The Kevin review. [volume] (Kevin, Mont.) 1922-1929, 1924-05-08

erything else was hopeless.
The minutes seemed le~ngthening into
hours. At last Winton's plans had
| simmered down to this: he would not
risk discovery until he was assured
that Sheila was in imminent danger.
For the present she was probably safe.
| He felt sure she was not in De Wits
tent. Where, then, was she?
AS his eyes Travelled from spot to
| spot they lit upon a recess in a wall
of rock at the summit of the noun
tain. The leaping flames of the fire
Illuminated the interior of what seemed
a little cave. And somehow Winton
sensed that Sheila was within that.
1t was some thirty yards away, and
he saw little chance of reaching it I'M
observed. There was a fringe of grass
through which he might crawl for the
greater part of the journey, but for
the last few feet he would have to
traverse bare rock, within a few feet
of the fire. Yet he began his task, and
it was infinitely arduous and slow. 1t
was a matter of inch-long move
ments-frst of one arm, then of the
other, then of the corresponding lower
limbs. The dry blades of grass
cracked under the slightest movement.
The natives were doing over the
fire. Winton had gone perhaps six feet
when one of the Hottentots raised
himself suddenly to a kneeling posi-
ton and thrust out his head toward
him, peering ~intently through the
grass. Winton, perfectly motionless,
stared for at least five minutes into
the yellow face within a'few feet of
his own. The man knelt like a statue,
the eyeballs cleaning in the moon
light, the fingers encircling the spear
shaft.
Suddenly the sight faded. The
moonlight was cut off abruptly, plung-
ing the land into immediate darkness.
Then a few drops of rain began to fall.
In half a minute a torrent was de-
scending.
1t was the characteristic beginning
of n of the seasonal thunderstOrms.
AS WintOn crouched neal the cave,
preparing to cross the open space,
there came a flash of lightning that
made the world as bright as day. 1t
showed him the form of the Hottentot,
motionless where he had been watch /.
ing, the fingers still about the spear.
But it showed him another sight that
drove the blood from his heart.
7 -, ~ NUi++ a,o~ei,r f.an, +ho
tent to the cave.
So momentary was the flash that the
mans attitude, his gesture, and the
movement of his body and limbs
seemed caught as on a Photographic
plate. He was halfway to the cave,
hurrying with head bent down to shield
his face from the rain. But Winton
could still see the look of anticipation
his features, and it was that which
gave him, for the second time, the
lust for murder.
1t was borne in upon him then that
by no possibility could De Witt and he
live in the same world together.
The flash, which had given Winton
his final clue to Sheilah's hiding
place, had shown him the topography
Of the mountain cleft. The place was
a natural fortress. The only apparent
approach was the narrow neck along
which he had come. Beyond the
mountain dropped in a vertical cliff,
and beyond hat was the stony desert
where no tree grew and nothing could
i've.
In the interval between two sue
flashes Winton crept noiseless-
" across the open space in front OF
he cave and crept forward into the
darkness of the interior. AS he gained
he shelter of the projecting wall, and
,rouched behind it, hidden alike from
he sight of the Hottentots without
md from those within, he heard Sheila
speaking, and knew that his search
vas ended.