Richmond planet. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1883-1938, 1908-06-20

AND then entered the cave again.
Here. in the dim light and with tren-
bling hands, he filled the cans once
more, and almosS staggered. SO faint
was he from excitement he hurried
TO the canoe and packing them in it's
bow, covered the precious cargo with
his blanket
Then he ran like deer back to the
cave, closed it with the slab. grasped
his rifle, and not even looking at the
rusty one, bounded down the path to
his canoe again. launched II. and
pushed on
Never before had it seemed so fran
a craft And now. as he swung its
PROV around toward the outlet, a curl
Gus object met his eyes.
Far up the lake. and where no ripple
concealed II. lay what looked like a
hoating log. clasped by human arm
What Intuition led him hither. Old
Cy never could explain, for escape
from the lake was now his sole thought
And yet, v8th one sweep OF his paddle !
he turned his canoe and sped across
the lake. and now. AS he neared this |
OBJECT, II slowly outlined itself. and he
saw a grewsome sight.-two bloated |
corpses grasping one another as II in |
death grapple. One had hair OF !
bronze red. the other hldeouslv ,
SCARED face with lips drawn and teeth
exposed.
Hate, Horror and Death personiaed. ,
Only for a moment did Old Cy
glance az this ghastly sight and then
he turned again and sped back across |
the lake
The bright sun still smiled calm and |
serene, the morning breeze still kissed ]
the blue water. the two deer stm /
watched him with curious eyes: but 4
he saw them not-only the winsome !
face and appealing eyes OF Chip as he 1
last beheld them.
And now IN the PROV OF his canoe |
lay her fortune. her heritage. which I
was, after all. but scant return for all /
the shame and sigma so far meted
out 10 her.
IL was almost sunset ere Old Cy. his
nerves still Quiverins and wearied as
never before. crossed the little lake
and breathed a sikh OF heartfelt graf
itude as he drew his canoe out on the
sandy shore near the ice house No
one was IN sight. nor likely 20 be. A
thin column OF smoke rising from the
cabin showed that the hermit was stin
on earth, and now for the first time.
Old Cy sat down and considered his
plans FOR the near future.
First and foremost. not a soul no. |
even his old trusted companion here
not even Martin. or Angie. and Ger
tainly not Ray must learn what had
now come into his possession. Neither
must hts journey % this far-or lake or
aught he had learned there be dis
closed
But how was he 20 escape from the
woods and these people. soon TO ar
rive FOR their summer sojourn? And
what II Chip herself should Gomez
Two conclusions forced themselves
upon him now: first. ne must SO con
ceal the fortune that none OF these
friends tven could suspect it's pres
ence; next he must by some pretext
leave here as soon as Martin and HIS
party arrived, and cease not his
watchful care until Chips heritage
was safe in some bank in her name.
And now, with so much OF his fu-
ture moves decided upon, he hurried
20 the cabin. greeted Amzi. urged him
10 hasten supper and. securing a
shovel. returned 20 his canoe.
In five minutes the cans OF gold
were buried deep in the sand. and
upon Old Cy's person the bills found
concealment. How much II all
amounted TO. be had not even guessed.
nor scarce thought To secure IL and
bear II safely away from this now al
most accursed lake had been his sole
thought and must be until locks and
bolts could guard IL better. That
night Old Cy hardly slept a moment.
Two days after. just as the sun was
nearing the mountain top. Martin. An
gle. Levi and Ray entered the lake.
How grateful both Old Cy and AMI
were for their arrival. how eagerly
they grasped hands with them at the
landing, and how like two boys Mar
tin and Ray behaved needs no de-
All that had happened in Greenvale
was soon told. Chips conduct and
progress were related by Angie.
Rays plans to rem ain here another
winter were disclosed by him: and
then, when the cheerful party had
gathered about the evening fire, Mar
Tin touched upon another matter.
81 met Hersey as we were coming
In" ne said. and he says that neither
Mcclure nor the half-breed has been
seen or heard Of since early last fall.
Hersey came in early this spring with
one OF hts deputies; they visited a
half dozen lumber camps. called twice
at Tins Place. and even went over
10 Pete's cabin on the Fox Hole, but
could they learn anything OF
these two men. More than that. no |
canoe was found at Pete's hut, and
there was no sign OF occupation az all
this past winter. Nothing could be
learned from Tim. either. although
not much was expected from that |
source. II is all a most mysterious
disappearance. and the last hat we