Show s T. T 1 Diamonds of S By VICTOR ROUSSEAU 6 Copyright by 61 W. W G. G Chapman Ip I I y CHAPTER XV XV Continued Continued 19 19 Be lie went back The animal had not moved He looked about him In the far distance were the tho faintest blue outlines of hills It occurred to him that De Witt might have been making for these And he might as well g go o forward as turn back He trudged on endlessly leading the borse bors the sun a grilling fire firo above him him- His boots were burned through gh from contact with t the e hot lot stones Loose shale and flints slipped under his fits tread The sun even In In Its descent seemed to grow hotter WInton was half dead from thirst The panting horse was becoming a burden At last It stood still and dropped slowly upon Its knees It looked at him and whinnied As WInton VInton glanced hopelessly over the plain his eyes were arrested by the sight of a dark object lying an Indefinite distance away It was too large for a man too man too black for a rock And there were no rocks anywhere for tor the wh whole le plain seemed to have hav been crushed flat fiat by a giant steamroller steam steam- roller WInton made his way toward It It began to take form j It was a dead horse It had dropped In Its tracks and Its sufferings had been ended b ba by bya a bullet through the head But there were no signs of ot a rider and It It was was Impossible to distinguish any foot- foot tracks on the stones It was no doubt the horse that had been ridden by one of ot the three It was not De Witts Probably It was the Hottentots Winton's spirits soared soured upward He set his teeth grimly and went back to his animal He must go on now even ven If It h Ire he had to leave the beast be behind hind Bind him He stood looking at It It had fallen upon Its stomach and crouched thus with Its legs bent under it It raised Its head and whinnied again faintly It was past saving unless water Vater water could be procured Immediately y WInton drew his revolver took careful careful careful care care- ful aim behind the ear and fired The beasts beast's head went down down It It quivered rolled on Its side and died And he went on By degrees his Journey became automatic so that he lie was hardly conscious of his surround surround- surround surround- ings He ne saw only the distant hills hillsand hillsand hillsand and the western sun descending descending- with tantalizing slowness His tongue swollen and nU numb se seemed m d to distend his cheeks Sometimes the h stony tony desert yielded for a few steps to sparse patches of flinty earth IndIcatIng Indicating ing lug the hope of some fertile region beyond but It always began again The sun dipped Into th the west and still the man stag staggered ered onward The TIle significance of the patches of 0 thorn scrub vas was lost ost to him of the rugged and nd broken terrain of the foothills about him with their straggling mimosas mi mi- mi- mi But suddenly WInton stopped ped trembling Green grass was was' wasat at his feet and out of a fissure In the ground there bubbled a little spring at by the the map I It w was s a tiny unknown oasis In the vast wilderness De Witt had evidently possessed the secret and had planned to make this his headquarters until the hue and cry had been dropped WInton flung himself upon the earth beside the spring and burying his face In the water drank until his shriveled veins seemed to pulse with new ew blood The sun had d set set and the Intense heat beat was changing to the Icy cold of the desert night when he arose rested and with all the grImness of his resolution resolution reso reso- lution nerving him to action He knew that Sheila could coul not be far away He looked at his revolver To his consternation consternation consternation con con- he discovered t that at only ly two shots shots remained However these these should be enough one enough one at least would save ave Sheila fr from m De Witt the other other- He would not face t the lie possibilities that unfolded themselves before him but rose to his feet and was about to follow the spring through a aa valley into the hills when something lying upon upon the ground attracted his attention It was Sheila's handkerchief He snatched It up and aud pressed It to his lips He felt that hat Sheila had dropped it for an Indication knowing that he w would uld follow r Lightly he stepped forward Into th the bush clad bush clad hills among the boulders The valley opened The scene grew Winton desolate again All Alt round were lulls hills of a precipitous character which gradually grew steeper until h he found himself In a n sort of level amphitheater amphitheater amphitheater am am- apparently save at the end through which he had come Thin tufts of ot grass and sparse vege vegetation tation grew around the bases of ot the tIle cliffs but the central central- portion of the valley vaHey was wooS of a dazzling whiteness as asIf asIt asif If It Incrusted d with salt or alkali Along one side were n numerous trails showing the sharp edges of ot the spoor of beasts After a while white WInton discovered that the white floor on which he ire now walked was not composed of mineral but of animal matter It was a layer of ot pulverized bones thousands upon thousands picked bare by Jackals and 0 0 vultures bleached by the sun sum and disintegrated dis din 1 integrated by the passage of ot ears I Gradually tile the bones gre grew larger I until WInton was stumbling on on that uneven floor It w was s one of those thos death places of the wild beasts of the veld often described but seldom en en- countered It was a natural resting- resting place for the antelope and creatures of prey which feeling the approach of death drank their last drink at the spring and turned aside among the cliffs to die unmolested It had been used for countless generations Winton Winton Winton Win- Win ton saw th the Immensely long thighbones thighbones thigh thigh- thIgh thIgh-I bones of the giraffe exceeding the 1 height of a man though the beast had I long since been driven northward There were the skulls and horns of springbok and gnu with their varying f forms and spirals Gaunt ribs stood out like the fram framework work of old rotting boats j teeth gaped In skulls and In one lonely place In a cluster of grass an aged hyena whose last hunting was done crouched belly flat against the ground with open chops hops and snarled In Its decrepitude WInton hurried on tr trying to make the end end of ot the valley where he thought some pass might exist before dar darkness ness held him a mer He had nearly crossed this desolate region when he lie caught sight of ot a tiny twinkle of red light on the cliff above aboe him He stopped hardly able to believe It true Another light appeared Then came a series WInton VInton realized d that these were sparks blown from a campfire campfire camp- camp fire upon the summit His heart began to thump wildly He stumbled forward over the bones Winton hurried on Z F t. t L y t Darkness had fallen by the time he reached the narrow trail at the valley valleys valley's valleys valley's val val- ley leys ley's s end and he had many narrow esCal escapes s among th the bould boulders rs with which the way way was was' was was' strewn wn On e each ch side of ot him the cliff rose vertically and the Itself lf wide eno enough gh to pass ft hardly permit permit per per- mit a horse to ascend seemed like a aa a. a fissure In the mountain side made by some natural cleavage of the rocks He had ascended to within a few feet of the summit when some instinct halted him abruptly Th Then a sudden of of smoke moke toward him liim showed him that the fire camp-fire was Just at the crest The h sound of voices S reached his ears Crawling slowly forward upon his stomach and pulling himself to the level top of the mountain WInton peered out from behind l the cover ofa of ofa ofa a a mimosa tree tree and saw a party of yellow yellow Hottentots Hottentots Hottentots' seated seated nb about ut the tile blaze There were six or eight of ot them and behind the fire was a tent which WInton knew concealed conceal cd D De Witt The fear that Sheila Shella was there Inthe inthe In Inthe the mans man's power tempted WInton to rush forward He had to use Ilse s all aU his Judgment to give no sl sign of or his pres pr sence s- s ence as he crouched flat behind the little tree at th the edge of ot the precipice Some movement lent must have alarmed one of the Hottentots for lor he lie leaped to hIs his feet with a guttural exclamation and hurled his knobkerrie toward the spot where WInton lay Iny It was wa nate that th the party had no dogs with them The missile whirring past Win- Win Winton's WInton's Winton's tons ton's head crashed ag against a a boulder and dropped to the vall valley y below striking from rock to rock In the course of its descent The native who had advanced to recover his weapon stopped as the sound of the full fall showed shoed that t It was Irrecoverable and went event nt back t to the fire Winton's fingers r relaxed on his revolver revolver re 10 re- re volver volver butt buttA Another nother Instant Instant and tind l he lie e would leave have laTe fired mid fired and lost ost Sheila Irre Irre- He lIe lay flat In the grass watching the light of t the fire ire play upon the fierce faces about It Already ady the moon was rising He could neither advance ad nor retire WI without loUt immediate discovery Desperate plans chased each other through his head In swift succession Each turned upon the feasibility of oC ofa oCa a rush the snatching up of a spear after atter he had fired his remaining bul bullets bullets bullets bul- bul lets and a n hopeless fight with the object of ot at least killing De Witt I t oo Each plan W was hopeless but then everything everything ev ev- else was hopeless The minutes seemed lengthening into ho hours rs At last Winton's plans had simmered down to this he lIe would not noi risk discovery until he lie was assured that Sheila was In Imminent danger For the present she was probably safe He felt sure she was was' not in De Witts Witt's tent Where then was she As his eyes traveled from spot to spot they lit upon a recess In a wall wal wallo o of rock at the summit of the moun moun- tain The leaping flames of the fire Illuminated the Interior of what seemed a little cave And somehow Winton sensed that Sheila Shena was within that It was some thirty yards away and he saw little chance of reaching it un un- observed There here was a fringe of ot grass through which he might crawl for the greater part of the Journey but for tor forthe forthe the last few feet he would have to traverse tr verse bare rock within a few feet feel of the fire Yet h he began his s task anc and it was Infinitely arduous us and slow It II was a matter of long inch-long movements move move- ments first ments-first first of one arm then of ot the theo o opler tier her then of the corresponding lower limbs The dry blades of grass crackled under the slightest t movement The p natives w were r dozing over the fire WInton had gone perhaps six feet feet feel when one of ot the Hott Hottentots raised himself suddenly to a kneeling position position tion and thrust out his head toward him peering Intently through the grass grass WInton perfectly motionless stared for at least five minutes into the yellow face tace within a few feet of his own The he man knelt like Ike a statue the eyeballs gleaming in 4 th the mo moonlight moonlight moon moon- n- n light the fingers the spear- spear shaft r f Suddenly the sight v faded The moonlight i o plunging a abruptly pl plunging ngIng ng- ng ing the land Jand I f Ate d darkness r ness Then a fe few drops fl ruin l B bae a ae an to fall taU In half halt a minute a a t rent wa was was descending de de- g. g y yIt i It lt was was the characteristic beginning of one of the season seasonal thunderstorms As WInton crouched near n near ar the cave preparing to cross the I open open i en space there came a flash of lightning th that thai t made the world as bright as day It showed l him m the form of the motionless where he had been watchIng watching watch watch- ing the fingers still about the spear But it t showed him another nother sight that sight that drove the blood from fro his heart He lIe saw De Witt crossing i from the tent to the tile cave cave j So momentary was the flash flash that the theman's theman's mans man's attitude his s gesture a and if the movement of his body an and limbs limbs seemed caught as on a photographic plate He was was v s halfway half y to o th the cave hurrying with head bent down to shield his face from the rain But WInton could still se see seethe look ok of of antIc anticipation pation on his features feature's and It was wast that at which gave him for the die the sec second nd time the lust for murder It was borne In upon him then that by no possibility could De Witt and he live In the same world together The flash which had given Winton his bIs final clue to Sheilah's ShelIah's hiding- hiding place had shown him the topography of bf the mountain cleft The place was wasa a natural fortress The only apparent approach approach was the narrow ne neck k nIo along g which he lie hind had come Beyond the th the mountain dropped in a vertical c cliff ift I and be beyond ond that was the stony deser where no no tree grew and nothing could live 1 I fu In the Interval between two suc flashes Winton crept noiselessly noiselesSly noiseless noiselesS- ly across the o open n sp space ew ewin in 5 front fr the cave and cr crept crept Pt f forward forward ward into into the darkness of or of the the Interior As the shelter of ot the projecting g wall and crouched behind it hidden alike from the sight of the Hotte Hottentots tots without I and from those within he heard hea Sheila speaking and knew that his search was e ended d. d J. I x r a CHAPTER CHAPT CHAPTER xi XVI The Tho Passing of De De' Witt Yes I ram am in jour power but do you think he will not avenge the wrong you would d do me ma she asked Sheila Shena listen to reason I 1 W Weve We've ve both fought t for tor you YOl rou nn and Ive I've Ive won You'll never see him hini again lIe He cant can't fi find d the way here and even If he knew where you are he couldn't cross the thed d desert Yb Youre You're re In my power Power and Im I'm offering to marry you you Can Cam c o I I DC De D fairer I To your Wn town wife wife asked d Sheila scorn scornfully fully r Th That happened years yea ago ago t Maybe MaYl she's dead I r haven't 1 vent heard of ot her herIn herIn herin In five years ears and nobody will know You shall shaU about It Where Ill I'll take you have your fling In Johannesburg lg and Ilvo Ivo with the the best people Sheila Shella I Ilove Ilove i ilove love you you you- If It you ou loved me Mr Sir De Witt you ou would scorn to tOI threaten me f fIm I Im talking plain sense Youre You're Youre You're In my power power absolutely If you'll say the one word you ou shall be set free tree and well we'll strike across country to to- gether If It you wont won't wont well well you know know know- No Th That's my my answer Youve You've hn hail had l it before No Youre mighty proud of that white blood bloo of yours I suppose sneered De Wilt Witt Suppose I r wife was was lying incourt In Incourt Incourt court to get even with the old Judge Suppose Suppo youre you're half still How ab about t Garrett Carrett then 7 I OO You told the truth answered t Sheila What do you mean menn Suppose I tell you it wasn't the truth troth i But it was the truth cried Sheila for I have leave always felt feIt it Blood tells and mine has called out to me that 1 I Iwas was white white ever eyer since I was a achild child in th the r village I lf clung to that belief In spite of ot ever everything Well It was the truth said De DeWitt DeWitt Witt grudgingly Then his tone i toned Sheila Ive I've got you now now i a and by Hea Heavens ns I wont won't |