The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1916-10-19

4
"whoopi Whoop-eei" he shouted,
grasplng their hands. II wish you
both, you, lootenant. and you. Miss
Cleo, all the health and happiness and
good luck In the world. I'm good-fer.
nothin'. no-account old sailor, but
when your paw died, Miss Cleo, / seq
to myself, seq !, Doctor Burke took
care o. you when you wuz down and
out, Hook Barnacle, and now he's gone
it's up TO you to look after his daugh.
ter nin't made very good gar.
deem, Miss Cleo. but ! done the best
| knew how"
Standing on tiptoe, 80 that her lips
we're level with Hopes ear, Cleo whis-
pered something to him. Then, with
flaming face, she fed from the cabin.
"She says, Hook" said Hope. that
II we ever have n boy his middle name
shnll be Barnacle."
The book which contained the key
20 the code being too bulky to be cnr-
rled easily, Hope contented himself
with cutting of that portion of the
book which contained the annexation.
II ought to leave some word for this
fellow Patten," he remarked. "Its
hardly fair to cut up his book and not
let him know who did It."
So he scrnwlad In pencil on the In
side OF the front cover
"Mr. Patten-I have taken the lIb-
erty OF cutting out message which
found In this book. II you will com.
munlcate with me at the Shaftsbury
hotel, Santa EulnlIa. ! shall be glad
to reimburse you.
Jarvis HOPE"
Now" he remarked, 1--WE must be
starting. We have three or four hours
Of lard walking nhend of us and we
must be out Of the mountains before Il
gets dark"
Though Mnhllns ax-strokes had ma.
tcrially weakened the cable, II was
still strong enough to support one per
sou nt n time, Cleo, Hook, and Hope
making the passage ncross the chasm
In the basket In turn. Then. turning
their backs on the spot where they
had found so much peril and so much
OF happiness. they set out on the long
and nrduous trip down the mountains.
About the time that the three were
leaving the cabin on the ledge. Morton
and Olga were preparing to visit the
mountains In the aeroplane. And
Olga was by no means a welcome pas.
senger.
~ think that I'll fly up to the mesa
of nd NaIl lsh
the Burke girl" Morton had careless
ly remarked. "She's been In the cabin
three days now and fancy that by
this time she won't be quite 80 stub.
born"
''And | think that | will go with
you" Olga had reJolned. 81 can get
more out Of the girl than you can"
Nonsense" said Morton. "You don't
want to go along. It's no trip for a
woman. It's n nasty place to land up
there on the mesa. There's no use In
taking unnecessary risks"
"Tll tnke any risks that you WILL"
said Olga decislvely. 81 have already
said that | am going with you"
"And | say that you're not" said
Morton nngrily. The last thing In the
world that he desired was TO have
Olga present during his interview with
Cleo, for he knew that were the Rus
sian woman to suspect his scheme of
forcing Cleo to marry him she was
quite capable of making things very
unpleasant indeed. And his fears
were fully justified by her next re-
mark.
"You will either take me with you."
she told him, "0r | shall inform the
police of some of your recent activi-
ties. | fancy that were Il known that
you are the kldnaper of the Burke girl
for whom everyone Is searching you
would be lucky to escape with your
life. They're n hot-headed people,
these Californians, and they don't take
kindly TO having their women stolen.
. Come, come, my friend. You
can't put II over on me. as you Amer
leans say. You're much too anxious
to see the girl alone. You will find
II n dangerous business to try any
double-dealing with me-"
"Come along, then" he snarled
making tne pest OF tne SITUATION, Tor
he wns perfectly aware that, were he
TO persist In his refusal. Olga would
make good her threat.
Morton had been telling the literal
truth when he asserted that the flight
to the mesa was II hazardous one, for
the stlff north wind that had sprung
up added materially to the dangers of
dying over mountainous region.
Twice they were nearly capslzed by
the trencherous mir currents which
unexpectedly swept up at them from
the canyons, and II was only Morton's
skin ms an aviator that saved them.
The wind increased In velocity as they
assembled, and II was only after repeat.
ed circlings that Morton was able to
effect landing ON the mesa, which
was none too spacious for the purpose,
even under the most favorable wealth
or conditions.
There's the cabin" he said, point
Ing. after he had helped Olga TO allght,
"bu, | don't see any sign OF the girl.