The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-10-09
TheSky Man

not there The place cried aloud that IT
was empty.
Cayiey shuddercd. not with fear. and
yet with q sensation stronger than dis-
gust. IL was as il a leopard had been
standing over the deserted lair of a ny
ena. A wild beasts lair 1t WAS and not
a human hnbitation.
The floor was Uttered with feathers
and half-gnawcd bones, Tho rocky WALL
dripped with the oily SCOT OF his horrible
actmaiis iridescent But the real horror
Of 1t lay in the fact that Roscoe was not
there.
that blind. irrational horror with all their
force, From the condition OF the fire IL
was evident that Roscoe had been gone
several hours. IL was almost tee certain rinaI JnaI
In his absence really gave him an I'm
mense advantage, A man always comes
unwnrily into tho place he calls home. )
Roscoe came back now he would have
no chance at all against Cayley's auick
spring and the fash of the long knife
blade.
Certainly 1t was reasonable to expect
that Roscoe would walt for another
moonrise before setting out on any seri-
Gus sort of expedition, and, If that as
sumption were correct, lie might he re-
turning to the cave at any moment.
Caylcy tried hard to force himself TO
accept this line of ressoning-to use II
To combat the shudderlng horror Which
Roscoe's mere absence caused him.
He strode n few PAGES forward into the
cave. then turned about and faced the
entrance. with tho idea of selecting a
for RoScOe'S return.
Iic realized almost Immediately, how
ever. that quite without reference TO INC
scnce seemed TO cause him, he would be
unable TO wait for his return here In
the cnvo. The stencil of the place was
already turning him sick, and the pois-
onous exhaustion Of the air making his
eyes roll In his head.
He strode abruptly back to the cave
mouth. AS he did so. however. his eye
allghted on something that made him
pause-somethinG strangely out
keeping with its surroundings that ],
caused him-or he thought that was the
reason-a sense OF recognition, almost oil
familiarity.
The thing which so evidently did not
belong TO Kose1e eS 1ha it NeeWa Ras amos eod
locleet. 1t lay on a fiat bit OF rock, which
seemed TO serve Roscoe,s purpose as
table. The objects which surrounded l.
an irregular piece of raw walrus hide,
an overturned bottle OF whale oil, WITH
a smudgy wick in it. sailmaker's $ needle
and some ravelings of canvas together
loud OF Roscoe and made such contrast
with this bit Of iewelry that Caylcy's
action in STOPPING TO pick il up was auto
matte.
He held IL in his hand u moment as il
lie did not know quite what 10 do with
It, then put il in his pocket and went out
OF the cave. Only during the moment
when 1t had fight caught his eye had II
really commanded his attention at all.
BY the time he got outside OF the cave
he had forgotten IL.
Two or three breaths Of the clean air
outside of the cave were All he needed to
revive him. physically. But 10 his sur
prise they did not suffice as supersti-
tious, namely, the impulse TO fly back to
Jeanne as fast as wing could carry him.
He had every reason 20 believe that she
was safe. he told himself. She was armed
with a. heavy revolver, Was a good shot
and had plenty of nerve, She was In
place, the only avenue Of access TO which
would give her tremendous adantaee
over any invader. So that. even suppos-
ing the worst-supposing that Roscoe's
absence were taken TO mean that he hao
gone TO make an attack on the pilot
house there could hardly be a doubt
that Jeanne would kill him.
His reasoning was all based on the as
sumption that the pilothouse was mac
cessible 10 any wingless creature except
by way OF the ice chimney. Even now,
when his fear for the girl was amount
ing 10 superstition OF almost irresistible
intensity, It did not occur TO him TO dues-
ton that.
lie steadied himself as best he could
and crouched down in the shelter OF the
He had hardly settled himself here
when he saw something that made him
shake his head impatient!y, and swear a
little. II WAS the winhing glow OF an
aurora borealis. off TO the north.
Struggling as ne was with a fear which
his reason offered him no foundation for,
ne was in no mood TO appreciate one oI
those Internal. ineNpilcable exhibitions
that a succession OF those long Arctic
nights had made him all too familiar
with. No familiarity could lessen the
wonder of il.
He hoped that this ono might pass off
without amounting TO anything; but II
was not long before a slender 1lickcring.
greenish- white fash across the sky con-
vinced him that he was in for IL. lie
remembered having read. in Captain
Ficiding's journal. how the members OF
his own crew. and moro particularly the
Walrus people. had been frightened TO
the verge of terror by them, and how
the Portuguese had always fallen on his
knees and begun jabbcring his prayers
when ono OF these phenomena took place,
He had believed them. Captain Fielding
thought TO be veritably the fires of hell.
Caylcy and Jeanne had often watched
these auroras. from beginning to end. with
delight: but il had always been strange.
piquant sort OF pleasure that mad a spice
OF terror in it.
But tonight. as he crouched there alone
on tine beach, waiting for the man who
did not come, the Wild, frealiish. indcfin-
ably mensc cling quality of those strange
lights affected him powerfully The way
they leaped in long arcs, clear across the
siY-and vanished. the way their bril-
liant streamcrs could haunt themselves
from zenith 10 horizon with-sll the colors
OF tho sunset. and still leave the oarth
as dark as il was after they had rolled
ZIP aud disappea red: tho horrible. wink
ing shuddernE shcstliness OF them. made
II difficult to think of them rs part Of
the order Of nature,-turned them into
sort of malevolcnt miracle. 1t was never
possible 10 tell how long they would last.
Sometimes they rolled up and left the
sky unvexcd al the end OF few brief