Okolona messenger. (Okolona, Miss.) 1900-current, 1911-04-06

the ClVlllEeQ, naDlLhDle poTLlou Vi IhS
world than his companions. He car
ried a rifle slung by a strap over his
shoulder, evidently foreseeing no I'M
mediate use for it, and a flask.
Cayley was too far aloft for their
conversation to be audible to him, but
he could hear that they were talking.
The leather-clad man appeared to be
doing the most Of 1t, and, from the
infection of his voice, he seemed to
be speaking in English.
Presently he noticed that the leath-
er-clad man had forged a little ahead
of his companions, or, rather-like a
flash, this idea occurred to Cayley-
that the others were purposely lag
ging a little behind.
And then, before that sinister idea
could formulate itself into a definite
suspicion, his eyes widened with
amazement, and the cry he would
have uttered died in his throat; for
this man, who had so i%nnocently al
lowed the others to fall behind him,
suddenly staggered, clutched at some
thing-it looked like a thin ivory dart
that had transfixed his throat,
tugged It out in a sudden flood Of
crimson, reeled a little and then went
backwards over the CLASSY edge Of a
assure in the ice, which lay just to
the left of the path where he had
been walking.
From the instant when Cayley had
noticed the others dropping behind, to
the last glimpse he had Of the body
Of the murdered man could hardly
have been five seconds.
The instant the murdered man dis
appeared, another, who had not previ
ously been with the party, 1t seemed
appeared from behind a hummock o.
ice. There could be no doubt eithel
that he was the assassin, or that ht
was the commander of the little grouI
of skin-clad figures that remained
The ambush appeared to have beer
perfectly deliberate. There had beef
no outcry, not even a gesture of sur
prise or of remonstrance,
Cayley looked at the assassin curl
ously. He was dressed exactly lik'
the others, but seemed very mucl
bigger; seemed to walk with less o
a SLOUGH, and had, even to Cayley.
limited view Of him. an air of authori
ty. Cayley was surprised at his no
being armed with a bow, for he kney
Of no other way in which q dart coul
have been propelled with powe
enough, even at close range, to hay
trans1xed a mans throat. The assas
sins only weapon, except for a CULVER
full of extra darts, seemed to be
short blunt stick, rudely whitfield
perhaps ten inches long.
Obedient, apparently, to the orde
of the new arrival, the party change
its direction, leaving what was eV
IDENTIFY a well-known path to them, fo
a seemingly more direct but roughe
route. And they moved now with a
appearance of haste. Presently the
scrambled over a precipitous ledge {
Ice and, In a moment, were lost t
Cayley's view.
The world was suddenly empt
again. as If no living foot had eve
trodden 1t; and Cayley, hoyerin
there, a little above the level of tf
ice, rubbed his eyes and wondere
whether the singular, silent TRACED
he had just witnessed were real, or
trick the mysterious arctic light ha
played upon his tired eyes. But thel
remained p o that vacant scene tV
material reminders Of the tragedy
which 1t had afforded a setting, Or
was smudge Of crimson on the snow
the other, a little distance of, Ju
this side Of the icy ridge over whiC
the last of the party had gone scral
; bling a moment before, was Il
} strange looking blunt stick which
: had seer in the assassin's hand.
Cayley flew a little lower, his win
almost Swimming the ice. FINAL
reaching the spot where the thing hi
fallen, he alighted and picked 1t u
: Whether its possessor had valued
V or not, whether or not he might
I expected to return for it, Cayley d
not know, and did not much care.
. He stood for some time turning t
y thing over in his hands, puzzling ov
I 1t, trying to make out how it COZ
y have been used as the instrument
Q propulsion to that deadly ivory da
There was a groove on one side Of
T with a small ivory plug at the Ell
The other end was c%uriously shape
9 misshapen, rather, for, though 1t W
n obviously the end n held, Cayl
could not make it fit his hand, VIII
u ever position he held 1t in.
l. Giving up the problem at fast,
IS tucked the stick into his belt, slipp
IS his arm through the strap in t
Y framework of his aeroplane and p
d pared for fight. He had a little di
Guilty getting up, owing to the abser
. Of a breeze at this point. Finally
r. was obliged to climb, with a good d,
Is of labor, the Icy ridge up which
had watched the little party of m
If derers scrambling.
" AT the crest he cast a glal
lie around, looking for them, but saw
10 signs Of them. Then, getting a faV
n able slant Of the wind, he noun
again into the element he now cal
IT, his own.