The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1912-08-02

~ l1'bsns d concenirAied. obgef gat6
iir1n heF lie thought sh1 might isve
tainted nf that alla nligl 4 have died.
In any tFent nd reflected mat al Q had
stsenstl and nerve hid viii to have
dfessed herself befofe eitl.ef Of tilest
things happened She iSy9 ntotionless
under his gake fotso long tHAt he
finally mAde Up his mind that com.
mon humanity required him 10 70 TO
her assistance "A
70 Hetrose tothis feet on tne instant
and saw the woman also lift herself
from the grass as II moved BY q slmi.
lar impulse, In his intense preoccu.
fation he had forgot to observe the
signs Of the times. A sense OF the
overcast sky came 70 him, suddenly as
IT did to her. but with q difference.
He knew what was about 70, happen,
his experience told him much more
as to the awful potentialitIes of, the
tempest than she could possibly imag.
ine. She must be warned at once,
she must leave ttel eanon and get up
on the higher ground without delay.
His duty was plain and yet he did 1t
not He could not. The pressure
upon him was not yet strong enough:
A half dozen times az he watched
her deliberately sitting there eating,
he opened his mouth to CRY to her.
yet he could not bring himself to It.
"A strange, timidity oppressed him;
halted him, held him back. A man
cannot stay away Eve years from men
and women and be himself with them
in the twiukling Of an eye. And when
to that instinctiye and acquired reluc-
lance against which he struggled in
vain, he added the assurance that
whatever his message he would be
unwetcome on. account OF what had
gone before: he could not force him.
self to go to her or even to, call to
her, not yet. He would keep her m.
der surveillance, however, and II the
worst came he could intervene in time
to rescue her. He counted without
his cost, his usual Judgment bewil-i
dered So he followed her through
the trees and down the bank.
Now he was so tengrossed in her,
and SO agitated that his caution slept.
his experience was forgotten. The
storm In his own breast was. SO great
that It overshadowed the storm. brew
inS above: Her way was easier than
his and he had fallen some distance
behind when suddenly there rushed
upon him the fact that a frightful and
unlocked for cloudburst was about to
occur above their heads. A lightning
Cash and a thunder clap at last ar
rested his attention. Then, but not
until then, he flung everything to the
winds and amid the sullen and almost
continuous peals o., thunder he sent
cry after cry toward her which were
lost in the tremendous diapason OF
sound that echoed and reechoed
through the riffs Of the mountains.
Wait" he cried again and again.
Come up.,higher. Get out Of the
canon. You'll be drowned" -a'
But he had waited too long. The
storm had developed too rapidly; she
was too far ahead Of and beneath him
She heard nothing but the sound of a
voice, shrill. menacing. frapght. with
terror for her, not word Distinguish
able; scarcely to her disturbed soul
even q human voice, II seemed like
the wizard cry Of some wild spirit of
the storm. 1t sounded to her over
wrought. nerves so utterly inhuman
that she only ran the fastera,
The, canon sweryed and then dou-
bied back, but be knew its direction.
Losing sight Of her for the moment he
plunged straight. ahead through the
trees, cutting or the bend, leaplng
with superhur,an agility and strength
over rocks and logs until he reached
a point where the rift narrowed, be-
tween two walls End ran deeply. There
and then the heavens opened, and the
floods caEe and beat into the open
nav Of that vast crevice and filled It
in an instant.
AS the de'uge came roaring down,
bearing onward the sweepings and
scourings OF the mountains, he caught
q glimpse of her white desperate face
rising. falling. now disappearing, now
coming into view again. in the foamy
midst of the torrent. He ran 10 the
cliff bank and throwing aside his gun
he scrambled down the wall to a Ger.
tain shelf OF the rock over which the
rising water broke sthinly.. Ordinarily.
It was twenty, feet above the creek
bed. Bracing himself against Jagged
projection he waited praying. The
canon was here. so narrow that he
could have leaped to the other side
and yet 1t was too narrow for him to
reach her II the water did not sweep
her toward his feet. twas all done in
a second. Fortunately projection on
the other side threw the force Of the
torrent toward him and with it came
the woman.
She was almost spent. She had
been struck by log upheaved by
gnp,A ,,,tnt,&,x ,,a.,z 49,.