The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-12-31
Blu A. CONAN DOYLE,

. 1903. BY HARPER & BRoIHERS

crack which extends backward from
The end of our grottoE Two hours ago
| / could scarce put my hand into It,
Now | can slip through it with ease"
Amos Green walked TO the end of the
funnel shaped recess and found as his
friend had said. that n green sinuous
crack extended away backward into
the iceberg, caused either by the toss
ing Of the waves or by the terrific i'm
pact of their vessel. He reused Captain
| EDhraim and pointed out the danger to
him.
We'll, if she springs leak we are
gone" said he. shes been thawing
pretty fast as it is"
They could see now that the whole
huge mass was brittle and honey
coinbed and rotten.
"Hellor' cried Amos Green. whats
1 that: | could have sworn that 1 heard
4 voice"
.Impossible We are all here"
! "It must have been my fancy, then"
/ Captain Ephraim walked to the sea-
ward face of the cave and swept the
! ocean with his eyes. I'VE should lie
/ in the track of some ships" said he
/ There's the codders and the herring
/ busses We're overfar south for them,
/ reckon. But we can't be more'n 200
mile from Port Royal. in Acadia. and
we're in the line of the st. Lawrence
trade What is it, Amos?"
The young hunter was standing with
his ear slanting, his head bent forward,
and his eyes glancing sidewise, like
man who listens intently. He was
about to answer when De Catinat gave
a cry and pointed to the back of the
cave.
'rLook ct the crack now!'
1t had widened by a foot since they
had noticed it last until it was now no
longer a crack. 1t was a pass.
Let us go through" said the captain.
He led the way, and the other two
followed him. 1t was very dark as
they advanced, with high dripping ice
walls on either side and one little zig
tagging slit of blue sky above their
heads. Tripping and cropping their
way, they stumbled along until sud-
denly the passage grew wider and
opened out into large square of fat
ice. The berg was level in the center
and sloped upward from that point to
the high cliffs which bounded it on
each side. With one impulse they be-
gan all three to Chamber up until,
minute later, they were standing not
far from the edge of the summit, sew
enty feet above the sea.
Amos Green looked about him with
startled eyes. II cannot understand
it," said he. 81 could have sworn-by
the eternal. listen to that!''
Tho cloar coll nf military huoJo
rang out in the morning air. With a
cry of amazement they all three craned
forward and peered over the edge.
A large ship was lying under the
very shadow of the iceberg. They
looked straight down upon her snow
white decks, fringed with shining brass
cannon and dotted with seamen. A
little clump of soldiers stood upon the
poop. going through the manual ex-
ercIse. and it was from them that the
call had come which had sounded so
Always. Standing back from the edge,
they had not only looked over the top
masts of this welcome neighbor, but
they had themselves been invisible
from her decks Now the discovery
WAS uuludl, as WAS SuOWn by cIO-
rus of shouts and cries from beneath
them
But the three did not wait an in
slant. Sliding and scrambling down
the slippery incline, they rushed, shout
ing. through the crack and into the
cave, where their comrades had just
been startled by the bugle call while
in the middle of their cherries break
fast. a few hurried words and the
leaky longboat had been launched,
their few possessions had been bun
died in and they were afloat once more.
Pulling round promontory of the berg,
they found themselves under the stern
of a fine corvet, the sides of which
were lined with friendly faces, while
from the peak there dropped a huge
white banner notified over with the
golden lilies of France. In a very
few minutes their boat had been haul
ed up. and they found themselves on
board of the ST Christophe, man-of-
war, conveying Marquis de Demon
vile. the governor general of Canada,
to take over his new duties.