Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1921-12-17

and was gonc-without telling him how
and where The bng. 4 knot tied in
II, he sent down after the gun.
His misgivings we're considerable,
but he went on. He called out to Rctty
1T looks Nil right. Hold on till I call =
md began inching downward again.
with his feet he sought 10 Judge the
slope below him. 1t srcmed to be grow
ing sleeper. Still he went on md down.
lie caught ut any uncvenness In the
rock he could lay hand upon lowering
himself to tic length Of his arm, grop :.
ing for handhold and foothold every
where. Then handhcid to which he
had intrusted his weight betrayed him,
the tiny silver of stone scaled off and
he began to slip. He clutchrd wildly,
but his body gained fresh momentum.
He heard Betty shrek above him. He
had n vision of himself pmnging down
the cliffs. Then he knew that he had
struck the bushes, had broken through,
was rolling down steep slope, rolling
and rolling.
The breath joltcd out Of him, he was
brought up with Jerk in another
clump of bushes. wild sage In a little
level space. He hastily jumped up and
tegan to scramble back up toward the
tunnels mouth. He could not see it
from below, he could see only the pntch
of bush which, since it was directly
above him, must conceal it. He saw
his rife where 1t stood OH end, the
muzzle jnmmcd between two rocks. He
wnnted to call to Betty, but did not
dare, not knowing how close some of
Zoraida's 3 men might be. Betty could
not hold on there forever; sne would
slip az he had done, or, frightened ter
ribly. by now she might be seeking
frcnziedly to make her way back to the
treasure chamber.
But as it happened, Betty was to
make the descent with less violence thnn
Ktndric's. She had thought that surely
Jim had been snatched away from her
to broken death below she had gone
dizzy with sick fear; she had struggled
for securer grip--and she, too. had
slipped. Down she sped. half fainting.
but somewhere her wide ansh caught
and held briefly, letting her slip again
before het fingers could find hold.
but breaking the momentum of her
progress. So, when she was shot out
into the open, a few yards above Ken
dric, the brush all but stopped her.
And then, as she was slipping by him,
Kendric caught her and held her.
Betty rat up and stared at him in
credulously. Then there came into her
eyes such light as jim Kendric had
never seen in eyes of man or woman.
II thought you were dead" said
Rctty simply. And did not want to
live"
He helped her to her feet and they
hurried down the slope. He caught
up his rife. merely grunted at the
discovery of sight Knocked off, found
near 1t the bag Of food and treasure,
and led The way down into the canyon.
A glance upward showed him no sign
of Xoraida'S men.
There are the horses whispered
BETTY.
Down In the bed Of the ravine were
n dozen or more snddlcd ponies. They
stood where their riders had left them,
their rcins over their heads and drag
gng on the ground.
Rum" said Kendric. 'If we can
get into saddle before they see us, we're
aS good ns at home!"
Hand in hand they ran, stumbling
along the slope, crashing through the
brush. But as they drew nearer and
the ponies prcked up their cars they
forced themselves TO so slowly. Kcndrc
caught the nearest horse, tarrying for
no picking and choosing, and helped
BETTY up into the suddlc. The next
moment he, too. was mounted. He
looked again up the mountainsidc. Still
no sign Of Zoraids y mon. A broad grin
of high satisfaction testified that Jim
Kendric found this new arrangement of
mundane affairs highly to his liking.
wen drive these other ponies on
ahead Of us he suggested, Until
they're a good five miles of. And then
we'll see how mst a cowpony can run -
So. herding a lot of snddled horses
ahead of them, rcns flying and soon
putting panic into the animals, Jim
and Betty rode down into the valley,
They looked down to the big adobe
house and saw no one; the place slept
TRANQUILITY In the late afternoon sun.
They passed the corrals and still saw