Rocky Ford enterprise. (Rocky Ford, Colo.) 1887-1950, 1911-06-23
&CHAS ~. ROSSEl
oers,srr 100 81 I'VE sUeeEss co

night during the storm had been moth.
ing but hallucination. None the less.
he knew that 1t would be easier to
walk past that empty hut in full broad
day, than in this tricky. misty. uncer-
tain light Of dawn.
He carried out this plan at once,
to the point, that is. Of going up the
glacier to the cave, building a fire
with an enormous meal. But he had
not slept at all the night before. and
now the warmth and the satisfaction
of his appetite made his nerveless
hand release the bone he was gnaw.
ing. and caused him to roll over be-
side the IRE and to fall asleep.
He slept deeply for a number Of
hours. Then. arming himself with .
throwing-stick and a number Of darts,
he stepped outside the cave. intent
upon his expedition to the other side
Of the peninsula where there was q
possibility Of finding the yacht.
The cave was situated some little
distance up the glacier. and the
! shortest, though by far the more DIFF
ncult, way Of reaching his destination
lay. not along the beach but up
through the interior valley and across
the precipitous coast range Of hills.
1t was not the natural way to go.
but the fact that 1t was actually short
er gave him a sort Of excuse for avoid
ing another visit, Just now. to tho
scene Of his discontinue Of the night
before. He swore at himself, not SO
much for taking this course as for the
| reasons which his common sense al
legged against him:
His present route took him close
to the gold ledge. and the sight OF the
inexhaustible, precious. useless metal
that remained here brought upon him
for the FIRST time. in full force.
sense OF his loss. sense OF what that
luckless trip ashore from the Aurora
In search Of that rosewood box had
cost him.
At an increased pace he descended
from the glacier. crossed the valley
and scaled the landward- side OF one
OF the mountains OF the coast range.
! to a notch where he could command
view Of the sea to the westward.
He saw there what. in the bottom Of
his mind. he had all along been sure
he would see-nothins but another
barren. bleak horizon.
At that. for . while. his fortitude
broke down. and he raved and wept
and cursed like one demented. But at
last, spent. sobered. conscious once
more Of a sharp hunger. he climbed
little farther up the mountain to q
ledge. where. as his minute knowledge
| - IAA tim, En-
found q number Of looms sitting. He
killed one Of these birds with a dart.
and then. like the brute he was. ate 1t
raw and warm.
By that time It was late in the aft
ernoon. Bravado. combined with q
more real belief than he had yet sue
ceeded in retaining. to the effect that
all his terror of the night before had
resulted from nothing more serious
than a nightmare. led him to decide to
go home by way Of the beach. rather
than along the dimcult interior trail
up which he had come.
The descent from the clifhead to
the beach was nothing to a man Of his
inhuman strength and activity. though
an ordinary skilled mountaineer might
have hesitated before attempting It.
Nevertheless, twothirds OF the way
down he nearly fell-but for luck he
would have fallen. for he caught
glimpse OF a lonely figure. a quarter OF
a mile away. perhaps. seated upon a
ledge. bending forward. chin in hand.
in an attitude which recalled. and
horribly echoed. that OF the man he
| long ago had murdered.
When he had steadied himself lit
tie. he made his way cautiously down
to the level OF the beach. His emotions
were divided about equally between
fear and anger. the anger existing be-
cause OF the fear.
With infinite caution he approached
that lonely. unsuspecting figure. slip
ping from the shelter Of one rock to
that OF one a little nearer.
Three times his left hand drew back
the throwing stick. balanced and
aimed along a line that would send Its
thin ivory dart as swiftly and as sure
ly to that beautiful throat as the one
that had found and transfxed Perry
Hunters: and three times his mus
cles braced themselves for the effort
to propel It. But each time. with a
breathless oath. he lowered the
weapon again. and with the back Of
his forehead.
The act had none OF the quality Of
mercy in It; II was simply the result
of a logical dilemma. II the thing he
saw before him were a ghost. the
ghost OF the man he had already muir
dered. his dart would do no harm. II