Belt Valley times. [volume] (Armington, Mont.) 1894-1977, 1922-04-13

NOW fNiiit liAf nifilAfiiA MINI a Juu
been trying NOT to think about. had
Ia find the entrance to the cave. and
then 20 into 1t or part with my own
esteem forever. went and peered
over the cliff. The ledge was there
no. an Inviting ledge. nor II on
which the unacrobaflcally inclined
would have any impulse 10 saunter.
bur q perfectly good ledge, on which
/ had NOT The slightest excuse for de.
cIining to venture.
~ iiere@e4s=erHi nofia4AaangeroaS
about the ledge. II was nearly three
fleet wide. and had an easy downward
trend. YET You heard DE hungry roar
Of the surf below. and Try as you
would n0t to. caught glimpses Of the
white swirl of IT,. / moved cautious
Is. keeping close to The face OF the
clif. Crusoe. to my annoyance, sprang
Etfovn nf9oif the ledge aftrftne@Ehad
a feeling that he must certainly trip
me as / picked my way gingerly along.
An angie ia The rhek@a9ap-dark
entrance-way-lt was all as Peter had
Described A.. / peered in-nothing but
imrenetrahie blackness. | took a hes
itating step. The passage veered
sharply. as the diary had recorded.
once around the corner. there would
be nothing but darkness anywhere.
Suddenly p%OrtentouS and overwhelm-
Ing. there rose before me the unan
swered question Of what had become
- IT,, "a, fH,f VaIf f15Y-1rhu-anx.
Cnanswered-and unanswerable x
ept in II way. by going in to see.
Whereas had so far thought prln-
clpally Of the treasure, | now began
to think with intensity Of Peter. What
ironic stroke Of fate had cut him down
in the very momen Of his triumph?
Had he ever reached the rave 10 bring
away The last OF the dOuhloOns? Were
they stu waiting there unclaimed?
Had n storm come up On that last
night. and the weakened cable parted,
and the Island Queen gone on the
rocks. drowning Peter In The cabin
with his gold. Then how had Crusue
got away. crusoe. who feared tire
wuvrs ~. fttf would bark at tAeit
and then turn tail and rum
@Steak4Ae=ef efHsee OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
I realized that n moment age he hal
plugged lntnIhe passage L heard LIN
Iatter OF his feet-a pause. A queer
dismal little whine echoed along the
passage. | heard Crusoe returning
hut before his nose appeared around
the angle of the tunnel his mistress
Ind reaehed- The Ion of-tbe clin at a
hound and was vanishing ut a brisk
pace into the woods.
With bitterness. ms | pursued my
way 10 camp, | realized that WAS
not a heroine. Here was a mystery
il was the business of a heroine to
solve II. Now that | was safely away
from the cave. | began TO feel the itch
of a torturing curiosity. How, with
out going into the terrifying place
alone, should find out what was
there? Should | pretend To have ac-
cidentally discovered the grave, lead
the party to II. and then-again acci-
dentaily-discover the t%unnel? ThiS
plan had its merils=hnt / discarded il.
for fear that something would be
found in the cave TO direct attention
to tile Island Queen. Then | reheel-l
ed thar very likely the explorers
would work round the island Tar
enough to find the sea-meuth Of the
cave. This would take matters cn.
tirely out OF my hands. should PER
haps he enlightened as TO the fate OF
Peter aud the last remaining bags Of
d%oubloons, but might also have To
share tile secret of the derelict With
the rest. And then an my dreams of
playing fairy g%odmothcr and shower
ing down On certain heads-like Goals
of hre-torrents OF beautiful golden
doubloons, would be over.
ON the whole | could not tell wheth-
err | burned with lmpatience TO have
the cave discovered, OF was cold With
the fear OF IL.
And then. so vigorous is the instinct
TO see ones self in heroic pastures, l
found | was trying 4 cheat myself
with the p%retense that | meant pres
entity to abstract Aunt James electric
torch nnd-returnlng- te-the- tunnel
mouth. plunge In dauntlessly.
Cro BE coNTINUED)
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