Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-02-26


man, Max, with an equally unexpected and
impaired blow on the point of the chin,
and saw him culver where he fell.
| Painting and white, with rage and his effort,
Robley regarded the first of the two with
| eyes that cleaned like STEEL The creature
was helpless, rolling his eyes in anguish.
"You curs!' said Stuyverant, taking up
| the knife that Jan had let fall from his hand,
and, starting at once to make further pur-
suit impossible, he ran to their waiting car
and clambered to the seat.
FOR the first time then, as he made an at
tempt to grip the wheel with his hand, he
| realized that his wrist was gone, from the
| blows he had Just delivered. In its mendng
condition it had been too weak to sustain the
| force of the shock. 1t was useless, though
not again broken.
| He had hoped to take the limousine and
continue after Thurley. Such a course was
out of the question But to wreck the car
was we'll within his power He made ready
to leap, slipped in the clutch, speeded up
as much as he dared; then, pushing the
spark and throttle forward, jumped out
at the side and permitted the erstwhile
roaring monster to rush unguided down the
road.
For moment it chung to the straight bit
of path like a thing endowed with life; then,
gathering speed and lunging forward like a
maddened animal, it suddenly veered at the
highways curve and plunged with violence
incredible down through a glade of the snow
and ice, ramming tree with an impact ire
mendous to behold.
There was a crash of shattered glass, fierce
grinding sounds, the crunching of iron and
turmoil of twisting steel, and its wreckage
and ruin were complete.
Stuyverant started down the road where
Thurley had gone, on foot. There was
merely wondered how far she might have
sped, how far he must walk to come to a
village and get train at last-perhaps with
the Princess, perhaps alone.
He glanced back repeatedly, until at
length he came to turn of the highway,
beyond which was an opening through the
woods affording view of all the open space
where he had met his murderous assailants.
Until the place was hidden from his view,
he saw no sign that either man had risen
from the earth.
He was going rapidly, merely intent upon
making all possible progress and inclined to
believe that Thurley, might attempt to Sc
cure assistance beyond and return again to
the scene, when he was thoroughly astound
ed to discover his car, standing unattended
in the road some distance ahead, bit of
blush mist between the wheels revealing the
fact that the motor was in motion.
HE fastened his pace, alarmed anew as he
IL saw no sign of Thurley. Then he came
to the side of the trembling machine and
glanced hurriedly about. Thurley had dis
appeared.
For a moment possessed of the widest
beliefs that some new calamity met in this
direction had accomplished her destruction
after all, he ran ahead, came back, called out
her name, and searched all the wooded copse
with a quickly rowing gaze.
Not a ruff1ing, nor track, did the snow in
that direction afford. On the roads other
side the wind had cleared the frozen EARTH
making footprints out of the question. But
he fastened there, and beheld in the field
quite distance away something furry that
lay in the snow.
1t was Thurley! When she drove away
and left the scene where Stuyverant, run
ming and hiding, was inviting perhaps even
death to overtake him, she had almost inn
mediately suffered sense of selfshness in
attempting to escape, while abandoning the
man she knew she dearly loved.
She had merely obeyed instructions hur-
riedly supplied. Then the limping car,
humping stiff1y over frozen ruts, had pres
emily added an element unforeseen. The
seat cushion next to the one she occupied
was iOlted from its place In a shallow re-