McKay

“ She shook her pretty head.
"Well, I did," grinned McKay. "It's habit with a man who shoots. Besides, seeing him was like a bit of Scotland—their auerhahn is kin to the black-cock and capercailzie. So I marked him to the skirt of Thusis, yonder—in line with that needle across the gulf and, through it, to that bunch of pinkish-stemmed pines—there where the brook falls into silver dust above that gorge. He'll lie there. ”

“ McKay?"
"I hear you."
"Well, then! And let me add also that it is a physical impossibility for any man to reach the plateau below us from the forest of Les Errues!"
"That," said McKay, coldly, "is a lie!"
"What! You offer a Swiss officer such an injury—"
"Yes; and I may add an insulting bullet to the injury in another minute. You've lied to me. I have already done what you say is an impossibility. ”

“ She nodded.
"He does look right," whispered McKay. "No Boche cradles a rifle in the hollow of his left arm so naturally. It is HABIT, because he does it in spite of a crippled left hand."
She nodded again.
"Also," whispered McKay, "everything else about him is convincing—the pack, tump-line, moccasins, Winchester: and his manner of moving.... I know deer-stalkers in Scotland and in the Alps. I know the hunters of ibex and chamois, of roe-deer and red stag, of auerhahn and eagle. This man is DIFFERENT. He moves and behaves like our own woodsmen—like one of our own hunters." ”

“ For the Huns were gathering in eastward from the wooded western hills, and their sustained clamour filled the air like the unclean racket of vultures sighting abomination and eager to feed.
McKay laid his loaded pistol beside him.
"Dear Yellow-hair," he whispered.
She smiled up at him. "If they think we died there on the edge of the precipice, then you and I should live.... If they doubt it they will come back through these woods.... And it isn't likely that we shall live very long." ”

“ McKay was silent. "Nobody would know," said the other. "You can kill me very easily. I should fall into the ravine—down through that lake of cloud below. Nobody would ever find me. Why don't you shoot?"
"I'll shoot when I see fit," retorted McKay in a sombre voice. Presently he added in tones that rang a little yet trembled too—perhaps from physical reasons—"What do you want of a hunted man like me?"
"I want you to leave Swiss territory!"
"Leave!" McKay's laugh was unpleasant. "You know damned well I can't leave with Les Errues woods crawling alive with Huns." ”

“ And now McKay replying: “I thank you one and all
For the kind things sopken, ’tis pleasant to recall
The happy days together we’ve sepnt both you and I.
Distance lends enchantment—au revoir—but not good-bye.”
(Here a man put in a fiver, and said in a quiet way—
“Chairman, it would give me pleasure to help old George McKay.
Just put it in his wallet, with all good wishes and
Don’t tell him where it came from. Keep quiet, You Understand!”)
Now “Chalkie” “stopped and looked and listened,” but didn’t tell all he knew
Then “Ogie” proposed the “Ladies,” with well-chosen words and few. ”

“ And McKay fell a-trembling in every limb.
Presently the man cautiously turned, scanned his back trail with that slow-stirrng wariness of a woodsman who never moves abruptly or without good reason; then he went back a little way, making no sound on the forest floor.
AND MCKAY SAW THAT HE WORE KNEE MOCCASINS. At the same time Evelyn Erith drew her little length noiselessly along his, and he felt her mouth warm against his ear:
"Gray?" He nodded.
"I think so, too. His left hand is injured. He wears American moccasins. But in God's name be careful, Kay. It may be a trap." ”

“ He rested himself on a convenient ledge, and waited, with his rifle across his knee. Then, as the sun set and intense darkness brooded over the land, he braced himself for his task. Instinct told him that the fugitive would skulk in the rocks till the moon rose; then in all probability he would prowl for food.
More than once Mr. McKay fancied he heard the crunching of a boot upon the pumice stone. Twice he grasped his rifle, as a dark shadow seemed to loom up against the darkness.
"Imagination," he remarked to himself. "What is the matter with my nerves?" ”

“ AND REALISED THAT THE AVIATOR WAS GOING BACK OVER FRANCE TO THE BOCHE TRENCHES FROM WHENCE HE HAD ARRIVED.
In a flash it came to McKay what he should try to do—what he MUST do for his country, for the life of the young girl, his comrade, for his own life: The watchers at the hog-back must never signal to that airman news of his presence in the Forbidden Forest! ”

“ The girl's low voice suddenly failed and her hand clutched McKay's shoulder.
They lay among the alpine roses like two stones, never stirring, the dappled sunlight falling over them as harmoniously and with no more and no less accent than it spotted tree-trunk and rock and moss around them.
And, as they lay there, motionless, her head resting on his thigh, a man came out of the dimmer woods into the white sunshine that flooded the verge of the granite chasm.
The man was very much weather-beaten; his tweeds were torn; he carried a rifle in his right hand. And his left was bound in bloody rags. ”

“ McKay had pulled a blanket over himself and the unconscious man, masking his torch glare from any watching eye while he studied the face and form of the invader. After the faint radiance vanished certain sounds came to the sentry's ears. Then McKay's tall figure loomed in the vague moonshine. Knowlton stopped beside him.
"It's Rand," the captain vouchsafed in an undertone. "No question of it. Features identical, though face is drawn. White hair mark, broken nose, green eyes. I opened one eye. Got a bad foot, partly healed; looks as if he'd torn it on a stub. Poor devil seems nearly starved." ”

“ McKay. "It's either kill or cure." And raising his voice he said: "Hoppy, old man, Quexo is missing. He went to look for you and has not returned."
"What?" exclaimed Ellerton wildly. "Quexo missing? I'll go and look for him."
"We are all going," replied Mr. McKay. "Take your rifle and keep with us."
The savages saw the white men deserting the shelter of the barricade, and with shouts of triumph they redoubled the hail of missiles, while numbers of them rushed to the head of the defile and thence straight for the abandoned defences. ”

“ He levelled it as he grasped it, hidden within the side-pocket of his coat.
"HIS HAND IS NOT WOUNDED," breathed the girl. "If he touches his rifle he is a Hun!"
McKay's head nodded almost imperceptibly. Gray's back was still turned, but one hand was extended, carelessly reaching for the rifle that stood leaning against the cake of granite.
"Don't touch it!" said McKay in a low but distinct voice: and the words galvanised the extended arm and it shot out, grasping the rifle, as the man himself dropped out of sight behind the rock. ”

“ And all the while, across the gulf out of which golden vapours curled more thickly as the sun's burning searchlight spread out across the world, the man in Swiss uniform stood on the chasm's edge, as though awaiting some further word or movement from McKay.
And, after awhile, the word came, clear, startling, snapped out across the void:
"Unsling that haversack! Don't touch the flap! Take it off, quick!"
The Swiss seemed astounded. "Quick!" repeated McKay harshly, "or I fire."
"What!" burst out the man, "you offer violence to a Swiss officer on duty within Swiss territory?" ”

“ Passively the savages allowed Mr. McKay to remove their weapons, which had fallen from their nerveless grasp.
Seizing one man firmly but gently, Mr. McKay dragged him from his companions. The native's face bore a strong resemblance to that of a sheep led to the slaughtering-block; no doubt he thought he was to be slain. ”

“ With the blood of these rebels in his veins, and their memory to stir it, we cannot wonder that Claude McKay’s earliest boyish songs in the Jamaica dialect were full of heresy and the militant love of freedom, and that his first poem of political significance should have been a rally-call to the street-car men on strike in Kingston. He found himself by an instinctive gravitation singing in the forefront of the battle for human liberty. A wider experience and a man’s comprehension of the science of history has only strengthened his voice and his resolution. ”

“ Smoke and the thick golden steam from the ravine blotted from his sight the crag opposite. And now, bending double, McKay ran eastward while behind him the golden dusk of the woods roared and flamed with exploding grenades.
Evelyn Erith stood motionless and deathly white, awaiting him.
"Are you all right, Kay?"
"All right, Yellow-hair."
He went up to her, shifting his pistol to the other hand, and as he laid his right arm about her shoulders the blaze in his eyes almost dazzled her.
"We trust no living thing on earth, you and I, Yellow-hair.... I believed that man for awhile. ”

“ I have reached the plateau below Les Errues by way of this forest. And I'm going there again, Swiss or no Swiss, Hun or no Hun! And if the Boche do drive me out of this forest into the east, where you say there is no water to be found among the brush and bowlders, and where, at last, you say I shall stand with my back to the last sheer precipice, then tell your observation post on the white shoulder of Thusis to turn their telescopes on me!"
"In God's name, for what purpose?"
"To take a lesson in how to die from the man your nation has betrayed!" drawled McKay. ”

“ An aide-de-camp came in at this moment and whispered a few words in his general's ear.
"What! on shore? Here in the Convent, too? Poor soul! of course we will see her. Let some one tell Lady Drummond. Forgive me, Mr. McKay: a lady has just called whom I am bound by every principle of courtesy, consideration, and compassion to see at once. Perhaps you will return later?"
McKay bowed and passed out into the antechamber. On the threshold he met Mrs. Wilders face to face. ”

“ McKay agreed, and returned to headquarters in all haste, where he sought out his chief and confided to him his intentions.
"You are really prepared to penetrate the enemy's lines? It will be a daring, dangerous job, McKay. I should be wrong to encourage you."
"It is of vital importance, you say, that we should really know what the enemy is doing beyond the Tchernaya. I am quite ready to go, sir." ”

“ We must not offer him a chance."
"Not a ghost of a chance to do us harm," nodded McKay. "Listen attentively, Eve; when he moves on, rise when I do; take the pigeon and the little sack because I want both hands free. Do you understand, dear?"
"Yes."
"Because I shall have to kill him if the faintest hint of suspicion arises in my mind. ”

“ McKay began to make his way back to the house, the lads following him closely.
Before he had taken a dozen steps the ex-pearler ran after him.
"See here, boss; I don't mean to give offence—no offence meant—but you'll allow it's hard on a chap to be done out of his own crib by a pack o' niggers. And then you can't deny you've treated me off-handish, specially as you're the first white man I've seen these two years. So let's come to terms. I see you're well armed. Why not come back to Ahii with us, and make those chaps from Teku clear off back to their own island? ”

“ The fact was reported in due course to headquarters.
"You see, sir, it is just what I was told," said McKay to General Airey.
"Upon my word, you deserve great credit. You seem to have organised an intelligence department of your own, and, what is more to the purpose, your fellow seems always right."
McKay was greatly gratified at this encouragement, and eager to be still more useful. He visited the Maltese baker again, and urged him to continue supplying him with news.
"Trust to Joe. Wait one little bit; you know plenty more." ”

“ They were coming; they were among the rocks! He straightened up and hurled a great slab of rock down through darkness; heard them scrambling upward still; seized slab after slab and smashed them downward at the flashes as the red flare of their pistols lit up his figure against the sky.
Then, as he hurled the last slab and clutched his short, broad knife, a gasping breath fell on his cheek and a wet and icy little hand thrust a box of clips into his. And there and then The McKay almost died, for it was as if the "Cold Hand of Isla" had touched him. And he stared ahead to see his own wraith. ”

“ McKay. "But be careful, some of those men are not dead, I feel sure. Bring down every man you see moving."
Rifle on shoulder the lads waited. They quite realised the danger of allowing the natives to lurk in the defile, and as each cautiously moving body could be seen, as a terrified warrior slowly recovered from his panic, a carefully aimed shot caused him to fall.
"We are comparatively secure till daylight," said Mr. McKay. "They've had another lesson. Andy, you might relieve Terence at the searchlight. Keep it fixed on the defile, though at intervals you might direct it seawards. ”

“ Then, turning to McKay, he went on: "What is your name?"
"McKay."
"Your Christian names in full?" [28]
"Stanislas Anastasius Wilders McKay."
"Exactly. Stanislas Alexandrovich McKay. I knew your father when he was a captain in the Polish Lancers; was he not?"
"I cannot deny it."
"He was a Russian, in the service of our holy Czar, and you, his son, are a Russian too."
"It is false! I am an Englishman. I have never yielded allegiance to the Czar."
"You will find it hard to evade your responsibility. It is not to be put on or off like a coat. ”