Show the me crippled lady of Peri bonka by james oliver curwood service berrie ca e 1119 1029 dorm derail a oo co in CHAPTER VII continued Continue a 12 1 can almost fancy walking talking upon it without zig my shoes oboes it la IS so BO firm and substantial looking persisted claire did you ever stand on a mountain top and look down into the clouds and think how bow nice it would be to jump off into one althe of the cozy little nests they maker make ai aided kid lucy belle 1 I have once I 1 think I 1 might have done it if colln held me he be says 1 I would have bad another mile to go after I 1 hit bit the cloud but this down here appeal to me like a nice white cloud all filled ailed with feathers it makes me th think lilli of a a big boa constrictor running into a hot hole al I 1 try to walk on an it or jump loto into it it unless colln colin fell in first firel and I 1 had to help him would you thearl then y asked paul lucybelle lucy belle aidle meditated tor for a moment of course 1 boull the she said do you suppose I 1 would let him go into that tunnel alone 1 I wonder life to 19 a precious thing in ninety nine cases out of a hundred it to Is more precious than the person we live five with alt W we 0 dont idealize the women who burn bu r n 1 themselves on their husbands fun funeral e ral ayres pyres in india do we 1 I dont think so BO their sacrifice was inspired by duty anda and a religions a faith neither takes the place of love love but it colln colin were down there going to a death like that I 1 would want to go with him I 1 would go I 1 cannot explain it 11 there a s difference yes a difference that Is infinite said claire la in this lu instance stancia a woman would be joining the man she loved to la a final hour of life that they might be together in the supreme moment it would be choosing between a few more minutes with him or a few more years yeara without him and minutes measured by love are more priceless to a woman than years without it also to a roan said derwent dement holding bis cifes hand closely for a moment 1 I dont think w we 0 won would id hesitate to take the leap do you paul no he was looking at carla who was gazini gazing meditatively upon the viscous sweep of water below thera them she looked up almost in the moment his bis glance went to her her lips moved BB as if for an instant she were on the point of speaking to him and to him atone alone then she caught herself and turned her gaze to the river again A womans comans love tor for a man always like that she ebe said and something in her voice strangely thrilled paul 1 I think there to Is a love so great that it la Is cowardly for it to deliberately die a love so complete that when its other hall half goes there Is still heaven left in memories of it it Is wicked totzke to take the breath offu of bu man life from such a love because of a selfish desire oot not to tive live alone I 1 think lucybelle lucy belle it if it come came to the real test god would give you strength to hold yourself back you would not die you would live and cherish the memories of your love loe like a garden of beautiful flowers it was as if a cathedral bell had tolled softly among them so wonderfully der fully gentle and strange was carlus carlas voice carla knew that was the thought which gripped paul and it held the others she had passed through the ore at which his wife and lucybelle lucy belle were only guessing and it was nas from her soul not her lips that evidence bud bad come claire save gave a little start at his side and her face and eyes eves grew suddenly and vividly filled with light as ehe bile looked at carla as it if nil all to in a second a great and half bait expected truth had corne come to possess her stranger even than the change in her face was the way in which she found pauls hauls liand hand and held it tenderly and warmly between her own never had the thrill of her entered into him as during these moments ile be closets his hands tightly about hers hem but be was looking nt carla I 1 lucybelle lucy belle sprang to her feet and drew derwent after tier lier lets not get sentimental I 1 she cried im going toa throw all kinds of things down to my boa constrict r and 8 see ee what he does with them this t to 0 began begin with and she flung ot cut a paper plate which curved and elma circled until lighting gracefully upon the surface of the torrent below it was caught ca eglit like a feather and whipped with ahe speed of a ballet toward the th maw of the korce gorge without so much all ai getting its ita inner side fide wet wel claire gave a gasp of amazement 1 I did not dream the ae water sped as As ai that I 1 ube one exclaimed but see seel I 1 it Is as I 1 said I 1 the plate plat to la going it boa baa disappeared into the tunnel and not once was it ruffled ruffied or upset back where re the water ti Is breaking and roa roaring ring it would have been dest destroyed rosed 11 willi said bald derwent dement he rolled the short log which they had bad used for a seat to the edge of the cliff and with pauls help tilted it on end and flung it aver over there goes aman a man he laughed now see what bap happens penal I 1 they stood close to the sheer edge of the table rock and saw the log as ai it struck the water there was ao an oily splash and for a few yards the wood drifted away as smoothly as the plate had gone A smile of triumph curved claires Cl alres lips then swiftly a frightened look gathered in its ita place A hand band had bad reached up a terrible unseen hand that had gripped the log like a living thing and dragged it down until no chip or shadow of it rode the liquid serpent under them hold your eyes near the rock I 1 commanded derwent breathlessly they watch watched edl unit halt it a minute later as if skewed spewed up by the monster who had bad swallowed it the lug log reappeared near the huge tong fang which split the stream struck against 14 it and climbed half ltd its length out of the water then sank back and disappeared again this time to be seen no more gone said derwent and it if you stood at the other end of the gorge five or six miles from here you yon would never see that log come through it Is ground to pieces koes goes out our of existence in whatever ther els between the walls walla of the chasm which no mun man has ever explored and none ever will are you claire was staring og wide eyed 1 I believe it isnow now she said lucybelle lucy belle bad turned a little white stilli still I would jump in she maintained looking at derwent again paul looked at carlo carla the calm and placid beauty of her face seemed accentuated by what they had bad seen been and the wonder of it Is there are so many who believe that nature and god are not one I 1 she said only tor for him Is it possible that in the blindness of our egoism we shall always fall to understand the significance of such things as that it ts IS a written word in the hand of god just as the Perl bonka with its gentleness and sunshine to Is another and different message for us that Is what I 1 believe 11 paul nodded so do 1 I 11 he be said and felt the desire of all the world to take carlos carlas head bead against hla his breast and hold it there guilt fastened itself upon him and a little later inspired by the sweetness of her manner toward him be whispered to his bis wife claire Cl alre you are wonderful 1 god knows known I 1 hope some day to make you happy I 1 you ton will she ans answered and the gentle mystery in her voice and eyes stirred him with a deep em emotion until the play grew tiresome they brought sticks and chunks of wood from the edge of the tim timber berand and fed them to the hidden bidden hands of the 11 trean stream the result was always the same except that chips and grass and very light pieces ot of wood raced swiftly and safely away like the pasteboard plate as if they were too in significant to attract attention from below but with the heavier objects there was a variation so small in what happened that the watchers on the rock were amazed and fascinated and started a little game of guessing ho many be seconds would puss pass before lucy belles huge snake spat up an object and then swallowed it again to end their sport poul ond and der went staggered from the edge of the timber with a forty toot foot log which hail had lain so tong long in the drying sun and wind that they could bear its weight on their shoulders a and 13 d before this was tossed over oer the five made their guesses the efser to entertain tho the other fouraa four at dinner the next day TO BE CONTINUED |