, 1924-09-24
.'cuAp1ER xIII-continued

LArntf1llf. "'
\ hurry" Miss Denslow pressed
=. older lady back. well make bet
te .,me II we rest a while and eat
yer ..,h,np. Besides, the moon will be
soon and walking viii be easier"
W uoss laughed. 1t was a rather YEA
~ bnt II was q laugh. "We'd bet
'au COT Mt our sumptuous repast." she
..,d Dunless we want to eat In the
ALL. Here goes the last piece Of fire
uaod and the men say they can't
w. orv more. And an electric torch.
.sougb useful, will not illuminate a
uso,e dinner table. Besides, we'll
need 1t later
md long before the supper, simple as
! WAS. could be finished. darkness had
lain descended upon the scene.
when the last red enber winked out.
.sreral of the party drew long breaths.
put nobody said anything. Their feel
,nqs were too deep for words. Each,
however. undoubtedly took some COM
,o-t from hearing the others MUNICH
Inc away at their bareback in the
darkness.
Al last Lord George got up. "rhe
moon is up" he said. pointing to the
Inn of the canyon. where the tree tops
had begun to silver against the sky.
IFS time TO move"
"waitlr Miss Denslow's voice came
Kissing In the gloom. Listen! !"
Out on the water of the inlet sound
ed the steady beat Of oars. coming
nearer and nearer. Mrs. Archman
started up thankfully. They've come
for US. OH They've come for u.s."
she murmured. IT knew they couldn't
desert US. Call to them. Bess. Call
10 them"
"Waitl" Miss Denslow and Lord
George spoke together. "Wait and
see who they are first"
But
For Gods sake be still I" breathed
Lord George. "Silence! Keep well
back under the ledge, for your life's
SAKE"
Awed by his tones, all shrank back,
fattening themselves against the
rocks, and waited. listening.
The sound Of the oars against the
oarlocks had ceased. Another instant
and a low order. followed by a con-
Certed rafting. showed that the crew
Of the boat had shipped oars with
man-of-war regularity. Other orders
followed. and other movements. The
trained ears of Lord George and Col
line pno1a Apt thos r,Aet ~ fhn mon
had landed, but that one or more had
put of in the boat to lie away from
the shore. A shufning OF feet and a
low click of metal on metal showed
that those on land had formed into
rough column and that they car
Red rifles. AS they moved up the
cleft, more than one of them growled
out a curse as he barked his shins
on IN unseen rock. Only n Of the
listeners recognized the language.
Danish" brenthed Lord George. as
tho steps of the last one died away.
The ext moment Lord George
stepped out. Follow me. quickly and
silently" he breathed. Don't lose
an Instant" He waited while the
others emerged from beneath the
ledge. and then he set of up the path,
following hard on the trail Of the
mysterious column.
Ten minutes later he paused by the
side Of the break In the wall, which
was plainly perceptibie IN the greater
light that had come from the shallow
Ing OF the gully. Silently he DETECTED
each of his companions up 1t. When
the last one had passed he drew a
deep breath. "Checkmate." he muir
mrred, as he followed.
The trail around the mountain
proved to be easy to follow despite
the difficulties Of night travel. It was.
IN fact. a real trail and not. like the
nrst they had followed, merely the
tock'strewn bed Of a torrent, which
mad happened to coincide more or less
closely with a fanciful red line that
rrice had drawn upon the forged map.
me party made excellent time along
u and would hive done even better
mad II not been for Mrs. Archman. who
was utterly exhausted and positively
refused to consider even a suggestion
ron Collins that he and Lord George
should push ahead on a reconnoiter-
ing expedition and leave the others to
rest md follow later.
AS 1t turned out, however, the party
ua not have very far to 60. About
mianlght, just az the men figured out
.a. they must be very near the inter
,ev'ihg red line that ran up the moun-
am, the trail began to slant steeply
onward. SO steeply Tint Lord
ueorse' who was leading. stopped and
p.ered doubtfully downward into the
poo' OF blackness that yawned before
shn The moon. though probably
I've the horizon. was behind the
untain n threw only n reflected
had halted.
stop here TIL we can ind out where
We hre going" dfra~fad HE lordehin