The Horry herald. (Conway, S.C.) 1886-1923, April 06, 1916, Page SIX, Image 6
ViA
The Diamor
Fn
By ROY L. J
Copyrighted 1915, by Roy L.
This instalment of this romantic
novel and absorbing
narrative will be shown in mo- j
tion pictures at The Casino
Theatre on Thursday afternoon
and night.
$10,0(01? For 1,000
Words or Less
!;l
For an Idea For a Sequel to
"THE
DIAMOND FROM
THE SKY" !
The American Film Manufacturing
Company's lPicturized
Romantic Novei !n Chapters.
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:
1
SYNOPSIS OF PRECEDING CHAP- j
TQRS.
A feud has existed between Colonel Ar- 1
thur Stanley and his cousin, Judge I.am 1
Stanley, over an heirloom, the diamond
from the sk.v, found in a fallen meteor by
an ancestor. Also, the succession to the .
Stanley earldom in England may como to
an American. When a daughter is born
to the colonel and the mother dies, tincolonel
buys a gypsy boy and substitutes
him. Three years later the gypsy mother,
having had no part in litis bargain, steals
the girl, being reared in secret, and leaves
her son undetected as the heir. The gypsy
has obtained possession of the diamond ,
from the sky, and a document with tho
Stanley secret. When Esther is grown a
beautiful young girl, 1J agar, now gypsy i
queen, returns to Virginia with her. Dr.
Lee, the late Colonel Stanley's friend,
adopts Esther, but demands that llagar
turn over to him tho diamond from the
sky. Arthur Stanley, son of llagar, falls
in love with Esther and so docs his com- '
panion and cousin, lilair Stanley, rightful
male heir of Stanley. In stealing the diamond
Dlair causes the death of the doctor
and tries later to put the blame 011 ]
Arthur, who takes the diamond from him.
The sheriff attempts to take Arthur into j
custody, but lie eludes his pursuers and
joins llagar, who reveals his identity and ;
upbraids liini for his wild life. Needing
money, he pawns the diamond in Richmond.
At a ball, at which a supposed
j."?twv J vil"iv UCHC, \ IVIUIJ iUtUSlOn, IS tllC
guest of honor, Arthur and Blair find the :
diamond on the visitor. She is an adven- i
turcss who has borrowed it.
L*uke Bovell, II.;: tr's gypsy guard,
steals the diamond, ;.n I to avoid detection j
drops it into a mail box. Arthur loaves i
Richmond and goes to the west. The dia- j
mond passes into a mail hag, picked up ,
by Quahba, organ grind* r. Quabba's 1
monkey steals tlie diamond, llagar takes ;
Esther to Stanley hall.
Tom Blake, a detective of Richmond, ,
who is hired by llagar, produces linger j
prints convicting Blair. liagar proposes !
silence to .Mrs. Stanley as the price of J
Hagar's and Esther's being received in
Fairfax society. Blair strikes down 11a- j
tear and steals the linger prints, leaving j
the gypsy demented. The diamond is i
found by a negro boy and is taken by a !
tramp. The latter is murdered by llung 1
Li. It is stolen just as a slumming party 1
enters Hung Li's den. llagar is again i
with Esther .among the gypsies. .Marmaduke
fhnythe, lawyer, arrives to anm>unee
Arthur is heir t?? the deceased Karl of
Stanley. Retiming Arthur is ti fugitive* he
Seeks Blair instead. To win Vivian, Blair
steals the diamond, later marrying her
fttid leaving for the west. Their train is \
robbed. Vivian losing the diamond, which
h slain train robber drops in the desert.
The $100,000 he stole is found by Arthur,
now known as John I'owell, sheep herder, i
Vivian deserts Blair, telling him lie must
rejoin the diamond for her. Luke Lovel!,
driven from the camp after learning Ha- i
par's secret, leaves to seek Blair. Hagar
Is under treatment and Esther is in
Richmond society, protege of Mrs. Stan- I
ley, who suspects her real name, and of 1
Mrs. Randolph. Abe Bloom, gambler, who
knows Blair's guilt, covets the diamond
and calls it the price of his secrecy. Blalt
will not listen to Lovel 1, and Arthur also !
Insists on his silence. Blair returns to j
Richmond and, instigated by his mother,
pays unwelcome court to Esther, Mr*.
Stanley asserting Vivian had been married
before. The diamond is picked up by an
Indian woman. Dr. Lee, Arthur learns, j
died of heart diseuwe. Becoming very rich
be buys Stanley hall, sold at auction,
through Blake, and also provides for linear
and has money loft secretly In Esther's
room. Luke I.ovell buys the d1a- ;
tnond from the squaw, but loses It .in a. !
fight on Santa Barbara bay, the gem sink- j
Infc. At the auction Smythe buys a mount- :
ed deer bead. .Vivian, desiring aid to en- '
enure Arthur, fiends for Blair. The lattpr <
Is worsted in tin attempt to take the "Stan- )
ley document from Esther, defended hy
Blake and Quabha.. ,
Esther and Quabha, also Blair, jfd to |
the California'mines, to seek Arthuf', Blair j
to learn the whereabouts of the diamond 1
for Vivian.' Smythe Is sent west by Blake |
Bovoll repairs the coach in which Esther
and Smythe rklo. Quabha catches a fish
with the. diamond in its gills, but a pelican
bears off the gem.
. I
. . j
1
id
am the Sky
McCARDEL
.
McCARDEL
CHAPTER XXIX.
Desperate Chances.
THE nimble of the old mountain
stage couch down the hillside
iihvtilOv #-lwv 4VI1 ! ?
VUU1U V I U(l I l%f IV t?IU V(liJ5 VI
Blair and Luke. The conch
liad not gained a thousand yards from
the mountain top blacksmith shop
when the broken linchpin that Luke
Lovell. at Blair's instigation, had replaced
gave way. The tongue had
snapped like a pipestoni, and the driver,
tangled in the reins, had been dragged
by the frenzied horses along the road.
His helper lay as dead where the coach
had toppled and plunged down the
mountainside when the wheel came off.
Bounding like a bowlder down the
hillside, the coach rolled and tumbled,
while its passengers. Esther and the
eccentric English lawyer. Marmaduke
Smytho. held as best they could to the
straps and interior trappings of the old
coach for a few brief seconds of mute
horror.
Then the crash?and all was still.
Luke ar.\i Blair, panting with exertion
and excitement, paused not nor
gave any heed to the seeming dead man
in the road nor the driver, bruised and
dragged by the bolting, frenzied horses.
MM* 1 l - ? - .... . -
i ui-,\ >|n u iiuw ii me skt]i nniside to
witness their work, nor stopped till
tin.> stood beside the shattered old
coa? h hotly.
There, prone among the wreckage,
lay Ksther and Marniaduke Smythe
Ksl Iter's t yes were close I. Pat she had
been thrown out providentially, it
would seem, with a cushion from the
coach that had saved her even from
shock and bruise.
No longer a liinid gypsy maiden, but
a resolute young woman now. realizing
siie was a Stanley of the blood. Ksther
had become as wise as the serpent,
though seemingly as mild as the dove.
Was it love for Arthur or was it the
old feudal courage of her forbears that
prompted her to daringV
Like a Hash, once the shock and danger
of the accident had passed. Ksther
realized it was Itlair Stanley speeding
down the hillside and close beside him
Luke I/well. The wisdom of the ser
Luke Picked He:* Up as Though She
Were a Child.
pent and (lie mildness of tin* dove!
Ivsther had turned at the approach oi
her enemies, stirring as one half unconscious
and in pain, and hail secreted
the Stanley document under a stone,
slipping it from her bosom and hiding
it. even as she seemed to stir feebly,
dazed and pain racked. She knew why
Blair Stanley pursued and sought her
She realized the tragic accident, to the
coach was his work?his work and that
of his accomplice, Luke Lovell.
Beside her the insensible Knglish
lawyer neither moaned nor stirred,
while IOsther. her eyes closed again,
feigned unconsciousness. She heard
Luke Ixivell roar angrily, like a sullen
beast.
t-viciai, k>uuf nut ir 1 Oil KI1GW I
Esther whs in tlio couch. It wasn't the
English lawyer you hired me to kill
then! Though he lies dead enough to
suit anybody there! You tricked mo,
you gentleman blackguard! 1 wouldn't!
have a hair of her head harmed! 1*111
have your life for this!"
"! swear I didn't see the girl. I was!
|h tlip shop, you know, when the coach
Htoi>p?*V ll'ed Blair glibly. "1I was'
the English lawyer I was alter. lie Is
going to tlnd Arthur Stanley. If Ar-,
ihur Stanley goes back to Virginia I ,
wfll swing for the murder of Dr. Leo." i
"You lie. and you know you lie!"!
raged Luke. "The girl is' dead. She
i
THE HORRY HER
would never look at me, but 1 have always
loved her. 1 might have been a
better man if she had eared for me."
"You forget that I am fond of Esther
too," murmured Blair. "But if she is
dead or if she is unconscious, if she
lives she will have no thought of you
and me," udded Blair. "It is she who
has the proof wo seek to make our fortune.
the proof Arthur. Stanley will
give all the millious he has made us
John Powell to keep suppressed. Es|
thor has the Stanley document." and
as he said this Blair stooped over the
seemingly unconscious girl.
"Don't you touch her! Don't you lay
a hand on her!" cried Luke. "I will
carry her. She isn't dead, thank God!"
Esther stirred and sat up and gazed
resolutely at them both. Luke picked
her up as though she were a child.
"You bring her baggage." he said
1 roughly to Blair, and he nodded his
! head indicating the dress suit case that
had fallen from the crushed and shattered
coach.
In this way Esther was borne to the
I blacksmith shop. She knew the docuI
ment was safe from these evil hands,
under the rock by the coach, and bad
as she knew Luke Lovcll was. she felt
i no great harm would befall her while
lw. ....... I...
nv: n.-? I \\ .
This proven! to be Hie case, for when
Esther declared to them that the Stanley
document?and she professed to
, know nolhiug of such a document?
was not upon her person Luke believed
! her, and Blair Stanley was constrained
to do likewise.
"Look in her suit case, then," said
Luke, and Blair. picking up a chisel,
i forced the lock. As desperate as was
the situation. Esther could hardly re-1
strain a smile when Blair, with an ex-1
pression of disgust, brought forth from :
i the suit case a pair of striped pajamas. ;
: i flask, some shirts and collars and oth J
i it* inaie belongings, more than evidently
the property of the precise English
lawyer. Marmaduko Stay the
"We have got the wrong naggage."
snarled Blair to Luke. "Von go ba k
to the coaeh and find hers, and I will
guard l:fer here."
"1 would as soon trust her with a
i wolf." growled Luke. Then he turned
to Ksthor and hold his arms out to tier.
"Von say the word. Esther." he said.
; "and 1 will kill this blackguard for
i .. .. ...
i > 11.
But Esther shrank from the tierce,
passionate gypsy. "I hate you as I
hate him!" she said. "You will got no
document, you wiil get nothing, and 1
do not fear either or both of von l
Arthur Stanley will repay you well:
and fittingly for oven daring to lay a |
hand upon me!"
"We'll tie you up then, missy," said
Luke, shrugging his shoulders. "If I
can't have the lady 1 will take the!
gold. Matt Harding, your dead father,
if he was your father, made his for-I
tune out of the Stanley secret, and 1 1
will make mine. As for Arthur State |
ley. he can't help you! We know ,
enough to disgrace him if we expose
him here in California and show he is I
not John Howell, the millionaire, hut
Arthur Stanley, wanted for murder in !
Virginia!"
Esther scorned to answer. The two '
worthies, neither trusting the other.!
1 tied her seeurelv and went together!
back to the wrecked coach to tind her
i suit case and. as they hoped, the Stanley
document. But at the coach, in
i their absence. Mariuaduke Sniythe had
revived before the driver had secured
his horses and. bruised and da/.ed.
had recovered sullieiently to revive his
* i
comrade and then seek for his passen- |
| gors. YVI it* 11 tlu.? driver had I i ti: j u?: I i
clown ilu? hill to the wrecked coach
and inquired <>t' the recovering Sniythe
: where the young woman passenger
was. Sniythe had replied, "1 ch> not
know where she is gone, but 1 jolly
well know I am going myself!" And I
1 gathering up the suit case he thought '
was his, and taking his gun and the
mounted deer head, the trophy that he
prized beyond all his possessions, the
English lawyer tottered off into the
i wilds in the direction of the Lady
Veronica mines, as he thought.
When Luke and Khtir arrived upon t
the scene they told the driver his
I young Judy passenger was sale at the
blacksmith shop and they had ? ome
for her belongings. None couJd be
found, however, and Luke and Ll.iir
returned reviiing each other.
J)arkness was falling at tile time
the accident occurred. It was dark in
j
the blacksmith shop, but Esther felt
the braver at the absence of the two i
, men. She struggled and freed herself
from the ropes that had bound her
! and beat upon the great heavy door
! of the shop, crying for help.
Quabba, mourning his young mistress
and bewailing his fate that he
1 had so strangely found and so strangely
lost the diamond from the sky
again, had set out on foot for the j
mines to had Arthur, but especially to
find Esther, his young mistress. It
was just at nightfall that he reached |
the forge, some three miles yet from j
the mines. It was locked, gloomy and
deserted in the darkness. Hut from
within he heard a voice lie recognized.
I lie voice of his young mistress uppealingly
crying for help. A sledge
stood by the door. Quabba seized if
and shattered down the door sind soon
he was shedding tears of Joy as he
clasped the hands of Esther.
rut. _.... - *
i one was 110 time ior explanation
now. A look from Esther unit the two
sped off through the darkness, to he
followed a few moments later by Blair
and Luke returning to And their fair '
prisoner had been freed and was gone.
Over the mountains, through the dark
ness went pursuers and pursued, while
by a log near a marsh Lawyer Marina*
duke Smythe gathered up some dry
trash and lit his fire to eamp for the
night. He had lost Ills way, but phllo_
I
ALD, CONWAY, 8. O.
sophtcnlly he accepted the situation.
"1 am a lucky beggar that I thought
to bring a tin of biscuit and a tlask of
brandy in my luggage," lie remarked
half aloud. And he opened the suit
case lie had borne so far together with
Ills other impedimenta of gun and deer
head. "My word, the wrong portmanteau!"
he exclaimed as in the tire light
lie brought forth a woman's dainty
uiglitrobe and boudoir cap. "Well, no
matter." lie added resignedly; "they
will protect me from the drafts in this
jungle. Now. if 1 only had a night light
in case my tire goes out. I am used to!
having a night light, and if 1 had that
and my portable bathtub 1 could stand
the wilderness. But if the into Lord
Cecil Stanley could only see me now!"
he added fervently as he surveyed himself
in his strange night attire. "Hv
Jove, this is roughing it with a vengeance!"
Tile moon ennie up, and as if waiting
for it as u signal the harsh, discordant
chorus of croaking marsh frogs sounded
on all sides.
"Indians! Savage Iroquois!" cried
the alarmed lawyer, seizing his gun.
"But no," he added to himself: "1 will
not shoot. Their warwlioops on every
side show they surround me, 1 will
scout otT in the darkness lljie one of
those bally astute western American
prairie loopers, such as the subtle Arizona
Alfred previous English travelers
to these wilds have written about. But
just won't I write a book that wili
thrill Piccadilly when 1 get back un-'
scalped?if 1 ever do!"
And sol'tly dropping the marshmallows
which he was toasting, a box of
which lie had found among Esther's
effects, the frightened barrister stole
softly away, but be was not so frightened
as to leave his baggage behind,
lie bore with him the deer head, the
suit case and the gun, and on higher
land, out of earshot of the savage war
cries of the greenskins. he camped
quite uncomfortably, thank you. in the
crotch of a large live oak tree.
CHAPTER XXX.
Planning to Win a Millionaire.
broke on the other side of
tin? mountain at the Eady Yeronica
minds. The hoarse whistle
at the power plant woke
the echoes of the taountain gorge
The miners tumbled from their bunks
and stormed t ho greasy cookhouse, in
the boss' shack the telephone rang, and
a sleepy assistant foreman took a
message from .John L'owcll. chief engineer
5tt the workings on the other
side, to which from tin* lately Yeroni ;?
mines :i tunnel w.as driven four miles
through the mountain. The message
called for all hands to quit tl^ job and
come through to the new walkings on
the other side. The message is delivered
to miners, outside men. tIn; cookhouse
help, even to the ore strippers
who have just begun to load the ore
carrying cable cradle that carries the
ore from the hillside outcrop across the
gorge to the tipple on the other side of
the ravine.
j uv> it n v/i\v l^lllV'l VJUilMllil
from where I hoy h;ul fa. Hon exhaust oil
in their flight on the rugged mountain
side a mile or more away. It roused to
their evil purposes in their waking
hours Luke Lovell and Hlair Stanley as
well.
"That is the mine whistle!" exclaimed
Lhiabba. "If v.*e can reach the mine
we will linil Arthur Stanley, and we
will be safe."
Neither Quahlm nor Ksther knew, as
Blair and Luke did. that Arthur had
left the Lady Veronica mines and had
crossed the mountain to his new workings.
Hut Arthur Stanley, or .John
Powell, as California knew him, had
now ridden away from the new workings
in company with one of his foremen
and was well on his journey
across the great mountain range to distant
Santa Barbara, where he had arranged
to take over the palatial steam
yacht that was to be delivered t,? iijdi
there. j
Vivian Marston, in Los Angeles, had
kept herself posted as regards Arthur's
comings aiul goings.
Fxporieiuod and world wise, Vivian |
Marston laid her plans well. She know |
how telling and effectual a romantic or
dramatic tirsi mooting with tlio youth-;
fill and high spirited typo of young
man always is. She had mot Arthur, it j
is true. Twice she had seen him. The ;
meeting had heen Imt a passing int.ro- i
duct ion al .Mrs. Randolph's hall in
Richmond. In the excitement that foi- j
lowed so swiftly when the diamond
had heen torn from her own fair neck;
hy an unseen hand, an excitement I
heightened hy the further climax of
Arthur's arrest on the charge of having
murdered l>r. Lee and his desperate
light and flight, the passing introduction
had left no impression other
than perhaps the slightest upon Ar- !
tliur, Vivian was sure.
After this she had briefly seen him at
the tournament at Fairfax. But these
brief contacts. Vivian realized, were as
nothing. She felt that to impress Arthur
she must throw herself in his way
in some impressive manner, at a time
when there woiihl ho n.> u.
.../ >? itwuni IV
mitigate against the dramatic intensity
of the meeting as she planned it.
The reckless daring of Arthur had interested
her, hut as a bankrupt young
Virginia gentleman or as a fugitive
front Justice she had not deemed him
worth exercising her siren spells upon,
oven had opportunity presented itself.
Hut here In California it was a far cry
from the situation as it had been in
staJd Virginia. The fugitive young
prodigal of Virginia was John Towell.
the multimillionaire, whose dazzling
rise to riches through his oil invest
meets had made him a mar keel
man even in California, that wonder
land where everything possible can
happen.
Vivian had sedulously kept out of
Arthur's way In I*os Angeles, and bow
that she had brought on Blair to ale! j
1
Vivian Marston Plans to Ensnare
Arthur.
1 her Inter, hut had sent Hlair :nv:iy for
I the present that she might bettor work
| out her plan unhampered. Vivian Marston
felt that; the gods were kind, and
she resolved she would not fail. Every
j lie that bound Arthur Stanley to hit
old life in Virginia was broken, now
that he was John Powell, California
millionaire, flattered, sought after. Hvi
* t i .. i 1 1?* .
PI \ lit- .IS Ml MAPil, * is I i . 1*1 i ? "* III.*'
affection for Esther. Hut youth and
success and thillcry lend to forgetful
ness. us Vivian knew. Once eouhl slu
I cross his path impressively, as she
planned, she felt sure she eouhl hold
him. and Esther would he but a mem- i
cry, a faint influence no longer to be
feared. She had taken care to avoid
John Powell when that courted young
magnate had arrived at the great hotel
at Santa P.arhara, a hostelry for tourists
of weultn. to take command of
. s
I
' ' ' ' ^ ^
She Donned a Fetching Sailor Costunic.
tho I>mInt ia 1 steam vneht im<i
^ v ?. c nu\ HUU
read in the papers would ho delivered
lo him in the beautiful bay of Santa
Ha rbara.
ller prospective prey had conic; on
horseback and had met the yacht
broker shortly before she had arrived
at the same hotel, lie had donned the
expensive yachting attire that had
been sent here for him and was on his
way to the wharf as Vivian watched
front the window of her room in the
hotel and mused upon her plan of campaign.
"That is the new yacht the young
millionaire, John Powell, has .just
bought, is it not?" she asked of the attentive
hotel maid. The maid was
quick to assent. "Have you seen Mr.
Powell, ma'am?" the maid asked eagerly.
"lie is so handsome all the young
ladies at the hotel are dying to meet
him!"
"lie is an old friend of mine." said
Vivian, smiling. "Too bad he went to
Ids yacht before I saw him. 1 know he
wuuia nave lauou mc aboard." Then,
as though the idea had just occurred to
her, she*clapped her shapely and gem
covered hands together and cried: "I
know what I will do. I wired here hefore
I came that a sailboat should be
hired for me. The clerk told me the
owner of the sailboat had it waiting
for ine anchored off the dock. If I
hurry I can sail out to the yacht before
Mr. Powell will be through looking it
over and getting under way for the
trial trip. Here, help me into these
clothes." And with the hotel mold's
assistance Vivian quickly attired herself
in a fetching sailor costume, which
helped to set off her rich beauty to ad.
a taxi, she drove to the wharf *|
to bud the sailboat owner waiting for f\|
her. Declaring she wan a good sailor *|
of pleasure craft and could handle a 2 |
small boat as well as any man?whictlfc. |l
I was tme enough?Vivian Murston re^ LI
; fused the assistance of the bewildered
sailboat owner. She had him run up |
| the sail for her and left him at the jj|
| wharf and headed the pretty craft in r|
the direction of the graceful yacht an- g|
I chored far out. Already, with steam u|
| tip and anchor weighed, the yacht was -I
ready to start off on its first voyage .^|
under the command of its new owner, ''I
John Powell. ^ " I
Far a-way in the Sierras, in that wnd
region where lie the Lady Veronica 11
mines, owned, like the great white r|
yacht In Santa Barbara buy, by John ^f|
Powell, another fair but younger wo- ,1
man seeks also this fortunate young I
man. Housed from the slumber of ex- I
haustion. Ksther and (jualtba hastened '|
along the mountain road toward the r|
now deserted mine. By some unfortii- , |
nute chance the evil pair who pursued ,-fl
and who had lost thorn in the llighttin i
the night now sighted them ugulpl. H
Qual>t>a was lirst to sense the renewed I
pursuit. "There is Blair Stanley and ' I
Luke Lovell!" he eried. ICsther guth- I
ered up her skirts and ran like a young I
frightened fawn beside her faithful I
protector. H
"The mine is not far away. Wo
heard the whistle at daybreak quite I
plainly." Esther panted. "Arthur is H
there. Arthur will stive ub.m a h
But she little knew there was none rv> H
save her at the place of refuge. Arthur H
was far away, and a designing and un~
was
suuunating a desperate plan to etr .
Nearer and nearer came the sp??^*
Luke and Blair. Quahba seized I MS- B
hy the hand and turned sharply d<nvX
the rooky hillside where the sheds a.
the mine moplli could he seen at 11:? n , |l
bottom of the wild gorge far helowwVl?
Over roek and shrub, down the dizzy fl
hillside. Quabba and Esther thai. But j
the more sturdy and agile Luke and ^
Blair gained on them.
Suddenly Ouahha held back himself
and Esther with an effort. They had jjj
reached the upper anchorage of the Q
cable carrier across the gorge. H"i<> H
the empty ore cradle hung upon the H
pulleys just as the ore strippers at tlflp I
outcrop left it when summoned, with
ihe other workmen, to proceed through I
the tunnel in the mountains t<> the new H
workings on the oilier side, tour miles H
straight through tlie very heart of tile H
"Quick!" gasped Quabba. clambering' S
ninthly into the ore carrier and helping H
the almost equally active Ksthor up bo I
side him. H
Just as the hand of LtlUe Lovdf^ fl
clutched at the carrier Quabba lifted I
the catch, and the ore carrier started I
i across the cable and darted with in- I
creasing momentum over the deep. wild. I
gorge and the rocky, turbulent stream I
that roared beneath them. The cable I
sways, the wheels to the ore cradle I
hum as they spin. Over the sickening H
height, borne by the thin line of the fl
cubl(? go the frightened girl and t!i?*
devoted Quabha. wliile the desperate* I
I Blair and his gypsy accomplice curso I
each other and the Hying fugitives oni I
their swift and perilous flight down the I
mountain. I
At the lower anchorage at the other I
side of the canyon the aerial tram |
stops wiin a sudd! 11 shock that almost; I
! precipitates its oe upnnts t?> the ground I
UcMieat.il. 1'ccovoring. QuaUlm and E'W
tlicr climb ?>111 aiul hasten around fi'o.u^ I
the tipple tracks and bad: to the other
side <d the gorge to the mine mouth. I
Tiiis time they cross Uy a trestle built I
to carry the mine cars from the tunnel I
to the tipple. Luke and Blair mean- I
wlille have piunt-rd do v. n from the up-* I
! per anchorage of tlio aerial tramway
io tlie river and forded their way I
across as best tliey can and reach the I
other side only to see their quarry is. I
doubling buck over the high trestle I
the tunnel mouth. \\, 1
Benching the lbine opening at the I
trestle end, one glance shows to Quab* I
ha and Esther that the workings here I
are deserted. There is no help. Not /} I
even a watchman or mine guard has
been left behind in the exodus to the*
other workings through the mine tun fl I
ucl under the niountain. Now, whilt
they halt and hesitate, Luke and Blair ^
I have seen the helplessness of the fugi- I
tives. . ^ I
I "There is ho one at the, mjitc. A I
strike or an accident in the tinftiel lias I
called away every man," pants Blair. I
"We will have them yet, and this time I
we will not take the girl's word thai: I
she lias not the Stanley document on* 1
her person." And Luke Lovell echoed;. + -I
"We will have them yet!" \ 1
They are half across the trestle when- I
QunUUa, inspired Uy despair, notices I
tlio little electric engine by the mine- I
mouth. lie lias not to speak to Esther- I
as lie seats himself in the driver's sent,. I
for Esther climbs up and sits beside- I
him. A turn of the controller proves 1
me power is on, and the little, low,
heavy motor glides off like a thing of
life, grinding and showering sparks
from the overhead feed wires into the
narrow, dark depth of the tunnel. In f
they go, into the darkened heart of the
hills.
After them, floundering and cursing
over the ties and through the mud and
water of the mine, panting and swenr~
ing, come their relentless pursuers,
following the trolley's blue sparks far
off, with a determination that will not
foe denied. v
)*
In Santa Barbara bay John Powell's
yacht moves swiftly from its anchorage.
The owner is at the wheel receiving
his first instructions from his .
sailing master. The owner's boyish \
face is lit with a smile, and his dark
eyes dance with excitement. Sudden-.
I
- 81
ifilMil