Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-07-07

-7776 clustered ABOUT the hut, and
ing their frames and planking
s-a.wood was an arduous task, but
u.orked at il until it was done,
,,e standing sentinel all the time.
ussn # was done, they were prac-
.rr secure against surprise, for
- their windows. with the aid of a
~ .lass which Cayley had found
no observatory, they were able to
-.sr the whole beach absolutely
,..r in both directions.
,,d almost every day while the
A. lasted. with Jeanne, armed with
!. rgrolyer, keeping watch before the
cayley took to his wings and
u lied the beach, from the glacier
tbs promontory, high up above the
.r-l of the crest of the cliff His
H.. was always along the same
.,,t He never winged his way in
nd nor out to sea.
There we're two reasons for this.
" dared not go SO far away from
fsspne that a flash and swoop would
rot hiring him to her side. The other
r,sson was that if superstitious fear
Of this great man-bird were really
what deferred their enemy from at
hacking them, it was well to let him
believe that immunity from this por-
tent could be secured by keeping
away from this particular stretch of
b sch
weeks, the conviction grew upon
Philip and Jeanne that their securest
protection lay in his wings, in the
terrorizing effect upon their invisible,
silent enemy of the majestic winged
apparition which was so often seen
soaring in midsky above the hut and
the little stretch of beach surrounding
It, Something was protecting them
evidently Almost every week brought
some evidence, not only of the exis-
tence but the nearness of their enemy.
They never actually caught sight or
sound of him, but some times when
the wind blew from the right quarter
they could make out, with their field
glass, a wrack of brownish smoke,
such as would be given off by burning
whale oil, drifting down from some
where along the glacier, and made
visible by the dazzling wilderness of
that background.
And sometimes they saw track in
the newly fallen snow, never coming
VERY near the hut, but trespassing a
[ittle way ether down from the
glacier or up from the headland, upon
the stretch of beach they were de-
PENDING. They never found the tracks
of more than single man, and these
were always the same. So that they
came to believe, although they could
not know, that they had only one man
to deal with.
They sometimes speculated on the
question whether he was Roscoe or
some other member of the Walrus
rev; really, in fact, they found it
to hope that 1t was any
other than he.
They got proof Of his identity, or
What amounted to 1t, along toward the
md of October. Cayley's keen eyes
'aught, one day, from up aloft where
le was soaring, the CLINT of something
IN the beach near the foot of the
leadland. He circled down in a long
iwoop, caught it up without alighting
md mounted into the air, a trick of
'eronautics which made Jeanne, &C.
'ustomed as she was by now to see
ng him in flight, catch her breath a
title.
When he descended and alighted
beside her a few moments later, he
showed her a sheath knife, the haft of
Which was a rudely carved walrus
usk, The hand of the last user of it
had had blood upon 1t, and its imprint
ipon the surface of the ivory was
plainly to be seen. The lines in the
palm were traceable and, lengthwise,
along the side of the handle, the
print of an immense thumb.
You see," said Cayley quietly, "he
vas using this knife left-handed."
The girl paled a little as she handed
ne weapon back to him, but she spoke
luietly enough:
It's good to know" she said, al
most relief"