The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-10-21

She saw him walk brisk1y along the
edge of the Cliff to a cable arrange
ment which, in her panic, she had
failed to notice; saw him climb into a
basket which was suspended from a
pulley-wheeI which ran upon the cable;
saw him haul himself across the
ehasm by means OF a rope, get out of
the basket, detach it from the pulley,
and disappear with it behind the
screen of bushes which lined the oppo-
site cliff. a few minutes later she
heard a sudden roar, as Of a motor car
with its muller open, and before her
astonished eyes an aerOplane arose.
Having convinced herself that es-
cape from the ledge was impossible
save with assistance from outside,
Cleo returned to the cabin, less wor-
ried than might have been expected,
for she knew that Hope and Hook,
once they discovered her absence,
would move heaven and earth to find
her. On the table was the basket
Of provisions brought by Morton-a
cold ham, bread, potatoes, timed
meats enough to last her with rea-
sOnable economy, she figured, for at
least a week. She discovered a cup
board which contained matches, can
dies, a bag of salt, some tins of fruit
and vegetables, and a meal sack filled
with what felt like books. Untying
the string, she emptied the contents of
the sack upon the f1oor-then gave q
cry Of establishment and joy. For,
amid the tattered dog-eared volumes,
was one she recognized. It was a
work on metallurgy- of the dozen
books which, since her earliest recoI-
lection, had stood on the shelf above
her fathers desk. She opened it with
trembling fingers. Written in a firm,
bold hand across the f1yleaf was the
name, Richard Paten." By one of those
condolences which causes fiction to
hang its head, Morton had brought her
to the cabin of the very man for whom
they were searching. Now she re-
called the storekeeper's description of
Patten as Hope had repeated it to
her: "a queer fellow quiet
fond Of books has a
cabin up in the mountains some
where's" And now, by a chance in a
million, she had found Patterns cabin
and the book. Slowly she turned the
leaves, carefully scanning each in turn.
But she found nothing. Disheartened.
she was about to close the book, when.
at the very foot of the last page. in
letters so faint and minute as to be
almost indistinguishable, she saw q
line Of writing. Philosophy" it read,
''p. 81, every seventh word It was
the key to the formula
Three days dragged by-three days
which, in that awful solitude, seemed
like three years. The resources of
the ledge Cleo soon exhausted; she
cleaned the cabin; lighting a candle,
she explored the abandoned mine
working; she attempted to beguile the
time reading the books which she had
discovered in the sack, which proved,
however, TO be dry-as-dust scientific
works and every few hours she peered
over the edge of the precipice in the
faint hope that she might see someone
in the canyon below. On the morning
of the fourth day her patience was re-
warded, for she saw two boys fishing
in the mountain torrent which raced
and rOared along the bottom Of the
canyon. She called to them; again
and again she screamed, but the dis
lance and the noise of the river
drowned her voice. Gathering a hand
full of pebbles, she stretched herself
on the edge of the cliff and commenced
to methodicaIly lombard the boys be-
low. A dozen pebbles she threw with
out attracting their attention, but at
last, when she had almost abandoned
hope, a pebble struck one Of them on
the shoulder. Whirling about to see
where it had come from. he saw Cleo
on the ledge, half a thousand feet
above. He called to his companion
and they both stood staring up at her.
Frantically she beckoned to them, but
they shook their heads; it was evident
that they knew OF no path by which TO
reach the ledge. She tried to call to
them, but it was impossible to make
them hear. Suddenly n thought struck
her. Running to the cabin. she looked
wildly about for pencil and paper. but
could find neither. On the table lay
the book which contained the code
Tearing out the fiyleaf she lighted
match after match. let them burn for
a moment, blew them out. and, using
the blackened ends in lieu Of pencil.
scrawled her brief call for help: Held
prisoner by Morton in cabin on ledge
in mountains. Come quickly, Cleo"
Folding the sheet. she addressed il to
Jarvis Hope, SALISBURY Hotel, Santa
Eulalia. Now her problem was how to
get the message to the boys below.
for, should she let 1t fiutter down. it
would. in all probability, be carried
away by a gust OF wind. and. If she
tied it to a stone, it might plunge
into the river and be lost All at once
there came to her the recollection OF
an amusement Of her childhood. With
her handkerchief and a piece Of string
she made a miniature parachute. such
as children use; weighted it with a
small stone. and tied to the stone the
message. Returning to the cliff, she
first held up the parachute for the
boys to see, then tossed it out into
space. Almost instantly the handker-
chief biIlowed out, thus checking its
descent, and it sailed gently down
ward into the boys outstretched hands.
Gould than