Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1911-05-18

NASSS VI las oSSpky 0hAOA ohAA .
his very light ~sun-bleached hair. A
sensitive face, finely chiseled, almost
beautiful-and young, but with an in
applicable stamp Of premature age
upon it. 1t had not struck her at all
as a tragic face. And yet the mean.
ing of those last words of his, uttered
as they were, had been tragic enough.
"At least you have a magnificent re-
venge," was all she said. And then
there was another silence. She her
self was trying to think Of something
to say, for she realized that his con-
fession had been involuntary, and that
the silence must be distressing him.
But it was he himself who broke
the silence with a natural, matter-of-
fact question. You say a searching
party has set out from the yacht?
Have they been long ashore?"
They set out only a little after sun
rise. We came into the bay with the
last of yesterdays twilight, and the
sight Of those huts, at the edge of the
shore" her voice faltered a little,
nearly made us hope that the impos-
sible might prove true. We fired our
signal cannon two or three times and
then sem up some rockets, without
getting any answer. 1t was too late
to go ashore in the dark; so we had
to wait a few hours for another sun
rise. The few of us who were left
on the yacht expected them back to-
dow hofnra Iorly fell DIT 7 cnpnoco
there's nothing to worry about in
their not coming. They went equipped
to pass q night ashore, if necessary.
You don't advise me to begin worry
ing about them, do you?"
He did not answer her question. He
was recalling something which his
amazing meeting with the girl out
here OF the ~ice-loe had, for a little
while, put quite out of his mind-the
weird, silent tragedy he had seen en-
acted a few hours before upon the
glacier behind the headland. The
victim. the man in the leather coat,
must have been one of the party from
the yacht; but 1t was impossible that
the little band of his murderers could
be. No n freshly landed from the
yacht would have been dressed as
they were, or would have been armed
with darts.
With nc better look at them than
had been possible to him as he hung
above their heads, he had been con-
WINGED that they were white; certain
ly, the l~eather-coated man had been
talking to them, freely enough, in
English. And yet, if white, they must
have been refugees-survivors, if not
of Captain FIelding's Inflated expedi-
ton, then Of some other, tragic, unre-
ported ship wreck.
But if they were white men-refu-
gees, why had they fled from their
hut at sight of the yacht which came
bringing a rescue? Why had they
driven that one luckless member of
the rescuing party who fell in with
them, into that carefully prepared am
bush, and then murdered him, silent
ly? Even Eskimos would not have
done a thing like that.
His long silence had alarmed the
girl, and presently, perceiving that
this was so, he drew himself up with
an affected start. 81 beg your par
don. I drifted off, thinking of some
thing else. Living in the sky doesn't
seem conducive to good No,
1 don't believe there is anything to
worry about. Any way, as soon as
light comes back, which won't be
long now, l can set at rest any fears
you may have. I'll go and find your
party, and I'll search the land, too
for anything else that may be there
And then I'll bring you word"
You are very good" she said with.
a little hesitation, but 1 can't let
you"
He interrupted her with a laugh.
Its nothing difficult that 1 am pro-
posing to do for you, you know"
That's true. 1 had forgotten your
wings. The rocks, the ice, the steep
places, that mean so t~ragically much
to them, are nothing at all to you. But
what are you doing now? Even you
can't find them in the dark"
I1c udu dlIeduy UcSuu UuSlTdppluS
the bundle he had made of his wings,
and seemed to be preparing for i'm
mediate flight. That was what caused
her question.
NO." he said; II shall wait for sun
rise"
But why not here, on the yacht?
We can give you a comfortable bed
there; better, certainly, than that
sleeping bag of yours"
81 am afraid" he said, that what
you call a comfortable bed in a yachts
cabin would be the surest instrument
that could be found for keeping me
awake all night. No, l shall find q
sheltered hollow up at the top of that
headland yonder, where 1 shall sleep
deeply enough, you may be sure"
She watched him, silently, while he
slipped the steel-jointed rods into
place, drew the catgut bow strings
taut, until they sang-until the fabric
of his planes Skinned in the starlight
-%quivered, al if they were instinct
with a life of their OWL.
A sense Of the unreality of it all
came yelling up strongly within her,
and q touch of an almost forgotten
faor ~ him