True Blue: Stirring Stories of Naval Academy Life — page 43: what you’re looking at

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

re > Pe So an Te ee r ? _ “ ~4 ral . ‘» ee - he > 7 io TRUE BLUE. — A ae Sh a ayer Clif had to be cautious, for they were still in hearing range. He came out of the nest of ruins dusty and scratched. The others had a good three minutes’ start of him, but Clif hurried to the top of the dirt heap. They were not in sight, and with a choice of three di- rections, but no positive clew of guidance, Clif rather blankly surveyed the prospect. “It won't do to let them get away from me with only half their most interesting story told,” he declared. “I shall soon<etrike their trail—ah! there’s that unfortunate letter.” Clif stooped and picked up several bits of the torn missive, Had the bulk of these not been dispersed all over the landscape he might have considered their collection, for he was clever at piecing up fragments with his patient pertinacity, steady nerve and keen eyesight. He was so clever, in fact, that as he casually scanned a mere two letters on the first fragment he inspected, Clit gave a gasp and a stare as if a volume of intelligence faced hiim instead. * y “Never!” he shouted, wildly. Over the remaining fragments Clif ran fingers and cyes in a frantic, startled kind of a way. “It can’t be!” he gasped. Twenty letters, all disconnected, some only half in evi- dence, his eye had taken in. Twenty shocks and thrills they seemed to produce, how- ever. Clif Faraday, absolutely overcome, dropped helplessly to the ground. “Bessie!” he gasped, and his heart sank like lead. ° CHAPTER VIII. TOO LATE! “No trace!” That was the report that came to Clif Faraday at noon on the day following his remarkable adventures at the hovel den of the hoodoo. Vic Rollins submitted the same, and he had just been 4 * v. t ‘ ee p Pe ‘, : * . * 4 £,? ie Ft Eee » ys Ve micbooks.com he ¢ 7 * ~ &s . . : . % * Pr a ‘ * a ~ a” 7 . ; os r ~" ae