The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1909-08-16
was the ground; above, the black dome

ward that one of her faithful Thor
berg men stood guard in the passage
leading up from the garden. armed
and willing to die. One or the other
slept in front of her door through ali
those nights on the island
Something hot trickled down her
checks from the wide, plying eyes
that stared so hard. She was won
dering now IL he had mother. SIS
tiers. How their hearts would be /
wrenched by this. She was thinking
Of him with pity and horror in her |
heart, not love.
A question was beginning to form
itself vaguely in her troubled mind.
Were all of them to die as Chase had
died?
Suddenly there came to her ears the
sound of something swishing through |
the air. An instant later solid OBJ
ject fell almost at her feet. She start
ed back with a cry of alarm. A broad
shaft of light crossed the garden,
thrown by the lamps in the upper hall
of the chateau. Her eyes fell upon a
wrigging, snakelike thing that lay in
this path of light
Fascinated, almost pnralyzed, she
watched it for full minute before
realizing that 1t was the end of
thick rope which lost itself in the
heavy shadows at the cliff end Of the
garden. She was standing directly
In the shaft of light. TO her surprise.
the wriggling ceased. The next mo-
rDent q faint, subdued shout was borne
TO her ears. Her fight was checked
by that shout. for her startled hewil-
dered ears caught the sound of her
own name.
At last, far above, she saw the glim-
mer of a light 1t was too large to be
star, and 1t moved back and forth.
Sharply 1t dawned upon her that 1t
was at the top of the cliff which over
hung the garden and stretched away
to the sea. Some one was up there
waving lantern. She was thinking
hard and fast, light breaking In upon
her understanding. Something like
10y shot into her being. Who else
could 1t be 1t not Chase? He alone
would call out her name. He was
alive.
She called out his name shrilly, her
face raised eagerly to the bobbing
light Not until hours afterward was
Genevra to resent the use of her Chris
tan name by the man in the clouds.
Rushing over, she grasped the knot
ted end Of the rope. A glance and a
single tug were sufficient to convince
her that the other end was attached
to support at the top Of the cliff
It hung limp and heavy. lifeless. A
sharp tug from above caused It to
tremble violently in her hands. She
dropped 1t as IL 1t were a serpent.
Again she heard the shout, and this
time she called out a question.
Yes was the answer, far above.
"Can you hear meT Greatly excited
she called back that she could hear
and understand I'm coming down
the rope. Pray for us--but don't wor-
ry! Please go inside untfl we land in
the garden. It's a long drop, you
know
Are you quite sureis 1t safer" she
called, shuddering at the thought Of
the perllous descent OF nearly 800 feet
sheer through the darkness
Its safer than stopping here. Please
go inside
She duly comprehended his mean
ing. He wanted to save her from gee
ing his fall In the event that the worst
| should come to pass. Scarcely know
ii rs
| the shadow near the walls and waited
I breathlessly, all the time wondering
why some one did not come from the
chateau to lend assistance.
At last that portion Of the rope
which lay In the garden began to jerk
| and writhe vigorously. She knew then
that he was coming down hand over
hand through that long, dangerous
stretch of darkness. The cliff reared
| itself sheer to the height of $50 feet
| directly behind the chateau. At the
summit of this great wall shelving
ledge projected over the hanging gar
den A rope dangling from this ledge
would fall into the garden not far
from the edge nearest the cliff. The
I SUMMIT Oh Tue GILL Couio uc S1lhcu
only by traversing the mountain slope
from the other side. 1t was impossible
to scale 1t from the floor of the valley
which 1T bounded
The rope was undoubtedly attached
to the trunk of sturdy tree at the
brow of the cliff.
She could look no longer. 1t seemed
hours since he started from the top
Every heart beat brought him nearer
to safety, but would he hold out? Any
instant might bring him crashing tc
her feet-dead, after all that he may
have lived through during that awfu
night.
At last she heard his heavy painting
grooming almost-the creaking ant
straining of the rope, the scraping o,
his hands and body. She opened be-
eyes and saw the bulky, swayini
shadow not twenty feet above tn
garden. Slowly It drew nearer thu
grass covered foor, foot by foot
straining. struggling, gssping In tn
final supreme effort. and then with
sudden rush the black mass collapsed
; ! fha