Argosy All-Story Weekly, May 3, 1924 — page 48: what you’re looking at

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

38 change of confidences and yet it was more than the reaction to long hours of danger that caused her to momentarily rest in his arms and find contentment. A grinding that had changed from a low rumble to a shattering crash filled the air. A great block fell from the arch of the ice temple, vanished in the pool below, and lurched upward as if resentful of the im- mersion. Edith pointed helplessly. ‘“The poor creature!” she cried. “ Sing Yat's slave. She’s been here six months and he’s destroyed her mind.” MacGregor was already working his way Along the narrow ledge between wall and pool. He felt the chill breath of the cave as a vagrant puff of wind came from the depths—the breath of cold death. Above him the ice began grinding once more, shat- tered bits fell about him; a rush of water drenched him as some hidden pocket of drip was released. He slashed at the ropes with his knife, then lifted the native girl to his shoulder and fled as rapidly as the icy floor permitted. Out in the sunlight once more MacGregor placed the unconscious girl on a spot where grass had grown up between the rocks. Edith took her in her arms and the gentle- ness of the touch, or perhaps it was the warmth of the sun, stirred the light of rea- son slightly. The eyes were filled with ter- ror as they opened, then as the white girl smiled down the poor creature cried softly and clung desperately. It is all right now,” Edith whispered, “and it will always be all right.” * Sing Yat!” she sobbed. ‘ Is he dead? When I awoke this morning there was a dead robin on my bed, and I knew. Then before he carried me into the ice cave I saw him come from the woods with a weasel. You were soft and pretty, so I knew it wasn’t for you. He likes soft, pretty things, like I was when Limpy Ford brought me here.” ‘“And you'll be soft and pretty once more,” Edith promised; “ the color is com- ing back to your cheeks even now.”’ Some- times one is justified in lying just a little. Sing Yat’s face was a ghastly pallor as he climbed an icy slope and tried to stop the ‘tor. ARGOSY-ALLSTORY WEEKLY. avenging thing behind him. He released several small blocks and watched them rush toward Limpy Ford with the swiftness of an arrow. The native bared his dirty teeth in a smile, crouched until the danger was over, then rushed onward, heedless of life itself in his terrible pursuit. Cornered, Sing Yat faltered, then stepped onto a slope that extended from a point a hundred feet above them downward to a spot where the glacier overhung the valley; where it discharged ice with a crash onto the bowlder strewn floor below. He crawled like some insect, digging into the ice with his knife as he progressed. Safety lay a hundred yards ahead, then eighty. Another struggle and’ he had re- duced it to forty. If he could but make it, he could turn and send Limpy Ford down the chute to destruction. ~ Far below MacGregor, Ethel, and the natives watched the pursuit. The figures in their dark clothing struggled on the white mass like squirming monkeys. They saw Sing Yat draw nearer and nearer to the dark mass that spelled safety for the moment, even escape from the law as well as Limpy Ford’s vengeance. Then the pursuing figure leaped and caught Sing Yat by the legs. The Chinaman’s fingers clawed desperate- lv and in the sunlight they saw the flash of his knife blade as he slashed at his cap- Slowly at first, then with increasing speed they rushed down the slope. Humans at first, humans locked in a death struggle, then balls that separated and bounded high in the air as they hit obstructions. Limpy Ford was dead when he shot into space and vanished below. ‘The watchers saw Sing Yat’s hands meet over his head as if clutch- ing for support in thin air. Edith looked away as he vanished. Mac- Gregor shrugged his shoulders. A fitting end for the pair indeed. His quest was over. As usual he could see little that he had accomplished. Sing Yat and Limpy Ford had automatically eliminated one an- other. Chief Samson had told him of the legend which made it possible for him to proceed intelligently. True he had come out on top various encounters. He laughed at the expression on Limpy COMIG DOO! (©