Threw It Far Out Into the WateF.
SYNOPSSS.
Phlllp Cayley , accused of a crime of
Jtrhlch ho is not guilty , resigns from the
tunny in disgrace and his affection for
his friend , Lieut. Perry Hunter , turns to
hatred. Cayley seeks solitude , where he
perfects & flying machinfe. While soaring
over the Arctic regions , he picks up a
curiously shaped stick he had seen In the
assassin's hand. Mounting again , he dis
covers a yacht anchored In the bay. De
scending near the steamer , he meets a
feirl on an ice floe. He learns that the
Klrl's name is Jeanne Fielding and that
the yacht has come north to seek signs
of her father , Captain Fielding , an arctic
explorer. A party from the yacht is ma
king search ashore. After Cayley departs
Jeanne flnds 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-
imen named Roscoe , had murdered Fielding
end 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 ruffian had committed the mur-
uor 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
jearchinjr party with a sprained ankle.
Perry Hunter is found murdered and
Cayley IB accused of the crime but Jeanne
believes him innocent.
CHAPTER V. Continued.
"I might have saved him , " he mur
mured brokenly , "If I had not hung
aloft there too long , Just out of curi
osity ; If they had been men to me
Instead of puppets. But when I
guessed what their intent was , guessed
that It was something sinister , it was
done before I could interfere. I saw
tlm going backwards over the brink
of a fissure in the Ice , tugging at a
dart that was in his throat And
when they had gone his murderers
"
ers
Theyr she oried. "Was there
more than one ? "
"Yes , " he said , "there was a party.
JThere must have been ten or twelve
jat least. When they had gone I flew
I4own and picked up that stick , which
'one of them had dropped And to
think I might have saved him ! "
Her hand still rested on his arm.
"I'm glad you told me , " she said. She
'felt ' the arm stiffen suddenly at the
Bound of Tom Fanshaw's voice.
1 "Jeanne , take your hand away ! Can
you touch a man like that ? Can you
believe the lies " but there , with a
{ peremptory gesture , his father si
lenced him.
But even he exclaimed at the girl's
inert action , for she stooped , picked up
Ithe blood-stained dart which lay at
Philip Cayley's feet , and handed It to
i Ihlm. "Throw it away , please" she
teaid , "overboard , and as far as you
lean. "
/ Even before the other men cried
out at his doing the thing she had
Asked him to , he hesitated and looked
kt her in some surprise.
. "Do it , please , " she commanded ; "I
B&k It seriously. "
Tom Fanshaw started out of his
jchair ; then , as an intolerable twinge
krom his ankle stopped him , he
iSropped back again. His father moved
jHuickly forward , too , but checked him-
JBelf , the surprise in his face giving
hray to curiosity. At a general thing ,
ffeanne Fielding knew what she was
kbout
' Philip Cayley took the dart and
threw it far out into the water.
There was one more surprise In
btore for the two Fanshaws. When
kjayley , without a glance toward elth-
er of them , walked out on the upper
( landing of the accommodation ladder ,
[ the girl accompanied him , and , side
i \j side with him , descended the little
talrway , at whose foot the dinghy
waited.
"You are still determined on that
twolutlon of yours , are you , to aban-
| < on us all for the second time all
nztaa ? This later accu-
i
sation against you wan BO easily dis
proved. "
"Disproved ? " he questioned. "That
beautiful faith of yours can't be called
proof. "
"I meant just what I said dis
proved. They shall admit It when I go
back on deck. Won't you won't you
give us a chance to disbelieve the old
story , too ? "
"I can never explain that now , " he
said ; "can never lay that phantom ,
never in the world. "
"I am sorry , " she said holding out
her hand to him. "I wish you'd give
us a chance. Goodby. "
This time he took the hand , bowed
over it and pressed it lightly to his
lips. Then , without any other fare
well than that , he dropped down into
dinghy and was rowed back to the
floe back to his wings.
When she returned to the deck she
found that Mr. Fanshaw had gone
around to the other side of it to see
the sky-man take to the air.
But Tom sat , rigid , where he was.
For the first time that she could re
member , he was regarding her with
open anger. "I knew , " he said , "that
you never liked Hunter , though I never
could see why you should dislike him ;
and it didn't take two minutes to see
that this man Cayley , with his wings
and his romance , had fascinated you.
But in spite of that , I thought you had
a better sense of justice than you
showed Just now. "
She flushed a little. "My sense of
justice seems to be better than yours
this morning , Tom , " she answered
quietly. Then she unslung her bin
oculars again and , turning her back
upon him , gazed out shoreward.
"I am getting worried about our
shore party , " she remarked , as if by
way of discontinuing the quarrel. "If
there are ten or twelve men living
there , In hiding from us , willing to do
unprovoked murder , when they can
with impunity " T
"So you believed that part of the
story , too , did you ? " Tom interrupted.
She did not answer his question at
all , but turned her attention shore
ward again.
A moment later she closed her bin
oculars with a snap , and walked
around to the other side of the deck ,
where Mr. Fanshaw , leaning his el
bows on the rail , was looking out
across the ice-floe.
"Well , " he asked brisldy , as she
came up and laid an affectionate arm
across his shoulder , "I suppose you've
been telling Tom why you did it why
you made Cayley throw that dart
away , I mean ; but you'll have to tell
me , too. I can't figure it out You
had something in mind , I'm sure. "
"I haven't been telling Tom , " she
said. "He doesn't seem In a very
reasonable mood this morning. But I
did have something in mind. I was
proving that Mr. Cayley couldn't pos
sibly be the man who had committed
the murder. "
"I suspected it was that , " he said.
"It's the stick that proves it really , "
she said. "You remember how puz
zled you were because the end of it
which you held It by wouldn't fit your
hand ? I discovered why that was
when you sent me in to get it a short
while ago. It's a left-handed stick. It
fits the palm of your left hand per
fectly. You'll find that that Is so
when you try It And Mr. Cayley is
right-handed. "
The old man nodded rather dubi
ously. "Cayley may be ambidextrous ,
for anything you know , " he objected.
She had her rejoinder ready : "But
this stick , Uncle Jerry , dear , was
made for a man who couldn't throw
with his right hand , and Mr. Cayley
can. He did it perfectly easily , and
without suspecting at all why I want-
_ t
'ACS *
BSTEB
W4SW.ROSSER
BY THE CENTURY CO
COPYRIGHT IQIO BY THt SUCCESS CO
ed him to. Don't you see ? Isn't it
clear ? "
"It's quite clear that the brains of
this expedition are in that pretty
head of yours , " he said. "Yes , I
think you're right" Then , after a
pause , he added , with an enigmatical
look at her : "Don't be too hard on
Tom , my dear , because you see the
circumstances are hard enough on
him already. "
She made a little gesture of im
patience. "They're not half as harden
on him as they are on Mr. Cayley. "
"Oh , I don't know , " the old gentle
man answered. "Take it by" and
large , I should say that Cayley was
playing in luck. "
CHAPTER VI.
Tom's Confession.
At intervals during the day those
enigmatical words of Mr. Fanshaw's
recurred to the girl with the'reflection
that they wanted serious thinking
over , at the first convenient oppor
tunity. But the day wore away and
the opportunity did not appear.
The captain of the yacht his name
was Warner was on shore in com
mand of the searching party , but the
first officer. Mr. Scales , remained on
board. He was in possession of all
the data , though they had aot tel him
the story of Philip Cayley's old relation -
, tion with the murdered man.
'
"It stands to reason , " he said , "that
the only party of white men That could
be here would be the survivors of the
Fielding expedition. We know from
the news that ytmng Mr. Fanshaw
brought aboard that there is one such
survivor here. If there were any
considerable number of them left ,
able-bodied enough to walk across the
glacier , we could be sure they'd be
here on the shore waiting for us. We
could be certain they would have
made some attempt to signal us as
soon as they sighted us.
"If they weren't white men but In
dians Chucotes they'd have been
quite as glad as white men to get a
chance to go back with us as far as
St. Michaels. And in the third place ,
if they were not Chucotes , but some
strange , unknown , murderous band of
aborigines , there wouldn't have been
even one survivor of the Fielding ex
pedition.
"Of course that's not an absolute
water-tight line of reasoning , but it
seems to me there is a tremendous
probability that it's right , and that
this flying man has lost his wits. "
By four o'clock they had decided
that , whether or not the sky-mans !
story might be true , it was high time
to send a relief party ashore to find
the lost ones.
At five o'clock accordingly , the re
lief expedition went ashore , and Tom
Fanshaw and the girl were left alone
on the yacht.
Two hours later , perhaps , after they
had eaten the supper which Jeanne
had concocted in the galley , they sat ,
side by side , in their comfortable deck
chairs , gazing out across the ice-floe.
The evening was unusually mild , the i
thermometer showing only a degree or
two below freezing , and here in the
lee of the deckhouse they hardly
needed their furs.
They had sat there in silence a long
while. Tom's promise that they would
keep a brisk lookout against a pos
sible attack on the yacht had parsed
utterly from both their minds. It
was sc still so dead still ; the world
about them was so utterly empty as
to make any thought of such an at
tack seem preposterous.
Finally the girl seemed to rouse her
self from the train of thought that
had preoccupied her mind , straighten
ed up a little and turned for a look
into her companion's face. But this
little movement of her body failed to
rouse him. His eyes did not turn to
meet hers , but remained fixed on the
far horizon.
A moment later she stretched out a
hand and explored forj is beneath the
great white bear skin that covered
him , found it and interlocked her fin
gers with his. At that , he pulled him
self up , with a start , and abruptly
withdrew his own from the contact.
She colored a little , and her brows
knitted in perplexity. "What an old
bear you are , Tom , " she said. "What's
the matter today ? It's not a bit like
you to sulk just because we disagree
about something. We disagree all the
time , but you've never been like this
to me before. "
"I always told you I was a sullen
brute when things went wrong with
me , although you never would believe
It , " he said. "I'm sorry. "
"I don't want you to be sorry , " she
told him ; "I just want you to be a few l
shades more cheerful. "
He seemed not to be able to give
her what she wished , however , for he
lapsed again Into his moody abstrac
tion. But after a few minutes more
of silence , he turned upon her with a
question that astonished her. "What
did you do that for , just now ? "
At first she was in doubt as to what
act of hers , he referred to. "Do you
mean my hand ? " she asked , after look
ing at him in puzzled curiosity for a
moment.
He nodded.
"Why because I was feeling a lit
tle lonesome. I SUDDOSB. and sort df
tender-hearted , and we'd been about
half quarreling all day , and I didn't
feel quarrelsome any more , and I
thought my big brother's hand would
feel well grateful and comforting ,
you know. "
She was curious as to why he want
ed the explanation , but she give it to
him unhesitatingly , without the faint
est touch of coquetry or embarrass
ment
"I can't remember back to the
time , " she continued , "when I didn't do
things like that to you , Just as you
did to me , and neither of us ever
wanted an explanation before. Are
xyou trying to make up your mind to
disown me , or something ? "
He leaned back moodily into his
chair w-ithout answering her.
After a little perplexed silence , she
spoke again. "I didn't know things
were going wrong with you. I didn't
even suspect it until this morning ,
when Uncle Jerry said "
"What ! " Tom interrupted. "What
does the governor know about it ?
What did he say ? "
"Why , nothing , but that you were
olaying in rather hard luck , he
thought , and that I was to be nice to
you. Is the world going badly real
ly badly really badly ? "
"Yes. " That curt monosyllable was
evidently all the answer he meant to
make. At that she gave up all at
tempt to console him , dropped back
in her chair and cuddled a little deep
er down under her bear skin , her face ,
three-quarters away from him , turned
toward that part of the sky that was
already becoming glorious with the
tints of sunset.
"You've never had any doubt at all ,
have you , that I really deserved the
job of being your big brother ; that
I was that quite as genuinely as if I
had been born that way ? "
"No , " she said ; "of course not , Tom ,
dear. What put such an idea into
your head ? "
He paled a little , and it was a min
ute or two before he could command
the words he wanted , to his lips. "Be
cause of my hopes , I suppose , " he
said unsteadily ; "because I had hoped ,
absurdly enough , for the other an
swer. You asked as a joke a while
back if I meant to disown you. Well ,
I do , from that relationship because ,
I'm not fit for the job ; because be
cause I've come to love you In the
other way. "
She looked at him in perfectly blank
astonishment He would not meet her
eyes , his own , their pupils almost
parallel , gazed out , unseeing , beyond
her.
Slowly her color mounted until she
felt her whole face burning. "I didn't
know , " she said. "You shouldn't have
let me go on thinking "
"I didn't know myself until today , "
he Interrupted her stormily ; "I didn't
know I knew , that is. But when I saw
you put your hands on that villain
Cayley , I wanted to kill him , and In
that same flash I knew why I wanted
to. "
Turning suddenly to look at her , he
Daw that she had buried her face in
her hands and was crying forlornly.
"Oh , I am a brute , " he concluded , "to
have told you about It in this way. "
"What does the way matter ? That's
not what makes it hard. It's loving
you so much , the way I do , and having
to hurt you. It's having to lose my
brother the only brother I ever had. "
There was a long , miserable silence
after that Finally he said : "Jeanne ,
if you do love me as much as that
the way you do , not the way I love
you , but love me any way could you
could you marry me Just the same ?
I'd never have any thought In the
world but of making you happy. And
I'd always be there ; you could count
on me , you know. "
"Don't ! " she interrupted curtly.
"Don't talk like that , Tom. " She shiv
ered , and drew away from him with
a little movement somewhere near
e&In to disgust
He winced at it , and reddened.
Then , in a voice that sounded curious
ly thick to her , curiously unlike his
own , he asked a question : "If I had
told you all this a month ago told
you how I felt toward you , and asked
you , loving me the way you do , to
marry me just the same , would you ?
Oh , I suppose you would have re
fused. But would you have shuddered
and shrunk away from me like that ? "
"Did I shudder and shrink away ? "
she asked. "I didn't know it I
wasn't angry ; I'm not now. But
but that was a terrible thing you
asked of me. "
"Would it have struck you as horrible
rible , " he persisted , "if I had asked It
a month ago ? "
"Perhaps not , " she answered
thoughtfully. 'Tve changed a good
deal in the last month since we
sailed away from San Francisco and
left the world behind us our world
and came out into this great white
empty one. I don't know why that Is. "
"I know. " He was speaking with a
sort of brutal intensity that startled
her. "I know. It's not in the last
month you've changed ; it's within the
last 24 hours ; it's since you saw and
fell in love with that murderous lying
brute of a Cayley. "
"I don't know , " she said very quiet
ly , , "whether you're trying to kill the
I
m
I
His Eyes Did Not Turn to Hers , But Remained
love I have for you the old love or
not , Tom , but unless you're very care
ful , you'll succeed in doing it. I don't
think I want to talk to you any
more now , not even sit here beside
you. I'm going to take a little walk. "
He held himself rigidly until till she
had disappeared round the end of the
deckhouse. Then he bent over and
buried his face in his hands !
What the thing was that roused him
to his present surroundings ho never
knew. He was conscious of no sound ,
but suddenly he sat erect and stared
about him in amazement. It had grown
quite dark. It must be two or three
hours since Jeanne had left the chair
beside him and announced that she
was going to take a little walk.
He spoke her name , not loudly at
first , for he thought she must be close
by. But the infinite silent spaces
seemed to absorb the sound of his
voice. There was no sign that any
sentient thing , except his very self ,
had heard the words he uttered. Then
he called louder.
The steps were rather difficult to
negotiate , but by using both hands
to supplement his one good foot , he
succeeded in creeping down them , and
then in making his way along the corridor
rider to the girl's door.
He knocked faintly at first ; then
'louder , and finally cried out her name
again , this time In genuine alarm. He
tried the door , found that it was not
locked , and opening it and switching
on a light , perceived 'that the state
room was empty.
He heard footsteps crossing the
deck overhead. No , that could not be
Jeanne ; it was a heavy tread , a curi
ous , shuffling tread.
He closed the door behind him.
Then he limped slowly down the corridor
rider toward the foot of the compan-
ionway. The heavy tread was already
descending the stairs.
He turned the corner , stopped short
and gasped. And that was all. There
was no time even for a cry. He had
caught one glimpse of a monstrous
figure clad in skins , huge in bulk ,
hairy-faced like a gorilla.
And then , the man or beast had ,
with beastllke quickness , lifted his
arm and struck. And Tom Fanshaw
dropped down at his feet , senseless.
CHAPTER VII.
The Rosewood Box.
On the girl , Tom Fanshaw's passion
ate , stormy avowal had the effect of
a sort of moral earthquake. It left
the ground beneath her feet suddenly
unstable and treacherous ; it threaten
ed to bring down about her ears the
whole structure of her life. The very
thing she had relied upon for shelter
and security against outside troubles
and dangers , was , on the instant ,
fraught with a greater danger than
any of them.
For the first few moments after his
avowal she had felt no emotion other
than that of astonishment and in
credulity. Even when he asked her
if she could not marry him , anyway ,
though the question revolted her , she
*
told the truth in saying that she was
not angry.
The anger came later , but it burned
into a 'flame that was all the hotter
for Its tardiness In kindling. It must
have an outlet somewhere , and as
such , the promenade up and down the
other side of the deck was altogether
insufficient
The sight of a small boat at the
foot of the accommodation ladder
seemed to offer something better. So ,
pulling on a pair of fur gauntlets , she
dropped into it , cast off the painter ,
shipped the pair of light oars it con
tained , andr rowed away without any
thought of her destination of any
destination whatever ; without even ,
a very clear idea of what she was do-
Ing. She must do something ; that
was all she knew. Certainly she pulle4
away from the yacht's side with no
idea that she was running into any
possible danger.
It was half a mile , perhaps , from \
the yacht to the particular bit of V
shelving beach toward which she un
consciously propelled the boat She
rowed steadily , without so much as
a giance over her shoulder , until she
felt the grate of the shingle beneath
the bow.
She became aware , not only that
she had unconsciously come ashore ,
but also that the yacht was nowhere
to be seen. A bank of fog had come
rolling in from the eastward , so
heavy as to render an object 100
paces away totally Invisible. The
clump of empty buildings here on the
beach could hardly be half that dis
tance , as she remembered , yet looking
round from her seat in the row boat ,
she could make out no more than
their blurred masses against the white
ice and sand which surrounded them.
She scrambled out of the boat and
pulled it high up on the beach. The
fog made the air seem cold , though
for the arctic It was a mild night
Two of the abandoned buildings on
the beach behind her were mere
sheds , windowless , absolutely bare ,
never having served , evidently , any
other purpose than that of storage.
But the third , and largest , as she re
membered it , offered a shelter that
was becoming attractive. There were
some rude bunks in it where she
could rest comfortably enough ; and ,
unless she was mistaken , Scales had
left in the hut a half-burned candle
which they had used in exploring its
dark Interior. She had a box of wax
vestas in her pocket She could go In
there and make herself at home , and
at the same time keep an alert ear
for a hail from the yacht.
She found the candle in the place
where she remembered Scales had
laid It down , struck a light and
wedged the candle into a knot-hole
She turned toward one of the bunks
with the idea of stretching out there ,
and by relating her muscles , persuade ,
perhaps , her overstrung nerves to re
lax , too.
She had taken a step toward it , In
deed , before she saw , through the
murk and candle smoke , the thing that
lay right before her eyes a. rather
large , brass-bound rosewood box or
chest It had not been here in the
afternoon when they hao * entered the
place , for they had searched Its bare
interior thoroughly in the hope that
there might be something which previ
ous investigators had overlooked. This
box , six Inches high and a foot long ,
or more , could not have been here
then. It was standing now in the most
conspicuous place in the room In the
very middle of the bunk.
( TO BE CONTINUED. )
Need for Two Collars.
Having bought a dog that he ad
mired a Washington
Heights man un
dertook to buy a dog collar. The dog
had a neck nearly as big as his head
and the dealer advised the man to
buy txvo collars.
"What for ? " said the man. "He's
got only one neck I
, so guess he can
get along with only one collar , can't
he ? "
"Maybe so , " said the dealer , so the i ?
man went away leading the dog by
his new collar and chain.
In less than a week he brought tfi
dog back.
"I'm afraid I can't keep him , " h
said. "He is too obstreperous. I can't
keep him tied up. His neck Is the K
biggest part of him and he is as strong
as an ox , therefore It Is a slnch for
him to slip his collar off. "
'That is why I wanted you to take
two collars , " said the dealer. "Put
both on and fasten the chain to the
back collar and he can tug away all
night without getting loose. He may
commit suicide , but he won't