The Arvada enterprise., 1921-05-26


I..l-S
1 these cliff. Det may be several day.
before win dare act; you must bt
patient. When w come viii brinl
arms, but I DIDN'T dare touch any to
night."
You viii not tell me where my wife
10 being heldr'
'what god. senofi You could aid
her not At all. There II NO great harm
coming to her yet. sacristal why you
worry about her1 bring her with
me; did I not promissr'
'Yes, trust you, Pancha." hs said
warmly. "and win do just what You
say. But-but, don't you undsFstandi
II knew where she was I would feel
better"
She laughed almost srernfully.
"Bahi what The di6es0nce. senori
You not know II I. told you. But 'tis
not far away: perhaps By daylight
you might zee eet from mp there; log
house all alone under the blu6. Yet
you lie hid. senior. and trust all to me. :"
II have promised that"
Good, senof; I will CO."
She drew her hand away. and he
knew she was gone. although no move
ment Of her figure could be distin-
guished. Shelby swung the bag Of
provisions again to his shoulder. and
began feeling his way blindly forward.
He had retained the 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 unarmed. There was no pos
sibility for him to lose the way, the
unbroken walls shutting him tightly
In, % that even the star-decked sky
was invisible. while the path he must
follow led almost dissily upward. It
was boulder-strewn. and he fell twice,
yet toiled steadily o., 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 tine nsr distance. yet It was
long before light came into the sky.
when he finally clambered over q rock
barrier across the path, and came
upon q shelf of stone. the left wall Of
this strange cavern abruptly disap-
pearing. Fearful Of what precipice
might yawn there. % soon ~ he again
attained his feet Shelby ilattened him
self against the one rock front remain.
ing. scarcely daring to venture for
warsi more than an inch Or % at Q
time. A few feet brought him to the
caves mouth, q mere hsle. scarcely
wide or high enough 70 recsivs his
BODY. He exploeed ths elaek ieteicr
70 tie length Of his arms. Andlng II
larger within than at the entrance.
She insisted there was no danger. and
the silence seemed to prove the place
contained no inhabitant. Doubtless
the open shelf Of rock would bs ex-
posed to view from the valley below
with the first nush e day. To avoid
discovery he must creep In out Of
sight.
This was accomplished without dtf.
Acuity, the floor being fairly level. and
the roof rising 70 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. It was only . boz Of
q place. less than fifteen fest long.
and perhaps half a. wide. narrowing
at the top. a. though in some great
cataeiysm Of past ages two masses Of
rock had besa hurled together. leaving
this little Jog between. It was hot In
there. and Shelby. dragging after him
the bag Of provisions. removed bis
coat. A few moments later he rolled
II into the form Of Q pillow. and lay
down. staring up at the black vault.
He could think now. recall all that
had occurred 20 swiftly. and weave
this and that together. He had acted
recklsssly: there was no doubt Of
that. No one but Q blind fool would
have ever ventured alone into this
place to free . prisoosr. He should
have ridden to Pooea. and called upeo
his friends for help: perhaps hs might
even have been able to obtain he
services Of Q troop Of eavalrymsn from
the fort down beloW-tAs major knsw
him and would believe his story. WY
hadn't he done thisf Why had hs been
10 rash, and bull.headedI he an
swer flashed into his mind. % though
some voice had spoken-lt was lovs
Of Olga Cariyn! He knew Il instant.
iy: made NO further effort to deceive
himself Lying there II that black
silence. staring blindiy upward. he saw
the woman again a. plainly ~ though
In the fleah-saw her. and knew thai
he loved her. Her eyes smiled at him.
with such wiatfulness In their depths
there was nothing sullen about her ex'
preston any longer: she was oil WON
an, and-he loved her. =
He covered bis eyss with 40 am
and rolled over. 0odi wasn't thsss
anything be could do but waltz 81
felt wild 70 act: to accomplish some
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