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. _ . . ^ ^ ISSUED SBVI-WEBKI.^ 1. m. grist S sons, Pnbiiiheri. J % Jfamitg 3pEtrspapjr: Jjor the promotion of the golitieal, Social, i^gricultnral and Commercial Interests of the geogle. {TE swole ve cent*!ANCS' established 1865. YOBKVILLE, 8. C., TUESDAY, JUJS"E 11, 1907. NO. 47. mm; r By ETTA t CHAPTER L A Night Attack. Down from the Colorado peaks and 1 passes the wind came swooping: sav- 1 agrely. Ghostly snows still mantled < thngA drearv heisrhts. and lent an ad- 1 dltion&l chill to the spring night The driver of the Overland Mail company's stage, and such passengers as had climbed on the box with him, were well blanketed against the cold. The great boot was securely strapped down over the baggage, and as there had been a change of horses a few miles back, Jehu, with a loud creaking of springs, a cheerful rattling of chains and harness, was urging on his fresh animals, and cracking his long whip, by way of encouragement, over the sensitive heads of the leaders. Inside the lumbering vehicle was well filled. "By Jove!" muttered Guy Fleetwood, deep in the fur coat collar, which he , had rolled up about his ears, as a protection against the cold, "night-travel in the wilds of the west, afar from railways and civilization, may be picturesque, but it is also uncomfortable. I hope Bob Crawford keeps good fires ? and a generous larder at hlb ranch." A glance through the stage window revealed to him the old trail, winding around and among great hills?the latter covered with dwarf cedar and pinon?and a night sky, pierced here and there with solitary peaks, over which the full moon was struggling in torn gray fringes of cloud. It was a desolate, dreary picture. A new country is rarely a cheerful one. Man is essentially a social being, and Fleetwood, with more Interest than he had yet felt, turned from the prospect without to look at his fellow passengers. A young Boston matron going to join her husband on a lonely sheep ranch; a severe, not to say, aggressive. Yankee school ma'am, in glasses and brown serge; a Mexican trader, reckless in his display of finger-rings and watch-chains; a professor of geology, with his bag of tools and specimens; an Illinois judge; a minor from Leadville, in a woolen hat and red shirt, and two or three tourists, nervous and irritable in their cramped positions?these made the company. The Illinois Judge suddenly caught Fleetwood's eyes, and said: "Are you from the states, sir?" "No." answered Fleetwood, "I am a Canadian." "Ha! a wonderful country this? great resources, undeveloped as yet. You have some interest in the mines, perhaps? Our neighbors across the line frequently have." Fleetwood shook his head. He was a handsome young Saxon of five and twenty, with fair hair and violet eyes, and the figure of a Greek athlete. "No," he replied, "I have no investments of that sort." He might have added that he had come to Colorado to visit an old friend, the proprietor of a sheep ranch, and taste the wild freedom of the west?perhaps even to locate here, should the life of a ranchman seem c to meet his requirements. But it did not suit Fleetwood to make further \ communications, so he turned his eyes " again to the distant peaks, and the ) cedar fringed foothills, and the strug- i gling moon in its bank of cloud. t And then, after the fashion of all t wanderers to whom home and kin- c dred are precious, he began to wonder < if all was right tonight in his own domain far away?the little Canadian g kingdom where he had always ruled like a prince. He thought of his lady s mother, so proud of her one only son. t He thought of his work people, of < his dogs and horses even, and hoped no ? ill had befallen any of them since his ' departure. Was all right with his pret- c ty cousin, Maude l?ftus. In the Yan- ] kee boarding school where she was < acquiring the womanly accomplish- t ments which would enable her to ] shine as the future Mrs. Fleetwood in { social olrcles of Quebec? Suppose the ] western fever which now possessed him should lead him to pitch his tent 1 In the shadow of these Colorado peaks, j would Maud be content with a home I here? Would she leave the luxuries of i civilization, as his fellow passenger, the < little Boston wife, had done, for Love's < sweet sake? He answered his own i queries with a shrug of the shoulders, i Maude had a weakness for the pleas- i ant things of life. He could scarcely i expect a girl like her to take kindly i to a Colorado sheep ranch. At this i Junoture the little Boston wife spoke. | "I hope." she said, timidly, to the schoolma'am in brown serge, "I hope. Miss Grey, that we shall not meet any of those dreadful road agents that the people at Leadville were talking about." Miss Grey clutched her big umbrel- : la. "With such a preponderance of males In this vehicle," she answered, in a sarcastic tone, "surely you and I have : nothing to fear." The judge grinned. "There's a fellow working in this region, madam, who is the king of the ?vmi/l oonnt c Snmotlmoc ho'c PtillnH Black Dave, sometimes Tiger Chief? either name suits him. but he never robs a woman, it is said. Like Claude Duval of old, he has a great reputation for gallantry." "But God pity the man that falls into his hands!" said a voice on another seat, "for he shoots to kill, as they say on the frontier." A sudden ripple of excitement seemed to stir the passengers. The professor shuddered, the dark face of the Mexican trader turned a shade whiter, and one of the tourists, a little man, half lost in a big gray coat, clapped a hand to his boot with a motion so significant that Fleetwood was fain to laugh behind his fur collar. "I hope nobody is traveling in this stage with money about 'em," drawled the Judge, "for Black Dave can scent money a hundred miles away." "Oh," gasped the little Boston matron, in a terrified tone, "is it possible I OF CftHI V. PIERCE that we are In danger, sir?real danger? Is that man anywhere in our vicinity?" T -nr/? Anlv Vnnwa mo/lom! Now he's here and now he's there. The other day the sheriff and his posse were looking: for Dave around Leadville, and, by gum! where was he at that very time, but down on the 3outhern Pacific, wrecking an express train and gobbling up a hundred thousand dollars, besides putting daylight through the officials who tried to protect his loot." "It is a favorite pastime of Dave's," said the voice on the other seat, "to swoop down, like a cyclone, on some >order town, paint it red. rob the ' wealthiest inhabitants, kill everybody who resists him, and then vanish with lis gang?whither, no man knows. He las stolen more money than any other jorder ruffian, and his success in his levillsh calling might be called phe- ; lomenal." "I thought there were vigilants in ' :his part of the country," remarked 3uy Fleetwood, dryly. The judge grinned. "True, sir, but Black Dave is more /igllunt than the vigilants. They are ilways after him, but they never overtake him. He is as cuning as a fox md as slippery as an eel. At present le rides and robs at his own pleasure." The Mexican crossed himself. "They told me at Denver," shudder- 1 id the professor, "that Black Dave was i half-breed Indian, and that once J lown in Texas, he. barely escaped tanging as a horse-thief." "I don't know about that," replied J ne juuge. \uiKe niusi geuirciucu ui he road, Dave goes masked to his mslness. Gut he's too blasted smart 'or an Indian, and," with a bow to the 'emale passengers, "too chivalrous to he ladles." "I would like," cried the schoolna'am, Indignantly, "to crack his vicked head with my umbrella!" Nothing was heard for a few monents but the rattling of the wheels ind the creaking of springs and hariess, as the stage toiled up a hill, now n moonlight, now in shadow. "What should we do,"' shivered the roung Boston wife, as she drew a little ' learer to the schoolma'am, "if that ' nonster should attack the stage tolight?" ' "Do, ma'am?" bristled the tourist In he gray coat, "we would fight, like nen, for our lives and?money. It speaks badly for the courage of these vestern folks that they allow such irigands as Dave and his gang to tstablish a reign of terror here. It's ny opinion he has never met a plucky idversary in all his career, and that's he whole secret of his success. Those ellows on the express train that the icoundrel wrecked the other day de:lared afterward that the rifles furlished on their line wouldn't go off? t's more likely the men themselves vere too scared to pull a trigger. ' 'He who fights and runs away, Will live to fight another day; 1 But he who is in the battle slain I Will never live to fight again.'" 1 luoted the schoolma'am, dryly. ( "Well," meditated the Judge, "this vestern frontier is a queer place. , rhere's a powerful lot of unwritten ] llstory here. For my own part, I'm lot desirous of a more Intimate ac- | luaintance with the road-agents or ( heir chief?I'm quite content .to re- , ;eive second hand my information confining David." i "Amen!" murmured the professor of . reology, with fervor. , The only person in the stage who , seemed to be armed was the Mexican j rader. In his sash was stuck a pair >f gold-mounted revolvers. He finger- , Ml them nervously, but said nothing. ( The vehicle rumbled on. It's monot>nous motion began to take effect on | Fleetwood. The faces of his traveling ; lompanlons grew dim before his eyes, heir voices?they were still talking of , Black Dave and his evil deeds?died iway in his drowsy, indifferent ears. He slept. For how long, he did not know, but ong enough to find himself absorbed in i vivid dream of Maud Loftus, his aetrothed wife. He saw her standing, tall and fair, on the terrace of his old Canadian house. The postroad to , Quebec wound past the iron gate, and the moon was shining in the tamaracktrees, and over the rapids of the great river, that, scarcely more than a stone's throw from his door, rushed tumultuously along under the pale stars of the north. In his dream he put out eager arms to embrace her. "Maud!" he cried, "Maud, my darling!" She waved him sadly away. "You do not love me," she answered, in a voice as hollow as a shell; "you have never loved me, Guy. You consented to marry me only to please your mother." He tried to utter a.denial, but his tongue clove to his mouth. The lady of his dream laughed scornfully. "False lover!" she cried; "false in WUrUt 111 uccu. xirui Iiuui O J-WV to come! The woman lives who will some day avenge me!" Like a wraith, fair but threatening, she seemed to melt away Into the moonlight. He sprang forward to seize and to hold her, when presto! the stage of the Overland Mail company stopped with a sudden jerk, a confused murmur followed, then the door was flung back, and a voice like a trumpet called out: "Gents and ladies, I'll trouble you to 'light." The schoolma'am gave a scream shrill enough to lift the top of the coach. The Illinois judge simply said, "By gum! it's Black Dave!" and in one brief, thrilling Instant Fleetwood found himself wide-awake to existing realities. The stage had come to an abrupt stand in a lonely spot among the woody foothills. The road curved sharply at this point, and on one side of it arose a barricade of rocks, which might have been thrown together by Titans; and on the other was a thick growth of trees and underbrush. The agents had certainly chosen an excellent position for their work. Four masked faces and eight revolvers thrust out from behind the rocks, had brought the driver of the stage to this sudden bait. But It was the figure In the coach door, fully revealed to Fleetwood by the moonlight, which fixed his attention. Heaven knows he had good reason to remember it to the hour of his death! It was a most striking; figure, nearly six feet high in Its yellow moccasins. A deerskin shirt and embroidered jacket covered the upper portion of the body; the waist,was girded by a broad belt, which held two of Colt's navy revolvers; the lower limbs were encased in fringed leggings. A huge sombrero, and a close black mask concealed the face; but Fleetwood saw that the throat was a model of beauty, and a mass of fine, fair hair which never grew on an Indian head, fell low on the collar of the gay, fringed jacket. Our young Canadian had Just time to take in these details, when the Illinois judge said, calmly: "He's got the drop on us!" and stepped from the coach. The others filed after. The Mexican, the only armed passenger, threw his revolvers out of the window. Fleetwood was the last to alight, and no man ever performed an act with worse grace. "You cursed coward!" he cried, to the frightened Mexican, "you might have given your weapons to one who could use them!" Out from behind the rocks, where the 3tamp of horses could plainly be heard, came the four masked men to enforce the orders of their chief. Black Dave touched .his sombrero to the two women, and motioned them quietly to one side of the road. "Fear nothing!" he said, in what seemed to Fleetwood's ear, a decidedly cultivated voice, "I never molest ladies." But the males did not fare as well. A. fallen tree lay by the roadside. On Its trunk the luckless driver ana nis masculine passengers were ordered to sit down under cover of eight loaded revolvers. Fleetwood alone showed signs of resistance. "Sit down there young man!" commanded Black Dave, sharply. "If it's all the same to you, you unconscionable thief, I think I'll stand," replied Fleetwood. The eye of the road-agent flashed through his black mask. "Sit down!" he thundered, "or I'll let daylight through you." "Moonlight, you mean. Friend David," laughed .Fleetwood; "you have me at i slight disadvantage, you see. If fair play was possible between us, I give you my word that I should not obey you." He seated himself reluctantly at the jnd of the lugubrious line. "Hands up!" cried the road agent. The women alone were spared. Jehu surrendered twenty-flve hard-earned lollars and a watch and chain. Black Dave, unlike road agents in general, had no consideration for drivers. The Judge, with commendable resignation, gave up a well-fllled pocket book. The tourist. in the gray coat carried a lean purse and no trinkets; but the robber chief seized him by the boots, tore off those useful articles, and took from them ten thousand dollars in government bonds. The Mexican ivas the richest of the passengers. He vas stripped of chains and rings, and i watch studded with diamonds, not to speak of great rolls of United States bank notes, and a belt stuffed with fold coin. Black Dave "went through" the company thoroughly, and came to the last victim in the line?Guy Fleetwood. Inwardly, the young Canadian was boiling with rage; outwardly, he was is calm as the night sky wl)ich bent ever the wretched spot. Silently he permitted Black Dave to relieve him of a superb chronometer ind a well-fllled purse; but when the robber chief seized upon a leather case of letters and photographs, the young fellow uttered a protest. "I give you my word as a gentleman." he said, "that you will And neither money nor jewels in that case. Have the decency to let it aione, ior It cannot be of the slightest value to you." "Dry up!" answered the robber, roughly, as he tore the case from the young fellow's pocket. A letter fell out, and two or three photographs. The sight was more than Fleetwood could bear. His treasures? Maud's letters?his mother's letters?In the vile hands of this western robber! He was a muscular fellow, and he had been well-trained In the manly art of self-defense. Dike lightning he planted a trt mendous blow between Black Dave's disguised eyes. The road agent dropped like a log. Instantly there was a crash of revolvers, and Guy Fleetwood fell headlong to the earth, and lay there without breath or motion. One of the men ran to his fallen chief, while the remainder of the gang covered the stage passengers with their loaded weapons, and so held them In check. Black Dave was lifted up, and a flask put to his lips. He revived immediately, and looked around. "Where's that young devil?" he gasped. "Dead," answered the subordinate, briefly, pointing to the prostrate body of Fleetwood. " 'Twas a pity to shoot so much good pluck!" said Black Dave, with a grim laugh; then he waved his hand toward the waiting stage. "Bundle in there!" he thundered, to the plundered passengers, and, still menaced by the revolvers of the road agents they obeyed with haste. The women were the last to scramble to their places?they alone had escaped robbery. Black Dave sent a shot over the head of Jehu to speed him on his way, and off rattled the coach at a tremendous pace and vanished away in the shadows of the night, leaving Guy Fleetwood stretched across that fallen log J by the wayside, with the moon shining down upon his stark, stiff body, and over the blood-stains that streaked his upturned face. CHAPTER II. At the Ranch. Half an hour went by. Suddenly there was a faint stir.among the twigs and dead leaves?the spasmodic movement of a helpless human hand, as if It were trying to clutch a glimmering v consciousness, a receding world. Guy g Fleetwood.stirred and opened his eyes, c Of course he was alone. The stage n had gone on, and the road agents had d fled with her booty. Was he hurt? Desperately! He rolled off the log into a pool of his own blood. His v> body seemed riddled with bullets. The n robbers had missed a vital, part, but a that was all. 1? What was he to do? He was bleed- p ing from undressed wounds; he lay on a a wild trail, miles and miles from hu- V man aid, unarmed and at the mercy of ir any savage beast that might scent his si blood from afar; and yet, in the face tl of these facts, Fleetwood at this moment thought only of the case of let- F ters and photographs which Black o) Dave had stolen from his coat pocket. "What did the rascal do with it, I w wonder?" he muttered, feebly. "Poor "1 little Maud! Will she cry her pretty eyes out when she hears of my death?" ta Hark! What sound was that in the a far distance? He listened. Distinct ei and clear to his ears came the rat- gi tling of stirrups, the plunging of hoofs, the panting of hard pressed horses. A hi band of mounted men swept around the bend in the road, and galloped y< straight up to the spot where Fleet- vl wood lay. The foremost of the number leaped quickly out of his saddle, sc and bent over the prostrate man. tl "He is still living!" cried g'ctrawoy "He Is still living!" he called to his a] comrades. Ana, wun a groan 01 ais- u< may, Fleetwood looked up Into the In masked face of Black Dave, the road re agent. bi "Yes, I am living, but through no ai fault of yours," he answered, feebly. In "Have you come back to finish me? Well, be quick about it?aim at my m heart this time!" n< He shut his eyes to receive the final to blow, but it did not come. To Fleet- te wood's utter amazement, the road- st agent drew from a pocket of his deer- be skin shirt, not the deadly Derringer, of but a flask of excellent wine, which he ai pressed to the lips of his victim. Then th he called out imperatively, to some one L in the gang: "Doctor!" to A short, thick set fellow dismounted, d< examined Fleetwood's hurts, produced w l?-?t f-' bandages from some unknown "1 quarter, and began to bind up the ? young man's wounds with professional fl< skill. in "He'll pull through," Fleetwood heard ai him mutter. It Black Dave stood looking on with an p? air of strange excitement. Fleetwood ai could almost feel his terrible eyes to burning through his mask. The rest tl of the gang remained motionless in m their saddles. hi "I did not come back to finish you, tt as you see, Mr. Fleetwood," said the ei outlaw, with a low, mirthless laugh; bi "don't start?I read your name on your ai letters. It was a double barreled blow ai which you gave me, and you can make in your boast that .you're the first man r? who ever floored Black Dave; but I si bear no malice. Now, first of all, y< where do you hall from?" a< Having really nothing to conceal, Fleetwood answered, promptly, "From ot Canada." tl "What brings you to Colorado?" re "I am here to visit an old college hi class mate, and Invest, perhaps, In a st sheep ranch." w "Humph! Give him another pull at ci the flask, doctor?his voice Is falling. You're a Canadian by birth, young re man, but you have friends In the b< states, eh?" hi "Friends In the states! What's that H to you, you scoundrel?" groaned Fleetwood. si "Tut! don't call hard names. To H what place were you bound when you hi got aboard that stage?" L "To Crawford's ranch." rc "Ha! That's a good distance away, on the river." ai He made a signal to his men, and the st strongest horse In the party was led b< forward. One of the robbers, an ex- te ceedlngly light weight, mounted, and tl took Fleetwood on before him. w Off went the gang, Black Dave at ol their head. In spite of his bodily suf- C ferlng, Fleetwood was full of wonder hi and curiosity. How could he account hi for this odd turn of affairs? What had transformed these red handed desper- pi adoes so suddenly Into good Samari- tl tans? The little cavalcade, all armed to the ei teeth, went on through the moonlight, gi Fleetwood's ears were full of rattling tl hoofs and spurs, but not a syllable was tl spoken to any one. At a pace subdued to suit the need of the wounded man, rl the horses measured off mile after mile fi In gloom and silence. On and on! m Now and then the wine flask was ei pressed anew to Fleetwood's lips, bi Through half-closed eyes he saw the night sky, thick with stars, sliding w away overhead, and the lonely land- 11 scape, as it slipped by like a painiui rr dream. At last he became aware that m [ the gang was ascending a hill. On the c< j further side lay a valley, well watered yi ?that indispensable requirement of a yi sheep breeder. rr There stood a rough cabin, with barn n and sheds huddled near, and some cor- a.< rals, connected by swinging gates. At ni this hour no light was visible about the tl place; no sign of life; but as Black m Dave and hir. nen approached the cor- 01 rals they were greeted by the soft bleat R of sheep, and the barking of dogs. The lv outlaw rode up to the ranch, swung w himself out of the saddle, seized Fleet- ai wood, and dropped him at the threshold. ft "Halloo within!" he thundered, and fs gave two or three resounding blows on the door. Then the young fellow felt something thrust into his hand?the fc watch and purse of which he had been V robbed, and heard these words: di "Here you are at Crawford's ranch, it and by Heaven! I've run my neck into ir a noose to fetch you here. .Goodby, Mr. cl Fleetwood?it's a thousand pities you yi happened to be on the Overland stage tonight." rr A rush, a clatter, and Black Dave w and his gang dashed away over the w valley, and vanished like birds of the it night. A noise inside the cabin assured 01 Fleetwood that the Inmates had been awakened. A well-known voice cried: c< "What the deuce can all that row be, n Hoxle?" T The door swung back, and the sham- si bling, half-dressed figure of an old a herder appeared in the opening. h "Lord save us. Mister Crawford," he tl cried, at sight of the object on the rl threshold; "somebody's gone and left a Ji dead man at the door." "I "No, by Jove! I'm not dead yet, ri Crawford, old fellow," gasped Fleet -oo^, as the owner of the ranch, a tl aunt, sandy-haired young Canadian 11 ame hurrying upon the scene; "give t< le a proper welcome to your Eldora- n o, for"? f( But he went off In a dead swoon. When he opened his eyes again he k as lying in a bunk In the principal h 30w. of the ranch. Home-made chairs ei nd benches covered with undressed lather, stood here and there about the if lace. On the wall overhead were d; ailed leather cases for revolvers. Two tl /lnchester rifles occupied one corner; 1> i another lay a heap of saddles and w leepsklns. Over the bunk the lord of s( ?e ranch bent anxiously. ci "In the name of all that's mysterious, leetwood, explain this singular mode f arrival!" he cried. hi Betwixt a laugh and a groan, Fleet- ki ood answered with two words? ai tiiacK .Dave." o? The old herder, Hoxle, dropped the it dlow dip he was holding, and leaped ly foot into the air. His weather-beat- m t face, seamed with curious wrinkles, bi rew as gray as ashes. 01 "Black Dave?ten thousand devils!" lii i gasped. . y< "Do you mean to say, Fleetwood, that al ju have been robbed and shot by that bi Uainous road agent?" cried Crawford. "Don't mind Hoxle. For private reams he would rather at any time hear te crack of doom than Dave's name." c< "I've been shot, but not robbed, it a jpears," answered Fleetwood, "for tc ire are my watch and purse," holdg up the treasure which Dave had ci istored to him. Then he told his story "iefly. They opened the pocket-book if id counted its contents?not a farth- P< g had been abstracted. st " 'Pon my soul, this is an extraordiiry thing!" said Crawford, "but tell "1 y more of it now, dear boy, you are ai >o weak. Of course, I got your let- h< r8, and was looking for you by every age; but I scarcely expected you to C * delivered at the door like a bundle hi ! wool, and by that prince of thieves m id cutthroats, too! You are more lan two-thirds killed, to say the least, ai uckily, Hoxie is something of a docr, and a capital nurse also. I shall m ;tail him to take care of you." He di aved his hand around his domicile. k< STo luxuries here, as you see, my boy y< only twp rooms in the cabin?bare ni xirs, bare walls?not a woman with- is i a radius of. ten miles. If there is nything upon which I pride myself, is my perfect freedom from all >ttlcoat government! Hoxle is cook C id housekeeper. He sews on the but- in >ns ana menas tne socks, ne maaea le bread and coffee, and roasts the ai utton. Queer fellow Is Hoxle?has a ts Istory of his own. What do you A' link he. was doing the first time I tc fer saw him? Why, hanging from the ranch of a tree with a stout rope round his neck! Yes, luxuries e scarce at the ranch, but we abound ci i necessities, and among the latter we ckon a. medicine chest and a case of lrjical Instruments. I fear, my boy, w su will have to cultivate an intimate It rqualntance with both." I? The next morning the corral gates ol ! Crawford's ranch were opened, and It le bleating sheep driven out upon the inge by Mexican Juan, while the erder, Hoxle, remained behind to ab- tl ract the robbers' bullets from Fleet- o! ood's body and otherwise care for the >mfort of this wounded guest. An anxious hush settled on the busy hi inch. Crawford pulled his sandy Vl iard, and ventured to remark: "We o] id better send for the nearest doctor, in oxle." d< "What for, sir?" demanded Hoxle, tl larply, "don't I know what fever is? N ain't I seen wounds afore today? s< iln't I probed for bullets? I reckon, eave him to me. There ain't any C >om for doctors in this yer cabin." "Remember, man, he's as dear to me n 3 a brother. We were born In the ei ime dull Canadian village?we have sen good comrades always, and, to M >11 the truth, I am responsible for hi lis whole nefarious business; for It t? as my letters, my glowing accounts sheep ranches, and merinos and C alifornla stock which brought him t? ere to Colorado, and If he dies on our ai ands I shall feel like his murderer." H "He's worth a dozen dead men," re- ? lied Hoxle, dryly. "I'll pull him irough, never fear." It And sure enough, under the old herd- H "'s excellent care, Fleetwood soon be- ai an to mend. Fate had decreed that ie young fellow should not perish by tl ie bullet of a road agent. d' One day Crawford sat cleaning a M fie In the ranch kitchen, while his a' lend, gaunt and hollow eyed, but now ti laklng rapid progress toward recov- Y "y. watched him languidly from his ,f link. hl "Fleetwood, my boy," the ranchman as saying, "I've but one passion In e( fe?sheep, and their proper manage- p' lent. Yes, of course, I know It was S( ly highly colored accounts of this c< luntry, which lured you away from our little, dull Canadian kingdom; but w ou must see my herds, particularly '8 iy Atwoods; you must ride over my c< tnge, fully to understand my enthuslsm. Like all tenderfeet?that's our a ame for new comers?you'll find lings In a ranchman's life that you e' iay not like; but, by Jove, we have a' or compensations! Nothing like this ol ocky Mountain air to expand a man's 01 ings. I was well gone in phthisis hen I came out here, you remember, rid now I call myself a sound man." ol "Maud has no sign of phthisis, so I tc rar she will not be Influenced by that ^ si ict," answered Fleetwood. Crawford's face fell. "Maud??oh, yes! your betrothed. I >rgot that you were not a free man. w /ell, It's true that ladies In general on't take kindly to ranch life; but 's the Eden of men. There's money * - ~ " J A* i It, too. I made nve inousauu uuua.o pan profit last year, and expect this r{ ear to double that sum." ^ "Maud has a natural antipathy to t rntton, living or dead," groaned the eak voice from the bunk, "and she j ould rather spend money than make O' Crawford stroked his red beard dubih "Love Is slavery the world over. I . sunt myself free, because I have either wife nor sweetheart. Oh, I see! w his beastly adventure of yours has ickened you already of Colorado. You ^ re disappointed?you will not stay ere?you are sighing, even now, for se flesh pots of Egypt?nothing looks ight to your diseased eyes, and, by ove!" raising his voice wrathfully. It's all the work of that confounded sad agent, Black Dave!" a Hoxle, who was kneading dough at w fie kitchen, table, gave one of his staring leaps, and bread and dish crashed :>gether on the floor. The outlaw's ame, had, at all times, a curious efict on the old herder. "Bear up, Hoxle!" cried Crawford, lughlng; "a man must be careful how 0 mentions Black Dave In your presnce. You see," turning .to Fleetwood, Hoxle has got It Into his head that he 1 destined to die by Dave's hand some ay?all nonsense, of course. And now mt you are stronger and we can safe r discuss the topic, let me ask, Fleetood, if you have yet thought of any alutlon of the mystery of that rasil's treatment of you?" "No." "Weil, it's the odlest thing that ever appened to a son of Adam! Tou nock the scoundrel down?a piece of udaclty that is enough, in itself, to it tie your fate?then you are shot and ibbed, and left for dead; and sudden\ for no known reason, this highwayian, thief, cutthroat, repents, turns ick, binds up your wounds, set you i his own beast, like the man of Bibual fame, carries you carefully to aur destination, and restores to you t parting all that of which you have ?en plundered." "No, not all," corrected Fleetwood. "Ha! what did he keep?" "The only thing, strange to say, that >uld be of no earthly value to him? leather case full of letters and photgraphs, and such nonsense." "By Jove! What a queer whim!" -led Crawford. Hoxie came siding up to the bunk, as drawn thither by some irresistible awer. His wrinkled face wore a range, breathless look. " 'Wasn't a whim, sir," he burst out; Slack Dave never has whims. There's a infernal motive behind everything 3 does." "You ought to know, Hoxie," said rawford, indulgently, "seeing that you ive been on terms of peculiar intliacy with the road agent." "What?Hoxie!" cried Fleetwood, in mazement. *J(5h, yes; Hoxie was? But never ind. He will tell you his story some ly. Now, the fact that Black Dave apt the leather case, and returned aur other possessions, seems very sigIflcant. Pray, what did that case coniln?" "Letters." "Be explicit?what sort of letters?" ?irrT*?/\ an V-???oa fr,\m m\r nonnln In I nu ui uucc iivin in/ pvv^.v ... anada," replied Fleetwood; "all relatig entirely to home matters, and a aJf dozen, perhaps, from Maud?sweet ad delightful enough, but not confining a line that could possibly inuence Black Dave to show compassion ? Maud's lover." "Item No. 1?letters," said Crawford; what next?" "Some railway tickets and business irds." "Go on." "Photographs?one of Maud posing 1th one of her classmates, in a boardig school tableau; another representig her in street costume and still anther in a balcony scene, and full evenig dress, a la Juliet." "No more?" "No?yes?now that I think of it, lere was one more, an excellent one f my Newfoundland dog, Punch." "This grows absorbing. Proceed." "The case also held a lock of Maud's ilr?a withered rose,. likewise a souenlr of Maud, and a ring set with an pal?a family relic, given me by my lother, but of little intrinsic value. I iclare these trifles to have composed le entire contents of the leather case, ow, which of them, do you think, )ftened the heart of Black Dave?" "I'm blessed if I know," mused rawford. "Odd, isn't It??deucedly Id! What could have possessed a >ad agent to keep such things in prefrence to your money and good Engsh chronometer? It must have been [aud's pretty face which touched his part, or, perhaps, her little love let>rs." "You have a vivid Imagination, rawford. Fancy Black Dave stopping > read a girl's letter by moonlight, nd Just after robbing a stage, too! [oxie, what do you think of this mat,r?" The old herder was eagerly drinking i every word of the conversation, [e gave one of his queer starts, but nswered gravely: "I think that neither of you two genemen has got at the truth. Dave Is eep?devilish deep! Are you sure, Ir. Fleetwood, that you hain't forgot nythlng in the case? You've mennil f won ho/1 horo ph ' Uiicu an iua.w jvu iiuu ??. ou hain't been and gone, and over >oked something that might be the ey to the whole mystery?" "No, by Jove! I have not!" answer1 Fleetwood; "my memory upon that olnt is clear. There wasn't another :rap or atom of anything else In the ise." "Bless me!" cried Crawford; "I ould give Black Dave a hundred dolirs out of my own pocket If he would jme Jiere and explain himself." "My God!" gasped the herder, with wild, terrified look around the cabin. "Oh!" said Crawford, lightly, "I forot that the presence of the road?ent would scarcely be to your mind, Id man. I must leave you to talk /er the mystery with Mr. Fleetwood, >r yonder comes Juan with the sheep." The barking of dogs and the tinkling r bells began to be heard In the dlsince. Beyond the sheds and corrals, Jown the lonely valley, covered with "lort yellow-green grass and bounded y a chain of solitary peaks, appeared [exlcan Juan in his old canvas coat, ith a canteen at his side, and his ray flock undulating about him. rawford seized his hat and ran out > the corrals, leaving his friend to le herder. "See here, Hoxle," began Fleetwood, ilslng himself on his elbow in the unk, "you have aroused my curiosity > the highest pitch. I want to hear our story. Come, what do you know bout Black Dave?" The herder cast a queer, hunted look ver his shoulder. "What do I know, sir?" he answered oarsely. "Well, I don't tell everybody; lit I've taken a fancy to you. for you're f the right sort. I know more than I Ish I did, sir?more than it's safe >r any man to know; for," sinking is voice almost to a whisper, "once on time, sir, I served In Black Dave's ang." To Be Continued. car There is never much kicking bout the rules of the game by those rho happen to win. Jftisfellantous grading. 2 METHODS OF DESTROYING RAT8. pu cai Department of Agriculture 8tadying fui the Subject. m( The United States department of 8pi agriculture will soon Issue a farmers'- blt bulletin entitled, "Methods of De- ba stroylng Rats," prepared under the supervision of the chief of the bureau of biological survey, by D. E. Lantx, assistant biologist. The topic Is of pe- a * rennlal Interest, and an infallible In method of destroying these rodents " would be worth more to the people of 80 the United States in a single decade than the department of agriculture has cost since its establishment. **i? One rat is much like another so far do as destructiveness goes, but it Is of In- ed terest to note that three kinds have co' appeared In this country, all imml- cle grants from the Old World. The black rat was the first to reach our shores, which it did nearly three hundred years ago. The common species, known as the brown, or Norway, rat arrived about the year 1776 and at once proceeded to drive out its weaker rival until almost everywhere It has W supplanted it. The third species, wa known as the roof, or Alexandrine, Er rat of Egypt, is a great mariner and Mt infests every ship; hence, naturally, it is common along our coast, espe- wl cially in the south. All rats are dangerous foes, but the thl brown rat is the worst mammalian na pest in existence, and In the United da States destroys more property than all other noxious animals combined. No ed statistics of the actual damage annu- n0 ally done by these rodents has been 861 gathered in America. In Denmark en the loss is put at $3,000,000 a year, and CO] in France the damage by both rats and mice has been estimated at $40,000,000 annually. A single rat will *? consume about two ounces of wheat b*1 or corn a day, and It destroys far more than it eats, as indeed, it does of most other food. The average cost to the country of feeding a rat on grain is m< about 50 cents a year. If for each cow, horse, sheep and hog on the ad farms of the United States the farm- th< ers snnnort one rat on irraln. the toll 8P' levied on the cereals by these rodents 8tc would reach the enormous total of 8U1 $100,000,000 a year. Even granting an that half their food Is waste material, 'nt the tax of feeding rats is still an enor- 1 mous drain on the profits of agricul- thf ture. 801 But much of their food is more ex- nil pensive than grain, and the actual th< losses due to these animals are by no by means confined to food. They enter bri stores and ware houses and destroy mt dry goods, lace curtains, carpets, wool- tw lens, silks?as well as kid gloves and we other leather goods. They gnaw ?n through lead pipes, flooding buildings in with water or filling them with gas. git They Injure furniture and the foun- inf dations and doors of buildings. They bo eat the., io^pjjttlon from electric wires, wi thus causing disastrous fires. The av- rei erage fire loss in the United States due P? to defective insulation is placed at wl $15,000,000 annually, a considerable to part of which is said to be caused by bo< rats. he Rats destroy eggs and young poul- 1 try, pigeons, game birds and wild song tin birds. They have been known to kill inj young rabbits, pigs, lambs, and even An to attack children. Carl Hagenbeck At once lost three young elephants be- ch cause rats gnawed their feet, inflict- foi ing Incurable wounds. an In addition to the direct damage He they do, rats are known to be active vei agents in carrying disease germs from thi house to house and from city to city. I 1 Bubonic plague is usually dissemina- it ted from port to port In this way. ch Their proliflcness is the chief obstacle to their extermlnati&n. They produce young from three to six times a year, and females breed when about Rs three months old. The average litter is about ten, but often it numbers fourteen or more. If three litters of dii ten each are produced every year, a soi single pair, breeding without check in] and without losses by death in three on years would be represented by ten ' generations, and would number 20,- Its 155,392 Individuals. The eleventh sti " ? -* *1-- U 1 I? ? .rfc generation, aue at me uegimuiis ui the fourth year, would number over a Qi hundred millions. th< The world has been fighting rats for th< several centuries, but the warfare has on been neither systematic nor persist- ed ent. The number of "infallible" de- pn vices and formulas for killing the ro- th< dents that have been put forth would we All volumes, and still the pestiferous of rat survives and grows more and Bo more cunning as the devices for its de destruction gain In Ingenuity. an The biological survey does not pre- bu tend to have worked out an infallible wo device for killing rats by wholesale, ch; but the methods for their destruction coi given In the bulletin are those which Pl< careful experiments have shown to be cul the best, and the formulas for poison- coi ing and trapping them are the most his approved ones. Particular emphasis gr< Is placed on the rat-proof construe- wa tion of buildings and on organized co- Th operative efforts to destroy the ani- we mals.?P. H. McG. in News and Cour- am ier. Ive tal THE GILA MONSTER. Stt we It la a Hard Biter and Very Poiaon- ca' est oua. , Of some of the strange ways of the He gila monster, that little known crea- ^ j ture of the southwestern deserts, a correspondent writes to the Los An- nej geles Times as follows: COJ "I have had some experience with sjn glla monsters, and can state mat no ^ matter what scientists may claim, the glla monster is a good thing to shun. nQ Indians and Mexicans have a horror eiil of them and fear them more than a rattlesnake. I believe that the bite of ^ the glla monster is dangerous because j of the creature's habit of eating Hzards, bugs and rodents and then lying ger on sand so hot that it blisters the ' hands and feet of men. The teeth are ^ often covered with a fermented, pu- wl, trefled froth from the food. A bite un has the same effect as the cut of a pja dissecting knife used on a cadaver; In th< other words, the Inoculation of a dead- , fy poison. up "When frightened or angry he can jow move quite rapidly. That short, thick, mo stubby tail Is used In Jumping, Just as a kangaroo uses his tail. The glla wj, monster bites like a bulldog and has eri the tenacity of a snapping turtle. I ski once saw some men teasing a glla monster brought to Tucson. A string bia is tied arouna ms necn. me gnu >nster was crawling around on the aund trying to get away, but waa lied back by the string. This waa rrled on until the creature became rlous. The crowd around the gila mater knew nothing of his power to ring. Suddenly he sprang up and a man among the crowd on the nd, leaping fully two feet from the >und. "Another instance, this of a man tose chief object seems to have been foolhardy display of fearlessness, i was holding one of the -monsters his hand by the back of the neck, It could not bite him. He dropped i hand to the side of his leg. The a monster snui ins mm uunu uu i heavy duck overalls, taking a uble piece out where the cloth foldas quickly as a pair of scissors nld have cut the fabric and as anly." WHEN CHIPMUNK8 8INQ. met From Hiding and Announces His Presence By "Chuck-Chuck." [n Manitoba the chipmunk comes ove ground about the first or second >ek of April; that Is, as soon as irm weather has surely set In, says nest Thompson Seton in Success igazlne. The regularity with which sy appear, with the earliest soft nd of spring, sets me wondering at ies whether there Is not something m mere verbiage In the phrase "ver1 Influence." Snug In their deep, rk abode, far beyond the reach of b sun or frost, they cannot be reachor touched by mere temperature, r can It be that they appear at a t time, as some of our winter sleepi are said to do. No, they must me forth on the very day, when first 3 very spring is in the land. The chipmunk announces its return sunlight in a manner worthy of a d. Mounted on some log or root, reiterates a loud, chirpy "Chuckuck-chuck." Other chipmunks run m their holes, for they awaken al>st In a body; they run forth Into ! sunlight, and, seeking some perch, d their "Chuck-chuck-ch uck" to 9 spring salute, so the glad news reads from point to point, from ine pile to brush heap and fence, tnmoning all the race to come forth d take part in the national rejolcr. Dr. Charles Eastman Informs us it In the wooded parts of Mlnne:a the coming forth of the chipinks is a recognised event among a young Indians, and is celebrated a special hunt As soon as the ght warm days of spring arrive to ike It possible the boys go forth beeen sunrise and 9 o'clock to some ill-known chipmunk haunt, where e of their number who is an adept imitating the creature's notes beis the chorus with a loud chirpX. The chipmunks pop out of their les on all sides. "As many as fifty 11 come together and hold a social anion." Then, seeking some high rch, they join in the sprang music th a concentrated energy that seems make them heedless of danger, and jn they fall in numbers to the bluntaded arrows of the Indians. The chipmunks are active from this le of year on, and their sunny mornX chorus is not by any means coned to that original outburst On nil 29, 1905, at Coscob, I heard'a ipmunk in full song. He kept it up * eleven minutes without ceasing, d uttered 130 chirps to the minute. ) got no reply, though he worked ry hard, and seemed tired toward e last. On May 28, 1905, at Coscob, leard a chipmunk singing. He kept up for three minutes, uttering three lrps to the second. INDIAN FARMER8. d Men Who Have Made 8uccess as Tillers of the Soil. Writing on the progress of the Inins in the arts of peace, J. M. Oskin, in Everybody's, gives the followX account of an Indian county fair the Rosebud reservation in 1906: "For two days the races, the exhib, the games and the 'Farmers' Intute' engaged the attention of the iltors. On the third day Reuben lick Bear, a full-blooded Sioux and ? master of ceremonies, announced - ?Ua A.UIKU . 8 prize winners tuiiuug me uuivu3. To Zander Big: Crow was awarda clock for owning the best imoved and best equipped allotment on 3 reservation. Wooden Ring won a itch for showing the best collection domestic animals. Minnie War mnet carried away a lamp as evince that she Is the best housekeeper d cook among the women of Rosed. An appropriate prize was that >n by Andrew Long Warrior, the amplon vegetable grower, for the mmittee awarded him a spade, enty Bull has the largest area of Itlvated land on his allotment; the mmittee gave him a file to sharpen i plowshare. John Elk-Looks-Back 8w the largest melon, and his rerd was a long-bladed Jackknlfe. e best colt and the best calf of 1906 re shown by William Standing Bear d Charles Stands-by-Him, respectIy. A cane was presented to the lest man present, named Jumbo inds-at-Hlm, and a dollar In cash nt to Alice Search-the-Enemy bease she was judged to be the prettigirl In camp. 'Mr. Quick Bear was enthusiastic, i said that the fair had served to ng to the notice of hundreds of Inms what was oewig done by their ghbors, and that It would stimulate npetltlon. He had not observed a gle case of drunkenness; there had sn no disorder. The games and :es had been keenly contested, but bad feeling had resulted, and no mbllng had been discovered." [*he German Wat.?Prior to the t solar eclipse the colonel of German regiment of Infantry it for his sergeants and ob ved: "There will be an eclipse of 3 sun to-morrow. The regiment II meet on the parade grounds in dress uniform. I will come and exin the eclipse before the drill. If > day is cloudy the men will meet the drill shed as usual." Whereon the sergeants drew up the folding order of the day: "To-morrow irnlng, by order of the colonel, there II be an eclipse of the sun. The regent will assemble on parade ground, ere the colonel will come and aupntend the eclipse In person. If the r is cloudy the eclipse will take ,ce in the drill shed."?Translated Transatlantic Tales from Wochentt.