The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1909-08-04
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Copyright. 1908, by Dodd. Meai
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the air. An instant later SO1O OO- ject fell almost at her feet. She start ed back with 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 wriggling, snakelike thing that lay in this path of light.
 Fascinated, almost paralyzed, she watched it for a full minute before realizing that it 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- ment a faint, subdued shout was borne to her ears. Her flight was checked by that shout, for her startled, bewii- dered ears caught the sound of her own name.
 At last, far above, she saw the glim- mer of a light It was too large to be q star, and it moved back and forth.
 Sharply it dawned upon her that it was at the top of the cliff which over hung the garden and stretched away to the sea. Some one was up there waving a lantern. She was thinking hard and fast, a light breaking in upon ucI uuuSlStdHuIuS- SOuctuluS Ilhe joy shot into her being. Who else could it be if not Chase? He alone would call out her name. He was alive!
 She called out his name shrilly, her face raised eagerly to the bobbiEg light Not until hours afterward was Genevra to resent the use of her Chris tian name by the man in the clouds.
 PrShfnr cho orr snQd the Ennf- ted end of the rope. A glance and single tug were sufficient to convince her that the other end was attached to a support at the top of the cliff. It hung limp and heavy, Efeless. A sharp tug from above caused it to tremble violently in her hands. She dropped it as if it were a serpent. Again she heard the shout, and this time she called out 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 wcr- ry! Please go inside until we land in the garden. It's a long drop, you know"
 'Are you quite sure-is it safer" she called, shuddering at the thought of the periIous descent of nearly 300 feet sheer through the darkness. ''It's safer than stopping here. Please go inside"
 She duly comprehended his mean | ing. He wanted to save her from see | ing his fall in the event that the worst should come to pass. Scarcely know | ing what she did, she moved over into | the shadow near the walls and waited 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 a 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 summit of the cliff could be gained only by traversing the mountain slope | from the other side. It was impossible to scale 1t from the floor of the valley | which it bounded.
 The rope was undoubtedly attached l to the trunk of a sturdy tree at the brow of the cliff.
 She could look no longer. It 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 to her feet-dead, after all that he may have lived through during that awful night.
 At last she heard his heavy panting grooming almost-the creaking and straining of the rope, the scraping of
 his hands and body. She opened her eyes and saw the bulky, swaying
 shadow not twenty feet above the | garden Slowly it drew nearer the
 grass covered floor, foot by foot,
 straining, struggling, gasping in the
 final supreme effort, and then with a
 sudden rush the black mass collapsed,
 the taut rope sprung loose, the end
 switching and leaping violently.
 Genevra rushed frantically across
 the garden, half fearful, half joyous.
 As she came up the mass seemed to
 divide itself into two parts. One sank
 Imply to the ground, the other stood | erect for a second and then dropped
 beside the prostrate, gasping figure.
 Chase had come down the rope with
 another human being clinging to his
 body!
 Genevra fell to her knees beside the
 man who had accomplished this mir
 acle. She grasped his hands, warm
 and sticky with blood. She tried to
 lift his head from the ground, moan
 ing with pity all the time, uttering
 words of encouragement in his ear.
 Many minutes passed. At last Chase
 gave over gasping and began to
 breathe regularly, but heavily. The
 strain had been tremendous. Only
 supeHbNpan strength and will had
 carried him through the ordeal. He
 groaned with pain as the two beside
 him lifted him to a sitting posture.