Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 24, Number 139, Decatur, Adams County, 12 June 1926 — Page 3

Judith of Blue Lake Ranch By Jackson Gregory

V Char Im Bom —— ——« laughed at her. ■ -Little pussy-cat," he jeered. "You've ■. ( claw*, have you? And yuu spit Ed growl. y° u? w “ nt “*• to let ■’ {u back to thut swaggering lover E,ours. do you? Back to l.ee ", | That a enough, Quinnlon," she said ■fctrply- ■ "It it?" He laughed at her again,] B , again eawe on toward her. the ■L.rlaimed evil of his eyes driving ■ .. k star at last into her. "Enough? ■vrty, curse you and curse hlin - 1 i ■havent begun yet! When I’m through wltb yo“ 111 k° fßßt enough. And he w n have you then an’ d—n welcotue to him. ■•Stop!" cried Judith. His laughter did not reach her ears Bow, but us he kicked the fire at his toot' and the flames leaped and tbowed Ms face, she read the laughter in bls soul; read It through the gleaming eyes. the twlßted mouth which (bowed the teeth at one side in a horrible leer. His long arms thrust out him, he came on. "Oh. my G—dJ” cried Judith. "My G-d"’ Qhen suddenly she was silent. She thought that she had known the ut- j Wruioat of fear and now for the first 1 time did she fully know what terror mi. Hls strength was many times I her Strength, ids brutality was un-1 I bounded, she was alone with him., I There was no one to call to, not even , I Ruth, the mad woman. gbe was shaking now, shaking so that the could barely stand. Qulnnion mme on, his long arms out. . . . She felt the strength die out of her body, grew for a moment blind and (dizzy and sick. She tried again to <ctll out to him, to plead with him. 1 .But her voice stuck in her throat. 1 He was gloating over her, a look strangely like Mad Ruth’s In his eyes. Good G—d! He was like Mad Ruth; the tame eyes, the same long, power- ' ful arms, the same look of cunning! In a flash there came to her a suspi- ’ cion which was near certainty: this mu wag blood of Mad Ruth’s blood, ‘ bone of her bone; her son, and, like ' her, tainted with madness. He siiot out a long arm. his hand ’ barely brushing her shoulder. She shrank back. He stood, content to pause a moment, to gloat further over her. 1

“You little beauty,” he said, panting. "You little white and pink and brown beauty I" , Judith had shuddered when he touched her. But a strange thing had happened to her. His touch had angered her so that she almost forgot to be afraid, angered her so that the loathing was gone In white hot hatred, giving her back her old •trength. Now, though he had the brutal force of » strong man, Qulnnion did not hive the swiftness of movement of in alert, desperate girl. Before ho could grasp her motive she leaped to-’ *ird him and toward the bed of boughs, found tire ragged stone, and lifting It high above her head flung It! full luto his faee. (The man staggered back, crying out in throaty harshness, • cry of blind rage. But he did not fall, did not pause more than a brief Instant. < A little dazed, with blood In his ’in. be lunged toward her. She had found the club now and struck with nil her might, again beating into fice and again and again. He sought; ,n grapple with her and she beat him'. h *ck. She saw his hand go to his blp and heard him curse her, and she •raped In on him and, panting with th* blow, struck again. He flung up, bli arm. She struck once more. Tak- !■>< the blow full across the face, Qulnnion reeled back, stumbled at an uneven spot In the rock floor, bal»a<ed, almost falling. . . . Only a moment he held thus. But there was a chance to pass him in the narrow way, and she took her chance, her heart beating wildly. And aa she shot by she struck again. She heard him after her, shouting 'ursea, stumbling a little, coming on. Ihe door was open, thank God, the d «or was open! She shot through. If she could but take time to close it 1, But there was no time for that; he "as almost at her heels. And outaide was the ledge nnd the dizzy climb' <own. i If she slipped, if she fell, well. It "fluid just be a clean death and nothIhk more. Qulnnion was but a few * te P« behind her. He had not fired. Had he perhaps dropped his gun back there in the darkness? Or was he ’o aure of taking her, alive and strug- , “Ung, Into ids arms In another mo. m»nt? She was on the ledge. It was dark, , Pitch-dark. But she found a hand- , I'flld, thrtfw herself flat down and , thrust her feet out over the lodge, less , “tealfl of what lay below than what t'SSJsjin behind her. She, was. ,g_r jjt ]

p1,, » I, "‘ ndA with her hiTi. 1 " where to set her feet She found It. another le„er ledge hl '- h «he h“d almost missed, and hnew that this way ,he had clambered upward with Bayne Trevors if shß could only find another step and nt* other before Qulnnion came upon her! She held her dub in Her teeth- she must not kt that go. «'• Qulnnion was over the ledge, following her. She heard his heavy breathing, heard him cursing her again. She wus going so slowly, so slowly, and Qulnnion would know the . way better than she. Qulnnion would better time In the dark. She moved along thia lower ledge. At each Instant she wondered if it I were to be her last, if she were going to full, if a swift drt>p through the darkness would be the end of life, i Suddenly there was scarce room in , the girl’s breast for hatred of Chris Qulnnion, so tilled wus it with the ■ love of life. She wanted to see the sun come up again, she wanted the sweet breath of the dawn In her nos--1 trlls, the beauty of a sunlit world In ' her eyes. She thought of Bud l.ee. I Clinging to the rocks, hanging on desperately, taking u score of desperate chances momentarily, she made her way on and down. She fimtid scant handhold and, almost falling, dropped her club, heard It strike,’ strike again. Black as the night was! its gloom wjts less thun that of the cavern to which Judith had grown accustomed; little by little she begun to make out the broken surface of the cliffs. The chasm below was a pool of Ink; above were the little stars; In theceastern sky, low down, was a promise of the rising moon. The surge of quickening hope came Into her heart. Had she hurt Qninnlon more than she had guessed? For, slowly as she made her hazardous way down, It seemed to her that Qulnnion came even more slowly. Could she but once get down Into the gorge below, could she slip along the course of the racing stream, she might run and the sound of her steps would be lost even to her own ears in the sound of the water: the sight of her flying body would be lost to Quinnion's eyes. Then she heard him laughing above her. Laughing, with a snarl and a curse in his laugh, and something of salfcfous triumph. Was he so ver- f aln of her then? "Ruth!’’ called Qulnnion. "Oh, Huth! The girl’s gettin’ away. Goin’ :own the rocks. Head her off at the ;ottom." Judith had found, because her fate vas good to her, the long slanting ■rack in the wall of rock up which she lad come that day with Buyne Trev»rs. There was still danger of a fall, mt the danger was less now than t had been ten seconds ago. She ;ould move more swiftly now and jonfidence had begun to come to her hat she could elude Quinnlon. But tow, suddenly, she heard Mad Ruth’s

roice screaming a shrill answer to j Julnnion's shout; knew that Huth had j >een in her cabin across the gorge , md was running to intercept her nt . :he foot of the cliffs. j Well, still there was a race to be 'tin and the odds not entirely uneven. Ruth must descend the other side of he canyon, get down into the gorge, , nake the crossing, which, so far as Judith knew, might be farther up or 1 farther down stream, come to the ■ ;llffs below Judith before Judith ber- , lelf made her way down. Again Judith took what risks the ! light and the rocks offered her and , thanked God In her soul that it was fiven her to take a chance in the i jpen, to use her own muscles in her ' jwn fight, not to lie longer, playing ] the part of a do-nothing. Now and ' then, across the void, there floated ■ to her a little moaning cry from the ' mad woman's lips. Now and then she heard a curse from Qulnnion above; aften from above her, from below her jwn feet, from across the chasm, dropping stones, falling almost sheer, told of haste and death which might come from an unlucky step. Fast as Judith went now, having a fair sort of cliff trail unvr her, Mad Ruth went faster. The gorge measured a scant fiftv feet between th/n and the girl's alert senses told her that already Ruth was on a level with her. Ruth was winning in the desperate race. She knew her way down so perfectly, her heart was so tilled with madness, that danger was nothing to her. Down and down climbed Judith caution wedded to haste, as she told herself that she had a chance yet, I that that chance must not be tossed away in a fall, though It were but a few feet. She must have no sprained ankle if she meant to see the sun rise | . had brightened in the S kv where the moon was n e« r t, ‘® ridge The moon, too, had joined the race; with one quick glance to- ( ward it, Judith again discarded caution for haste. She must get down Into the floor of the canyon before he moonlight did; she must be running , before Its radiance showed her out , I her heart was beating wildly, already her body was sore and bruised. But | these tldngs she did not know. She nniv knew that Quinnion was still inc on above her, and coming more swiftly now, quite as swiftly as she ( bet e” trail that Mad S a tlm descent t

pgCATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, SATURDAY, JUNE 12, 1926

across the chasm undTy now must be crossing the stream upon some fallen og or rude bridge; that one minute more, or perhaps two, would decide her fute. She could see the stream, glinting Palely in the starlight. It seemed very near; its thunder filled her ears. I'own she went und dowu, down until ut lust she wus not ten feet übove its surface, with a strip of gently sloping bank Just under her. She stopped, took firm hold upon a knob of boulder, prepared to swing down and drop to the bottom. And, as she stooped, she heard a little whining moan just under her und straightened up, tense und terrified. Mad Ruth was there before her, Mud Ruth was waiting. CHAPTER XV Alone in the Wilderneu And Quinnlon was coming on. She was trapped, caught between the two of them. She heard Quinnlon laugh ugaln; be, too, had heard Ruth. "Oh, God help me!" whispered Judith. "God help me now!’’ There was no time to hesitate. If she stood here, Quinnlon would In a moment wrap his arms about her; If she dropped down, she would be In the frenzied clutch of Mad Ruth, A second she crouched, peering down Into the gloom below her, seeking to make out the form of the mad woman. Then she did not merely drop, but jumped, landing fair upon the waiting figure, striking with her boots on Mad Ruth’s ample shoulders. A scream of rage from Ruth, a little, strangling cry from Judith, and the two fell together. Ruth clutched as she went down and a hand closed over the girl’s ankle. Judith rolled, struck again with the free boot, twisted sharply and felt the grip torn loose from her ankle. She was free. She jumped up and ran and knew that Ruth was running just behind her, screaming terribly. Judith fell, and her heart grew sick within her. But again she was up just as Ruth’s hand clutched at her skirt, clutched and was torn away as Judith ran on. Qulnnion cursed from above as she had not yet heard him curse. Ruth reviled both her and Quinnlon for having let her go. Judith was running swiftly and felt that she could get the better of ths heavier, older woman In a race of this sort. She stumbled and fell, and fear again gripped her; it seemed so long before she could rise and clamber over a fallen log and race on. But the darkness which tricked her pro-1 tected her at the same time, playing' no favorites now. Ruth, too, had; fallen; Ruth, too, was frenzied at; the brief delay. Stumbling, falling, rising, stagger-’ Ing back from a tree into which she had run full tilt, bruised and torn,' the girl ran on. At every free step hope shot upward In her heart; at every fall she grew sick with dread.The canyon broadened rapidly, the' ground underfoot grew less broken and littered with boulders and logs, i Through tangles of brush she went blindly, throwing herself forward, falling, rising, falling, rising again. It was a nightmare of a race, with Ruth

IBB'

Jumped, Striking With Her Boots, W» Mad Ruth’s Ample Shouldere. always just there, almost at her heels. 1 She turned as far away from the' , stream as she could, keeping under; the cliffs where there was less brush;; I where the way was more open, where the shadows were thickest. ' | She was outdistancing Mad Ruth.' Ruth’s weird voice came from a great-V er distance; the woman was ten, may-! I be twenty, feet behind her ( I The moon at last rose pale gold) 'above the eastern ridge. And now Judith could thank God for it. For the canyon had widened more and, more, the banks of the river were; studded with big trees, there were wide open spaces between them through which she shot like a fright-! ened deer, turning this way and that, , darting about a clump of little firs, plunging into the shadows under great ’ sky-seeking cedars, running as she! had never run before and as she knew; | Mad Ruth could not run. , ( Free! She was free. The triumph! of it danced in her blood. On she ran] and now Quinnion’s voice and Ruth’si were confused with the roar of thfe river. On she ran and on and on, ’ and but faintly there came to her thei sound of breaking brush somewhere t

behind Ear. Never bad Eer ttZSTsSg' within her a* it sang sow; never bad the dim, moonlit solitudes of thei mountains opened their sbelteritig. arms to one more grateful to dip Into; them, like a wounded child into the toothing embrace of its mother. Now again she turned so that her flying steps brought her close to the water’s edge. Louder and louder, grew its shouting voice in her ears, little by little drowning out the sounds i of Ruth and Quinnlon behind her.j . Now, in all the glorious night, there i was no sound to reach her but the! I sound of running water and her ewn' beating feet. She was free. But still she ran, summoning all of the reserve of strength und wIU-poweri which was hers to command. The sky was brightening to the climbing moon.She must round many a sweeping' curve of the river, pass under manyl a sheltering, shadowing tree before!, she dared slow her steps. When she felt that she was overs taxing herself, she dropped from the wild pace she bad set herself into al little jogging trot. When her whole/ body cried out at the effort demanded* of It, she slowed down to a brisk ' walk. She was shot through with! pain, her throat ached, she was grow-/ lug dizzy. But on she went stub-! bornly. It was a full hour after the lust sound of pursuit had died oufi| after her thut she flung herself down ut the water's edge to drink and bathe her arms and face in the cold stream. And, even then, she chose a ’ spot where the shadow of a great, pine lay like Ink over the bank. The moon was high in the sky, the,’ world bright with It, when Judith left the valley into which the canyon had | widened aud made her way slowly up-; ward along a timbered ridge to the west. Os Quinnlon and Mad Ruth she now had no fear. Their chance of coming upon her was less than negligible. She could creep into a clump; of thick-standing young trees and. even If they should come, could watclu them go past. But as they hai| dropped out of her world, another mutter had entered It. The mountains had befriended her; they had opened their arms to her and that was all 1 that she had asked St them. They had mothered her, drawing her into hiding 'against their bosom. But it was a barren, barren breast. And already she was hungry, daring to eat but sparingly of her handful of bread and meat. From this ridge, finding an open crest, she stood looking out over ths world. Mlle after mile of mountain and canyon and cliff fell away on every side. She sought eagerly foi a landmark: to see yonder In the distance Old Baldy or Copper mountain ! or Three Fools’ peak, any one of the mountains or ridges known to her.' And In the end she could only shake her head and sigh wearily and slip down where she was to fall asleep, thanking God that she was free, asking God to lead her aright In the morning. . The stars watched over her, a pale, womout girl sleeping alone in the heart of the wilderness; the night breezes sang through the century-old tree-tops; and Judith, having striven to the uttermost, slept in heavy dreamlessness. : With the cool dawn she awoke shivering and hungry. Her hair had tumbled about her face, and sitting up she braided it with numb, sore fingers. She looked at her hands; they' were stained with blood from many cuts. Her skirt was torn and soiled; her stockings were tn strips; her knees were bruised. But as she rise to her feet and once more searched 1 the riddle of a crag-broken world, her heart was light with thankfulness. Last night the one friend she bad with her was the North star. Today she would seek to push on toward the west. In that direction she believed the Blue Lake ranch lay, though at best it was a guess. But going west-, ward she could follow the course of the bigger streams, and soon or late, if her strength held, she would come to some open valley where men run stock. Now, she would go down into the little meadow lying a mile away 'yonder and seek to find something to eat. If she could but dig a few wild onions, wild potatoes, they would keep her alive. West she would go, If for no other reason than because thus she would be setting her back squarely upon the cavern where Quinnlon and Ruth were. (TO BE CONTINUED)

o Bicyclist is Killed Elwood, Ind, June 12 —(United Press) —A coroner’s inquest was held today into the death of earl Hook, who was killed when he fell from his Bicycle in front of a truck and was crushed under the wheels of the heavy vehicle. Advises Middle-Age Women Rockford, Ill.—“About five years ago at middle life, I was in very poor health.

I suffered a great deal and was oftentimes very dispondent. I had dizzy spells and was nervous all the time. It would be impossible for me to exactly describe my feelings. I tried several remedies which gave me no relief and not until I began taking Dr.

Pierce’s Favorite Prescription did I get any better, but it helped me right away. I continued taking it, and had comparatively no more trouble.”—Mrs. Hattie Bennett, 1437 Myott Ave. Write Dr. Pierce, President Invalids’ Hotel in Buffalo, N. Y., for free medical advice. Send 10c if you wish a trial package of the Prescription Tablets.

OBITUARY C. E. Albaugh died at bls residence at Dennison, Ohio, Muy 31 at 12:16 p. m. He was born in Carroll county, 0., Nov. 1, 1862 age at death, 63 years and 7 months. He was a member of the Methodi|i church of Dennison, 0., and a member of the Woodmen of the World order, In which he carried some insurance. He had not been able for the past few years to do much work on account of illness, his last employment being with the Pennsylvania Railway Co., 'with which he stood high al u track fore ma nln the city years. He leaves a wife, an adopted son Harry Albaugh, one brother, William Albaugh, and four sisters, Mrs. Nora McElroy, Mrs. Rady Housel of War ren, O„ Mrs. Elizabeth Manbeek, Os Rumley, 0., Mrs, Sadie Downs of Selo Ohio. He was married to Miss Mlnda Hendricks, of Monroe, Ind., October, 1887. Following his marriage, he worked for the G. R. & |. railroad for several years as agent and oper ator, later going to Dennison. O, to take up track work. Short services were held at his residence Tuesday evening, after which his remains were shipped to Monroe, Ind., accompanied by his wife, son Harry and wife, and daughter, Maxine. His brother, William Albaugh, and Mr. and Mrs. Porter, his cousins, arrived at Monroe Wednesday afternoon. Funeral servlet; were at the home of Mrs. Hattie Sells. Thursday, 10- o’clock;. Infer ment in Maplewood cemetery at De * catur, Ind. Services were conducted by Rev. Foster. — oTrain Demolishes Auto Anderson, Ind., June 12 (United Press.) IV. R. Rains, 50, was recovering today from Injuries received when his aut owas demolished by a Pennsylvania train near here. The crash was the second auto accident within a few hours near Anderson, _W. A. Froumlth, of Muncie, having been painfully hurt when his auto overturned in a ditch.

Sweeping Price Reductions HUDSON - ESSEX Effective June 9th New Low Prices ESSEX 6 Coach - $735 HUDSON Coach -1095 Hudson Brougham - 1395 Hudson 7-Pass. Sedan - 1550 Ail Prices F. O. B. Detroit Phis Government Tax The Above Prices Include Following Equipment: « Bumpers, Front and Rear; Automatic Windshield ( leaner; Rear View Mirror; Transmission Lock, Built in: Radiator Shutters; Moto-meter; Combination Stop and Tail Light. P. KIRSCH & SON Opposite Interurban Station Phone 337

Notre Dame Grads To Hold Reunion at Commencement South Bend, Ind , June 12—(Un ted Fress)—Althangh the official ”Hom» coming Day." at th* University of Notre Dame is held in the fall, a gteat homecoming celebration has been planned as part of the annual ommencement exercise t thin year. Hundreds of Notre Dame graduates will return for the r-amtnenoement ceremonies and alumni reunions have

I THE TINY TOT who B wastes the pennies M grows into the child who mi 1 S wastes the dollars —and X the old man who has H nothing to waste. ; Capital and Surplus'*l2o,ooo.o£ jQQcqtur/.lndiqiiQ

| been planned tor the classes of '6l [ ’Bl, !H ’Ol, ’ll, TC and ’2l. I Pure Air Moat Os Them Bab It >i The bobbed hair fashion has wrecked havoc with the long tresses of ? sorority girts on the Indiana univer i slty campus only 47 of the 656 girls belonging to I. U. orguniations have avoided the barber’s shears, a recent , survey shows. Schoo) funds to loan on farms. Martin Jaherg. 137-St

THREE