The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1921-04-20

tie mad retained tile knife. with
which he had effected escape from the
cabin. and. although the point Of the
blade had been broken. he did not feel
entirely unnrined. There was no pos
sibility for him to lose the way, the
unbroken walls shutting him tightly
In, so that even the star-decked sky
was invisible, while the path he must
follow led almost dizzlly upward. II
was boul,ler-strewn. and he fell twice,
yet tOiled steadily on, never permit
ting his hand to leave the guidance Of
The wall to the right, and carefully
testing the placing Of each foot In
fear of some pitfall. He could neither
Judge time nor distance, yet It was
long before light came into the sky
when he finally clambered over rock
barrier across the path, and came
up0n a shelf Of stone, the left wall of
his strange cavern abruptly disap
pearing Fearful of what precipice
might yawn there. as soon as he again
attained his feet Shelby flattened him
self against the one rock front remain
ing. scarcely daring to venture for
ward more than an inch or so at
time few feet brought him to the
raves mouth. mere hole. scarcely
wide or high enough to receive his
hndy. He explored the black interior
to the length of his arms. finding II
larger within than at the entrance.
She Insisted there was no danger. ana
the silence seemed to prove the place
contained no inhabitant. Doubtless
the open shelf Of rock would be eX.
posed to view from the valley below
with the first flush of day. To avoid
discovery he must creep In out of
sight.
This was accomplished without diff.
ticuty. the floor being fairly level. and
the roof rising so that he could almost
stand erect. Shelby explored every
inch of the space, knife In hand. and
not entirely satisfied until the task
was completed. 1t was only box of
a place, less than fifteen feet long,
and perhaps mlf as wide, narrowing
at the top. rs though In some great
cntaclysln of past ages two masses Of
rock had been hurled together. leaving
this little jog between 1t was hot in
there, and Shelby, dragging after him
tile bag Of provisions. removed his
coat. few moments later he rolled
1t into the form Of a pillow. and lay
down. staring up nt the black vault.
He could think now. recall all that
had occurred so swiftly. and weave
this and that together. He had acted
recklessly; there WIS no doubt of
that. No one but blind fool would
have ever ventured alone into this
place to free prisoner. He should
have ridden to Ponca. and called upon
his friends for help: perhaps he might
even have been able to obtain the
services of a troop Of cavalrymen from
the fort down below-the major knew
him and would believe his story. Why
hadn't he done thls7 Why had he been
so rash. and bull-headed? The an
swer flashed into his mind, as though
some voice had spOken-it was love
Of Olga Carlyn! He knew 1t Instant
ly; made no further effort to deceive
himself. Lying there in that black
silence. staring bllndly upward. he saw
the woman again as plainly as though
In the hesh-saw her. and knew that
he loved her. Her eyes smiled at him,
with such wistfulness in their depths;
there was nothing sullen about her ex.
preston any longer; she was all wom-
an, and-he loved her.
He covered his eyes with an arm.
and rolled over. Godl wasn't there
anything he could do but wait? He
felt wild to act; to accomplish somer
thing; to strike some definite hlaen~,, =,
her behalf. His wife awSE. ,.. , his
wlfe-Olga Cay1r-,,.;~.- ene Mas my -
him n9Yh. .'yn! II meant mucn ~
h. sodiu p How deathly still 1t was;
! low terribly dark. He felt hot and
stifled there in the cave. yet did not
| movo or change his pOSltiOn, and SO