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[Assistant] And on joining him they were affected in the same way by the sight which met their eyes. On the little platter which crowned the barren hill there stood a single giant boulder.


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[Assistant] And against this boulder there lay a tall man, long-bearded and hard-featured, but of an excessive thinness.


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[Assistant] His placid face and regular breathing showed that he was fast asleep


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[Assistant] Beside him lay a little child with her round white arms encircling his brown sinewy neck.


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[Assistant] Her rosy lips were parted, showing the regular line of snow-white teeth within, and a playful smile played over her infantile features. Her plump little white legs, terminating in white socks and neat shoes with shining buckles, offered a strange contrast to the long-shriveled members of her companion.


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[Assistant] On the ledge of rock above this strange couple there stood three solemn buzzards who, at the sight of the newcomers, uttered raucous screams of disappointment and flapped sullenly away.


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[Assistant] The cries of the foul birds awoke the two sleepers, who stared about them in bewilderment. The man staggered to his feet.


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[Assistant] And which was now traversed by this enormous body of men and of beasts.


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[Assistant] His face assumed an expression of incredulity as he gazed, and he passed his bony hand over his eyes.


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[Assistant] This is what they call delirium, I guess. He muttered.


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[Assistant] The child stood beside him holding on to the skirt of his coat and said nothing.


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[Assistant] But looked all around her with the wondering questioning gaze of childhood.


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[Assistant] The rescuing party were speedily able to convince the two castaways that their appearance was no delusion.


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[Assistant] One of them seized the little girl and hoisted her upon his shoulder, while two others supported her gaunt companion and assisted him towards the wagons.


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[Assistant] Me and the little one are all that's left are twenty-one people.


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[Assistant] The rest is all dead of thirst and hunger, away down in the south. Is she your child? asked someone. I guess she is now.


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[Assistant] The other cried defiantly. She's mine cause I saved her. No man will take her from me. She's Lucy Ferrier from this day on. Who are you, though? He continued.


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[Assistant] Glancing with curiosity at his stalwart sunburned rescuers, there seems to be a powerful lot of ye.


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[Assistant] Nigh upon ten thousand, said one of the young men, we are the persecuted children of God, the chosen of the angel Morona. I never heard tell on him, said the wanderer. He appears to have chosen a fair crowd of ye. Do not jest at that which is sacred, said the other sternly.


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[Assistant] We are of those who believe in those sacred writings drawn in Egyptian letters on plates of beaten gold.


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[Assistant] Which were handed unto the holy Joseph Smith at Palmyra. We have come from Nauvoo in the state of Illinois, where we had founded our temple.


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[Assistant] We have come to seek a refuge from the violent man and from the godless, even though it be the heart of the desert.


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[Assistant] We are the Mormons," answered his companions with one voice. And where are you going? We do not know.


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[Assistant] The hand of God is leading us unto the person of our prophet. You must come before him. He shall say what is to be done with you." They had reached the base of the hill by this time and were surrounded by crowds of pilgrims, pale-faced, meek-looking women, strong laughing children, and anxious, earnest-eyed men.


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[Assistant] Many were the cries of astonishment and of commiseration which arose from them when they perceived the youth of one of the strangers and the destitution of the other.


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[Assistant] Their escort did not halt, however, but pushed on.


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[Assistant] And for the gaudiness and smartness of its appearance. Six horses were yoked to it.


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[Assistant] Whereas the others were furnished with two or at most four apiece.


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[Assistant] Beside the driver there sat a man who could not have been more than thirty years of age.


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[Assistant] But whose massive head and resolute expression marked him as leader. He was reading a brown-backed volume, but as the crowd approached he laid it aside and listened attentively to an account of the episode. Then he turned to the castaways


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[Assistant] If we take you with us, he said in solemn words.


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[Assistant] It can only be as believers in our own creed. We shall have no wolves in our fold. Better far that your bones should bleach in this wilderness.


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[Assistant] Guess I'll come with you on any terms," said Feria, with such emphasis that the grave elders could not restrain a smile.


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[Assistant] The leader alone retained his stern, impressive expression. Take him, Brother Stangerson, he said. Give him food and drink, and the child likewise. Let it be your task also to teach him our holy creed.


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[Assistant] We have delayed long enough. Forward. On. On to Zion.


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[Assistant] On, on to Zion, cried the crowd of Mormons. And the words rippled down the long caravan, passing from mouth to mouth.


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[Assistant] Until they died away in a dull murmur in the far distance. With a cracking of whips and a creaking of wheels.


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[Assistant] The great wagons got into motion and soon the whole caravan was winding along once more.


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[Assistant] The elder, to whose care the two waifs had been committed, led them to his wagon, where Emile was already awaiting them. You shall remain here, he said. In a few days you will have recovered from your fatigues.


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[Assistant] In the meantime, remember that now and forever you are of our religion. Brigham Young has said it, and he has spoken with the voice of Joseph Smith, which is the voice of God.


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[Assistant] They had struggled on with a constancy almost unparalleled in history.


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[Assistant] The Savage Man and the Savage Beast Hunger, Thirst, Fatigue and Disease


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[Assistant] Every impediment which nature could place in the way.


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[Assistant] had all been overcome with Anglo-Saxon tenacity.


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[Assistant] Yet the long journey and the accumulated terrors had shaken the hearts of the stoutest among them.


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[Assistant] There was not one who did not sink upon his knees in heartfelt prayer.


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[Assistant] When they saw the broad valley of Utah bathed in the sunlight beneath them.


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[Assistant] And learned from the lips of their leaders that this was the promised land.


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[Assistant] And that these virgin acres were to be theirs forevermore.


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[Assistant] Young speedily proved himself to be a skilful administrator, as well as a resolute chief.


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[Assistant] Maps were drawn and charts prepared, in which the future city was sketched out.


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[Assistant] All around farms were apportioned and allotted in proportion to the standing of each individual.


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[Assistant] The tradesman was put to his trade and the artisan to his calling.


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[Assistant] In the town, streets and squares sprang up as if by magic.


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[Assistant] In the country there was draining and hedging, planting and clearing.


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[Assistant] Until the next summer saw the whole country golden with the wheat crop. Everything prospered in the strange settlement.


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[Assistant] Above all, the great temple which they had erected in the centre of the city grew ever taller and larger.


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[Assistant] From the first blush of dawn until the closing of the twilight, the clatter of the hammer and the rasp of the saw were never absent from the monument which the immigrants erected to him who had led them safe through many dangers. The two castaways, John Ferrier and the little girl,


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[Assistant] Accompanied the Mormons to the end of their great pilgrimage.


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[Assistant] Little Lucy Ferrier was borne along pleasantly enough in Elder Stangerson's wagon.


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[Assistant] A retreat which she shared with the Mormon's three wives and with his son, a headstrong forward boy of twelve.


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[Assistant] Having rallied with the elasticity of childhood from the shock caused by her mother's death,


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[Assistant] She soon became a pet with the women and reconciled herself to this new life in her moving, canvas-covered home.


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[Assistant] In the meantime, Ferrier, having recovered from his privations,


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[Assistant] Distinguished himself as a useful guide and an indefatigable hunter.


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[Assistant] So rapidly did he gain the esteem of his new companions that when they reached the end of their wanderings,


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[Assistant] It was unanimously agreed that he should be provided with as large and as fertile a tract of land as any of the settlers, with the exception of Young himself.


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[Assistant] And of Stangerson, Kemble, Johnson, and Dreber, who were the four principal elders,


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[Assistant] On the farm thus acquired John Ferrier built himself a substantial log-house.


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[Assistant] Which received so many additions in succeeding years that it grew into a roomy villa.


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[Assistant] He was a man of a practical mind, keen in his dealings and skillful with his hands.


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[Assistant] His iron constitution enabled him to work morning and evening at improving and tilling his lands.


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[Assistant] Hence it came about that his farm and all that belonged to him prospered exceedingly.


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[Assistant] In three years he was better off than his neighbours. In six he was well to do. In nine he was rich.


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[Assistant] And in twelve there were not half a dozen men in the whole of Salt Lake City who could compare with him.


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[Assistant] From the great inland sea to the distant Wasatch mountains,


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[Assistant] There was no name better known than that of John Ferrier.


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[Assistant] There was one way and only one in which he offended the susceptibilities of his co-religionists.


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[Assistant] No argument or persuasion could ever induce him to set up a female establishment after the manner of his companions.


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[Assistant] But contented himself by resolutely and inflexibly adhering to this determination.


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[Assistant] There were some who accused him of lukewarmness in his adopted religion, and others who put it down to greed of wealth and reluctance to incur expense. Others, again, spoke of some early love affair.


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[Assistant] In every other respect he conform to the religion of the young settlement.


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[Assistant] And gained the name of being an orthodox and straight walking man.


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[Assistant] Luciferia grew up within the log-house and assisted her adopted father in all his undertakings.


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[Assistant] The keen air of the mountains and the balsamic odour of the pine trees took the place of nurse and mother to the young girl.


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[Assistant] As year succeeded to year she grew taller and stronger, her cheek more ruddy, and her step more elastic.


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[Assistant] Many a wayfarer upon the high road which ran by Ferrier's Farm felt long-forgotten thoughts revive in their minds as they watched her lithe, girlish figure tripping through the wheat fields, or met her mounted upon her father's Mustang.


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[Assistant] And managing it all with the ease and grace of a true child of the West, so the bud blossomed into a flower.


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[Assistant] The year which saw her father the richest of the farmers left her as fair a specimen of American girlhood as could be found in the whole Pacific slope. It was not the father, however.


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[Assistant] That mysterious change is too subtle and too gradual to be measured by dates.


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[Assistant] Least of all does the maiden herself know it until the tone of a voice or the touch of a hand sets her heart thrilling within her, and she learns with a mixture of pride and of fear.


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[Assistant] That a new and a larger nature has awoke within her.


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[Assistant] There are few who cannot recall that day and remember the one little incident which heralded the dawn of a new life. In the case of Lucy Ferrier, the occasion was serious enough in itself.


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[Assistant] Apart from its future influence on her destiny, and that of many besides, it was a warm June morning.


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[Assistant] And the latter-day saints were as busy as the bees whose hive they have chosen for their emblem. In the fields and in the streets rose the same hum of human industry.


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[Assistant] Down the dusty high roads defiled long streams of heavily laden mules all heading to the west, for the gold fever had broken out in California, and the overland route lay through the city of the elect.


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[Assistant] There, too, were droves of sheep and bullocks coming in from the outlying pasturelands and trains of tired immigrants


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[Assistant] Men and horses equally weary of their interminable journey.


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[Assistant] Through all this motley assemblage, threading her way with the skill of an accomplished rider, there galloped Luciferia.


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[Assistant] Her fair face flushed with the exercise and her long chestnut hair floating out behind her. She had a commission from her father in the city, and was dashing in as she had done many a time before, with all the fearlessness of youth, thinking only of her task and how it was to be performed.


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[Assistant] The travel-stained adventurers gazed after her in astonishment, and even the unemotional Indians, journeying in with their pelties, relaxed their accustomed stoicism.


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[Assistant] As they marvelled at the beauty of the pale-faced maiden.


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[Assistant] She had reached the outskirts of the city when she found the road blocked by a great drove of cattle.


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[Assistant] Driven by a half-dozen wild-looking herdsmen from the plains, in her impatience she endeavoured to pass this obstacle by pushing her horse into what appeared to be a gap.


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[Assistant] Scarcely had she got fairly into it, however, before the beasts closed in behind her, and she found herself completely embedded in the moving stream of fierce-eyed long-horned bullocks.


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[Assistant] Accustomed as she was to deal with cattle, she was not alarmed at her situation.


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[Assistant] But took advantage of every opportunity to urge her horse on in the hopes of pushing her way through the cavalcade. Unfortunately the horns of one of the creatures, either by accident or design, came in violent contact with the flank of the Mustang and excited it to madness.


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[Assistant] In an instant it reared up upon its hind legs with a snort of rage,


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[Assistant] Every plunge of the excited horse brought it against the horns again and goaded it to fresh madness


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[Assistant] It was all that the girl could do to keep herself in the saddle.


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[Assistant] Her head began to swim, and her grip upon the bridle relaxed.


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[Assistant] Choked by the rising cloud of dust and by the steam from the struggling creatures, she might have abandoned her efforts in despair.


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[Assistant] But for a kindly voice at her elbow which assured her of assistance.


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[Assistant] At the same moment a sinewy brown hand caught the frightened horse by the curb.


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[Assistant] And forcing away through the drove, soon brought her to the outskirts.


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[Assistant] You're not hurt, I hope, miss," said her preserver respectfully.


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[Assistant] She looked up at his dark, fierce face and laughed sorcery.


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[Assistant] I'm awful frightened, she said naively. Whoever would have thought that Pancho would have been so scared by a lot of cows. Thank God you kept your seat, the other said earnestly.


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[Assistant] He was a tall savage-looking young fellow mounted on a powerful roan horse and clad in the rough dress of a hunter with a long rifle slung over his shoulders.


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[Assistant] Ask him if he remembers the Jefferson Hopes of St. Louis. If he's the same ferrier, my father and he were pretty thick. Hadn't you better come and ask yourself? she asked demurely. The young fellow seemed pleased at the suggestion.


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[Assistant] He has a good deal to thank you for, and so have I, she answered. He's awful fond of me.


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[Assistant] If those cows had jumped on me, he'd never have got over it. Neither would I.


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[Assistant] Said her companion. You? Well, I don't see that it would make much matter to you, anyhow. You ain't even a friend of ours.


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[Assistant] The young hunter's dark face grew so gloomy over this remark that Luciferia laughed aloud


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[Assistant] There, I didn't mean that, she said. Of course you are a friend now. You must come and see us.


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[Assistant] Now I must push along or father won't trust me with his business anymore. Goodbye.


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[Assistant] Goodbye, he answered, raising his broad sombrero and bending over her little hand.


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[Assistant] She wheeled her Mustang round, gave it a cut with her riding whip, and darted away down the broad road in a rolling cloud of dust. Young Jefferson Hope rode on with his companions, gloomy and taciturn.


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[Assistant] He and they had been among the Nevada mountains prospecting for silver, and were returning to Salt Lake City in the hope of raising capital enough to work some loads which they had discovered. He had been as keen as any of them upon the business


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[Assistant] Until this sudden incident had drawn his thoughts into another channel.


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[Assistant] The sight of the fair young girl, as frank and wholesome as the Sierra breezes,


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[Assistant] Nor any other questions could ever be of such importance to him as this new and all-absorbing one. The love which had sprung up in his heart was not the sudden changeable fancy of a


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[Assistant] But rather that wild, fierce passion of a man of strong will and imperious temper.


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[Assistant] That he would not fail in this if human effort and human perseverance could render him successful.


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[Assistant] He called on John Ferrier that night and many times again until his face was a familiar one at the farmhouse. John cooped up in the valley and absorbed in his work


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[Assistant] It had little chance of learning the news of the outside world during the last twelve years. All this Jefferson Hope was able to tell him.


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[Assistant] And in a style which interested Lucy as well as her father. He had been a pioneer in California


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[Assistant] And could narrate many a strange tale of fortunes made and fortunes lost in those wild Halcyon days.


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[Assistant] He had been a scout, too, and a trapper, a silver explorer, and a ranchman. Wherever stirring adventures were to be had, Jefferson Hope had been there in search of them. He soon became a favourite with the old farmer, who spoke eloquently of his virtues. On such occasions Lucy was silent


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[Assistant] But they were assuredly not thrown away upon the man who had won her affections. One summer evening he came galloping down the road and pulled up at the gate. She was at the doorway and came down to meet him.


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[Assistant] He threw the bridle over the fence and strode up to the pathway. I am off, Lucy, he said, taking her two hands in his and gazing tenderly down into her face. I won't ask you to come with me now, but will you be ready to come when I'm here again? And when will that be? she asked, blushing and laughing. A couple of months at the outside. I will come and claim you then, my darling. There's no one else who can stand between us.


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[Assistant] Thank God, he said, hoarsely, stooping and kissing her. It is settled then. The longer I stay, the harder it will be to go. They are waiting for me at the canyon. Goodbye, my own darling, goodbye. In two months you shall see me.


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[Assistant] He tore himself from her as he spoke and, flinging himself upon his horse, galloped furiously away, never even looking round, as though afraid that his resolution might fail him if he took one glance at what he was leaving.


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[Assistant] She stood at the gate gazing after him until he vanished from her sight. Then she walked back into the house. The happiest girl in all Utah.


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[Assistant] Three weeks had passed since Jefferson Hope and his comrades had departed from Salt Lake City. John Ferrier's heart was sore within him when he thought of the young man's return and of the impending loss of his adopted child.


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[Assistant] Yet her bright and happy face reconciled him to the arrangement more than any argument could have done. He had always determined deep down in his resolute heart


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[Assistant] That nothing would ever induce him to allow his daughter to wed a Mormon. Such a marriage he regarded as no marriage at all, but as a shame and disgrace. Whatever he might think of the Mormon doctrines, upon that one point he was inflexible. He had to seal his mouth on the subject, however, for to express an unorthodox opinion was a dangerous matter in those days in the land of the saints.


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[Assistant] Yes, a dangerous matter. So dangerous that even the most saintly.


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[Assistant] Dared only whisper their religious opinions with baited breath.


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[Assistant] Lest something which fell from their lips might be misconstrued and bring down a swift retribution upon them.


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[Assistant] The victims of persecution had now turned persecutors on their own account, and persecutors of the most terrible description.


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[Assistant] Not the Inquisition of Seville, nor the German Wem Gericht, nor the secret societies of Italy.


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[Assistant] were ever able to put a more formidable machinery in motion than that which cast a cloud over the state of Utah.


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[Assistant] Its invisibility and the mystery which was attached to it made this organisation doubly terrible. It appeared to be omniscient and omnipotent, and yet was neither seen nor heard.


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[Assistant] The man who held out against the church vanished away.


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[Assistant] And none knew whether he had gone or what had befallen him. His wife and his children waited at home.


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[Assistant] But no father ever returned to tell them how he had fared at the hands of his secret judges.


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[Assistant] A rash word or a hasty act was followed by annihilation.


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[Assistant] And yet none knew what the nature might be of this terrible power which was suspended over them.


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[Assistant] And that even in the heart of the wilderness they dared not whisper the doubts which oppressed them.


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[Assistant] At first this vague and terrible power was exercised only upon the recalcitrants who, having embraced the Mormon faith, wished afterwards to pervert or to abandon it. Soon, however, it took a wider range.


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[Assistant] The supply of adult women was running short.


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[Assistant] And polygamy, without a female population on which to draw, was a barren doctrine indeed. Strange rumours began to be banded about.


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[Assistant] Rumours of murdered immigrants and rifled camps in regions where Indians had never been seen. Fresh women appeared in the harems of the elders, women who pined and wept.


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[Assistant] And bore upon their faces the traces of an un-extinguishable horror.


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[Assistant] Belated wanderers upon the mountain spoke of gangs of armed men, masked, stealthy, and noiseless, who flitted by them in the darkness.


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[Assistant] These tales and rumours took substance and shape and were corroborated and re-corroborated until they resolved themselves into a definite name.


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[Assistant] Fuller knowledge of the organisation which produced such terrible results.


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[Assistant] Serve to increase rather than to lessen the horror which it inspired in the minds of men.


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[Assistant] None knew who belonged to this ruthless society.


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[Assistant] The names of the participants in the deeds of blood and violence done under the name of religion were kept profoundly secret. The very friend


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[Assistant] To whom you communicated your misgivings as to the Prophet and his mission.


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[Assistant] Might be one of those who would come forth at night with fire and sword to exact a terrible reparation. Hence every man feared his neighbour.


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[Assistant] And none spoke of the things which were nearest his heart.


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[Assistant] One fine morning John Ferrier was about to set out to his wheat fields when he heard the click of the latch and, looking through the window,


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[Assistant] Saw a stout, sandy-haired, middle-aged man coming up the pathway. His heart leapt to his mouth, for this was none other than the great Brigham Young himself.


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[Assistant] In return for all this we asked but one condition, that was that you should embrace the true faith and conform in every way to its usages.


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[Assistant] This you promised to do, and this, if common report says truly, you have neglected. And how have I neglected it? asked Ferrier, throwing out his hands in expostulation. Have I not given to the cummed fund?


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[Assistant] Have I not attended at the temple? Have I not? Where are your wives?


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[Assistant] Asked Young, looking round him, Call them in, that I may greet them. It is true that I have not married, Ferrier answered. But women are few, and there were many who had better claims than I. I was not a lonely man. I had my daughter to attend to my wants. It is of that daughter that I would speak to you.


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[Assistant] said the leader of the Mormons. She has grown to be the flower of Utah.


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[Assistant] And has found favour in the eyes of many who are high in the land. John Ferrier groaned inwardly.


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[Assistant] There are stories of her which I would feign disbelieve. Stories that she is sealed to some Gentile.


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[Assistant] This must be the gossip of idle tongues.


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[Assistant] What is the thirteenth rule in the code of the sainted Joseph Smith?


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[Assistant] Let every maiden of the true faith marry one of the elect, for if she wed a gentile, she commits a grievous sin.


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[Assistant] This being so, it is impossible that you, who profess the Holy Creed, should suffer your daughter to violate it. John Ferrier made no answer, but he played nervously with his riding whip.


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[Assistant] Upon this one point your whole faith shall be tested.


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[Assistant] So it has been decided in the Sacred Council of Four.


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[Assistant] The girl is young and we would not have her wed gray hairs, neither would we deprive her of all choice. We elders have many heifers, but our children must also be provided. Stangerson has a son, and Drebber has a son.


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[Assistant] And either of them would gladly welcome your daughter to their house. Let her choose between them. They are young and rich and of true faith. What say you to that?" Ferrier remained silent for some little time with his brows knitted. "'You will give us time,' he said at last. "'My daughter is very young. She is scarce of an age to marry. She shall have a month to choose.


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[Assistant] At the end of that time she shall give her answer.


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[Assistant] He was passing through the door when he turned with flushed face and flashing eyes. It were better for you, John Farrier, he thundered, that you and she were now lying blanched skeletons upon the Sierra Blanco than that you should put your weak wills against the orders of the Holy Four.


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[Assistant] With a threatening gesture of his hand he turned from the door.


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[Assistant] And Ferrier heard his heavy steps scrunching along the shingly path. He was still sitting with his elbow upon his knee.


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[Assistant] Considering how he should broach the matter to his daughter, when a soft hand was laid upon his, and looking up he saw her standing beside him.


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[Assistant] One glance at her pale, frightened face showed him that she had heard what had passed. I could not help it, she said in answer to his look.


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[Assistant] His voice rang through the house. Oh, father, father, what shall we do? Don't scare yourself, he answered.


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[Assistant] Drawing her to him and passing his broad rough hand caressingly over her chestnut hair. We'll fix it up somehow or another.


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[Assistant] Which is more than these folk here, in spite of all their praying and preaching. There's a party starting for Nevada tomorrow.


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[Assistant] And I'll manage to send him a message, letting him know the hole we're in.


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[Assistant] Such dreadful stories about those who oppose the prophet. Something terrible always happens to them. But we haven't opposed him yet, her father answered.


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[Assistant] It will be time to look out for squalls when we do. We have a clear month before us.


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[Assistant] At the end of that, I guess we had best chin out of Utah. Leave Utah. That's about the size of it, but the farm.


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[Assistant] We will raise as much as we can in money and let the rest go.


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[Assistant] To tell the truth, Lucy, it isn't the first time I've thought of doing it. I don't care about knuckling under to any man, as these folks do to their darn profit. I'm a freeborn American, and it's all new to me. Guess I'm too old to learn. If he comes browsing about this farm,


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[Assistant] He might chance to run up against a charge of buckshot travelling in the opposite direction. But they won't let us leave.


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[Assistant] His daughter objected. Wait till Jefferson comes and we'll soon manage that. In the meantime don't fret yourself, my dearie.


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[Assistant] And don't get your eyes swelled up, else he'll be walking into me when he sees you. There's nothing to be feared about, and there's no danger at all.


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[Assistant] John Ferrier uttered these consoling remarks in a very confident tone, but she could not help observing


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[Assistant] And that he carefully cleaned and loaded the rusty old shotgun which hung upon the wall of his bedroom.


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[Assistant] On the morning which followed his interview with the Mormon prophet, John Ferrier went into Salt Lake City.


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[Assistant] And having found his acquaintance, who was bound for the Nevada mountains, he entrusted him with his message to Jefferson Hope.


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[Assistant] In it he told the young man of the imminent danger which threatened them, and how necessary it was that he should return. Having done thus, he felt easier in his mind, and returned home with a lighter heart.


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[Assistant] He was surprised to see a horse hitched to each of the posts of the gate. Still more surprised was he on entering


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[Assistant] To find two young men in possession of his sitting room.


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[Assistant] One with a long pale face was leaning back in the rocking chair with his feet cocked up upon the stove. The other, a bull-necked youth with coarse bloated features,


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[Assistant] Who traveled with you in the desert when the Lord stretched out his hand and gathered you into the true fold.


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[Assistant] Continue, Stangerson. Add the advice of our fathers. To solicit the hand of your daughter,


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[Assistant] For whichever of us may seem good to you and to her.


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[Assistant] As I have but four wives and Brother Drebber here has seven, it appears to me that my claim is the stronger one. Nay, nay, Brother Stangerson.


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[Assistant] The question is not how many wives we have, but how many we can keep.


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[Assistant] My father has now given over his mills to me, and I am the richer man.


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[Assistant] But my prospects are better," said the other warmly. When the Lord removes my father I shall have his tanning-yard and his leather-factory. Then I am your elder and am higher in the church. It will be for the maiden to decide," rejoined young Drebber, smirking at his own reflection in the glass. We will leave it all to her decision.


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[Assistant] During this dialogue, John Ferrier had stood fuming in the doorway.


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[Assistant] Hardly able to keep his riding whip from the backs of his two visitors.


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[Assistant] Look here," he said at last, striding up to them. When my daughter summons you, you can come, but until then I don't want to see your faces again. The two young Mormons stared at him in amazement.


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[Assistant] In their eyes this competition between them for the maiden's hand


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[Assistant] Was the highest of honours both to her and her father.


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[Assistant] There are two ways out of the room, cried Ferrier. There is the door, and there is the window. Which do you care to use?


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[Assistant] His brown face looked so savage and his gaunt hands so threatening.


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[Assistant] That his visitors sprang to their feet and beat a hurried retreat. The old farmer followed them to the door. Let me know when you have settled which it is to be, he said sardonically.


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[Assistant] You shall smart for this," Stangerson cried, white with rage. You have defiled the Prophet and the Council of Four. You shall rue it to the end of your days. The hand of the Lord shall be heavy upon you.


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[Assistant] Cried young Drebber. He will arise and smite you. Then I'll start the smiting, exclaimed Feria furiously.


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[Assistant] And would have rushed upstairs for his gun had not Lucy seized him by the arm and restrained him, before he could escape from her.


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[Assistant] The clatter of horses' hoofs told him that they were beyond his reach.


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[Assistant] The young, canting rascals, he exclaimed, wiping the perspiration from his forehead. I would sooner see you in your grave, my girl, than the wife of either of them. And so should I, father, she answered with spirit. But Jefferson will soon be here, yes.


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[Assistant] There will not be long before he comes. The sooner the better, for we do not know what their next move will be.


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[Assistant] It was indeed high time that someone capable of giving advice and help should come to the aid of the sturdy old farmer and his adopted daughter.


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[Assistant] In the whole history of the settlement there had never been such a case of rank disobedience to the authority of the elders. If minor errors were punished so sternly, what would be the fate of this arch-rebel?


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[Assistant] Ferrier knew that his wealth and position would be of no avail to him.


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[Assistant] Others as well known and as rich as himself had been spirited away before now, and their goods given over to the church. He was a brave man


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[Assistant] And affected to make light of the whole matter, though she, with the keen eye of love, saw plainly that he was ill at ease.


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[Assistant] He expected that he would receive some message or remonstrance from Young as to his conduct.


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[Assistant] And he was not mistaken, though it came in an unlooked for manner.


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[Assistant] Upon rising next morning he found, to his surprise,


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[Assistant] A small square of paper pinned onto the coverlet of his bed just over his chest.


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[Assistant] On it was printed in bold, straggling letters.


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[Assistant] The dash was more fear-inspiring than any threat could have been.


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[Assistant] How this warning came into his room puzzled John Ferrier Sawley, for his servant slept in an outhouse, and the doors and windows had all been secured. He crumpled the paper up and said nothing to his daughter, but the incident struck a chill into his heart.


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[Assistant] The 29 days were evidently the balance of the month which Young had promised.


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[Assistant] What strength or courage could avail against an enemy armed with such mysterious powers? The hand which fastened the pin might have struck him to the heart, and he could never have known who would slain him.


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[Assistant] They had sat down to their breakfast when Lucy, with a cry of surprise, pointed upwards. In the centre of the ceiling was scrawled, with a burned stick, apparently, the number twenty-eight. To his daughter it was unintelligible, and he did not enlighten her.


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[Assistant] That night he sat up with his gun and kept watch and ward. He saw and he heard nothing


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[Assistant] And yet in the morning a great twenty-seven had been painted upon the outside of his door. Thus day followed day. And as sure as morning came,


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[Assistant] He found that his unseen enemies had kept their register.


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[Assistant] Sometimes the fatal numbers appeared upon the walls, sometimes upon the floors.


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[Assistant] With all his vigilance, John Ferrier could not discover whence these daily warnings proceeded.


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[Assistant] Which was almost superstitious came upon him at the sight of them.


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[Assistant] He became haggard and restless, and his eyes had the troubled look of some hunted creature. He had but one hope in life now.


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[Assistant] And that was for the arrival of the young hunter from Nevada.


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[Assistant] Twenty had changed to fifteen, and fifteen to ten, but there was no news of the absentee.


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[Assistant] One by one the numbers dwindled down and still there came no sign of him. Whenever a horseman clattered down the road or a driver shouted at his team


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[Assistant] The old farmer hurried to the gate, thinking that help had arrived at last. At last


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[Assistant] When he saw five give way to four and that again to three, he lost heart and abandoned all hope of escape.


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[Assistant] Single-handed and with his limited knowledge of the mountains which surrounded the settlement, he knew that he was powerless.


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[Assistant] The more frequented roads were strictly watched and guarded.


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[Assistant] There appeared to be no avoiding the blow which hung over him.


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[Assistant] Yet the old man never wavered in his resolution to part with life itself


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[Assistant] Before he consented to what he regarded as his daughter's dishonour.


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[Assistant] He was sitting alone one evening pondering deeply over his troubles and searching vainly for some way out of them. That morning had shown the figure, too, upon the wall of his house.


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[Assistant] The next day would be the last of the allotted time. What was to happen then?


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[Assistant] All manner of vague and terrible fancies filled his imagination, and his daughter, what was to become of her after he was gone.


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[Assistant] Was there no escape from the invisible network which was drawn all round them? He sank his head upon the table and sobbed at the thought of his own impotence. What was that? In the silence he heard a gentle scratching sound, low but very distinct in the quiet of the night. It came from the door of the house. Ferrier crept into the hall and listened intently.


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[Assistant] Someone was evidently tapping very gently upon one of the panels of the door.


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[Assistant] Was it some midnight assassin who had come to carry out the murderous orders of the secret tribunal?


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[Assistant] Or was it some agent who was marking up that the last day of grace had arrived?


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[Assistant] John Ferrier felt that instant death would be better than the suspense which shook his nerves and chilled his heart. Springing forward, he drew the bolt and threw the door open. Outside, all was calm and quiet.


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[Assistant] The night was fine and the stars were twinkling brightly overhead.


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[Assistant] The little front garden lay before the farmer's eyes, bounded by the fence and the gate.


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[Assistant] But neither there nor on the road was any human being to be seen. With a sigh of relief Ferrier looked to right and to left.


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[Assistant] until happening to glance straight down at his own feet


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[Assistant] He saw to his astonishment a man lying flat on his face upon the ground, with arms and legs all a sprawl. So unnerved was he at the sight that he leaned up against the wall with his hand to his throat to stifle his inclination to call out. His first thought was that the prostrate figure was that of some wounded or dying man.


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[Assistant] But as he watched it, he saw it writhe along the ground and into the hall with the rapidity and noiselessness of a serpent.


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[Assistant] Once within the house the man sprang to his feet, closed the door, and revealed to the astonished farmer the fierce face and resolute expression of Jefferson Hope.


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[Assistant] Whatever made you come in like that? Give me food," the other said hoarsely.


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[Assistant] Which was still lying upon the table from his host's supper and devoured it voraciously. Does Lucy bear up well? He asked when he had satisfied his hunger. Yes, she does not know the danger, her father answered. That is well. The house is watched on every side. That is why I crawled my way up to it. They may be darn sharp.


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[Assistant] But they're not quite sharp enough to catch a Washoe Hunter.


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[Assistant] John Ferrier felt a different man now that he realized that he had a devoted ally.


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[Assistant] He seized the young man's leathery hand and wrung it cordially. You're a man to be proud of, he said.


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[Assistant] The young hunter answered, I have a respect for you, but if you were alone in this business


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[Assistant] I guess there will be one less of the Hope family in Utah. What are we to do?


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[Assistant] Tomorrow is your last day, and unless you act tonight you are lost.


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[Assistant] I have a mule and two horses waiting in the eagle ravine. How much money have you?


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[Assistant] Two thousand dollars in gold and five in notes. That will do. I have as much more to add to it. We must push for Carson City through the mountains. You would best wake Lucy.


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope packed all the eatables that he could find into a small parcel and filled a stoneware jar with water.


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[Assistant] Before the farmer returned with his daughter all dressed and ready for a start. The greeting between the lovers was warm, but brief, for minutes were precious, and there was much to be done.


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[Assistant] We must make our start at once, said Jefferson Hope, speaking in a low but resolute voice like one who realizes the greatness of the peril but has steeled his heart to meet it. The front and back entrances are watched


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[Assistant] But with caution we may get away through the side window and across the fields.


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[Assistant] We are only two miles from the ravine where the horses are waiting. By daybreak we should be halfway through the mountains. What if we are stopped? asked Farrier.


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[Assistant] Hope slapped the revolver butt which protruded from the front of his tunic.


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[Assistant] If they are too many for us, we shall take two or three of them with us," he said, with a sinister smile. The lights inside the house had all been extinguished.


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[Assistant] And from the darkened window Ferry appeared over the fields which had been his own, and which he was now about to abandon forever. He had long nerfed himself to the sacrifice, however, and the thought of the honour and happiness of his daughter


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[Assistant] Outweighed any regret of his ruined fortunes. All looked so peaceful and happy.


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[Assistant] The rustling trees and the broad silent stretch of grain land.


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[Assistant] That it was difficult to realise that the spirit of murder lurked through it all.


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[Assistant] Yet the white face and set expression of the young hunter showed that in his approach to the house


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope had the scanty provisions and water.


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[Assistant] While Lucy had a small bundle containing a few of her more valued possessions. Opening the window very slowly and carefully.


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[Assistant] They waited until a dark cloud had somewhat obscured the night, and then one by one passed through into the little garden.


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[Assistant] With bated breath and crouching figures they stumbled across it.


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[Assistant] They had just reached this point when the young man seized his two companions and dragged them down into the shadow where they lay silent and trembling. It was as well that his prairie training had given Jefferson hope the ears of a lynx. He and his friends had hardly crouched down


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[Assistant] Before the melancholy hooting of a mountain owl was heard within a few yards of them, which was immediately answered by another hoot at a small distance.


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[Assistant] At the same moment a vague, shadowy figure emerged from the gap for which they had been making, and uttered the plaintive signal-cry again, on which a second man appeared out of the obscurity. Tomorrow at midnight, said the first, who appeared to be an authority.


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[Assistant] When the whipper will calls three times. It is well, returned the other. Shall I tell brother Drebber? Pass it on to him, and from him to the others. Nine to seven. Seven to five, repeated the other.


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[Assistant] And the two figures flitted away in different directions.


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[Assistant] Their concluding words had evidently been some form of sign and countersign.


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[Assistant] The instant that their footsteps had died away in the distance,


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope sprang to his feet and helping his companions through the gap, led the way across the fields at the top of his speed,


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[Assistant] Supporting and half carrying the girl when her strength appeared to fail her. Hurry on, hurry on, he gasped from time to time. We are through the line of sentinels. Everything depends on speed. Hurry on. Once on the high road they made rapid progress.


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[Assistant] Only once did they meet anyone, and then they managed to slip into a field and so avoid recognition.


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[Assistant] Before reaching the town the hunter branched away into a rugged and narrow footpath, which led to the mountains.


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[Assistant] Two dark jagged peaks loomed above them through the darkness.


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[Assistant] And the defile which led between them was the eagle canyon in which the horses were awaiting them.


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[Assistant] With unerring instinct Jefferson Hope picked his way among the great boulders and along the bed of a dried-up water-court.


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[Assistant] Until he came to the retired corner screened with rocks where the faithful animals had been picketed. The girl was placed upon the mule.


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[Assistant] And old Ferrier upon one of the horses with his money bag.


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[Assistant] While Jefferson Hope led the other along the precipitous and dangerous path.


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[Assistant] It was a bewildering route for anyone who was not accustomed to face nature in her wildest moods.


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[Assistant] On the one side a great crag towered up a thousand feet or more, black, stern, and menacing, with long basaltic columns upon its rugged surface, like the ribs of some petrified monster.


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[Assistant] On the other hand a wild chaos of boulders and debris made all advance impossible. Between the two ran an irregular track.


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[Assistant] So narrow in places that they had to travel in Indian file.


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[Assistant] And so rough that only practiced riders could have traversed it at all. Yet in spite of all dangers and difficulties, the hearts of the fugitives were light within them, for every step increased the distance between them and the terrible despotism from which they were flying.


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[Assistant] They soon had a proof, however, that they were still within the jurisdiction of the saints.


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[Assistant] They had reached the very wildest and most desolate portion of the pass


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[Assistant] When the girl gave a startled cry and pointed upwards, on a rock which overlooked the track, showing out dark and plain against the sky, there stood a solitary sentinel. He saw them as soon as they perceived him, and his military challenge of, who goes there, ran through the silent ravine. Travellers from Nevada, said Jefferson Hope, with his hand upon his rifle which hung by his saddle.


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[Assistant] His Mormon experiences had taught him that that was the highest authority to which he could refer. Nine to seven cried the sentinel. Seven to five returned Jefferson hope promptly.


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[Assistant] Remembering the countersign which he had heard in the garden. Pass. And the Lord go with you, said the voice from above. Beyond his post the path broadened out, and the horses were able to break into a trot.


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[Assistant] Looking back they could see the solitary watcher leaning upon his gun.


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[Assistant] And knew that they had passed the outlying post of the chosen people, and that freedom lay before them.


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[Assistant] All night their course lay through intricate defiles and over irregular and rock-strewn paths. More than once they lost their way.


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[Assistant] A scene of marvelous though savage beauty lay before them.


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[Assistant] In every direction the great snow-capped peaks hemmed them in.


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[Assistant] Peeping over each other's shoulders to the far horizon. So steep were the rocky banks on either side of them.


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[Assistant] That the larch and the pine seemed to be suspended over their heads, and to need only a gust of wind to come hurtling down upon them. Nor was the fear entirely an illusion.


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[Assistant] For the barren valley was thickly strewn with trees and boulders which had fallen in a similar manner.


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[Assistant] Even as they passed, a great rock came thundering down with a horse rattle, which woke the echoes in the silent gorges and startled the weary horses into a gallop. As the sun rose slowly above the eastern horizon,


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[Assistant] The caps of the great mountains lit up one after the other, like lamps at a festival, until they were all ruddy and glowing.


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[Assistant] The magnificent spectacle cheered the hearts of the three fugitives and gave them fresh energy. At a wild torrent which swept out of a ravine, they called a halt and watered their horses while they partook of a hasty breakfast. Lucy and her father would fain have rested longer, for Jefferson hope was inexorable.


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[Assistant] They will be upon our track by this time, he said. Everything depends upon our speed. Once safe and Carson, we may rest for the remainder of our lives.


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[Assistant] During the whole of that day they struggled on through the defiles.


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[Assistant] And by evening they calculated that they were more than thirty miles from their enemies. At night they chose the base of a beetling crag.


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[Assistant] Where the rocks offered some protection from the chill wind, and there, huddled together for warmth, they enjoyed a few hours sleep.


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[Assistant] Before daybreak, however, they were up and on their way once more. They had seen no signs of any pursuers


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[Assistant] And Jefferson Hope began to think that they were fairly out of the reach of the terrible organisation whose enmity they had incurred. He little knew how far that iron grasp could reach.


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[Assistant] or how soon it was to close upon them and crush them


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[Assistant] About the middle of the second day of their flight their scanty store of provisions began to run out. This gave the hunter little uneasiness, however, for there was game to be had among the mountains


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[Assistant] He piled together a few dried branches and made a blazing fire, at which his companions might warm themselves.


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[Assistant] And set out in search of whatever chance might throw in his way.


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[Assistant] Looking back he saw the old man and the girl crouching over the blazing fire, while the three animals stood motionless in the background. Then the intervening rocks hid them from his view.


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[Assistant] He walked for a couple of miles through one ravine after another without success.


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[Assistant] Though from the marks upon the bark of the trees and other indications he judged that there were numerous bears in the vicinity. At last, after two or three hours fruitless search, he was thinking of turning back in despair when, casting his eyes upwards,


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[Assistant] On the edge of a jutting pinnacle three or four hundred feet above him.


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[Assistant] There stood a creature somewhat resembling a sheep in appearance, but armed with a pair of gigantic horns. The Big Horn, for so it is called,


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[Assistant] Was acting probably as a guardian over a flock which were invisible to the hunter.


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[Assistant] But fortunately it was heading in the opposite direction and had not perceived him. Lying on his face he rested his rifle upon a rock


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[Assistant] So the hunter contented himself with cutting away one haunch and part of the flank.


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[Assistant] With this trophy over his shoulder he hastened to retrace his steps, for the evening was already drawing in. He had hardly started, however, before he realised the difficulty which faced him.


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[Assistant] In his eagerness he had wandered far past the ravines which were known to him.


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[Assistant] And it was no easy matter to pick out the path which he had taken.


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[Assistant] The valley in which he found himself divided and subdivided into many gorges.


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[Assistant] Which was so like each other that it was impossible to distinguish one from the other.


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[Assistant] He followed one for a mile or more until he came to a mountain torrent, which he was sure that he had never seen before.


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[Assistant] Convinced that he had taken the wrong turn, he tried another, but with the same result. Night was coming on rapidly.


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[Assistant] And it was almost dark before he at last found himself in a defile which was familiar to him.


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[Assistant] Even then it was no easy matter to keep to the right track, for the moon had not yet risen and the high cliffs on either side made the obscurity more profound.


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[Assistant] Weighed down with his burden and weary from his exertions, he stumbled along.


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[Assistant] Keeping up his heart by the reflection that every step brought him nearer to Lucy.


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[Assistant] And that he carried with him enough to insure them food for the remainder of their


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[Assistant] He had now come to the mouth of the very defile in which he had left them.


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[Assistant] He put his hands to his mouth and made the glen re-echo to a loud halloo as a signal that he was coming. He paused and listened for an answer. None came save his own cry, which clattered up the dreary silent ravines


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[Assistant] No whisper came back from the friends whom he had left such a short time ago. A vague, nameless dread came over him.


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[Assistant] He came full in sight of the spot where the fire had been lit. There were still a glowing pile of wood ashes there.


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[Assistant] With his fears all changed to convictions, he hurried on.


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[Assistant] There was no living creature near the remains of the fire. Animals, man, maiden, all were gone.


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[Assistant] It was only too clear that some sudden and terrible disaster had occurred during his absence, a disaster which had embraced them all and yet had left no traces behind it. Bewildered and stunned by this blow, Jefferson Hope felt his head spin round


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[Assistant] And speedily recovered from his temporary impotence.


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[Assistant] Seizing a half-consumed piece of wood from the smouldering fire, he blew it into a flame.


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[Assistant] And proceeding with its help to examine the little camp.


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[Assistant] The ground was all stamped down by the feet of horses.


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[Assistant] Showing that a large party of mounted men had overtaken the fugitives and the direction of their tracks.


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[Assistant] Proved that they had afterwards turned back to Salt Lake City. That they carried back both of his companions with them.


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope had almost persuaded himself that they must have done so. When his eye fell upon an object


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[Assistant] Which made every nerve of his body tingle within him.


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[Assistant] A little way on one side of the camp was a low-lying heap of reddish soil which had assuredly not been there before.


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[Assistant] There was no mistaking it for anything but a newly dug grave. As the young hunter approached it he perceived that a stick had been planted on it with a sheet of paper stuck in the cleft fork of it.


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[Assistant] The inscription upon the paper was brief, but to the point.


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[Assistant] Who he had left so short a time before was gone then. And this was all his epitaph.


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope looked wildly round to see if there was a second grave, but there was no sign of one.


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[Assistant] Lucy had been carried back by their terrible pursuers to fulfill her original destiny.


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[Assistant] By becoming one of the harem of the elder's son. As the young fellow realized the certainty of her fate, and his own powerlessness to prevent it, he wished that he too was lying with the old farmer in his last silent resting place.


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[Assistant] Shook off the lethargy which springs from despair. If there was nothing else left to him, he could at least devote his life to revenge. With indomitable patience and perseverance,


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[Assistant] Jefferson Hope possessed also a power of sustained vindictiveness.


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[Assistant] He felt that the only one thing which could assuage his grief would be thorough and complete retribution brought by his own hand upon his enemies.


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[Assistant] His strong will and untiring energy should, he determined, be devoted to that one end.


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[Assistant] With a grim white face he retraced his steps to where he had dropped the food, and having stirred up the smouldering fire, he cooked enough to last him for a few days.


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[Assistant] This he made up into a bundle, and tired as he was, he set himself to walk back through the mountains, upon the track of the avenging angels.


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[Assistant] For five days he toiled foot-sore and weary through the defiles which he had already traversed on horseback. At night he flung himself down upon the rocks and snatched a few hours of sleep, but before daybreak he was always well on his way.


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[Assistant] On the sixth day he reached the Eagle Canyon from which they had commenced their ill-fated flight. Thence he could look down upon the home of the saints.


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[Assistant] Worn and exhausted, he leaned upon his rifle and shook his gaunt hand fiercely at the silent, widespread city beneath him.


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[Assistant] As he looked at it he observed that there were flags in the principal streets and other signs of festivity. He was still speculating as to what this might mean when he heard the clatter of horses' hoofs and saw a mounted man riding towards him. As he approached he recognized him as a Mormon named Cowper, to whom he had rendered services at different times. He therefore accosted him when he got up to him.


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[Assistant] With the object of finding out what Lucy Ferrier's fate had been. I am Jefferson Hope, he said. You remember me? The Mormon looked at him with undisguised astonishment


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[Assistant] Indeed it was difficult to recognize in this tattered, unkempt wanderer, with ghastly white face and fierce wild eyes, the spruce-young hunter of former days.


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[Assistant] Having, however, at last satisfied himself as to his identity, the man's surprise changed to consternation.


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[Assistant] You are mad to come here," he cried. It is as much as my own life is worth to be seen talking with you. There is a warrant against you from the Holy Four for assisting the ferriers away. I don't fear them or their warrant," Hope said earnestly. You must know something of this matter, Kauper.


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[Assistant] I conjure you by everything you hold dear to answer a few questions. We've always been friends. For God's sake don't refuse to answer me. What is it? The Mormon asked uneasily. Be quick.


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[Assistant] The very rocks have ears and the trees eyes. What has become of Luciferia? She was married yesterday to young Drebber. Hold up, man, hold up. You have no life left in you. Don't mind me, said Hope faintly. He was white to the very lips.


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[Assistant] That's what those flags are for, on the endowment house.


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[Assistant] There were some words between young Drebber and young Stangerson as to which was to have her. They'd both been in the party that followed them, and Stangerson had shot her father, which seemed to give him the best claim. But when they argued it out in council,


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[Assistant] Drebber's party was the stronger, so the prophet gave her over to him. No one won't have her for very long though. For I saw death in her face yesterday. She was more like a ghost than a woman.


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[Assistant] Are you Arth, then? Yes, I am Arth, said Jefferson Hope, who had risen from his seat.


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[Assistant] His face might have been chiselled out of marble, so hard and set was its expression, while its eyes glowed with a baleful light. Where are you going? Never mind.


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[Assistant] He answered, and slinging his weapon over his shoulder, strode off down the gorge.


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[Assistant] And so away into the heart of the mountains to the haunts of the wild beasts.


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[Assistant] Amongst them all there was none so fierce and so dangerous as himself.


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[Assistant] The prediction of the Mormon was only too well fulfilled.


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[Assistant] Who had married her principally for the sake of John Ferrier's property did not affect any great grief at his bereavement, but his other wives mourned over her and sat up with her the night before the burial, as is the Mormon custom.


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[Assistant] They were grouped round the beer in the early hours of the morning.


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[Assistant] When to their inexpressible fear and astonishment the door was flung open.


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[Assistant] And a savage-looking, weather-beaten man in tattered garments strode into the room without a glance or a word to the cowering women.


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[Assistant] He walked up to the white silent figure which had once contained the pure soul of Luciferia. Stooping over her, he pressed his lips reverently to her cold forehead, and then, snatching up her hand, he took the wedding ring from her finger.


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[Assistant] She shall not be buried in that, he cried with a fierce snarl.


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[Assistant] And before an alarm could be raised, sprang down the stairs and was gone.


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[Assistant] That the watchers might have found it hard to believe it themselves or persuade other people of it.


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[Assistant] Had it not been for the undeniable fact that the circlet of gold which marked her as having been a bride had disappeared. For some months Jefferson Hope lingered among the mountains, leading a strange wildlife


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[Assistant] And nursing in his heart the fierce desire for vengeance which possessed him


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[Assistant] Tales were told in the city of the weird figure which was seen prowling about the suburbs and which haunted the lonely mountain gorges.


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[Assistant] Once a bullet whistled through Stangerson's window and flattened itself upon the wall within a foot of him. On another occasion as Drebber passed under a cliff, a great boulder crashed down on him.


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[Assistant] And he only escaped a terrible death by throwing himself upon his face


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[Assistant] The two young Mormons were not long in discovering the reason of these attempts upon their lives.


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[Assistant] Then they adopted the precaution of never going out alone or after nightfall, and of having their houses guarded.


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[Assistant] After a time they were able to relax these measures, for nothing was either heard or seen of their opponent.


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[Assistant] And they hoped that time had cooled his vindictiveness.


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[Assistant] Far from doing so it had, if anything, augmented it.


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[Assistant] The hunter's mind was of a hard, unyielding nature, and the predominant idea of revenge


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[Assistant] Could not stand the incessant strain which he was putting upon


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[Assistant] Exposure and want of wholesome food were wearing him out. If he died like a dog among the mountains, what was to become of his revenge then?


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[Assistant] So he reluctantly returned to the old Nevada mines there to recruit his health and to amass money enough to allow him to pursue his object without privation.


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[Assistant] His intention had been to be absent about a year at the most.


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[Assistant] His memory of his wrongs and his craving for revenge.


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[Assistant] Were quite as keen as on that memorable night when he had stood by John Ferrier's grave. Disguised, and under an assumed name, he returned to Salt Lake City, careless what became of his own life, as long as he obtained what he knew to be justice. There he found evil tidings awaiting him.


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[Assistant] There had been a schism among the chosen people a few months before.


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[Assistant] Some of the younger members of the church having rebelled against the authority of the elders.


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[Assistant] And the result had been a secession of a certain number of the malcontents who had left Utah and become Gentiles. Among these had been Drebber and Stangerson, and no one knew whither they had gone.


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[Assistant] Rumour reported that Drebber had managed to convert a large part of his property into money, and that he had departed a wealthy man, while his companion Stangerson was comparatively poor.


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[Assistant] There was no clue at all, however, as to their whereabouts.


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[Assistant] Many a man, however vindictive, would have abandoned all thought of revenge in the face of such a difficulty. But Jefferson Hope never faltered for a moment. With the small competence he possessed, eeked out by such employment as he could pick


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[Assistant] He travelled from town to town through the United States in quest of his enemies. Year passed into year, his black hair turned grizzled, but still he wandered on a human bloodhound


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[Assistant] With his mind wholly set upon the one object to which he had devoted his life. At last his perseverance was rewarded. It was but a glance of a face in a window.


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[Assistant] But that one glance told him that Cleveland in Ohio possessed the men whom he was in pursuit of.


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[Assistant] He returned to his miserable lodgings with his plans of vengeance all arranged. It chanced, however, that drebber looking from his window.


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[Assistant] He hurried before a justice of the police accompanied by Stangerson, who had become his private secretary.


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[Assistant] And not being able to find sureties was detained for some weeks.


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[Assistant] When at last he was liberated, it was only to find that Drebber's house was deserted, and that he and his secretary had departed for Europe. Again the Avenger had been foiled.


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[Assistant] And again his concentrated hatred urged him to continue the pursuit. Funds were wanting, however, and for some time he had to return to work, saving every dollar for his approaching journey.


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[Assistant] At last, having collected enough to keep life in him, he departed for Europe and tracked his enemies from city to city, working his way in any menial capacity, but never overtaking the fugitives.


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[Assistant] When he reached St. Petersburg they had departed for Paris, and when he followed them there he learned that they had just set off for Copenhagen.


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[Assistant] At the Danish capital he was again a few days late, for they had journeyed on to London, where at last he succeeded in running them to earth.


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[Assistant] As to what occurred there, we cannot do better than quote the old hunter's own account.


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[Assistant] As duly recorded in Dr. Watson's journal, to which we are already under such obligations.


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[Assistant] A continuation of the reminiscences of John Watson, M.D.


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[Assistant] Our prisoner's furious resistance did not apparently indicate any ferocity in his disposition towards ourselves, for on finding himself powerless he smiled in an affable manner


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[Assistant] And expressed his hopes that he had not hurt any of us in the scuffle. I guess you're going to take me to the police station, he remarked to Sherlock Holmes. My cab's at the door. If you'll loose my legs, I'll walk down to it. I'm not so light to lift as I used to be. Gregson and Lestrade exchanged glances as if they thought this proposition rather a bold one. But Holmes at once took the prisoner at his word


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[Assistant] And his dark sunburned face bore an expression of determination and energy, which was as formidable as his personal strength.


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[Assistant] If there's a vacant place for a chief of police, I reckon you are the man for it, he said.


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[Assistant] Gazing with undisguised admiration at my fellow lodger, the way you kept on my trail was a caution.


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[Assistant] You had better come with me, said Holmes to the two detectives. I can drive you, said Lestrade.


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[Assistant] Good, and Grigson can come inside with me. You too, Doctor, you have taken an interest in the case, and may as well stick to us." I ascended gladly, and we all descended together. Our prisoner made no attempt to escape, but stepped calmly into the cab which had been his, and we followed him. Lestrade mounted the box, whipped up the horse, and brought us in a very short time to our destination.


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[Assistant] We were ushered into a small chamber where a police inspector noted down our prisoner's names and the names of the men with whose murder he had been charged. The official was a white-faced, unemotional man


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[Assistant] Who went through his duties in a dull, mechanical way.


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[Assistant] The prisoner will be put before the magistrates in the course of the week, he said.


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[Assistant] In the meantime, Mr Jefferson Hope, have you anything that you wish to say?


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[Assistant] I must warn you that your words will be taken down and may be used against you." I've got a good deal to say," our prisoner said slowly. I want to tell you gentlemen all about it. Hadn't you better reserve that for your trial?" asked the inspector. I may never be tried, he answered.


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[Assistant] You needn't look startled. It isn't suicide I'm thinking of. Are you a doctor?


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[Assistant] He turned his fierce dark eyes upon me as he asked this last question. Yes I am, I answered.


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[Assistant] Then put your hand here, he said with a smile, motioning with his manacled wrists towards his chest. I did so.


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[Assistant] And became at once conscious of an extraordinary throbbing and commotion which was going on inside.


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[Assistant] The walls of his chest seem to thrill and quiver.


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[Assistant] As a frail building would do inside which some powerful engine was at work.


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[Assistant] And he told me that it is bound to burst before many days pass. It has been getting worse for years.


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[Assistant] I got it from overexposure and underfeeding among the Salt Lake Mountains. I've done my work now, and I don't care how soon I go, but I should like to leave some account of the business behind me. I don't want to be remembered as a common cutthroat.


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[Assistant] The inspector and the two detectives had a hurried discussion as to the advisability of allowing him to tell his story.


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[Assistant] Do you consider, Doctor, that there is immediate danger? the former asked.


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[Assistant] Most certainly there is, I answered. In that case it is clearly our duty in the interests of justice to take his statement, said the inspector. You are at liberty, sir, to give your account, which I again warn you will be taken down. I'll sit down with your leave, the prisoner said, suiting the action to the word.


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[Assistant] This aneurysm of mine makes me easily tired.


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[Assistant] And the tussle we had half an hour ago has not mended matters.


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[Assistant] I'm on the brink of the grave, and I'm not likely to lie to you. Every word I say is the absolute truth.


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[Assistant] And how you use it is a matter of no consequence to me.


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[Assistant] With these words Jefferson Hope leaned back in his chair and began the following remarkable statement. He spoke in a calm and methodical manner.


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[Assistant] As though the events which he narrated were commonplace enough.


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[Assistant] In which the prisoner's words were taken down exactly as they were uttered.


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[Assistant] Don't much matter to you why I hated these men, he said.


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[Assistant] It's enough that they were guilty of the death of two human beings, a father and a daughter.


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[Assistant] It was impossible for me to secure a conviction against them in any court.


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[Assistant] When I determined that I should be judge, jury, and executioner all rolled into one, you'd have done the same if you have any manhood in you, if you'd been in my place.


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[Assistant] That girl that I spoke of was to have married me twenty years ago. She was forced into marrying that same drebber and broke her heart over it. I took the marriage ring from her dead finger


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[Assistant] And I vowed that his dying eyes should rest upon that very ring.


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[Assistant] If I die tomorrow, as is likely enough, I die knowing that my work in this world is done, and well done. They have perished, and by my hand. There is nothing left for me to hope for, or to desire. They were rich and I was poor, so that it was no easy matter for me to follow them. When I got to London my pocket was about empty.


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[Assistant] And I found that I must turn my hand to something for my living. Driving and riding are as natural to me as walking.


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[Assistant] So I applied at a cab owner's office and soon got employment. I was to bring a certain sum a week to the owner.


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[Assistant] Whatever was over, that I might keep for myself.


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[Assistant] There was seldom much over, but I managed to scrape along somehow. The hardest job was to learn my way about.


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[Assistant] For I reckon that of all the mazes that ever were contrived, this city is the most confusing. I had a map beside me though.


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[Assistant] And when once I had spotted the principal hotels and stations, I got on pretty well.


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[Assistant] It was some time before I found out where my two gentlemen were living, but I inquired and inquired until at last I dropped across them.


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[Assistant] They were at a boarding house in Camberwell on the other side of the river. When once I found them out, I knew that I had them at my mercy. I had grown my beard, and there was no chance of their recognizing me.


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[Assistant] Go where they would about London, I was always at their heels.


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[Assistant] Sometimes I followed them on my cab and sometimes on foot, but the former was the best. But then they could not get away from me.


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[Assistant] It was only early in the morning or late at night that I could earn anything, so that I began to get behindhand with my employer.


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[Assistant] I did not mind that, however, as long as I could lay my hand upon the men I wanted. They were very cunning though.


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[Assistant] They must have thought that there was some chance of their being followed, for they would never go out alone, and never after nightfall.


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[Assistant] During two weeks I drove behind them every day and never once saw them separate. Drebber himself was a drunk half the time, but Stangerson was not to be caught napping. I watched them late and early, but never saw the ghost of a chance, but I was not discouraged, for something told me that the hour had almost come.


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[Assistant] My only fear was that this thing in my chest might burst a little too soon and leave my work undone.


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[Assistant] At last one evening I was driving up and down Torquay Terrace, as the street was called in which they boarded, when I saw a cab drive up to their door. Presently some luggage was brought out


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[Assistant] And after a time, Drebber and Stangerson followed it and drove off.


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[Assistant] I whipped up my horse and kept with inside of them, feeling very ill at ease, for I feared that they were going to shift their quarters. At Euston Station they got out


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[Assistant] And I left a boy to hold my horse and followed them onto the platform. I heard them ask for the Liverpool train, and the guard answered that one had just gone and there would not be another for some hours.


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[Assistant] Stangerson seemed to be put out at that, but Drebber was rather pleased than otherwise.


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[Assistant] Drebber answered that the matter was a delicate one and that he must go alone. I could not catch what Stangison said to that, but the other burst out swearing and reminded him that he was nothing more than his paid servant and that he must not presume to dictate to him.


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[Assistant] He should rejoin him at Halliday's private hotel.


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[Assistant] To which Drebber answered that he would be back on the platform before eleven, and made his way out of the station.


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[Assistant] The moment for which I had waited so long had at last come. I had my enemies within my power.


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[Assistant] Together they could protect each other, but singly they were at my mercy.


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[Assistant] I did not act however with undue precipitation. My plans were already formed.


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[Assistant] There is no satisfaction in vengeance unless the offender has time to realize who it is that strikes him and why retribution has come upon him.


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[Assistant] I had my plans arranged by which I should have the opportunity of making the man who had wronged me understand that his old sin had found him out.


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[Assistant] A gentleman who had been engaged in looking over some houses in the Brixton Road had dropped the key of one of them in my carriage. It was claimed that same evening and returned.


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[Assistant] But in the interval I had taken a molding of it and had a duplicate constructed.


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[Assistant] By means of this I had access to at least one spot in this great city where I could rely upon being free from interruption. How to get Drebber to that house was the difficult problem which I had now to solve.


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[Assistant] He walked down the road and went into one or two liquor shops, staying for nearly half an hour in the last of them. When he came out he staggered in his walk and was evidently pretty well on. There was a handsome just in front of me and he hailed it.


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[Assistant] I followed it so close that the nose of my horse was within a yard of his driver the whole way


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[Assistant] We rattled across Waterloo Bridge and through miles of streets.


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[Assistant] Until to my astonishment we found ourselves back in the terrace in which he had boarded. I could not imagine what his intention was in returning there.


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[Assistant] But I went on and pulled up my cab a hundred yards or so from the house. He ended it and his handsome drove away. Give me a glass of water if you please. My mouth gets dry with the talking.


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[Assistant] I handed him the glass and he drank it down. That's better, he said.


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[Assistant] Well, I waited for a quarter of an hour or more.


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[Assistant] Next moment the door was flung open and two men appeared, one of whom was Drebber and the other was a young man whom I had never seen before. This fellow had Drebber by the collar.


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[Assistant] Only that the cur staggered away down the road as fast as his legs would carry him.


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[Assistant] And then seeing my cab he hailed me and jumped in. Drive me to Halliday's Private Hotel, said he. When I had him fairly inside my cab


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[Assistant] My heart jumped so with joy that I feared lest at this last moment my aneurysm might go wrong. I drove along slowly, weighing in my own mind what it was best to do. I might take him right out into the country.


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[Assistant] There in some deserted lane have my last interview with him.


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[Assistant] I'd almost decided upon this when he solved the problem for me. The craze for drink had seized him again, and he ordered me to pull up outside of Djinn Palace. He went in, leaving word that I should wait for him. There he remained until closing time.


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[Assistant] When he came out he was so far gone that I knew the game was in my own hands. Don't imagine that I intended to kill him in cold blood.


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[Assistant] It would only have been rigid justice if I had done so, but I could not bring myself to do it.


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[Assistant] I had long determined that he should have a show for his life if he chose to take advantage


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[Assistant] Among the many billets which I have filled in America during my wandering life,


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[Assistant] I was once janitor and sweeper out of the laboratory at York College.


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[Assistant] One day the professor was lecturing on poisons, and he showed his students some alkaloid, as he called it.


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[Assistant] Which he had extracted from some South American arrow poison which was so powerful that the least grain meant instant death.


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[Assistant] So I worked this alkaloid into small soluble pills.


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[Assistant] My gentlemen should each have a drawer out of one of these boxes, while I eat the pill that remains.


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[Assistant] It would be quite as deadly and a good deal less noisy than firing across a handkerchief.


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[Assistant] From that day I had always had my pill boxes about with me. And the time had now come when I was to use them.


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[Assistant] It was nearer one than twelve and a wild, bleak night blowing hard and raining in torrents.


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[Assistant] Dismal as it was outside, I was glad within.


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[Assistant] So glad that I could have shouted out for pure exultation. If any of you gentlemen have ever pined for a thing and longed for it during twenty long years, and then suddenly found it within your reach, you would understand my feelings.


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[Assistant] I lit a cigar and puffed at it to steady my nerves.


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[Assistant] My hands were trembling and my temples throbbing with excitement.