The Pickens sentinel. (Pickens, S.C.) 1911-2016, 1915-02-18

DdCh 70 lue pOluL SuSiO ~ A@o p@ASoSN
Judith and Barcus; its occupants de-
scended, explored, and came present
ly upon the trail of the fugitives.
Bloodhounds could not have set
tied down upon a scent with more
good will and eagerness than Mr.. Mar
rophat and his faithful aide.
The sun was high and blazing above
the canyon when the pursuit came
within rifle shot Of the chase.
A spiteful shot reused the quar-
tet from a pause Of lethargic dismay
due to tardy appreciation Of the fact
that they had penetrated witlessly al
most to the end Of blind alley.
A hasty council Of war armed Alan
with Judith's revolver and posted him
behind a bowlder commanding the ap-
proaches to the chasm. The weapon,
powerful .45, had a range sufficient
T; to numb the impetuosity Of the as
sassins and keep them under cover
and out Of sight Of the desperate es-
says the fugitives were making to
compass an escape.
For In the shed behind an abandoned
log cabin-souvenir, no doubt, Of some
forgotten prospector-Barcus had un-
earthed length Of stout hempen rope
With the aid Of rusty shovel ne
had hacked this into two equal lengths.
One Of these lengths he proceeded to
make fast around his own waist then
around Roses. The other ne left to
be similarly employed by Alan and
Judith. For it was agreed that they
must climb, and while the Cliff offered
no problem to daunt mountain climb
er Of any pretensions, it was consid-
cred best that the fugitiyes should be
hitched up In pairs against any pos
sibility of slip. The pairing had
been determined by the fact that
Barcus boasted some slight experience
in mountaineering, while Rose was
plainly the most exhausted Of the two
women, the least able to help herself
III du SiSSuCy.
He had worked his cautious way,
with the girl in tow, to a point mid
way up the face of the cliff, following
a long diagonal that provided the cas-
lest climbing, when Alan stole back
to Judith and reported that, on the
evidence of observation 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 fugitives.
Without delay, then, he made the
free end of the rope fast around his
own waist, and, following the way Bar
Gus had chosen, began the ascent.
Two-thirds Of the climb had been
accomplished, and Rose and Barcus
had arrived in safety at the top, be-
fore the temptation to look down
proved irresistible.
Immediately beneath his heels the
face of the cliff was deeply followed
out, leaving drop of so feet to a
shelving ledge of shale as steep as a
roof, whose eaves-perhaps another
fifty feet below-jutted out over an
other fall Of a hundred feet.
Alan shuddered and swallowed hard
before resuming the ascent.
Another 20 feet brought him to
ledge quite six feet wide, offering a
broad ,.-d easy path to the summit.
He gained this .,:it,, a prayer Of heart
felt relief and was oi.s+ho point of
rising to his feet when cry ofsns-=-,r
from Barcus and scream of terror
from Rose, watching over the upper
edge, warned him barely in time to
enable him to snatch at and grasp a
knob of rock before Judith's weight
tautened the rope between them and
jerked Alan's legs from under him.
His feet and legs kicked the empty
air beyond the lip OF the ledge, he
lay face downward, clutching desper-
ately the knob Of rock, praying that 1t
might not come away in his grasp,
that his grasp might hold, that Barcus
might arrive in time to save them
both. The rope was cutting into his
waist like a dull knife. The drag OF
Judith's body was frightful. He could
feel her swinging like a pendulum at
the end of its 30 feet, and could
imagine but too vividly what would
happen if the rope should prove
faulty.
The fall of 20 feet to the shale
roof was nothing. What would fol-
low would, however, spell death. The
impact Of her body would set the
shale in motion, like an avalanche
and beyond the caves was only empti-
ness and, the bowlder-strewn bed Of
the chasm, hundred feet below!
The sweat poured from his face like
rain. His eyes started in their SOCK
cts. the blood drummed in his ears
with & roar resembling distant thun-
der. His fingers grew numb, his throat
dry.
he felt that he could not hold on
another instant when, abruptly, that
torture was no more. The rope had
been relieved of its burden. He heard
a scream from below echoed by one
from above, then the thump Of Judith's
body falling on the shale, then the
slithering rumble Of the landslide
gathering momentum
Barcus, at length arrived, assisted
him to a place Of security. Spent
and faint and sick with horror, he lay
prone and shuddering.
Only the assurance Of Barcus that