The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-09-09

40 s~AAOSASh VAoAS, JNoI INV, " SA0
scene of his discontinue of the night
before. He swore at himself, not 80
much for taking this course as for tho
reasons which his common sense a.
legged against him.
HIS present route took him close
to the gold ledge, and the sight Of tho
luexhaustible, precious, useless metal
that remained here brought upon him
for the first time, in full force,
sense of his loss, q sense Of what that
luckless trip ashore from the Aurora
In search of that rosewood box had
cost him.
AT an increased pace he descended
from the glacier, crossed the valley
and scaled the landward side of one
Of the mountains Of the coast range.
to notch where he could command
= view of the sea to the westward.
He saw there what, In the bottom of
his mind, he had all along been sure
he would see-nothing but another
barren. bleak horizon.
At that, for WHILE his fortitude
broke down, and he raved and wept
and cursed like one demented But at
last, spent, sobered conscious onoa
more Of sharp hunger, he climbed
little farther up the mountain to Z
ledge, where. as his minute knowledge
Of the country led him to expect, he
found number of looms sitting. He
killed one Of these birds with dart,
and then. like tho brute he WIS, ate Ii
raw and warm.
BY that time It was late Ia the Aft
ernoon. Bravado, combined with .
more real belief than ne had yet suo-
ceeded In retaining. to the effect that
all his terror of the night before had
resulted from nothing moro serious
than nightmare, led him to decide to
go home by way OF the beach, rather
than along the difficult interior trail
up which he had come.
The descent from the cliE,head to
the beach was nothing to q man Of his
lnhuman strength and activity, though
an ordinary skilled mountaineer might
have hesitated before attempting it.
Nevertheless, two-thirds OF the way
down he nearly feil-but for luck he
would have fallen, for he caught q
glimpse Of lonely figure. quarter Of
mile away. perhaps. seated upon .
ledge, bending forward, chin In hand,
in an attitude which recalled, and
horribly echoed, that Of the man he
long ago had murdered
When he had steadied himself IT.
tie. he made his way cautiously down
to the level Of the beach. His emotions
were divided about equally between
fear and anger, the anger existing be-
cause Of tho fear.
With infinite caution he approached
that lonely. unsuHpecting figure, slip
ping from the shelter Of one rock TO
that of one a little nearer.
Three times his left hand drew back
the throwing stick. balanced and
aimed along a line that would SEND IT'S
thin ivory dart rs swiftly and as sure
ly to that beautiful throat as the one
that had found and transfixed Perry
Hunters; and three times his mis-
cles braced themselves for the effort
to propel IT.. But each time. With a
breathless OATH he lowered tho
weapon again. and with the back of
his hairy hand wiped the sweat from
his forehead
Tho act had none OF the quality of
mercy in It; 1t was simply the result
Of logical dilemma If the thing he
saw before him were a ghost, the
ghost of the man he had already muir
dered, his dart would do no harm II
1t were not ghost; If 1t were what it
looked more and more like as he drew
nearer, living, breathing woman--he
licked his lips and wrung them with
his hand-if 1t were a woman. he did
not want to kill her. II he could DO
sure, could only be sure, he would
drop his weapon and make one rush
and hold her helpless in those great
hands of his.
And with every five PAGES that
leasened the distance between them,
that certainty grew upon him. No,
she was no immaterial spirit Of a man
long dead. She was alive; warm. He
was near enough now to make out tho
soft curve of her throat the retreat
ing and returning color which bathed
checks and forehead. He could SEQ
the faint rise and fall Of her breast
when she breathed. He laid the throw
ing-stick upon the ice drew nerves
and muscles taut for his rush.
Then, just then, he saw the thing
that made Jeanne close her eyes< the
flashing sword-cut Of that great gold
en- wing, as the thing 1t bore turned
upon the other.
Roscoe dropped down, as If he had
been blasted by the sight Of q sword
ed archangel, in the shelter of his
rock. He lay there, prone, hugging
his head In his arms He did not
rouse himself, did not succeed in fore
ing his treacherous nerves and mus
Giles to obey his will until it was quite
dark. Then, without glance behind
him. he arose and began scrambling
madly up the broken face of the talus,
and, reaching the top of 1t, went on
and scaled the cliff itself It was a
feat which even he could hardly have