The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-10-13
THE SKY-MAN
Hl
HENRY MITCHELL WEBSTER
Auihor t,rih Samuel Mertrin) Of Calumet X
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company.

side her and began once more ~
perlis. ftst pages she uad by no means
exhausted them. In her readihs oi
the night before. she had skipped me
pages Of scientific description TOT
those parts Of the Journal which "eTa
most purely personar. Even now the
" hole pages OF carefully tabuiateo
data concerning the winds. currents
temperature and magnetic variations
got SCant attention. In her present
mood thu homeliest little aaveture,
TIE idest diversion of II winters day
meant more 30 her than ail her
fathers discoveries put together.
When she saw Cayiey coming tack
toward her across the ice, she put the
hook down hall reluctantly
estdentiv his quest Tor breakfast
had not been III VAN; he had "a,
blsek and white bird in his hand. lie
you suppose II 5 1T 10 eat she called
u}i tn him And how in the world
did you manage ia XII II without
the revolver.
Fit t. eat Its duck What's
more 1t $ All elder, which means that
her coat Is worth saving
"i7ut how did you contriye TO Kill
her -
Il didn't She killed herself, She
was tjyinx too low tast night, / sup
pos4.--golng down the gaze, and IL
the fag she went smack into the side
II the cliff anG broke her neck. That
was a very destructive storm Tor the
birds There must be ,iity Of them.
q, one kind and another, lying deaa
there along the top OF the taius. at the
loot Of tho cliff
And that's what might have hap
pened. oh, so easily, 10 you. Yes, It
might I've been realizing that. And
! shant forget" Her eyes had bright
ened and she pressed her hands to
them for just one moment; then she
Strengthened up brishty. Anyway I'll
not make a scese ABOUT II now, she
said "lii show little practical
sense and help you with the break
fast
No. we're camping out to-day. and
/ on such occasions the men always do
the cooking Go back TO your book
while skin this fowl and dress IT.
/ Then as she still hesitated, he went on.
! The most beautifut garment | ever
saw. anywhere was on Chucotte
i Indian girl. 1t was made Of nothing
but the breasts of these elders. But
the process isn't pretty. I'd much
rather you went back to your book.
Seeing that he meant 1t. she did
HS he Skktd. y Single nan page OF
what @as written upon those closely
ruled pages was enough 10 absorb
her again completely. The power II
had over her seemed to grow rather
than 10 lessen When Caylev came Hp
with this big bird which was To serve
or their breakfast, inpaled upon d
sharp stick ready to be roasted ovel
tae fire, she no more than looked w
at him, with smile Very friendly. bu
half apologize. arid then went on with
her reading. He crouched down neal
by her, built u little frame work al
sticks above the ire and began hi,
cooking
II was. perhaps. ten minutes afte,
that when he saw the hook drop sud.
denly from her hands When hs
glanced up at her, she was looking
seaward-out over those miles q
ph1nging, heaying ice. And unde
his eyes her face turned white a
marble. Her bloodless lips eer,
parted They did not move at all AM
they looked as II they were frozen
He could not See that she vas breath
ins. Her eyes Were turned away from
him and he was glad of that rol
another moment more, at least h,
need not read the t~ok IN them Iso,
now. at last he was sure she under
STOOD lie himself fi~el his eyes upon
the ire and waited
=. Since his own look seward Il .
morning aa had had the hour he praV
ed for He had not spent IL in think
ms IN devfsing phrases Of oonst1a
siou or futile illusions of hope. ANY
thing Ike consecutive thought hat
been Impossible to MIN and not onl,
Impossible. unnecessary. He had spen
the hour to better purpose: although
he Gould haze presented no tanRtbI,
evidence that this was SO But nov
al the end Of il he felt himself ready
All through II he had been sileutl,
mastering his forces. His power o
Will, his courage, his intuition his in
teiiigence~-they were all there. keye.
Ia their highest tension. ready To d,
their pert
Without looking AT the girl he wa,
aware that she" had turned and wa
gazing intentlT into MS face. He sun
ported her look without meeting II
She would find nothing there now h,
would not wish her To see. He eve.
stretched out a hand, n steady hant
over the fire and twirled the spit viii
it.
There's something here" she whis
pered here in this book of father,
that~that / want you to read
Il vas still open at the page sh,
had been reading when she had drop
ped it. With his drsy glance at wha'
was written there he saw how sht
had come, so suddenly. to under
stand.
ITO he continued,