The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1919-11-12
CHAPTER u.

Up to the moment OF the sudden
chilling Of her exultant blood, Andrea
had been almost oblivious of the din
Of the engine. Now she could think OF
nothing else. The deafening roar that
made speech futile was very real
barrier; 1t imprisoned her. held her
like the bars Of an iron cage. and even
beat her remorselessly with It's rapid
fire explosions Of defying sound.
She sank back on her seat, painting
and sobbing. She was frightened
Never since the day when as little
child closet door closed and locked
upon her and inexorable darkness had
held her for moments that were such
an eternity had she known such ter.
rOr The feeling that had come to
her then came to her now-darkness.
sinking Of the heart down, down
through an interminable void and,
tumhling after it, body, soul, leg or
two and clutching hand, all come
apart in the maelstrom Of fear.
The present nightmare did not last
for long. Andrea gradually realized
that in fact she was quite grown up
not child at all but strong and
reasonably healthy young woman who
had ridden straight to hounds at many
fivc-barred gate before which men
had often paled. What was she fright
encd about? A man? Why, in the
vulgar vernacular Of across the water
men had been her ailment for years
Her backbone stiffcned with snap
she assumed her natural erect ant
square sEouldered carriage, and, lean
ing forward from the hips, laid hel
hand on the mans arm. Gentle actor
falling to command his attention. che
tugHcd at him, then shook him. He
showed no sign and Andrca's lips
gradually set in q thin straight line
Doubling up her fists she started tt
pummcl him into submission.
The onslaught was sudden, and i
was reasonable to suppose that thu
man would half jump out Of his ski
to their mutual peril. She was pre-
pared for that but not for what reail!
transpircd. The man merely raisot
his shoulders at the first blow and pai'
no heed whatever to the ones that fol
suddenly when Andrea painfully real
lied that such fists as hers were neve
intended for stone crushers. She So
back filed with wonder and a vagu
admiration for the construction Of tn
male frame.
In The meantime the airplane cor
tinued to mount steadily into tn
chilly morning blue. She looked abou
her and down. The world was yer
far away and very small. 1t locke
like something That one might forge
and leave behind entirely. She tric
in vain to pick out the tiny roof tha
was sheltcring Aunty Gwen throug
her morning nap. Tears once NOR
came into her eyes and then reccdc
rs new idea came to the assistanC
Of her hard-presscd determination.
She stopped over, took of one daint
satin slipper, and after @ FOOLS
glance upward to assure herself thu
the man couldn't possibly look, undi
certain fasteners with fingers ths
could see in the dark, and subsequen
ly removed one Of hgr best part
heavy silk champagne-colored stoc
ings. This done, she sat back with II
stocking IN her lap and stared lor
and pensvcly at the man sitting b
fore her intent on the business of 6
Ing somewhere at the rate Of a hp
drcd miles an hour. That thought ele
trilied her. a hundred miles an ho1
meant fifty for every half hour, NJ
thirty minutes had certainly paas'
since she had delivered her person In
the trap Of q kindly smile that was M
She took long breath, leaned fo
ward slipped the stocking deft
around the mans neck, tied 1t In