Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1911-07-13

Philip sprang clear of his planes,
left them as they were there at the
tunnel mouth, and walked steadily up
toward the pilot house door.
Roscoe, on hearing his voice the
first time, had dropped the arti-
cles which encountered his hands and
CROPPED on the table for the revolver.
Before he could put his hand on 1t
Cayley spoke the second time.
At that, wanting no weapon, conf.
dent that he needed none, his great
arms aching for the feel OF the sky
mans flesh beneath their grasp, he
moved a step nearer the door and
waited.
He saw Philip cross the threshold.
unseeing suspecting, apparently
nothing; saw him, at last, within hands
reach.
Just as he touched him he uttered
q sobbing oath, and his great hand fall
tered, for Philips knife had struck
through, clean to the hilt, and just
below the heart,
The effect of the shock vas only
momentary. With a yell Of rage, he
sprang upon Cayley, crowded him
back against the wall, tore at him
blindly, like a wild beast, and finally
getting Philips right forearm fairly
in the grip of both hands. he snapped
it like a pipestem.
In a moment Cayley got round be-
hind him and with the crook Of his
good arm round Roscoe's neck, he sue
ceeded in forcing him to release his
grip and in throwing him heavily.
AS he lay, his body projected
through the doorway, out into the
tunnel.
Philip left him huddled there, and
went back to the table. He found
Roscoe's flint and steel beneath his
hand; but It was a full minute before
he could summon his courage to strike
a light, for the differences from Ros-
GOES presence here in the pilot house
began to crowd upon him now, grim
and horrible. But he struck a spark
} at last, lighted a candle and looked
around.
: The reaction Of relief turned him.
, for a moment, giddy, IS the glance
3 about the room convinced him that
3 what he feared worst had not happen
ed. But another thought occurred to
him, almost at once, when he saw
the cover had been removed from the
! top of the ice chimney.
In his mind, of course, that repre-
i scented the way Roscoe had come.
d What, If Jeanne, unable for some rea
Q son to defend herself, had chosen, as
the lesser evil, to lng herself over the
cliff from the tunnel mouth?
The moment he thought Of that he
went out into the tunnel, stepping over
e Roscoe's body to do so. He went to
the edge and looked over, but 1t was
too dark to see. The light Of the au-
n rora which still blazed in the sky, daz.
zled his eyes, without lighting the
g surface Of the world below.
a He must go down there, in order to
n be sure. He had not stopped to furl
his planes when he alighted, and they
had wedged themselves sideways into
n the tunnel, still extended and so ready
n for flight in an emergency.
He righted them and slipped his
Il arms through the loops that awaited
4 them. He stood for a moment, test
"a ing the right wing tentatively. There
n was a play about 1t that he did not un-
derstand. So far as he could see noth-
n ing was broken. The fact that it was
"a his own arm did not occur to him.
In He was Just turning to dive off the
clif-head when, suddenly, he saw the
-, great form of the man he had sup
70 posed to be dead, rise and rush upon
al him.
- Philips knife had, indeed, inflicted a
- mortal wound, but a man Of Roscoe's
physique lets go Of life slowly. He
was bleeding to death, internally, but
-, the process was, probably, retarded By
his huddled position as he lay there
-, in the tunnel.
~ So he had lain still and awaited his
chance. Cayley was standing quite
~ at the edge Of the cliff, and the mans
momentum carried him over. His
40 clutching hands grasped Gayley's
Il shoulders, and they went down to
-, gether, over 600 feet of empty space.
> Fer Cayley the space was all too little,
AS they went over he thought that he
and his gigantic enemy were going
ny down to death together. instructive
~ ly, and much quicker than a man can
'as think, he swept his great-fantail for
~ ward and flung himself back in an a.
ut tempt to correct the balance destroyed
~ by the great weight that was clingina
I ~ to his shoulders,
'n They were, Of course, bound to gS
down. Neither his strength nor th'
All area of his planes was sufficient Il
support them both in the air. But IL
the position into which he had flunt
De himself they would go down a LITTLE
on' more slowly. He would gain, perhaps
III a precious second more.
But he did not waste even an in
'du fnitesimal moment in any struggle
le against the force Of graTity.
ne Twice, with all his might, he sen
his left fist crashing against the face
10 the staring, horrible face, that con
Inu fronted his own. But still that con
v~ulsive, dying grasp held fast.
They were now more than a bar
yes oon go ohovA tha icn With n al