as his story of -finding the lost mine is concerned, I am inclined to think it a -myth. At any rate, don’t trouble your head over the matter any more. -The chances are that, even if the mine really exists, we never shall -find it, but when Tom joins us in the Cascades I will lay the facts -before him. Tom knows this country pretty well. That is why the -Government is employing him to make a timber survey, and at the same -time, to look into some other matters.” - -“But, Grace, this is going to be a terrible weight on my mind,” -protested Elfreda. - -“And you a successful lawyer!” laughed Grace. “I never thought that -a lawyer could be so conscientious. And think of the romance of all -this,” went on Grace Harlowe with growing enthusiasm. “Have you no -romance in your soul?” - -Miss Briggs shook her head. - -“It is not given to many girls to play a leading part in a search -for a lost gold mine. Even the suggestion of courting peril ought to -appeal to you, Elfreda. I should like to go through the diary with -care. I don’t like doing that now when we can’t see about us, as we -have reason to believe that there may be people in this vicinity who -would stop at nothing to obtain possession of it. Of course, we are -safe here, though. What about the bag of nuggets and dust that -Petersen gave you?” - -“I have the bag. The contents I threw away.” - -“Elfreda Briggs!” cried Grace indignantly. “Threw away a bag of gold -nuggets and gold dust! Are you crazy?” - -“I may be, Grace dear. When I opened the bag, after putting Mr. -Petersen’s horse away, I found that it contained nothing but -worthless quartz rock. There was no gold there. The nuggets and gold -dust had been taken out. Someone had stolen the nuggets and dust in -the short time that I was away from the shack.” - -Grace uttered an exclamation. - -“When Stacy and I returned to the shack, we found Mr. White sitting -in the cabin. I asked him to go outside for a moment, and while he -was away I got the bag. Then I made an excuse for going out into the -forest. On emptying the contents of the bag into my lap I found that -I was the proud possessor of only a bag of worthless stones!” - -“Elfreda! You don’t mean to infer that Mr. White took it—you can’t -think such a terrible thing of him!” begged Grace. - -“I don’t know what to think. He was there; he has acted peculiarly -ever since, and has avoided me. Isn’t it a natural thing for me at -least to wonder?” demanded Miss Briggs. - -“Elfreda Briggs, I am amazed!” cried Grace Harlowe. “Is that why you -have been so cold and distant towards the guide? He does not deserve -such treatment. Were I in your place I should, in the light of what -you have told me, tell him the story that you have related to me.” - -“No, no!” Elfreda said with strong emphasis. “I have no reason for -confiding in anyone but you. Neither shall I do anything farther in -this matter. Gold mines—gold doesn’t bring happiness. Quite the -contrary, so far as my experience goes.” - -“Yes, that is true, but after one has found happiness, gold is a -mighty good thing to keep that happiness from getting wobbly. I—” -Grace paused abruptly. She thought she had heard a sound close at -hand. Grabbing the flashlight, she swung the bar of light about with -one hand, the other hand holding the prospector’s diary. - -An amazing thing occurred. - -The prospector’s diary was whisked away from Grace Harlowe, leaving -in her hand only a leaf out of it that she had held between her -fingers. - -“Overland!” It was the shrill rallying cry of the Overland Riders, -and hearing it, they sprang to their feet and ran up, as Grace -Harlowe’s cry for assistance was echoing through the forest. - -Ham White reached the two girls first, calling out his name as he -charged to them. - -“What is it?” he demanded. - -“Someone was here, Mr. White. At least someone or something snatched -a book out of my hands. I saw no one, but am positive that I heard -someone just before the occurrence,” Grace informed him. - -The rest of the party, with the exception of Stacy Brown, were on -the scene a moment or so later, each with an eager question. - -“Why, Hamilton, you went out that way a few moments before the girls -were disturbed. Didn’t you see anyone?” wondered Emma. - -The guide shook his head. He was regarding Grace and Elfreda with a -curious expression on his face as they came within range of the -campfire. - -“Was the book of value?” he asked, meeting Miss Briggs’ eyes. She -returned his gaze with a level glance. - -“It may have been, Mr. White,” replied the girl, turning away. - -Grace laughed. The incident had not disturbed her, but the mystery -of it did. That a prowler could get so close to her without -attracting her attention hurt her pride. Her companions were much -more upset than was either of the two active participants. Stacy -slept through it all, and did not awaken until morning. - -It was some time after that before the camp settled down for the -night, but the guide sat in the shadows, smoking his pipe and -thinking. - -“Did you hear what Emma said?” questioned Elfreda in a whisper to -Grace as they snuggled under their blankets. - -“About what?” - -“About Mr. White. It seems he may have been somewhere near us out -there.” - -“This affair has several queer phases,” admitted Grace. - -“I don’t care. I’m glad the diary is out of my hands; now I can wash -them of it all, and my conscience at the same time. My gold mine has -gone a-glimmering.” Elfreda laughed, but without much mirth. - -“My dear J. Elfreda, you are not going to get off so easily. Here is -the page on which you wrote the location of the gold mine at Mr. -Petersen’s direction. I had the leaf in my hand when the book was -snatched away, and it just tore itself loose and remained with me. -So you see you are still fated to be a millionaire. Reason will tell -you that the book may not be of value to the possessor.” - -Miss Briggs asked why. - -“Because,” replied Grace, “there can be nothing very definite in the -diary or it would not have been necessary for Mr. Petersen to give -you the definite directions that he did. The matter of real value, -you will find, is on the sheet that I still have. I’ll give it to -you in the morning. My advice to you is to commit those lines to -memory, and then burn the slip of paper.” - -“Yes. I will burn it all right,” agreed Miss Briggs. “Don’t say gold -to me again to-night. I wish to sleep—to sleep peacefully.” Elfreda -made good her word on the following morning, and destroyed the slip -of paper. - -Before the others were awake the guide went out and was away from -the camp for more than an hour. He was just returning when Hippy -Wingate came out. - -“Find anything exciting this morning?” asked Hippy jovially. - -“Yes. Someone was prowling about the camp last night. I found the -spot where the young ladies were sitting, and I also found the -imprints of booted feet. About a quarter of a mile to the west of us -a horse was tethered, and the fellow who was here undoubtedly rode -it, and went north, after leaving this vicinity. Is it your wish -that I run his trail out, Lieutenant?” - -“No. What’s the use? If he is particularly interested in us he will -come again, and maybe he will come once too often and get caught,” -suggested Hippy. - -The guide bowed and went about getting breakfast. The party was in -their saddles at an early hour, turning their faces toward the -north, and the Cascade Range, which was their destination. It was a -glorious day, and even Hamilton White thawed under the sweet lure of -the forest, and talked forest and woodcraft to his party. - -They camped that night in a rocky pass, well sheltered, and with a -mountain stream at their feet. Everyone was tired, and chilled from -the mist that was settling over the pass. Before anything else was -done, a fire was built and coffee prepared by the girls. Then Ham -White began making camp, and Stacy and Lieutenant Wingate cared for -the horses. - -Stacy, very proud of his saddle, which he had ridden for a long -time, in fact ever since he had ridden with the Pony Rider Boys on -their many adventurous journeys, brought the saddle in and threw it -down near the fire. Something fell out of the saddle pocket. Stacy -picked it up and looked at the object frowningly. - -“What’s that?” demanded Grace a little sharply. - -“That? I’m blest if I know,” answered Stacy, his face showing some -perplexity. - -Grace took the object from him, glanced into it, and looking up at -Elfreda, laughed. - -“Here is the book—the diary,” announced Grace, extending it to Miss -Briggs. “Remember what I told you last night? Did I not say that you -would not get off so easily? Stacy, how did you come by this?” -demanded the Overland girl, turning to the fat boy. - -“What’s all the fuss about? I picked it up when I went after my -horse this morning and forgot all about it. Why the excitement?” - -“There is no excitement,” answered Miss Briggs with dignity as she -tucked the old prospector’s diary into her blouse. “Mr. White, Mr. -Brown found the missing book and has returned it to us.” - -Before anyone could comment on the find or ask questions about it, -Ham White held up a hand for silence. - -From far away came a shot. After a little it was followed by two -shots, an interval and one shot. - -“A signal,” announced the guide. - -Hippy Wingate raised his revolver to fire. - -“Stop!” commanded Ham White. “Let the other fellow do the shooting. -We aren’t certain that we want to know him.” There was meaning in -the guide’s words, a warning, and the Overlanders fell silent. There -was also the vivid memory with Elfreda and Grace of the mysterious -hand that had snatched the prospector’s diary, and both girls felt -an intuition of other mysteries to come. - - - - - CHAPTER X - - THE MAN FROM SEATTLE - - -“Someone is coming,” announced Grace, when, half an hour later, her -keen ears detected a sound, faint, though unmistakable. She was the -only one of the party to hear it at that instant, though a moment -later the guide nodded. - -The Overlanders saw him hitch his revolver holster into convenient -position as he stood up and leaned easily against a tree. - -“As I was saying,” he began. “Sometimes it rains and sometimes it -snows, and—” - -“Hands up!” rang out a sudden command. “Put ’em up till I look you -over.” - -Stacy Brown was the only one of the party that obeyed the command. -The Overlanders were too much interested in the newcomer to obey the -command, for he was fantastically clad. The fellow was holding two -revolvers which he kept moving from side to side, his keen eyes -regarding the party appraisingly as well as alertly. It was his -clothing that attracted most attention, for the man was dressed like -a Mexican rancher, with the velvet jacket, embroidered with silver, -the broad sombrero, likewise embellished with silver, and the faint -metallic tinkle of silver spurs was heard as he shifted his -position. - -The keen expression in his eyes changed to a twinkle. - -“Well, well, who would have thought it!” he exclaimed. “A bunch of -foozleheads.” - -“Ha, ha, ha!” laughed Stacy Brown. “Foozleheads! That is a brand new -one. Emma, he is looking at you.” - -The newcomer lowered his weapons and shoved them into their -holsters. - -“Well, who are you?” demanded Ham White. “You appear to be a new -specimen up here.” - -“Who, me? Haven’t you heard of me? I’m Jim Haley, sole -representative of the International Peanut Company in the State of -Washington. I’m known as the Man from Seattle, and I’ll have peanuts -in every home, in every bandit cave in the great preserves of the -State, and all over the rugged peaks of the Cascades if I hold out -long enough. Peanuts are a great civilizer; they are the oil on -troubled waters, and if the wild men up here were to eat enough of -them I’ll guarantee that they never would hold up another -unfortunate traveler.” - -“Bandits?” questioned the guide, regarding the visitor narrowly. - -“Yes. They’ve held me up twice in twenty-four hours, and the last -time they took my horse away.” - -“It strikes me that you are quite handy with hold-up methods -yourself,” observed Hippy Wingate. - -“Peanuts? Peanuts?” demanded Stacy eagerly. “Got any with you?” - -“It will be my everlasting regret that I have not. You see I ate up -most of my samples, then the bandits took the rest of them. This is -a rotten country. I had to get food, and when I smelled your smoke I -took a chance, not knowing whether or not I was running into another -bunch of bandits, and here I am, safe and sound. Luck is with the -Man from Seattle, the greatest peanut salesman in the world. I’ll -have a cup of coffee, if you please, and anything else that’s lying -around loose, then I shall be delighted to take your orders for -peanuts to be delivered at your homes, freight paid, and an extra -bag gratis for good luck.” - -“Why, certainly, you shall have something to eat,” promised Grace. -“Girls, help me rustle some grub for our caller. Were you lost?” - -“Lost? Why, I’ve never found myself since I came into the forest. -How could a man, who never has known where he was at, be lost? Been -held up by these mountain ruffians yet?” - -The Overlanders shook their heads. - -“They are so sudden. Why, they wouldn’t even give me an opportunity -to demonstrate—” - -“Demonstrate!” cried Emma with sudden interest. “Do you demonstrate, -Mr. Hart—” - -“Haley, if you please,” interjected the newcomer. - -“Really, do you, Mr. Haley?” - -“Of course I do.” - -“Isn’t that perfectly lovely! You see, girls, I am not the only one -that demonstrates to ward off trouble. Just think, think hard, that -something you desire very much, will be, and it will be.” - -The Man from Seattle looked puzzled for a moment, then he laughed -heartily. - -“Demonstrate a bag of peanuts for me, then,” spoke up Stacy Brown. - -“That’s it, young man—it’s peanuts that I demonstrate. I’ll see that -you get a fair sample when I get back to Seattle,” promised Haley. - -“Oh, fudge! Everything is food with you, Stacy Brown. Why can’t you -be less gross, and more spiritual?” complained Emma. - -“I presume it is the company I keep, and—” - -“Your supper is ready, Mr. Haley,” called Grace. - -The peanut man did full justice to the meal prepared for him, and, -while he ate, the Overlanders plied him with questions. Ham White -sat back and regarded their guest with interest. White was keen, and -little escaped his alert eyes. - -“That fellow is bluffing!” was his mental comment. “I wonder what -his game is.” - -“Now that you have no horse, what are you going to do?” asked Hippy. - -“Sell peanuts! I’ll take your orders now.” - -The peanut man did, and when he had finished, each member of the -party had given him an order for a bag of peanuts, Stacy being the -only one whose order was a gift. From then on until bedtime the -visitor rattled on, keeping the party convulsed with laughter. In -the conversations that followed the evening’s entertainment, Jim -Haley succeeded in drawing from them the story of their experiences -in the brief time that they had been out, and discovered that he was -not talking with greenhorns. - -Mr. Haley was particularly interested in Miss Briggs’ experiences -with the bandits at the ranger cabin, and questioned her in detail -as to the appearances of the riders. - -“Probably the same fellows that held me up,” he observed, stroking -his chin. “You say the old prospector had something that they wanted -to get possession of?” he asked, turning to Elfreda. - -She answered with a slight incline of the head. - -“What was it?” The question was direct and incisively put. - -“Being a lawyer, and having my client’s interests at heart, I -decline to permit her to answer,” returned Elfreda, which brought a -hearty laugh from the party, Jim Haley laughing more loudly than any -of the others. - -Hamilton White’s face hardened ever so little. - -“Your questions are rather personal, and I must ask you to be more -discreet,” he rebuked. - -“A thousand pardons!” bowed the visitor. “For this indiscretion, I -shall include some handsome oil paintings, which we give only to big -jobbers with large orders for International Peanuts Products, when I -fill the orders you have been so magnanimous as to favor me with.” - -“That’s a mighty indigestible word, that magnanimous thing. Don’t -put anything like that in the shipment with my peanuts,” declared -Stacy. - -“You don’t mean to say you don’t know the meaning of that word?” -exclaimed Nora. - -“Can’t say that I do,” answered Stacy carelessly. “What does it -mean, Emma?” - -“Your education has been neglected. Any schoolboy ought to know the -meaning of a word so common as that,” returned Emma airily. - -“All right, you tell us. I’ll swallow whatever you say—once!” - -“Why, magnanimous means—it means—it means—Pshaw, I know what it -means perfectly well, but somehow I can’t properly explain it.” -Emma’s face was growing red. “Oh, Hamilton, you tell my ignorant -companion what—” - -“Ha, ha, ha!” chortled the fat boy. “You tell him, Hamilton.” - -Grace and Elfreda were laughing immoderately, and Hippy was -chuckling to himself. All knew that Miss Dean knew the meaning of -the word, but that Stacy, with his question, had confused her. - -“I believe the dictionary explains it as being elevated in soul,” -answered the guide smilingly. - -“Oh, Hamilton, isn’t that wonderful?” breathed Emma. “It sounds so -utterly poetic.” - -“You wouldn’t think so were you to swallow it with a bag of -peanuts,” grumbled the fat boy. - -And after the laughter had subsided, Grace announced that she was -tired and said she would turn in. - -“Do we make an early start in the morning, Mr. White?” she asked, -turning smilingly towards the guide. - -“Yes, if that is agreeable to you, Mrs. Gray,” was the courteous -reply. The easy grace of this man, and the evident culture that was -beneath the surface, had puzzled Grace Harlowe from the beginning. -There was that about him that was mysterious, unfathomable. These -thoughts were in the Overland girl’s mind as she turned towards the -little tent which she and Elfreda occupied together. - -“By the way, Mr. Haley,” she added, halting at the tent opening, -“Mr. White will fix you up for the night with a blanket. If you will -bunk in with Lieutenant Wingate, there is room. Mr. White prefers to -sleep in the open.” - -“So do I. In the vast open, with the ambient atmosphere enveloping -me like a blanket, I can ponder over the psychology of merchandising -peanuts better than when I am shut in. All nature assists, the -saplings sap and seep into my brain, into my subconscious being, and -the leaves leave their native habitat to come to my aid, and—” - -“One can’t blame them so much for that,” observed Emma. “Good-night, -Mr. Haley; good-night, Hamilton; good-night, all.” - -“Either that man is a lunatic or else he is a big fraud,” declared -Elfreda, entering the tent. “Which is it?” - -“Just another mystery, that is all,” answered Grace good-naturedly. -“Why worry about him?” - -“I don’t. I have sufficient troubles of my own to keep me from -sleeping soundly.” - -By this time the others were turning in; the visitor had already -rolled himself up in a blanket with feet to the fire, and Ham White -was out seeing that the ponies were secure for the night. He -remained out there for a long time, looking up at the tree tops, -dimly discernible in the faint light. At the same time he appeared -to be listening, now and then glancing back at the silent figure of -Jim Haley. - -At last the guide turned and strode back into camp, and threw his -blanket down beside Haley. But White did not lie down at once. -Instead, he crouched down beside the visitor and peered down into -the man’s face. A pair of twinkling eyes were gazing up at him. - -“You are awake, eh? I rather thought you would be. Now who are you, -and what is your game? Out with it or out you go!” - -“Who am I? I am G 16, and I want to talk with you!” Haley’s voice -sank to a whisper as he made the mysterious announcement. - -Ham White uttered an exclamation, then, quickly collecting himself, -he lay down on his blanket close to the peanut salesman, and for the -next half hour the two men spoke in earnest tones, tones too low for -the Overlanders to hear. - -It was long after midnight, when, had one been awake, he might have -discovered a shadowy figure slinking along at the rear of the camp. -It first paused at the tent occupied by Hippy and Stacy, then crept -on all fours to the one in which Grace and Elfreda were sleeping. -These little tents were open at both ends, though they could be -closed in the event of a storm, and a person at either end, by -peering closely, could see the heads and faces of the occupants. - -Inch by inch the shadow, now flat on the ground, wriggled towards -the two sleeping girls. A lean hand reached cautiously under, first -Grace’s pillow, then under Elfreda’s. The pillows were pneumatic -pillows that were filled with air before retiring, and were soft and -comfortable, as well as sensitive to the touch. - -The pressure of the shadow’s hand under the pillow disturbed Elfreda -Briggs, and her eyes slowly opened, but she did not move, believing -that the hand belonged to her companion. A sidelong glance, however, -told her that Grace’s back was towards her, therefore the hand could -not belong to her. Elfreda’s next thought was that Stacy Brown was -trying to play pranks on her. - -In the meantime the hand crept slowly about under the pillow. It was -time to act, and Miss Briggs, half raising herself on one elbow, -made a grab for it. She grasped a bare muscular arm. - -“Overland!” cried the girl, and the familiar thrilling call of -distress awakened every person in the camp with the exception of -Stacy Brown. Then darkness overwhelmed Elfreda and she knew no more. - -Grace, awakened by the cry, threw her arms about the neck of her -companion. - -“Elfreda! Elfreda! What is it?” - -There was no reply. - -“Overland! Quick! Something has happened to Elfreda!” she cried, -springing from her blanket, as the quick, sharp report of a revolver -smote the ears of the campers. - - - - - CHAPTER XI - - BELIEVERS IN SAFETY FIRST - - -Bang! Bang! Bang! The air seemed filled with explosions of rifles -and revolvers, and the Overland camp was in an uproar in a moment, -even Stacy Brown rousing himself sufficiently to sit up and take -quick notice. The instant the shooting began Stacy, concluding that -his services were not needed, lay down with his blanket drawn up -over his head. - -“Safety first,” muttered the boy as a bullet tore a hole through his -little dog tent. “Wow! I wonder what all the excitement is about?” - -Grace and Stacy were the only ones of the outfit who had not run out -following the alarm. Grace had turned her pocket lamp on Elfreda’s -face. It was a pallid face that she looked upon. - -“Elfreda! Elfreda! What is it?” begged Grace. “Oh, what is it?” - -Miss Briggs was breathing, but was unconscious. - -The shooting died away as suddenly as it had started, and then Emma -and Nora ran to Grace’s tent, crying out to know what had happened. - -“I don’t know, girls. Please hold the light so I can examine her. I -heard Elfreda scream, then came the shooting, and that is all I know -about it,” answered Grace. Her nimble fingers ran over her -companion’s head, neck and shoulders, for Grace’s experience in the -hospital service in France had not only made her efficient in -emergencies, but had taught her to keep her own self well in hand. - -“Ah! Here it is.” - -“Wha—what!” gasped Nora. - -“A lump on the top of her head, well down near the forehead. She has -been dealt a heavy blow, but with what, I can’t say. Fetch water. We -must try to revive her.” - -Lieutenant Hippy Wingate came running up at this juncture, revolver -in hand. - -“What is it?” he demanded. - -“Elfreda has been knocked out,” Nora told him. - -“With what?” - -“I don’t know, Hippy,” spoke up Grace. “Please go away. This is no -place for you. Stand by in case we need you. Where is the guide?” - -“He is trying to find out if there are prowlers about here. I think -he found someone, for I heard a man yell,” Hippy informed them as he -left the tent. - -Reviving Elfreda was a matter of only a few minutes after they began -bathing her face and rubbing her body. Grace then uttered a sigh of -relief. - -“What—what happened to you?” stammered Emma. - -“Don’t question her now. Can’t you see that she is weak?” rebuked -Grace. “Lie perfectly quiet, dear. You can talk later,” admonished -Grace, as Miss Briggs indicated that she had something to say. “You -girls had better step out and give us a few moments’ quiet,” she -advised. “Hippy, if it is prudent, you had better start up the -fire,” she called. “We must have light and warm water. Where is -Stacy?” - -Hippy said he had not seen the fat boy, and then went straight to -Stacy’s tent, where he found him still practicing safety first. -Hippy dragged Stacy out by the feet. - -“Leggo! Wow!” howled Stacy. “Oh, it’s you, is it?” he added. “What -do you mean by waking up a fellow like this? Anything wrong?” he -questioned innocently. - -“Oh, no; nothing at all. Everything is peaceful and quiet. You get -out and help me build a fire, and be lively about it, too. I’m not -in the mood to trifle with you.” - -While Hippy and Stacy were building a fire, the two girls, Emma and -Nora, got water to be heated. Grace bathed Miss Briggs’ feet in the -hot water, for the injured girl was in a chill. A lump of sizable -proportions had formed on her head. This was dressed by Grace, and -in a short time Miss Briggs was asleep. Grace then stepped outside -to her companions who were standing about the fire. - -“Hasn’t Mr. White come in yet?” she demanded. - -“I haven’t seen him. Has J. Elfreda said anything yet?” questioned -Hippy. - -“Not about what happened. If she awakens again, and is then able to -talk, I will question her. Please let me know when Mr. White comes -in.” - -It was some time later when the guide returned. Elfreda had been -awake from her brief sleep long enough to tell Grace what she knew -of the occurrence. - -“Mr. White, what do you know about this?” asked Grace. - -“Not a thing. The first I knew of anything being wrong was when -someone called, followed by a cry. I think it was Miss Briggs who -first cried out.” - -Grace nodded. - -“As I got on my feet I saw a man running, and knowing that it could -be none of our party running away, I fired at him. I don’t think I -hit him. He returned the fire, but at that juncture Lieutenant -Wingate began shooting. Lieutenant, I’ll say you aren’t slow about -getting into action. It was bully. Then I chased the man and he and -I both emptied our revolvers at each other. One of us hit him—” - -“It was your shot, Ham,” interrupted Hippy. “I wasn’t shooting when -he cried out.” - -“Then you didn’t get the fellow?” demanded Grace, addressing the -guide. - -“No. He got away. I wish it had been daylight. That is all I can -tell you. May I ask what Miss Briggs has to say of the attack on -her?” - -“She says she felt something moving under her pillow, and after -waiting a moment she became convinced that a hand was searching -there. She made a grab for the hand and caught a man’s arm and then -lost consciousness.” - -“Fright?” asked the guide. - -“Fright! No. A blow on the head, Mr. White. I think the fellow must -have brought his fist down, for the injury doesn’t look as if it had -been done with a stick or an instrument. That is all she knows about -it, sir.” - -“Was anything taken—did she have anything under her pillow?” -persisted White. - -“Yes. That little canvas bag she carries. There was nothing of value -in it. There may have been some small change there, for most of her -money was in her money belt around her waist. The other things in -the bag were such toilet articles as we all carry to use while -riding—and a little powder,” added Grace smilingly. “Mere men don’t -understand those things.” - -“Thieves!” cried Stacy. “Oh, wow!” The fat boy ran to his tent and -feverishly searched his clothing. He was back in a few moments. “I -knew it! The thief didn’t dare tackle a real man. You see, he picked -out weak women. He knew better than to trifle with Stacy Brown.” - -“Even if Stacy Brown did hide under a blanket when the show opened,” -supplemented Lieutenant Wingate. “I presume, if Elfreda had not -given the alarm, the man would have gone through all our -belongings.” - -Ham White was pacing up and down. They could see that he was -disturbed. - -“The low-down cur!” he breathed, clenching his fists, his face set -and slightly paler than usual. - -“Hamilton! Hamilton! Don’t disturb yourself so,” begged Emma -solicitously. “Be calm, do. I will demonstrate for you.” - -“Aw, let the peanut man do the demonstrating,” jeered Stacy. “Your -demonstrating might do at a family picnic, but up here it is punk!” - -White gave no heed to Emma’s sympathetic words. He stood with -lowered chin thinking. - -“The peanut man!” cried Nora. - -“Yes. Where is Mr. Haley, Mr. White?” demanded Grace. - -“I don’t know, Mrs. Gray,” replied the guide slowly. “I thought he -was sleeping beside me when I sprang up. I haven’t seen him since,” -added Ham White, bending over to poke the fire. - -The Overlanders looked at each other, and each knew what the other -was thinking about. - -“Some demonstrator, that fellow,” observed Stacy Brown. “I’m mighty -glad that he didn’t demonstrate over that fifty-cent piece in my -trousers pocket.” - - - - - CHAPTER XII - - A SUCCESSFUL EXPERIMENT - - -“We might as well move on,” advised Grace. “To-morrow will be -Sunday, and we ought to find a good camping place for that day, and -have a day of rest.” - -“Does Miss Briggs feel able to ride?” asked Ham White. - -“Yes. Her head naturally is still quite sore, but otherwise she is -as fit as any of us. It takes a lot to put J. Elfreda Briggs out of -commission,” added Grace laughingly. - -“That it does,” agreed Elfreda herself, emerging from her tent with -a head bandage like a turban. - -The party were just gathering for breakfast on the morning after the -attack on Elfreda. She was a little pale, but wholly herself. The -Overlanders all shook hands with her as she came out, Ham White -among the number, and, for the instant of the hand-clasp, their eyes -met, each seeking in the fleeting look to read the secret of the -other’s reserve. - -“I have been out since break of day, following the trail of our -prowler,” announced White. “There was more than one man involved in -the game, whatever it was. They had horses, three horses, and there -must have been that many men involved, though only one man entered -the camp. The probabilities are that they reasoned one man would -stand a better chance to carry out their plan without detection than -would a bunch of them, and they undoubtedly were right. One of our -shots, as I said last night, hit the fellow, for I found a trail of -blood drops. Their trail shows that he had to be assisted to his -saddle, and that a companion rode along at his side when they went -away.” - -“Oh, Hamilton. Did you demonstrate all of that?” begged Emma, her -eyes filled with admiration. - -“I read the trail, that’s all,” replied the guide. “If that is -demonstrating, I demonstrated.” - -“Ha, ha!” laughed Stacy. - -“Stacy Brown, you are a young ruffian!” cried Emma indignantly. - -“I know it.” - -“Besides, you show the most abject cowardice whenever courage is -called for. Why not be like Mr. White, afraid of nothing?” - -“I suppose Ham’s a hero, eh?” - -“Yes, you know he is,” agreed Emma, her face relaxing into a happy -smile. - -“Well, he didn’t do anything to save Elfreda’s life, did he?” - -“Perhaps not directly. Indirectly he did.” - -“Then I am the heroest hero of the two. Elfreda, didn’t I save your -life—directly—when that bandit was shooting at—” Stacy checked -himself. “I leave it to this honorable bunch if I am not entitled to -the cross of war with all the palms on it that the old thing will -hold. I demand a rising vote.” - -All except Emma got up, and all were laughing heartily. - -“Carried! We will now proceed to replenish the coal bin,” announced -Stacy, resuming his breakfast. - -Emma had nothing further to say to him, though Stacy regarded her -with large, soulful eyes during most of the meal. Following -breakfast, the men of the party broke camp and rolled the packs, and -in a very short time they were on their way. - -Grace and Elfreda rode side by side, Grace wishing to see to it that -her companion did not overdo herself. - -“I haven’t had an opportunity to ask you if the thief got anything -of value?” asked Grace. - -“No. The diary was not in the bag. I put it under my money belt when -I turned in,” Elfreda informed her. - -“Good for you! I have been thinking that you and I should look -through that book carefully, and if there be information of value in -it, we should make a copy of it. You keep the original and I will -keep the copy.” - -Miss Briggs said she didn’t care much what happened to the diary, -save that she did not like the idea of being beaten. - -“I hope I am too good a lawyer to give up a case until the jury has -brought in a verdict against me. Then, after I have carried it to -the higher court and have been defeated there, then I’m beaten. But -not until then. What about the peanut man? Grace, is he the guilty -one?” - -“Ask Hamilton White. He knows,” was the low-spoken reply. - -“Why do you say that?” - -“From the expression of his face when I asked about Haley. There is -something about those men that I do not clearly understand.” - -Elfreda averred that there were several “somethings” that needed -clearing up. - -“My dear Elfreda, we are involved in so many mysteries that, first -thing we know, we will be accusing each other. To-morrow being -Sunday, I suggest that we go over the diary—get off somewhere by -ourselves and make a thorough job of it,” suggested Grace, to which -Elfreda agreed with a nod. - -Grace, at this juncture, turned in her saddle to see what had become -of Stacy, who had been lagging behind all the morning. He was not in -sight when she looked, but the next time she turned he was observed -back some distance, riding off the trail a little way, leaning over -and catching bushes in his hands. - -“I wonder what mischief that boy is up to now?” murmured Grace. -“Surely he is not doing that solely for exercise.” - -“Don’t you think he needs exercise?” questioned Miss Briggs with a -smile. - -Grace’s answer was a laugh. - -“Nevertheless I owe Stacy Brown an obligation that I never can -repay,” added Elfreda gravely, and to this Grace gave an emphatic -assent. - -The day’s journey was without incident, and was thoroughly enjoyed. -Many trails were crossed, some of which Hamilton White halted to -examine, and then proceeded on his way without comment, unless he -gave an opinion to Hippy Wingate who was riding beside him. Emma -Dean kept as close to the guide as possible, and watched him as -though fearing that he might get away from her. The guide, however, -gave only the most ordinary attention to Emma, just as he did to the -others of the party. - -“Is there much gold up this way, or is it a myth?” Hippy was asking -him, as the fat boy continued with his operations at the rear of the -line of horses. - -“There undoubtedly is plenty of it if one knew where or how to find -it. I never did, never expect to, and don’t know that I should care -to. In my experience I have learned that not only is gold an elusive -substance, but that it seldom brings the finder happiness. -Ordinarily it brings him disaster, even death!” - -“Whew! You talk like an actor playing in a tragedy,” observed -Lieutenant Wingate. - -The guide grinned and resumed his study of the trail. Hippy had -thought there might be opportunity to draw Hamilton White out as to -his career. The Overlander was positive that it would prove an -interesting story, but no opportunity presented itself on this -occasion, so Hippy prudently kept his questions to himself. Emma, -however, kept up an almost continuous chatter all the morning and -most of the afternoon. - -As the day waned, they began urging their horses to a faster pace, -White explaining that he wished to reach a certain camp-site that -day. He said it would make an ideal Sunday rest camp. - -“Do you think we shall be safe there?” questioned Emma. “Oh, I hope -so, Hamilton.” - -“As safe there as anywhere up here—perhaps more so, for we shall be -on high ground where nothing can get to us, at least in daylight, -without our observing the approach.” - -“You know the place, then?” suggested Hippy. “Have you been there -before?” - -“No.” The answer was brief and final, and Hippy wondered how Ham -could know about a particular spot in the forest, and lead them -directly to it if he never had been there. Hippy could find no -answer to that. - -The Overland Riders reached the site just before sundown. The -country about them was mountainous and heavily forested. Back of the -camp towered a huge rock. A little way from it was a smooth level -spot, and bubbling from the rock itself there came a stream of water -almost at ice temperature, as they discovered when drinking cups -were brought and all hands helped themselves. - -“Oh!” cried Grace. “Is there any drink in the world to equal it?” - -“Not now,” answered Hippy Wingate. - -“And never has been,” nodded Miss Briggs. - -The guide gave expression to a wry smile and went on about his work -of preparing for a week-end camp. Lieutenant Wingate attended to the -unloading, the equipment being piled in orderly manner, and, after a -time, Stacy was prodded into assisting him. - -“Mercy! What a peculiar odor there is here,” exclaimed Grace. “Don’t -you smell it, girls?” - -Nora, Emma and Elfreda sniffed the air. - -“Hippy, what is it? Don’t you smell something disagreeable?” -demanded Nora. - -“Now that you speak of it, I do. Stacy, see if you can find anything -dead about here.” - -“The place is all dead,” growled the fat boy. “No excitement, no -nothing. But there may be, there may be.” - -“May be what?” asked Hippy, regarding the boy keenly. - -“Oh, nothing much. I was just thinking.” Stacy avoided Hippy’s eyes, -for his was a guilty conscience. Stacy Brown had been making an -experiment, but as yet he did not know whether or not it was going -to produce satisfactory results. He saw Hamilton White give him a -slanting glance out of the corners of his eyes, and got busy at once -unrolling packs and laying out the tents. This alone should have -been sufficient to arouse the suspicion of the Overland Riders, for -the fat boy never worked unless for some particular reason of his -own. The others of the party were too busy to notice him, and after -a time they became used to the strange odor, faint at times and then -strong, as the evening breeze stirred it into life. - -At supper, however, they did find it most unpleasant, and Lieutenant -Wingate discovered that the odor was always more noticeable in the -vicinity of Stacy, but he made no comment. The guide some time -before that had made a similar discovery. - -Immediately after the evening meal, Mr. White made a survey of their -surroundings, including a visit to the top of the big rock. From -there he found what he expected to find, an excellent view of the -mountains and the forest for many miles about, but the light was -fading, and he deferred further survey until the morning when the -light would be right to see much farther. - -The Riders were tired after their long day’s ride, so all hands -turned in early, and were asleep in a few moments, except the fat -boy. Stacy, by frequent pinchings of himself, and chuckling over the -fun he might have were his experiment to prove a success, managed to -keep awake. - -Giving his companions ample time to sink into a profound sleep, the -fat boy crept from his blanket, moving very cautiously so as not to -awaken Hippy Wingate. Once outside he took a long look at the form -of Hamilton White who lay rolled in his blanket near the campfire, -for the air was now chill. White was plainly asleep. - -Stacy crept to Grace’s tent, then to the one occupied by Nora and -Emma, pausing for a moment at each and performing some peculiar -motions. It would have been difficult for anyone to even guess at -what the boy might be up to. - -“I’d like to give that guide fellow a dose, too,” muttered the fat -boy, again pausing for a long look at White. “I reckon I’d better -let well enough alone, though.” - -Stacy got back to his own tent without awakening a single member of -the party. - -“Humph!” he muttered. “Sleepy-heads, all. Anybody could walk in here -and steal them without awakening a single person. I don’t believe -anything is going to happen at all. That fellow down at Cresco is a -fake, and I’ll be even with him when we get back there. I’ll get my -money back or—or—” Stacy Brown’s eyes closed, his mutterings became -mere murmurs and then ceased altogether. He, too, was sound asleep, -the biggest sleepy-head of them all. - -It was several hours after that that something happened. - -Emma Dean uttered a terrified scream, and Nora Wingate, suddenly -awakened, screamed louder than Emma did. The two girls bounded from -their beds and ran from the tent hysterically crying for help. - -“Hamilton! Oh, Hamilton!” cried Emma. - -The guide had sprung to his feet at the first scream. Grace and -Elfreda were only a few seconds behind him. - -“Merciful heaven! What is it?” cried Miss Briggs, as her eyes saw -what appeared to be a huge form at the tent entrance. - -Both girls ran out at the other end of the tent, then Hamilton -White’s rifle spoke, waking the echoes of the forest, just as Stacy -Brown ran from his own tent in a terrible fright. - -“Oh, wow, wow, wow!” howled the fat boy. “He got me, he did.” - -Stacy’s experiment had proved an entire success, and he had fallen a -victim to his own prank. - - - - - CHAPTER XIII - - THE CAMP IS INVADED - - -“Don’t run. Keep together back of me. Lieutenant, look out for the -rear. I’ll take care of the rest,” shouted the guide. - -“What is it? Hamilton, what is it?” cried Emma. - -“Bears!” answered Grace Harlowe. “I never saw so many in all my -life. What does it mean?” - -The camp was full of the beasts. They were ambling swiftly here and -there, growling, sniffing, pawing, and apparently without fear. -This, as some of the party knew, was not like the ways of the black -bear. Ordinarily a black bear cannot get away from man quickly -enough. Even the discharge of the guide’s rifle did not put the -invaders to flight. - -“Fire into their legs, Lieutenant,” directed White. “We don’t want -to kill them if we can avoid it. Besides, it is against the law.” - -The two men let loose with their rifles at the feet of the beasts, -but in the faint light aim was uncertain, and it was only -occasionally that a grunt indicated that an animal had been hit. - -Out in the bushes the ponies were snorting in fright. Stacy suddenly -uttered a yell as a bear ran between his legs and threw him down. -From the way the bear got away from him it was evident that the -beast was as badly frightened as was the fat boy. The swift work of -White and Hippy was having its effect, too, and here and there a -dark form was observed ambling away into the forest. - -“Now! All together. We’ve got them going!” cried Ham White. “Be -careful that you don’t shoot towards the ponies.” - -Stacy ran for his rifle, and a moment later he, too, was firing -away, and continued to fire until he was pulling the trigger on -empty chambers, but his assistance was no longer needed. - -“I think they are all out now,” announced the guide. “I suspect that -we shall have some bear meat for breakfast just the same, but we -can’t help it. A man has a right to defend himself, though I always -try to keep within the law. Lieutenant, keep the camp clear while I -build a fire so we can see what we have.” - -The coals of the evening fire were still smouldering, and it was the -work of but a few moments to start a blaze large enough to light up -the camp. The bears had torn and uprooted two tents and worked other -havoc. The camp was in a mess. - -Hippy circled the camp. - -“We got one of the beasts, a small one,” he called. “Sure we’ll have -bear meat for breakfast.” - -White hurried to him. - -“Nice fat fellow, too. We will dress him, and then we shall have to -guard the carcass or there will be none of it left by morning.” - -“I think I’ll turn in, now that the excitement is all over,” -announced Stacy at this juncture. - -“You will not. You will assist us to prepare the carcass or you get -no bear steak for breakfast.” - -“I don’t care. I prefer venison anyway. Bear meat is too coarse for -Emma and me. We prefer something lighter, more spiritual.” - -“_More_ is the meat of your argument, as usual,” flung back Miss -Dean. - -With Hippy’s assistance the bear was hung up from a pole which was -thrust through its hocks, and White began deftly skinning it. The -animal was then dressed and left to cool. - -The guide was perspiring freely and so was Hippy. - -“Good work, Lieutenant. I reckon this isn’t the first time you have -dressed bear,” approved the guide. - -“What now?” asked Hippy. - -“You people had better go to bed. I shall sit up, for we may look -for visitors before daylight.” - -“Visitors!” cried the Overlanders. - -“Yes,” answered White, smiling. “You will hear them, and after their -arrival there will be little sleep in this outfit.” - -Hippy decided to remain on watch with the guide. - -“Oh, Mr. Brown!” - -Stacy, on his way to his tent, halted at the guide’s call. - -“Well, what is it?” - -“Suppose you come over and tell us about it, so that we may laugh at -the joke, too.” - -All eyes were turned on the fat boy. - -“I’m going to bed,” protested Stacy sourly. - -“Not now you are not,” decided Hippy sternly. “You come here. Now, -Mr. White, go on with the entertainment. I suspect we are going to -hear something. In fact, I already have a sneaking suspicion that -there has been something shady in this bear affair.” - -“Where did you get the stuff?” began White. - -“What stuff?” - -“The bear-bait that you have been distributing along the way and in -camp?” - -“I—I did—” - -“Stacy!” rebuked Emma. “Be a good little George Washington now, and -confess to Hamilton that you cut down the cherry tree.” - -“I realized that there was something familiar in the odor that we -detected here last evening, but I could not place it. That odor is -here now. It is bear-bait, and we have you to thank for our -unexpected Sunday dinner,” accused Ham White. - -“Stacy Brown! Did you do that?” demanded Nora severely. - -“Well, it was this way,” admitted the fat boy. - -“Why didn’t you tell me that you had the urge to do this terrible -thing so that I might demonstrate over you?” begged Emma. - -“Oh, demonstrate over the wild animals.” - -“That is what I have suggested,” reminded Emma. “The wild animal did -not give me the cue.” - -“Go on, young man,” urged Hippy. - -“I—I thought some bear meat might be appreciated by you folks, and -of course I knew we couldn’t shoot bear, as it is out of season, -unless we had to get rid of them. I—” - -“Close your throttle! You are on the wrong division,” commanded -Hippy. “Where did you get that stuff—I mean the stuff that you -planted to call the bears?” - -“Down at Cresco. I was talking with an old hunter who told me that -he used bear-bait, and could call bear to him at any time. He said I -must plaster it along the trail on bushes, and a few hours -afterwards the bear would come right to the camp, that you didn’t -have to hunt them at all. That is the way to hunt—wait for them to -come to you. It is so much simpler. Well, he had some of it and was -willing to sell it to me for five cart wheels—” - -“Five what?” interrupted Nora. - -“Cart wheels—dollars. I thought I had been stuck, but I wasn’t, was -I?” chuckled the fat boy. “Wait! I have some of it left in a can. -I’ll get it and show it to you,” offered Stacy, turning to run to -his tent. - -“No!” shouted the Overlanders. - -Hippy grabbed the fat boy and hauled him back. - -“We aren’t finished with you yet. Go on with the story. It is -interesting,” averred Hippy. - -“I waited till you were all asleep, then I plastered the tents, and -then went to sleep. You know the rest. It worked, didn’t it?” - -“It did,” agreed the guide. Ham White’s eyes were twinkling. - -“Stacy Brown, aren’t you ashamed of yourself?” cried Nora Wingate. - -“Ashamed? No, of course not. I am proud of myself. The trouble with -you folks is that you have no sense of humor. Even a Britisher would -laugh at this. I haven’t had time to laugh for myself, but I am -going to now.” - -Stacy did. He laughed uproariously and long, but there was little -mirth in his laughter. His motive was to put his companions in a -frame of mind that would make it easier for him, for Stacy secretly -feared they would take sweet revenge on him for his prank. - -A brief period of silence followed the fat boy’s laughter, then the -Overlanders broke loose. Theirs was real mirth, and their laugh -lasted longer. - -“Well, what are we going to do with him?” demanded Hippy. - -“I reckon the young man is right about our lack of a sense of -humor,” agreed Ham. “We have had our laugh; we have some fine meat -for to-morrow, and we have had some excitement with no harm done -except a little loss of sleep and a somewhat mussed-up camp. My -suggestion is that if Mr. Brown will go bury that can of bear-bait, -then sleep out in the woods to-night, we will let him off this time. -Well?” - -“I’ll bury the stuff, yes, but I won’t sleep out in the woods. The -bears might get me,” objected Stacy. “One tried to, in my tent.” - -“That is exactly the point that Hamilton is making,” spoke up Emma. -“Sleep out in the woods, by all means.” - -A long, wailing cry echoed through the forest. - -“Mercy! What’s that?” cried Nora. - -“The coyotes have scented the fresh meat,” answered White. “They -will all be here soon, and some other beasts, too. Are you folks -game for a sight that will thrill you—that will show you the -savagery of nature let loose?” he asked quickly. - -“Yes!” agreed the Overlanders eagerly. They did not know what he -proposed to do, but were ready for anything that he might suggest as -a diversion. - -“Get your belongings, blankets, and such things as you don’t care to -lose. We men will get the horses, and—” - -“Oh, have a heart!” begged Stacy. “What! Ride at this time of night? -I prefer to stay in camp.” - -“You may,” agreed the guide. - -Stacy sat down and regarded the preparations sourly, but when he saw -that his companions really were going to leave him, he ran for his -pony and his equipment. It was but a short time later that the party -filed out of camp, leading their horses, stepping out at a brisk -walk, for White was in some haste. - -After proceeding several hundred yards from the camp, the guide -halted. - -“Tie your stock, and tie them securely, for we shall have to leave -them here alone for a time,” he directed. - -This having been done, the party gathered together, waiting for Ham -White to direct them what to do next. - -“We will wait here for the present,” he said. - -Five, ten minutes of tense silence passed; then a long mournful howl -resounded through the forest. It was answered by other howls farther -away, then a scream brought rustlings in the tree-tops where the -birds stirred restlessly. - -“They’re coming. Move forward cautiously; make no loud noises and be -careful where you step. No one is to use a weapon unless I tell him -to do so. Come!” - - - - - CHAPTER XIV - - THE BATTLE OF THE BEASTS - - -“Oh, Hamilton!” said Emma, as she placed a trembling hand on the arm -of the guide. - -“Be quiet,” he admonished. - -The howls were coming nearer with the seconds, it seemed. There were -suggestive rustlings, and the faint sound of padded feet on the soft -ground somewhere to the right of the party. - -The sensations of the Overland Riders were not wholly delightful, -and their nerves were tense and on edge. - -The howls of the coyotes were mingled with snarls, and between -themselves and the faint light of the campfire the Overlanders now -made out slinking shadows. - -“Mother of Mercy! What does it all mean?” murmured Nora Wingate. - -“The coyotes are here,” Grace informed her. “Don’t be alarmed. They -cannot harm us if we keep together and don’t get panic-stricken.” - -“Silence, please!” ordered White. “We will proceed. Pick your way.” - -They had reached a point further on when the guide halted them. - -“Look!” he said in a low tone of voice. - -The Overlanders gazed on a scene such as they had never gazed upon -before. - -A pack of coyotes were milling and snarling at the carcass of the -suspended bear. They were leaping and rending the bear’s flesh, -springing upon each other in their frenzy, biting and tearing their -fellows. - -A long-drawn howl from the forest was followed by a chorus of yelps. -The air seemed full of hoarse wails. - -“Wolves!” announced the guide briefly. “You can talk now. Your -voices can’t be heard by those beasts with all this uproar. How do -you like it?” - -“It is terrible!” murmured Elfreda. - -“Perhaps, but that is the way, not only of the beasts, but of man, -though man is more cruel. Life is a survival of the fittest. Look at -the trees and you have the answer. The tall ones are the vigorous -ones; the runts—” - -The guide was interrupted by a scream that was almost human in its -quality. - -“Ah! Now we shall see something worth while. Watch!” he warned. - -What seemed to be a big ball of fur came hurtling from a tree, -landing right among the coyotes. Then followed the maddest battle -and the noisiest one that any member of the Overland party, with the -possible exception of Ham White, had ever seen. - -“See the big cat give it to them!” cried the guide. - -“The—the cat!” stammered Emma. - -“Yes. That’s a mountain lion, which, as a matter of fact, is not a -lion at all.” - -The girls were too thrilled with the scene before them to give heed -to his words. - -The battle was brief, but when the lion finally leaped away with a -large chunk of meat in his jaws, three coyotes lay stretched out on -the ground. Whether the lion had killed them, or whether their own -fellows had done the deed, the eyes of the Overlanders had not been -quick enough to perceive. Now that they were rid of their enemy, the -coyotes returned to their savage feast. - -“Say! You aren’t going to let those beasts eat up all our meat, are -you?” demanded Stacy. “I want some of that meat myself.” - -“Is there any danger to us, Mr. White?” questioned a voice in the -guide’s ear. - -He turned quickly, to find Miss Briggs standing at his side. - -“No. We have our rifles, and so long as the bear meat holds out -those cowardly brutes can think of nothing else. We will give them -something to think about shortly, however. I think we have seen -about enough of this, and I am a little anxious about the ponies, -too.” - -“Why?” - -“You heard the wolves howling a little while ago. Well, you don’t -hear them now, do you?” - -“Meaning?” interjected Grace. - -“That they may be attacking the ponies or they may be stalking -us—may at this moment be within a few yards of us. I don’t worry -about our safety. They would have to be very hungry to attack us, in -force as we are, but let them overwhelm a pony and get him down, and -he is lost.” - -The guide paused, and peered through the leaves of a bunch of -saplings behind which the party was standing. He gazed steadily for -a full minute. - -“Mrs. Gray, fix your gaze on that tree with the umbrella top. Do you -get it?” asked White eagerly. - -“Yes.” - -“Let me know if you see anything.” - -“I see something dark on one of the projecting limbs,” answered -Grace, after a long look. “What is it?” - -“An animal, probably a lion.” - -“Ours?” questioned Hippy. - -The guide shook his head. - -“‘Ours’ as you call him is too full of bear meat at this moment to -climb a tree. He is probably still munching under a thick growth of -creeping juniper somewhere, and may remain there all night. That -animal in the umbrella tree must be another lion. Want to try your -marksmanship on him, Mrs. Gray? Take a shot at him,” urged Hamilton -White. “This isn’t a fair test, I know, for you can’t even see your -rifle sights.” - -“Why, yes, I’ll try it.” The members of the party, at the guide’s -direction, had brought along their rifles, as Ham knew that the -weapons might be needed. Grace stepped forward a little, moved to -the right, then to the left, each time peering over the barrel of -her automatic rifle. “I am not certain, but I think I can line up -one sight. Shall I fire?” - -“Sure!” answered White. - -The Overland girl knelt down and rested the rifle against the side -of a tree, but the position did not suit her, so she lay flat on her -back on the ground, with the weapon held between her elevated knees. -It was for only a few seconds that she waited, then there came a -flash and a sharp report, followed by a _spat_! - -A snarl, and a faint squeal, came down to them. - -“You hit the tree, and I shouldn’t be surprised if you barked the -beast, too!” cried Ham enthusiastically. “Try it again.” - -“No. Give the others a chance. The one who brings down the beast -shall be free from all camp duties until Monday night,” suggested -Grace. - -“Here! Let me take a shot!” exclaimed Stacy. He raised his rifle, -without changing his position at all, and before the girls could ask -an opportunity to shoot, Stacy fired three quick shots. - -A scream from the cat followed the shots. There was a lively -scrambling in the umbrella tree, and the dark object that Hamilton -White had pointed out disappeared for a few seconds. The party was -too eager to see the result of the shots to take their eyes from the -tree for even a second. - -“There he comes!” cried Ham. “It’s a hit. Look at him tumble!” - -The lion had plunged from the tree and was hurtling down. He struck -the ground with a loud whack, landing a few yards from the campfire, -where he lay kicking, then straightened out dead. - -From the shots and the fall of the lion the coyotes got a fright -that sent them scurrying to the shadows. - -“Now’s our chance to clear them out! Everybody shoot and shoot fast. -No danger of doing any damage, for our ponies are behind us!” -ordered White. - -“Put down a barrage, you shooters, and give them a kick that will -keep them going. I want to go to bed,” cried Stacy. “I never shoot -at anything I can’t see. It isn’t sportsmanlike.” - -Some lively shooting followed, and the camp and its immediate -vicinity was cleared of the vicious visitors in a few moments. - -“We must get the ponies up in a hurry now, Lieutenant,” reminded -Ham. “You ladies stay out in the open, but keep together with rifles -at ready. Brown, you stay here and look after them. Shoot if -anything develops.” - -The two men started back into the forest at a run, and they were -just in time, for slinking forms were already stalking the plunging, -snorting ponies. - -It took but a few moments to free the ponies and lash them together -with lead ropes, whereupon the men started back to camp. They -hesitated to fire at the beasts, either coyotes or wolves, which -were now stalking the ponies, fearing to alarm the girls. Only a -slight rustling indicated the presence of the slinking beasts, and -that sound continued until the men with the ponies were more than -half the way to the camp. - -“Hark!” exclaimed the guide suddenly. - -“Did you hear that, Lieutenant?” - -“No. What was it?” - -“Three shots. They weren’t from our camp, either—they were farther -away—and I should say from a revolver. Let us hurry on.” - -A rifle crashed. - -“That one was from our party. I’m going to cut loose. You bring the -horses in as best you can.” White cast off the lead rope, and dashed -ahead towards the camp, keeping his mount from burying its nose in -the ground by sheer muscular effort, as the little animal frequently -stumbled, and staggered over obstructions that could not be seen in -the darkness. The guide rode into camp at a swift gallop. - -“What is it?” he demanded, sweeping the camp with a quick -comprehensive glance. - -“There isn’t anything the matter,” answered Stacy Brown, who stood -leaning on his rifle. - -“Then why did you shoot? I told you to shoot if anything developed,” -rebuked the guide. - -“I didn’t say that I did shoot. However, for your own private ear, -not for general publication, I’ll say I did fire a shot. What about -it?” demanded the fat boy belligerently. - -“Why?” - -“Because some fellow was signalling us with small arms. Maybe some -poor fellow is lost. I have a big heart, sir—I am full to -overflowing with human sympathy, so I answered his shot.” - -Hamilton White sighed. There was no answer that he could think of. -Grace laughed at him, and the guide grinned appreciatively. - -Hippy arrived safely at camp with the horses a few moments later, -and was quickly informed of the cause of the shooting. Neither Hippy -nor White liked the thought of revealing their presence, for they -knew that peril might lurk in the big woods for the Overland Riders, -and for that reason they regretted Stacy’s shot. - -“Well, I reckon you ladies had better turn in. We three men must -clean up the camp after the mussing it has had. How’s the cat?” -asked the guide. - -“He is a nice fat fellow, Hamilton,” bubbled Emma. - -“And Stacy made a wonderful shot, didn’t he, Mr. White?” spoke up -Elfreda enthusiastically. - -“I always make wonderful shots,” boasted the fat boy. “Why, I could -tell you of shots that I have made that you wouldn’t believe -possible were anyone else to tell you the same story about himself.” - -The Overlanders laughed heartily. - -“Chance shot!” declared Hippy. - -“I think so, too,” chirped Emma. - -“I think I know a chance shot when I see one,” added Lieutenant -Wingate. - -“I don’t doubt it. You’ve made enough of them,” growled Stacy, and -the laugh was on Hippy. “I’m going to turn in. If the coyotes return -don’t bother to awaken me. I am perfectly able to take care of -myself if they get close enough.” - -“You will help us clear up this camp, Stacy Brown!” ordered Hippy. -Stacy demurred, but obeyed. When Hippy assumed that tone, Stacy knew -that it was best to obey orders. - -The three had been at work for only a few moments when a fusillade -of shots was heard. The shots were from small arms, and were much -nearer the camp than before. All work ceased instantly, and the -guide looked his displeasure at the interruption. He beckoned to the -girls to go to the far side of the camp, which they did without -protest, but he observed that they had picked up their rifles and -laid them across their laps, as they sat down in the shadows. - -“Oh, Hamilton, do be careful,” called Emma. - -Nora snickered, and Emma Dean elevated her chin disdainfully. - -“Sh-h-h-h!” warned Grace. “I hear someone coming.” - -“Help!” The cry was hard by the camp. - -Ham White and Hippy, standing back from the light of the campfire, -did not move. Their rifles were held in the crooks of their left -arms ready for instant use. - -“It may be a trick. Stand by!” warned White in a low voice. - -“Aye, aye, sir,” answered Hippy. - -A man, dishevelled, his clothing torn, his face bloody, staggered -into the camp. - -“I’m done for!” he gasped, and collapsed in a heap. - - - - - CHAPTER XV - - A RUDE AWAKENING - - -“Look out!” was White’s warning to Lieutenant Wingate, as the guide -sprang forward to the man on the ground. - -“Is he dead?” called Elfreda, getting up to go forward to the -visitor’s assistance. - -“No. Stay where you are for the present, please.” The camp was -silent for a moment, then White stood up. “It’s Jim Haley!” he -announced. “And he has been pretty roughly used.” - -“The Man from Seattle!” cried the girls. Elfreda was at his side -instantly. - -“Is he wounded?” she asked. - -“I think not,” replied the guide. - -“See if he has any peanuts with him,” advised Stacy Brown. - -“Stacy!” Hippy’s voice was stern, and the fat boy subsided. - -A quick examination by White and Miss Briggs failed to reveal any -wounds. They brought water, and Elfreda bathed Haley’s face, which, -though bloody, was only scratched, probably by contact with bushes. -It took but a short time to revive him, his trouble being almost -wholly exhaustion. Grace hastened to make a pot of tea, which Haley -gulped down and instantly recovered himself. - -“Sorry I lost my samples, or I’d not have been in this shape,” he -said, grinning. - -“What happened to you?” Hippy asked. - -“Same old story. The mountain ruffians wanted peanuts, so they -tackled me. One taste of the International’s product and men will -commit murder to get more of it. I threw away all I had, and they’re -picking them up along the trail. It was the only way I could get rid -of the scoundrels. Then I got into more trouble. A pack of wolves -got the scent of the peanuts and they tackled me, too, but I hadn’t -any of the International’s product to throw to them, so I had to run -for it. They chased me nearly all the way in. ‘Good for man and -beast’ is the slogan that I shall send on to the International for -use in their publicity matter.” - -The girls were now laughing heartily, but, as they recalled the -manner of Haley’s leaving them, they subsided abruptly. Haley’s now -merry eyes caught the significance of the change. - -[Illustration: “I’m Done For!”] - -“What have I said or done now? Is it because I have no peanuts for -you good people?” - -“I think the young ladies would like an explanation of your sudden -departure the other night,” spoke up Hippy Wingate. - -“Were I to tell you that I ran away because I was afraid, you -probably would not believe me, so I’ll not tell you that. There are -some things one can speak of freely, and others that he cannot. This -latter happens to be my difficulty now. If you feel that you do not -want me, of course I shall not impose upon you. I thank you, but I -warn you that you are not to enjoy any of the International’s -product until you reach home. They eat ’em alive up here.” - -“You are quite welcome to remain as long as you wish. Please stay -over Sunday with us, Mr. Haley,” requested Grace. “We hope to have a -spread for our Sunday dinner,” she added laughingly. - -“You win, Mrs. Gray. Unfortunately, my International raiment is in a -sad condition, but if you will lend me a pair of shears I’ll cut off -the ragged ends and try to make myself presentable.” - -The girls, at this juncture, bade the men good-night and turned in, -for there were not many hours left for sleep, and they were now very -tired after the exciting night through which they had passed. - -A few words passed between the guide and the peanut man, and Ham -White listened with a heavy frown on his face. - -“I won’t do it!” he exclaimed. “Do you think you would were you in -my position?” - -“If the International’s product didn’t pay me I should,” answered -the peanut man, with a twinkle in his eyes. - -“Oh, hang the International!” retorted White. “I give you fair -warning that I’ll not double-cross these young women for you or for -any of your confounded outfit. I’ve done enough already, and I am -thinking of going to them and making a clean breast of what I have -done and then get out.” - -“Don’t be a fool, White. Here! Read this.” Haley extended a folded -slip of paper to the guide, who opened and read it, the frown -deepening on his forehead. - -White handed back the slip of paper, and resting his chin in the -palm of his hand sat regarding the distant campfire thoughtfully, -for they had withdrawn out of earshot of the camp for their -conversation. - -“Very well!” agreed Hamilton White after a few moments’ reflection. -“I might as well be hanged for a sheep as a wolf, but if anything -happens here as a result I shall tell why. Remember that, Haley.” - -“Oh, well, what’s a bag of peanuts more or less?” was the enigmatic -reply of the Man from Seattle. “I’ll take a nip of sleep, if you -don’t mind, and be on my way, but not _far_ away.” - -The queer visitor took the blanket that had been given to him, and, -walking back into the forest a short distance from the camp, lay -down and went to sleep. The guide did not turn in at all, but sat -silently in the shadows, rifle at his side, thinking and listening. -Thus the rest of the night passed, and day began to dawn. - -With the breaking of the day Hamilton White climbed the miniature -mountain, and drawing a single-barreled glass from his pocket began -studying the landscape. A tiny spiral of smoke about two miles to -the north claimed his instant attention. He studied it for a few -moments. At first the smoke was quite dark, then the spiral grew -thin and gray as it waved lazily on the still morning air. - -“Someone is building a breakfast fire,” he muttered. “And they know -how to build a fire, too. That may be Haley’s crowd. Ah!” - -As White slowly swept his glass around he discovered something else -that aroused his keen interest. On a distant mountain a flag was -being wigwagged. He could not see the operator of it, but he was -able to follow the message that was being spelled out. - -Another shift of his glass and a careful study of known localities -enabled the guide to find the person who was receiving the message, -and soon the receiver began answering with his signal flag. - -Ham White grinned as he read both messages. - -“The forest eyes of Uncle Sam!” he murmured. The signalers were -forest lookouts whose eyes were constantly on the alert watching -over the vast forest within their range for suspicious smokes, and -they were having a friendly Sunday morning conversation over a -distance of nearly four miles. - -Ham read and smiled. - -“If they knew they would be more careful of what they said,” he -chuckled, then a few moments later he climbed down, returned to camp -and started the breakfast fire. He fried some strips of bacon, put -on the coffee, and then he sounded the breakfast call. - -“Come and get it!” was the call that rang out on the mountain air. - -The Overlanders thought they wanted to sleep, in fact, they were -hardly awake when they got lip grumbling, in most instances, and -began hurriedly dressing. All were shivering, for the air was very -chill. The odor of the breakfast, when they smelled it, added to the -haste of their dressing. - -“Stick your heads in the cold water and you will be all right,” -advised the guide. - -The girls returned from the spring, their faces rich with color, -eyes sparkling, and ready for breakfast. - -“How are the appetites? I don’t ask you, Mr. Brown. You have proved -to my satisfaction that you can eat whether you are hungry or not,” -laughed White. - -“We are ready for breakfast, sir,” answered Elfreda Briggs. “My, but -it does smell good.” “Where is Mr. Haley?” questioned Grace, -regarding the guide with a look of inquiry in her eyes. - -“He thought best to sleep outside of the camp, and no doubt has gone -on before this.” - -“Why, Mr. White?” persisted Grace. - -“That is a question that I can’t answer just now, Mrs. Gray,” -returned the guide, meeting her eyes in a level gaze. - -“Oh, very well. We will have breakfast.” - -“We will,” agreed Stacy, and began to help himself from the frying -pan, when the guide smilingly placed a hand on the fat boy’s arm. - -“You forget the ladies, Mr. Brown,” he reminded. - -“Forget them? How could I?” - -“It is you who forget, Hamilton,” interposed Emma. “You forget that -Stacy Brown never was brought up.” - -“Give me the chuck!” whispered Stacy. “Heap the plate.” - -White, catching the significance of the request, heaped the plate, -and Stacy bore it to Emma with great dignity. He bowed low and -offered the plate. - -“Your highness is served,” he said. “If you will be so kind as to -call your sweet soul to earth from the ethereal realms above long -enough to feed that sweet soul on a few fat slices of common pig, -you will be a real human being. I thank you,” added the boy, as -Emma, her face flushing, took the plate, her lips framing a reply -which was never uttered. The shout of laughter that greeted Stacy’s -act and words left Emma without speech. Nor did she speak more than -once during the meal, then only to ask for another cup of coffee. - -Breakfast finished and the morning work done in camp, the three men -went out to groom the horses, while Grace and Elfreda strayed away. -Their objective was the rock from which Ham White had made his early -observation. - -“Have you the diary?” asked Grace as they seated themselves. “Oh, -what a wonderful view. Isn’t it superb?” - -“Yes, I have the diary, and I see the view, and agree with you that -it is superb, but suppose we get down to business before we are -interrupted. I do not believe we shall be spied on here, at least,” -said Elfreda, glancing about her. - -The thumb-worn book was produced, and the girls bent over it, -beginning with the first page. There were daily weather comments, -movements of the prospector from place to place, little incidents in -his daily life, none of which seemed to shed any light on the -subject in which the two girls were interested. - -“Here is something!” breathed Grace finally, and read, under date of -April 30, the following paragraph: - -“‘Plenty here. Dare not dig, for am watched. Picked up in channel -enough pay-dirt to keep over next winter. Channel itself ought to -pan out fortune, but shall have to have help. Isn’t safe to try it -alone. The gang of cutthroats would murder me. Some day mebby -they’ll get me as it is.’” - -“Hm-m-m-m,” murmured Miss Briggs. “I wondered why, if he had made -such a find, Mr. Petersen shouldn’t get out the gold and put it in a -safe place before someone got ahead of him. The diary seems to -furnish a reason for his delay. He must refer to the Murray gang.” - -“Listen to this entry, Elfreda,” begged Grace, reading: - -“‘Queer thing this morning. The sun was shining on the children, and -on grandma’s bonnet, but her face was as black as a nigger’s. I -wonder if that was a warning to me to keep away. Gold, gold! How -terrible is the lure for the yellow stuff. It gets into the blood, -it eats into the heart. It’s a frightful disease.’” - -“That checks up with what Mr. Petersen had me to write down, doesn’t -it, Grace?” breathed Elfreda. - -“Undoubtedly. He must refer to the same thing, but it doesn’t give -us the least idea where the place is.” - -“The man would be a fool to write a thing like that in a diary—to -tell where and how. Anything else? There is something on the next -page.” - -“Yes,” answered Grace, turning the page and reading: - -“‘Though I haven’t found it, I know pretty well where the mother -lode is, but I’m afraid of it—afraid to look for it. I’m afraid the -wealth I should find there would kill me just because of the -responsibility of possessing it. Then again, what is there left in -life after a man has got all he has dreamed of, and yearned for, and -fought for, and worked for, up to that time? Nothing!’” - -“What a philosopher!” marvelled Grace Harlowe. - -“He is right, too,” agreed Miss Briggs. “Suppose we forget about it, -also,” urged Elfreda. “I am tired of it.” - -“J. Elfreda, if I didn’t know you so well, I should believe you are -in love, you are so gloomy. Listen! Mr. Petersen probably has no one -surviving him. He wished you to have what he had found. It was the -request of a man about to pass out; it was a trust, Elfreda. One day -someone, perhaps the very ones who tried to kill him, will stumble -on the Lost Mine. I should say that the prospector’s request imposed -a duty on you, my dear—a duty to go to the place he names, take -possession of what you may find there and keep it for your own. You -can’t expect to make a fortune practicing law, especially if you -don’t do more practicing than you have done in the last few years. I -fear these summer outings of ours have cost each of us something.” - -Elfreda said she didn’t regret the loss of time. Her time was her -own, and she had sufficient funds to enable her to take care of -herself and the little daughter that she had adopted a few years -before. - -“The question is, though, how am I going to find this place—how are -we going to find it, I mean, for what I find is for the outfit, not -for my own selfish self. I—” - -Elfreda’s eyes had been wandering over the scene that lay before -them as Grace slowly turned the leaves of the diary. Miss Briggs -thought she had seen a movement off to the right at the edge of the -rock farthest from the camp. - -“What is it?” demanded Grace, glancing up quickly. - -“Nothing. Go on. Find anything else?” - -“Only this: ‘When the sun is at the meridian the sands turn to -golden yellow,’” read Grace. - -“What does he mean, do you think?” - -“I suppose he means to convey that the bed of the dry stream, if it -is dry, shows a sort of golden strip. That is all I can make of it. -There seems to be nothing else in the book in reference to the -subject in which we are particularly interested. I am certain that -the poor man knew what he was saying; I believe that he believed he -had found what he says he found. Whether he did find it or not is -quite another matter. In any event Lost River and the lost mine are -well worth looking for as we go along. If there be such a place, -Overland luck will lead us to it,” finished Grace. - -“I doubt it—I was going to say I hope Overland luck doesn’t lead us -to it, to our River of Doubt. Oh, Grace!” - -“Wha—at is it?” - -“Oh, look!” - -A black head of hair, lifted just above the level of the rock on the -far side, revealed a low forehead and a pair of burning black -eyes—evil eyes they seemed to the two startled girls. They could not -see the hands that were gripping the edge of the rock, but what they -could see was sufficient to fill them with alarm. - -Without an instant’s hesitation, Elfreda Briggs snatched up a chunk -of flinty rock and hurled it with all her might. The chunk of rock -fell a couple of yards short of the mark, bounced up into the air, -and landed fairly on the man’s head. - -“Who says a woman can’t throw a stone!” cried J. Elfreda Briggs -almost hysterically. - - - - - CHAPTER XVI - - BANDITS TAKE THEIR TOLL - - -“Run!” cried Grace. - -“The diary!” exclaimed Elfreda, as Grace dropped the book, snatched -it up, and ran clambering down the rocks. - -The guide saw them coming, saw that something was wrong, and strode -forward to meet the two girls. - -“What is it?” he asked sharply. - -“A prowler,” answered Grace, out of breath. - -“Where?” - -“There! On the other side of the rock. He was spying on us, and I -think Miss Briggs hit him with a piece of rock,” exclaimed Grace. - -“Lieutenant!” called Hamilton White, and sprinted around the base of -the big rock. Hippy Wingate was not far behind him, though Hippy did -not know what had occurred, nor did he wait for an explanation. He -knew that there was trouble, and that was sufficient for him. - -The two men reached their objective at about the same time. White -was peering at the rocks and bushes at the base of the big rock. - -“Miss Briggs did hit him. See the blood there, and the bushes -crushed where he fell. She must have given him a good wallop,” he -chuckled. - -White began to run the trail, a trail that was plain and easily -followed. Hippy was right behind him, using his eyes to good -advantage. - -“Lieutenant, I think you had best go back and watch the camp. This -may be a trick to coax us men away. Keep a sharp lookout. Have Brown -stand guard with you. There is little need to worry, for we can see -and hear. Skip!” urged the guide. - -Hippy lost no time in getting back to camp, and when he reached -there he found Grace and Elfreda laughing, and explaining to their -companions what had happened. - -They repeated the story to him. - -“Oh, well, let them fuss. They can’t do anything to us,” averred -Lieutenant Wingate after he had heard all of the story. “I’ll sit on -top of the rock and watch over you children.” - -“That’s what I say,” agreed Stacy. “We men can beat them at their -own game, and have a lap or so to spare. Ham will chase them so far -away that they never will find their way back. If he doesn’t I -will.” - -“Don’t be too positive,” admonished Grace. “I think it wise for us -to be on the alert. For some reason those ruffians are determined to -be rid of us, at least.” - -“Oh, I hope Hamilton will take care of himself,” murmured Emma, -whereat her companions laughed heartily. - -None of the girls left the immediate camp all that morning; they -even sent Stacy to the spring for water, much to that young man’s -disgust, for Stacy had planned on having a fine day’s sleep in his -tent. - -Noon came, and the guide had not returned, so Grace decided that -they would have something to eat. The girls got the meal. - -After they sat down to eat, the girls tried to be merry, but they -admitted that they missed Hamilton White, though none felt alarm at -his absence. The meal finished, dishes were washed and put away, and -packs laid out for a quick move, in the event of that becoming -necessary, for by this time the Overland Riders had learned to be -ready at a moment’s notice. - -Hippy from his point of vantage kept guard over the camp and its -vicinity, now and then studying the view spread out before him. The -air was fragrant with the odor of the forest, and Hippy grew sleepy. -To keep awake he decided to get down and walk. This he did, reaching -the ground on the side of the rock farthest from the camp. - -The Overlander, with only a revolver, strolled through the forest -making a circle around the camp, and studying the trees for blazes -and the ground for indications of recent visitors. Now and then he -would sit down, back against a tree, and gaze up into the blue sky -and the waving tops of the big pines. - -The afternoon wore away and Hippy was still trail-hunting. It was -near supper time when Nora called him. There was no answer, so she -climbed the rock, expecting to find her husband sleeping, for Hippy -loved sleep fully as much as Stacy Brown did. - -Lieutenant Wingate was not on the rock, but Nora found his rifle -laying there. She ran back to her companions in alarm. - -“Hippy isn’t there!” she cried. “Oh, girls, can anything have -happened to him?” Nora was on the verge of tears. - -“No, of course not,” comforted Grace. - -“Then where is he?” - -“Probably asleep somewhere about,” suggested Emma. “You know he and -Stacy have the sleep habit.” - -“I don’t believe it. I am going out to search for him.” - -“Nora, you will not!” differed Grace with emphasis. “We will all -remain where we are. To get separated would be foolish. Hippy is all -right, so sit down and chat with us. Mr. White will be along soon, -and some others besides Emma Dean will be glad to see him,” she -added, with a teasing glance at Emma. - -The Overland girls ate a cold supper that night, no one feeling like -cooking or sitting down to a hearty meal. Nora was so worried that -she refused to eat at all, and, while the other girls were equally -disturbed, they masked their real feelings by teasing each other. -Emma and Stacy were ragged unmercifully. - -Darkness settled over the forest, but still no Hippy, no guide. - -“I think it will be advisable to bring in the horses, don’t you, -Elfreda?” asked Grace. - -Miss Briggs and the others thought that would be a wise move, so the -ponies, and such of their equipment as was outside the camp, were -brought in; fuel was gathered and piled up so that they might keep -the fire burning; then the party sat down in their tents, with -blankets thrown over their shoulders, and began their watch. - -It was ten o’clock that night when the hail of Ham White was heard, -and after the tension of the last few hours the Overland girls felt -like screaming a welcome. Instead they sprang out and stood awaiting -him. - -“Well, did you good people think I had deserted you?” he cried out. -“I am nearly famished. Is there anything left from dinner?” - -“Yes, of course there is. I will get you something. First I must -tell you. Mr. Wingate has been missing since some time this -afternoon. We don’t know what to make of it unless he has fallen -asleep somewhere,” said Grace. - -“What! Tell me about it.” - -Nora told the guide the story, explaining that Hippy had taken up -his station on the rock to guard the camp, and that that was the -last they saw of him. - -Ham White was disturbed, but he did not show it. Instead he laughed. - -“No doubt, as Mrs. Gray has suggested, he has gone to sleep. Where -is Mr. Brown?” - -“He is asleep in his tent, as usual,” spoke up Emma. “Oh, Hamilton, -won’t you please find Hippy—now?” - -“I will do my best. Give me a snack and I’ll go out now. I followed -the other trail for something like five miles. There were four men -in the party, only one of whom came near the camp. The trail finally -bumped into the side of a mountain and I lost it. It was so dark I -could not follow it farther. Thank you!” he added, as Emma handed -him some bacon. “I will go right out.” - -They followed him around the rock and watched with keen interest as -Ham White searched for and found the trail of the missing Hippy, -which he followed, with the aid of his pocket lamp, for some -distance. - -“He was strolling,” announced the guide. “You can see here where he -sat down to rest, then went on. Please return to camp. Unless he -wandered off and lost his way, I shall probably soon find him.” - -The girls promptly turned back towards camp, Nora with reluctance, -which she made no effort to conceal. Then followed two hours of -anxiety. The guide returned shortly after midnight. - -“There is no use of searching farther to-night,” he announced. “Mr. -Wingate undoubtedly has strayed away, but I’ll find him in the -morning. Please turn in and get some rest, for we shall undoubtedly -have an active day to-morrow. In any event, don’t lose your nerve, -Mrs. Wingate. The Lieutenant has had enough experience to know how -to take care of himself.” - -Nora went to her tent weeping, Emma Dean’s arm around her, but Grace -held back at a gesture from Elfreda, who had observed that the guide -studiously avoided looking directly at Nora Wingate. - -“Mr. White, have you anything to say to us?” questioned Elfreda. - -“Meaning what?” - -“We wish to know what you really did discover. It was well not to -say any more than you did to Mrs. Wingate.” - -“You made a discovery of some sort—of that we are convinced,” spoke -up Grace. - -“Yes, I did,” admitted White. “I found the lieutenant’s revolver -beside a tree where he had been sitting. His trail ended there!” - -“Meaning?” persisted Miss Briggs. - -“That he was attacked and carried away, in all probability. I found -evidences of that.” - -“What can be done?” demanded Elfreda. - -“Nothing until morning. I have means of obtaining assistance, which -I will employ as soon as it is light enough to see.” - -The girls turned away and walked slowly to their tent, and the guide -stepped over to the tent occupied by Hippy and Stacy Brown. He was -out in a moment and striding towards Elfreda’s quarters. - -“Miss Briggs! Mrs. Gray!” he called. - -“Yes!” answered the voices of Elfreda and Grace. - -“Stacy Brown is not in his tent. There has been a struggle, and the -boy has been forcibly removed,” was the startling announcement. - - - - - CHAPTER XVII - - A TEST OF COURAGE - - -“Sta—Stacy gone?” exclaimed Elfreda Briggs. “It can’t be possible. -He is playing one of his practical jokes on us.” - -“Let us look, but don’t disturb Emma and Nora if it can be avoided,” -urged Grace. - -The two girls, with the guide, repaired to Lieutenant Wingate’s -tent, and examined it, using their pocket lamps. It was as Hamilton -White had said—there was every evidence that a struggle had taken -place there. The fat boy’s hat and his revolver lay where they had -been hurled to one side of the tent. His blouse was a yard or so to -the rear, and the imprint of his heels where they had been dragged -over the ground was plainly visible. - -“He must have been asleep,” nodded White. - -“Yes,” agreed Grace. “If awake Stacy would have set up such a howl -that none could have failed to hear. When do you think this was -done, Mr. White?” - -“When we were out looking for the lieutenant. If you will remember, -Mr. Brown remained behind.” - -“Do you think it wise to follow his trail?” asked Grace. - -“No. Not now. I dare not leave the camp. All this may be part of a -plan. My duty is here, at least until daylight, when I will get into -communication with those who will find both men.” - -“You think so, Mr. White?” questioned Elfreda anxiously. - -“Yes. It is the work of the same gang, but what their motive is we -can only surmise. You and Mrs. Gray may know.” - -Elfreda felt her face growing hot, and a retort was on her lips, but -she suppressed it. - -“Mrs. Gray, if you think I should try to run the trail now, I will -do so, but it would be against my judgment. I hope you do not -insist,” said White, turning to Grace. - -“I believe you are right,” answered Grace. “Come, Elfreda, we will -go to our tent, for no serious harm can come either to Hippy or -Stacy. They dare not harm them.” - -Ham White did not reply. He knew the character of the men who -committed that piece of banditry, and knew that they would hesitate -at no crime to gain their ends, whatever those ends might be. - -The guide got no sleep that night. Mindful of the attacks that had -been made on the camp, he took up his position at a distance, and, -with rifle in hand, sat motionless the rest of the night. From his -position in the deep shadows he commanded a view of the entire camp, -which was dimly lighted by the campfire all night long. - -There were occasional sounds that Ham White did not believe were -made by marauding animals, but none were definite enough to warrant -exposing his position. During his vigil nothing occurred to disturb -the sleepers. - -The graying mists of the early morning were rising from gulch and -forest, enfolding the mountaintops, when Ham White stole around the -camp, scrutinizing every foot of the ground. By the time he had -completed this task the mists were so far cleared away that a good -view of the surrounding country might be had. - -From his kit the guide selected a wigwag signalling flag, and taking -one of the tent poles for use as a flagstaff, he went cautiously to -the high rock that stood sentinel over the Overland camp, and -climbed to its top. - -“I hope none of the girls wake up,” he muttered, peering down into -the camp, which was as quiet as a deserted forest. - -Ham White, after attaching the flag to the pole, began waving it up -and down, which in the wigwag code means, “I wish to speak with -you.” - -It was at this juncture that Grace Harlowe slowly opened her eyes. -Where she lay she could look straight up to the top of the rock -without making the slightest movement, and her amazement must have -been reflected in her eyes. - -Like several of the Overland girls, Grace’s experience in the war -had included learning to signal and to read signals. She was out of -practice, but was easily able to read any message not sent too fast. -Ham began his message, after getting the attention of the persons to -whom he was signalling, at a speed that Grace could not follow. She -did, however, catch a few words that were enlightening. - -“Trouble—Haley—Trail—Send word—Caution—Great secrecy or expose -hands—Fatal to—” were some of the words that she caught as the guide -flashed them off. Then he paused. - -“How I wish I could see the answer,” muttered the Overland girl, as -she watched Hamilton White, with glasses at his eyes, receiving the -message that was being sent to him. - -Grace Harlowe’s, however, were not the only pair of eyes that -witnessed that exhibition of signalling. Other eyes were observing, -but that other pair could not read a word of what the signallers -were saying. - -White dropped his glasses and snatched up his flag, and she read, -this time with greater ease: - -“It may be fatal. Great danger to both. My responsibility. Must have -instant action. This an order. Obey without loss time. Report soon -as anything to say.” The guide signed his name, and the words that -followed the signature filled Grace Harlowe with amazement. She saw -the guide remove the flag from its staff and hide it under a stone, -after which he descended to the camp, passing the open tents without -so much as a glance at them. - -Ham stirred up the fire and put over the breakfast, and, while it -was cooking, Grace came out, greeting him cheerfully. - -“Is there any news, Mr. White?” she asked sweetly. - -“No, not yet.” - -“What have you done?” - -“I signalled to a fire-lookout station that assistance was needed. -It is best to wait until we hear from them.” - -“How, signal?” she questioned, appearing not to understand. - -“By the air route, Mrs. Gray,” was the smiling reply. - -Grace Harlowe shrugged her shoulders. - -“You are a very clever man, Mr. White,” she said, and walked to her -tent to awaken Miss Briggs. - -When informed that Stacy Brown was missing, a few moments later, -Nora Wingate became hysterical, but Grace and Elfreda calmed her, -and the party were ready to sit down to breakfast when the guide -announced it as ready. - -It was a trying, anxious morning for the little band of Overlanders. -White made frequent trips to the rock, observed questioningly by -Elfreda. - -“What is he looking for, Grace?” she asked. “Does the man expect to -find the bandits that way?” - -“I don’t know. Why not ask him, J. Elfreda?” - -“Not I. You know I would not.” - -About mid-forenoon Grace suggested to the guide that he go out into -the forest and see if he could glean any information as to the -direction that the kidnappers had taken when they left the camp, -with either Hippy or Stacy Brown. - -White pondered the subject a moment, then agreed. - -“If you will promise not to leave camp, and to fire a shot at the -least suspicious sound or occurrence, I will go out,” he said. “One -of you had better go to the rock and take station there until my -return.” - -Grace said she would do that. Matters were working out to her -satisfaction, and, after telling Elfreda to take her rifle and post -herself a short distance to the rear of the camp, and assigning Emma -and Nora to the right and left ends of their camping place, Grace -climbed the rock and sat down. After Ham White, following a survey -of the camp and her arrangements, of which he approved with a nod -and a wave of the hand, had left the camp, Grace got up and looked -for the signal flag, which she found under a flat stone. - -“Now! Having disposed of my companions I shall see what I shall and -can see,” she told herself. - -Securing the signal flag, the Overland girl took a survey of the -landscape. A vast sea of dense forest lay all about her, broken here -and there by a white-capped mountain. Nothing that looked as if it -might be a fire-lookout station attracted her eyes. She had used her -field glasses, but without result. - -A moment of vigorous signalling on her part followed, after which -Grace swept the landscape again. She discovered nothing at all. -Another trial was made, and the word “answer” was spelled out by -her. - -Her eye caught a faint something far to the north of her, and -Grace’s glasses were at her eyes in a twinkling. A little white flag -was fluttering up and down against the background of forest green in -the far distance. - -“I’ve got him!” cried the girl exultingly. “I’ve got him!” Then, -wigwagging, Grace Harlowe signalled the one word, “Report!” - -“Who?” came the answer, almost before she could get the glasses to -her eyes to read the message. - -“For White,” she wigwagged. “Report!” - -Holding the flag, now lowered to the rock, with one hand, the other -holding the glasses to her eyes, Grace bent every faculty to -watching that little fluttering, bobbing square of white, that, at -her distance from it, looked little larger than a postage stamp. - -“Repeat!” she interrupted frequently, whenever part of a word was -missed. It was a laborious effort for her, out of practice as she -was, and the exchange of messages lasted for a full half hour before -the Overland girl gave her unseen, unknown signaller the “O. K.” -signal. - -Grace folded the flag and placed it under the stone, then -straightened up. - -“Mr. Hamilton White, I have you now!” she exclaimed, a triumphant -note in her voice. - - - - - CHAPTER XVIII - - THE FLAMING ARROW - - -“Where am I at?” - -It was Hippy Wingate’s first conscious moment since he was struck -down while sleeping with his back against a tree not far from the -Overland camp. All was darkness about him as he awakened in -unfamiliar surroundings. Essaying to rise, the Overlander discovered -that he was bound. Still worse, there was a gag in his mouth. - -A gentle breeze was blowing over him, and at first he thought he was -still under the trees. Hippy then realized that there was a hard -floor beneath him. His head ached, and when he tried to sit up he -found that it swam dizzily. - -“I wonder what happened to me?” he muttered. “Hello!” - -There was no response to his call; in fact, his voice, still weak, -did not carry far and it was thick because of the gag. Then began a -struggle with himself, that, while it exhausted him for the time -being, aided in overcoming his dizziness. - -Hippy heard men conversing, heard them approaching, whereupon he -pretended still to be unconscious. A door was flung wide open, and a -lantern, held high, lighted up the interior of the building with a -faint radiance. - -“Hain’t woke up,” announced one of the two men who stood in the -doorway. - -“Mebby he never will,” answered the other. - -“I don’t reckon it makes much difference, so long as we got two of -’em,” returned the first speaker. “What shall we do—let ’im sleep?” - -“Yes.” - -The man with the lantern strode over and peered down at the -prostrate Overlander, while the prisoner, from beneath what seemed -to be closed eyelids, got a good look into the swarthy, hard-lined -face. Lieutenant Wingate would remember that face—he would remember -the voices of both men—would know them wherever he heard them. - -“Let ’im sleep. When he wakes up we’ll have something to say to -’im.” With that the two men went out, slamming the door behind them. - -The lantern light had shown Hippy that he was in a log cabin. At his -back was a window, or a window-opening, for which he was thankful, -as it offered a possible way of escape. But how, in his present -condition, could he hope to gain his liberty? - -There was no answer to the Overlander’s mental question. First, he -must regain his strength. The leather thongs with which he was bound -interfered with his circulation, and his legs were numb. So were his -arms, and his jaws ached from the gag that was between his teeth. In -fact, Lieutenant Hippy Wingate did not remember ever to have -suffered so many aches and pains at one time as he had at that -moment. - -He began his struggles again, but more with the idea of starting his -circulation and gaining strength than with any immediate hope of -escape. By rolling over several times he was able to reach the door, -but having reached it he had no hands with which to open it. Hippy -wanted to look out. Failing there, he bethought himself of the -window, and rolled back across the floor to it. Exerting a great -effort, he managed to work his head up to the window so he could see -out. - -The night was dark, but the Overlander was able to make out trees -and rugged rocky walls, together with what appeared to be a dense -mass of bushes. The scene was unlike anything he had seen in the -State of Washington since his party had started on their outing. - -“I may be up in the Canadian Rockies, for all I know,” he muttered. - -Hippy sank down, weak and trembling. - -For a change, he rolled back and forth, pulling himself up to the -window again and again, and each time found himself stronger than -before. - -“If I were free and had a gun I’d show those cowards something!” -raged the Overlander, his anger rising. “Why did they have to pick -on me? I wonder what the folks at the camp are think—” - -“Sh-h-h-h!” - -It was a low, sibilant hiss from the window, and Hippy fell suddenly -silent. - -“Keep quiet and listen to me,” warned a hoarse voice. “The gang is -out of range, but we don’t know when one or more of ’em will be -back. I’m coming in.” - -Not being able to answer, except with a grunt, the Overlander merely -grunted his understanding. - -The stranger leaped into the room and felt for the prisoner. - -“I am going to cut you loose. Are you wounded?” - -“No, I think not,” mumbled Hippy, but his words were unintelligible. - -The first thing the stranger did was to remove the gag, which he did -with so much care that the operation gave no pain. Then came the -leather thongs. These he ripped off with a few deft sweeps of a -knife, and Lieutenant Wingate was a free man so far as his bonds -were concerned. - -“Can you walk?” in the same hoarse voice. - -“I could fly if I had to,” was the brief reply. “Who are you?” - -“You wouldn’t know if I told you. Here!” The man thrust a revolver -into his hand. “Don’t use it unless you have to. We aren’t out of -the woods by a long shot. Come!” - -The stranger assisted Hippy through the window, which was -accomplished with some difficulty, for Lieutenant Wingate was stiff -and sore. A firm hand was fixed on his arm, and his companion began -leading him rapidly away. Not a word was spoken for several -minutes—not until they had plunged into the dark depths of a canyon, -through which the man picked the way unerringly. - -“How are you standing it?” was the question abruptly put to -Lieutenant Wingate. - -“Rotten! But I’ll pick up speed as I go along and get my motors -warmed up.” - -The stranger chuckled. - -“Where are we going?” - -“We are headed for your camp, but it’s quite a hike and a hard one. -If you get leg-weary, stop and rest a bit. How’d they get you?” - -“I went to sleep just outside the camp, and I think I must have got -a clump on the head. Ouch!” Hippy had lifted a hand to his head, and -felt there a bump as big as an egg. “I guess I did get a clump. It’s -a wonder I’m not dead. When is it, to-day or to-morrow?” - -“It’s the day after,” was the half humorous reply. - -“Please tell me how you found me?” asked the Overlander. - -“Ham White got in touch with some people I know. They got word to -me, and gave me the tip. The same people saw the gang that got you -heading for the pass where you were taken, so I made for that place -as soon as I got the word from White. I was lucky; I might have had -to hunt the whole state over for you. The gang made a bad play when -they picked you up. We’ve got a line on them now.” - -“Who is we?” interjected Hippy. - -“All of us,” was the noncommittal reply. “Don’t speak so loudly. It -isn’t safe yet.” - -That walk Hippy Wingate never forgot. Every step sent shooting pains -through his head and legs. He stumbled frequently, but every time -the grip of the stranger tightened on his arm, and he was kept on -his feet. - -“When you get to camp, tell your people to watch out. Some of the -gang are still out on trail. I reckon they aren’t out for any good, -and they may be planning to rush your camp and get the rest of your -party.” - -“Why do they want us?” wondered Lieutenant Wingate. “Is it robbery?” - -“Yes, but not the sort of robbery you think. Tell your friend Miss -Briggs that it’s time she told her party her story. She knows why.” - -“I begin to see a light,” muttered the Overlander. “Say! There’s -something familiar about your voice, but I can’t place it. Got a -cold?” - -“Yes.” - -Little conversation was indulged in after that, and at last Hippy’s -rescuer halted and pointed. - -“See that light?” he asked in a whisper. - -“Yes.” - -“That’s your camp. I leave you here. Take my advice, and don’t make -much noise to-night. Keep your fire low, and post guards. Tell White -there is a man out here wants to see him. You need not let the -others know about my being here. I’m in a hurry. Good-night.” - -“But—won’t you come—” - -“Go on!” - -Hippy wavered a little as he started towards the camp, into which he -staggered a few minutes later. - -A cry greeted his appearance, and Nora’s arms were flung about his -neck ere he had fairly reached the light of the campfire. He held up -his hand for silence. - -“Give me something to eat, if you love me. I’m famished.” - -Nora ran for the coffee pot, which Ham White took from her. Hippy -stepped over to him and whispered something to the guide, as he -relieved White of the coffee pot. - -White immediately left the camp. - -By now the other members of the party were about Hippy shoving their -joy at his return. - -“Have you seen Stacy?” demanded Grace eagerly, as soon as she could -get his attention. - -“No. Why?” - -“He, too, has been missing, and—” - -“The curs!” raged Lieutenant Wingate. “So they got him, too, did -they?” - -“Never mind now. You must drink and eat. Where is Mr. White?” -wondered Grace, glancing quickly about the camp. - -“I sent him out on an errand,” answered Hippy. “Ah! The coffee is -not so hot that it burns, but it’s nectar.” - -“Oh, my darlin’! Your head!” cried Nora, just discovering the -swelling there. - -Elfreda was at his side in an instant, examining the lump that, to -Hippy, seemed fully as big as his head itself. Miss Briggs ran to -her tent for liniment, and in a moment was applying it to the sore -spot. - -Hippy’s story was brief, because there was little that he could tell -them. He was amazed when he learned that he had been away so long. - -Grace explained to him how White had reached some lookouts on the -range and got them to go in search of him. “How they found you so -soon, I don’t understand. Do you?” - -Hippy shook his head. - -“There are some things in this neck of the woods that are beyond -explaining. I hope they didn’t give Stacy such a wallop as I got. -But don’t worry about him. They can’t keep him long. Stacy will eat -them out of his way. I was easy. He isn’t.” - -Ham White returned at this juncture. - -“We shall probably have another guest to-night, if all goes well,” -he announced. - -“A guest?” wondered the Overlanders. - -“So I am informed; perhaps more than one. Do not ask any questions, -for I can’t answer them. Well, Lieutenant, you had a rough time of -it, didn’t you?” - -“The Germans could not have done anything much worse.” - -“Would you recognize any of the fellows who captured you?” -questioned White. - -“I saw only two, but I shall know them when I see them, and they -will have reason to know me, for—” - -“Hamilton, who are the guests you are expecting?” urged Emma in her -sweetest tone of voice. - -“Sorry, Miss Dean, but I can’t tell you.” - -“Isn’t that just like a man—making a mystery of everything? I -think—” - -“Hello, folks!” cried a voice from the bush. - -The Overlanders fairly jumped at the sound of the familiar voice. - -“Tom! Tom Gray!” cried Grace, running and throwing herself into her -husband’s arms. “How happy I am to see you, you will never know. I -needed you, Tom—we all have needed you, and I think we shall need -you still more. Where did you come from?” - -“Hello, old chap!” cried Hippy jovially. - -The Overlanders crowded around Captain Tom Gray joyously. - -“How are you, White!” greeted Grace’s husband, as soon as he could -free himself from the welcome of Grace, Nora and Emma. “I have been -looking forward to meeting you, and I knew, from what I had heard, -just the sort of man you would be—I mean as to looks,” added Tom, -grinning. “The men on the range are looking forward to seeing -their—” - -A warning look from the guide checked Tom. - -“I will explain later,” whispered the guide. - -“I thank you for sending for me,” bowed Tom, with ready -resourcefulness. “I knew that the need must be urgent or you would -not have done so.” - -“Yes. I have a double responsibility—a moral and a physical one, and -I felt that I had no right to go farther until I had consulted with -Mrs. Gray’s husband. We are heading for trouble, in fact we have -already been having it.” - -“Tell me about it. I know some of the facts, but I want them at -first hand.” - -“Miss Briggs knows the story. I suggest that she relate the story of -her experiences, which will give you the slant I want you to get. I -suppose you know of the kidnapping of Lieutenant Wingate and Stacy -Brown?” asked the guide. - -“The bare facts only. J. Elfreda, you seem to be the pivotal point -on this journey. Grace is holding my hand so tightly that I shall -have to ask her to give me a chance to listen to you,” answered Tom -laughingly. - -Emma offered to demonstrate to give Tom a “chance” to hear the -story. Grace laughed happily. A great load of responsibility and -worry had been lifted from her shoulders. - -“I will be good, J. Elfreda. Please tell Tom everything—everything, -remember. Mr. White, we wish you to sit in,” added Grace, as the -guide discreetly moved away. - -There followed a moment of silence, then Elfreda Briggs began the -story of the fire, of her arrival at the forest cabin, and of the -dramatic occurrences there. She told of the diary, of the loss of -the gold dust, and of the general directions that Sam Petersen had -left for locating the claim, though Elfreda did not say what those -directions were. She thought it advisable not to do so. - -Hippy got up and walked to his tent, returning shortly and standing -with his back to a tree and his hands in his pockets as Miss Briggs -finished her story. - -Grace took up the story from that point, relating all that had -occurred since Elfreda’s experience in the forest shack, but -avoiding what she had learned through her wigwagging about Hamilton -White. - -Tom Gray pondered over the story, stroking his cheek, which Tom -always did when thinking deeply. - -“The Murrays, eh, White?” he questioned, glancing up at the guide. - -Ham White nodded. - -“It looks that way,” replied White. - -“They know about this Lost River story, do you think?” - -“Most everyone does up here. It is an old Indian legend, and -probably has no more foundation in fact than most Indian legends,” -answered the guide. “Mind you, I am not saying that such a place -doesn’t exist. No doubt there are many rich veins in the Cascade -Range yet to be discovered. Petersen evidently believed he had found -it, but he undoubtedly was delirious when he described the spot. He -had been shot, you know.” - -“When he made the entries in his diary he hadn’t been shot,” -retorted Miss Briggs with some warmth. She checked herself sharply. - -“Not having seen the entries I cannot say,” replied White. - -“What puzzles me is what became of the contents of the bag of gold. -Surely the bandit who came back did not take it, for he did not have -the opportunity,” reminded Captain Gray. “What became of it, -Elfreda?” - -“Have a look at this,” spoke up Hippy Wingate, tossing a small -leather pouch of his own into Elfreda’s lap. - -“Wha—what—” gasped the girl. - -“It is the gold you thought had been stolen, and—” - -A peculiar whirring sound checked what Hippy was about to say. The -Overlanders glanced up and saw descending upon them what they took -to be a falling firebrand, with a streamer of light like the tail of -a comet following it. - -“Look out!” shouted Hippy. - -His warning was not necessary, for the Overland Riders had leaped to -their feet and ran for cover. The firebrand hit the ground with a -thud, and as it landed Hamilton White threw a blanket on it, and -himself on the blanket to smother the flame. The guide knew that -there was a meaning in that flaming visitor’s arrival, and he wished -to ascertain it. - -“Oh, Hamilton, what is it?” cried Emma. - -“The flaming arrow!” exclaimed Tom Gray. “That’s an Indian trick. No -white man ever thought of that. What does it mean, White?” - -“Wait!” The guide removed a thin piece of bark that had been bound -to the arrow near its butt, and from under the bark he drew out a -piece of paper. “It is a message,” he announced after peering at the -piece of paper, and then handed it to Tom Gray. - - - - - CHAPTER XIX - - HIS FATE IN THE BALANCE - - -“It’s a red hot one, I’ll bet!” exclaimed Hippy. - -“Hippy!” admonished Nora. - -“What is it, Tom?” begged Grace, slipping an arm through his. “I -think I know.” - -“You are right, Hippy.” Captain Gray held the slip of paper down so -the feeble light of the fire shone upon it. “It is from Stacy. -Listen: - -“‘Help! I’m in Dutch again. Get me out, quick. They are a lot of -ruf—of fine gentlemen here, but they want something that you’ve got. -If they don’t get it I’m to be shot at sunrise. Oh, wow! They want a -book they say you have, and they want it bad. You are to leave it on -top of the rock by the camp and go away. They want something else, -too—a bag of gold that you or somebody took from that fellow -Petersen. Mebby I’ll see him soon. Do you folks know anything about -the gold? I told them the nearest thing to gold that I’d seen up -here was a sunset the other night. They say the book and the gold -doesn’t belong to you—that one of our party stole it. You folks have -been holding out on me! I’ll be even with you for that. Can’t write -any more ’cause the mail man won’t wait. Hurry, for the love of -Mike! Hurry or I’m a dead one! Wow! Stacy.’” - -“They wouldn’t dare!” cried Nora. - -“Oh, yes they would,” answered Tom. “The Murrays are a desperate -gang. Even if they get what they demand they might put him out of -the way, but it is my opinion that they will simply set him adrift, -in which event we shall find him. How do you communicate, White?” he -asked, turning to the guide. - -“He wigwags,” spoke up Grace; whereat the guide gave her a quick -glance, but the Overland girl’s face told him nothing. - -“Please take your flashlight and see if you can pick up a station -with it, White. If so, tell them where the boy may possibly be and -ask them to send someone after him.” - -“Just a moment, Captain. May I speak with you aside?” - -Tom stepped away from his companions, and he and the guide held a -long whispered conversation. Tom then returned to the others. - -[Illustration: “The Flaming Arrow!”] - -“Mr. White advises against doing as I suggested. He says the rangers -are already looking for Stacy, and that to signal would simply be -putting the bandits on their guard. There are other reasons which he -has given me in confidence. You shall know all about it later on. -Now may I see that diary, Miss Briggs?” - -“Yes, of course. Throw it away if you like. I never want to see the -hateful thing again. What I do think I am entitled to, though, is an -explanation from you, Hippy Wingate. When, where and how did you get -my bag of gold?” - -“Perhaps a good little fairy, knowing my love for the yellow stuff, -dropped it into my mess kit so that I might buy gold plates to use -at meals in place of the luxurious tin plates that I am now using. -How did you get it, J. Elfreda?” - -“Mr. Petersen gave it to me. He said the Murrays knew he had it, and -that it was to be mine for what he was pleased to call my kindness -to him. He gave me the diary at the same time because it held a -supposed clue to Lost Mine and Lost River, a river paved with gold.” - -“I don’t wonder that Stacy accuses us of ‘holding out on him,’” -chuckled Tom Gray. - -“I might, and with very good reason, make the same accusation -against certain persons unmentionable,” retorted Miss Briggs, which -brought a laugh from her companions. - -Tom Gray, in the meantime, had been running over the pages of the -diary, noting every entry made by the old prospector. - -“A leaf has been torn out of here. It looks as if it were lately -torn out. Did you do it?” he asked, addressing Miss Briggs. - -Grace explained that the leaf was torn out when the book was -snatched from her hand one night, of which circumstance she had -already told Tom. - -“What was on it?” - -“We destroyed the leaf,” spoke up Miss Briggs. - -“That wasn’t what I asked you, J. Elfreda. Of course you do not have -to answer if you don’t wish to. I am simply trying to get at the -bottom of this affair as a guide to our immediate actions. It is -very important.” - -Elfreda glanced at Hamilton White. He caught the glance and, -instantly comprehending, stepped back and began poking the fire and -putting on fresh fuel. - -“‘Grandma and the Children—three peaks due east,’” whispered -Elfreda. - -She saw a sudden flash in Tom Gray’s eyes, an expression that -Elfreda was unable to interpret. - -“‘When the sun is at the meridian the sands turn to golden yellow,’” -he quoted from the diary. “This, taken in connection with what you -say was on the torn leaf, is quite enlightening. I think we will -tear out two more pages while we are about it, if you have no -objection.” - -“Go as far as you like, Tom. You may throw the book away if you -wish. It has brought us only bad luck,” said Miss Briggs. - -“I say, White! My suggestion is that we leave this confounded diary -where Stacy directs us to leave it.” - -“And the gold?” - -“Well, that is different. I don’t like the idea of giving gold to -those cutthroats. What is the value of the stuff? Let us look it -over.” - -Tom Gray examined the nuggets, weighed them in his hand, a stone at -a time, and, disregarding the “dust,” closed and secured the bag. -Then he opened it, and weighing out several nuggets again in his -hand, glanced over at Miss Briggs. - -“I should say that there is something more than two thousand -dollars’ worth of nuggets and ‘dirt’ there, of which I hold from -five to seven hundred dollars’ worth in my hand. Elfreda, you -probably will think I have a cold nerve to make the suggestion, but -I propose that we put these nuggets in a bag with the diary and -leave them for the bandits.” - -“What! Give five hundred dollars to a bunch of bandits?” cried Hippy -aghast. “Impossible! Are you crazy?” - -“We may be, at that,” admitted Captain Gray. - -“Say yes. Tom knows what he is doing,” whispered Grace, nudging Miss -Briggs. - -“Of course, Tom,” replied Elfreda promptly. “If you say leave it -all, I’ll say the same. You can’t imagine what a relief it will be -to me to be rid of it.” - -“Thank you. White! A word with you!” - -An earnest conversation followed between Tom Gray and the guide, -following which, Ham White packed his kit, stowed some food in his -bag and brought up his horse. - -“Look here, old top! Where are you going?” demanded Hippy. - -“On business, Lieutenant. The Captain can tell you why. I hope to -see you soon. Good-night and good luck.” With that the guide turned -his horse toward the south, the opposite direction from that which -the Overland Riders were following. They were amazed, and demanded -an explanation. - -“It isn’t safe to say a word,” answered Tom. “I’ll tell you this -much, though. Pack up and be ready to start on a long ride within an -hour. We are heading towards home!” - - - - - CHAPTER XX - - “I’M SHOT!” CRIES EMMA - - -“Home!” cried Nora and Emma in chorus. “No, no, no!” - -“Why go home?” wondered Miss Briggs. “I thought we had just started -on our adventures.” - -“Don’t oppose,” whispered Grace. - -“So that’s the game, is it?” chuckled Hippy, who had been regarding -Tom narrowly, and saw by the expression of Captain Gray’s face that -he had a definite motive in making the announcement that they were -about to head towards home. - -“All right, Grace. He did not say that we are going home,” answered -Miss Briggs in reply to Grace. “I might have known. To leave here -now, with Stacy missing, and our affairs in the air, as it were, -would be unthinkable. I am afraid my brain is becoming addled.” - -“You should demonstrate,” reminded Emma, and Elfreda nodded her -approval of the sentiment. - -Preparations for the departure had already been begun by Captain -Gray, and now Hippy turned in to assist him. Tom soon left to get -his horse, which had been tethered not far from camp. He had refused -to answer questions as to how he found the camp, nor did Grace ask, -but the others did. - -When all was in readiness for leaving, packs lashed, horses saddled, -Tom, taking the diary and the gold, went to the rock and hid the -stuff as the message from Stacy had directed them to do. - -“Mount!” ordered Tom upon his return from planting the book and the -gold, and he doused the fire, making certain that every last spark -was extinguished. He then swung into his saddle and led the way, -heading south, followed silently by the others of the party. They -wondered how, in the darkness, he could find his way, but Tom was -taking the stars as his guides. He was too experienced a forester -not to be able to go in any direction in a forest, day or night, and -go almost unerringly. - -The Overlanders were sleepy and not any too happy. They were -worrying about Stacy, too. There was little conversation because it -was necessary to give all attention to their riding. Riding in a -forest at night is a trying experience, and sometimes a painful one -when one considers the bumps, the collisions of legs against trees, -and the slaps in the face from low-hanging bushes. All this the -Overland party experienced, so their progress was slow. - -They had proceeded about an hour when a distant rifle report was -heard. It seemed to come from the rear. Tom called a halt to listen. -A rattling fire sprang up, and continued for several minutes; then -died out after a few further scattering shots. - -“Can you locate it, Tom?” called Hippy. - -“I should say that the firing is somewhere near the camp we left,” -replied Tom. - -“Oh, how strange,” cried Emma. “Why are they fighting there, and who -is it that is fighting?” - -“Quite possibly it is the bandits fighting over J. Elfreda’s gold,” -suggested Grace as the party, at a command from Tom Gray, moved -forward again. Some time later the leader called back that they were -about to come upon a small watercourse and that they would follow -it. - -“We shall probably find plenty of overhanging bushes, so protect -your faces,” he directed. - -They wondered how he knew that they were near a stream. Tom said he -could smell it. - -“Wonderful scent,” growled Hippy. “Perhaps you can tell us whether -or not the water is wet.” - -“It may be for you if you don’t watch your step,” answered Captain -Gray laughingly. - -They entered the stream a few moments after that, and the going -proved to be even worse than Grace’s husband had predicted. Bushes -hung over the stream and met, forming a bower so low that the riders -had to lean well forward to protect their faces from being -continuously whipped. Not alone that, but the horses were constantly -slipping on moss-covered stones, threatening at every moment to -unhorse their riders. - -Emma wailed her protests ere they had proceeded far, but Tom said -they must take their medicine and be good sports. - -“I don’t want to be a sport,” complained Emma. “I want to sleep.” - -“Demonstrate over it,” advised Lieutenant Wingate. - -It was just before daylight when Tom headed out of the stream -through a narrow defile in the rocks, finally coming to a halt on a -level piece of ground of about three acres, surrounded on all sides -by mountain forests. - -The Overlanders could not see their surroundings clearly, but got a -general idea of them, and immediately begged their leader to let -them dismount for a rest and for a bite to eat. - -“All right! Go to it,” cried Tom Gray, setting them the example by -dismounting and removing the saddle from his horse. - -As the day began to dawn, the girls gazed interestedly at the -terraced forest, at the green carpet of mountain meadowland that lay -at their feet through which flowed a sparkling stream of water, then -up at the dawning day. It was then that Grace made a discovery. - -“Why, Tom, we have been traveling north, not south!” she exclaimed. - -“Too true, Loyalheart,” answered Captain Gray with a jolly note in -his voice. - -“Then we are not on our way home?” cried Nora. - -“No. We are going on into the Cascades, in the foothills of which we -now are. We are going to find Stacy, and then—perhaps we shall find -something else. First, folks, we shall have to meet and reckon with -the bandits of the range. They are determined that we shall not make -a move that they do not check.” - -“Do—do you think they are watching us now, Tom?” begged Emma with -concern. - -“Possibly, but I rather think they are fully occupied at present. I -will let you into a secret. The purpose of leaving Elfreda’s gold -and the old prospector’s diary was to trap the bandits and attack -them.” - -“Who will attack them?” Elfreda asked. - -“Certain officers of the law who were lying in wait about the camp -even before you left there. It was a battle on our campground that -you heard—a battle between the officers and the bandits of the -range. We will now get breakfast and have forty winks of sleep, -provided we are not interrupted.” - -Sleep was welcome, even more so than breakfast. The meal was quickly -disposed of and the Overlanders lay down with their clothes on, Tom -advising them to be ready to move at an instant’s notice. - -They had not been asleep long ere the crash of a rifle brought all -members of the party to their feet. - -“Lie down and stay down!” commanded Captain Gray, setting the -example by throwing himself to the ground. Tom knew what the others -did not—that a rifle bullet had sped low over the spot occupied by -the Overlanders. - -Then came a heavy scattering fire from two sides of the mountain -meadow, and now they could plainly hear the bullets singing -overhead. - -Frightened, Emma Dean sprang up to run to the cover of the trees and -as she ran they saw her throw up her hands. - -“I’m hit! Oh, I’m shot!” she cried, and pitched forward in the deep -meadow grass. - - - - - CHAPTER XXI - - STACY SEEKS A CHANGE - - -When Stacy Brown awakened from the sleep into which his captors had -put him, he was lying across the back of a horse. - -At first the fat boy didn’t know what had occurred; then he recalled -that there had been a struggle in his tent and that a hand on his -throat had nearly choked him to death. A few seconds after that he -lost consciousness. And now he was being carried away on horseback. -“Let me up! Let me up!” he shouted. - -A prod from a heavy boot caused him to utter a loud howl. - -“Shut up!” commanded the man behind him in the saddle on the same -horse. - -“Le—let me up and I will. I’ll yell all the way if you don’t,” -persisted Stacy. - -The boy’s hands were bound to his sides, and his ankles were tied -together. - -For reasons of his own, the rider halted the horse and dismounted. -He then released the boy’s ankles, and slightly loosened the leather -thongs that hound his arms, but there he stopped. - -“Aren’t you going to untie me?” demanded Stacy. - -“Hold your tongue. You’ll be lucky if I don’t clout you over the -head. You hang onto me now. If you try any tricks I’ll finish you -with a bullet between the eyes.” - -“Oh, wow!” wailed the fat boy. “Where you going to take me?” - -“None of your business! Is it any of your business?” The fellow -thrust the muzzle of a revolver into Stacy’s face. - -“N—n—n—no! It isn’t any of my business,” chattered the boy. He was -thrown astride the horse; then his captor mounted in front of him, -and Stacy clung to the fellow’s shirt with the tips of his fingers. - -It was an awful ride, Stacy slipping from side to side with each -gallop of the mount, the perspiration streaming down his face from -his efforts and the nervous strain. - -The ride continued for what seemed hours; then the horseman having -halted uttered a sharp, short whistle, which, being answered, he -rode ahead. Two men with rifles loomed out of the darkness and -peered up at the riders. - -“Got him?” - -“Yes. Where’s the other one?” - -“In the shack. We don’t want to put this one there. They mustn’t get -close enough together to talk. We’ll put him in the trough.” - -_The trough!_ Stacy began having visions of a ducking in cold -mountain water, which thought made him shiver. He was forcibly -removed from the horse and made to walk, with a cold hand at the -back of his neck. He was taken but a short distance from the horse, -then, after his feet had been tied and the arm bonds tightened, -Chunky was rolled into what, at home, would have been called a -ditch. Here, it was a narrow channel that had been cut through the -rocks by water. This was the “trough,” and Stacy was left alone -there, while his captors walked away. - -It was not long after their departure that he heard excited voices. -They were hurrying towards him. - -“Hey, you feller there!” - -“Well, what do you want?” growled the boy in the “trough.” - -“He’s all right. I hope the boys kotch the rest of ’em. Don’t make -no difference whether it’s dead or alive so long as we’ve got two of -’em.” - -Stacy pricked up his ears at this. He wondered to whom they -referred. - -“Come out of that!” ordered one of the men. - -“I can’t fall up. Take me out if you want me.” - -Stacy was yanked from the “trough” with far from gentle hands, his -bonds were removed, and he was permitted to walk, guarded by the -men. Some little distance from the “trough” they rounded a rock and -came upon a small campfire, near which sat two other men, and rough, -hard-faced men they were. They eyed him with menacing eyes. Stacy -did not like the looks of them. - -“Who be ye?” demanded one of the two by the fire. - -“Name’s Brown. Who are you?” - -“What you doing up in these woods?” - -“Riding for my health, but it’s the most unhealthy place I ever got -into.” - -“Know anything ’bout a diary that a fellow named Petersen—a hoss -thief—got robbed of by one of your party?” - -“My party never robbed anybody,” objected Stacy indignantly. - -“Shut up! Answer me.” - -“How can I answer you and shut up at the same time?” - -The man addressed sprang up and struck the fat boy with the flat of -his hand and Stacy toppled over. - -“You’re a coward! A miserable sneak—” - -_Whack!_ A second slap laid the boy flat on the ground again. He got -up, red of face and raging within. - -“If I had a gun you wouldn’t dare do that, you ruffian!” - -“Here’s a gun,” answered the bandit, thrusting a revolver towards -the Overland boy. - -Stacy shrugged his shoulders, but did not take the weapon. - -“I—I don’t like to hurt anyone. I—I—I have an aversion to taking -human life, and if I were to take that weapon I’m afraid I might -forget myself and shoot someone,” stammered the fat boy. - -The bandits laughed. - -“Called your bluff, didn’t I?” sneered the fellow. - -“No. I said if I had a gun you wouldn’t dare do that. Not having a -gun I suppose you can do as you like—this time.” - -“Sit down thar. I want you to write a letter to your folks back -there and tell them that they got to leave the book that one of ’em -stole from Petersen, and the bag of gold, too, under a stone on top -of the rock behind the camp, and then git out.” - -“You mean that I can go then—after I have written the note?” -questioned the boy with a hopeful note in his voice. - -“I didn’t say nothing of the kind.” - -“Then I won’t write it!” declared Stacy with emphasis. - -Another whack from the bandit’s ham-like paw sent the boy -staggering. - -“Listen, young feller. This ain’t no joke. Whether or not you go -back at all ain’t worrying me, but I’ll tell you this much. You -write that letter and say in it that if your folks don’t do as you -tell them to, we’re going to shoot you to-morrow. Mebby we’ll do it -anyway, and that’s what’s coming to you if you don’t write. Will you -write the letter?” - -“I’ll write it,” agreed the fat boy. “Give me something to write -with.” Stacy labored over that letter, and his forehead and face -were wet with perspiration while he was doing it. If he failed to -convey the message, he believed the bandits really would make way -with him, and if the Overlanders did not obey the order of the -bandits, he was positive the bandits would carry out their threat. -For these reasons Stacy Brown took more care in composing that -letter than he had ever done before in writing a letter. - -It was this message that, some time later, landed in the camp of the -Overlanders on the flaming arrow, shot to them by a half-breed -Indian. - -“Read it,” commanded the bandit. - -Stacy did, whereupon the bandits with heads close together read it -over laboriously, one holding the message close to the fire for -better light. The one who appeared to be the leader handed it to a -companion. - -“See that the ‘squaw-man’ pushes that through by the air road,” he -ordered. “It’s got to go through in a hurry or somebody’ll suffer. -Git!” - -“Cap’n!” cried a voice, and a man dashed around the corner of the -rock that protected the bandits. “He’s gone! He’s vamoosed. Don’t -know how, but some varmint cut the ropes and let him out.” - -“Gone! Go after him, men! What are you standing ’round here for? Get -him, dead or alive! Nail that boy first! Never mind, I’ll do it. -I’ll—!” The bandit paused suddenly and a blank look appeared on his -face. “Whe—whe—where is he?” - -Stacy Brown was not there. He had taken advantage of the -interruption, and bounded away. - -“You need a change, Stacy Brown, and you’re going to have it, if -your legs hold out,” growled the boy as he bounded away into the -forest. - - - - - CHAPTER XXII - - A STRANGE VISITOR - - -“Emma’s hit!” wailed Nora, as the girls sprang up at Emma Dean’s cry -and the tumble that they saw her take. - -“Get down!” commanded Tom Gray. “You’ll be hit.” - -Not one of the three girls gave heed to his warning. Elfreda, Grace -and Nora ran to the spot at which they had seen Emma pitch forward. - -Elfreda was the first to reach her. Emma lay moaning, both hands -pressed to her right cheek. - -“Where were you hit, dear?” questioned Miss Briggs with no trace of -excitement in her voice. - -“In my cheek. I thi—think the bullet went clear through.” - -“If it had you wouldn’t be talking to me now. Take your hand away, -please,” directed Elfreda. - -Emma would not do so, so Grace stretched forth a hand and forcibly -removed Emma’s hand from her face. A red blotch on the cheek with a -small white center were the only indications that something really -had hit the girl. Elfreda examined the spot, and a smile rippled -over her face. - -“You poor child! No bullet even grazed you, but something did sting -you,” announced Elfreda. “I think it is a bee sting. Did you feel -stings anywhere else?” - -“Yes. On the other cheek, but not so bad there,” gasped Emma. -“That’s why I thought the bullet had gone through.” - -“This is one instance in your life when you should have -demonstrated,” declared Miss Briggs. “You see how easy it is to -imagine things, and suffer because you imagine.” - -Emma sat up and smiled. - -The shooting was still going on from the borders of the meadow, -though the firing was not so rapid as before, both sides apparently -sparing their ammunition, but enough shots were being fired to make -it most uncomfortable for the Overlanders who were directly in line -of the firing between the two opposing forces. - -Tom joined the girls and led them to a safer place behind some huge -boulders, where he sternly ordered them to remain until he gave them -permission to change positions. Tom, rifle in hand, then crept out -to a place where he could get a better view of what was going on. As -he reached a point of vantage a double blast of fire overhead -greeted him; then the firing ceased altogether. - -It was then that the Overlander discovered a man creeping around the -far end of the meadow. Then he saw another man creeping out from the -opposite side of the field, and realized that the two men were -stalking each other. - -“Keep low, girls!” he called softly. “Something is coming off here -if I’m not mistaken.” - -Instead of keeping low four heads quickly bobbed up from behind the -boulders. At first the girls saw nothing unusual; then they -discovered what Tom had just seen. They could see both men at -intervals as the men’s heads came up. - -“Girls!” Grace snatched her field glasses and directed them at the -creeping man on their side of the meadow. - -“Wha—what is it?” cried Nora. - -“The Peanut Man—it’s Jim Haley! There—see!” She passed her glasses -to Elfreda who took a long look. - -“You are right, Grace. What does it mean?” - -“That we have friends here, J. Elfreda, but I fear something -terrible is going to happen. Look!” - -The two men had seen each other as their heads were cautiously -raised above the tall grass, and both exchanged shots with their -revolvers at identically the same second. Then they both ducked back -to the protection of the meadow grass. - -Jim Haley was on his feet a few seconds later. - -“Come out, you sneaking cur!” he shouted. “Stand up like a man!” - -The taunt was too much for Haley’s adversary. The fellow leaped to -his feet, and, as he leaped, he fired. So did Haley. Neither scored, -and, so far as the Overlanders could observe, not a human being -except themselves saw the duel that was being fought out there in -the meadow. Haley’s adversary ducked, and the Overlanders saw what -his strategy was. A slight waving of the grass told them that the -fellow was crawling to the left. They did not know whether or not -Haley saw that. - -A moment or so later the man again sprang up and fired, but the -Peanut Man had not been deceived. His revolver banged so quickly -that the watchers could not tell which man fired first. - -“Good for Jim Haley!” cried Tom Gray. - -“Don’t!” admonished Grace. “Tom, don’t forget that this may end in a -tragedy.” - -“That’s what it is going to end in—perhaps more than one tragedy. -When Haley and the other fellow wind up you will see more lively -work, and—” - -“Hippy! Oh, where is my Hippy?” cried Nora. - -“Don’t worry. He has gone to join some of the men who are backing -Haley,” replied Tom. - -Neither Haley nor his opponent ducked after that and to the Overland -girls, terrible as it was, it was a wonderful thing to see the two -men standing up in the meadow shooting at each other as calmly as -though they were firing at targets. - -Emma Dean’s face was pale, and her whole body was trembling with -excitement. - -A little cry from one of the girls greeted a new move on the part of -Haley’s antagonist. The fellow suddenly whipped out another -revolver, and began shooting with both guns at the same time. - -Jim Haley demonstrated that he, too, could do that, and he did, and -the bullets flew thick and fast. Then suddenly they saw Haley’s -enemy spin half way around. - -“He’s hit!” cried Nora. - -The man was hit, and Haley held his fire. But the Peanut Man’s -adversary came back with two more shots, both of which grazed -Haley’s body. Then, like a flash, Jim Haley fired two shots at the -same instant. His adversary turned slowly and then pitched sideways -to the ground. - -Haley himself went down almost as suddenly, the difference being -that Haley was not hurt, but he knew what to expect after his -adversary had fallen seriously wounded. - -The crash of rifles was heard on the opposite side of the meadow, -but there was no reply from the Overland side. - -“Where are they? Oh, where are Hippy and the people he is with?” -cried Nora. - -“I think they are on the other side of the meadow among the trees, -creeping toward their enemies,” answered Grace Harlowe. “Two parties -are shooting over on that side now.” - -“Yes,” answered Tom. “You have it right, Grace. The Peanut Man -offered himself as a possible sacrifice to enable his companions to -work around to the other side of the meadow and attack the enemy on -their own ground.” - -“But where is Mr. Haley? Are you sure that he wasn’t hit?” begged -Emma. - -“No. I could see by the way he went down that it was to avoid the -volley that he knew would be fired at him,” Tom informed them. -“Girls, I am in hopes that this morning’s work may mark the finish -of the job that certain men have been sent up here to accomplish.” - -“I don’t understand,” said Elfreda, interested at once. - -“You will later,” was Captain Gray’s noncommittal answer. - -“Should we move from here, Tom?” questioned Grace a little -apprehensively. “The firing has stopped.” - -“No. We must wait here. That is the arrangement, no matter which way -the fight goes. We must be on our guard, so get your rifles and sit -down behind the boulders, while I keep watch here.” - -The Overland party obeyed, but not willingly. They had come out from -their hiding place to watch the duel, and preferred not to miss -further operations, but Tom was insistent. - -It was well past noon when a loud hello brought the girls to their -feet. The call was uttered by Hippy. - -“I had an awful time getting here without crossing the meadow. I -didn’t know what I might run into out there, so I came around -through the forest, and it was mighty rough going. Got anything -loose around here?” he demanded. - -“Saddle rations; that is all,” replied Grace. “Help yourself to -whatever you can find.” - -“Oh, Hippy, have you seen anything of Hamilton?” begged Emma -anxiously. - -“Yes. Why?” - -“Is—is he all right?” - -“He was beating up Hawk Murray with his fists and doing it -beautifully, the last I saw of him,” answered Hippy. “Never saw a -fellow with a better punch than ‘Hamilton,’ as you call him, has.” - -“Hippy, what about the man out there in the meadow?” asked Miss -Briggs. “I am going out there. He may not be dead, and it is inhuman -to leave him there to suffer, even if he is an enemy. Who is he? Do -you know, Hippy?” - -“Yes. That fellow is Two-gun Murray, the slickest man with a -revolver that ever hunched a shoulder, and you will please stay away -from him.” - -“Tom,” said Grace, laying a hand on her husband’s arm, “I wish -someone would go out there. Perhaps it isn’t wise that any of us -girls should do so, but we are not afraid, if you will permit. -Please!” - -“Come along, Hippy. I guess it is up to us,” urged Captain Gray. - -Hippy protested that he must have food, but Nora promised that, if -he would go out, she would have a nice meal ready for him when he -returned, so the two men, with drawn revolvers, walked out -cautiously to the spot where the mountain bandit had fallen. He was -not at the exact spot where he had fallen, but they had no -difficulty in following the trail which he had left. - -They found Two-gun alive, but unconscious, and a few moments later -they were on their way back to camp, carrying the heavy burden. The -Overland girls, knowing that the man was still alive because Tom and -Hippy were carrying him so carefully, were ready with water, -bandages and antiseptics, to give first aid. - -“Where is he hit?” was Elfreda’s first question. - -“Both shoulders,” answered Tom briefly. - -Grace and Elfreda began working on the bandit immediately, and in -half an hour he regained consciousness. The girls found that Two-gun -was seriously wounded, both bullets having gone through him. They -said that he should be taken to some place where surgical aid might -be had, but Tom said that was impossible. All that could be done had -been done. Further, he said that men of his type were fairly well -used to being shot up. No vital spot had been hit and both Tom and -Hippy were of the opinion that Two-gun would live to spend at least -a few years in prison. This bandit, however, probably had never -before enjoyed the really tender treatment such as the girls were -giving him. He followed Elfreda’s every movement with his eyes. - -“I—I didn’t tell on you—about the saddle and the hoss,” he said -weakly. - -“I know it,” answered Miss Briggs. “That is one reason why I am -trying to take good care of you. But you must be quiet and conserve -your strength.” - -“Who was the fellow that got me?” demanded Two-gun. - -“That I cannot tell you, Mr. Murray,” replied Elfreda. - -“He was some handy with the gun, I’ll say, Miss.” - -Elfreda moved away from Two-gun, and asked anxiously if any word had -been had of Stacy. None had. She then suggested to Tom that the -wounded bandit might be able to give them information that would -lead to finding Stacy, so Tom asked Two-gun if he knew of Stacy’s -whereabouts. The bandit shook his head. He said he knew that two -members of the Overland party had been captured, but that he had not -learned what had become of the prisoners. - -“There is one of them,” Captain Gray informed him, pointing to -Hippy. “Were both men taken to the same place?” - -“They might have been,” was the reply, and that was all that could -be elicited from Two-gun Murray. - -There was nothing now to be done save to wait until the men, who had -tricked the bandits and saved the Overlanders from probable serious -consequences, advised them what to do; so the party made themselves -as comfortable as possible, sleeping part of the time and taking -turns at watching the camp and Two-gun Murray. - -At night their vigil was redoubled, for none knew how many of -Two-gun’s companions were at large. They knew that some had been -captured, as Hippy Wingate had told them so, and that Ham White had -had a fist fight with Hawk Murray, the leader of the band of -marauders that had terrified the entire Cascade Range. - -It was well after midnight when the camp was hailed. Tom answered -the hail. - -“Come forward with your hands up and identify yourself,” he ordered. - -“Yeow!” howled a voice that brought every member of the Overland -party to his feet. - -“Stacy!” shouted the Overlanders. - -“Wha—what!” exclaimed Tom Gray as an Indian loped into camp, a rifle -in his hand, which he kept pointed in the direction of Captain Gray. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIII - - A THRILLING DISCOVERY - - -“Me Cat-foot Charlie. Me come!” - -“Yes. He’s the cat and I’m the foot,” answered another voice, and -Stacy Brown strolled into camp with his chest thrown out. “I’ve been -captured, sentenced to death, and, being the foot, I did some fast -footwork, and here I am. Old chap Pussy here found me and brought me -back. Oh, no, I wasn’t lost. I never know where I am, anyway. He -showed me the way. Who—” - -“Our sweet dreams of peace are now at an end,” complained Emma. - -Stacy did not heed her words nor the congratulations of his -companions who were happier than words could express to have him -with them again. The fat boy was interested in the man who lay by -the fire. - -“Who’s that?” he demanded. - -“His name is Murray,” answered Lieutenant Wingate. “He and Jim Haley -fought a duel to-day, and Two-gun—that is the man’s name—got a bit -the worst of it.” - -“Two-gun Murray! Hey, you! I’m wise to you. You’re the fellow that -stole my fish—the same person that I clouted over the head. You say -he is wounded, Uncle Hip?” - -“Yes, seriously so.” - -“Think it would do much harm if I were to give him another wallop -over the head—just for luck, you know?” - -“Stacy!” Tom Gray’s voice was stern. “Get away from that man and let -him alone!” - -“Oh, all right, but I would like to give him just one clout. It’s -coming to him.” - -Captain Gray took firm hold of the fat boy’s collar and projected -him to some distance from the wounded man. - -“Cat-foot, have you word for me?” demanded Tom. - -The Indian grunted and handed Tom a message. It was from Hamilton -White, and the smile that lighted up the captain’s face as he read -it, told the Overland Riders that it contained good news. - -“We are to move as soon as we can pack up,” announced Tom. “Cat-foot -will accompany us.” That was all Captain Gray would say. - -Emma, whose curiosity was proverbial, pouted and complained that -every one of the party seemed to think it smart to make a mystery of -everything. - -After offering the Indian food, which he refused and sat down by -himself, the Overlanders quizzed Stacy about what had happened to -him. Stacy told what he knew of his capture, and of the incidents -that followed. In the course of the conversation it developed that -Cat-foot Charlie had been sent to pick up the fat boy’s trail and -follow it until he found him. Hamilton White had brought that about. - -Cat-foot had gone to the scene of Hippy’s imprisonment and from -there soon found Stacy’s trail. This was made the easier because he -had eavesdropped on two of the bandits and learned how Stacy got -away. - -“Fat boy, him run like Indian chased by bad spirits,” announced the -Indian when asked about the chase. - -Stacy, it developed, discovered that the Indian was chasing him, and -from that moment on it was a race, the frightened Overlander making -top speed to drop his pursuer. The race ended when Cat-foot finally -overtook him, leaped on the boy’s back, and held him until he had -explained what he wanted. Stacy’s courage thereupon returned. - -“Our fallen hero,” observed Emma when the tale was finished. - -“Yes, but I didn’t get shot,” retorted Stacy. - -The Overlanders laughed heartily at Stacy’s retort, for it was a rap -at Emma, though the boy did not know it. He laughed with them just -the same. - -“Where are we going?” Nora wanted to know. - -“Northwest,” answered Tom briefly. “You will know all about it -within twenty-four hours. The question is, what are we to do with -our wounded man. We surely can’t leave him here. Cat-foot, do you -know this fellow?” - -“Me know.” - -“What do you think we had better do with him?” - -“Shoot um!” was the prompt reply of the Indian. - -“Pussy, you are a man of rare judgment,” complimented Stacy, -grinning at the Indian. - -“It is what one would expect from one savage to another,” murmured -Emma. - -“What did the Chief say about it?” demanded Tom. “I mean Mr. White.” - -“Chief say me stay. Men come git Two-gun.” - -“Why do you call Hamilton the Chief?” wondered Emma. - -“How many of the bandits did they get?” questioned Tom, ignoring -Emma’s inquiry. - -“Not know.” - -“Very well, I will turn Two-gun over to you, but, Cat-foot, if you -do one little thing to disturb that man you will have to answer to -me. When he asks for a drink, give it to him and say nothing—say -nothing at all to him at any time unless he wants something. You -also will be held responsible for his not getting away, and after -the men take him, unless you get different orders from the Chief, -you will come to us at Three-Mile Pass. That’s all, except that we -will leave food for you and Two-gun.” - -At Tom’s direction all hands began packing, making ready for another -night journey. Stacy complained bitterly, saying he hadn’t had a -night’s sleep in so long that his eyelids hung down over his cheeks. - -“Where are we going, anyway?” he wanted to know. - -“Three-Mile Pass, you heard me say. Do you know where that is?” -returned Captain Gray. - -“No. Do you?” - -Tom said he had a fair idea of its location. Though tired and -somewhat nervous, the Overland girls prepared for the journey with -their usual cheerfulness, and were under way in an hour. Tom -selected an unsuspected pass as the route from the meadow, and the -riders were soon swallowed up in its deep gloom. It seemed as though -night had poured the blackest of her coloring into this pass, but -the trail was fairly smooth and one could not stray from it without -bumping into the rocks. - -No halt was made until daylight. Then the party stopped for -breakfast, and, while there, horses were heard approaching. The -girls were startled, and looked to Tom for orders, but Captain Gray -merely smiled. - -“Don’t worry; only some guests for breakfast,” he said. - -“It’s Hamilton!” cried Emma Dean, as two horsemen rode into sight. - -“And the Peanut Man,” added Nora joyously. - -“Put over a fresh pot of coffee,” suggested Grace. “They look tired, -and goodness knows one, at least, has a right to be tired.” - -“Peanuts, peanuts, ladies and gentlemen!” called Jim Haley. “The -International product has reached to the utmost limits of the -Cascades already, and will soon be over the border. Howdy, folks!” - -It was a real welcome that the Overlanders gave the two men. Elfreda -and Grace were studying the face of Haley, with the same thought in -the mind of each. Could this carefree, temperamental Haley be the -Haley that they had seen facing the bandit gunman calmly, never -flinching under the bandit’s fire, and in the end downing his man? -It did not seem possible. - -“How did you make out with your patient?” he asked, his face -suddenly assuming a grave expression as he shook hands with Miss -Briggs. - -“His wounds were serious, but, if he is not neglected, I think he -will pull through.” - -“He will not be neglected where he is going,” was the significant -reply. “The officers have taken him away from your last camp by now, -so don’t worry. After a snack we will have a talk all around.” - -The breakfast from then on was a happy reunion, and even Elfreda -Briggs forgot to be distant towards Hamilton White. Emma managed to -sit beside him, her face wearing a most devoted look. - -When the dishes had been put away, the party settled down to talk -over their experiences, and after a little Tom Gray cleared his -throat and announced that he had something to say. - -“You Overlanders have accused some of us of all the time making a -mystery of everything. While clearing myself, there are others -present whom I wish to clear of any suspicion of doing other than -their duty. - -“Here are the facts: When I came up here with my wife and her party, -I was supposed to come as a forester, but as a matter of fact I came -on quite another mission. For a long time tourists and others have -been preyed upon by mountain bandits, the Guerrillas of the -Cascades, as some call them. As a forester here for a survey it was -thought that I might get a line, so to speak, on the gang and its -lair without them suspecting me. I did that to a certain extent. -Then, too, there was a famous government forester who came to -Washington State on the same mission. He thought he could best look -over the ground by joining out with a party of tourists, and he was -unfortunate enough to fall in with the Overland Riders. That man -knew these forests and mountains, and, after finishing this -particular mission, he is to be the chief of the foresters, which, -in fact, he is already.” - -“Hamilton White!” cried Nora. - -Tom Gray nodded. - -“And he has done his work well. In addition to that he has been a -wonderful guide and a delightful companion to you folks.” - -“Even if he did deceive us,” said Elfreda. - -“Not all of us,” spoke up Grace, who then told of the wigwagging -incident when she learned that he was the chief of the foresters -through doing some signaling on her own account. - -Ham White laughed heartily. - -“I suspected something of the sort,” he added with a chuckle. - -“To continue my story,” resumed Captain Gray, “another man came to -us sailing under false colors, if you wish to call it that. This man -proposed that the Overlanders be used as a decoy to lure the bandits -on, knowing that the ruffians believed one of our party possessed -the key to Sam Petersen’s gold find. Ham White objected to -subjecting us to peril, but when the newcomer showed him orders from -the Washington authorities directing White to coöperate fully with -him and carry out his orders, White was obliged to obey.” - -The eyes of the Overland Riders turned toward Jim Haley, who -actually grew rosy under their accusing gaze. - -“Don’t look at me that way. I confess, but you shall have your -peanuts just the same,” he promised laughingly. - -“Folks, know Jim Haley, chief of the special agents,” introduced -Tom. “Between White and Haley the entire band of guerrillas, with -one exception, has been rounded up. Some are on their way to stand -trial, others are being conveyed to a hospital to be treated for -their wounds, and two are dead. They have spied on this party, -watched their every move ever since they came into the Washington -forests, and especially so since Sam Petersen died from a gunshot -wound inflicted by one of the Murrays.” - -“How perfectly thrilling!” breathed Emma Dean. - -“The big round-up came yesterday when the bandits were preparing to -make a mass attack on our camp, but Haley outwitted them. They did -not know that a body of forest rangers and sheriff’s deputies were -secreted on your side of the meadow, ready not only to defend you, -but to capture the ruffians who were about to try to take you and -force information from you. It was Haley who, as you know, went out -to meet Two-gun Murray, and beat him in a standup gun duel,” said -Tom. - -“Captain! Please talk about the weather,” begged Haley amid -laughter. - -“They didn’t find out about the gold mine after all, did they?” -chuckled Hippy. “Say, Haley, I know you, you old rascal! You’re the -fellow with a cold who rescued me from the bandits,” he accused, and -Haley agreed with a nod. - -“Speaking of gold, Hippy Wingate,” spoke up Elfreda Briggs, “I think -I am entitled to an explanation. How did you chance to have my bag -of gold in your possession?” - -“Ham White gave it to me, and told me to hang onto it—that it wasn’t -safe for you to carry it around.” - -“Indeed!” - -“I took it from the bunk where Petersen lay, before you came in the -shack that day. I expected that the gang would return, so I scraped -up some pebbles and substituted them for the gold, replacing the -canvas bag where I found it,” explained Ham White. - -“Was it you who exchanged shots with Two-gun Murray that day?” she -asked. - -Ham nodded, and Elfreda bent an accusing glance on Stacy Brown. - -“Well, I saved you from that ruffian, didn’t I?” protested the fat -boy. - -“Yes, Stacy, and I forgive you for trying to make me think you had -suffered the bandit to shoot at you while you lay behind a bush,” -smiled Elfreda. - -“Not if my legs were in good working order. I wouldn’t lie behind -any bush or anything else and let a sure-thing gunman blaze away at -me,” declared Stacy Brown with an earnestness that raised a merry -peal of laughter. - -“Time to break camp,” announced Tom Gray. “We can chatter after we -have made a new camp, which will not be many miles from here.” - -“Where are we bound for?” asked Hippy. - -“Three Mile Pass.” Captain Gray’s face wore a broad smile, and -Grace, knowing him so well, regarded him suspiciously. - -“Tom has something up his sleeve,” Grace confided in Elfreda. - -“They all have,” observed Miss Briggs. “These honest men who have -opened their hearts to us have not yet opened the aforesaid hearts -far enough.” - -“Boots and saddles!” cried Hippy, and the Overland Riders with their -guests took to their mounts. It was a happy ride that morning; the -air was cool, birds were twittering, and Hippy was trying to sing, -his efforts in that direction raising a perfect storm of protest. - -No stop was made, except now and then to water the horses, until -nearly noon. Then they halted, apparently for no cause at all, the -visitors and Tom Gray fussing with saddle girths, all the time -regarded narrowly by Grace and Elfreda. - -At last they started on through a rapidly broadening pass, following -the dry course of a mountain stream. The sunlight flooded the pass -as their trail bore more to the right, and at the turn Tom Gray held -up his hand, a signal to halt. - -“Oh, look at the Old Lady of the Mountain!” yelled Stacy. “Yes, -she’s got a kid on either side of her. Ha, ha, ha!” he laughed. - -“Elfreda!” Grace gripped the arm of her companion. “‘Lost -River—Grandma and the Children—Three Peaks dead east.’ Look! There -are the peaks. The sun is at the meridian. Oh, Elfreda!” - -“And look—the yellow sands of Lost River. Oh, Grace! If it should be -only a dream I’d faint, after all I have been through to get here. -See! The old lady’s face is black as ink, just as that poor, unhappy -old prospector said it was.” - -“Children, do you know where you are?” called Captain Gray, none of -the party having heard the exclamations of Grace and Elfreda. - -“Yes, Tom Gray. I am sitting on my gold mine,” answered Miss Briggs, -trying to control her voice and keep her elation out of it. - -“Why, Elfreda! I thought you did not want a gold mine—that you -wished to hear nothing more about the hateful subject,” chided -Grace. - -“I think I—I have the fever, and—” confessed Elfreda. - -“You are in fact sitting on your gold mine. When I learned that Lost -River was at the feet of Grandma and the Children, with Three Peaks -dead east, I recognized the description instantly, for I had been -here, and was impressed with the odd formations to be seen here,” -said Captain Gray. “You will recall the words of the old prospector -in the diary and on the sheet on which you wrote down what he told -you. I was here trying to locate the headquarters of the Murrays, -and, for your information, we are less than half a mile from the -lair of the Guerrillas of the Cascades—the Murrays. Such is the -irony of fate,” added Tom. - -“Gold! Hooray!” yelled Stacy, tossing his hat into the air. “I hope -it doesn’t turn out to be iron.” - -“Please don’t get excited,” admonished Grace. “We are not certain -that there is any gold here.” - -“Any gold here?” answered Tom. “Ham, tell them what you know.” - -“Mrs. Gray, when I left you so mysteriously I came up here at -Captain Gray’s direction to make a thorough survey—to find out, if -possible, if Petersen’s was an idle dream or the real thing. It was -real! I have already panned enough of the sand of Lost River through -my fingers to make a fair meal ticket for this party. It is true -that we have not found the real vein, but we know it cannot be far -from here, and we are going to search for it.” - -“Say! Whose gold mine is this?” demanded Lieutenant Hippy Wingate. - -“Whose? Why, Miss Briggs’, of course,” answered Ham White. “I have -sent a trusty ranger to Seattle to file her claim, which we have -staked out broadly, and we are in hopes that it may take in the -mother lode. In any event, we are on the ground, and we will broaden -our claim so that you may be protected. Am I forgiven for all the -deception I have practiced on you and Miss Briggs and the others?” -asked White, addressing Grace. - -“It is for us to ask your pardon, Mr. White, for suspecting that you -were not what you seemed, or so it seemed to us at one time.” - -Stacy had leaped from his horse and was digging feverishly in the -sands of Lost River. - -“I got one! Whoopee!” he howled, holding up a “nugget” nearly as big -as an egg. - -Hippy snatched the “nugget” from him and turned it over in his hand, -then broke into uproarious laughter. - -“Why, you simp! That’s not a nugget, it is merely a piece of quartz. -Dig some more, Chunky.” - -“I suggest that we do not lose our heads, and that we make camp and -behave,” cried Grace. - -The Overlanders agreed, and in the happiest frame of mind they -dismounted and pitched their camp, after which they walked over the -claim with Tom, Mr. White and Haley as guides. On the way up the -channel of the dry stream Nora picked up three small nuggets of real -gold. - -“The luck of the Irish, me darlin’,” cried Nora, playfully patting -Hippy on the cheek. - -“I wish it understood,” announced Elfreda after their return to -camp, “that this is not Elfreda Briggs’ claim, but the Overland -Riders’ claim.” - -“Too late,” answered Tom. “Your claim will be filed before you or -anyone else can stop it.” - -“I will see about that,” murmured Elfreda. - -That evening, by the campfire, the members of the party discussed -their good fortune, and made plans for the future. - -Busy days followed, some of the party panning the sands of Lost -River for gold, and finding enough to arouse them to a high pitch of -excitement. There was no thought of continuing the journey, for -there was work to be done where they were. A mining expert had been -sent for, and his investigations were still in progress five weeks -later when Grace asked Tom to take her home. - -Jim Haley had not remained long with them, for he, too, had work to -do in connection with evidence against the captured bandits. - -The others of the party decided that they would return with Grace, -but Ham White, at Miss Briggs’ request, together with three former -forest rangers, remained on the claim to guard and work it, and -assist in locating, if possible, the rich vein that all believed -could not be far away. - -“You are all coming to see us next winter at Haven Home,” reminded -Grace on the morning of their departure for Cresco, where they were -to board a train for the east—and Home! “It probably will be along -about Christmas time, that being the most joyous season for old -friends to get together, and we will have a Christmas tree and -everything,” she added, laughing. - -Good byes were said and the Overland Riders retraced their trail, -the last journey that, as a body, they probably ever would take. A -week later found them at their homes. Each had his own life to lead -now, for the years were drawing on, and the Overlanders were no -longer children. - - - - - CHAPTER XXIV - - THE HOUSE OF HAPPINESS - - -Haven Home was brilliantly lighted, for it was Christmas eve, and -Grace had made good her promise to ask the Overland Riders to spend -the holiday week with her and Tom. - -Haven Home was a house of happiness on that wonderful Christmas eve, -for, up in the nursery, lay a little pink and white bundle of -humanity over which the Overlanders bent—that is, the girls did—and -worshiped at the shrine of Grace Harlowe’s own little daughter, now -less than four weeks old. For that bit of humanity the whole party -had come laden with gifts, not forgetting many beautiful things for -Yvonne, Grace’s adopted daughter—the child that Grace had rescued -from the cellar of a deserted village amid the crashing of exploding -German shells in the great world war—now a beautiful young woman. - -Hamilton White was there, big, brown and manly, a figure that -attracted attention where-ever he went; Jim Haley was there, too, -with a load of peanuts that required a wagon to carry them from the -express office. - -Elfreda had brought her adopted daughter, now home from a finishing -school, and a different child she was from the daughter of the Mad -Hermit that the Overlanders had taken to their hearts some years -before. - -But where was Stacy Brown? No one could answer the question. Stacy -had not even replied to the invitation to join the Christmas party, -and there was disappointment, for no reunion of the Overlanders -could be complete without the fat boy. - -Emma Dean was monopolizing “Hamilton” most of the time, and Nora -confided to Grace that she actually believed it was going to be a -“match,” but Grace shook her head and smiled. - -And then Stacy arrived! - -The fat boy made his usual dramatic entrance at a moment when he -knew attention would be centered on him. It was. - -Stacy was in full evening dress, carrying an opera hat, which he -crushed and popped open with one hand as he shook hands and bowed -with a grace that was unsuspected by his companions. - -“Did you stop at the hotel to get into those glad rags?” demanded -Hippy. - -“We wondered why you were so late,” said Grace. “It never occurred -to us that you would stop to dress before coming up to the house. -Why, if you felt that you must dress, did you not come here? Your -room has been ready for several days.” - -“Dress? Who said I stopped to dress? I dressed this morning before -leaving home.” - -“Stacy!” cried Nora in a horrified tone. - -“Well?” - -“You don’t mean that you wore your evening clothes all day on the -train?” demanded Nora. - -“Sure I did. I didn’t want to put them in my suit case and wrinkle -them all up, so I wore them. Anything wrong about that?” - -There was silence for a few seconds, then the Overlanders broke out -in peals of laughter. - -“Say, I want to see the kid. _He_ won’t laugh at me, I’ll bet,” said -Stacy. - -“Wrong gender, young man,” observed Hippy. - -“Of course you shall see him,” cried Grace, linking her arm in -Stacy’s and leading him upstairs, with the entire Overland party -following. - -Two little blue eyes looked up at him as Stacy gazed, and popped his -crush hat at the bundle of pink and white until the nurse took it -away from him indignantly. - -“The perfect picture of Grace, isn’t she?” bubbled Emma. - -“Oh, I don’t know. Cute little monkey, isn’t she?” - -“Young man, you come downstairs,” ordered Hippy, collaring Stacy and -leading him away, while the Overlanders followed laughing. The -merriment had begun with the arrival of Stacy. - -Dinner was announced as they reached the drawing room, and it was a -dinner that Stacy Brown did full justice to. It did the Overlanders’ -hearts good to see him eat. - -“How you ever managed to develop such an appetite, short of -starvation, is a thing that I have many times wondered at,” teased -Tom. - -“Develop it! I didn’t. It’s a gift,” was the fat boy’s quick -response. “I was born with it, and I don’t know why you folks are -always making fun of me,” he retorted, appearing to be very much -hurt. - -“That is because you are always making fun of yourself,” reminded -Emma. - -“Not when you are about,” mumbled Stacy. - -And so the merriment went on. - -At the close of the dinner Hamilton White made his mine report. The -mother lode of “Lost Mine” had just recently been tapped when work -was suspended for the winter, to be resumed in the early spring, he -said. The mining engineer in charge of the work was authority for -the statement that it would undoubtedly pan out a big fortune. White -said he had the expert’s detailed report which they could look over -at their leisure. - -“So J. Elfreda is a rich woman, eh?” said Stacy, regarding her -solemnly. - -“Yes, rich in the sense that I have such friends as these,” answered -Elfreda, her eyes moist as she glanced at the eager, flushed faces -about her. “Gold is not riches—friendship is. As for the riches of -the ‘Lost Mine’ I have with me a transfer of title to the property, -signed, sealed and delivered, providing as follows: - -“One eighth to the new baby. - -“One eighth to my adopted daughter ‘Little Silver.’ - -“One eighth to Yvonne. - -“One eighth each to Grace, Nora and Emma. - -“And—” Elfreda paused, and in a subdued voice added, “one eighth -each for myself and for my husband to be.” A flush slowly grew into -her cheeks as J. Elfreda Briggs bent her eyes on the paper from -which she was reading. - -“Your—your what?” stammered Nora, as all eyes were fixed on Miss -Briggs’ face. - -“My husband to be!” Elfreda raised her eyes, eyes full of happiness, -to her friends. “I am to wed Mr. White in the early spring. You, my -beloved friends, are the first to be told. Why should you not be -first?” - -“Oh, Hamilton, isn’t that perfectly wonderful!” cried Emma. - -Emma had broken the ice, the dead silence that, for a few seconds, -had followed Elfreda Briggs’ announcement, and then the exclamations -and the congratulations fairly overwhelmed Elfreda and Hamilton -White. - -Everything else was forgotten. - -“Well, old chappie, what have _you_ got to say for _yourself_?” -demanded Hippy Wingate, frowning on “Ham” White. - -“Only that I am the most fortunate of men,” answered Hamilton White -gravely. - -“Never mind, Emma,” spoke up Grace smilingly as she looked into the -flushed face of Emma Dean. “I have named the baby—I just now named -her, and her name is Emma Grace Harlowe Gray.” - -“Oh, the poor kid,” wailed Stacy. “To go through life with a name -like that! My heart of hearts bleeds for her.” - -“For he’s a jolly good fellow,” struck up Tom Gray, whereupon Grace -ran to her piano and joined with the accompaniment, and the old -house resounded to the rollicking song until the nurse came down, -her face wearing a deep frown. - -“Please, please!” she begged. “You have awakened the baby.” - -The song stopped. - -“Well, we are all set now except for Stacy Brown and Emma Dean. They -are our hopeless bachelors,” declared Hippy. - -“Bachelors! I guess not,” retorted Stacy. “Emma and I have decided -to tie up, too.” - -The Overlanders shouted. They thought it was one of Stacy’s jokes. - -Then the Overlanders began to realize that Stacy was not joking. - -“But how do you two expect to get along—you are fighting all the -time?” wondered Nora. - -“The difference between us and some others is that we will have done -all our fighting before we were married. Am I right, Emma?” - -“Yes, Stacy dear,” replied Emma, blushing furiously. - -“When did all this take place?” asked Grace. - -“Oh, we got engaged by the correspondence-school plan,” Stacy -informed her. - -“The idea! Children like you two getting married,” objected Nora. - -“Children? Huh! I’m twenty-three, and Emma—” Stacy shrugged his -shoulders. “Well, let her speak for herself. Anything else—anyone -got any questions to ask?” - -“Yes,” spoke up Elfreda. “If I may do so without offense, I should -like to know what you propose to do after you marry Emma?” - -“Nothing!” with rising inflection in his voice. “I have money, my -little wife will have more, and we two will live a life of -distinguished and elegant leisure.” - -“You poor turtle doves,” chortled Hippy Wingate. - -The merry moments that followed failed to soothe the wakeful baby -upstairs. After the excitement over the startling announcements had -abated, Grace proposed that they dress the Christmas tree, and, -following that, they danced for an hour, and the wonderful evening -came to a close—for all except Stacy and Emma. The two strolled out -on the snow-covered lawn of Haven Home, hand in hand, with the moon -beaming down upon them, and a million diamonds sparkling at their -feet. - -“Stacy dear, do you remember that night up in the North Woods when -the Overlanders were preparing to leave for home? Do you remember -what Hippy asked me as a snowbird chirped high up in a great tree, -just as one is now chirping in that apple tree yonder?” asked Emma. - -“I remember,” nodded Stacy. - -“Hippy asked me, ‘Emma, what is the little bird saying to-night?’ I -answered, ‘He is wishing us all a merry, merry Christmas and a glad, -happy new year.’ That is what the snowbird is saying to us from the -old apple tree to-night, isn’t he, Stacy dear?” - -“You bet, kid. Wise guys, those snowbirds,” he observed as they -turned and strolled back towards the house. “We are going to be -happy, aren’t we, Emma?” - -“Going to be? Why, we are happy now, dear. Say good-night to me out -here,” she whispered as they reached the veranda. - -Stacy did so. He said good-night several times before they went -indoors. Emma Dean’s eyes were bright and her cheeks wore a rosy -glow when she faced her companions in the drawing room a moment -later. - -The Overland Riders smiled. They understood. - - THE END - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Grace Harlowe's Overland Riders on the -Lost River Trail, by Jessie Graham Flower - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK GRACE HARLOWE'S OVERLAND *** - -***** This file should be named 62946-0.txt or 62946-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/6/2/9/4/62946/ - -Produced by Roger Frank and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was -produced from images generously made available by The -Internet Archive) - - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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