The Challis messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1912-current, 1925-05-20

III anxious to tackle. Father McGra
hating the necessity Of making teri
re with Railway, had felt neverthele
'e that he was doing the only thing DE-
;! s1ble under the circumstances, un
e the government made a move to vii
out the organization. He assured l.
: that Railway and his men would n
, dare to modest Joyce, and. furthe
e more, that he would protect her wit
his life If necessary.
, Lee had thought best to say nothin
to Joyce about his discovery of th
mine, but he meant to make a tho
ough search of the gorge for Pelly
Failing him, he meant to discover hi
mysterious assailant, in the belief tina
he could provide him with the .clu
he needed.
He had no doubt that Pellys golt
mine lay In the chasm.
After having breakfasted he made
his way to the rocking stone, an6
slipped quietly into the tunnel
Striking match or two, and assuring
himself that 1t was empty, he de-
scended, and within a minute or two
had reached the lower orifice. and
found himself again clinging to the
interior wall of the chasm.
Here the artificial excavation of the
rungs ended, but there was a fairly
easy descent down the lower portion
of the cliffs, which afforded plenty of
hold for the hands and feet. Lee
quickly scrambled down, and, swing
ing free of the wall, found himself
standing at the bottom of the gorge.
whose inclining walls shut him off
completely from the sight Of any one
above. Only by standing in the very
center of the defile could he see the
summit Of the cliffs, with their dense
covering of scrub.
The base of the chesm was a littla |
wider than he had supposed, perhaps
fifty PAGES across between wall and |
wall. Along the center a thin stream
+rlckled over sandy bed, issuing from
one end OF the chasm, where it burst
'ut through the granite, carrying with
t the debris of the alluvial land above
VI. |
This sandy deposit, carried along
" the stream, had been heaped I'D.
probably In times Of overflow, against
he granite walls, and within the LITTLE
limestone caves that studded their ,
over surfaces.
Looking about him, Lee saw that
ONE two or three hundred yards from
ne place where he had emerged ont
the face Of the cliff, the gorge made :
sharp bend, almost at right angle
nd here the ground was strewn with !.
mass Of fallen boulders, ranging =,
ON huge rocks to small debris =
bove 1t was gap In the lower Sec =
on OF the cliff, from which IT had
zen detached. III
Lee made his way in this direction IL
once he came to the conclusion q
at dynamite had been the cause NJ
is collapse Of part of the surface of sd
e granite wall, which, smooth as q ti'
eel lining, could have been disrunted sn
no natural force such as gravity. NC
ana then he came upon something III
1t confirmed the obvious deduction ia
was rotting wooden cradle. or
Beside 1t lay rusty pick. Not far
ay were two huge iron pans their ms
toms eaten out with rust, so that aw
y resembled fretwork In steel boz
DER them were still the ashes and br6
lrred residue of the wood that boz
been used to thaw out the frozon
tn. or
III about among the fallen rocks ure
e mounds, the residue from tho the
$ AFTER the extraction of the gold fun
covered with tangles of dead had
citation. eth
mere was no longer any doubt that enel
was Pelly's gold mine. A
e1ore making further inyestipa- ton
mere, Lee decided to explore the for
ainuer or the chasm. 1t ran on he JoyC
the bend for quarter of q milo tunn
uien came to an abrupt termina- Bt
"nhout any gradual lessening and
Il uepth IL simply ceased, the two not
walls coming together in the
way as they did near the ROCKING
at the other end. The cbasn,
T.
IN fact, simply an elongated
r. r
turning, Lee made his way to the T.
formed by the explosion. If Pellv s,n,n,
IN the district, there was hardlv a,,r
louot but that he would be hid NO..
n that inaccessible spot, whore ~ 10
ouid De safe against discovery Love,
NOT unlikely that he was in tbe so" "
itself at that moment. o .
first examined the snow ahor. Su'es
outh OF the cave for footprints 49,, IN -
round no tracks except his own M ~ y
ng his automatic. he advanced "e
re opening. The sand in the in so,ne"
pore the marks of continued bu.
Ing, but there were no imnrInts Jul !"
D one bad hoo, ~, aS certain stream
LUZ long the 70
rtunately, Lee had brought No s GLUE !,
put ne advanced some dis, =. Il.
Vltnin the cave, lighting his wav - 49,.
atches. However, it was fore. - .aT
that Pelly was NOT u Z. ~.
e. Tor the sandy interior bore - WV
n fOOfprfntc nc 49, punt