The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1914-12-10

unprecedented. He was conscious
only Of her white, staring face, her
strange likeness to the woman that he
loved.
He ran out upon the bridge, threw
himself down upon the innermost tim
Der, turned, and let his body fall back
ward, arms extended at length, and
swung, braced by his feet beneath
the outer timber.
With q swiftness that passed con.
scious thought, he was aware Of the
canoe hurting onward with the speed
of wind, its sharp prov apparently
aimed directly for his head. Then
hands closed round his wrists like
clamps; a tremendous weight tore at
his arms, and with an effort Of incon'
ceivable difficulty he began to lift,
to drag the woman up out of the foam
ing jaws of death.
Somehow that impossible feat was
achieved; somehow the woman gained
a hold upon his body, shifted 1t to his
belt, contrived inexplicably to Chamber
over him to the timbers; and some.
how he in turn pulled himself up to
safety, and sick with reaction sprawled
prone, lengthwise upon that foot-wide
bridge, above the screaming abyss.
Later he became aware that the
woman had crawled to safety on the
farther shore, and pulling himself to-
gether, initiated her example. Solid
earth underfoot, he rose and stood
swaying, beset by great weakness.
Through the gathering darkness-a
CHASTITY twilight in which the flaming
forests on the other shore burned with
an unearthly glare-he discovered the
wan, writhen face of Judith Urine
close to his and he heard her voice, q
scream barely audible above the com.
mingled voices Of the confagration
and the cascades:
''You fool! Why did you save me?
tell you, I have sworn your death"
The utter grotesqueness Of it all
broke upon his intelligence like the
revelation Of some enormous funda.
mental absurdity in Nature: He
laughed little Historically.
Darkness followed. A flash Of light
ming seemed to flame between them
like fiery sword. To its crashing
thunder, he lapsed into unconscious.
ness.
When he reused, it was with a shiv.
or and shudder. Rain was falling
in torrents from a sky the hue Of
slate. Across the lake dense volumes
Of steam .enveloped the fires that
tainted beneath the deluge. A great
hissi4 noise filled the world, mutins
even the roar Of the spillway.
He was alone.
But in his hand, tattered and bruised
by the downpour. he found rose.
CHAPTER v.
The Hunted Man.
That day was hot and MINDLESS With
IN uuclouded sky-A day Of brass and
burning.
Long before any sound audible Il
human ears disturbed tho MONDAY
hush, bobcat summing on log in q
i glade to which no trail led. pricked
ears, rose. glanced over shoulder with
. snarl and-of sudden was no more
there.
Perhaps two minutes later q success
sion Of remote crashicgs began to b
heard, cumulative volume Of sounds
made by some heavy body forcing BY
main strength through the underbrush
and ceased only when q man broke
into the clearing, pulled up, stood TO
IN instant swaying, then reeled to
seat on the log, pillowing his head o.
arms folded across his knees and shud
dering uncontrollably In all his limbs
He was a young man who had beel
and would again be very personable
Just now he wore the look Of on
bounded by furies. His face was GRIN
son with congested blood and streake
with sweat and CRIME; blush vein
, throbbed In high relief upon his ten
pies; his lips we're cracked and swo
len, his eyes haggard, his hands tor
, and bleeding. His shirt and trouseI
!. and CRUISERS" were wrecks, the latte
q scorched, charred, and broken in