The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1911-11-26
there in the canyon three months with.
out word from the outsider


there
The girl in the doorway still gaZed
pensively toward the now invisible
mountains.
1t was while she stood thus that the
men saw her start violently and I'M
mediateiy afterward take to gazing
around her strangely. as though seek
ing the cause of her alarm. No one
spoke for the moment. Then she called
| to the sheriff:
"Mr. Black! Oh. Mr.. Black!''
He strobe toward her.
yes, yes. Miss Coyne What il it?'
''Oh. the lights! Look, look
He gazed around and then back to
her, mysttfied. II see nothing wrong. "
he said
She spoke almost incoherently. as
| though doubling her own mind.
1T may be-only an idea-but
thought saw--a signaI-the lights" :
Suddenly she grasped Black by the
arm and. pointing to the dickering
| bulbs, cried out:
Yes, yes! Look, it is a signal. He
| is calling to us for help-there-one
| two, three, four fthe lights Of the town
flashed up and down as she counted
| that is III. There goes the single flash
that is E. There-see that long
| drawn out fash-that Is l.. aud there
| five quick fiashes-that is +. Oh, he is
calling for help: He has been calling
! for days, and never guessed it. On
! never guessed
| The faces of the men remained blank
! and even the sheriff did not quite GRASP
! her meaning who is calling. Miss
| Coyne:' he said. "You do not mean
tsYes. yes-from the mountain Il is
| the Morse code. ] taught him. you
know. He has been dashiDg those
lights up and down and calling to Us
for help all these nights. and no one
has needed it. Sell EI~P-there
Do you believe 1t now: Oh. dear
/ what shall we do; what shall we dog
She turned and ran into the booth
and began wild search for her code
book
She came out. turning over the pages
OF the book and tearing some of them
| in her excitement. She held up the al
thickening crowd following her finger
as she pointed. spelled out the mean
| ing OF the flashes for themselves. But
1t was stranger still aud awesome
when new word came fOrth--a word
| which opened with the letters MAD
and then terminated suddenly. leaving
the crowd which had been spelling
sturdily and the town in darkness.
1t was ten miles to the canyon, and
| the way over the foothills was up and
up. The mountain itself was /, bard
climb in summer and no one had ever
attempted it in winter. for drifts filed
/ the passes and landslides often block.
ed the trail Yet they were not a PEG
pie TO stop short Of impossibilities,
They builf great fire on a neighbor.
| ing Hill In the hope that it might be
seen by the men on the mountain and
give them courage to hold out Until
help arrived. Then they organized q
relief party and before midnight a
dozen men led by Sheriff Black were
halfway to the mountains foot.
| They followed the wires straight
across the hills on flle way that had
been blazed by the pole planters. but
on the mountain itself they were com
PEELED 10 take the trail. They tied
themselves together with a long rope
which they had brought for the pur-
pose and went at it like Swiss noun
| taineers. Just before dawn they
reached the .shernit's seat, which is
a fat rock jutting out above the sec
ond plateau. and here they built u fire
that those in he villfge might note
their progress When day broke they
could see the pipe line which led the
water from the falls To the canyon,
covered with snow and ice and CLEAN
followed he pipe as long rs hey could.
and the roar of the water within
guided them whenever the big tube
dipped ont Of sight in a snow bank.
But presently it got awag from them
altogether when it ran oul on the high
trestle that. spans the gullF between
the upper spurs.
iii would be short cut If we could
cross that frestle." remarked Lem Gift
fort. who made one Of the party
They were slipping and sliding down
the slope and the pipe. riding on the
slender framework. was then 2ilO feet
above their heads
Yes remarked the sheriff dryiy-
II can think Of no easier way Of COM
hitting suicide.
They followed the torrent that cross
ed the gully. and as they entered the
canyon they shouted all together to
make known their arrival. An an
swering shout came back, reverberat-
ing Ike the echo of their own.
my God. Look there
1T was the sheriff. and he was gaz-
Ing straight upward at the pipe on the
trestle where it left the embrasure In
the canyon wall. There on the brink