The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1892-05-04
P VI.

A DOUBLE ALARM.
TT WAS NINE O'CLOCK In THE EV-
(3 ening. according to the ships ehro-
noneter, yst the sun ahons into this
port window 81 unblushingly AZ II IL were
noon.
Upon q tranaom or bunk lay Royal
Storms. Tha natty young man looked more
like an Esquimau In his supsrabundant
fur clothes. Az YET he could not persuade
himself to wear the thick WOODEN mitteAs
which wsrs designed to protect the hands
from the withsrinR cold. How, pray, was
he to hold his cigarette?
Both he and Jack Hardy were consider
ably troubled, Their recent Escape from q
death ~ sudden ~ the evaporation Of me-
t~eoritss when thsy impinGs On our atmos-
pliers. disconnected the snthuaiastio couple.
The one had undertaken the trip because il
was great fur" tho ether in search of an
adventure new to hia family. To sharRe q
mountain Rt thu rate Of two hundred miles
N hour was enough to satisfy tbs maddset
desire for novelty. ~
= cpl bet that was the closest shave on re-
cord,'' said jack, looking apprehensivaly
out Of the window. I'm not SO particu-
lar to beat that kind Of 4 record,' ho
mussd. For once, evidently, the American
craze to beat something had run upon .
snag. what docs shs 20 now?" he asked,
turning TO tbs Young tutor, who was lying
fat psering through the loor window into
space.
About ! hundred and fifty, I should
sayw
''Hadn't " better slow up : bit, captain?
It's exhilaratinR. but 4 tri1s ticklish," sag
Rested Jack Hardy, kicking mp with : pstu-
liant motion twenty pounds Of furs attached
10 tho outside 81 one leg.
Sergeant Willtwig looked At the inquirer.
He wal bending over the petroleum heater
regulating the Temperature with scientific
exactness. Under no circumstances must
the heat in the ear rise above thirty-tve
degrees until they had all become accli-
nated to the terrible blasts Of the 10y
north. II possible he would have kept tbs
Thermometer at the freezing point in order
to prevent the crew from taking off their
furs, which were ample To keep them warm
at fifty degrees below zero.
But now the hardships of the trip began.
The intrepid Arctic explorer feared neither
the cold nor starvation. Nor did hs fear
diacord which, il 1911, had set adrift, almost
below their feet, Hudson, the patriarch
Of Arctic explores, which had wrecked
the Polaris, and which had proved
the death blow Of many OF the
b~est-orRanized polar expeditions. But idle
ness the sergeant did fear. He saw with
unerrinQ eye that something must be done
to keep his two s~elf-inyited passengers
busy. They were brave enough. but they
we're At present uncomfortable. Did Arctic
exploration ever involve one atom, ono in
divisible particle Of comfort. Tell ~. ye
hundreds Of frozen, starved, emaciatad he
ross, who have cast your bodies before tbs
fo~otstool Of the inaccessible, seeking for
the glory Of adding a line-a fgure-a word
to the substance of human knowledge!
"Ihere is no lance for any more COLI
sion,'' answered the commando, chser-
fully: we are at present 10000 feet above
the sea-"
Royal, who could brave twenty grizzlies,
gave an involuntary start.
Fifteen thousand feet is as sAfe as ten,
md t. great deal more so" answered the
commander, dryly. Then, feeling that now
was the the time to set the men at sys-
tsmatic work. the sergeant added "Mr.