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Show sir By George Agnew Chamberlain I struction of the bridge, Or was it part of this ghastly dream? Oh. if only it could be a dream! An hour passed. Her knees grew chafed, burned and then turned numb with the pain. She swayed and would have fallen had she not been tied to the man before her, but the worst was yet to come. With the descent of the switchback path, owing to the changing of the angle of pressure, agony returned fourfold. She broke down and wept, sobbing whimperingly whimper-ingly in her abject misery. burden. He had won! But only Dorado's Do-rado's left hand seized on Joyce; his right crashed into Blackadder's face, sending him hurtling backward. back-ward. He tumbled, rolled. He could feel his nails breaking as they clawed vainly on the corrugated surface of the spiles. His arms thrashed out. One of them struck against a rope and for his very life he wound it on his wrist. Fury blinded him; now to climb back, bury his thumbs in Dorado's double-crossing double-crossing throat and A i it. , "You've taken off your coat!" exclaimed ex-claimed Joyce. "Yes," he said, "I realized you must be cold. Here, slip it on slip it on like a sweater." Before she could quite understand, under-stand, before she could raise her arms, the coat was descending over her head. How extraordinary, she thought, and was on the point of i crying out it was nonsense to put on a coat like that when its sleeves swirled and tightened; one around her neck, the other across her astonished as-tonished half open mouth. Then she struggled frantically, but the sleeves only drew tighter. They were being tied, knotted. She was gagged, trapped, oowerless to raise her hands. Too late she realized her only chance would have been to run run at the first instant of attack. But already Blackadder's arms were descending past her hips to her knees; they closed, lifted her, Crg xiH Continued Ltwaitforthe end; lea v-! v-! ftlU arguing she went t t down at the desk I to prepare herself for felt sure would prove an lackadder was not long in she motioned toward a !e armchair and he sat rm a queer bird." he be-voice be-voice to amiable It star-That star-That little talk we had I certainly got off on the t and I'm sorry. That's rouble all my life mak-people mak-people angry through get-myself. get-myself. If a vile temper hing you could have cut a appendix I swear I'd tomorrow." wit," she said smilingly, sile to credit her ears, i get somewhere you can -surgeon, hospital and a At that moment all four anchor ropes at Dorado's end were slashed and Blackaddcr knew an Instant of horror as the bridge fell. Treachery, Treach-ery, and now death! But what saved him was the very depth of the gorge. The severed bridge acted as a bumper as it slammed against the opposite cliff, its dangling end reaching less than halfway down. Shaken off, torn by thorns, cut by the shale, bruised against boulders, he rolled to the bottom. Then si- umi HWIWil fW.IHI-l IJII -l I) HI, !. HI Ml ? As relief had come to Blackadder on the level stretch from the path to the camp, so It came to her. But it was not complete. An hour passed and she found herself released of her bonds and stretched on the army cot in Dorado's Do-rado's quarters. Then it surged over her. Nothing but divine rest matterednothing. mat-terednothing. Her eyes shut with almost a click and she slept When she woke a fine fire was burning at the entrance to the drift and by its light she saw Dorado seated on a camp stool near by, watching her out of half-closed eyes. As hers opened wide his did also. He smiled but said nothing. They looked at each other for a long time and the longer the silence lasted the more did Joyce feel her heart grow tight and small in her breast. What magic word could save her? But it was he who spoke first. "You frightened, hein?" "Talk in Spanish," said Joyce, surprised she could speak at all. "It will be easier for both of us." Promptly his heavy face brightened bright-ened and he became voluble. "Ah, that's better, much better. In castcllano I can talk, tell you things, explain how simply and easily eas-ily everything can be arranged if only you turn out to be as reasonable reason-able as you are beautiful." "I don't feel beautiful," said Joyce shortly, straightening on the cot and bracing herself. "I'm thirsty terribly thirsty." "Ah, forgive!" cried Dorado. He turned . and shouted an order. A man came running with a pannikin of water fresh from the brook and scarcely had she drained it before another retainer appeared carrying a tin plate heaped with food. "It's a molle de guajalote," said Dorado proudly. "Knowing you were to be my guest I ordered it especially for you." At first Joyce merely toyed with the most famous of Mexican dishes but presently hunger triumphed over anxiety and she began really to eat. Slowly, then more slowly, for the longer each mouthful lasted the more time she gained to think. But somehow thinking didn't seem to do much good; perhaps talking saying say-ing anything at all would be better. bet-ter. "What do you want?" she asked "Money? La Barranca? What?" "You," said Dorado briefly, smiled and waited. "That's impossible,", said Joyce after a pause. "Nobody can take me not while I'm alive. That probably prob-ably sounds silly, but I mean it." (TO BE COST1MED) Lid Helm more soberly, i-gs are a long way off-long off-long way off and that back to the line I meant aken from the start. I have reasoned with you, cwn you a fact or two i young to think out for For instance, you've got you've actually taken it mu can't possibly hold it." it's exactly what I'm do-ested do-ested Joyce. ink you are, but it can't ierted Blackadder with :onfidence. "It's against srado, the science of eco-ie eco-ie Mexican and American r.ts. What's fooling you i the well-known phenome-e phenome-e calm between the two cyclone. Besides, it isn't The worst trick you could ly American would be to this rancho for nothing." t a rancho," corrected etly; "it's a hacienda-ace hacienda-ace between a toy bal-i bal-i Zeppelin." ;, I know," said Helm, first trace of impatience, mptly restrained himself, ity fooled him into think-as think-as really getting some-hy some-hy spoil it? "The thing me, Joyce, Is how you r bring yourself to come what what happened." ean about my mother?" be in the same still voice, he answered. ! with a peculiarly swift d stood with fingers rest-! rest-! desk to steady herself. 1 before she had seemed the point of resuming the irm of the young girl he ire he could handle; now, she was an imposing and Igure. :r if you can be made to I see," she began, her and vibrant, "what I've years, all my life. It th Mr. Van Suttart, per-ght per-ght with you." asked Blackadder. that happen especially ings," continued Joyce, he question, "can't be r weighed or seen away e they took place. Mv lence minutes of silence before he commenced to groan. Presently a frenzied voice called down at him. "What's the matter? Who are you down there? What happened?" Immediately there were other excited ex-cited voices. Under Leonardo's direction di-rection two of the severed ropes were hastily knotted into one, another an-other added, and Tobalito was descending de-scending backward, his bare toes seizing like hands on grip after grip. Having tied the end of the rope under the .injured man's shoulders he ascended almost as fast as he had gone down and helped haul Blackadder to the top. Dirk leaned over him. "Blackadder! You? What happened? hap-pened? Where's Joyce?" He took hold of his shoulder and shook it. "Answer! Where's Joyce?" CHAPTER XIV . Joyce, seized by an arm, had been dragged forward so violently she would have fallen face down had not the same hand supported her and set her on her feet. She heard a low laugh and looked up into Dorado's unforgettable face. Nightmare this was nightmare. He was laughing at the trick of the coat. Now he repeated it with modifications. modi-fications. No longer need it cover her head; let her yell all she liked. Also it was secured in place not with the buttons but by the simple expedient of a lariat wrapped around her from shoulder to waist, leaving enough loose end to bind her to the man with whom she must ride. No sooner was the operation completed than the cavalcade set off, Dorado in the lead, she at the extreme rear. Already lights were showing and people coming on the run from the hacienda, but if any shots were fired she would get them first Dorado, convinced Blackadder's mouth was closed forever, saw no reason to hurry. The half dozen horses ambled along at a running walk, giving Joyce time to think, too much time, time enough to grow afraid. Had she really witnessed Helm Blackadder's murder and the de- Tbe Cavalcade Set Off, Dorado in the Lead. hung her like' a sack over his shoulder. shoul-der. If only she could get at the buttons! But she was lying on them and all he need do to keep her that way was to tilt her knees upward. He did it twice, and that was enough to cure her. He was strong; she had never imagined a man could be so strong. She felt him step off the pier and creep along its side until he reached the edge of the water. Immediately he sank halfway to his knees but persevered, making his way toward the right. Once he reached and turned the angle of the hacienda's outer wall he knew where he was; now all he had to do was to keep in touch with that wall, follow it so closely no eye from the ramparts above could spy him. As Joyce struggled the cloth of the coat grew hot and soggy against her face. Promptly she quieted and bent every ev-ery effort to getting a little air by turning her head this way and that. She must think, and to think she must breathe. After all, this was only Helm Blackadder in the grip of an insane conviction he was doing his duty as decreed by God and Irma Sewell. Why be frightened? She lost all sense of locality until he slowed almost to a complete halt, released the pressure of his right arm to take a grip on one of the hand ropes and ventured a cautious cau-tious foot on the bridge. At its first oscillation she realized her chance had come at last; once started down that treacherous incline no longer would he dare practice the trick of raising her knees. She tore at the buttons, freed one hand; quickly she untied the sleeves, threw back her head and screamed for help at the top of her voice. "Leonardo! Tobalito! Accude! Dirk, Dirk, oh. Dirk!" Blackadder clamped his left arm like a vise and kept on. He was at his last gasp, thoughts racing so madly through his brain he scarcely heard her cry. Why was he here? What was he doing? What did he sath has become part of ie it's a stone in a long longer and older than lfe- It's built into La md so am I. Come with 1 try to show you what world, my part in it, Part beiian and where t ended." et rose and fixed his " raPt face. "Since you 'ad my thoughts, just think it ended?" CaPe, of course," said ler's and mine. But It's '! e that counts; with him 0 return." 1 idea-the blinding In-"I In-"I not come to Black-many Black-many minutes later at 1 when Joyce, standing m to pull open the little stepped past him into b'ackns of the outer PPed and drew back. Jad seemed to vanish; ned only the stenciled her printed frock. care whether Joyce stayed or went? Hot sweat was pouring down his back, yet an icy crust was forming on his forehead! What a fool he had been to think he could cross this bridge carrying a wildcat in his arms a wildcat that had seemed a feather at the start and now weighed a ton I But there was something indomitable indom-itable in him some bulldog quality that made him the slave of an idea once he had sunk his teeth in it and drove him on to domination whatever the cost It explained much why he was here and why he couldn't quit. The floor of spiles beneath his feet was rising for an instant it had been level, now it was steep! He was winning winning through. He looked up and saw a bulky shadow. Two brown bands like talons were reaching out to relieve him of his n s too dark tonight '" she said. "It was 'e-where I used to dark for me," said Sickly, "if you haven., ; way I could follow you said Joyce doubt-llatiiig doubt-llatiiig pupils made out jseen tree and then an-'yes; an-'yes; I'm beginning to now myself. Come be hKhter beyond the utes later, standing on 1 of mussy masonry Ce been a pier, they be- Vis.bie to each other e" "ght of the stars. '7 tak,'n his coat as alng and with nervous 'ebuttoned it in the I |