Snow-Bound at Eagle's

h the others, of urging his horse irresistibly forward, of momentarily expecting to meet or overtake something, but without any further thought. The figures of Clinch and Rawlins

leader madly urged them on. To Hale's returning senses they did not seem in a condition to engage a single resolute man, who might have ambushed in the woods or beaten them in detail in the narrow gorge, but in another instant the reason of their furious haste was manifest. Spurring his horse ahead, Clinch dashed out into the open with a che

to dig ye out, ye'd better be huntin' fodder and cover instead of road agents. 'Skuse me, gentlemen, but I'm responsibl

Clinch, wheeling his horse towar

ee miles further from home. That three miles is on the divide, and by the time we get there it will be snowed up worse nor this. The shortes

almost obliterated and shapeless. It was not snowing-it was snowballing! The huge flakes, shaken like enormous feathers out of a vast blue-black cloud, commingled and fell in sprays and patches

oft snow began to stiffen and crackle under the horses' hoofs; they were no longer weighted and encumbered by the drifts upon their bodies; the smaller flakes now rustled and rasped against the

two days' snifter! It's no longer meltin', but packin' and driftin' now.

t that the now finely-powdered particles were rapidly filling all inequalities of the surface, packing closely against

own in the woods again before

osed to the full fury of the stinging snow, and at times obliged to turn their horses to the blast to keep from being blown over the Ridge. At the end of half an hour the ostler dismounted, and, beckoning to the others, took his horse by the bridle, and began the descent. When it came to Hale's turn to dismount he could not help at first recoiling from the prospect before him. The trail-if it could be so called-was merely the tr

not unkindly, "ez you're a stranger

e the same risks as you

thing, you wouldn't keer, by any foolishness o' yours, to stampede the rocks ahead of us,

then," said

mply to follow the hoofprints of the preceding animal, and in a few moments they reached the broader trail without a mishap. A discussion regarding their future movements was already taking place. The impossibility of

ge-road ain't a mile off, and I kalkilate to wait here till the up stage comes. She's bound to

ck up yer, and waits at the

'Skuse me, gentlemen, but them ez hez

deserting them. "If I cannot reach Eagle's Court, I shall at least keep as near it as possible.

get outer Eagle's now; and it would hev to be an eagle at that! Between your house and th

itions. He was past that now, and even felt a certain relief. He knew his family were safe; it was enough. That they were locked up sec

the steep trail he had just descended, suddenly clapped his h

Hennicker's 'slide' all the time!

e was a rude incline for the transit of heavy

n, "ain't more nor a mile away. Ye

y looked dubiously at Hale. "Who's

d lazily, at last, "ez beleeves that Hennicker ain't much better nor the crowd we'r

ly, "decidedly object to any

s yer robbery. It's his gineral gait we refer to. Ef yer think it more polite

on the square to take and make use of any poin

all what he had meant, but he felt s

to know who we are and what we're out for," contin

s?" said the ostler,

r's it is

he mountain that, to Hale's first glance, bore a rude resemblance to Eagle's Court. But there was neither meadow nor open field; the few acres of ground had been wrested from the forest by axe and fire, and unsightly stumps everywhere marked the rude and difficult attempts at cultivation. Two or three rough buildings of unplaned and unpainted boar

valcade, but there was no other sign of any

been on the lookout afore this," said the

ly to the others, apparently had some colloqu

e kitchin-can't open t

low shell of the apartment swell and expand to the point of bursting. Despite the stinging of the resinous smoke, the temperature was grateful to the benumbed travellers. Several cushionless arm-chairs, such as were used in bar-rooms, two tables, a sideboard, half bar and half cupboard, and a rocking-chair comprised

th the yellow juice of a brier-wood pipe she held in her mouth. The ostler had explained their intrusion, and veiled their character under the vague epithet of a "hunting party," and was now evidently describing them personally. In his new-found philosophy the fact

erfere. She knows Hennicker's ways, and if she chooses to take in tr

f the next room, and with a hand on each door-post slowly swung

unalluringly pictured the

straight skirt clung to her lower limbs, there was a quaint, nymph-like contour to her figure. Whether from languor, ill-health, or more probably from a morbid consciousness of her own height, she moved with a sligh

, dismissing her parent wit

er hands on the back of a chair, and confronted the a

e an hour before sun up. You've been followin' a blind trail up to the Ridge, until the snow got up and hunted YOU right here! You've been whoopin' and yellin' and circus-ridin' on the roads like ez yer wos Comanches, and frighte

ssed. Nor was he the less concerned as he found the girl's dark eyes had rested once or twice upon him curiously. Zenobia laughed too, and, lazily turning the chair around, dropped into it. "And by this time George Lee's loungin'

scarcely less flattering admiration of the unconcerned goddess before them. "That's abou

man!" said the

now him?" con

in that line now,

anded to each of the party, and then, producing a demijohn of whiskey, slung it dexterously and gracefully over her arm, so that it rested on her elbow like a cradle, and, going to each one in succession, filled their glasses. It oblige

ever done that's underhanded or mean? Nothin'! You kant show the poor man he's ever took a picayune from. When he's helped himself to a pile it's been outer them banks or them express companies, that think it mighty fine to bust up themselves, and swindle the poor folks o' their last cent, and nobody talks o' huntin' THEM! And does he keep their money? No; he passes it round among t

poker, Zeenie," said Clinch, laughing. "He lost

spell ago. I reckon you've been huntin' him to find out whar you should return it." The laugh was clearly against Clinch. He was about to make some rallying rejoinder w

med Clinch and Ha

know him?" she said, glanc

aid Clinch laughing; "but

inued Zenobia, bending her

banker," said Hale, with a smil

er hunt him befo

ed Rawlins, keenly enjoying t

ing backwards and forwards, sublimely unconscious of the apparition of a slim ankle and half-dropped-off slip

" said Hale, with un

ckon you all know Ned Falkn

it," said Rawlins. "And a square man t

spontaneousness, and the girl resumed: "He's about ez good ez they make 'em-you bet.

," added Clinch

was cavortin' round Frisco, and havin' high jinks, Ned was in his Ditch. 'Wait till the Ditch is done,' he used to say. 'Wait till she begins to boom, an

and Rawlins simultaneou

llars a share. That's nothin' for them rich fellows to pay, or pretend to pay, but for boys on grub wages it meant only ruin. They couldn't pay, and had to forfeit their shares for next to nothing. And Ned made one more desperate attempt to save them and himself by borrowing money on his shares; when that hound Harkins got wind of it, and let it be buzzed around that the Ditch is a failure, and that he was goin' out of it; that brought the shares down to nothing. As Ned couldn't raise a dollar, the new company swooped down on his shares for the debts THEY had put u

aid Hale indignantly. "It is as infamous a rob

em road agents don't pretend to be your friend-but take yer mo

recover a gambling debt from a short-card sharp," e

nched him," sug

sical menace to give up his ill-gotten gains. The money was the primary object, and if that could be got without bloodshed-which seems to

Zenobia's eyes, he had given it some natural emphasis. A dead silence followed, in which the others regarded hi

, and pressed his lips o

And you ain't the firs

hed Hale. "Who

rge