The Salt Lake tribune. [volume] (Salt Lake City, Utah) 1890-current, 1910-07-17
By Henry Ketchell Webster, Author with
Samuel Merwin) of Calumet K'

night ashore, IL necessary You dOn't
advise me to, begin worrying about
them do you?'' it
He did not answer her question. He
was recalling something which his amaz-
ing meeting with the girl out here on,
the ice-floe had, for little while, put
quite out of his mind-the weird, silent.
tragedy he had seen enacted a few.
the headland The victim. the man IN
the leather coat, must have been ono
Of the party from the yacht; but itl
was impossible that the little band OF
his murdercrs could be. No one freshly
landed from the yacht would have been
dressed as they were, or would have
been armed with darts. L,
With no better look at them than had
been possible to him as he hung above
their heads. he had been convinced tkkS
they were white; certainly, the leathEs-
coated man had been talking to them,
freely enough, in English. And yet, if
white, they mnst have been refugees
survivors, if not of Captain Fielding's
ill.fated expedition, then Of some other.
tragic, unrcported ship wreck,
But if they were white men-refu-
gees. why had they fled from their hue
at sight Of the yacht which came bring
ing a rescue? Why had they driven
that one luckIess member of the res
cuing party who fell in with them, into
that carefully prepared ambush, and
then murdered him, silently? Even Es1
kimos would not have done thing like
that.
His long silence had alarmed the grill
and presently, pcrceiving that this was
so, he drew himself up with an affected
start. 81 beg your pardon. l drifted|
off. thinking Of something else. Living
in the sky doesn t seem conducive to-
good manners. No, l don't believe
there is anything to worry about. Any
1.on IL ~
won 7 be long now, can set at rest
any fears you may have. I'll 60 and
land. too-for anything else that nav
bc there. And then I'll bring you
word -
You are very good" she said with
a little hesitation, "but I cant let
you"
lie interrupted her with laugh
posing to do for you, you know
"That.s true. l had forgotten your
wings. The rocks, the ice, the steep
places, that mean so tragically much to
what are YOU doing now? Even you
can t find them in the dark
He had already begun unstrappina
the bundle he had made of his wings1
and seemed to be preparing for imj
mediate flight. That was what caused
NO. he said; ''I shall wait fon
sunrise" "
But why not here, on the yacht q
We can give you a comfortable bed
there; better, certainly, than that sleepI
ing bag of yours
T'I am afraid" he said, that what
you call a comfortable bed in yacht "a
cabin would be the surest instrumens
that could be found for keeping mS
awake all night, Nc, shall find q
sheltered hollow up at the top of the
headland yonder, where L shall sleep
deeply enough, you may be sure"
She still interposed half-hearted OBJ
glad he did not yield to it. The thought
| OF his unfolding his wings and flying
away again, Just as he had come, seemed
filter, somehow, than the prospect of
| taking him to the yacht in dinghy,
and bidding him good night. like any
other commonplace sort of mortal.
She watched him, silently, while he
slipped the steel-jointed rods into place,
drew the catgut bow strings taut, until
they sang-until the fabric of his planes
shimmered in the tarlight-quivered az
| if they were instinct with life OF
their own.
\ sense of the unreal,v of it all came
yelling up strong within her, and
touch Of an almost forgotten fear OF
| him.
Good night, she said, holding out
her hand" good bye"
"Till morning" he answered.
4 little breeze came blowing across
the ice Just then. he dropped her hand
quickly, slipped his arms into theiy
places in the frame, mounted the ledga
Of ice, and then. with a short run,
sprang forward into the breeze.
She saw his planes bend little. un-
dulaR. rather, with a sort of scullinG
motion, rs he flew forward. not far
above the level OF her head. He dipped
down again as soon as he had open
water beneath him, and almost skinned
the surface of it. Then, gathering
speed, he began mounting, on long
slant, in that great starry. domelike
sky, until. at last, the darkness swal-
lowed him
She felt curiously alone now that ho
was gone; and little frightened. like
n child Just waking Out of a dream.
And she blew small silver whistle
that hung about her neck, for signal
to the men on the yacht to send boat
for her.
Then. while she waited she dropped
down rather limlv on her pile of bear
skins. Her hand found something hard'
that had not been there before, and TAX
ing 1t up she found that it. was cure
Gus blunt stick Of wood, rudoly whittled,s
and about ten inches long. It must
have fallen from his belt while he sat
there talking TO hez She wondered
what lie used it fol.
lTo Be Continuedl.