The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-10-03
THE SKY-MAN
BY
HENRY MITCHELL WEBSTER
Aatlor (trsN Samuel Merroinl Of Calumet " Il
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company

answered him. Il won't get il. Ros-
coe III YOU want that box, YOU can
get II yourself
What in b-.I do you mean the
deader stormed. Hut his voice. cvea
as he spoke. lost its confident tans
of authority.
Carlson huddged back into place
among the other members nf the
crew. and from, their meaning mods
and inarticulate growis -of assent, II
WAS evident they knew what he meant
and why he would net GO; that they
Assrnt.d in his refusal Indeed, il
Roscoe had not been lacking ia that
intuitise feeling tor the temper et his
followers the feeding which distin~
gul&hes cnlS those leaders Who gov
ern otherWis. han by terror D.
would have perceived that a strange
spirit Of unrest was distraettng the
Vhele party
lie saw It my, al all events. and
then he repeatrr the question: What
IN he'll Dc yea mean 2. il Vas with
an inticcuon that meaht ne wanted
10 be informed
You tell him" said Carlson nod
ding t. his companion, Rose t,Nt-
IDENTIFY il WAS Rose WIN had told the
story to the other members of the
party He vas a suaatiy built man
with 4 stubborn law. and Pianek, in
the DAYS of his command. had always
disliked him as that most undesirable
pest that can be found in a fore
castle--a sea lawyer.
What did you leave the beN in
the hut for he demanded lie
might not have come back II YOU mad
left il in the cave
Come back echoed Roscoe, with
"A sro@L
That's what 1 said. We Went tn
the hut To get It. and there vas
light inside. and there M sat. lust
IKE he used to And he had the
box open
lie Who do you mean p" There
vas no trace of tracnlence in Ros-
GOES voice nov He spoke as though
his throat We're dry
1t Was Captain Fielding, him to
the life. And set, it @as different
from the way he used to be. We
couldn't see il very We'll Its face was
sideways and the light was behind
it, and II looked smaller and thinner
-~-more~-more like a woman. Of
Rose mad had the word spiritual in
his Vocabulary. htF would have used
1t. In default of it, he gave up try
ing Ia express just what he meantl
Anyway, there he sat with the box
open beside him, and that red book
of his open on his knees Go back
for it Well. | guess not"
There WAS momertary silence
after he had finished and Roscoe
could feel as il stretched itself out
to the length Of half a minute or SO,
the chill Of their terror enVeloping
him To throw II off he clustered
storfned at and abused them fer d
pack Of liars hut in the end he
sprane down into one of the boats
and said he would fetch the hox him
self. Whether he believed their story
or not. IL WAS the only thing for
him Ia do.
AS he pulled -shoreWard he tried
hard To convince himself that he did
not believe it. that Rose and Carlson
had probably forgotten all about the
box, and had trumped up the story
To avoid the necessity Of going back
for it.
He must believe the story was a
lie. There was no rational explana-
ton of the thing the two sailors pre-
tended they had seen. The box, not
shattered. but living open after hav
ing defied their ingenuity for four
years' And figure like Captain
/ Fielding. vet strangely smaller. like
"A woman-~there was a touch of UNI
de5nabie terror about that idea. 1t
did not seem like a lie that Rose and
Carlson would be capable Of making
up Its very weirdness gave II a hor-
rible resemblance to the truth He
remembered what Miguel~-poor. half
crazy Miguel-~used to say about it
Miguel In all probability was dead
now. Could Miguel dead. have any
thing 10 do-bA way of a vengeance
perhaps with the thing Rose and
arlson had seen. ar had believed
they saw
= With an oath he east the idea
away from him They had lied. that
was all when he got back 70 the
ship he would have them hogged.
both of them. That would teach them
and the others toe. perhaps, that
he was not to be trifed with
He beached his boat scrambled
ashore and set out walking logged
Is along In the direction of the hut
The fog still all but impenetra BILE,
even to his practiced Vision, but he
knew the shore like the palm nf his
hand, and he. trudged on without Il
pause until he was within ten PAGES,
perhaps, of his destination.
tFo lie Continued