The Lamar register., 1919-10-15
CHAPTER u.

chilling OF her exultant Dlood. Anorea
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 a very real
barrier; 1t imprisoned her. held her
like the bars OF an iron cage. and even
beat her remorselessly with its rapid
fire explosions of defying sound.
She sank back on her seat. painting
and sobbing. She was frightened.
Never since the day when as a little
child a closet door closed and locked
upon her and memorable 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.
n sinking Of the heart down, down
through an interminable void and.
tumbling after 1t. body. soul. leg or
two and a 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 q child at all but a strong and
reasonably healthy young woman who
had ridden straight to hounds at many
q fve-barred gate before which men
had often paled. What was she fright
ened aboutf A mani Why. in the
vulgar vernacular Of across the water.
men had been her ailment for years!
Her backbone stiffened with q snap.
she assumed her natural erect and
sQuare-shouldered carriage. and. lean
Ing forward from the hips. laid her
hand on the mans arm. Gentle actioa
falling to command his attention. she
tugged at him. then shook him. BE
showed no sign and Andrea's lips
gradually set in a thin straight line.
Doubling up her fists she started to
pummel him into submission.
The onslaught was sudden. and II
was reasonable to suppose that the
man would half jump out of his skin
to their mutual peril. She was pre-
pared for that but not for what really
transplred. The man merely raised
his shoulders at the first blow and paid
no heed whatever to the ones that fol-
lowed In rapid diminuendo. ceasing
suddenly when Andrea painfully real
lied that such fists as hers were never
intended for stone crushers. She sat
back filled with wonder and q vague
admiration for the construction of the
male frame.
In the meantime the airplane con-
tinued to mount steadily into the
chilly morning blue. She looked about
her and down. The world was very
far away and very small. 1t looked
like something that one might forget
and leave behind entirely. She tried
In vain to pick out the tiny roof that
was sheltering Aunty Gwen through
her morning nap. Tears once more
came into her eyes and then receded
as a new idea came to the assistance
Of her hard-pressed determination.
She stopped over, took OF one dainty
satin slipper. and after a foolish
glance upward to assure herself that
the man couldn't possibly look. undid
certain fasteners with fingers that
could see in the dark. and subsequent
ly removed one of her best party.
heavy silk champagnecolored stock
ings. This done. she sat back with the
stocking in her lap and stared long
and pensively at the man sitting be-
fore her intent on the business of GO
ing somewhere at the rate of a hun
dred miles an hour. That thought elec-
trified her. A hundred miles an hour
meant fifty for every half hour. and
thirty minutes had certainly passed
since she had delivered her person into
the trap of a kindly smile that was not.
She took a long breath, leaned for
ward. slipped the stocking deftly
around the mans neck. tied 1t in .
single slipping knot and pulled.
The results were immediate. The
man headed the airplane up for a last
grab at altitude, started 1t on a long,
straight downward glide and cut on
his engine. The blessed stiffness that
followed was SO inefrably sweet that
Andrea had to give vent to one great
sigh before she spoke. and while she
was doing that the man calmly drew
n hunting knife from his belt and
severed the restraining strands Of a
stocking that only a moment before
had been almost worthy Of the ankle
II had clothed and adorned.