The Detroit times., 1912-12-03

thought. Or q roostins place. There's
been bit OF a fall OF rock here; the
outside's shelled on. wonder"
lie ran out briskly into the plain
and stared hard at the face OF the
rock. The night was thinning. Al
ready the east was gray. Day would
stare az him within a matter Of min
ltes, aud II he was 10 ind cover, II
must be before day showed him 10
he curious. Yes, In the edge OF that
rocktall there was dark patch that
might we'll be q hollow. There was
a darker stain at the foot OF 1tt that
merged into green below. and meant q
rickle OF wet.
II would be damp and uncomfort-
able In the hollow even II be could
get into 1t. but he was In no position
just then to pick and choose. he
must take what offered, and II II
turned out that the dark patch was
merely shadow and not q hole at all.
we'll, there was no getting over the
! fact that his position would be desper>
ate. So he ran In once more. clam
bered up over the tumbling screes, and
then with fingers and toes attacked
the narrow lodges OF the rock itself.
He told me afterwsrd IL was tho
first piece OF rock climbing he had
done In all his life, and from the de-
scription land he was never the man
. 10 exaggerated Il must have been no
kind OF work for an apprentice. But,
on the other hand, II must be remem-
bered that he had learned to climb on
sailing ship. and later had been
second mate on a full rigger. and from
his Official position had been expected
to be land was) the most reckless
and skilful climber on board.
This training. one may gather.
saved his life just then. He went mp.
he crawled sidewise. he went down,
and clambered up again with straining
nngerups; and finally got to the
middle OF q fractureless slab Of rock.
and had to give up and go down and
start afresh.
He prospected more diligently this
time. traced a course. plotted II In his
head, and attacked IL with toes and
| fingers. This time he had more sue
cess. Daylight was Jogging at his
heels, and he strove, upward with
every muscle and nerve In his body.
But the way was almost vertical and
terribly hard The jealous inches
yielded TO him reluctantly. The owl,
for the first time In its history, scent
| ed an intruder. and came out to the
edge OF its hole and hooted derlsively.
| Kettle halted 10 seconds for breath
and nodded at IL pleasantly. I'll
tweak your tail feathers yet before
the day comes up" he gasped-"if
only you'll wait for me-" And then
UP he dragged himself hand over hand
for six feet till once more he could
ind Judgment for the toes OF his
boots. And then came triumph. He
put out q hand high above his head
and got II In q firm hold. second
later be was In the place where his
hand had been, and the owl, COM
planning noisily, new outward past his
ear.
For q while Captain Kettle lay on
the floor Of the cleft, getting back his
breath In labored sobs. The valley
below him was eclipsed. His only
view was Of snow-capped peaks at q
far distance, rosy now with an unseen
sunrise, and q limitess sky spread
with the palette OF the dawn. He
looked and lusted. by James," he
muttered. III only I'd time to get you
down on paper"
| But he was never q man to allow
himself the Injuries OF poetry when
business still remained 20 be done.
! The cleft ran into the mountain; q
stream tinkled at It's foot; and II
flashed on him that here was q place
TO ambush the Wangaroo's men II so
be he found II necessary TO bring q
squad OF those Animation rufaians up
to the valley.
All evidences showed that the cleft
mad been but newly opened. The rock
slab that sealed its mouth had shelled
away and tumbled down on the
screes below only q matter OF weeks
before. perhaps days. And the enter
! prising owl which had taken posses
sion had not yet had time 70 build
more than the rudiments OF q nest,
much less lay the impending egg.
The main question was, would the
cleft hold enough men1
The hollow In which he lay and
painted would harbor half a dozen at
a pinch-if they could get there. He
rose to his feet and pressed on to
the gloom at its farther end. The
crack went on into the rock. and the
stream murmured up into the black
uibldhCOs Oub bho AONh eAAo - ~
gether, and Kettle could not press
even his slim body In between them.
A draft came out OF crack with
the water and blew It's grateful chill
on to his perspiring face. He un-
wound the irritating head-rope and re-
moved his head-cloth TO get the full
benent OF II Rnd-no-yes-surel
there was another draft blowing down
from above. He shut his eyes tight
ly. and then peered upward into the
gloom. Yes. there was q hole above
him.
He pressed his toes. knees, and ell
bows into the rock walls and heaved
himself up. chimneyswesp fashion.
and presently stood In . channel
above which appeared TO lead directly
in toward the heart Of tho rock.
He had matches, but they were few
In number, and he did not want TO
waste them. So he went ahead into
the darkness, exploring cautiously
with hands and feet, and after remov-
ing the glass from his compass with
the point OF his knife, took bearings
OF direction from time to time by deli
cate fnger touches on the bare needle.
Il was q nice piece Of work. carried
out by q remarkably clever surveyor.
The cleft he was In was an old wa,
nnU drv which had