Evening star., 1942-03-15

onto the summit Then he must endure few minutes of
intense danger in the open he led the hunters toward
DypSkaret and their inevitable doom.
There were only four bullets left in the rife when he
uawed cautiously backwards the of the ridge allowing
the soldiers ten minutes to gain the position where he had
an From that point they would discover him racing down
the slope toward the little knoll and the trap behind it.
Would they pursue him Immediately, or would they ry to
tell him with their rifles? Well he must expose himself as
tempting target Most likely seeing by the snow tracks that
ne was Alone they would hunt him. They believed that to
capture gueas alive and them in public broke the
resistance of subjugated people
He fastened on his skis and glided down the hill He
regretted that he would know the schoolmaster
succeeded his mission for he heading eastward as soon
as this over.
He was still some distance from the knoll when he heard
voices yelling from the ridge The ping of bullet cutting
past his head reached him before the roar of the rife He
swayed from side to side without changing his course as more
bullets tore past Just before rounding the knoll he threw
glance over his shoulder They coming seane down
his run In close single flei
k1E all his strength as he shot up from his ped
position over his skis and jumped sailing into the air. Under
hm he saw the carpet of covering the net It seemed
as virginia. and safe the rest Of the banketed granite TANKS
he landed three feet the other side of the brink and
swerved toward clmp of scraggy dwarf pines Painting
wildly, he threw himself behind tree trunk his rife at
ready struck him that his life depended now ON the weak
ness of net His fe No, the lives of many small frightened
people.
1e wdS Pdntm8 no longer Dut MS breath IN Jerking
gasps his eyes fastened the cvng rim of the knoll
For moment nausea threatened him. His forehead was cold
and his hands cammy Then in the stiffness II was as if he
heard his wife and calling from afr and he squared his
shoulders and his hands holding the rife were not shaking
any more.
The first soldiers statp into view making prace-
full arc above his head as he swung the ski staff up to help him
round the knoll The soldier himself burst into sipht He
handled himself sklfly 1t Eivnd watched thrill
ing contest roofing for fine lad from the German Alps to
match his own splendid takeo and soar into the blue
Evinds mouth formed to cry: Now, jump when three dull
explosions rbed from the direction of Osteraen shaking
him out of his trance.
Schoolmaster Kalsto had succeeded He had carried off
the dynamite leaving only enough blast the vehicles and
erase all evidence of the ambush The nightly snowfall would
take of the tracks left by the six who had set out for the
ridge
Sweat drops gathered Ends forehead as he watched
the soldier Would he sweep onto the net Or would he halt
when he lost the he had been following? Judging by the
momentum he could not stop before well onto the
would he cry out warning to his companions? He was so
near that Eivnd could the puzzled expression as the man
goped for the Then his eyes up as he found them
gistenng like slender silk ribbons where tey continued He
slid onto the net as his followers view past the knoll
Evind held his breath The ropes not gvngl EXCEPT
Tor slight vibration they held stanchy their moorngs His
heart pounded and he lay taut and rigid
The man only six feet from the brink and safety when
the weight of his four closest followers beled the net checking
ms progress He cawed wildly the he began to slide
back into the gaping hole through which his four COMPANIONS
The sixth soldier crossed his skis in tremendous effort to
nfrrnf Tho a. e.