The Washington herald., 1914-11-08

the easiest climbing, when Alan stole back b
Judith and reported that, on the evidence Of OBJ
seryation and belief. he was convinced that the
pursuit had turned back-perhaps for want Of am
munition. perhaps to execute some less hazardous
attempt upon the lives Of the fugftives-
Without delay, then, he made the free end Of the
rope fast round his own waist and, following the
way Barcus had chosen, began the ascent.
Twothirds OF the climb had been accomplished,
and Rose and Barcus had arrived in safety at the
top. before the temptation to look down proved
irresistible.
Alan shuddersd and swallowed hard before re-
suming the ascent
Another twenty feet, however, brought him to q
ledge quite six feet wide, offering broad and
easy path to the summit. He gained this with
prayer Of heartfelt relief and was on the point Of
rising to his feet when cry Of horror from Bar
Gus and scream Of terror from Rose, watching
over the upper edge, warned him barely In time to
enable him to-snatch at and grasp knob Of rock
before Judiths weight suddenly tautened the rope
between them and jerked Alans legs from under
him
His feet and legs kicking the empty air beyond
the lip OF the ledge he lay face downward clutch
ing desperately the knob Of rock, praying that It
might not come away in his grasp.
The fall Of twenty feet to the shale roof was
nothing. What would follow would, however, spell
death. The impact Of her body would set the shale
IN motion. like an ayalanehe-and beyond the caves
was only emptiness and the boWiderstrewn bed Of
the chasm hundred feet below!
The sweat poured from his face like rain. His
eyes started in their sockets The blood drummed
in his with q resembling distant thunder.
His fingers grew numb his throat dry =.
He felt that he could not hold on another in
slant when, abruptly, that torture was no more.
The rope had been relieved Of its burden. He
heard scream from below echoed by one from
above then the thump Of Judith's body falling
the shale then the slithering rumble Of the land
slide gathering momentum
49, IL.
Of security. Spent and faint and sick with horror,
he lay prone, shuddering.
Only fhe assurance Of Barcus that Judith had
somehow escaped being precipitated over the caves
Of the shale roof reused him and gave him nerve
enough to resume the climb.
It was true, when he found courage to look and
for himself: she lay within three yards Of the
brink, supine, her face upturned to the sun, un-
stirring-she dared not stir: O single movement
was calculated to set the shale bed again in mo-
ton.
Painfully he realized that II, as Barcus asserted
she had deliberately cut the rope herself Judith
had offered up her life to spare his own,
W-RETRBUTIoN
And yet the very consciousness Of the girls dam
ger was all the stimulant that Alan needed to
recall him to himself
Once arrived with Barcus at the top Of the elin,
he lost no time in setting about preparations to
effect her rescue.
In this business, Fortune smiled upon him, Il
were, by predisposition. q.
broad roadway ran along the top Of the preci-
pice, turning on, at little distance to the right
to descend the mountainside. And Just beyond this
turning Providence had chosen to locate the camp
OF a hydraulic mining outfit
Alan's appearance at the top, In fact, was coin
cident with the arrival at that point of half dozen
excited miners; and he had no more than voiced
his demands than three Of their number were
Fastening back to the camp to procure rope and
more hands.
Within i've minutes Alan, against the protests
Of Rose and Barcus, was being lowered over the
edge and down to the shale roof. on which he land
ed at a spot far to side Of Judith to escape all
danger Of sending q second landslide down upon
her.
Picking his way carefully down to the very brink
Alan edged along this, more than once saved
fall to death only by the rope, until he stood i'm
mediately below Judith.
Then pausing, he instructed her carefully, tossed
the end Of the rope into her hands, and when she
had wound It twice round her arms, crept up to
her side and helped her make it fast about her
body.
His signal to the miners that all well educed
prompt response. There was a giddy interval in
which the two swung perously between heaven
and earth. Then they stood once more In safety.
Supported by sympathetic hands, the quartet
staggered into camp, their story, condensed by
Barcus and breathlessy confirmed by Alan, already
winning them enthusiastic champions.
And this very well for them. For they had
no more than seated themselves and begun to ap-
preciate what perils they had Just escaped when
the rumble of a motor car sounded beyond the
shoulder Of the hill.
Startled by this alarm once more into full COM
mand of his tagging faculties, Alan rose and
stumbled out into the roadway, taking quick cog
nizance OF such facilities for defense as the camp
Afforded and issuing Instructions with voice vi
brant with fear not for his own safety but for the
safety Of those whom he loved.
Not far from the point where the road swung
from the clin to thread the camp the hydraulic noz-
ze was in action, its terrific force Of water melt
ing the mountainside away ton by ton.
4 Toward this Barcus ran at top speed gaining the
man in charge Of the nozzle Just as the car swung
round the bend
Pausing only long enough to make certain that
there could be no mistake-and having this Ger
tainty made doubly sure by Jimmy's action in ris-
ing from his seat and firing over the windshield
pontbank at Alan this last stood waiting In the
roadway-Barcus and the miner swung the nozzle
round until It bore directly the car.
The power Of its stream was such that the car
was checked instantly in its tracks, and before the
water could have been shut on or the stream d.