Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-04-27
CHAPTER Iv.--contInued.

She was addressing the elder mar
as she spoke, and as she mentioned
the name-it was the first time she
had mentioned 1t to any one-she
saw him shoot a startled, inquiring
glance at his sSn. Following it, she
met Tom Fanshaw's eyes staring at
her In utter amazement.
"Cayley." he said, half under his
BREATH; Philip Cayley-"
THAT was the name," she an
swered-
And yet, I'd be willing to swear"
he said, Tive never mentioned that
name to you in my life"
NO" she said. why should you?
] know you didn't. l knew | had never
heard it before when he told me it
was his" She hesitated a moment;
then: did you ever know a man
named Philip Cayley, Tom?"
He let the question go by, unheeded,
and, for a long time, gazed silently
out over the land. II suppose" he
said at last, that a coincidence like
this, any coincidence, if only it be
strange enough, will bring a touch of
supersitous fear to anybody. l never
had even a touch of 1t before, in all
my life; and l always had a little feel
ing of contempt for the men who
showed it. But now-well, well, /
wish poor old Hunter hadn't strayed
away last night. | wasn't alarmed
about him before, and I've no rational
ground for alarm about him now.
Only"
He did not go on until she prompted
him with a question. "And has the
sky-man, Philip Cayley, anything to
do with the coincidence?"
Still it was a little while before he
spoke. 81 suppose I'd better tell you
the story-a part of it, at least; I
couldn't tell 1t all to you" He turned
to his father. you, l think, already
know it." Then with evident reluc-
lance, he began telling the story to
Jeanne.
There was a man named Philip
Cayley," he said, Fin Hunters class at
the Point, three classes ahead of me,
that was. He and Hunter were chums,
the David and Jonathan you know,
Of their class. | remember what a
stroke sof luck for them everybody
thought 1t was when they were as
signed to service in the same regi-
ment. 1t seems to me, as l think back
to u days at the Point-of course,
my memory may be playing me a
trtck-but 1t seems to me that even
then Cayley was interested In the
navigation Of the air. Somebody kept
q scrap-book Of all that the newspa-
pers and magazines reported on the
subject, any way; | remember seeing
It, ! think it was Cayley.
" lost sight Of him and Hunter
when they went to the Philippines. 1t
is only Justice to Hunter to say that
I never heard a word of the thing that
happened out there from him. He
never seemed to want to talk to me
about 1t, and, Of course, ! never forced
him. Well, ! can make a short story
of It, any way, though 1t has to be a
nasty one.
"A man came into the post one day.
the head man Of n of the neighbor-
ing villages out there, a man with
white blood In him-Spanish blood.
They carried him in, for he couldn't
walk. He was in horrible condition.
He had been tortured-I won't go into
the details of that-and flogged nearly
to death. He said that Cayley had
done It. He had demonstrated with
Cayley, he said, because he feared
for his daughters safety-she was a
pretty girl, whittier than her father
and 1t seems that the mans fears had
some justification. 1t appears that
Cayley had come out there. blind
drunk, with a couple of troopers, who
deserted that same night, and Suan.
handled the old man. The girl Joined in
her fathers accusation, at least she
didn't deny anything.
"Cayley was away on scout duty at
the time when the man came in-the'
thing had happened some days prior,
Just before he started out. It. came
like a thunderbolt out Of a clear sky,
for everybody liked Cayley and
thought him an exceptionally decent,
clean sort OF chap, though he and
Hunter both were drinking a good deal
lust then. Poor Hun,er was all
broken up about It. Everybody be
Ha1sd that he really knew some In