The Washington times., 1915-05-26

He climbed to the top of the hub.
Field glasses In hand he began to
search the whole landscape far and
near for traces of human beings. But
like looking for a needle in a hay
stack. What he hoped to see. and
what he did presently see, was smoke,
a pale ,amethystine column Of 1t rising
To find the fire or the remains Of It,
from which that smoke was rising
would not be very difficult. He took
Its bearings very carefully 1t was
directly between him and the smallest
Of three barren" cliffs which formed
the first upthrust of the mountain.
and as he judged about half a mile
this side of the cliff. At the base Of
that cliff was a rattlesnake den, and
Tommy was in the habit Of giving It
a pretty wide berth. for the snakes
sometimes wandered long distances
from their favorite lodges in search OF
food and water, and good woods
man like Tommy preferred that they
should do their hunting in peace.
Just like man who would bring
cauliflower into the woods to camp in
snake country" he thought; wonder
II | car, pick one up with these
glasses
He E focused @ I,i bis glasses or or the the
self for some time in trying to dis
cern a snake. Put either the dis
tance was too great or there was
none in evidence, and he was about
to give UP when suddenly a man
walked cas- sually into the field OF his
vision-and out OF 1t.
well. Tn. jiggcred. said Tommy.
I haven't found a snake. but I've
found the next best thing. Now
Sn %hnt m the ,ns devil is ., PTof tSs stter
Again he lifted the glasses and
again saw the professor. He ap-
peared to be polishing something
on the sleeve OF his Norfolk jacket.
brilliantly in the sunlight. 1t might
have been pocket mirror. or a
great diamond. Whatever 1t was.
Prof. stilliter presently dropped 1t
into his pocket, forced his way into
a dense ciump Of bushes at the very
But Tommy was not to investi.
gate those bushes at the foot Of
the cliff. lie was within a quarter
of a mile of them. walking swiftly
trail, when suddenly his quick ear
caught sound of footsteps and at
the same mment his quick eyes
caught a glimpse of something white
that moved He stepped quickly.
low and to all intents and purposes
was blotted out of existence.
Along the trail. his heavy baby
face streaming with sweat. came
Frof Stilliter leading by, the hand
her head like princess. She was
dressed in a white garment that
fell in unbroken. folds from her
shoulders to her feet, like a Roman
,s thin sandals; Hp her bars bare head adj.
flashed. Her mouth had an express
sion Of celestial gentleness and
smoothness. but her eyes, half
were without expression: She
seemed to Tommy like a girl, not
Of this earth. walking in her sleep.
He had never seen a face so beautt-
full. so sweet or so touchingly inno-
Having passed Tommy's hiding place,
Prof. Stilliter turned from the trail
and led the heavenly vision to sort of
natural seat that overlooked a quiet
pool from which Tommy had often
taken trout.
She sat reflected in the pool. and
looked straight ahead of her, and not
seeing-if you know what ] mean.
was tiptoeing off abandoning her ap-
parently, but when he had gone a
little way he turned and made curious
passes IN the air with his hands. and
spoke suddenly in voice Of command.
Expression and light came into the
great eyes and she looked about her
with a kind Of startled delight. Tom
my for some reason or other was
trembling from head to foot.
A stick cracked. She turned her head
toward the sound but Prof. Stilliter
had made good his tiptoed retreat. He
was no longer in sight.
Then Tommy. still trembling with
wonder and excitement. rose from his
hiding place and walked toward her.
tneir eyes met, and the Tision smiled
the sweetest, most bewitching smile.
and In the gentlest and richest voice