The Arvada enterprise., 1911-04-27

{ When. after n period of tantalizins
twilight the sun again came fairly
over the horizon they besought their
commander, with n savage sort OF
eagerness from which he might have
nugured Ill. that he take them Mt
once to the ledge, They had caught
sight OF 1t from distance, even as
| Cayley had done. hung In the air
above the valley. and had run reck-
lessly on ahead OF their leader When
he came up to them. he found them
dangerously excited. the man Roscoe
fairly daxed and drunken with It.
Finally Fielding had left them to
their own devices. and came away
with hio two companions. And until
the light of that short day had begun
to fail. they-the Walrus people
stayed, gloating over this strangely
useless treasure.
For three days after that the man
Roscoe never spoke a word On the
fourth day. when the little party as
sembled for their mid day meal, the IL
men of tho Walrus were tho only
ones to answer the summons. Cap
tain Fielding and his two companions
had disappeared
Captain Planck could not recall that
meal now without shuddering, for
there at the foot Of the table. oppo-
site to him. had sat the man Roscoe,
with murder written plain In every
line OF his face. He had looked .
beast, rather than a man, that day.
The sated blood lust in his eyes made
them positively terrifying. so that the
others shrank away from him. He
had seemed not to notice II, at least
not to take offense at It. He was In
hilarious spirits for tho first time
since they had known him: seemed
really to try to be good companion.
Captain Planck abdicated his lead
ership that day. He was perfectly
conscious OF the fact. He had known
that to retain tho leadership he must
take that murderer out and execute
him, He knew that II he did not do
this the murderer. not he. would hero
after command the party, and that
unless he himself yielded the prompt
est obedience OF any. he would follow
the luckless trio whom they were
never to see again
From that day to this there had
been no more murders. Roscoe had
ruled them with decision and .
turbulence which put anything like
characterization out Of the question.
He had been obeyed better than Cap
tain Planck ever had been. He had
worked them nercely all those four
years. cutting. everlastingly. At that
wonderful. exhautless golden ledge,
beating tho friable ore out OF II with
heavy mauls. then. laboriouaiy, con-
veyins the great rude slabs of pure
metal on rough sledges over the per
petual Ice OF the glacier to a cave
near the shore. where they had de-
posted 1t. There were literally tons
OF 1t hidden there when tho smoke
from the yachts funnel was first seen
on tho horizon.
The moment tho news of the ap-
preaching steamer WAS reported to
Roscoe. he had entered upon what
seemed to his followers thoroughly
irrational and inexplicable limo of 40
tlon. lie had ordered them, first, to
remove nil signs OF recent habitation
from tho hut to the cave where their
gold was concealed; then. to cover the
cave mouth with heap OF boulders.
to secure It against discovery.
Long before the strongest glass on
the ship could have made out their
moving figures, he took tho whole
party back to tho hills In hiding. lie
had kept them from answering tho
halls and the gun-fire from the yacht
by the sheer weight OF his authority.
without vouchsahng "A word OF expla,
nation.
The next day they had seen tho
searching party come ashore. and with
the,r knowledge OF the lay OF the
land found It perfectly easy to evnds
observation, though nothing but tho
strong habit OF obedience kept them
from courting II.
1hen, along In tho afternoon. had
happened what seemed to them tho
strhngest thing OF NIL. They had seen
n solitary straggler from tho search
Ing party coming along across tho
Ice. He could not see them. II would
have been perfectly easy TO eyads
him, but Roscoe now ordered them
to 30 down to him and tell him who
they were, and to offer to escort him
along the trail down the glacier. And
Mt a certain point they were to lag
behind and let him go on alone. That
| was all any OF them know Of their
leaders, plans. I'll they saw the flying
dart and tho smudge OF crimson on
the snow.
Now. at last, came Planck to the
leader, asking the reason why. But
HIS mission, ms II appeared. had not
! prospered
ITO BE coRTIHUED)