The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times. [volume] (Tucumcari, N.M.) 1907-1921, 1918-07-25

rescue her before night he mus, tai.
the shortest cut, and that was pcro.s
the face Of the sheer cliff. For a.
flrst time she understood how ser,ame
was their plight.
The glance OF the girl swcnt mai.
the face of the wall he must toss ~
could not be done without a rote. n.
fcar.fllcd eyes came back to his az.
my fault. I made you come" sho ,.,s
in n low voice.
Nonsense" he answered cheerful,
There's no harm done. II I cas-,
rench the stairway I a come haos
and go down by the trough"
Sheba nssented doubtfully.
II had come or to drizzle ays,.
The rain wns fine and cold, almo,,
mist. and already II was forming a s,r
OF Ice on the rocks.
~ can't take time to go back BY the
trough. The point Is that ! don't want
you cnmped up here after night. Their
has been no u on this side OF ,hs
n u and In the chill Of the evening !,
must get cold YER In summer"
lie was making his preparations N
he talked. His coat he took of ana
threw down. His shoes he tied By Tia
laces to his belt.
"Ill try not to be very long" he
promised.
"It's Gods will then, so Il is" aha
sighed, relnpsing into the vernacular.
Her voice was low and not yerv
steady. for the heart OF the girl was
heavy. She knew she must not pro-
test his decision. That was not tho
way 10 play the game. But somebov
the salt had gone from their Light.
hearted adventure.
Elliot took her little hand In n warm.
strong grip. you're not going TO be
afraid. Wen work out all right, you
know"
Eyes"
ITS not Just the thing to leave a
lady In the rain when you take her
for n walk, but II can't be helped.
Wen laugh about II tomorrow"
Would they? she wondered, answer
Ing his smile family. Her courage was
soppoi.
lie turned 10 the climb.
"You'vc forgotten your coat" she re-
minded.
I'm travelling light this trip. You'd
better slip Il on before you get chilled"
Shcha knew he had left It on pur.
pose Cor her.
Her fascinated eyes followed him
wh!l" he moved ont from tho ulnteau
across tho face Of the precIplcc. He
had none of the tools for climbing
no ronn. no Ratchet, none ~ the SUP.
port Of numbers. All the allies he
could summon were his bare hands
md feet, his resilient muscles. and his
stout heart. To make Il worse. the
ice MIN from tho rain con'od every
juttlnr inch OF quartz with danger.
Rut he worked stendIlv forward.
moving with the infinite caution NJ one
who knows that there viii he no
chance 10 remedy later any mistake.
\ slight error IN Judgment. the failure
IN response Of any me NJ fifty muscles,
would send him plunging down.
Her eye left him for nm instant to
sweep the gulf below. She gave q
little cry, ran 10 his coat, and began
10 wave Il. For the first time since
Elliot had begun to %traverse she took
the initiative In speech.
II 90 some people away over 70 the
left, Mr.. Elliot. I'm going TO call to
them" Her voice throbbed with hope.
But II was not her shouts or his.
which would not have carried one
tenth the distance. that reached the
group In the valley. One Of them
caught n glimpse Of the wildly wav-
Ing coat. There was a consultation
and two or three fiuttered handker-
chiefs In response. Presently they
moved on.
Sheha could not believe her eyes
They're not leaving Us surelyT' she
gnsped.
That's what they're doing" an
swered Gordon grimly. "Thcy think
we're calling 10 them out Of vanity
TO show them where we climbed"
"Oh" She ~strangled a sob.
I'm going to make II. l think ! see
my way from here" her companion
called across to her. "a fault rams TO
the foot OF the stairway, II ] can only
do the next yard or two"
He did them. by throwing caution to
the Winds. An icy, rounded boulder
projected above him out Of reach. He
unfastened his belt again and put the
shoes, tied by the laces, around his
neck. There was one way 20 Gct across
70 the ledge OF the fault. lie took
h"Id OF the two ends OF the belt
crouchcd and leaned forward on tip
toes toward the knob. The loop OF the
brIt slid over the ice-coated boss.
lh're was no chance TO draw back
now to test the hold he had gained
II ,he leather slipped he was lost, HIS
body swung across the abyss aad his
rect landed On the little ledge beyond
His shout Of success came perhafs
Ten minutes later. "Tve reached the
stairway, Miss O'Neill. I'll try not to
De long. but you'd better exercise 10
Keep up the circulation. Don't worry
please. I'll be back before night"
I'm 30 glad" she cried joyfully. u