The Adair County news. [volume] (Columbia, Ky.) 1897-1987, 1917-12-19
rae died On Bonanza creek Two years

''ae died on Bonanza creek Two years
later"
"Was ne miner?"
mot until he came north. He had
an interest in claim. 1t later turned I
out worthless"
A bit Of stiff climbing brought them
to boulder field back of which rose
a mountain ridge.
Beyond the boulder field the ridge |
rose sharply. Gordon looked a little |
obviously at Sheba.
"Are you a good climber"
"Tm sure must be-" she answered
with smile adorable. II believe !
could do the Matterhorn today"
Well up on the shoulder of the ridge
they stopped to breathe. The distant
noise of falling water came family TO
them.
"We're too far to the left-must
have followed the wrong spur" Elliot
explained. Probably we can cut
across the face of the mountain"
Presently they came to an impasse.
The gulch between the two spurs ter
minated in a rock wall that fell almost
sheer for two hundred feet.
The color in the cheeks beneath the
eager eyes of the girl was warm.
| 'Iet's try it," she begged.
The young man had noticed that she
was as sure-footed as a mountain goat
and that she could stand on the edge
of a precipice without dizziness. The
surface ef the wall was broken. What
it might be beyond he could not tell,
! but the first fifty feet was a bit Of
| attractive and not too difficult rock
traverse.
They had been following a ledge
that narrowed till it ran out. Jutting
knobs of feldspar and stunted shrubs
growing from crevices offered toe
grips instead Of the even foothold of
the rock itself. AS Gordon looked
down at the dizzy fall beneath them
his Judgment told him they had better
go back. He said as much to his COM
paniOn.
The smile she flashed at him was de-
HghtfuIly provocative. $50 you think
I'm a 'fraid-cat, Mr.. ELLIOTT"
His inclination marched with hers.
It was their first adventure together
and he did not want to spoil it by I'M
due caution. There really was not
much danger yet so long as they we're
careful.
Gordon abandoned the traverse and
followed an ascending crack in the
wall. The going was hard. He looked
down at the girl wedged between the
slopes of the granite trough.
She read his thought. "The Old
Guard never surrenders, sir" was her
quick answer as she brushed in salute
with the tips of her fingers a stray lock
of hair
The trough was worse than Eliot
had expected. It had in it good deal
of loose rubble that started in small
slides at the least pressure.
BE very careful of your footing" he
called back anxiOusly.
A small grassy platform lay above
the upper end of the trough, but the
last dozen feet Of the approach was Q
very difficult bit. Gordon fought his
way up with his back against one wal
and his knees pressed to the other
Three feet short of the platform the
rock walls became absolutely smooth
The climber could reach within foo
} of the top.
"Are you stopped?" asked sheba.
"LOOks that way"
A small pine projected from the
l edge of the shelf out over the preci
? pice. 1t might be strong enough t
3 bear his weight. It might not. Cor
l don unbuckled his belt and threw ont
end over the trunk Of the dwarf tree
!, Gingerly he tested it with his weight
then went up hand over hand ant
I worked himself over the edge of tn
little plateau.
Y "All right?" the girl called up.
e "All right. But you can't make il
e I'm coming down again."
I'D like to try it. I'll stop if it.
s too hard" she promised.
n The strength of her slender wrist
: surprised him. She struggled up tn
vertical crevasse inch by inch. Hi
e heart was full of fear, for a misste
now would be fatal. He lay down wit
t his face over the ledge and lowere
- to her the buckled loop of his. bel
~