The Dolores star., 1918-04-19


rescue her before night he mSss take
the shortest cut, and that was across
the face Of the sheer eii6. For tie
nrst time she understood. how serious
was their plight
The glance Of the gin swept again
the face Of the wall he must erosA II
could not be done without rope. Her
fear-nIled eyes came back to his. Its
my fault. I made you come" she said
In q low voice.
sNonsense," he answered cheeffully.
there's NO harm done. II I can't
reach the stairway ! can come back
and 60 down BY the trough
Sheba assented doubtfully.
Il had come on to drixxle agnin
The rain WINS fne and cold, almost
mist, and already II was forming dlm
Of Ice ON the rocks.
II can't take time to 60 back BY the
trough. The point II that don't want
you camped mp here after night There
has been NO sun ON this side Of the
spur and in the chill Of the evening It
must get cold even In summer"
He was making his preparations -
he talked. His coat he took OF and
threw down. His shoes he tied BY the
laces to his belt.
.TIl try not to be very long" no
promised.
'It's Gods win then. go It is" she
sighed, relapaing into the vernacular.
Her voice was low and not very
steady. for the heart Of the girl was
heavy. She knew she must not pro-
test his decision. That was not tho.
way to play the game. But somehow
the salt had gone from their light
hearted adventure.
Elliot took her little hand In warm,
strong srjp. you're not going to be
afraid. Wen work out all right 700
know" r..
SYes."
'It's mot just the thing to leave
lady in the rain when you take her
for a walk, but It can't be helped
Well laugh about 1t tomorrow"
Would theyr she wondered. answer
ing his smile family. Her courage was
Slapped.
he turned to the climb.
"You've forgotten your coat" she 70
minded.
tim travelling light this trip. Yoa'd
better slip II on before you get chilled.~
Sheba knew he had left It on Fur
pose for her.
Her fascinated eyes followed him
while he moved out from the plateaU
across the face Of the preeipiee. he
had uone Of the tools for climbing
No rope. no hatchet. none Of the sup
port Of Numbers. All the alffes he
could summon were his bare hands
aPd feet. his resilient muscles. and HIS
stout henrt. To mike II worse, the
fee film from the rafn eoated every
5utting inch Of quartz with danger.
But he worked stendiiy forward,
moving with the infinite caution Of one
who knows that there win be no
chance to remedy Inter any mistake.
A slight error IN Judgment the failure
m response o. any one Of fifty muscles
would send him pfunEfng DOWN.
Her eye left him for an instant 10
sweep the gulf be4ow. She gave .
little cry. ran to his cont and began
to wave It. For the first time since
Elliot had begun to trnvesse she took
the initiative In speech.
I see some people away over to the
left, Mr.. Elliot. I'm going to ealf 70
them" Her voice throbbetf with hope.
But It 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 . glimpse Of the wildly wav.
ing coat. There was q consultation
and two or three futtefed handker-
chiefs in response. Presently they
moved on.
sheba could not believe her eyes.
They're Dot leaving rs surelyr' she
gasped.
THAT'S what they're DOING an.
swered Gordon grimly. They think
we're calling to them out Of vanity
to show them where we climbed"
"OhI" She strangled q sob.
"rm going to make it. I think sec
my way from here" her companion
called across to her "A fault runs to
the foot of the stairway. IL I 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 to get across
to the ledge Of the fault. He took
mold OF the two ends Of the belt,
crouched and leaned forward on tip-
toes toward the knob. The loop Of the
belt slid over the ice-coated boss,
There was no chance to draw bach
now, to, test the hold he had gained.
II the leather slipped he was lost. His
body swung across the abyss and his
feet landed on the little ledge beyond.
His shout Of success came perhaps
ten minutes later. "rve reached the
stairway, Miss O'Neill. I'll try not to
be long. but you'd better exercise to
Keep up the circulation. Don't worry,
please. I'll be back before night"