Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1922-06-19

VI TOtten pallnB
heard a cry from down below and I
went to see what It was.' You UNDER
stand?"
eyes, sir!''
Tallente took q step into what seemed
to be eternity. The rope cut into his
hands for the first three or four yards,
MS the red sand crumbled away be-
meath his feet, and he was obliged to
grip for his life. Presently he gained
little ledge, from which a single yew
tree was growing, and paused for
breath.
,".Are you all right, sir?" Robert
called out from above.
"Quite,' was the confident answer.
shall be off again in a minute"
Tallente's head had been the wonder
even Of members of the Alpine Club,
years ago in Switzerland. He found
himself now in the strangest of all
positions, absolutely steady and un-
ing waves broke upon the rocks, send
Ing showers of glitte-ing spray upward.
Above. the little lookout with its
directly overhead. The few stars and
the fugitive moon seemed somehow set
in q different sky. He felt new
kinship with a great gull that came
floating by. He had become himself a
creature Of the wild places. Presently
he began once more to let himself down,
hand over hand, to where the next
little clump Of trees showed chance
OF a precarious foothold. The rope
chafed his fingers but he remained alb
solutely steady. Once he trusted for
moment to yew tree, growing out
of fissure in the rock, which came
out by the roots and went hurtling
down into space. From overhead he
heard Roberts terrible cry. The rope
stood the strain of his sudden clutch,
lower down, holding on with one hand,
he took his torch from his pocket and
examined the surface Of the cliff. Moth.
ing apparently had been disturbed, nor
was there any sign of any heavy body
having been dashed through the under
growth. Soon he went on again, and,
working little to the left, stood for
moment upon a green, turf-covered
crag, a tiny plateau covered with tho
refuse Of seagulls and a few stunted
trees, from among which q startled
hawk rose with wild cry. He waited
here until the moon shone once more
and he could see the little strip Of
shingle below. Nowhere could he find
any trace OF the thing he sought.
At the end of an hours climbing, he
reached the end Of the rope. The little
cove, filled with tumbled rocks and a
narrow strip of beach, was still about
eighty feet below. The slope here was
foothold In many places among the
thinly growing frs and dwarfed oaks.
Calmly he let 90 of the rope and COM
menced to scramble. More than once
his foot slipped, but he was always in
a position to save himself. The time
came ut last when he stood upon the
pebbly beach, surprised to find that his
knees were shaking and his breath com
ing fast: The little place was 80 in.
closed that when he looked upward
II seemed as though he were at the
bottom of a pit, as though the stars
and the doubtful moon had receded and
he was somehow in the bowels of the
earth instead of being on the sea level.
shingle dry, and a great wave, break
ing among the huge rocks, drenched
him with spray. lie proceeded win
his task, however, searching method
ically among the rocks, scanning the
pebSly beach with his torch, always
amazed that nowhere could he find the
trace Of what he sought.
Finally, .drenched to the skin and ut
terly exhausted, he commenced once
more the. upward climb. He was an
hour reaching the end of therope. Then
he blew the whistle and the rest was
easy. Nevertheless when the paling
came into sight and he felt Roberts
arms under his shoulders, he reeled
A.
his clothes caked in red mud, the knees
Of his .knickerbockers cut, blood on his
hands and forehead, breathless. Rob.
ert forced brandy down his throat, how.
ever, and in a moment or two he was
himself again.
"A miracle! he gasped. "There is
nothing there"
'There was something dark. I
fancied, upon the strip of beach, SIR"
Robert ventured.
II thought 50 too. 1t was tarred
"Then the tide must have reached
him.
Tallente rose to his feet and looked
over.
1.-The sea alone knows,'l he said.
''For the first time, though, Robert,
| feel inclined to agree with the news
papers that speak of the strange dis
appearance of the Honorable Anthony
Palliser. Could any man go backward
over that palisading, do you think, and
save his lifeT'
Robert shook his head.
miracles can't happen, SIR" he
muttered.
Nevertheless, Tallente said,
little gloomily, "the sea never keeps
what the land gives 1t. My fate will
rest with the tides
Robert suddenly gripped his masters
arm. The moon had disappeared UNDER
meath fragment of cloud and they
stood in complete darkness. Both men
listened. From one of the paths which
ed throurh the prounds frnm tho hanch