Phil Rushington's Search, or, The Unknown Rider of the Ring — page 26: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

the road. He had on his everyday clothes. His skulking manner, coupled with the fact that I knew he should be at work in the ring at that moment, aroused my suspicions, SO 1 covertly followed him. When he reached the road d’Or halted behind a thicket of brush until a farmer drove along. The farmer had a ‘democrat’ wagon, and it was plain that he had just been to mill. In front of the tent his team took fright at something and jumped sideways, almost overturning the wagon and throwing out one of half a dozen filled sacks which he had in behind. He jumped out and lifted the sack in, and then drove on. When he reached d’Or, the latter stepped quickly out, passed a few words with him, then climbed into the wagon and they jogged along. I knew something was up, and came back here to report. I got here just as Curly tound Mr. Arkwright.” “Now we're getting down to bed-rock,” said Rush. Cartwright ?” “What kind of a team was it, “A white horse and a brown mule.” “They went west?” “Yes.” ~ Well, I'll have to follow and inquire along the road for a white horse and a brown mule. ~addle my riding-horse. Curly. It’ll be rather a hard trail, but d’Or hasn’t got much the Start.” “The trail won't be so hard to follow, Mr. Rushington,” said Cartwright. “The sack that was thrown out of the farmer’s wagon was an old one, with two or three corncobs thrust into holes to stop them up and keep in the contents. In the fall one of the cobs came out—a little thing which escaped the farmer’s notice.” “And the sack’s contents sifted through the hole and left a trail in the road,” smiled Phil amused at the oddity of the Occurrence, “Ts that it, Cartwright ?” “That’s it, sit. With sharp eyes like yours po AND DARE WEEKLY. you'll have no difficulty in following that thin Life of ‘middlings’ straight to the farmer’s barnyard—that is, if he doesn’t live too far away, so that the contents of the sack do not give out before he reaches his destination,” — “Did yez ever hear av the loike av that!” exclaimed Mamie. “I expect ye’ll be afther makin’ a Sherlock Holmes out o’ yersilf, Rushy.” “I’m engaged in a search,” returned Phil, “and I’m determined to carry it through to a successful finish.”’ “Shall I go along, Rush?” asked Walt. “T’ve got something else for you to do, old man. Come with me and I'll tell you what it is. I'll take you with me, Wister. Get off your makeup and be ready to go.” | Rush and Walt walked out of the horse tent and toward the place where Bumpers had been left with Dora and Frances. “Walt,” said Rush, “I want you to take the boy, Francis, and go into town after warrants for Art Lovejoy, Reddy and Bumpers. ‘The boy will swear them out. Then have an of- ficer or two follow Wister and me along that trail of middlings, and another come after Reddy and Bumpers.” “What is the tramp doing over there?” queried Walt, pointing to the place where Bumpers was sitting at the side of the band chariot. -_- “T hypnotized him and tried an experiment, which failed to work. T’ll wake him up, and you can leave him with Curly till the war- rants are secured and officers come for him and Reddy.” “The mystery of the unknown rider has been revealed, has it ?” “Yes, but in confidence, so that I am not able to give you any particulars, old man. In: this search I am about to make I am helping Francis. After you start the officers along in the direction T have taken, come back and assume charge of things here. ‘This matter corr 4 9O00KS.COmM No