The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-10-28

er they approached the cabin. Morton
flung open the door.
''She's escaped, the little devil ~ he
snarIed- Il feared as much when
saw the basket She had help from
outside, of course"
Whats this?'' exclaimed Olga, spy
ing on the table the two books.
'1Merciful heaven ~ she cried, point
ing to Patterns name on the fyleaf Of
one of them. They're the very books
we have been looking forl How did
they get here?'
''Tve no more idea than you have"
said Morton, utterly stupefied. II
didn't see a sign OF any books when 1
brought the girl here. OF all the hell
ish cOincidencesI To think that I
should have stumbled on the cabin of
the very man we have been trying to
find and not have known itI''
you may well call it a helIish Co
incidence" she snapped, holding up
the volume from which Hope had cut
| the key TO the code. This tells the
story. The naval officer that you are
| always sneering at has been too smart
for you. He. has not only found his
way here and rescued the girl, but he
! has evidently discovered the secret of
the submarine You idiot! You block
head You fool" she screamed, far
ing into a sudden passion. You had
the secret almost in your hands and
you have let IT get away from US
Was there ever such incredible imbe-
ciIity?"
But Morton was too stunned by the
| disaster to reply to her taunts. The
| imposing edifice that his Imagination
| had erected had suddenly collapsed.
| Cleo's escape ended his scheme
| Of forcibly marrying her and thus OBJ
tanning possession of the fortune
which she had inherited from Calvin
Montgomery. And, as though this
were not enough, the secret Of the sub
marine, on finding which he had
staked everything, had slipped through
| his very fingers and was now, he was
convinced, in the hands of his rival,
the man whom he hated more than
any Other-Jarvis Hope. The lavish
expenditures he had made in prose
| cutting the search had almost exhaust
ed his means. Gerald Morton was a
desperate and a dangerous man.
WELL" demanded Olga, when her
anger had somewhat subsidized, what
are we going to do about it? There
is nothing to be gained by suIking like
disappointed children
Eve are going to follow them" said
Morton grimly. I'm going to get that
formula if have to kill them both"
THAT" said Olga approvingly, sis
/ no To |oT
Their mutual jealousies and sus-
! piciOns fOrgotten6n the loss of the for
mula, they recrOssed the chasm and
climbed into the aeroplane. A mo-
ment later and, with a roar from its
| propellers, it rolled forward across the
mesa and scared into the air. During
! their brief stay in the cabin, however,
! the wind, already dangerously high,
| had risen to a gale, and as their craft,
/ leaving the comparatively sheltered
mesa, climbed skyward, it was buffet
| ed as a ship is buffeted by the waves.
But ii was impossible to return to the
mesa now, and to attempt to descend
elsewhere was but to invite disaster.
| The driving force of its powerful en-
| gines notwithstanding, the aerOplane
! was as helpless as q Skiff in q storm.
| Yet so mastery was MOrton's driving,
| so perfect his coordination of hand
/ and brain, that it seemed as though
| his skill would triumph over the ele-
ments' and that he would succeed in
reaching the plain in safety. But sud-
] denly a windSQuaI leaped out at them
from a canyon over which they were
passing; the fraiI machine reeled and
quivered before the blow, and, despite
Morton's desperate efforts, turned
sideways, capsized and plunged like
q wounded bird into the gulf below.
An hour or so later q party OF cow
punchers, returning to their ranch af-
ter rounding up a bunch of strays in
the hills, saw on the rocky slope Of
| the canyon a tangled mass OF canvas,
wood, and steel. GalIoping up, they
perceived, half buried beneath the
wreckage of the aeroplane, the bodies
OF Olga and Morton
! They're still breathing, boys" pro-
nOunced one of the punchers when he
and his companions had succeeded in
extricating the inanimate forms.
They're in pretty bad shape. The
/ girls ribs are all stove in and I'm
afraid the follows cracked his skull.
Bill, you chase down to the ranch and
bring up the spring wagon. Better
put in a mattress and plenty Of blank
cts, and bring along some whisky.
Send one Of the boys of to town for
the doctor-and tell him to get move
on, too. These people are hurt mighty
bad"
So that when Morton and Olga re-
gained consciousness, days later, they
found themselves in a ranch-hOuse in
mountain valley, with cowboys nurs-
ing them back to health
Cleo, Hope, and Hook, slowly making
| their way down the mountainside, lit
tie suspected that, following them like
bloodhounds, were Mahlin and Sat
! S11rna When the three in frnnt Taausad