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A hound bayed lonesomely somewhere in the distance Voices of men sounded uarded, with the vacant note of thoughtlessness

Jean gathered all his forces, until sense of sight and hearing were in exquisite accord with the suppleness and lightness of his lided on about ten short, swift steps before he halted That was as far as his piercing eyes could penetrate If there had been a guard stationed outside the store Jean would have seen hi seen He saw the fence, reached it, entered the yard, glided in the dense shadow of the barn until the black square began to looh the obscurity No dark figure of a ray wall--only a black patch, which ht now streaked out froht showed the wide, black door

Farther on Jean glided silently Then he halted There was no guard outside Jean heard the clink of a cap, the lazy drawl of a Texan, and then a strong, harsh voice--Jorth's It strung Jean's whole being tight and vibrating Inside he was on fire while cold thrills rippled over his skin It took tremendous effort of will to hold himself back another instant to listen, to look, to feel, to hty current of hot blood, straining, throbbing, da

When Jean leaped this current burst In a feift bounds he gained his point halfway between door andHe leaned his rifle against the stone wall Then he swung the ax Crash! Theshutter split and rattled to the floor inside The silence then broke with a hoarse, "What's thet?"

With all histhe heavy ax on the door Sht light flared out the hole

"Look out!" yelled a man, in loud alarh on the splintered door Crash! Pieces flew inside

"They've got axes," hoarsely shouted another voice "Shove the counter ag'in' the door"

"No!" thundered a voice of authority that denoted terror as well "Let theuns an' take to cover!"

"They ain't comin' in," was the hoarse reply "They'll shoot in on us from the dark"

"Put out the lamp!" yelled another