Page:The Cross Pull.pdf/144

 the whereabouts of this place. Stool pigeons heard nought but rumors. These rumors were persistent and it was recalled that the majority of these vanished ones were of the outdoor type of bandit. At last the authorities inclined to the belief that some of these men were banded together somewhere beyond reach of the law.

As Moran viewed the cabin these things flitted through his mind. He recalled tales that men told of signal lights flashing from peak to peak. One sportsman who could read the wigwag alphabet claimed to have caught a portion of one message. Among the words he made out were the names of two men—the names of two of the most desperate escaped criminals alive. Moran dismissed these thoughts as absurd—absurd at least in so far as they concerned this particular spot. A number of men could not help but leave numerous telltale signs of their presence. This was the home of some lone hermit.

Flash preceded him and scratched at the door. It opened—and the scene was transformed for Moran. Any man would have pronounced the girl’s beauty exceptional and perhaps Moran’s surprise at this vision in the door added to his estimate of her. He was instantly aware that he had