The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-11-03
c:<,:@ m
kchmondH Household
THE SKY-MAN
BY
HENRY MITCHELL WEBSTER
Ar.tlor t,saA Sapuei Mer,ein) Of Caiun'es y Il
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company

. lgis nlan WIS n good one. The peo-
! pl. inside thu hut would nave no
/ ehoic. and, probably. no thoughE bat
] ~ escape. When they rushed out. as
they almost certainly would ne"
! sgsrfa and confused. and piaihA
visible to him against the glow o. IN"
mr. behind them. il would re easy
+ from the safe shelter of the oar Nhesst
I TO shoot THE man.
Roscoe's HANDS were trembling n
little put not with fear. lie must no.
- -, s.r.n That was all lie
must walt anti the mans bod5 pre-
i s.nt4a Il clean mark agains the bright
& illumination ol the fire. II would be
~, .asy a shot IL miss. ana the We
man would toe left defensei'-s~. Nith-
nut even the Inadequate and tenn
u ratry shelter OF roof aud f9af
walls
II was onl$. indeed hy tho rrcrest
hairs breadth that Roscoe : pan Tau
ed 70 work, The instinct OF escape
hsz the nearest WAY from hurnfnS
building il almost irreslstfete. anu IL
34d Phillp snd Jeanne to the Ners
edge - destruction, which k"sens ha"
planned for them.
CAstay mad mis- hand upon the bolt
II the great door, whitner ne had
= :
eara MIN before the saving second
thought STAYED him and neld MIN
1razea wheTr ne Mas For psFhaFN
fsxe seconds rs stood there. while th~
memory of the unexplained bullet hole
n. ,4aa found ia the body at the great
laar and she be!ated observation that
the nre. which was destroying the
hurt must have been started outside
IL II, asticuated themselves into
8..t, # :
pisn.
The other way. Tue other NAY.
he cried, mottoning Jeanne back
through the store-room into the
eave He is waiting for us outside
+. That's why ne fred the hut. quick
Ne must save all We can.
And So il happened that Roscoe
! waited in vain lie saw the blaze he
+ had kiudl.d reach its fiery climax.
aud then in spite OF the ley gale
/ which was tanning II. die town into
an angry. Aul!en. smoplderlnS glow
/ tut no man appeared to furnish a
inark for his waiting rifle. and no
/ woman WAS delivered urtsnseless,
/ sheitsiless. into his british hands.
The failure OF his plan brought back
I 4 rnOmsHr OF twU uf- the ufu suprr-
stitions horror. but his mind was
I BTaeEl against IL iioN anu VIZ nv
readily give way. Somehow. the fail
/ IRE must be accounta ble--human
: aetounta BILE.
AT last he solved this mystery too,
parity solved it, at least tor he re-
memb ered the ice cave back OF the
hut. His first Impulse, when he
] thought OF it, MAS to, attack them
there and nov, 10 charge III over the
red hot Goals of the hut and settle
matters once and for all
He was sane enough ito see that the
advantage would be all against him.
In close quarters ne could DO no much
With rife; and ne rememb erad the
deadly revolver shooting he had seen
upon the body OF the bear. Also, he
would nave TO geo into the dark, with
the hrelight behind him. No. 1t
wouldn't do. lie must wait. Well, he
could afford to wait. much better
than they could.
Reluctantly he rose, turned his
broad hack To the gale, and began
making his laborious way back 10 the
cave.
( 1t Was high time His face was
frozen already The intensity Of the
cold had already rendered his rifle
useless, for the whole mechanism OF
the breechm was frozen last His
stratagem had failed in Its ultimate
intention. for nature had laid het
great les hand upon the board and for
the present declared the game d
draw.