Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-06-15

it was, waiting, I suppose, to lend
some sort of an air of festivity to
their next Christmas"
The girl rose from her seat beside
him and going over to the window,
stood for a while gazing up tha
beach.
It was Just about the same time in
the afternoon that it had been yester'
day when he set out, awning, to find
her, and had come flying down out Of
the sky to drive away the sudden
nameless terror which had beset her.
That thought led him, now to visua'
lie some sticks of wood, rather too
large to carry, which had been lying
on the beach near where he had found
her. Thinking that 1t would be q
good time to get them and drag them
in, he got a harpoon line, and 1t was
the girls question what he meant ia
do with the rope, which caused him to
tell her what part of the beach he In
tended to visit. He asked her then IL
she cared to come with him, but, after
a moments hesitation, she declined.
ut will be high time for supper be-
fore you can get back" she said. land
I'd better stay here and get it ready,
that is, unless I can help you"
So he set off alone.
For awhile the occupation of setting
their disordered living room to rights
and getting the supper started were
sufficient to take the whole Of the
girls attention. But later, when 1t was
a question merely Of waiting for the
pot to boil, and Of not watching 1t SO
that it would boil sooner, she moved
~restlessly to the door and stood there,
before the hut, gazing down the beach
in the direction Cayley had taken. He
was already out of sight around the
headland.
She wished she had gone with
Philip, and she gazed with straining
eyes toward the narrow bit of slant.
ing beach around the base of the head.
land which was the place where he
must appear. He was not to be ex'
pected yet, not for a long time. prob
ably, for his progress, dragging those
great sticks he had set out to bring
home, must be slow.
And then, even as she looked, she
saw him, not moving slowly with his
burden, but running-running at hia
topmost speed, like a man in fear OF
something.
Instinctively she moved forward to
meet him, and this move of hers en-
abled him to see her. He slackened
his pace Instantly, and waved her
back toward the hut. She obeyed that
imperative gesture of his, without hes
itation, but still remained in the door
way, watching him as he rapidly drew
nearer.
When he had got near enough so
that she could SEQ his face and read,
more or less, what she saw there, she
again moved forward to meet him.
and this time he did not wave her
back. When he came within arms
reach Of her, he caught her and held
her tight in his two hands,
What is 1t, Philip" she asked,
searching the depth of his eyes and
trying to plumb the horror she saw
in them. "What happened out there?"
"Nothing-happened But saw
something there that made me anx'
ious for your safety. It's all
right now you're safe. Nothing has
happened here, has there, while have
been gomez"
Nothing. What could have hap.
pened, Philip. 1t can't be anything
that you're afraid to tell me-" she
went on, for he had not answered her.
There can't be anything you'd be
afraid to tell me now-not after yes.
terday."
"Oh, no; it's not so bad as that, but
I saw that I had been wrong to leave
you. ever for that little while. You
see the sight Of the place brought
back to my mind what you had told
me yesterday of the terror you had
felt there, and Of the thing that yCe
saw In the twilight. And 80 l ockse
ITO Blu coNTINUEDJ