The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1919-08-28

81" 'N"'" anu Wa tohk time IN
dying away.
By this time they were midway be.
tween the waist and arm pits and
sinking as methodically as ever.
Well. somebody's got TO get out
OF this scrape alivcr' Henry re.
marked.
ANl>G LEO>ItA
And even without discussing the
ihoicc. both men began TO hoist lie.
mica up. altho the effort and h or
weight thrust them more quickly
down. When she stood. free and
clear. a foot on the nearest shoulder
OF each OF the two men she loved.
Francis said. tho tho landscape
Knocked him:
Now. Lsoniea. we're going 20 toss
you out OF this. AZ the word Cor
let yourself go And you must strike
fun length and softly on the crust.
You'l slide little. But don't lot
Yourself stop. Keep on going. Crawl
out 20 the solid land on your hands
and knees. And. whatever you do.
don't stand up until you reach the
land. Ready. Henry"
Between them. tho Il FASTENED
their sinking. they swung her back
and forth. FREQ In the mir, and the
third swing. at Francis Coz hcayed
her shorcwRrd.
Her obedience TO their instructions
was implicit. and. on hands and
knees. she gained the solid rocks OF
| the shore.
Now for the rope she called to
them.
But by this time Francis was too
deep TO be able 20 remove the coil
/ from around his neck and under one
arm. Henry did IL for him. and tho
the exertion sank him 10 an equal
dcepness. managed to fling one end OF
the rope 20 Leonicn.
At first she pulled on IL. Next she
fastened "A turn around a boulder the
sire Of n motor car ana let Henry
pull. Bu, Il was in vain. The strain
or purchase was so lateral that Il
seemed only TO pull him deeper. The
auicksand was sucking and rising
over his shoulders when Leonica
cried out. prccipItatlng a very bedlam
Of echoes.
watt stop puilingl have an
idea. Civ. me all the slack. Just
save enough % the end to tic under
your shoulders"
The next moment. dragging the
rope after her by the other end. she
was scaling the clif. Forty feet up.
where gnarled and dwarfcd tree
rooted In the crevices. She paused,
Passing the rope across the tree
trunk. as over n hook. she drew on
the slack and made fast 20 n boulder
OF several hundred weight.
Good for the girir' Francis ap.
piauded 10 Henry.
Roth men had grasped her plan.
and success depended merely on her
ability to dislodRe the boulder n d
topple 81 OF the ledge. Five precious
minutes were lost until she could
find dead branch OF sufficient
strength TO serve as a crowbar. At.
lacking the boulder from behind and
working with tense GOODNESS while
her two lovers continued 10 sink. she
managed at the last to toppie II over
the brink.
As II fell. the rope tautened with
jerk that fetched an involuntary
grunt from Henry's suddenly con-
stricted chest. Slowly he arose out
Of the quIcksand. his progress being
accompanie by loud sucking re
ports as the sand reluctantly released
him. But. when he cleared the sur
face the boulder 30 outwoighed him
that he shot shoreward across the
crust until directly under the pur'
chase above. when the boulder came
TO rest on the ground beside him.
Only Francis head. arms and tops
of shoulders were visible above the
auckland when the end of the rope
| was flung to him. And. when he
stood beside them on terra flrrna. and
when he shook his fist at the quick.
sand he had escaped by so narrow
margin they Joined with him in
deriding IT, And n myriad Of ghosts
derided them back. and all the air
about them was woven by whisper.
ing shuttles into an evil texture OF
mockery.