The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-05-22
CHAPTER Xii.
The Ascent.
lCnnrrtzht. lgl2 By Harry irving Greensl

The Ascent.
Rising for three hundred feet az
straight up as the side of one of toe
Hottest skyscrapers built by man the
cliffs arose, split from the mountain
top by the wedges Of the Eghtnings
and guarding the summit by walls Of
almost absolute perpendicularity In
that hunt of the past he had seen a
sheep upon the summit, and therefore
knew that there must be a trail lead,
ing to the top despite the fact that It
was classed as inaccessible to human
foot. Determined, therefore, that be
should be the first human TO trod irs
top. for miles he had worked his way
about it with keenly searching eyes as
he sought for the place where the first
step must be made if he would at
tempt the ascent. found it at last, DEG.
perate and scanty to the extreme yet
barely possible to one Of much activ.
ity and steadiness. And with little
regard for probable consequences he
had undertaken il, It had been Z SUI
preme test of nerves and pOise, but he
had conquered it at last, reached the
u6SOldlC, bOuiAC1 AAEAuALIA pic---t%t@ tA-ttE
killed his sheep, and then had sat for
hours upon the sheer edge as he
neryed himself for what seemed a de
scent impossible to human being eX-
cept at the expense of life or splin-
tered bones. Yet having come up he
must go down, and down he eventual
ly and safely arrived-though great
good fortune attended him-and at
last had stood beside the broken body
OF his kill which he had been obliged
to tumble bodily from the height. That
awful ascent and descent had ever
since haunted him as an evil dream, q
thing not to be attempted again for all
the wealth of the world, but now with
the woman he loved borne there in the
loathsome embrace Of that arch enemy
OF all mankind he sought fof the sui
cidal path again with straining eager
ness. Of March lying inert back there
upon the rocks where his bullet had
| felled him he gave scarcely q thought.
Diseased by the idea that he alone
could save the woman he sought. he
would have regardlessly slain any
| thing, man or beast, that he imagined
| might in any way impede his progress.
Before him there lay narrow shelf
leading upward for a score of feet,
| broken, insecure and seeming to end
| in nothing but the blank wall itself,
| but he recognized 1t instantly and
| stepped upon it. Arms extended, fat
| teuing himself against the rock as q
| leech cIings, he felt his way upward
| with infinite caution, his fingers grip
| ping each tiny creVass with the tena-
| city of the tentacIeE of a squid. He
| reached the end Of the narrow shelf
| and there balanced precariousiy upon
| six inches OF outcropping, cast his
| glance cautiously upward and about.
| Several feet to the right was another
| foOthold equally insecure. but leading
upward again, and with the care with
which one treads q taut wire he placed
| his foot upon it, found 2 shallow fin
| ger hold in the cliff and raised himself.
| For fifty feet more he climbed as q fly
scales a wall periled his life upon the
| two-inch support of a jutting point,
mounted again with the superhumau
cunning and strength of the insane
and at the end of a half hours we'll
| nigh miraculous effoEt found for the
! first time during the ascent q shelf
| large enough to rest upon. He was
| half way up now, and with d hundred
and fifty feet of beetling cliff above
and as much empty space below he
| sat down for a moments heavy breath
! ing.
| Through his disordered mind there
ran riot a strange medley of the real
and the unreal Well enough he knew
| that he was scaling this height to
| save the woman whom he loved, yet
| he now conceived the Flying Man 10
| be of the supernatural. a winged mon
| ster of the inaccessible cliffs, a dragon
| of the noisome caveTns that lay be-
meath the gorges, and that he was the
knight chosen from all others because
| of his superior strength and vaI0r to
go forth and STAY him at the portals of
his rock bound domain. Well. Stay
him he would beyond the shadow of Z
| doubt. but already the sun was getting
| low, the climb was still long and des-
| perate and he must be on his way lest
night and certain death should over
| take him fiattened against the blank
wall of the dragons castle. Once more
| he cautiously arose TO resume has Ell
| forts
He scanned the cliff. Just above
| his head was another projection which
| promised a fOothold could he but
reach it, and burying his fingers in a
crack and finding an inch wide sup
| port for his foot he drew himself slow
| iy upward. The slightest slip Of hand
| or foot meant instant death now. and
! his fingers gripped the stone until
| they grew white and bIoodIess from
| the strain. Slowly he raised himself.
| found another grip and another tiny
| support and with an effort that sent
! the blood surging TO his temples
! brought himself gasping one notch
| higher. Here again the ascent became
a trifie less precarious for a ways. and
| another half-hour found him within q
| few feet Of the summit Here OF ali
| places during the ascent he came the
nearest to plunging the whole distance
| TO the rocks below, but q last des-
perate struggle saved him and weak
and trembling from the supreme eff
fort he threw himself down safely
| over the edge. For a moment he rest
| ed. then cautiously arose and looked
| about.
Upon far distant western peak the
sun was balanced like a broad gold
coin poised deiicately. It's horizontal
rays swept the plateau upon which he