Newspapers / The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, … / July 15, 1926, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page Two i! BAREE !» Son of Kazan SSSSSSSSS :: :: ■ • «• ■ • •» n j; i: Bj JAKES OLIVER CTRWBOD j; «> « » i»V I .-. '■ —— ■ •J i » I **** **» (©,: D**sbleday, Pa«« 4 £JcO vWNU Service On the roaenfng of this same day Bash McTaggart rose from *hss bed while It was «fclll dark. The Orne had come. He ha«i at ta^itt-der — at the killing Pierrot; and in his 'hesitation he bad found a bettervsway. There could’ berco escape for Nepeese. It was a w«nwerful scheme, s*«easy of accoinplish«**et, so inevitable in its outcome. And dll the time Pierrot •would think he \*rns away to the ;fi>ost on a mission! He ate his bretfkfast before te&m. j : and was on the trtfh before It was yet 'light. There was : fc vast amount ,-fft Ibrutal satisfaction ro McTaggart if. •anticipating what -was about to hap ■pen, and he reveled fin it to the full. | There was no chance for disappoint ment. He was positive that Nepeese J would not accompany her father to £,ac Bain. She wouldat the cabin on the *Gray loon—-alone. This a’kraeness was to Nepeese bur- j -dened 'With no thought of danger. There were times, now, when the ' thought of being alone wes pleasant ■to her, when she wanted to dream by herself, when she visioned things Into the mysteries *sf which she would not admit even Pierrot. She was growing into >womanhood —.lust the sweet, closed bud of womanhood as yet—still a girl with the soft velvet of girlhood in her eyes, yet with the mystery of woman stirring gently In her soul, as if the Great Hand were hesitating 'be tween awakening her and letting her deep a little longer. At these times, when the opportunity eame to steal hours by herself, she would put on the red dress and do up her wonderful hair a* she saw It in the pictures of the magazines Pierrot had sent up twice a year from Nelson House. On the second day of Pierrot’s ab sence Nepeese dressed herself like this, but today she let her hair cascade In a. shining glory about her, and about her forehead bound a circlet of red ribbon. She was not yet done. To day she l»ad marvelous designs. On the wall close to her mirror she had ticked ft large page from a woman's magazine, and on this page was a lovely vision of curls. Fifteen hun dred miles north of the sunny Cali fornia studio in which the picture had been taken, Nepeese, with pouted red lips and puckered forehead, was fight ing to master the mystery of the other girl’s curls! She was looking into her mirror, her face flushed and her eyes aglow in the excitement of the struggle to fashion one of the coveted ringlets ifrom a tress that fell away below her hips, when the door opened behind her, and Bush McTaggart walked in. Chapter Xjl The Willow’s back was toward the door when the Factor from Lac Bain entered the cabin, a.’id for o few Startled seconds she did not turn. Her first thought was of Pierrot —for some reason he had returned. Blit even as this thought came to her, she heard *a Baree’s throat a snarl that brought her suddenly to her feet, facing the door. McTaggart was standing with his back against the door; and at Nepeese i —in her wonderful dress and flowing hair —he was staring as if stunned for j a space at what he saw. Fate, or accident, was playing against the Willow now. If there had been a j spark of slumbering chivalry, of mer- j cy, even, In Bush McTaggart’s soul, it | was extinguished by what he saw. Never had Nepeese looked more beau tiful, not even on that day when Mac- Donald the map-maker had taken her picture. The sun, flooding through the window. lighted up her marvelous hair; her flushed face was trained in its lustrous darkness like a tinted cameo. He had dreamed, but lie bad pictured nothing like this woman who stood before him now, her eyes wid ening with fear and the flush leaving her face even as he looked at her. It was not a long interval in which their eyes, in that terrible silence —terrible to the girl. Words were un necessary. At last she understood — understood what her peril had been that day at the edge of the chasm and In the forest, when fearlessly she had played with the menace that was con fronting her now. A breath that was like a sob broke from her lips. “M’sien!” she tried to say. But it was only a gasp—an effort. Site seem of! choking. Plainly she heard the click of th»- Jron bolt as it locked the door. Me Taggart advanced a step. Only a single step McTaggart ad vanced. On the floor Baree had re mained like a carven thin?. He had not moved. He had not made a <onm hot that «>na wnr. '.ag sn.‘"i — luggaut took trie step, aiiu uieu, uae a; flash, be was up and in front of Nepeese, every hair tff his body on enfl ; and at the fury'*® this growl Mc- Tjyggart ’lunged back against the Ntvrrefl dour. A wofld from Nepeese in that moment, and - would have »j W .n over. But an Instant was lost— Jan instant ''before her 'cry came. In I tb«t moment man’s harid and brain | wofketf swifter than Tbvute under- I strmflmg; and as P.aree'-launched hira ' seif at the "Factor's throat;’there came ■ a flash anti a deafening explosion al i most in the "Willow's eyes. i Tit was a fhance shot, ta- shot from die >hfp With McTacgarPs - automatic. P.aree fell Short. He struck the floor with a thud-and rolled against the log i wall. There was not a kick -or a quiver | left tu his -body. McTaggart laughed nervously as‘he shoved his'pistol back in its holster. He knew that only a brain ■shot could have done that. With her badk against the further j wall, Nepeese -was waiting. McTng- I gart could hear her panting l breath. I He advanced’halfway to her. “Nepeese. I 'have come you my wife."” he said. She dVd not answer Tie could see | that her fcrenfh was chokingHier. She raised a Tmtvd r to ‘her throat. Tie took two more steps, and stopped. ’Ke'had never seen such eyes. “I have come to make you-my-wife, ! Nepeese. Tomorrow y<ou will go on to Nelson House With me, ami -then j back to Lac Bal-n He odd ; ed the last words as as» afterthought, i “Forever,” he repeated. He did not mince words. His cour age and Ids deteruiitmfkm rose as *<he : saw her body droop a ’Httle against j I the wall. She was powerless. 'The*e J ■ \wfls no escape. IMerrot was gone. ! Uiaree was dead. rHe had tliought that no filing erea- ' 4ure could move ns swiftly as the WH- | *low when his arms readied out for t I»er. She made no sound as she daet- ! 1 ed omder one of his outstretched arttis. Hf made a lunge, a brutal grab, And his Angers caught ft bit of hair, fife heard the snap of it*.as she tore her self free and flew ter the door. had thrown back the bolt when be caught her and his arms^dosed about lier. He dragged her back, and* p«w she cried out —cried out in her 1 spalr for Pierrot, for Baree, for some * miracle of God that might save her. j And Nepeese fought. She twisted ' in his arms until she was facing him. I She could no longer see. She was j smothered in her hair. It covered her j face and breast and body, suffocating i her, entangling her hands and arms— I and still she fought. In the struggle McTaggart stumbled over the body of Baree, and they went down. Nepeese was up fully five seconds ahead of the man. She could have readied the door. But again it was her hair. She paused to fling back the thick masses of it so that she could see, and Mc- Taggart was at the door ahead of her. He did not lock it again, but stood ! facing her. His face was scratched i and bleeding. He was no longer a | man but a devil. Nepeese was broken, panting—a low sobbing came with her breath. She bent down, and picked up a piece of firewood. McTaggart could see that lier strength was al most gone. She clutched the stick as he ap proached her again. But McTaggart ■ had lost all thought of fear or caution. He sprang upon her like an animal. The stick of firewood fell. And again fate played against the girl. In her terror and hopelessness she had caught up the first stick her hand had touched —a light one. With her last strength she struck at McTaggart with it, and as it fell on his head, he staggered- back. But it did not make him loose his hold. i Vainly she was fighting now, not to strike h!:n or to escape, but to get her breath. She tried to cry out again, but t!ils time no sound came from be tween her gasping Ups. Again he laughed, and as he laughed, he heard the door open. Was it the wind? lie turned, still holding her in hfs arms. Ir the open door stood Pierrot. •••****• During that terrible space which followed an eternity of time rolled slowly through the little cabin on the i Gray Loon—that eternity which lies somewhere between life and dgath and which is sometimes meted out to a human life In seconds instead of eons. In those seconds Pierrot did not move from where be stood In the door way. McTaggart, huddled over with the weight In his arms, and storing nt Pierrot, did not move. But the Willow’s eyes were opening. And a convulsive quiver ran through the body of Baree, where he lay near the wall. There was not the sound of a breath. And then, In that silence, a great gasping sob came from Nepeese. Then Pierrot stirred to life. He spoke, and his voice was not like Pierrot’s. It was a strange voice. “The great God has sent me back in time, m’sicu,” he said. “I traveled by way of the east, and saw your trail where it turned this way.” No, that was not like Pierrot’s voice! A chill ran through McTaggart now. .and slowly he let goof Nepeese. She fell to the floor. Slowly he straight ened. “Is it not true, m’sleu?” said Pierrot j again. “I have come in time?” What power was It—what groat fear, perhaps, that made McTaggart nod his head, that made Ms thick ;*ps form huskily the words, “Yes —in time.” And yet it was not fear. It was something greater, something more all-powerful than that. And. Pierrot said, In that same strange voice: “I thank the great God!” The eyes of madman met the eyes of madman now. Between them was ueutn. Botn saw it. Both thougm that they saw the direction In which - its bony finger pointed. Both were certain. McTaggart’s hand did not go . to the pistol in his holster, and Pier i rot did not touch the knife in bis belt. ! When they came together, it was : throat to throat -two beasts mow, f Instead of one, for Pierrot had in Idm jj the fury and strength of the wolf, the ! cat, and the panther. McTaggart was the trigger mud heavier man, a giant In strength-; yet i in the face of Pierrot’s fury he lurched hack over the table and went down I with a crash. Many times In liis -life 1 j he had fought, but he Hud never felt : a grip nt Ids throat Tike the grip -of ! i Pierrot’s hands. They almost crushed ; j Ik. *t w. Kb Meek Snapped—a Little More and It Would Have Broken. snapped—a little more, and It would have bnoken. He struck out blindly from lits hack, and twisted himself to throw off the weight of the halfbreed’s body. But Pierrot was A T the ESSO pump there is power . Giant power that banishes motor knocks, that shoots you through the thickest traffic, that puts your car over the long steep hills on high. ESSO, the wonderful new motor fuel, makes old motors run like new, gives new life and flexibility to any car. It sets a new standard of motor performance. It is specially refined to meet abnormal motor conditions. Test ESSO yourself, in your own car. One tank full is enougn. Fry it out in traffic—on the hills—over rough countr) roads. Compare results with those you have been getting flom other fuels. EhbO will stand on its own merit. You be the judge. in color . Packed with power . Costs 5 cents more worth it . I standard ©i l oomp an y (n . J•) THE CttAOTMH *®o<W® **> oeiiuosew me ermine lmd fastened Itself at the jugular of the partridge, fl and MuSh McTaggart’s jaws slowly f j swung open, and his face began to | | turn from red to purple. ■ Cold air rushing through the door, % | Pierrot’s voice and the sound of bat- £ | tie roused Nepeese quickly to con- £ | sciousness and the power to raise her- £ | self from the floor. She had fallen , £ ; near Baree, and as she lifted her head, [ £ her eyes rested for a moment on the t dog before they went to the fighting £ i men. Baree was alive ! His body was t ; twitching; b’is eyes were open; he } ! made an effort to raise his head as she was looking at him. | j Then she dragged herself to her 1 \ knees and turned to the men, and £ Pierrot, even In the blood-red fury of ■ £ | his desire to kill, must have heard the \ sharp cry of joy that came from her when she saw that it was Factor * from Lac Bain who was underneath. £ With a tremendous effort she stag- jj gered to her feet, and for a few mo- , rnents she stood strayin'- unsteadily as £ her brain and her lx readjusted t themselves. Even as she looked ,down * upon the blackening face from which S Pierrot’s fingers were choking the life, S Bush McTaggart’s hand was groping gj blindly for ills pistol. He found It. tin seen by Pierrot, he dragged it £j from its holster. It was one of the *1 black devils of chance that favored •* him again, for In his excitement be g had not snapped the safety shut after fj shooting Baree. Now lie had only strength left to pull the trigger. Twice || his forefinger closed. Twice sdhere H came deadened explosion clase tto n Pierrot's body. j 1 In Pierrot’s face Nepeese saw what ti had happened. Her heart died la her 3 breast as she looked upon the swift x| and terrible change wrought by sad H den death. Slowly Pierrot straight- |j ened. His eyes were wide for a mo- || merit—wide and staring. He made no » sound. She could not see his lips § move. And then he fell toward her, §| so that McTaggart’s body was free. j Blindly and with an agony that gave £| no evidence In cry or word she fluog H herself dawn beside him. He was g be Continued) Fine Jersey Milch Cows for sale by A. E. Cole, Riggsbee. 1 if j | Sweeping Rediitioiis in Laßor Rates By I j The Chatham Motor Company. | || NO LESS THAN 40% CUT PROM ! 1 ' STANDARD LABOR CHARGES I Printed schedu!es_of authorized labor charts posted in our Service Departments. All you have + a ? 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For motors operating under ex cessive loads 6. For any motor from which the drier demands extra power and p er ' romance. » Thursday, July l 5
The Chatham Record (Pittsboro, N.C.)
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July 15, 1926, edition 1
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