The Argosy, April 1912 — page 106: what you’re looking at

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

92 “Tt is for you to decide, Ned,” continued Mrs. Temple. “You are to be Mildred’s husband, and you will know the wisest thing to do. I leave it to you.” ‘““There’s only one thing to be done, Mrs. Temple,” said the sheriff, “and that is to pursue this man and make him give your daughter up.” “But he might kill her,’”’ objected the mother. “T reckon not,” rejoined Border; “not so soon at any rate. He’s no doubt got her hid somewhere near by. He wouldn’t dare stay in the same place for fear of being discovered. We'll get him, and then—” “Oh!” exclaimed Mrs. Temple. “Don’t murder any one. All I want is my child.” “But I must remind you, Mrs. Temple,” went on the sheriff, “you’ve got to think about the future—about other people’s chil- dren. If we let this fellow get off free with a reward that will encourage other desperadoes to do the same thing. It will set a bad example.” “The sheriff is right,” declared Huntly at last. “I, too, can hardly wait for Mil- dred’s return, but we should at least try to find her before we give in to the demand for money.” “ All right, then, Ned,” said Mrs. Temple. “But do hurry. You'll never be successful, and we shall have to pay the money in the end besides losing valuable time. I don’t know how I am going to stand the anxiety.” “Well, sheriff,” and Huntly spoke in cheerful tones, “now that everything is set- tled, I am ready to start whenever you are.” “We'll make it this very minute,” and Border led the way to the front door. CHAPTER IX. THE FIGURE IN THE BUSHES. BorbDER led the way to the spot where the masked man had hitched the horses. “Where are we going?” asked Huntly. “To find out something I want to know,” replied the sheriff. “ Here, Tom,” he called to one of his men. “Let’s have that lan- tern. I want to examine these hoof-prints more carefully than you did.” “Oh, there were two horses all right,” said Tom. “I believe that,”’ replied the sheriff, “ but that don’t satisfy me.” “What more can you expect to dis- cover?” inquired Huntly. THE ARGOSY. “Tl answer that question in just a min- ute,’ and Border dropped to his hands and knees and looked closely at the ground. Huntly and Tom stood near by watching him curiously. “There ain’t nothing there,” Tom re- marked. “Don’t be too sure,” and the sheriff held the light still closer to the ground. At last he raised it triumphantly. “TI thought so,” he announced with a chuckle. “What is it?” asked Huntly. “You found something!” observed Tom. “You bet I did. The rest is easy.” He motioned to both Tom and Huntly, “Tt’s like reading writing,” he went on. “Couldn’t be any plainer. One of those two horses had a loose shoe,” said the sher- iff, pointing to the hoof prints. “Sure enough,” exclaimed Tom. never thought of that.” “Two horses and one with a loose shoe. It’s a cinch,” said the sheriff. “We'll run them down in no time. Go get the boys to- gether, Tom, while we decide on the best way to start.”’ Tom did as ordered, and the rest of the men gathered quickly. Word had gone tbout that they were to follow the abductor, so when the sheriff called upon them, each man was ready with his horse and a bite of provisions for a long ride. The sheriff and Huntly mounted their horses and the cavalcade set off, Border leading the way and following the hoof- prints. | “TI can’t imagine anything so clumsy,” he remarked. “Wouldn’t you think that the fellow would know better, boys?” “You sure would,” replied one of the men. “ He can’t be so very smart after all.” “ He was smart enough to get away with the girl, all right,” said Border dryly. “‘ The question now is, can he keep her?” ‘Are you sure, though,” interrupted Huntly, “that the hoof-prints belong to the two horses used by the abductor?” “Look here, Mr. Huntly, they couldn’t belong to any others. Who is going to hitch two horses at that particular time in that particular spot? Answer that.” Huntly couldn’t for the moment, but after careful thought he replied: “There may be some mistake. we are following the wrong clue.” “Don’t you worry about that,” rejoined the sheriff, “we’ve got the right one all ae | Perhaps cConnicoool<