Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-02
CHAPTER XVI.-Continued.

III was just about the same time in the
afternoon that it had been yesterday
when he set out, awning. to find her. and
had come flying down out of the sky to
drive away the sudden nameless terror
which had beset her. That thought led
him, now. to visualize some sticks of
wood. rather too large to carry, which
had been lying on the beach near where
he had found her Thinking that ii would
be good time to get them and drag
them in, he got harpoon line. and 1t
was the girls question what he meant to
do with the rope, which caused him to
tell her what part of the beach he in
tended to visit He asked her then If she
cared to come with him, but, after mo-
mentS hesitation. she declined.
1T will be high time for supper before
you can get back" she said ''and I'd
better stay here and get 1t ready, that is,
unless l can help you
So he set off alone
For while the occupation of setting
their dlsordered living room to rights and
getting the supper started were sufficient
to take the whole of the girls attention
But later, when it was a question merely
of waiting for the pot to boil, and of not
watching 1t so that it would boil sooner.
she moved restlessly to the door and
stood there, before the hut, gazing down
the beach in the direction Cayley had
taken. He was already out of sight
around the headland.
The gorgeous riot of color in cloud and
Ice and vapor. which marked the end of
the day, had already set in. But this
time. perhaps because she was alone, 1t
was not the beauty, but the terror of it
that impressed the girl-the heartless
cruelty of 1t.
For one moment the thought of a GER
tain little hill-sheltered meadow, with a
sleepy brook meandering across 1t and
the shade of gnarled old oaks dotting its
sunny, golden green with patches of deep
shadow, of sleek, well fed cattle and a
means of a stile, coming before her all
at once, distinct in all it's minute. homely
detail, gave her mind a sudden wrench
that was almost intolerable.
She wished she had gone with Philip.
and she gaZed with straining eyes toward
the narrow bit of slanting beach around
the base of the headland which was the
place where he must appear. He was not
to be expected yet, not for a long time.
probably, for his progress, dragging those
great sticks he had set out to bring home,
must be slow.
And then, even as she looked, she saw
him, not moving slowly with his burden,
but Notwithstanding at his topmost
speed. like man in fear of something.
InStinctively she moved forward to meet
him, and this move of hers enabled him
to see her. He slackened his pace in
stantly, and waved her back toward the
hut. She obeyed that imperative ges-
ture of his, without hesitation, but still
remained in the doorway, watching him
as he rapidly drew nearer.
When he had got near enough SO that
she could see his face and read, more or
less. what she saw there, she again moved
forward to meet him, and this time he did
not wave her back. When he came within
q QOt nj a
held her tight in his two hands.
What is it, Philip she asked. search
ing the depth of his eyes and trying to
plumb the horror she saw in them. What
happened out there"
"Nothing-nothing. But 1 saw some
thing there that made me anxious for
your safety It's all right now
you're safe. Nothing has happened here.
has there, while have been gomez"
Nothing. What could have happened.
afraid to tell me- she went on, for he
had not answered her. There can't be
anything you'd be afraid to tell me now
not after yesterday"
"Oh, no; it's not so bad as that. but l
saw thatsI had been wrong to leave you.
even for that little while. You see the
sight of the place brought back to my
mind what you had told me yesterday of
the terror you had felt there, and of the
thing that you saw in the twilight. And
so l looked about, and-Jeanne, it was no
baseless terror, no product of the twilight
and the fact that you were far from
home There was something there, slip
ping along from the shelter of one boulder
to that of another. / found the tracks in
the snow. They weren't more than ten
PAGES away from you when / came down
out of the sky
was it the bear?" she asked. THAT
was what you thought it might have
been, at that time" But he could see in
her eyes that this was not the answer
she expected.
He shook his head; that told her
enough.