The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-04-28
Tenth Page

spring, and all three OF us drank eagerly
with our hands. But OF food we had
nothing, save a small piece Of hard rye
bread which the Finn had in his pocket,
the remains Of his evening meal; and
this we gave to Elma, who, half fam
ished, ate 1t quickly. We knew quite
we'll that it would'be an easy matter to
die of starvation in that great trackless
forest, therefore we kept on undaunted,
while the yellow autumn sun struggled
through the dark pines, glinting on the
straight gray trunks and rejecting
golden light in that dead unbroken
silence.
How many miles we trudged ] have no
idea. II was consolation to know that
we now had no pursuers, yet what fate
lay before us we knew not. If we could
only find that forest road we might come
across some woodcutters hut, where we
could obtain rough food of some sort, yet
our guide, used as he was to those
enormous woods of central Finland, was
utterly out Of his bearings, and no mark
OF civilization attracted his quick, ex-
perienced eye. The light above grad
ually faded, and over a sharp stone
Elma stumbled and ripped her shoe.
looked at my watch and found that
It was already five o'clock. In an hour
II would be dark, the beginning of the
long northern night. Elma, who was
weary and footsOre, asked by signs to be
permitted to lay down and rest. There
fore we gathered bed of dried leaves
for her, and she lay down, and while we
watched she was soon asleep. The Finn,
who declared that he did not suffer from
the cold, removed his coat and placed it
tenderly upon her shoulders.
While there was still q ray of light |
watched her white refined features as
she slept, and was sorely tempted to
bend and imprint kiss upon that soft
inviting cheek. Yet / had no right to
do so-no right to take such an ad-
vantage.
The long cold night passed YEARLY,
and the bowling of the wolves caused
me to grip my revolver, yet ut daybreak
we arose refreshed and notwithstanding
the terrible pangs of hunger now gnaw-
ing ut our vitals, we were prepared to re-
new our desperate dash for liberty.
Although / had paper, possessed no
pencil with which to write, therefore
could only communicate by signs with
the mysterious prisoner of Kajana, the
beautiful dark-eyed girl who held me
irrevocably beneath the spell of her
beauty. All the little acts OF homage
was able to perform she accepted with
a quiet, calm dignity, while in her deep
luminous eyes I read an unfathomable
mystery.
The mist had not cleared, for it was
soon after dawn when we again moved
along, hungry, chill, and yet hopeful. AT
spring we obtained some water, and
then, in silent procession, pressed for
ward in search of the rough track OF
the woodcutters.
Elma's torn shoe gave her consider
able trouble, and noticing her limping,
induced her to sit down while ! took il
of, hoping to be able to mend IL, but
having unlaced IL, saw that upon her
stocking was large patch Of CONCEALED
blood, where her foot itself had also been
cut. I managed to beat the nails Of the
shoe with stone, so that its sole should
not be lost, and she readjusted IL, allow.
ing me to lace 1t up for her and smiling
the while.
Forward we trudged, ever forward,
across that enormous forest where the
myriad treetrunks presented the same
dismal scene everywhere, forest un.
trodden save by wild, half-savage lum.
bermen. Throughout that dull gray day
we marched onward, faint with hunger
yet suffering but little pain, for the first
pangs were now past, and were succeeded
by slight light medicines. My only fear
was that We should be compelled to spend
another night without shelter, and what
its effects might be upon the delicately
reared girl whose hand held tenderiy