Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, 1911-08-17
II was at that instant that Philip

Philip sprang clear or MS pianes'
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 artt-
cIes 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. y
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 o and
waited.
He saw Philip cross the threshold.
unseeing suspecting, apparently.
nothing; saw him, at last, within hands
reach.
lust as he touched him he uttered
a 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 was only
momentary. With a yell of rage, he
SpTduS upOu SdylCJ, AhA
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. ---a@--aETEAGt
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 nov, grim
n horrible. But he struck a spark
at last, lighted a candle and looked
around.
The reaction of relief turned him,
for a moment, giddy, as the glance
about the room convinced him that
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-
sented the way Roscoe had
What, If Jeanne, unable for some rea-
son to defend herself, had chosen, as
the lesser evil, to fng herself over the
cliff from the unnel mouth?
The moment be thought of that he
went out into the tunnel, stepping over
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-
rora which still blazed in the sky, daz-
zled his eyes, without lighting the
surface of the world below.
He must 60 down there, in order to
be sure. He had not stopped to furl
his planes when he alighted, and they
had wedged themselves sideways into
the tunnel, still extended and so ready
for flight in an emergency.
He righted them and slipped his
arms through the loops that awaited
them. He stood for a moment, test
ing the right wing tentatively. There
was a play about 1t that he did not un-
derstand. So far as he could see moth
ing vas broken. The fact that it was
his own arm did not occur to him.
He was just turning to dive off the
cliff-head when, suddenly, he saw the
great form of the man he had sup
posed to be dead, rise and rush uDon
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
the edge of the cliff, and the mans
momentum carried him over. His
clutching hands grasped Cayley's
shoulders, and they went down to-
owe 900 feet of empty space.
For Cayley the space was all too little.
AS they went over he thought that he
dlO ulS SlSduLlC SueU1y were going
to death together. Instructive
ly, and much quicker han a man can
think, he swept his great-fantail for.
and flung himself back in an at
tempt to correct the balance destroyed
by the great weight that was clinging
to his shoulders.
They were, of course, bound to go
down. Neither his strength nor the
area of his planes was sufficient to
them both in the air. But in
the position into which he had flung
they would go down a little
more slowly. He would gain, perhaps,
a precious second more.
But he did not waste even an in
intestinal ONE in any struggle
against the force of gravity.
Twice, with all his might, he sent
lis left fist crashing against the face,
staring, horrible face, that con-
his own But still that con-
dying grasp held fast.
They were now more than q baro