Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-08-11
n Wa. a. that instan. that PhiltD

left them as tney were uoio a. NV
tunnel mouth, and walked steadily up
toward the pilot house door
Roscoe, on hearing his voice the
nrst time, had dropped the aru'
cles which encountered his n
CROPPED on the table for the revolver.
Before he could put his hand on II
Cayley spoke the second time.
At that, wanting no weapon, conn'
lent that he needed none, his great
arms aching for the feel of the SKY
mans flesh beneath their grasp, ne
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
a sobbing oath. and his great hand fal-
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
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 b.
hind him and with the crook OF his
good arm round Roscoe's mack, he suo'
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 1t was a full minute before
he could summon his courage 70 strike
a light, for the differences from Ros-
GOES presence here in the pilot houss
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, as he 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 come.
What, If Jeanne, unable for some rea-
son to defend herself. had chosen, az
the lesser evil, to fng herself over the
cliff from the tunnel mouth?
The moment he thought Of that he
uyorf ont into tho funDa1 ctaDDinp nvor
Roscoe's body to do 80. He won't to
the edge and looked over, but 1t wa
too dark to see. b 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 go 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.
luz was DIOhSu. LIZ law IAoI ~ wee
his own arm did not occur to him
He was just turning to dive off tho
cliff-head when, suddenly, he saw tho
great form of the man he had sup
posed to be dead, rise and rush upon
him.
Philips knife had, indeed, inflicted a
mortal wound, but q man of Roscoe's
physique lets 60 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
clutching hands grasped Cayley's
shoulders, n they went down to-
gether. over 600 feet of empty space.
For Cayley the space was all too little.
AS they went over he thought that he
and his gigantic enemy were going
| down to death together. Instructive
ly, and much quicker than a man can
think, he swept his great-fantail for
! ward and flung himself back in an at.
| tempt to correct the balance destroyed
by the great weight that was clingins
to his shoulders.
They were, of course, bound TO go
down. Neither his strength nor the
area Of his planes was sufficient to
support them both in the air. But I n
the position into which he had flung
himself they would go down q little
more slowly. He would gain. perhaps.
a precious second more
But he did not waste even An In
| fnitesimal moment in any struggle
against the force Of gravity.
Twice, with all his might. he sent
his left fist crashing against the face.
the staring, horrible face, that con-
fronted his own. But still that con.
vulsive, dying grasp held fast
They were now more than a bare
200 feet above the ice. With q su-
preme effort, an effort whose sudden
ness availed 1t better thar its strength.
he wrenched himself free and the
great weight dropped of. Another ef-
fort. the instantaneous exertion OF
every ounce of force he possessed, cor.
rected the sudden change OF balance
and prevented him from falling. like
the great, inert mass he bad just
cast OF.
Trembling, exhausted, he managed
to blunder around in q half-circle,
s,anted down inland and stumbled to