The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1907-07-15

drawn and haggard when the frst
gray dawn found CHASTITY reelection
along the opposite rock summit, and
with blurred eyes he watched the faint
t+nge of returning light steal down
ward into the canyon. AT last it
swept aside thase lower elinging mists.
as though some invisible hand had
drawn back the night curtains. and
he peered over the edge of his narrow
resting place, gazing directly down
upon the scene of massacre. With
quick gasp of unspeakable horror he
shrank so sharply back as to cause
the suddenly awakened girl to start
and glance into his face.
What is it," she questioned, with
quick catching of breath, reading that
which she could not clearly interpret
in his shocked expression.
Nothing of consequence" and he
family endeavored to smile. Il sup
pose l must have been dreaming also,
and most unpleasantfy. No; please do
not look down; IL would only cause
your head TO reel. and our upward
climb is not yet completed. Do you
feel strong enough now to make an
| other attempt to reach the top?"
Can WEI" she questioned helplessly.
I'VE can, simply because we must"
and his white teeth shut together firm
| ly. There is no possibility of retrac-
ing our steps downward. but with tho
| help OF this daylight we surely ought
to be able to discover some path lead
ing up"
He rose cautiously to his feet, press
ing her more closely against the face
| OF the cliff, thus holding her in COM
parative safety while preventing her
from glancing back into the dizzy
chasm The most difficult portion OK
their journey was apparently just be-
fore them. More than once they tot
tered on the very brink, held TO safety
merely by desperate clutchings at rock
or shrub, yet never once did the man
loosen his guarding grasp Of his CON-
panion. Pressed tightly against the
smooth rock, feeling for every crevice,
every slightest irregularity of surface,
making use of creeping tendril or
dead branch, daring death along every
inch of the way. these two creepers
at last attained the opening to a little
gulley, and sank down, faint and trem-
bling. The girl glanced furtiyely at
him, the long lashes shadowing the
expression Of her lowered eyes. IN
spite Of deep prejudice she felt i'm
PEELED 10 like this man; he accom-
plished things, and he didn't talk.
1t was nothing more serious than a
hard and toilsome climb after that, a
continuous struggle testing every mus
Gle. straining every sinew, causing
both to sink down again and again,
painting and exhausted, no longer stim-
ulated by imminent peril The narrow
cleft they followed led somewhere
away from the exposed front of the
precipice, yet arose steep and jagged
before them. 1t was bridged finally by
a cedar trunk, which Hampton
wrenched from out its rocky foothold,
and the two crept cautiously forward,
to emerge where the sunlight rested
golden at the summit. They sank face
downward in the short grass. barely
! conscious that they had finally won
their desperate passage.
Slowly Hampton succeeded IN up
lifting his tired body and his Keeling
: head, until he could sit partially up
right and gaze unsteadily about. The
: girl yet remained motionless at his
feet, her thick hair. a mass of red gold
] in the sunshine. completely concealing
! her face, her slender figure quivering
TO sobs Of utter exhaustion. Before
= them stretched the barren plain,
: brown, desolate. dre2r, Offering In all
9 its wide expanse no hopeful promise
Of rescue. With hand partially shad.
e ing his aching eyes from the binding
s glare, the man studied its every ex.
I posed feature. his face hardening
Z again into lines Of stern determine
:, ton The girl stirred from her posi-
e ton, finging back her heavy hair
r with one hand. and looking up into his
/ face with eyes that read at once bis
S disappointment.
q Ito be continuedl