The Hays free press. [volume] (Hays, Kan.) 1908-1924, 1916-09-09

Her Fathers Tragic Death Weighed
Heavily on Cleo
foods. The road ended in a sheer
precipice, and at the bottom Of the
precipice, forty feet below, swirled the
river which had done the damage.
Hope, his mind trained for emergen-
cies, instantly realized that it was i'm
possibly to stop. The brakes would
not work in time to prevent the car
and its occupants from going over
the brink into the stream below. To
turn the car to one side was equally
impossible, for the road was bordered
by steep banks, to go down which
meant certain death for all of them.
Their only chance@a chance in a mil
Iion-was to keep straight ahead in the
slim, slim hope that the car, now traV-
cling at terrific speed, would have suf-
ficient momentum to clear the chasm-
Tightening his grip upon the wheel, |
Hope jammed his foot against the &C
celerator The light car was going
SO fast that it seemed as though its
wheels no longer touched the ground.
Hope could hear Hook screaming in
his ear; out Of the corner of his eye
he caught a glimpse of Cleo, with
bIanched face and tight-clenched
hands, beside him. Her lips were
moving. Now only a score Of feet
separated them from the brink. >.
ten feet. five and
the car sailed out into space as though
fastened to the end of a mighty pen
dulum. Though the fight across the
gulf occupied only moment of time,
| to tie three in the car it seemed in
terminable And when the car reached
| the opposite bank it was ten feet
above the level of the highway,
/ it landed as smoothly as q leaping
greyhound. Like a tennis ball it re-
bounded once, twice, thrice, and then,
quite uninjured, but with three white
faced and shaking passengers, went
4 tearing down the road in the direction
I of the distant city
The clock hands on the campanile
| of the Ferry building in San Francisco
| pointed to a quarter after six when
! Hope, now travelling with more re-
spect for the speed laws, swung the
| car into Market street. He started to
| turn into Kearney street but stopped,
/ at the signal Of q traffic officer, to let
a fire engine pass. 1t tore up Kearney
street, its siren hOoting hoarse warn
| ing, and he followed it. Ahead dense
clouds OF smoke poured from the win
dows of a corner building. More fire
apparatus was coming. Everyone
| was running. a policeman halted
them with peremptory hand You
can't come any farther in your car"
he ordered
Wen have to walk the rest of the
way" said Hope, "but it isn't very far.
Dawson's place is somewhere in the
next block. By Jove, it must be close
to where the fire isl" Pushing their
/ over the lines Of fire hose, the three
made their way forward until they
were opposite the burning building.
/ So dense was the smoke, however.
that the building was totally obscured-
Suddenly a gust OF wind blew the cur
tain Of smoke momentarily aside. AS
it did SO Cleo, Hope and Hook gave
] groan Of despair. For across the face
Of the doomed structure, In letters
four feet high, they read: "DaEson's
Auction Rooms" Even as they looked
there came a rending crash and, amid
swift OF smoke and a sudden burst
OF fame, the walls toppled and fell in
Somewhere amid that mass Of smok-
ing debris. charred beyond recognition
4 now, was the ledger containing the
names Of those who had purchased the
precious volumes AMI in one of
those volumes, now no longer trace
able. was hidden the secret OF the sub
marine
Il CTo BE CONTINBED.)