a tongue of yellow flame. Barney had already started toward the

horse.

"Please don't go," begged the girl. "I am sure that he is quite

dead, and it wouldn't be safe for you down there now. The gasoline

tank may explode any minute."

Barney stopped.

"Yes, he is dead all right," he said, "but all my belongings are

down there. My guns, six-shooters and all my ammunition. And," he

added ruefully, "I've heard so much about the brigands that infest

these mountains."

The girl laughed.

"Those stories are really exaggerated," she said. "I was born in

Lutha, and except for a few months each year have always lived here,

and though I ride much I have never seen a brigand. You need not be

afraid."

Barney Custer looked up at her quickly, and then he grinned. His

only fear had been that he would not meet brigands, for Mr. Bernard

Custer, Jr., was young and the spirit of Romance and Adventure

breathed strong within him.

"Why do you smile?" asked the girl.

"At our dilemma," evaded Barney. "Have you paused to consider our

situation?"

The girl smiled, too.

"It is most unconventional," she said. "On foot and alone in the

mountains, far from home, and we do not even know each other's

name."

"Pardon me," cried Barney, bowing low. "Permit me to introduce

myself. I am," and then to the spirits of Romance and Adventure was

added a third, the spirit of Deviltry, "I am the mad king of Lutha."

II

OVER THE PRECIPICE

The effect of his words upon the girl were quite different from what

he had expected. An American girl would have laughed, knowing that

<<BackPagesTo menuNext>>