STALKING A MOUNTAIN MYSTERY
"Ping! Ping!" shouted the guide.
"Where are you, Ping Pong?" added Lieutenant Wingate.
A groan revealed the Chinaman's presence. They found him sitting
on the ground, rocking back and forth holding the thumb of his
right hand. A brief examination revealed that a bullet had clipped
off the end of the thumb.
"I observe that we have started in early," declared Miss Briggs.
"Who did it?"
"That's what I want to know," growled Hi Lang.
"Let me dress the wound, then you can question him," suggested
Elfreda.
This having been done, Ping was led into camp and placed with his
back against a rock where the light of the campfire lighted up his
countenance.
"Tell me what happened!" demanded the guide.
"Big piecee man come 'long. Him clawl like dog. Him listen to what
say."
"To what we were saying!" interjected Grace.
"Les. Him bad piecee man."
Hi Lang and Grace exchanged glances of inquiry. Each was wondering
what the meaning of what Ping had discovered, might be.
"What then!" urged Mr. Lang.
"Him clawl like a dog."
"So you said," piped Emma Dean.
"Me clawl like dog too. One timee me tlow can tlomatoes and hab
hit piecee man on head."
"You threw a can of tomatoes and hit him on the head?" nodded the
guide, whereupon Emma Dean laughed, but no one paid the slightest
heed to her. "What did the man do then!"
"Him jlump. Me hit piecee man with flying pan; then me run. Him
shoot--blam, blam! and run away. Hab hit thumb. Hab makee me stop,
and run away. Why for big piecee man makee so fashion?"
"We do not know why, Ping. That is what we are trying to find
out," answered Grace Harlowe. "Can you tell us how the man
looked!"
The Chinaman shook his head.
"What would you advise, Mr. Lang!" she asked.
"We must beat up about the camp to make certain that he is not
hiding near, then I will stand the watch to-night so that he may
not surprise us. I will get out the rifles, but be careful that you
don't shoot each other. In case you discover some one prowling,
make them stand and put up their hands, then call for assistance.
Ping, you will stay here. Three of us will be sufficient to go
out."
"Whom do you wish to accompany you?" asked Grace.
"You and the lieutenant will go, if agreeable to you."
"It will be more agreeable to go than to stay. Elfreda, you will
please watch the camp," directed Grace. "If disturbed, you know
what to do."
Rifles were laid on the ground by the campfire, Hi, Hippy and
Grace having decided that the rifles would be cumbersome to carry,
and that their revolvers would be much more serviceable. After Hi
Lang had given final instructions as to how they were to operate,
the three started out and soon were out of sight of their
companions.
A new moon, fast sinking into the west, shed a faint light over
the mountains, bringing out the bare spots and deepening the
shadows cast by rocks and trees. The stalkers laid their course by
the moon so that they might keep going in one direction and not
get in each other's way, though some little distance separated
them, and only now and then did they come within speaking distance
of one another.
Not a sound did the guide make as he moved forward. Grace was
almost equally quiet in her movement, but now and then Hippy
Wingate would stumble, followed by a grunt or a growl of disgust
that might have been heard several yards away.
Hippy, being between the guide and Grace, knew that two pairs of
ears were alert for any fumbling on his part, which irritated more
than it helped him to be quiet.
Grace finally halted at the edge of an open space, faintly lighted
by the moon's rays, and waited watchfully before attempting to
cross the open spot. Crouching low, she gazed and listened, every
faculty on the alert. The Overland Rider's heart gave a jump when
she saw something move out there behind a clump of bushes.
With revolver at ready, she waited, then leveled the weapon as
something moved out from behind the bushes.
"A coyote," she whispered to herself. "He hasn't heard me."
He heard her whisper, however. The alert ears tilted forward as
the beast halted; then he bounded away and disappeared in a
twinkling.
Grace was now well satisfied that she was proceeding with
sufficient caution. If she could approach a keen-eared coyote
without disturbing it, how much easier would it be to stalk a
human being. Having decided upon this, Grace got up and stepped
into the moonlit space, feeling more confidence in herself.
She had barely reached the middle of the open space when, from the
other side, and plainly at close range, a revolver banged. She
heard the bullet, as it sped past her head too close for comfort.
Without an instant's hesitation, Grace fired two shots from her
revolver at the flash made by the other weapon, then throwing
herself on the ground, wriggled away into a shadow and lay flat on
the ground, screened by the short shrubbery and the unevenness of
the ground.
Two shots were now fired from the other weapon, aimed, as nearly
as she could see, at the place where she had thrown herself down.
To the last two shots Grace made no reply. She lay waiting, hoping
that the person who had fired them, would come out and show
himself.
This he was too wary to do, and finally, becoming impatient, she
groped for a stone, and, finding a small piece of rock, flipped it
into the air, so that it might fall some little distance from her,
hoping thereby to draw the other's fire.
Still there was no response from her adversary.
"He must have slipped away, and here I have been waiting all this
time, afraid of what proves to be nothing. I'm going to start on,"
decided the Overland girl.
Instead of getting up where she was, Grace crawled further to the
right for some little distance, until she was in a heavier shadow.
There she arose cautiously, weapon at ready, prepared to see a
flash and hear the report of a weapon.
Not a sound nor a movement followed her revealing herself. Grace
now pushed on with still greater caution than before, but rather
more rapidly, believing that her companions by this time had
gained a considerable lead over her.
The moon was getting lower, Grace observed, and soon the range
would be enveloped in darkness, though she was certain that she
could find her way back by the stars, from which she already had
taken her bearings.
In the meantime, Hi Lang, having heard the exchange of shots, had
started for the scene at a long, loping trot, now and then giving
an agreed upon signal whistle to warn Lieutenant Wingate of his
approach.
Hippy had heard the shots too, but his orders were to keep his
position and continue on until directed to stop. As Hi got within
speaking distance of him, Hippy challenged.
"Move forward and keep going until I fire three signal shots to
call you in," directed the guide. "The man may run along the
ridge. Wing him if you see him. He may have shot Mrs. Gray. Both
of them fired. There they go again!" Hi Lang was off at top speed.
Grace, in the meantime, thinking that she had heard a twig snap,
halted sharply. Then, to her amazement, a man stepped out into the
light a few yards to the rear of her. She saw him the instant he
emerged from the shadows, and he was looking in the direction of
the Overland camp.
"Now I have you!" muttered Grace Harlowe, taking a cautious step
toward the man who was standing with his back toward her.
"Put up your hands! I have you covered!" she commanded sharply.
The man whirled like a flash and fired point blank at the Overland
girl. Grace fired almost in the same instant. So close was he to
her when he fired that she imagined she could feel the hot powder
strike her face.
Each fired again. It was close quarters for Grace. She sprang to
the right hoping to disconcert her adversary and make a more
difficult mark for him to hit. He pulled the trigger of his
revolver, and, at that second, Grace, uttering a little gasp,
toppled over, half turning as she plunged forward with arms
outstretched.
Black night instantly enveloped the Overland Rider, nor did she
hear a rattling exchange of shots that followed almost instantly
after her fall, for consciousness had left her.