t. The door cracked a little, but did not break. He took the broken
well sweep and, using the larger end (which contained some sound wood)
as a battering ram, fiercely assaulted the obstruction. This weakened
the structure, but it did not yield. Then Jasper, summoning all his
mighty strength, hurled himself against the door, and it fell in with a
crash.

He at once passed inside the hut. Taking hold of Viola, he was leading
her to the opening, when Elmira Turner, seized hold of the girl to keep
her in the room. A struggle ensued. Jasper did not want to strike the
Turner woman or treat her roughly. So he was compelled to force Viola
from her grasp by main strength. This he did, and taking his betrothed
in his arms, stepped out into the sunlight.

Just then the sound of a shot rang out on the stillness of the summer
air, and Viola became limp and apparently lifeless in her lover's arms.

Zibe Turner, the monster dwarf, had come to the clearing in the nick of
time. He saw the open door. He beheld the rescuer bearing out the
captive in his arms. Murder sprang up at once in his heart. He decided
to kill the preacher then and there. This he had wanted to do for a
long time. But the excitement of the occasion and his own dreadful hate
unsteadied his nerves a trifle. When putting his rifle to his shoulder,
he aimed at Very's heart, crying out: "Dat's my holt!" The bullet
missed its mark, and entered the right shoulder of the lovely Viola.

When the dwarf saw the unexpected result of his shot, even his
resolution failed him, and he proceeded no further with his murderous
work.

Jasper Very looked down on the senseless form of his beloved, and cried
out in the bitter agony of his soul: "My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?"

Holding her as he would a little child in his arms, he strode out of
the clearing. Quickly coming to his horse, Bob, he unhitched his rein,
and holding the unconscious girl tenderly but firmly in his left arm,
he swung into the saddle.

With anguish in his soul and unaccustomed tears in his blue eyes, he
pressed one kiss upon the pale lips of her who was dearer to him than
life. Holding her in as comfortable position as possible, he started
down the knob.

Viola gave little if any signs of life. She was wholly unconscious, her
face was as pale as death, her eyes were closed, there was no
perceptible pulse.

Jasper rode as carefully as possible, but was a considerable time
reaching the more o