Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1892-05-08

\ How can he eat wnat Will pc lrOzen q!
| hard as steel in an hours time"
| This thought. which was probably tht
truth of the dismal matter, affected the
| their temperaments
"He ought to have devised some means Of
| lighting up" said Prof Wilder.
"Poor. poor tellowT" breathed the tutor,
softly.
"I'll bet he'd give thousand dollars fol
luciter." replied Jack Hardy, dryly.
why not drop him down a few?" sug.
gested Royal
''That is what humanity calls for, ani
I, what we must do" said the leader of the
exhibition with hollow voice.
"Ah" whistled Royal to himself He
had forgotten. He now understood.
The Sergeant took from his breast pocket
the precious tin box that contained all the
matches they possessed. He counted them
again eagerly, as if hoping that a recount
would increase their number But no
There remained exactly 81, and no more.
"How many shall we give him. gentle.
men?" he asked. "It is for you to say"
There was silence, for none dared an.
swer.
"Shall we give him more than one?" de.
manded the Sergeant in an e1pressionless
tone.
The four men nodded eagerly.
"Three?" continued their leader
The travellers looked at each other doubt
fully. Jack half shook his head.
"Yesp' said the tutor bravely. Prof
Wilder encouraged this decision with a
vigorous and generous assent of the head.
"Four?" continued Sergeant Willtwig,
pitilessly. No one could tell by his voice
whether he inclined to give four or not.
Faces dark with doubt met the inquiring
glance of the Sergeant. There was no an
swer this time That extra match might
save their own lives; it might also do as
much for the outcast below. The hazard
was too great for an expression of lib
erality.
81 say, Capt'n," broke In the tutor at
this point, "Give him his share, and be
done with il. There are 31-give the fellow
five. Ny conscience won't be clean unless
you do"
This munifcent suggestion created sem
sation, but the leaders face lost none of its
stolidity. His eyes softened for a moment,
as the young man spoke, and then regained
their set expression.
> Cali right" sang out Jack Hardy reck-
lessly, ''of course. let them gop'
The rest nodded doubtfully. Now for the
first time the Sergeant gave his own
opinion.
There will be one match left over.
Think for a moment, gentlemen, of this
mans loneliness, and his suffering. We
owe him all we can give. We cannot with
safety descend to take him in! You shall
soon understand. But we can add that
extra match with our blessing" His voice
broke. Who else but he in this mixed
party understood the possibilities of Arctic
privations of which the pen may never
write? Yet for him to give that match was
heroic sacrifice of self That slender bit
OF wood, capped with PHOSPHORUS. might
prove under certain circumstances the
absolute salvation of their own Polar e1-
pedition.
The men looked at each other blankly.
Was this the leader who spoke? Was this
the unmoved man, whom they were accus-
toned to fear a little and respect much?
But may not a man be unmoved at his own
peril vet melt at the distress of others, and
be more of a man for a. that?
For heavens sake do what you think
best. Give them all if you want toi Only
don't look so. I'll go crazy if this goes on"
For the first time the tutor lost his equi-
polse. His organization was as delicate as
one OF his chronometerS The rest of the
party quickly seconded the noble sugges-
tion OF the Sergeant and 25 matches were
Z,
put in his breast pocket
Now the provisions, wrapped in tins and
furs, were ready to drop through the trap
door in the bottom of the airship. The
Captain had written note explaining the
reason of their apparent heartlessness, and
the Whereabouts of the six precious
matches, and expressing the hope that the
party might be able to return to rescue the
castaway, in two weeks perhaps. The little
bundles of lite rolled and toppled and fell
and bounded a hundred fe t below them BY
the side of the ice-nipped whaler. Then
the Aeropole sped on again.
The passengers fancied they heard a cry
of joy overtake their wonderful flight.
Through glasses they saw skeleton stag
ger to the heaven-sent provisions, and tall
upon his knees, and lift up his hands and
bless them.
There was moisture in the eyes of Ser
geant Willtwig as he looked Jack and
Royal, who at first had expressed mutinous
signs of dissatisfaction at what they were
pleased to call "a unique case of inhuman-
ity," became silent. They began to respect
their leader profoundly A man who could
be as hard as steel, and as soft as fleece
when tenderness was req quired, was one to
follow.
'What does she gauge, Mr.. Ball?" de-
manded the commander of the tutor, as if
putting from his mind the moving sight
''Only 128, sir; we are slowing down.
What does it mean?"
The inventor cast a despairing look at the
Sergeant and groaned
Sergeant Willtwig now drew the mem
bers of this Polar expedition about the door
OF the engine-room and spoke:
Gentlemen, the machinery of our airship
has become deranged.''
"Not out of gear" interrupted the inven-
tor with hectic blush of pride every
part is all right 1t simply is losing power.
1t won't CO."
'But it is going. Then what is the mat
ter?" cried Royal impulsively, thinking
himself intensely practical.
"What does she gauge?" asked the inyen-
tor with nod at the tutor.
"One hundred and twenty-seyen."
"You see! She is losing every minute. I
cali it a case of nervous prostration," ex-
planned the inventor sadly. 81 have known
engines to do the same thing. A locomo-
tive is like thoroughbred horse. 1t has
its moods They get off their feed. They
are apt to suffer for lack of energy.
Then suddenly the disinclination of
work passes of, and everything goes all
right All engineers understand this" he
urged, gazing into the incredulous faces of
his companions. at is not infrequent or
absurd. Now my engine here-this
electrical machinery-is of high
er order 1t is more like human being.
It is as sensitive as woman. This is
terrible iourney, Nv engine understands