Valentine Democrat. (Valentine, Neb.) 1900-1930, June 01, 1911, Image 6

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    ay THE success co
SYNOPSIS.
Philip Cayley , accused of a crime or
Which ho IB not ffullty. resigns from the
army In disgrace and hia affection tor
ELlfrlend. Lieut. Perry Hunter , turns to
b&tred. Carley seeks solitude , where he
perfects a flying1 machine. While eoarlng
over the Arctic reelons , he picks up a
curiously shaped suck he had seen In the
uwaasin's hand. Mounting again , he OM-
covers a yacht anchored In the bay. De
scending near the steamer , he meets a
girl on an Ice floe. He learns that the
girl's name Is Jeanne Fielding and that
the yacht ha * come north to seek signs
o ? her father. Captain Fielding , an arctic
explorer. A party from the yacht Is ma
king search ashore. Alter Cayley departs
Jeanne finds that he had dropped a cu
riously-shaped stick. Captain Planck and
the surviving crew of his wrecked whaler
are In hiding on the coast. A giant ruf-
xnan namccJKosooe. had murdered Fielding
and his two companions , after the ex
plorer had revealed the location of an
enormous ledge of pure gold. Roscoe then
took command of the party. It develops
that the rufflan had committed the mur
der witnessed by Cayley. Roscoe plans
to capture the yacht and escape with a
big load of gold. Jeanne tells Fanshaw ,
owner of the yacht , about the visit of the
sky-man and shows him the stick left by
Cayley. Fanshaw declares that It Is an
Eskimo throwing stick , used to shoot
darts. Tom Fanshaw returns from the
arching pexty with a sprained ankle.
CHAPTER IV. Continued.
She was addressing the elder man
fus she spoke , and as she mentioned
ithe name it was the first time she
ihad mentioned it to any one she
eaw him shoot a startled , inquiring
glance at his son. Following it , she
met Tom Fanshaw's eyes staring at
her in utter amazement.
"Cayley , " he said , half under his
breath ; ; "Philip Cayley "
"That was the name , " she an
swered
"And yei I'd he willing to swear , "
he said , "I've never mentioned that
name to you in my life. "
"No , " she said. "Why should you ?
I know you didn't I knew I had never
heard It before when he told me it
was his. " She hesitated a moment ;
then : "Did you ever know a man
named Philip Cayley , Tom ? "
He let the question go by , unheeded ,
and , for a long time , gazed silently
out over the land. "I suppose , " he
said at last , "that a coincidence like
this , any coincidence , if only it be
strange enough , will bring a touch of
supersitous fear to anybody. I never
had even a touch of It before , in all
my life ; and I always had a little feelIng -
Ing of contempt for the men who
showed It But now well , well , I
wish poor old Hunter hadn't strayed
away last night I wasn't alarmed
about him before , and I've no rational
ground for alarm about him now.
Only "
He did not go on until she prompted
him with a question. "And has the
sky-man , Philip Cayley , anything to
do with the coincidence ? "
Still it was a little while before he
spoke. "I suppose I'd better tell you
the story a part of It , at least ; I
couldn't tell it all to you. " He turned
to his father. "You , I think , already
know it" Then with evident reluc
tance , he began telling the story to
Jeanne.
"There was a man named Philip
Cayley , " he said , "in Hunter's class at
the Point , three classes ahead of me.
that was. He and Hunter were chums ,
the 'David and Jonathan , ' you know ,
of their class. I remember what a
troke of luck for them everybody
jthought it was when they were as
signed to service in the same regi
ment It seems to me , as I think back
to our days at the Point of course ,
jmy memory may be playing me a
( trick but It teems to me that even
'then ' Cayley was interested in the
navigation of the air. Somebody kept
* scrap-book of all that the newspa
pers and magazines reported on the
mbject , any way ; I remember seeing
It I think it WM Cayley.
"I lost sight of him and Hunter
. when they went to the Philippines. It
Us only justice to Hunter to say that
il never heard a word of the thing that
happened out there from him. He
.sever seemed to want to talk to me
about it , and , of course , I never forced
him. Well , I can make a short story
of it , any way , though it has to be a
nasty one.
"A man came into the poet one day ,
' the head man of one of the neighbor-
tog villages out there , a man with
Vhite blood in him Spanish blood.
They carried him in , for he couldn't
walk. He was in horrible condition.
He had been tortured I won't go Into
the details of that and flogged nearly
to death. He said that Cayley had
done It He had remonstrated with
Cayley , he said , because he feared
for his daughter's safety she was a
pretty girl , whiter than her father
and it seems that the man's fears had
ome justification. It appears that
Cayley had come out there , blind
drunk , with a couple of troopers , who
deserted that same night , and man
handled the old man. The girl joined in
her father's accusation , at least she
Udn't deny anything.
"Cayley was away on scout duty at
die time when the man came in the
thing had happened some days prior ,
Just before he started out It came
tike a thunderbolt out of a clear sky ,
Zor everybody liked Cayley and
tkought him an exceptionally decent ,
jlean sort of chap , though he and
unter both were drinking a good deal
tart then. Poor Hunter was all
Woken up abotrt it Everybody be-
jbrntf 1h t he r * lly knew some lav-
criminating facts against Cayley , but
he never would speak.
"As for Cayley himself , he made no
defense whatever. He denied he did
it , and that was all. There wasn't
any real corroborative evidence
against him , so the court-martial dis
missed the case as not proved. But
he wouldn't testify himself , nor have
a single witness called in his behalf ,
and he resigned from the service then
and there , and disappeared , so far as
I know , from the world. I heard he
had a ranch down somewhere in New
Mexico , near Sandoval , I think the
place was. "
His father saw a quick tightening in
the girl's horror-stricken eyes at the
sound of the name , which evidently ,
In some way , helped corroborate the
story to her , but he did not question
her about it.
There was a silence after that ,
while the three out there on the Au
rora's deck looked blankly into each
other's faces.
The silence was broken at last , by
none of them , but by a hall from the
shore. "Alioy , Auroral" cried the
voice.
Mr. Fanshaw answered with a wave
of his arm. "That's Donovan , " he
said to the others ; then , "Yes ; what
is it ? " he cried.
"Will you send a dinghy for me ,
please ? "
The boat was dispatched at onoe ,
and while they waited , Mr. Fanshaw
borrowed Jeanne's field-glasses for a
look at the man who had hailed them.
"He's in a hurry , " said the old gentle
man. "He looks if he had news of
one sort or another. " They all had
felt it in the mere timber of his voice
something urgent ; something omin
ous.
ous.It
It seemed an interminable while be
fore the returning boat came along
side the foot of the accommodation
ladder. When the new-comer appear
ed at the head of it , his face had
plainly written on It the story of
some tragedy.
"What Is It ? " Jeanne asked , not
very steadily. "Oh , please don't try to
break it to me ! Tell me , just as you
do the others. "
"It's nothing concerning you , miss ,
not especially , I mean ; nothing to do
with your father. " Then he turned to
Mr. Fanshaw , "I found Mr. Hunter ,
sir. "
"Dead ? " The tone in which Donovan
van had spoken made the question
hardly necessary.
"Yes , sir. His body is lodged deep
down In one of the ice fissures in the
glacier. I could see It perfectly ,
though I couldn't get down to it"
Tom Fanshaw covered his face with
his hands for a moment Then he
looked up and asked , steadily : "He
slipped , I suppose ? "
At the same moment his father
asked : "Do you think we shall be
able to recover the body ? "
Donovan * answered this question
first.
"We can try , sir , though I've not
much hope of our succeeding. "
Then , after a moment's hesitation ,
he turned to the son.
"No , sir , he didn't fall ; at least it
wasn't the fall that killed him. I
found this in a cleft in the ice near
by. It must have been driven clean
through his throat , sir. "
He held out in a shaking hand , a
long , slim ivory dart , sharp almost as
steel could be , and stained brown
with blood. "He was murdered , sir , "
Donovan concluded simply.
"Give me the dart , " the old gentle
man demanded. As he examined it ,
his fine old face hardened. "Do you
see ? " he asked , holding it out to his
son. "There is no notch in the end
for a bow-string , but It will He very
truly in the groove of that throwlng-
stick that Jeanne brought aboard the
yacht this morning. "
Then he turned to the girl. "I'm
afraid your visitor last night was no
vision , my dear , after all. "
But the girl was looking and point
ing skyward.
CHAPTER V.
The Dart.
High , high up in the clear opaline
air was a broad , golden gleam. Near
er it came , and broader it grew , and
as it grew , and as It caught more ful
ly the slanting' beams of the low-hang
ing arctic sun , it shone with prismatic ,
iridescent color among the gold , like
an archangel's wings. The shining
thing towered at last right above the
mast-head , but high , -high up in the
sky.
sky.Then
Then the four watchers uttered , in
one breath , a horror-frosen cry , for ,
as a falcon does , it dropped , hurtling.
But not to the destruction they fore
saw ; once more it darted forward , cir
cled half round the yacht , so close to
her rail that they heard the whining
scream of the air as those mighty
wings cleft through it. And then , as
on the night before , his plans up
standing straight , Cayley leaped back
ward , clear of them , and alighted on
the floe beside the yacht
Old Mr. Fanshaw walked quickly
around the deckhouse and hailed the
new arrival. "Won't you come aboard ,
sir ? " Jeanne heard him call. 'Til send
the dinghy for you. "
"Thank you , " they heard him aa
fTva5 ! ! ja27m
'Did You Ever a Know a Man Named Philip Cayley , Tom ? "
swer. "There wasn't much room for
alighting on the deck or I could have
spared you the trouble. "
Jeanne stole a glance into Tom Fan
shaw's stern , set face , wondering if
the tone and the inflection of that
voice would impress him as it had her.
"Don't you find It hard to believe that
he could have done such a thing ? "
she asked ; "a man with a voice like
that ? "
"I only wish I found it possible to
believe he hasn't. Not every villain
in this world looks and talks like a
thug. If they did , life would be sim
pler. " He paused a moment , then'
added : "And we know he did the other
thing out there In the Philippines. "
Her face paled a little at that , stif
fened , somehow , and she did not an
swer. They sat silent , listening to
the receding oars of the dinghy as it
made for the ice-floe. Suddenly the
girl saw an expression of perplexity
come Into Tom Fanshaw's face.
"When you talked with him , Jeanne ,
last night , did you tell him our name ?
Mine and father's , I mean ? Did you
give him any hint who we were , or
that we were people who might know
him ? "
"No , only my own ; and who father
was. He asked me about that"
"Ah , " he said. "Then that accounts
for his coming back. "
She had hoped that in some way
or other the trend of her answer
might be in the sky-man's favor , and
was disappointed at seeing that the
reverse was true.
She had to repress a sudden impulse
of flight when they heard the returnIng -
Ing dinghy scrape alongside the ac
commodation ladder. And even
though she resisted it , she shrank
back , nevertheless , into a corner be
hind Tom Fanshaw's chair. The old
gentleman was waiting at the head of
the ladder , blocking , with the bulk of
his body , the new-comer's view of the
deck and those who were waiting
there until he should have fairly
come aboard.
"Mr. Philip Cayley ? " he inquired
stiffly. "My name is Fanshaw , sir ;
and I think my son , who sits yon
der " he stepped aside and inclined
his head a little in Tom's direction
"is , or was once , an acquaintance of
yours. " From her place in the back
ground , Jeanne saw a look of perplex
ity nothing more than that , she felt
sure come into Philip Cayley's face.
The old gentleman's manner was cer
tainly an extraordinary one in which
to greet a total stranger , 500 miles
away from human habitation. Cayley
seemed to be wondering whether it
represented anything more than the
individual eccentricity of the old gen
tleman , or not.
Evidently he recognized Tom Fan
shaw at once , and , after an almost im
perceptible hesitation , seemed to make
up his mind to overlook the singulari
ty of his welcome. "I remember Lieu
tenant Fanshaw well , " he said , smil
ing and speaking pleasantly enough ,
though the girl thought she heard an
underlying note of hardness in his
voice. "You were at the Point while
I was there , weren't you ? But it's
many years since I've seen you. "
At that he crossed the deck to
where young Fanshaw was sitting , and
held out his hand. Tom Fanshaw's
hands remained clasped tightly on the
two arms of his chair , and the stern
lines of his face never relaxed , though
he was looking straight Into Cayley's
eyes. "I remember you at the Point
very well , " he said , "but , unfortunate-
Wa 2 Mom * * * fore He Sooke. "
ly , there are some stories of your sub
sequent career which I remember al
together too well. "
The girl did not need the sudden
look of Incandescent anger she saw in
Philip Cayley's face to turn the sud
den tide of her sympathy toward him.
It was not for this old wrong of his
that they had summoned him , as to a
bar of justice , to the Aurora's deck ,
but to meet the accusation of the mur
der of Perry Hunter. Whether he
was guilty of that murder , or not , this
rakmg up of an old , unproved offense
%
was a piece of unnecessary brutality.
She could not understand how kindhearted -
hearted old Tom could have done such
a thing. Thinking it over afterward ,
she was able to understand a little
better.
From behind Tom's chair she could
see how heavily this blow he dealt
had told. For one instant Philip Cay
ley's sensitive face had shown a look
of unspeakable pain. Then it stiffen
ed into a mere mask icy ; disdainful.
It was a moment before he spoke.
When he did , it was to her. "I don't
know why this gentleman presumes to
keep his seat" he said. "If it is as a
precaution against a blow , perhaps , he
need not let his prudence interfere
with his courtesy. "
"He has just met with an accident , "
she said quickly. "He can't stand
No , Tom. Sit still , " and her hands
upon his shoulders enforced the com
mand.
Cayley bowed ever so slightly. "I
suppose , " he continued , "that since
last night you also have heard the
story which this gentleman protests
he remembers so much too well ? "
"Yes , " she said.
At that , he turned to old Mr. Fan
shaw : "Will you tell me , sir , " he
asked , "for what purpose I was in
vited to come aboard this yacht ? "
Tom spoke before his father could
answer spoke with a short , ugly
laugh , "You weren't invited. You
were , as the police say , 'wanted. ' "
"Be quiet , Tom ! " his father com
manded. "That's not the way to talk
to anybody. "
Cayley's lips framed a faint , satir
ical smile ; and again he bowed slow
ly. But he said nothing , and stood ,
waiting for the old gentleman to
go on.
This Mr. Fanshaw seemed to find it
rather difficult to do. At last , how
ever , he appeared to find the words
he wanted. "When Miss Fielding gave
us an account , this morning , of the
strange visitor she had received last
night , we were I was , at least in
clined to think she had been dream
ing it without knowing it. To con
vince me that you were real and not
a vision , she showed me a material
and highly interesting souvenir of
your call. It was an Eskimo throwing-
stick , Mr. Cayley , such as the Alaskan
and Siberian Indians use to throw
darts and harpoons with. It happens
that I've had a good deal of exper
ience among those people , and that I
know how deadly an implement it is. "
He made a little pause there , and
then looked up suddenly into Cayley's
face. "And I imagine , " he continued
very slowly , "that you know that as
well as I do. "
Cayley made no answer at fltl , but
if Mr. Fanshaw hoped to find with
those shrewd eyes of his , any look
of guilt or consternation in the pale
face that confronted him , he was dis
appointed.
Suddenly , he turned to his son :
"Where Is that thing that Donovan
brought aboard with him just now ? "
he asked.
The blood-stained dart lay on the
deck beside Tom's chair. He picked
it up and held It out toward his fa
ther , but the elder man , with a ges
ture , indicated to Cayley that he waste
to take it in his hand ; then : "Jeanne ,
my dear , " he asked , "will you fetch
out from the cabin the stick which
dropped from Mr. Cayley's belt last
night ? "
When she had departed on the er
rand , he spoke to Cayley : "You will i
observe that the butt of this dart is 1
not notched , as it would have to be If
it were shot from a bow. " j i
He did not look at Cayley's face as | <
he spoke , but at his hands. Could it
be possible , he wondered , that those 1
hands could hold the thing with that 1
sinister brown stain upon it the stain
pf Perry Hunter's blood without
trembling ? They were steady enough ,
though , so far as he could see , ,
When Jeanne came out with the
fr , he handed that to Cayley also.
"You will notice , " he said , "that that
dart and the groove in this stick were
evidently made for each other , Mr.
Cayley. "
The pupils of Jeanne's eyes dilated
as she watched the accused man fit
them together , and then balance the
stick in his hand , as If trying to dis
cover how it could be put to so dead
ly a use as Mr. Fanshaw had indi
cated. He seemed preoccupied by
nothing more than a purely intel
lectual curiosity.
His coolness seemed to anger Mr.
Fansharr , as it had formerly angered
his son. For a moment this sudden
anger of his rendered him almost in
articulate. Then :
"We don't wan't a demonstration ! "
came like the explosions of a quick-
fire eun. "And vou have no need for
trying experiments. You knew hov
nicely that dart would fit in tin
groove that was cut for it You
know , altogether too well , what the
stain is that discolors It You know
where we found that dart You're
only surprised that It was ever found
at all it and the body of the man It
slew. "
"Everything you say is perfectly
true , " said Cayley , very quietly. "I am
surprised that the body of the man wa
ever recovered. I'm a little surprised ,
also , that you should think , because
this stick fell from my belt last night ,
and this dart , which you found trans
fixing a man's throat this morning ' *
Tom Fanshaw Interrupted him. HIa '
eyes were blazing with excitement.
"It was not from us that you learned
that that dart transfixed the murdered
man's throat ! " he cried.
"I knew it , nevertheless , " said Cay
ley In that quiet voice , not look'ng to
ward the man he answered , but still
keeping his eyes on old Mr. yanshaw.
"And also a little surprised , " he went
on , as if he had not been interrupted ,
"that you should think , because this
stick and this dart fit together , that I
am , necessarily , a murderer. "
"You have admitted It now , at all
events , " Mr. Fanshaw replied. His
voice grew quieter , too , as the in
tensity of his purpose steadied it " !
suppose that is because , upon this
'No-Man's-Land , ' you are outside the
pale of law and statute bc-yond the
jurisdiction of any court. I tell you
this : I think we would be justified
In giving you a trial and hanging you
from that yard there. We will not do \
It. We will not even take you back to
the states to prison. You may live
outlaw here and enjoy , undisturbed ,
your freedom , such as it i : . , and your
thoughts and your conscience such
as they must be. But if ever you try
to return to the world of men "
Cayley interrupted the threat before
it was spoken : "I have no wish to re
turn to the world of men , " he said. "I
wish the world were empty of men ,
as this part of it is , or as I thought
it was. I abandoned mankind once be
fore , but yesterday when I saw men
here , I felt a stirring of the blood
the call of what was in my own veins.
Last night when I took to the air
again , after the hour I had spent on
that ice-floe yonder , I thought I want
ed to come back to my own kind ;
wanted , In spite of the past , to be one
of them again. Perhaps it is well that
I should be rid of that delusion so
quickly. I am rid of it , and I am rid
of you bloody , sodden , stupid , blind.
"Yet , with all my horror of you , my
disdain of you , I should not expect one
of you to do murder , without some
sort of motive , some paltry hope of
gain , upon the body of a stranger. It
Is of that that you accuse me "
"A stranger ! " Tom Fanshaw echoed.
"Why , when you confess to so much ,
do you try to lie at the end ? You
can't think we don't know that the
man you murdered was once your
friend or thought he was , God help
him ! Why try to make us believe
that Perry Hunter was a stranger to
you ? "
The girl's wide eyes had never left
Cayley's face since the moment of her
return to the deck with the throwing-
stick. Through it all through Fan
shaw's hot accusation , and his own
reply through those last words of
Tom's , it had never changed. There
had been contempt and anger in it ,
subdued by an iron self-control ; no
other emotions than those two , until
the very end. Until the mention of
that name "Perry Hunter. "
But at the sound of that name-
just then , the girl saw his face go
bloodless , not all at once , slowly , rath
er. And then after a little while he
uttered a great sob ; not of grief , .but
such a sob as both the Fanshaws had
heard before , when , In battle or skir
mish , a soft-nosed bullet smashes it
way through some great , knotted nerve
center. His hands went out in a con
vulsive gesture , both the stick and
the dart which he held , falling from
them , the stick at the girl's feet , the
dart at his own. Then leaning back ,
against the rail for support , he cover
ed his face with his hands. AL last
while they waited silently , he drew
himself up straight and looked dazed
ly Into her face.
Suddenly , to the amazement of the
other two men , she crossed the deck
to where he stood. "I'm perfectly
sure , for my part that you didn't do-
It ; that you are not the murderer of
Mr. Hunter. Won't you shake hands ? "
He made no move to take hers , and
though his eyes were turned upon her ,
he seemed to be looking through ,
rather than at her , so intense was hi *
preoccupation.
Seeing that this was so. she laid
her hand upon his forearm. "You
didn't do it , " she repeated , "but you.
know something about it , don't you ?
You saw it done , from a long way oft
saw the murder , without knowing :
who its victim was. "
( TO BE CONTINUED. )
Restoring Color to a Stone.
A turquoise which has lost Its bio *
color and becomes green may be re
stored by soaking it In pure alcohoJ
for two weeks and drying carefully in
sawdust for a week. If the color
changes again