An Oregon Girl

n thought-noted her grave, white, shocked face, and her bowed head. His sympathy went out to her. Oh, what wouldn't he then have given to be able to clasp her in his arms

lling sympathy to be near her in her trouble, and hopi

courage to push the button. After meditating for a moment, he turned and softly passed along the piazza. On reaching the south extension he halted, for th

r avoiding the main front entrance. He followed at a distance and saw her enter a

on streets, resulting in the cars being bunched. Sam stood at the front end of the car beside the motorman,

car passed on, he saw her walking toward the park entrance. One block further along Twenty-third street Sam alighted, and rapidly retraced his steps to Washi

distance, keeping well u

, who entered the park a minute sinc

the policeman waved

t to happen. He walked on the grass whenever possible to muffle the sound of his footfalls, and soon was rewarded by making out the dim form of a wom

the hill, and proceeded toward the children's playgrounds, apparently away from her. P

in" whom she discovered while s

down the hillside. He at once followed her, and was the man she again saw on the driveway beneath her

d to get near them. He threw himself flat against the bank and, shielded some by the unmowed grassy slope, dragged himself along for about fifty feet, to where the driveway, rounding westward, divided the

hen he peered above the summit. The couple were between him and the dim city lights. He strained his ears to catch their words, and drew himself closer, inch by inch

n who he was, where he lived, and, if possible, to gain some knowledge of his

l object of the meeting; but he was convinced that some grave and momentous purpo

d through Sam's brain with amazing rapidity. "Or, rather, was she not compelled to meet the stranger by some power which he had obtained over her-

mined to fathom it. Inured to a rough, open-air life on the Texas plains, his constitution was hard

elding grass, to catch sight of the fellow ahead. A clump of low bushes suddenly confronted him. It was an unusually dark spot,

se from the direction of the bush. Discovering no sign of a crouching figure there, he hastened on, and finally caught si

t moment Sam was as keen on the trail as a sleuth on the scent, never lo

the man halting under the shelter of a fir or clump of saplings, evidently to

he turned, and sharply cutting across Sam's front, swiftly entered the deep

, a circumstance to cause Sam keen chagrin, for he hoped by an adroit move to get a

ould not determine. In his effort to mislead Sam, the fugitive had doubled on his track, and at that moment was but a short distance west of the starting point. Sam reasoned that this man would not cross that smooth, grassy plot, nor emerge from his re

e cluster's gloomy precincts in his defenseless condition-he soon passed them and discovered a succession of odd-looking shrubs, trained to fantastic growths by the gardener. They afforded excellent cover right down past the bear pit to the deer corral fence, which ran along the brow o

rf locust trees, forming a series of natural bowers, rather pic

dow of these dark vines, Rutley and Jack Shore had met b

s me like a bloodhound," Jack inf

. "If he will not stop following you-

nt any killing in ours, Phil,

low Virginia and was sure

s anyway. He is moving to

essly-very close beside the fence, toward the tangle. As he neared it he could make out its black cavernous recesses. Twice he paused, his eyes strained

presence. His hands gently touched a vine to part the leaves-instantly he was greeted with a hiss and a rattle, and then something glittered close to his eyes, which in the moment of his st

nued with a low, sardonic laugh: "I have it, Jack. You lead him down on the Barnes road; I'll meet him there," and without any further delay Rutley slipped down the steep

illness of a dark, lonely and forbidding place, fairly raised his hair, and lent a lightness to his

the beads of perspiration from his face as he added aloud: "An almighty close call! But," and he looked up at the dark sky, an

had signally failed, and he stood motionless w

ived the notion to climb over the fence and make a short descent to the gate, in order to catch sight of Virginia, for she could not be far away yet, and to follow her and secretly to protect her on her return to her home. With that

eadly reptiles got

quietly down the other side of the fence, and gradually lowered himself, without sustaining other injury than a few trivial scratches. As he brushed mechanically the debris which had clung to his clothes, he was sur

pearance of the man differed from the one he had followed, inasmuch that one had on a long coat and bushy beard, the other wore a short pilot coat and mustache. For a moment Sam was puzzled, and he scratched his head. Suddenly he

lace, as near as he could esti

ion by masses of slender leaf-laded branches and twigs. The inner, bushy part being skilfully cut away. The trick employed to evade him was now palpable. The hiss, the buzzing rattle, the glitter-"Ah; it was the glitter of a steel blade"-and at the th

e, was still dimly visible the retreating f

, until it was almost upon him, a dark, noiseless machine, approaching from the rear. He moved hastily aside to let it pass, but to his intense astonishment, the automobile followed him with ev

Rutley at once stopped the mach

k, who asked, in a low vo

ad gash on the side

gero

le for me

ous?" anxiousl

interfere with us again for some

him

eing a villain, to play the good Samaritan. Well, take this handkerchief a

arris feel under an

f ten thousand, to square accounts,"

pack him on t