New-York tribune., 1908-09-27


. smoking pistol at his feet
The strain was terrific; a luttIng cor
-er Of the rock held his shoulder. His
mind seemed steadied. cast into smooth
grooves. where Il worked frlCtiOnlessly
with fierce velocity. The pulling OF the
trigger on the rnuTderOuS breed had been
but an InCident-alTuOSU automatic In
the moonlight he had recognized Dupre,
and even as the breed had vanished from
sight so ne had vanished from hInnaIrd 5
mind.
Coollv ne faced the real problern.-his
chance OF saving Cavuse George, or being
pulled over the precipice himself With
but q Strengthening OF his wrist he could
let the loop slip over his hand, which was
now drawn across his chest by the strain,
and save his own life. With q corner OF
ms shoulder wedged II little CrevlCe OF
the rock. and his feet braced on the as
cending path. he could hold the weight
that dangled over the cliff until he tired
until the strain won out. To move per
haps meant a plunge to death.
He raised his voice and yelled, keep
still Cavuse, III pull YOU through
The rock walls echoed his call; and
u1 from the gorge fOated the snarl OF the
cataract Ike a note OF derslon-
Slowly kinnaird turned his head and
looked backward along the ledge Twenty
feet. AWAY the rock slOped from the narrow
na+7 toward Mad Squaw Pool IN a droop-
mo shoulder of fiftv feet II, hugg1ng the
wall he could work backward, dragging
The mans weight till Il struck that slope,
he could save him; but one inch OF over
balancing pull and they would go down
together.
He weighed the chances, his eye rest
ing on the loop that cut at ms WrlsJ III
his clenched hand was cold N bloodless-
ness To sliD the strap was cOwardlce,
but on the other side was so rnuch,-h1s
Young. ful1r life against that OF d man
whose teeth had been at his throat within
The half-hOur-
I-7wa-Flv he cursed Cayuse- What
--gF7- had he TO hang q dead weight al the
a--5 OF his l-fe.--ila-'s 5 what the strap rep
resented. his life And vet he owed
Ca-7,se s9rgethirg.-the knife thrust mad
been meant Tor himself
Slowly he raised his right arm above
his head which Law against the GIN ana
fingered the rock Tor hold lie clutched
q Jagged point and. bracln& TIL ms moe
,aSlre5 feet seemed to cut into the ledge,
worked his body back the span OF a hand
Then he V-ove his foot backward along
the natb. As the rope slipped II It's new
a-7g1s the cliff seemed 10 tai away from
his shoulder inward. his body swung on
a pivot. Beads of persplratlon gushed
from his forehead Two seconds ne
fought. He won. Again his head telt the
hard press Of rock. He rested as though
he had battled for an hour, here was
Something Of triumph II the l1tlnltes1nlal
victory. His mind whispered that ne
could win out
For half an hour ne fought a grim bat
lie on that narrow ledge Inch by men
the twenty feet were covered, his tlrlng
strength Offset by the increased slope, 70
the wall against which he chung HIS
own perl had been replaced by q dread
-ha+ he strap might cut on the cliff
edge. but II was shaganappy, Ta|hlde'
as tough as whalebone-
At last the strain fell away, as though
- strong shoulders lifted Cayuse- / ne
dangling man now lay against the shelF-
mo rock. Kinnaird drew HIM up TO the
now wider trail, where he lay IN an mani
-7are sprawl A faint hutter OF the heart
beat against kinnaird' 5 searching hand;
blood dripped from ms. fingers, as he
drew them from beneath the DucKsNln
L "a frGEl across