The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1910-04-12
CHAPTER XVII.
The Chameleon's Dodge.


NE ment for A moment unneTved
me I. glanced up and down,
on all sides, but not a thing
was visible except the clouds. the blue
sky. and the green earth stopped the
motors, and Tor \ few minutes We hung
there, debating what TO do For the
drst time IN his life perhaps he was
not profane mantle Secretary NUT
tered D.
-LOOteuaut." said Ethan at last, Il
know what he's done; he's turned, in
The truth at once flashed upon US
TheEe was no doubt about it. he had
Curse him. 1 exclaimed He shall
never get away Reverse the course,
and then fun speed ahead
Il was a. least q year since 1 had
seen the picture OF Helen .Crayman in
the Sunday paper. but now her face
rose before me- as clearly as II she had
stood theTe-thOse large. beautiful eyes,
that Opens frank. winning cOGnIenance-
1 felt that II was NY chase. and for
got everything except that l must save
her
But now a serious question presented
itssif-mOre serious than I supposed It
10 be at the time.
Which Of the two clouds had the
Chameleon used a. a cover i deter
mined TO run back straight between the
two and straight through the third,
larger cloud. which We had already
traversed, hoping to ind PaytOn escap-
ing in that direction
BY the time that We had gone out
into the open beyond the two small
clouds, FaytOn had completed his turn
and re-entered the large cloud Keep
ing to the left as soon as he vas with
Ia II, he ran nearly its whole length.
and fnally emerged, only 70 dodge be
hind the other small cloud
He was evidently a master OF strategy
Here, he ran the only serious r4slS Of
discovery during the entire naneUveT-
for II we had returned more promptly
We might have been just IN time TO
/ catch sight OF him as he passed the
opening between the clouds
But We were too late and while the
fOsprey was dashius headlong on her
return through the large cloud, the
Chameleon rounded the small one and
was OF at fun speed IN exactly the
opposite direction The reader may &C
/ cuse me Of STUPIDITY. pernaDS' Dut, y
ne viii consider the situation, think
he VIII confess that, from the moment
I the Chameleon disappeared IN the cloud.
Il must have been as hard TO locate
{ her as 10 discover the TRADITIONAL nee
ole in q haystaclE-
However. ] did not know all that
| have Just been explaining until long
after We had emerged rom the large
cloud on the same side where we orig
iuzIIy entered II No sooner was the air
clear Of vapcr than we looked about
with all eyes, and were met by the
1 same disappointment The Chameleon
s-Perha1s one Of your shells found
him suggested Mr.. CTr8nLhsn, and
broke him I'D 80 Ihs-I ne mas oLOpped 10
the ground unperceived-
II was q startling Possibility OF winch
had thought before but / had fully
expected. in case Such a LillnS OcCuIFel'
10 see hirE emerge from the underSlqe
Of Whichever OF the clouds ne MI
have beer in when hit sun, ne Inlgnt
have escaped observation and obvious
" II was our duty to make sure We
must carefully inspect the ground under
the two smaller clouds. OF 'raIher- lH-
der the places where they HdQ pe5llr ~
am thfs while they had been slowly drift
ing northeasCvard-
down within q hundred IeeL o. - -
ground. and. running back We began
10 use the utmost Circumspecucn IN
examining the surface beneaIA Us II
vas mostly level, and covered with II
Nth futerspaces Of grassy land We
MAJ nave spent half an hoG= IN THIS
search when the penetrating eyes OF
Ethan FIaight discovered a new surprise
Tor US - -.
There he is again
I glanced hastily at Ethan he vas
r,of0rfug south-scuthwesC MS mana
raised above the level OF ms eyes 1
looked and We all looked, but couid see
nothing Still. Ethan lnslsteo-
Les ag-in thet cloud with a head on
il rs him as sure as preachln
In a few moments / had the ooJeCI 10
Gated, a moving sDeck against the
Cloud Ny Grammar saw It. TOO now,
and for the second JIfe ne ulLefs- u
sf0z1a profane word while RACED N
Z-a-7Iv and eyritted my teeth Ire
mole -r4-IS substantially as 1 nave eN-
-r.fro5 q abCve. now became evident 70
Ne The more 7 thought ABOUT RAJ
. +t,,rt717 If course. I vested no IiIne Win
--.5-7 regrets but set out instantly IN
-,--,sr,ft-fhe more clever PAXTON s man
enver appeared ana tiie i'''' y" q
5fzorsted with myself
=-,7,Id recall well enough the relative
s.---F5oy7 and dimensions OF the CLOUDS
n 80 that he had timed nls mo eILleIlIs
7" - ---rf~F7 he must have foreseen
-t.t, N-apo{ponic. penetracon-so tnAt MS
,-,r--ar7fs OF entering ana leaNihg me
rIO-17s- and Of crossing ne lnleLs 49,,
o-S5 - fall as % keep him always
Nol.a L f-~rn Us behind a curtain OF
--.ror He must have forecast Win az
49, 1esr-ance our final dart back
.5 which simply superadcec our
--,esT m his in widening the distance be
r. ras a bitter dose for me. but I
e--s15OZyed II. ami fixed my mind with
-a50uble1 resolution upon the rescue OF
Helen Grammar =
NO matter. Allan. he's yours yet
caused YOU to waste half an hour BY
nv useless suggestion Now, 60 aheau,
and I promise to be guilty OF no more
stupid Interference
cts not your fault at all, Mr. Grant
ham" I replied warmly. AFTER our
failure to find him where I expected