The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1906-10-03

keep 1t out. Every now and then
strong mar as he was, he found it rit
fcult to make Roadway against the
wind. The night was favorable in
every way for the execution Of the de
sign in his mind.
Melrose went to his house, but, in.
stead of going inside, walked around
to a Toulouse situated in the rear,
Here, by the light of matches, he dis
covered an axe. Hiding the axe UNI
der his %overcoat, he passed out along
the road. The wind appeared TO be
increasing. Half a mile from his house
a river, springing up amid the noun
tains, began to run parallel with the
road. The waters were in flood, and
when their voice blended with the
voice of the gale he could not hear a
sound above them. 1t seemed as If
all the powers were summoned TO as
sist him.
He looked for and found a gap in the
hedge lining the road. A narrow, stony
track, along which he passed, led in
about twenty yards to a slight wooden
bridge, spanning a surging torrent.
Two people could not have walked
abreast across the bridge. The planks
were worn and shook beneath the feet
of any one passing over them.
Feeling with practicable hands, Mel
rose selected the place where the
hOardc uara nooct rottap C1ippinp tho
IKE from under his coat, and holding
his own body in a position of security,
he raised the axe above his head and
hacked at the frail timbers. In a few
minutes he had the two boards form
ing the apex of the bridge and the
supports below all but severed.
He stepped back and struck a match
to see the face of his watch. The
wind, Of course, blew it out almost be-
fore it was alight, and he smiled at
his folly. But he knew the time near
enough. Leslie Hanson would Don be
crossing the bridge to keep his ap-
pointment with May Greaves. Di-
rectly he set foot on those treacher-
Il planks they would yield under him
and he would be pitched into the
torrent beneath-on to Jagged rocks,
with edges like knives, which it
barely concealed. Mauled, senseless
if not even actually dead-the foam
ing torrent would bear him owe the
rapids, to meet with certain death,
and to lie in a nameless grave.
1t was a hundred chances to one that
the body would never be found. Even
if it were, there could be no suspicion
of foul play. In a short time, his rival
gene, Melrose would win May Greaves
for his bride. He looked about for a
hiding place. Piled on the bank a
yard or so away was a small stack Of
timber, evidently intended to be i'm
mediately used in the reconstruction
Of the bridge. Melrose smiled grimly
to himself as he hid behind it.
He crouched down and waited.
No sense of repugnance came to
him. "All's fair in love and war" HUI
mar life was cheap in these parts.
Hanson would not be missed. With
his partner dead, and the entire profits
Of the business coming to Melrose, he
and May would be well or.
An i~nstant's lull in the fierce gale,
as if it were momentarily tired, but
the torrent roared as persistently as
ever. It must be almost time for Han
son to be here. Suddenly Melrose's
trained eyes, accustomed to the dark
ness, discerned a moving form on the
opposite bank. Some one was walk.
ing along the path that ended at the
other opening of the bridge. Watch
ing attentively, he made out a woman
in a white dress. Could it be May
come down to meet the man she loved.
Immediately all his senses were on
the alert. This was an undreamed-of
possibility. What had possessed the
girl to come out on this wild night?
What if she attempted to cross the
bridge?
On, on, still nearer she came. Mel
rose watched every step with growing
anxiety; for a while he seemed gifted
with supernatural eyesight. She
reached the bridge and stopped. All!
it was all right. She would not come
any farther. He breathed again.
Then she started to cross the bridge.
Melrose jumped up, crying out, wav-
ing his arms-all to no avail. Her
face was held downwarA breathing the
gale; she neither saw nor heard him.
He forgot everything but that he must
save the girl he loved from imminent
death. A step or two brought him to
the bridge. On he went heedlessly to
the weakened planks, anxious only to
push her back.
Suddenly she felt a plank culver be-
meath her feet. She turned and fed,
Melrose's neal presence quite unknown
TO her. She had barely reached firm
ground when the centre of the bridge
gave. If she heard Melrose's scream
as he fell with 1t, she may have
thought it the mere trick of the wind.
Next moment she was lying on the
bank in a dead faint.
Where am II"
I'm your own home"
81 don't remember"
There is no occasion 10 remember