San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1888-02-14

toward me, they seemed TO fade away In
the hight OF my torch. And this was no
| deception OF my sight
With a savage cry Of rage he held up his
arms 10 shield his eyes from the light, and.
grasping his knife, he made his way quick
| ly toward the rock 10 which the rope ON
| which | stood was attached.
In moment the whole mystery was re
vealed He tnds a NyctalOps' and his
eyes, blind in the light, were gifted with
| the extraordinary power OF seeing in the
| dark-a power by which was explained all
that had hitherto been inscrutable in the
robbery OF the Great Hesper and the at
tendant events at Monken Abbey.
With a perception that he intended TO
| cut the rope which sustained me, i hasten
| ed TO reach the ledge ON which he stood.
| But my progress was necessarily slow, for
the lower cord, stretched with the weight
| upon IL, formed deep bend, and my damp
boots slipped upon its wet surface.
Which would he cut trstf IL II were
| the upper one, / must trust to catching the
lower as fell. With this view, | kept my
| self as perpendicular as circumstances per-
mitted; at the same time grasping the up
per one with all my force, in case he cut
| the lower one.
was within yard Of the rock when
felt the rope under my foot jerk rs Van
Hoeck cut through the first strands; the
next instant it went altogether, and l was
left swinging by my hands to the upper
rope over the chasm.
Die! cursed dog, dier' shouted Van
Hoeck, with the frantic excitement of a
man achieving at last the object Of his life,
as he attacked the upper rope with his
knife. die, and know that all you cherish
in the world shall be mine-wealth, and
the woman you love. DEP
Ill. ~.
and / swept down through space. Cling
ing with desperate energy to the rope In
my hands, l swung cramping myself to-
gether in anticipation of violent shock
against the side Of the precipice. Happily,
the rock above projected a little, so that
the blow was less severe than | expected.
rebounded, and swung TO and fro like q
pendulum in the pitchy darkness. For, in
order to get tirmer grasp upon the rope
when saw his intention Of cutting it,
had dropped the torch, which fell like the
spark of rocket into the depths below.
What wasI to dor | dared not try to
pull myself hand over hand up the wet
rope, for the slightest relaxation Of my
hold might allow the rope to slip, and l
should be lost assuredly.
Dear, are you there stiIl'" Lola called
from above.
Yes" l replied.
Here is the rope..when call, you can
trust yourself to It,"
At the same time felt the knotted rope
DANGLING against my shoulders.
Now" she called.
1t was not an instant too soon. Ifelt the
wet rope slipping through my hands.
Leaving go with one hand, clutched out
wildly for the knOtted rope, and by the
happiest chance succeeded in Selling it.
got a cross piece between my feet, and
I was comparatively safe, If Lola had
,tu E.IA o.. IN
But that | might not tax her too greatly,
still grasped the wet rope.
''Saved!' | called out to her.
Not for long," shouted Van Hoeck,
from the opposite side, and l heard the
snap of the spring as he closed the breech-
loader and then the "click" as he cooked
the piece.
Would he shoot me or the girl? l asked
myself in that moment.
He fired, and the ringing shot was fol-
lowed by sharp cry of pain from above,
and the cross-piece on which | stood gave
little jerk, but no more. She must have
escaped, despite that cry, or she could not
still have held on to the rope.
But terrible as these thoughts that passed
through my mind in those brief moments
were, they were banished from my mind
by a yet more terrific appeal to my senses.
Following almost Immediately upon the
Crack Of the rifle and LOla's cry, a mass Of
rock, probably disintegrated by the frost,
and started from its place by the reverber-
alton Of the shot, slid down the face of the
precipice, huTtled against rock, and some
moments after fell with deep pong" in
to the water below.
But as If this had been the keystone of
the fabric that upheld the mighty weight
of the enormous rock that covered the
chasm, its fall was followed by the crum-
bling away and precipitation Of others at
intervals rapidly increasing, their fall
eventually becoming q continued down
pour, marked now and then by a louder
crash as some larger block gave way.
The roar of artillery, the peal of thun-
full din as the great rock jerked downward,
as the quartz splintered and gave way I'M
der it, SCATTERING and grinding the oppos-
ing rock, and bursting away huge frag-
ments that struck from side to side as they
hurtled down, tearing and splitting the
very heart of the mountain as 1t seemed.
But our turn was at hand.
1t seemed to me as if the last day had
come and the world were crumbling to
pieces. To the terror of an earthquake
was added the horror of impenetrable
darkness, and the consciousness that the
gigantic rock that vaulted the abyss was
slowly jerking down upon US. Unjust have
kept my hold upon the rock by instinct;
had no consciousness of volition.
The awful eruption had continued for
some moments-scarcely so long as one
might take to read this description-with
increasing intensity, when suddenly, with
an appalling crash, the great roof tilted
up. / saw the earth slowly gap open above
me, letting in the binding sunshine, and
then the upper lip of jagged rock reaching
its highest elevation shot sidelong away,
making visible the long strip of blue heav-
en- between the towering peaks of the
mountain.
One last pong" as the rock wedged it.
self afresh lower down the precipice, and
then all was still. The sight of the blue
sky the sense of relief, were too much for
me. trembled violently, and for a mo-
ment l thought must relinquish my hold.
But n piteous cry from Lola nerved me to
fresh effort.
saw now the two cut ropes, and, grasp
ing one in each hand, | drew myself up,
using the knotted rope rs slightly as !
could; and SO presently scrambled upon
the ledge.
Lola was lying upon the ground drawn
against the rock round which she had
passed the knotted cord The ball had
struck her and she had fallen, but the de.
voted girl had passed the moose round her
body, and so saved my life for the second
time | knelt beside her. and raised her
head. She opened her beautiful eyes and
smiled, as she took my hand. She could
do no more.
CHAPTER XXI.
81 knowed it must go one day. How
fares it, pardner!" called Brace from the
opposite leige.
looking across, saw him sitting on the
bowlder binding his arm with his neck
cloth.
Lola Is hit, The villain has done his