The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-11-24
THE SKY-MAN
BY
HENRY KITCHEI.L WEBSTER
Apthor firth Samuel Mer,cin) Of Calumet &c X
Copyright 1910 by The Century Company.

me party on the Ice was MOVING
| landward again. Even at Philips
slow pace. the distance between them
| was narrowing. Jeanne and young
Fanshaw were coming on ahead. He
saw her stop suddenly and throw an
| arm around the mans neck. She
| was laughing and crying all at once,
/ and there We're tears i'll the mans
| eyes. too. Philip expected that. He
| knew that Fanshaw loved her. His
memory of that fact was all that
redeemed his memory of their en-
counter on the Aurora's deck.
! But. what he did not expect, WAS
to see Fanshaw suddenly release him.
self from the girls embrace and come
straight toward him. That was not
the most surprising thing-not that,
| nor the hand which Fanshaw was
holding out to him. 1t was the look
| in the young mans face. as the light
| from the great blazing beacon on the
beach Illuminated it.
There was powerful emotion
working there, but no sign of any
conflict, no resistance, no reluctance.
1t was the face of q man humble in
the presence of miracle. lie strip
ped off his gauntlet and gripped
Cayley's hand. 1t was a moment be-
fore he could speak.
Its only just now" he said, now
that l see~you here together, that l
find it hard to believe. Because I've
known all along that you were here
with her. keeping her alive until we
could get back to her. I've been the
only one who has had any hope at
all. and with me it's been certainty
rather than a hope. It's as II had
seen YOU here, together. I've seen
you SO "a thousand times. but now.
that | do actually. with my own eyes,
1t s hard Ia :. his voice broke
there There was moment OF ST
lence. then he went on. You must
try to forgive us. Gayley--me, in par
ticular. for I'm the one who needs IL
most. We know the truth of that old
story nov. No, II wasn't Jeanne who
told. il was poor Hunter himself, In
a letter. He had written it long ago,
and ii was among his papers. ] want
you to read it sometime. | think,
perhaps, when YOU do You viii he
able to forgive him. too.
That zone Already" said Philip.
! No, not long ago--withIn the last
/ few hours, Come, shall we go back
to the fire? | suppose We had better
wait for another moonrise before We
try To get To the Aurora"
| 1t was six months later Il blazing,
.tlne July day, when the gunboat
orktoWn lifted North Head, the
northern portal Of the Golden Gate.
I Tom fanshaW and his father had
gone To the bride. but Philip and
! Jeanne. the other two passengers,
remained. unmoved by the announce
ment, seated as far aft as possible.
I the ensign, imp in uhe followin 4
! breeze, tiuttering just over their
! heads.
/ The great foe when for 40 many
I months had held the Aurora fast i'm
prisoned had broken UP under. the
unrelenting warmth OF the June sun
and had set the ship free at last, TO
plod her slow way southwark. True
/ TO old MIR. tanshaw's predictions, sh @
! had weathered the Arctic winter and
| the grip Of the Arctic ice in safety.
/ The wounded survive rs OF the Wal
/ rus party had died and one of their
i own crew. Otherwise, the sun and
the open water found them AS Well
as they had left them--better off.
il one is 10 take an account of the
gold~-the incredible amount of gold
which they had found in the strong
room. That. by Mr.. Fanshaw's reck-
oning, belonged to Jeanne, was the
I fruit of her fathers discovery. Some
time. perhaps. they would realize the
/ Importance of 1t, but there upon the
! Arctic sea they were far enough away
from the world and Its standards to
make II seem trivial, almost unreal.
Ii they had had to tighten the ship
I they would have pitched 1t over first.
The Aurora was doing very Well
for her, grinding out eight knots an
hour, which was about the best she
was capable of, when. Off st. Law
renee Island. she sighted the gleam-
ing white man of war, with the Stars
and Stripes swapping at her rail. AT
that sight old Mr.. Fanshaw's impa-
| thence took fire, and il became ire
sistible when he learned that she was
bound for San Francisco, as they
were.
What international consideration
/ had taken her into those waters is
+ no concern of ours, Her business
was done and she was homeuard
bound. as her long pennant, stream
ing out astern, attested. So the Au-
rora hailed her. Mr. Fanshaw went
on board and when he returned II
was with the astonished captain q
! invitation to himself and the others
in his party. Jeanne. Philip and Tom.
| to go back TO San Francisco In the
gunboat. They left the Aurora to fol-
| low along at her own gait in Cap
tain Warmers charge--left gold and
all-taking with them only some CIV
ilized clothes, and two precious arti-
cles which Jeanne would not leave
behind--her fathers journal. in its
rosewood box, and Cayley's wings,
| As for the civilized clothes, when
the two lovers. so equipped encoun-
/ tered each other for the first time
! in the ward room of the man OF war.
Just before their first dinner on board
Of her. they mad gazed at each other
almost incredulousiy Now, as they
! sat here on deck, the last golden
hours Of that golden voyage slipping
away, Philip reverted to that moment,
| to his feeling at first sight OF her.
| Clothes aren't mere externaIs.
! They really strike In a little way, al
least. 1t was not just that you looked
different that night in the ward room.
you were different. little-really not
quite the same person who walked
back beside ME across the ice to the
Aurora.
DO you like her--this new per-
SON." Jeanne asked. She drawled
over the question little as If her lips
caressed it. III the speaking. Cayley
laughed like a boy.
II even like being IL little afraid
OF her." he said.
! They had been talking lazily, as it
had been their wont to do lately