Argosy All-Story Weekly — page 118: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

744 others to follow, continued along the ledge above the river. Just beyond the falls the ledge turned slightly to the left, and Dick rounded the corner confidently, but the next second he Stopped short, with a shout of alarmed sur- prise, that rose even above the roar of the falls. Before him, standing grimly in the cen- ter of the path, a long, old-fashioned rifle on his arm, was a man. Fully six feet six, despite his stooped shoulders, gaunt, and with eyes glaring with hate and animal rage he stood, like a spirit of evil, regarding Graham with a fixed, angry stare. White hair fell to his shoulders, and a great beard almost concealed his emaciated face. Bradley, who had been close behind, grasped Graham’s arm, and almost shook him in his amazement. ‘ Eph Dennet!” he yelled. “ My God, it’s Eph Dennet!” With a snarl of rage, Dennet suddenly raised his rifle, but before he could pull the trigger, Dick snatched out his revolver, fired, and the rifle clattered to the ground, while the old man clapped his hand to his arm. Then a change came over him; the rage died out of his eyes, and a queer, uncertain look took its place. He began to mutter to himself, and for the first time seemed to notice the little knot of men behind Dick and Bradley. ‘“ Not alive!” he shouted shrilly. ‘ Not alive! Eph Dennet won’t hang.” Then, with a sharp cry of despair he turned, and striding to the edge of the ledge, stepped deliberately off. _ For a moment, stunned by the sudden tragedy, no one moved, then Dick and Bradley hurried to the edge and looked over, but nothing could be seen; from far below the sullen roar of the water upon the rocks echoed up from the black void, but that was all. Dick turned away with a sigh, and a fearful sinking of his heart. If Warren and the rest had come here, what had that mad- man done with them? They must have been in his power for hours. “We must go on,” he said, putting his mouth close to Bradley’s ear. “If they are still alive—” | ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. He broke off, staring along the ledge, then with a yell of relief he dashed for- ward. “Warren!” he shouted thankfully. ‘“Here’s Warren, and Elinor and all of them!” IV. } “Tt’s simply enough explained,” said Warren Graham, when two hours later, somewhat recovered from the effects of their adventure, rescued and rescuers gath- ered in the library. “When this morning the sudden roar of those falls, and the draft of cold air inter- rupted our breakfast, I made a dive for the cellar, calling Mike—the man—to follow. “Of course the rest of the family all fol- lowed, too, and that’s where the old man got us. Held us up with his gun and marched us down to the cavern, and on to a little cave off the ledge, just beyond where you found us. “TI don’t know what he intended to do with us; the women rather made him hesi- tate, I think. He’d have dropped Mike and me over the ledge without much compunc- tion if we had been alone, I imagine, as he did the Boston artist—” ‘So that’s what happened to him,’ in- terrupted Bradley; “did Ephraim tell you?” : “Oh, yes, he talked quite freely—too freely to be quite comfortable under the circumstances. It was evident he did not expect us ever to be in a position to repeat what he told us. He was crazy, of course, but not an idiot by a long shot, and he seemed to enjoy talking to a human being, ‘poor devil. It seems he did murder his father, though he called it an accident. The old man tried to throw him out when Ephraim turned up one night, and he knocked. his father downstairs. Then Ephraim came home for good, because he was starving, and couldn’t or wouldn’t work, but he lived in terror of his crime being found out, and seems to have regard- ed every one as a spy, seeking to give him up to the gallows. “But he remained on, for he knew his father had money hoarded up somewhere, Comicsooks (E@)