Part 34 (1/2)
Slowly the stars faded, the first ghostly light caan to leap once h to shoot Then his straining eyes saw Bill ee from the cabin
Every nerve in his body seemed to jerk and thrill with renewed exciteht was diure swiftly He was gone; the cabin was left unoccupied except for Virginia And for all that she had shot so straight to save Bill's life, there was nothing to fear froht he knew her well enough to know that she wouldn't shoot hiered
He did not try to guess the ht had been more clear and his fury less, he would have paused and wondered about it; perhaps he would have been somewhat suspicious Bill was blind; except to procure fuel there was no conceivable reason for an excursion into the snow But Harold only shi+vered with hatred and rage, drunk with the realization that his chance had coo quickly to the cabin, procure his snowshoes, and be ready to meet Bill with loaded rifle when he returned There was no chance for failure He plunged and fought his way, floundering in the deep snoard Bill's cabin
He found to his great delight that the door was open,--nothing to do but walk through At first he was a little aainst the opposite wall; it occurred to him for the first tiht If so, it azed at him as he neared the threshold He could see her but dimly; mostly the cabin was still dusky with shadows
”I'oing to go away” He tried to draw his battered, bloody lips into a set them,” she replied Her voice was low and lifeless
Harold stepped through the door And then she uttered a curious cry
”Now!” she called sharply There was no tihty force descended upon his body
Even in that first instant Harold knew only too hat had occurred
Instead of lying in wait himself he had been lured into a in the shadow, just beside the open door Virginia had given hinal when to leap down
He leaped with crushi+ng force,--as the grizzly leaps, or the cougar pounces fro of hule, but his attempt was futile as that of a sparrow in the jaws of the little erth of these pitiless arht before, and his lust for vengeance gave way to ghastly and blood-curdling terror What would these two avengers do to him; what justice would they wreak on him, now that they had him in their power?
The resistless shoulders hurled hi to be of such aid as was needed
She wholly disregarded her own injury Her own countryht all day ounds much worse She crept with her pistol ready in her hands
Bill's strong fingers were at Harold's throat by now; the man's resistance iftly crushed out of him With his knee Bill held down one of Harold's arms; with his free arm he struck blow after blow into his face Then as unconsciousness descended upon hi drawn back and tied
He struggled for consciousness Opening his eyes, he saw their sardonic faces The worst terror of his life descended upon hi to do toto be our little truck horse,” Virginia replied gayly, as she handed Billto pull the sled and show the way down into Bradleyburg”
xxxIV
When the dawn caht over Clearwater, Bill and his party were ready to start When Harold had been thoroughly cowed and his full instructions were given his had been put about his ankles and re
That procedure was exceedingly simple; all available blankets were piled on the sled and inia, and the ax, candles, and such cooking utensils as were needed were packed in front And then they had a short but decisive intervieith Harold
”I won't go--I'll die first,” he cried to Virginia ”Besides, you don't dare to use force on me; you don't know the way and Bill can't see You know if you kill inia replied sweetly ”But take this little word of advice Bill and I were all reconciled to dying e thought of you--and we don't et any false ideas about that point, Harold We're not going to spare you on any chance of saving ourselves We are going to give you a little more foot roo to pull the sled When we ca to cut the wood Don't think for ato be afraid to shoot if you disobey one order--if you take one step against us You are at our mercy; we are not at yours And Bill will tell you I can shoot straight Perhaps you learned that fact last night”
Yes, Harold had learned He had learned it very well
”If I think you're trying to cheat us--to lead us out of the way toward your breed friends--you're going to have a chance to learn it better,” she went on, never a quaver in her voice ”I won't wait to h the neck as easy and as quick as I'd shoot a grouse I haven't forgotten what you did last night; I'rew --the only one and the last one that you will get
I'ht And the fact that we can't go on without you won't have a jot of influence if you take a step against us We may die ourselves, but you know that you'll also die”