How did they escape?

John Ferrier went to Salt Lake City early the next morning. He found the friend who was going to the Nevada mountains, gave him the letter to Hope, and asked him to take it with him. He wrote in his letter the critical situation which threatened their happiness, and asked Hope to return as soon as possible. After sending the letter away, he breathed a sigh of relief and hurried home in a happier mood.

As he approached his manor, he was surprised to see a horse tied to the doorposts on either side of the gate. What surprised him even more was that after he entered the house, he found two young people in the living room. The one with the pale face was lying on the rocking chair, with his feet raised up to the side of the stove. The tall, ugly man stood in front of the window domineeringly, with his hands in his trouser pockets. Humming popular hymns. They nodded as Ferrier entered the room, and the one lying in the rocking chair was the first to speak.

He said: "You may not know me. Let me introduce you first. He is the son of Elder Reber, and I am Joseph Stangerson. When we Mormons brought you from the desert We have known you since we were rescued."

The ugly man said with a heavy nasal voice: "Sooner or later, God will bring his people together, although this process is very long. Slowly, but God will not forget anyone."

John Ferrier bowed coldly, he already understood who these two people were.

Stagson continued: "We are here to propose to your daughter on the orders of our father. Please choose one of us that you are satisfied with. I have four wives. There are seven Reb brothers, so I think I need your daughter more than he does."

"You can't say that," the other argued loudly. "The problem is not with us. How many wives we have depends on how many wives we can support. Now my father has given me his mill, so I am much richer than you."

Stanjiesun said fiercely. : "But I will be richer than you in the future. When my old man goes to meet God, his tannery and tannery will be mine."

Little Reb looked in the mirror. , and said with a smile on his face: "We'd better let the girl decide for herself, and whoever she chooses will be the one."

John Ferrier stood by the door and heard that his lungs were beating fast. It exploded, and he almost couldn't help but whip these two damn guys with a riding crop.

Finally, he couldn't bear it anymore, strode up to them and shouted: "Listen, you can only come here if my daughter calls you. If she doesn't call, no one can come here." Come through my door!"

The two young Mormons were shocked to see Ferrier like this. They stared at Ferrier with wide eyes. They had thought that it would be a great honor for both his daughter and himself that they were competing to propose to his daughter.

Ferrier shouted: "If you want to get out of here, you have two options, one is the door, the other is the window. Which one do you choose?"

Ferrier's brown face It became very ugly, the veins on his hands were exposed, and he looked quite fierce and scary. Seeing that the situation was not good, the two young men jumped up and ran away.

Ferrier chased them behind the gate and said sarcastically: "You can choose one of your own, and just let me know then."

"You are asking for it. Eat hard!" Stan Jie Xun turned pale with anger and shouted, "How dare you disobey the prophet and the decision of the Four Saints Conference, you will regret it for the rest of your life!"

Little Ruibo also shouted! : "God will punish you severely. Since he can let you live, he can also let you die!"

"Let's see who of us dies first," Ferrier roared, if it weren't for Lucy Pulling his arm hard, he had already rushed upstairs to take out his gun. When he was about to break free from Lucy's hand, the sound of horse hooves sounded. Stangerson and the others mounted their horses and ran away, but it was too late to catch up.

He angrily wiped the sweat from his forehead and said loudly: "These two bastards! My daughter will never marry them even if she dies."

Lucy was excited Agreeing: "Yes, Dad, I will never marry them. But fortunately, Jefferson will be back soon."

"Yes, he will be back soon." . The sooner we come back, the better. I don’t know how those bad guys will deal with us.”

Indeed, this strong old farmer and his adopted daughter are in the most critical moment, and they need someone who can advise and help them. their people. In their place, no one has ever dared to defy the Four Saints' decision so openly. Here, even the smallest mistake will be severely punished. So, what will happen to people like them who are so rebellious? Ferrier knew that his wealth and position were now of no avail. Prior to this, some wealthy and famous people like him had been assassinated and their properties confiscated by the church. Although he was a brave man, he shuddered at the thought of the inexplicable horror that was about to befall him. He can face any obvious danger with gritted teeth and courage. However, this kind of fearful life was really unbearable for him. Even so, he carefully hid his fear from his daughter. However, although he had been pretending to be calm, his smart daughter could still see that he was always uneasy inside.

He had expected that doing so would lead to some kind of warning from Yang.

Sure enough, as expected, when Ferrier got up the next morning, he was surprised to find a piece of paper taped to the chest covered by the quilt, with a line of strong words written crookedly on it. :

"You have twenty-nine days to correct your evil ways, otherwise——"

The following horizontal line is more frightening than any explicit threat. How the warning came to be affixed to his quilt puzzled John Ferrier. Because his servant slept in another house, and all the doors and windows in his house were tightly closed. He crumpled the note into a ball and did not tell his daughter. However, the occurrence of this incident made him even more frightened. The "twenty-nine days" mentioned on the note refer to the remaining days of the one-month limit set by Young. To deal with an enemy like Yang who has a mysterious organization, mere bravery will not work. The man who came to post the warning could have killed him with a knife, and he would never have known who his murderer was.

What happened the next morning surprised Ferrier even more. As they sat down to breakfast, Lucy suddenly pointed at the ceiling and screamed. It turned out that in the center of the ceiling, there was a "28" painted with a burnt wooden stick. His daughter didn't know what the number meant, and he didn't tell her. That night, he didn't sleep. He kept watch with a gun all night, but he didn't find any movement. However, the next morning, a big "27" appeared on his door again.

Day by day passed like this, and every morning he would find numbers written by hidden enemies. These terrifying numbers sometimes appeared on the wall, sometimes on the floor, and several others. First, I wrote it on a small piece of paper and pasted it on the garden door and railing. Although John Ferrier was on the alert, he did not notice when the warnings came. When he saw these warnings, he felt as if he was possessed by evil spirits. For this reason, he was restless every day, he became haggard every day, and he was as frightened as a chased beast. His only hope now was that Hope would come back from Nevada soon.

Twenty days turned into fifteen days, and fifteen days turned into ten days, and still no news from Hou Bo. The deadline is approaching day by day, but Hou Bo is still missing. Whenever the clatter of horses' hoofs sounded on the road, or the coachman shouted, Ferrier could not help but run to the gate and look, thinking that it was Hope who had returned. Until the end, seeing the deadline change from five days to four days, and then from four days to three days, he finally had to be disappointed and gave up the idea of ????escape. He was alone and helpless, and he was unfamiliar with the mountains surrounding the immigration area. They could not escape. The main road is strictly guarded, and no one can pass without the permission of the "Four Saints Association". He was almost at the end of his rope. It seemed that he could not escape this impending disaster. However, Ferrier still did not give in. He would rather risk his life than let his daughter suffer this humiliation.

One night, he sat alone and kept thinking, but after thinking about it, he still couldn't figure out how to avoid this disaster. On this morning, someone wrote the word "2" on the wall of the house. Tomorrow was the last day of the deadline. What would happen then? Many vague and terrifying scenarios appeared in his mind. What will happen to his daughter after his death? Is it really impossible to escape from this invisible dragnet? When he thought about how helpless he was, he lay on the table and sobbed.

What is this sound? There is a slight scratching sound in the silent night. The voice was very soft, but in this quiet night, it was heard very clearly. This was the sound coming from the other side of the door. Ferrier tiptoed into the living room. He held his breath and listened attentively. After a while, the slight, creepy sound started again. Then someone knocked gently on the door. Did the secret court send someone to assassinate him? Or some idiot came to warn me until the last day of the deadline? John Ferrier now felt that it would be better to die quickly than to suffer such a chilling torture.

So, he rushed to the door, unbolted the door, and opened the door.

There was silence outside the door. In the clear night sky, a few stars were twinkling. What Ferrier saw was only the front garden, a fence and a gate around the garden. There was not a soul in the garden or on the road. After looking around, Ferrier breathed a sigh of relief. However, when he accidentally looked down at his feet, he couldn't help being surprised: he saw a man lying on the ground, with his hands and feet stretched out straight.

Seeing this scene, Ferrier was extremely frightened. He leaned against the wall and put his hand on his throat to prevent himself from shouting. At first, he thought that the person lying on the ground might be an injured person who was about to die. Later, he took a closer look and saw that Only then did he see the man crawling into the living room on his hands and knees as quietly as a snake. As soon as the man arrived in the room, he immediately stood up and closed the door. The stunned Ferrier discovered that this man was the Jefferson Hope he had been waiting for.

"Oh my God!" John Ferrier gasped. "You scared me to death. Why did you come in like this?"

"Find me something to eat." "I haven't eaten for two days and two nights," said Hope weakly. He saw that the leftovers of the Ferrier family's dinner that day were still on the table, and ran to the table. He grabbed the cold meat bread and wolfed it down.

"How is Lucy?" Hope asked after he had eaten.

"She's fine. She didn't know the danger was coming," Ferrier replied. < /p>

John Ferrier seemed to be a different person. He grabbed the big hand of this wise and brave savior and said excitedly: "You are really an amazing person. Only you can help us out of danger." ”

Hope replied: “You are right, sir. For you and our Lucy, I will go to the mountains of swords and the sea of ????fire without hesitation. We had already left before we started, and there was no one named Hope in Utah anymore."

"What should we do now?"

"Tomorrow is the deadline. We have to leave tonight, otherwise it will be too late. I have hidden a mule and two horses over there in Eagle Valley."

"Two thousand gold dollars and five dollars. "Thousand dollar bills."

"That's enough. I still have some money here. Let's put the money together. We have to go across the mountains to Carson City. Go get Lucy." Wake up, thank God, the servant is not sleeping in the room, which saves a lot of trouble."

While Ferrier went to get Lucy to prepare for the journey, Hope ate all he could find. He packed all the things in a bag and filled a magnetic bottle of water. He was very experienced and knew that there were very few wells in the mountains, and even if there were, they were far away from the mountain roads. As soon as he packed up, Ferrier and his daughter We came out together and were ready to go. The lovers greeted each other affectionately, but because time was precious and there was much to do, they only remained affectionate for a while.

"We have to leave right away," Hou Bo said in a low and firm voice. He knew that there were tigers in the mountains and headed to Hushan. "There are people guarding the front and back doors. However, we We can carefully climb out of the side window, and then escape through the farmland. As long as we get to the road, we will reach Eagle Valley before daybreak. We must at least catch up. Halfway up the mountain."

Ferrier asked: "What should we do if we are stopped?"

Hope patted the handle of the revolver that was exposed on his lapel. , said with a ferocious smile: "Even if we can't deal with them, we still have to kill two or three of them."

The lights in the room had long been blown out. Ferrier looked out of the dark window. The land that belonged to him before him was now about to be given up forever. Although he was a little reluctant to part with it, it was related to his daughter's honor and happiness, and he didn't care even if it cost him everything. The rustling woods and the endless peaceful fields are so peaceful and make people feel happy. Who could have imagined that this place is haunted by those murderous demons. It could be seen from Hope's pale face and nervous expression that when he climbed in just now, he had already experienced the dangerous situation around him.

Ferrie was carrying a purse; Jefferson Hope was carrying a small amount of food and water; Lucy was also carrying a small bag, which contained some of her precious belongings. Slowly, slowly, very carefully they opened the window. It wasn't until a dark cloud covered the moon that they stepped out of the window one by one and walked into the small garden. They held their breath, bent over, and tiptoed across the garden to the darkness of the garden fence. They walked along the fence to a gap that led into the wheat field. They were about to go further when Hope suddenly seized the Ferriers and dragged them back into the darkness. They squatted there in silence, trembling with fear.

Fortunately, Hope spent some time on the grassland and developed a pair of ears as sensitive as a lynx. As soon as they crouched down, they heard an owl hooting a few steps away from them. After a while, a cry was echoed from a place not far away. Then, at the gap, a person vaguely appeared. He gave out another miserable cry signal, and soon, another person came out of the darkness in response.

"At midnight tomorrow, we will attack when the strange owl calls three times." The first person who appeared said that he was obviously the leader of this operation.

The other replied: "Okay, is there anything you want me to convey to Brother Reb?"

"Tell him and let him convey it to the others. Nine to Seven!"

"Seven to five!" continued the other. Then, the two of them left quietly. The last two words they said were obviously a code. When they were far away and their footsteps could no longer be heard, Hope immediately stood up, supported the Ferriers and his daughter through the gap, and then led them across the farmland as quickly as possible. At this time, Lucy could no longer run, and Hope immediately half-draged, half-pushed her and ran away.

"Hurry, hurry!" He urged breathlessly again and again, "We have already passed the cordon, now it depends on our speed, run!"

After reaching the main road, they started running quickly again. On the way, when they met someone, they immediately ducked into the wheat field to hide, fearing that they would be discovered. As they neared the city, Hope led them up a rough path leading up the mountain. Two huge black mountains stood in front of them. The narrow path they were walking on was Eagle Valley, where the horses were hidden.

Hope relied on his many years of experience to cross a patch of rocks, then walked along a dry stream for a while, and finally led the horse and mule out from behind a large rock. Lucy mounted a mule. Ferrier, carrying the purse on his back, mounted a horse. Hope mounted the other horse. Hope led them on the rugged mountain road.

For most people, they would not dare to walk on such a rugged mountain road. On one side of the mountain road is a cliff, lined with rocks, dark and scary; the stone beams on the cliff are like the ribs of the devil's fossil body. On the other side, there are rocks everywhere and there is no way to go. There is only this winding path in the middle. This trail is so narrow in places that it can only accommodate one person. Despite this, the three escapees were in a happy mood, because every step they took was one step away from the devilish cave they had just escaped from.

But not long after they left, they discovered that they still had not escaped from the Mormons' sphere of influence. When they reached the most desolate part of the mountain road, Lucy suddenly screamed and pointed up. It turned out that there was a man standing guard on a large black rock that stood out suddenly and overlooked the mountain road. When they spotted him, he saw them too. Then, a cry resounded in the silent valley: "Who's down there?"

"It's a traveler to Nevada." Jefferson Hope answered, grabbing the rifle beside the saddle.

They saw that the man on guard had pulled the trigger and looked down at them, as if he was somewhat doubtful of Hope's answer.

"Who gave permission?" the sentry on guard shouted again.

Ferrier replied, "The Four Saints permitted it." Based on his experience in the Mormon Church, he knew. The Four Saints have the greatest power in the religion.

"Nine to seven," cried the sentry.

"Seven to five," continued Jefferson Hope at once--remembering what he had heard in the garden. This password.

The sentry said: "Let's go, God bless you." After passing this level, the road ahead became wider, and the horses could relax and trot forward. They looked back and saw the sentry still standing there alone, leaning on his gun. At this time, they knew that they had passed through the border crossing of the Mormon parish and that freedom lay ahead.