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COPYPlflMT 1010 OY THt 3UCCC 4S CO
SYNOPSIS.
Philip Cayley , accused of a crime
fcrhlch he Is not guilty , resigns from 1
army In disgrace and his affection 1
his friend , Lieut. Perry Hunter , turns
hatred. Cayley seeks solitude , where
perfects a flying machine. While soarl
over the Arctic regions , he picks up
curloualy shaped stick he had seen In t
assasHln's hand. Mounting again , he d
covers a yacht anchored In the bay. I
ecendlny near the steamer , he meets
tfrl on an Ice floe. He learns that t
slrl's name Is Jeanne jfrleldlng and th
the yacht has come north to seek slg
of her father , Captain Fielding , an arc
xplorer.
.CHAPTER -Continued. .
Cayley could not contradict he
and he saw there was little need
trying to do so. She had spoken sli
ply , and very gravely , but it was ei
dent the years had not taken the ath
out of her grief.
"He told you where he was ? " 1
asked.
"Oh , quite exactly , " she told bin
"he gave us latitude and longitud
and mapped the coast-line. So yc
were wrong , you see , in what you sai
about cartographers. And he gave t
the route by which with reasonab ]
fortune , we might find open wate
We had good fortune and we got her
safely , but , of course , we were to
late. The hut on the shore there i
deserted. We have seen no signs c
life at all. The men have gone asher
to search , and there is to be a gun-fir
if they find anyone alive. But the ;
have been out all day and there ha
been no sound. You will understand
I think , though , why I did not want t
Bleep tonight in my cabin In th
yacht ; why the ice and the dome o
stars seemed better. "
"Yes , " he said , "I understand. '
Presently , after a moment's musing
he added , "What seems strange to me
Incomprehensible altogether , Is , tha
men like your father , and so man ]
others , should risk and lose their lives
trying to reach the pole. "
"You can't understand that " sh <
questioned surprised , "you , a mar
with wings ? "
"I suppose it's because of the
wings , " he answered her. "I slepl
there once , early this summer slept
and rested , and ate a meal. "
"There " she echoed incredulously.
"Where do you mean ? "
"At the pole , or within a half degree
of It I won't guarantee my instru
II ments , nor my hit-and-miss observa
tions any more accurately than that
and it seemed a poor place to risk
one's life trying to reach. Just the
Ice-pack the eternal ice-pack ; noth
ing but that. " Then his eyes lighted
a little. "But I should like to go there
some time , in the winter should like
to fly straight ahead , for hours and
hours , through the long dark , until I
could see the North Star squarely
above my head in the zenith , the cen
ter of all the universe. That would
be a sight worth having , I should
think. Some day , perhaps , I shall try
for it. And then one could go straighten
on across a week or ten days would
do it all from Dawson City , say , to
St. Petersburg. "
- , "Dawson City to St. Petersburg ! "
she repeated ; "only * a creature of
wings could put those two cities in
the same sentence , even in imagina
tion. And even with you it must be
'
Imaginary. You couldn't do it , really
could you ? "
"Yes , " he said ; "I could do it. "
"You're tireless , then ? " she asked.
"You would go on flying , flying , with
out rest , for a week ? "
"I don't fly , " he told her , "or hardly
at all. The birds don't fly , not these
great sea birds that live on the wing.
They sail ; so do I. "
then , don't you have to go
\vlth the wind ? "
"You've sailed a boat , haven't you ? "
he asked by way of answer. "You put
up a sail to catch the breeze , and
then you make it force your boat right
up into it ; make your boat go against
the wind , by the force of the wind
I / Itself. That was regarded as a mir-
cclc once when men first did it. "
"Of course , " she admitted , "but you
do that by tacking. "
"That's the way I do It by tacking ,
end the force of gravity is my heel. "
"How long have you lived like
this ? " she asked abruptly.
"Really lived ? 'Only three months
or so. I spent the better part of five
years learning to fly. "
"And you have flown all over the
world ? "
"All over this most deserted patch
I of it. "
Ii There was another silence. Then
i Bhe said : "And what a contempt you
must have for us for us , poor wing
less creatures , who cannot cross a lit
II tle fissure in a rock or a bit of open
! " water without such toilsome labor.
II Yes , that must be the feeling con
' ! i tempt ; it could hardly be pity. "
"If that's true , " he rejoined quickly ,
"It's only poetic justice. I've only
Achieved toward the world the feeling
Tvhich the world held for me. "
The words were spoken harshly ,
--abruptly , as if his memory had just
tasted something intolerably bitter.
'The manner of the 'words , no less
. .thanthe sense of them startled her ,
and she checked a movement toturn
and look into his face. Instead , she
tried to recall it as it had looked
when she had first stood confronting
him. before ttxe twllieht had faded.
v {
It was a strange face , as she
membered it , but this , she reflect *
was probably due to the incongruo
effect of his deeply tanned skin wj
his very light sun-bleached hair ,
sensitive face , finely chiseled , almc
beautiful and young , but with an
explicable stamp of premature a
upon It. It had not struck her at ;
as a tragic face. And yet the mes
ing of those last words of his , utter
as they were , had been tragic enoug
"At least you have a magnificent i
venge , " was all she said. And th <
there was another silence. She h <
self was trying to think of somethii
to say , for she realized that his cc
fesslon had been Involuntary , and th
the silence must be distressing him.
But it was he himself who bro ]
the silence with a natural , matter-c
fact question , "You say a searchii
party has set out from the yach
Have they been long ashore ? "
"They set out only a little after su
rise. We came into the bay with tl
last of yesterday's twilight , and tl
sight of those huts , at the edge of tl
shore " her voice faltered a littl
"nearly made us hope that the impo
sible might prove true. We fired 01
signal cannon two or three times ar.
then sent up some rockets , withoi
getting any answer. It was too lal
to go ashore in the dark ; so we hate
to wait a few hours for another sui
rise. The few of us who were lei
on the yacht expected them back t <
day before dark fell. But I suppos
there's nothing to worry about i
their not coming. They went equippe
to pass a .night ashore , if necessarj
You don't advise me to begin worrj
ing about them , do you ? "
He did not answer her question. H
was recalling something which hi
amazing meeting with the girl ou
here on the ice-floe had , for a littl <
while , put quite out of his mind th <
weird , silent tragedy he had seen en
acted a few hours before upon th <
glacier behind the headland. Thi
victim , the man in the leather coat
nust have been one of the party fron
: he yacht ; but it was impossible thai
: he little band of his murderers coulc
Je. No one freshly landed from thf
racht would have been dressed as
: hey were , or would have been armed
vlth darts.
With no better look at them than
lad been possible to him as he hung
ibove their heads , he had been con-
rinced that they were white ; certain-
y , the leather-coated man had been
alking to them , freely enough , in
English. And yet , if white , they must
tave been refugees survivors , if not
> f Captain Fielding's ill-fated expedi-
ion , then of some other , tragic , unre-
iorted ship wreck.
But if they were white men refu-
ees , why had they fled from their
ut at sight of the yacht which came
ringing a rescue ? Why had they
riven that one luckless member of
tie rescuing party who fell in with
lem , Into that carefully prepared am-
ush , and then murdered him , silent-
r ? Even Eskimos would not have
one a thing like that.
His long silence had alarmed the
irl , and presently , perceiving that
us was so , he drew himself up with
a affected start. "I beg your par-
: > n. I drifted off , thinking of some-
ling else. Living in the sky doesn't
; em conducive to good manners. No ,
don't believe there is anything ; to
orry about. Any way , as soon as
? ht comes back , which won't be
ng now , I can set at rest any fears
m may have. I'll go and find your
irty , and I'll search the land , too
r anything else that may. be jthere.
nd then I'll bring you word. "
"You are very good , " she said with :
little hesitation , "but I can't
He interrupted her with a laugh ,
t's nothing difficult that I am pro
ving to do for you , you know. "
"That's true. I had .forgotten your
ings. The rocks , the ice , the steep
aces , that mean so tragically much
them , are nothing at all to you. But
hat are you doing now ? Even you
n't find them in the dark. "
He had already begun unstrapping
e bundle he had made of his wings ,
d seemed to be preparing for im-
Bdiate flight. That was what caused
r question.
"No , " he said ; "I shall wait for sun-
le. "
"But why not here , on the yacht ?
e can give you a comfortable bed
3re ; better , certainly , than that
seplng bag of yours. "
"I am afraid , " he said , "that what
u call a comfortable bed In a yacht's
bin would-be the surest instrument
at could be found for keeping me
rake all night. No , I shall find a
eltered hollow up at the top of that
adland yonder , where I shall sleep
eply enough , you may be sure. "
She watched him , silently , while he
pped the steel-jointed rods into
ice , drew the catgut bow strings
it , until they sang until the fabric
his planes shimmed in the starlight
quivered , as if they were Instinct
th a life of their own.
A sense of the unreality of it all
me welling up strongly within her ,
d a touch of an almost forgotten
ir of him.
'Good night , " she said , holding out
r hand "goodby. "
"At Least You Have a Magnificent Rovengs. "
"Till morning , " he answered.
A little breeze came blowing across
the ice just then. He dropped her
hand quickly , slipped his arms into
their places in the -frame , mounted the
ledge of ice , and then , with a short
run , sprang forward into the breeze.
She saw his planes bend a little ,
undulate , rather , with a sort of scull
ing motion , as he flew forward , not
far above the level of her head. He
dipped down again as soon as he had
open water beneath him , and almost
skimmed the surface of it. Then ,
gathering speed , he began mounting.
She felt curiously alone now that he
was gone ; and a little frightened , like
a child just waking out of a dream.
And she blew a small silver whistle
that hung about her-neck , for a signal
to the men on the yacht to send a
boat for her. f
Then , while she waited , she dropped
down rather limply on her pile of
bear-skins. Her hand found some
thing hard that had not been there be
fore , and taking it up she found that
it was a curious blunt stick of wood ,
rudely whittled , and about ten inches
long. It must have fallen from his
belt while he sat there talking to her.
She wondered what he used it for.
CHAPTER HI.
The Murderers.
Two men clad in bear-skins were
shuffling rapidly along across the
glacier. Dawn was already flooding
the arctic sky with Its amazing riot
of color rose , green-gold , , violet , and
the ice beneath their feet was rose
: olor with misty blue shadows in it.
The foremost of the two wayfarers
tvas a man of gigantic stature , six
md a half feet tall and of enormous
; irth of chest ; yet , somehow , despite
iris size and the ungainly clothes he
yore , he contrived to preserve an air
ilmost of lightness ; of lean , compact
i
athleticism , certainly. A stranger ,
meeting him anywhere and contem
plating his formidable proportions ,
and then looking up past his great ,
blunt jaw into his cold , l ght blue ,
choleric eyes , would be likely to shiv
er a little and then get out of his way
as soon as possible.
He was walking steadily , glancing
neither to the right nor the left. 'Even
over the treacherous , summer-glazed
surface of the glacier , his great stride
carried him along at a pace which his
companion found it difficult to keep up
with. Besides , this companion made
his task the harder by allowing his
eyes to wander from the track they
were following , and casting little fur
tive , anxious glances at the man be
side him. In any other company he *
would have been a rather striking fig
ure himself , well above middle height ,
powerfully made , and with a face that
had lines of experience and determina
tion engraved in it. But the com
parison dwarfed him.
He seemed to be trying to make up
his mind to speak , and still to find
this a difficult thing to do.
At last , with a deprecatory cough ,
he began :
"What I can't see is , Roscoe , what
you did it for. It was all right to
do it if you were figuring out any gain
from it. We'll all agree to that. Any
thing for our common good , that's our
motto. But Where's the gain in kill
ing just one poor fellow out of a party
of 30 ? He seemed a good kind of
chap , too , and friendly spoken. We
didn't serve you like that , when you
come aboard the Walrus at Cape
Nome. "
"It would have cost you four men
to do it , Planck , and you were shorthanded -
handed as it was. " ?
"That wasn't why we didn't do it.
You was a stranger , and you was in a
bad way. There was a mob of men
: hat wanted you mighty bad , and we
Strode On With Unabated Pace , as Though He Had Not Heardl
gave you shelter and carried you c
and made you a regdar sharln' mei
ber of the crew Of course If we
had any reason to act contrary , we
have do'ne so. And that's why
seemed to us to me , I would sa
that you probably had some reasc
In this case , here. And , well we
like to know what it Is. "
But the man he had addressed i
"Roscoe" strode on with unabate
pace , ai > if he had not heard. For ar
attention he paid to his questioner I
might havbeen alone in that e :
panse of ice and sky.
Planck accepted the silent rebuff
if it had been only what he had e :
pected , but he sighed regretfully. H
had once known , and it was only foi
years ago , that same swaggering trie
of contemptuous authority hlmsel
He had been master , the most tyrai
nical sort of master , some say , to b
found anywhere in the world ; th
captain of an American whaler. An
this very man , at whose heels he wa
scrambling along over the Ice , ha
been one of his crew ; had never aj
preached the quarter-deck where h
reigned supreme , without an apolc
getic hand at his forelock , and hai
always passed to the leeward side o
him up on the deck.
But the Walrus had been destinei
never to see port again. She lingerei
too long on the whaling grounds t <
get back through Behring strait tha
fall ; and failed in the attempt t <
make McKenzIe bay , where othe
whalers in similar plight put in for thi
winter. Instead of this friendly barber
bor , she was caught in the pack am
carried , relentlessly , north and west
ward. The milling pressure of grea
masses of ice crushed in her stoui
hull , so that the open water they hat
been hoping for , became , at once
their deadliest peril. The moment th <
ice broke away , she would go to th (
bottom like a plummet.
But still the slow , irresistible drifl
of the Ice-pack carried them north and
west into a latitude and longitude
which , so far as they knew , no human
travelers had ever crossed before ,
A.nd then in the depth of the arctic
aight , bereft of hope , and half mutin-
3us , they found a land that never had
jeen charted , and , most marvelous of
ill , a human welcome. For hereon
he shore were Captain Fielding and
: he two other survivors of his ill-
ated expedition.
The fate of the explorer's ship .had
jeen , it seemed , precisely that of the
iValrus. She had been caught In the
> ack , crushed in it and carried against
his coast. Before the coming of
iprlng , and with it the breaking of
he ice , Fielding and his men had been
ible to carry their stores ashore , and
if these , the greater part still re-
nained.
Of the Walrus people , in all , there
rere 11 , and these , with the three
riglnal castaways , settled down to
he prospect of an Indefinite number
f years upon that nameless coast.
We can live like Christians , " Cap-
ain Fielding had said , "and we can
Iways hope. "
His superior knowledge of arctic
onditions made him , rather than Cap-
lin Planck , naturally commander of
le little company. He established
ie regimen of their life , doled out
ae store from day to day , and , as
est he could , through that long : win-
jr night , provided entertainment for
ie forlorn little group. He told them
E his explorations on the coast , of the
ty of the land , of what they might
ope to see when the sun should
ime back to them , marking the be-
inning of another long arctic day.
Among other things , quite casually
2 told them of a ledge in the hills ,
: ross the glacier , which contained ,
3 believed , the most extraordinary
jposit of gold in the world. So In-
edibly rich was it , that the rock
self had almost been replaced by
did metal. The Alaska gold , he said ,
as only the sweepings , in his opln-
n , of this immense store.
At the sound of the word "gold , " the
res of the man named Roscoe had
ightened for the first time since
ey had taken him , shivering from
s long Immersion in the cold water ,
ioard the Walrus. He drew into the
rcle that sat about the reading lamp ,
id began asking questions. Gold was
mething he knew about. He had
ined it in Australia , in California ,
td in the Klondike. He questioned
iptain Fielding about the exact
lereabouts of the ledge , about the
rt of ore it occurred in , and about
e best means of cutting it out.
To some extent his own excitement
fected the others. Even Captain
anck , whose only well-understood
in of wealth was whale blubber , ben -
n to take an interest in Roscoe'a
estions and In the explorer's an-
ers to them.
It was a strange and rather pathetic
* t of excitement , Captain Fielding
> ught. To them , in their practical-
hopeless plight , gold was about the
, st useful thing they could find ; not
rd enough to tip lances or arrows
th , too heavy and too easily melted
domestic purposes. However , it
re them something to think about ,
i he , without a suspicion of the
ister direction in which these
lughts might turn , went on and told
un all he knew.
When , after a period of tantalizing
twilight , the sun again came fairly
over the horizon , they besought their
commander , with a savage sort ol
eagerness from which he might hav
augured ill , that he take them at
once to the ledge. They had caught
sight of It from a distance , even as
Cayley had done , hung In the air
above the valley , and had run reck
lessly on ahead of their leader. When
he came up to them , he found them
dangerously excited , the man Rosco
fairly dazed and drunken with it.
Finally Fielding had left them to
their own devices , and came away
with his two companions. And until
the light of that short day had begun
to fail , they the ' Walrus people *
stayed , gloating over this strangely
useless treasure.
For three days after that the man
Roscoe never spoke a word. On the
fourth day , when the little party as
sembled for their mid-day meal , the II
men of the Walrus were the only
ones to answer the summons. Captain - ,
tain Fielding and his two companions
had disappeared.
Captain Planck could not recall that
meal now without shuddering , for
there at the foot of the table , oppo
site to him , had sat the man Roscoe ,
with murder written plain In every
line of his' face. He had looked a
beast , rather than a man , that day.
The sated blood lust In his eyes mada
them positively terrifying , so that th
others shrank away from him. Ha
had seemed not to notice it , at least
not to take offense at It He was in
hilarious spirits for the first tlma
since they had known him ; seemed
really to try to be a good companion ,
Captain Planck abdicated his lead *
ershlp that day. He was perfectly
conscious of the fact. He had known
Lhat to retain the leadership he musl
take that murderer out and execuU
aim. He knew that if ho did not da
: hls , the murderer , not he , would here *
ifter command the party , and thai
mless he himself yielded the prompfr
; st obedience of any , he would follow ?
ie luckless trio whom they weri
lever to see again.
From that day to this there ha < }
) een no more murders. Roscoe had
uled them with a decision and a
ruculence which put anything Hk
nsubordination out of the question.
Ie had been obeyed betttr than Cap.
ain Planck ever had been. He had
vorked them fiercely all those fouj
pears , cutting , everlastingly , at thai
wonderful , exhautless golden ledge
leating the friable ore out of It wit !
leavy mauls , then , laboriously , coi
eying the great rude slabs of puru
aetal on rough sledges over the pei
letual ice of the glacier to a cav
; ear the shore , where they had de
osited it. There were literally tons
f it hidden there when the smoka
rom the yacht's funnel was first seea
n the horizon.
The moment the news of the 09
reaching steamer wan reported tg
loscoe , he had entered upon whal
semed to his followers a thoroughly
Tational and inexplicable line of ao
on. He had ordered them , first , ta
smove all signs of recent habltatios
om the hut to the cave where theii
old was concealed ; then , to cover th
ive mouth with a heap of boulder
> secure it against discovery.
Long before the strongest glass oj
ie ship could have made out theii
loving figures , he took the wholi
irty back to the hills in hiding. H
id kept them from answering tin
ills and the gun-fire from the yacht
r the sheer weight of his authority ;
ithout vouchsafing a word of expla
ition.
The next day they had seen tin
arching party come ashore , and witj
ieir knowledge of the lay of thi
nd found it perfectly easy to evad *
iservatlon , though nothing but tht
rang habit of obedience kept thei
om courting It.
Then , along in the afternoon , had
tppened what seemed to them thi
rangest thing of all. They had seea
solitary straggler from the search
g party coming along across thi
. He could not see them. It would
ve been perfectly easy to evad
m , but Roscoe now ordered thenj
go down to 'him and tell him wha
&y were , and to offer to escort biro
mg the trail down the glacier. And
a certain point they were to laj
hind and let him go on alone. Thai
is all any of them knew of theli
ider's plans , till they saw the flying
rt and the smudge of crimson 01
j snow.
STow , at last , came Planck to tht
der , asking the reason why. But
; mission , as it appeared , had not
> spered.
spered.TO
{ TO BE CONTINUED. )
Progressive Farming.
"Well , yes , " confessed Honest
rmer Hornbeak , the while a grira
n wrinkled his weather-beatea
nplexion. " ' ' *
"it's a good 'eal o
uble. but the satisfaction I feel am.
repays me for the extry work. Ye
; by degrees I'm sharpenln * up tha
of every stump on the place , and \
the course o' time I hope to hava
tters so arranged that the hired
n will find It fully as comfortably
stand up durin * the day as to
ra. " Puck.
