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She Clasped Her Young Arms About His Neck.
14
SYNOPSIS.
Philip Cayley , accused of a crime of
which he is not guilty , resigns from the
ermy in disgrace and his affection for
( his friend. Lieut Perry Hunter , turns to
( hatred. Cayley seeks solitude , where he
'perfects ' a flying machine. While soaring
over the Arctic regions , he picks up a
v | .curiously shaped stick ho had seen in the
a assassin's hand. Mounting again , he discovers -
' 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 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 ' finds that ho 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-
inan namedRoscoe ; , had murdered Fielding
, anfl 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-
oer witnessed by Cayley. Roscoe plans
to capture the yacht and escape with a
tbig load of gold. Jeanne tells Fanshaw ,
; owner of the yacht , about the visit of the
Bky-man and shows him the stick left by
jCayley. Fanshaw declares that It is an
( Eskimo throwing stick , used to shoot
darts. Tom Fanshaw returns from the
searching party with a sprained ankle.
'Perry ' Hunter is found murdered and
Cayley is accused of the crime but Jeanne
Dellevea him Innocent A relief party goes
to n < j the searchers. Tom professes his
ToVe for Jeanne. She rows ashore and
enters an abandoned hut , and there finds
-lier father's diary , which discloses the ex
plorer's suspicion of Roscoe. The ruf-
Tlan returns to the hut and sees Jeanne.
He is Intent on murder , when the sky-
toan swoops down and the ruffian flees.
.Jeanne gives Cayley her father's diary
, to read. The yacht disappears and Ros-
coe's plans to capture it are revealed.
'Jeanne's only hope is in Cayley. The
eriousness of their situation becomes ap-
Iparent to Jeanne and the sky-man. Cay
ley kills a polar bear. Next he finds a
'clue to the hiding place of the stores.
Roscoe Is about to attack the girl when
he Is sent fleeing in terror by the sight
of the sky-man swooping down. Measures
ere taken to fortify the hut Cayley kills
a wounded polar bear and receives the
first Intimation that Roscoe possesses
firearms. A fissure in the ice yields up
Hunter's body and Roscoe , finding it , re
moves the dead man's rifle. He discovers
that Cayley Is a human being and not a
Spirit The ruffian Is baffled In his plan
to murder Cayley when the latter and
'Jeanne ; take r-efuge in the cave where a
furious storm keeps them imprisoned.
i CHAPTER XX. Continued.
He made his dive as shallow as pos
sible , and in the sheer exuberance of
delight at being once more a-wing , he
beat his way aloft again by main
strength , towering like a falcon. All
his old power was here unimpaired ,
yet every sensation it brought him
was heightened and make thrilling by
long disuse. By means of those great ,
obedient wings of his he played upon
the capricious , vagrant air with the
superb insolence of mastery. Every
trick of flight was at his command ,
the flashing dive of the piratical frig-
gate bird , the corkscrew spiral of the
tern , the plummet-like pounce of the
hawk , and , at last , the majestic , soar
ing drift of the king of them all , the
albatross.
So he hung there in midsky , and the
world , white , frozen , immaculate
looked far away. The old , god-like
serenity , untroubled , untrammeled , un
afraid , came back to him. The soul
opened its gates , up there , lost its
boundaries , and all the spirit of the
sky came in , immense , cold , clear as
the all-pervading ether. This was
Nirvana , though the old Buddhist
adepts who had philosophized about it
had never conquered the sky , had
never bathed in It as Cayley on his
wings was batning now.
The declining moon sank lower , till
the refracting ice crystals that filled
the air caught its light slantwtse and
danced with it so that it flickered like
a will-o'-the-wisp. The sky deepened
from its bright steel-blue to purple.
The silver light upon the snow faded ,
through lavender and lilac , to a pur
ple of its own , only less deep than that
of the sky itself. But the stars burned
brighter and brighter , until it almost
seemed they sang :
"Harping in loud and solemn choir
With unexDressive notes. . . . "
The words projected themselves
quite unsought Into his mind. He
spent a moment or two , wondering
where they came from , and then it
came to him. It was a part of two
lines from the "Hymn on the Na
tivity. "
Somehow , the thought of Christmas
gave his soul a wrench that brought
it back into the world again. They
had lost their reckoning of time , and ,
for anything he knew , this might be
Christmas day. Perhaps those stars
were caroling their Christmas chimes.
Perhaps , down in the world of men ,
the windows were hung with holly and
doorways with mistletoe.
Before his thoughts had advanced
as far as that he was flying down to
ward the cliff-head. He could only
guess at the length of time that had
elapsed since he left Jeanne , on her
heap of skins , there in the mouth of
the snow tunnel. It must have been
an hour or more , for the moon had
been shining when he started , and
now almost the last of its twilight had
died on the horizon.
A sharp sense of his own delin
quency in having left her to her own
resources for BO long , when she "had
so few resources to draw upon , in
creased to a sudden alarm for her
safety , when he made out the black
mouth of the tunnel and saw that
there was no light at the farther end
of it. She couldn't have been waiting
all this time , out in the cold ; and yet
a
|
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Pi
tssaross
'his yes. M he hovered , seekingth
exact spot to alight , certainly made
out a dark object lying there upon
the snow. His heart felt like lead as
he dropped close beside It , and scram
bled clear of his wings.
It was Jeanne ; and for a moment
he thought she was dead. She
seemed as white and cold as the snow
itself. And yet she was not dead ; not
even frozen. The hands he chafed BO
frantically were inert , but not rigid ;
and , as he drew her up in his arms
and pressed his head down against
her breast , he could hear.very faintly
and slowly , the beating of her heart.
He picked her up in his arms and
carried her into the pilot house. The
air here was still warmer than that"
out of doors , but it was no longer ex
hausted and poisonous.
He laid her down for long enough
to light the lamp , to throw off his stiff
leather jacket and to get a little
brandy out of the keg. This he mixed
With a little water and , with the aid
of a small ivory spoon , he succeeded
in getting a little of it between her
lips.
lips.He
He took off her heavy seal coat , and
the woolen jacket she wore under it ,
and , as well as he could , loosened the
other clothing about her waist. Last
of all , he gathered her up in his arms
again , wrapped the great sheep-skin
bag about them both and , with the
brandy and water within arm's reach ,
settled down to attempt to get some
of the warmth and vitality of his own
body into hers.
She was not fully unconscious now ,
for the next time he offered her
brandy she swallowed it. Her eyelids
were fluttering a little , too , and pres
ently she sighed.
He was thrilling all over with a
tremendous sense of power. He felt
he could have brought her back from
the very dead. His arteries seemed to
be running with electricity , not blood.
Her iips were moving now , and he
bent close to catch the whisper that
barely succeeded in passing them.
"Don't bring me back Philip. It's
so much easier to go this way. "
His only reply to that was to hold
her a little closer.
She did not resist when he held
the drink to her lips again ; but , after
she had taken two or three sips of it ,
she said :
"I sha'n't need any more. I'm get
ting quite beautifully warm again. "
He knew it was true. She no longer
felt lifeless in his arms , though she
still lay there quite relaxed. He
knew he could let her go now , safely
enough. And yet he held her fast.
"I thought you were dead when I
saw you lying there on the snow , " he
said at last , not very steadily. "If
you had been , it would have been my
own doing. "
She contradicted him with a sharp
negative gestureT
"You left me well enough wrapped
up to have resisted the cold for any
length of time. Besides , if I'd wanted
to I could have come back in here.
But but , Philip Oh , it seems a
dreadful thing to confess , now you
are here with me I didn't want to. I
just lay down on the snow , thinking
I could go to sleep and and that
would be the end such an easy end ! "
She felt him shudder all over as
she said it , and she clasped his shoul
ders and held them tight , in a desire
to reassure and comfort him.
"Did you mean to do that. . . .
Was that why you asked me to fly
away for a while ? "
"No ! No ! It was something I saw
while you were gone , something that
terrified me. Philip , do you remem
ber how many of the people of the
Phoenix died of what father called
the ice madness ? "
He nodded gravely.
"Well , what I saw made me think
that I was going that way , too. Philip ,
I was watching the moon go down ,
and gradually it spread out into three ,
quite far apart , and then they changed
into strange colors , and stranger
shapes , and began to dance like
witches. "
He laughed , but the laugh had some
thing very like a sob mixed up in it.
"You poor child ! No wonder it
frightened you. But that's the ortho
dox way for the moon to set in the
arctic. It's part of the same refrac
tion that plays such strange tricks
with the daylight colors. No , you're
a long way from ice madnees , Jean
ne. "
"But that wasn't all I saw , Philip.
It wasn't the worst , I saw a ship
against the moon , only it seemed too
high above the horizon , somehow.
That's the crowning impossibility. And
then the moons began to dance , that
wicked , witch-like dance of mockery.
So I lay down in the snow and hid my
face in my arms to . . . to go to
sleep. It seemed so easy and , some
how , seemed right , too ; not wicked
any way. "
She felt him shuddering again , and
his clasping arms strained her so
close they almost hurt.
"Thank God , I came in time ! " she
heard him whisper.
"But you did come in time , " she re
minded him , for she could still feel
him shuddering with the horror of the
thing. "You brought me back , and I'm
not even afraid any more. " She
paused , and there was a little silence.
Then she added : "And I'm quite warm
now. "
His arms slackened for a moment ,
and then once more they clasped her
olose.
"I I don't 'c-ant to let you go , " he
/said , and his voice had a note in it
which she had never heard before.
"Jeanne Jeanne , dear , can you for
give me forgive me that it's true ? For
give me for telling you ? I have the
whole world in my arms when I hold
you like this. And life and death and
promises , and past deeds , and right
and wrong , are all swallowed up , just j
in the love of you. God forgive me , '
Jaanne ; it's true ! " Then he unclasped (
Ms arms. "Can't vou forgive , too ? "
Sh caugftt ner breath In a great
sob. Turning a little , she clasped her
own young arms around his neck and
held him tight.
Il was a long time after that be
fore either of them spoke. Finally ,
Jeanne asked a question.
"But , why " her voice broke in an
unsteady little laugh , "bnt why do you
ask to be forgiven ? You told me the
very first day , the day we found the
yacht had gone , that you loved me.
That's why I allowed you to stay. "
"Yes , but there's an infinity of ways
of loving , 'Jeanne , dear. I had a right
to love the soul of you , for that was
what had given me my own soul back
and my1 power of loving. But we set
out to live through this winter in the
hope of a rescue , the hope that when
another day came it would bring a
ship to take you back into your own
real world. I couldn't go back with
you , you know , I a man with a stain
upon him. Since that was so , I hadn't
any right to love you this other way.
I wonder if you understand , even now
I love all of you ; from the crown of
glory you wear , down to the print
your boot has left in the snow. I love
your lashes , your wistful lips. The
touch of anything that is warm with
your hands can thrill me. And as for
the hands themselves oh , I can't
make you understand. "
"Yes , " she said very softly , "I un
derstand , now. "
"And yet , " he began after awhile ,
"I haven't any right , when I must give
you up some day . . . "
She laid her fingers on his lips.
"We'll not talk of rights , " she said.
"Not now , not tonight. But there's
something more to say. Philip , it
wasn't the sight of the ship there
against the moon that made me think
I wanted it all to end. That was the
excuse I made to myself , but it was
only an excuse. The real despair
came when I saw you flying , saw how
gloriously free you were up there , and
thought it wasn't love that kept you
here beside me , but only pity Well ,
a sort of love , perhaps , but not what I
wanted , not what I felt for you. I'd
seen you draw away when I touched
you. "
* She heard a sound in his throat
thai might have been a sob , though it
seemed meant for a laugh , and she
felt his arms tighten about her with
a sudden passion that almost hurt. So
she said no more , just kissed him and
lay still.
It was a good while after that that
she made a move to release herself.
"Let me go now , " she said , "and I'll
get you some supper , or breakfast , or
whatever we decide to call It only
you'll have to go down into the Ice
cave to get some more supplies. We've
nothing much left up here. "
She dropped down on a heap of
bear-skins before the open door , and
sat gazing out at the black velvety
patch of sky which capped the snow
tunnel. Even when she heard Galley
coming back up the ice chimney she
did not immediately turn to look at
him. It was , in a way , a sort of lux
ury not to ; to think that if she waited
she would presently hear his step
come nearer and feel his hands upon
her shoulders.
CHAPTER XXI.
A Sortie.
But that did not happen , and a
sudden instinct that something must
have gone wrong reached her , with al
most the force of a spoken word.
"What is it ? What's happened ,
Philip ? " she asked , as she turned.
He did not answer at once. He was
bending over the hole formed by the
top of the ice chimney and rather de
liberately replacing the wooden cover
upon it. When he did straighten up
at last , and she saw his face , she
knew her instinct had not lied to her.
"It's rather a queer thing for us to
have forgotten , " he said , "after all
these weeks when we lived in terror
of him , and after the last thing he did
to us. But we had forgotten him
Roscoe , you know and now he has
stolen a march on us. "
She looked at him in a sort of won
der.
der."It
"It is true , " she said , "we had for
gotten. Those days when we lived
?
in the hut seemed almost as far away
from us up here as the rest of the
world seemed then. . . . " She made
a little pause there , then roused her
self. "What is it that he has done ,
Philip ? "
"He has found our stores down be
low here. He has taken everything
made a perfectly clean sweep. "
There was a little silence after that.
Before she spoke again she came over
to him and kissed him. There was a
grave sort of smile on her face when
she said :
"Well , is there anything we must
do ? "
"Oh , yes , " he said. "That move of
his doesn't end the game. It only be
gins a new one. Really , I think , the
odds are more n our favor this time
than they were' before , only this time
we shall have to move quickly. I
would have followed him up at once ,
without coming back here , only I
didn't have " He stopped rather
short.
"Of course , " she said , "you hadn't
the revolver. "
"That wasn't what I wanted ; I
wanted my wings. Now I've got back
to them I must start at once. "
She uttered a little cry of protest at
that
"Can't you can't you wait a little
a few hours ? Life has only just be
gun for me for us with what you
told me just now. "
He let a moment go by in thought
ful silence , before he answered.
"No , " he said , at last , "it's got to
be settled now , before another moon'
rise. The light is all in his favor , the
darkness in mine. If I can find him
now , I think I can kill him. Now I
think it over , it seems to me likely
he doesn't suspect we are alive at
.
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Stealthily Made His Way Toward the Cave.
all. The Walrus people never dis
covered the ice chimney nor the pilot
house. That's perfectly clear. If they
had they would have rifled it long
ago.
ago."When
"When I finish , I'll come back to
you. I don't think I shall be gone
very long. You aren't to be afraid for
me , and you can trust me to be care
ful. I know I have your life in my
hands as well as my own. Your part
is harder than mine ; I quite under
stand that. You must be keeping
watch every second. If he eludes me
and comes here , you must shoot him ,
without word or warning. Shoot to
kill. "
"But I sha'n't have the revolver ! "
There was an electric moment of
silence between them , while she gazed
into his face , horrified at the meaning
she read there.
"You didn't mean that ! Philip ,
Philip you can't mean that. And
leave you to face that monster un
armed. "
"I shall have the only weapon that
will be of any service to me , my knife.
It's got to be done at close quarters.
I couldn't possibly shoot him from the
air. But if I can alight near him and
come up within striking distance he
will have no chance with me , not with
all his strength. "
"No , " she said , resolutely , "I won't
let you go. Not that way. "
"Listen , Jeanne. If I can find him ,
I can kill him. Do you know what the
movements of ordinary men , even un
usually quick men , look like to me ?
Like the motions of marionettes. The
only chance Roscoe has against me is
of picking me off at long range with
his rifle. He could do that whether
I had a revolver or not. And if he did ,
if he killed me and I had the revolver ,
then well , then he would come here
and find you defenseless. Don't you
see ? I couldn't take the revolver. I
should be unnerved with terror from
the moment I left you. "
With a sob she clasped her arms
about his neck and held him tight.
Then , in tragic submission , they
dropped away.
Without saying anything more , Cay-
ley blew out tbe candle , opened the
door into the tunnel and took up his
furled wings. With trembling hands
she helped him spread them and draw
them taut.
As ne adjusted the straps across his
shoulders , he felt her hands again ,
upon his head , felt them clasp behind
his neck.
"Goodby , " she said.
He was trembling all over , as her
hands were , but it was not with fear.
"I shall come back safe , " he said.
"Nothing can harm me tonight. "
He pulled her up close in his en
folding arms and kissed her mouth.
In an instant he turned and dived off
the cliff-head into the night.
He headed up into the wind , and
hung for a moment soaring upon a
fairly steady current of air that
poured along parallel to the cliff.
When he reached the glacier he
checked his speed a little and
slanted down to an altitude of not
more than two or three hundred feet
above the crest. He hardly expected
a glimpse of Roscoe so soon , having
no reason to think he would be here ,
but he began scanning the earth's sur
face closely with the idea of accustom
ing his eyes to the light and the dis
tance. Yet it was not his eyes , but
his sensitive nostrils which gave him
his first hint of the probable where
about of the man he was looking for.
The frozen air which he had been
drawing deep into his lungs was odor
less , save for the faintly acrid sugges
tion of ozone about it a thing , by the
way , which he was puzzled to account
for , unless it presaged eome titanic
electrical display in the sky.
But the odor which now imvado * his
fastidious nostrils automat f rally
checked his flight. He tilted baofc his
planes and his momentum sent liim
towering almost vertically aloftHe
did not analyze it not that firfit in
stant , but his sensation was the same
one that makes a dog suddenly throw
up its head and snarl , bristling.
It a moment he knew that It was
smoke , the smoke of no clean , spar
kling wood fire , but of smouldering
bones and the flesh of some animal.
Slowly he began to descend in the
sweeping circles of a great spiral , con
stantly searching with an eagerness ,
which amounted almost to an agony ,
for the point of angry red which would
tell him where his enemy was to be
found. He had no doubt at all that
his enemy was there. The man who
had laid that fire was likely to be
sleeping beside it.
He was within 20 feet of the level
of the ice before his little mirror of
concave silver caught the gleam of
red that he was looking for.
He threw his head back sharply and
gazed at it. He could not see the fire
itself that must be hidden behind the
great rock which almost blocked the
entrance to what must be the cave.
The gleam he had caught in his
mirror had been reflected in turn
from the gleaming surface of a mass
of ice a little farther out.
He slanted away again , searching
now for a level place to alight , found
it within 100 yards of the cave-mouth ,
circled once completely round , to
make sure that he could not be sur
prised in the act of getting clear of
his wings , and a moment later came
down soundlessly , except with a faint
slither of his planes , upon the ice.
He bounded almost instantly to his
feet , slipped his knife out of his belt
and held the heft of it between his
teeth while he furled his planes. That
done , he deposited the bundle in the
angle of a projecting rock , and stealth
ily made his way toward the cave-
mouth.
At the very edge of the shelter af
forded by the rock he paused for an
instant ; then , with every nerve tuned
to the highest pitch with every mus
cle in a state of supple relaxation , yet
instantly ready for any demand that
might be made upon it he stepped
round the corner and into the mouth
of the cave.
( TO BE CONTINUED. )
Distilled waters run deep.