The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-11-02
nedrPe fol
nheWom Households
\ Page Planned to Please
And Benefit the Women
THE SKY-MAN
BY
HENRY kITCHELI, WEBSTER
Antkor with Samuel Nertrinl Of Calumet g K
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company

/ The next instant Roscoe was bend
ing over the body. jerking savagely
at tho frozen buckles which resisted
his impatient fingers But they would
no, be denied II they were clumsy
the hands were strong.
1t was not I'VE minutes later when
| Roscoe. rifle and ammu milton belt III
his hands, was hurrying on toward
his cave once more. The body Jay
Just where his Decorating hands had
left H.
The rine was uninjured: that he
had seen at q glance, though, 81
course all the mec hanism Of ITS
breech was -Dzen fast. Hut' han
hours hard work with cleaning rod
and rags Of what once had been
shirt. s,,tiiced To put it into commits
sion again.
Then with the rife over his shout
der. he staggered out of the cave
With his first glance abroad, he start
ed. His devil MAS being kind 10 him
to-day. There could be no doubt Of
that. Only, vas he being too kind
Roscoe wondered little uneasily
For. shambltng along the ice, through
the thickcning twilight, not hun
dred PAGES away. was lig bear
bkDSttt WIS lftb VI val tS biNnbt fit
thought IS a bear steak made his
mouth water.
Three years disnse. however, had
made his craftsmanship somewhat
uncertain He fired too soon, and
though he did not miss. the only effect
his shot had was to make the bear
turn about and GO shambiing down
the glacier toward the beach, With
ungainly haste. Roscoe hurried after
him, and fired two more shots. Wheth-
er they hit or not. he could not tell.
Certainly they did not serve to check
the bears flight The next moment
he had rounded the corner OF the cliff
and disappeared down the beach IN
the direction OF the hut
Roscoe hesitated. but only for a
moment: then. With an oath he set
ont In pursuit. 1t Was not much
the protection which the rifle afford
ed him that vas responsible for this
new courage as it was that the mere
feel OF it In his hands brought him
back in touch once more with the
every day matter of fact world, and
made his visions and ghosts seem ii
little unreal
1t was fully dark down here In the
shadow OF the cliff. The numbering
yellow shape OF the bear was ipdis
tinguishabie against the icy beach.
That didn't matter, for he could fol-
low along well enough by the bloody
tracks the wounded beast had left
The last of the twilight was still
in he ekp, and half his glances were
directed thither looking for something
which he told himself could not pos
sibly exist. except IN his own fancy
vet fully expected to sec nevertheless
the shadow of Gayley's great wings
Au1 9, a he inn "A ,ssy IN
the lower air like brooding spirit.
Just above tn" tiny square of light
which marked the location of the
hut.
Roscoe abandoned his pursuit of
the bear. all thought of il, in fact
was gone from his MIND; but he dia
not. as on former occasion. drop
down prone upon the ground, his face
buried in his arms; nor did he turn
and flee like one hagridden UP the
beach. He faitered, it is true, and
his knees trembled beneath him. and
vet. slowly and with many pauscs he
made his way forward
He was horribly afraid all the time.
hut curiosity was all the While over
powerful fear. He was not more than
two hundred yards away when Cay
ley aighted beside the girl.
Al what he sa " then. Roscoe dropp-
ed ms rife on the beach, with a Nhis-
p.red oath. and rubbed his eyes The
light which difftised itself from the
open window Of the, hut was not much,
but ii was enough to reveal the fact
that this great man~brd, this golden
winged spirit Hhieh had kept him in
terror for his own sanity all these
months, was taking off his wings and
vas folding them up into a bundle.
III as matter of-faet u way as II he
were furiing an umbrella He stood +
there now, Iuse an ordinary human !
nsure of man. the Very man, in
fact. that he had seen before and
would have killed long ago had 1t not
been for his over mastering terror Of
the thing with wings
He presented a fair mark now. and 1
was In easy range. but Roscoe was
too thoroughly astonished to seize the
opportunity. and iii Il moment ii was
gone again The two figures shrank
into the shadow Of the hut. and the
next moment the Light disappeared.
When cayiey fired, for the first
time, al the bear. Roscoe thought for
a moment Ii. was firing AZ him, but
the Nenomous hiss with which the
wounded beast answ cred the shot ex-
planned the situation Roscoe squat
I'd down on the beach and set him
self to thinking
tTo be Continued.