The Washington times., 1911-08-11

lamas. we shall not lose our grir
upon the empire"
''Tll tell you what I'll do, Chum.
ley" said Fenchurch. "I'll go it alone
other to you"
What do you mean?"
Simply this. I'll take my chance
with the ladies and give you the gov
share in whatever l get out of Tibet
and Ill make no claim on you for
my interest in the state reward, In
other words, III swap one for the
other What dye say?'
| You take the Varney girls without
claim from me, while have the other
| on the same terms. Is that it?"
| Precisely"
| "I'll do it"
mo squealing now If it turns out a
fortune added Fenchurch.
| That check on Threadneedle street
will satisfy me. old man." Chumley re-
turned.
Its a go, then"
Sure. But stop!'
Weakening already" asked the
elder man.
mo. l only want to have this thing
| settled in detail before it's too late
| Who's to take care of the girls"
! why, the fellow that gets their
dough, of course. Provided he can't
get some elder relative to take the
Job off his hands"
| That's all right, Fenny; but II one
of them should happen to be pref
"Nothing mean about me, Chummy.
| old boy If YOU insist, / suppose I'll
have to toss you for her-that's all"
The laugh that followed was inter-
rupted by a shot-then another, and
another, in quick succession. The
light was put out and the cave filled
with smoke. 1t came pouring through
the crack where | was statiohed, and
n rnf
There was yell of triumph,
groan, cry that came from some
where else! l was sure 1t was not
from the cave. Then all was very still.
l could not see what had happened.
and there was no way to help, any
how.
Getting my bearings as quickly as
possible, l hurried back to the air
ship The dim outlines of the vessel
lOOmed in the darkness l felt for the
rail, calling softly. But there was no
reply. Striking a match, l looked for
the ships lantern, but could not find
1t. Then, by the aid of numberless
matches, l searched the vessel
Gwynne was gone.
Filled with horror, l bounded back
to the cave as quickly as the dark
ness permitted. Once more l found
the cleft in the rock, and peereG down
into 1t; but, as before all was still and
dark. | called loudly for Roedler but
there was no reply.
l was convinced there must be some
way to get to the mouth of the open
ing from where l was, If l could only
md IT. 1t was hopeless and very
dangerous to founder around there
in the dark. with only the uncertain
light of the stars and the occasional
flicker of match to guide me. l de-
termtned to go back To the vessel in
search of another lantern. In this |
finally succeeded, though 1t was not
the one we generally used, and took
some time to put in order.
| first looked carefully for foot
prints, hoping 10 discover Gwynnes
tracks; but, the ground had been so
tramped over, 1t seemed hopeless.
Suddenly l stumbled over a gravel
ly ridge. and found what l was look
ing fOr-ROedlers footprint. 1t was
unmistakable. He was a larger man
than l, while the shape Of his boot
was different. l traced him to a kind
of natural stairway leading down.
ward, and which terminated in the
road We had never seen. Along this
crept utiously-Constantly upon the
lookout lantern in one hand, a pis-
tol in the other. 1t was not far to
the opening of the Cave-just under
the roof where l had stood. Pausing
upon the threshold. l looked in.
The place was empty.
A Continuation of This Story VIII
BE Found In Tomorrow
Issue of The Times.