The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1908-01-31

bones an olive seeds an peelln.S al
over them articles of nourishment
stick toothpicks into 'em. an, havin
/ offered 'em what other indignities oc
cur TO me, leave the place"
Dextry and the girl we're leaning
over the stern rail, chatting idly In th'
/ darkness. 1t was the second night out
and the ship lay dead In the ice pack
All about there was a fiat, foe clogget
sea, leprous and notified In the deeI
{, twilight that midnight brought In this
latitude They had threaded into the
ice field as long as the light lasted
following the lanes of blue water til
they closed, then drifting IDLY till 9th
ers appeared: worming out into leagues
of open sea, again creeping into the
shifting labyrinth till darkness rem
dered progress perilous.
Occasionally they had passed herds
OF walrus huddIed socially upon ice
pans. their wet hides glistening in the
sunlight. The air had been clear and
pleasant, while away on all quarters
they had seen the smoke of other ships
toiling through the barrier. The spring
feet was knocking at the door Of the
golden north,
Chatting Mt her imprisonment, the girl
had asked the old man to take her out
on deck under the shelter of darkness;
then she had led him to speak Of his
own past experiences and of Clients
ers, which ne nad done freely. she
was frankly curious about them, and
she wondered at their apparent lack Of
interest in her own identity and her
secret mission. She even construed
their silence as indifference, not realiz-
Ing that these mortimer were Offering
her the truest evidence of camaraderie.
The frontier is capable of no finer
compliment than this utter disregard
of ones folded pages. 1t betokens that
highest faith in ones fellow man, the
belief that he should be measured by
his present deeds, not by his past. 1t
gays, translated: This Is Gods free
country, where man is a man, moth
ing more. Our land is new and pure,
our faces are to the front. If you have
been square, so much the better; If
not, leave behind the taints Of artificial
things and start again on the level.
That's all"
1t had happened, therefore, that,
since the men had asked her no ques-
tons, she had allowed the hours to
pass and still hesitated to explain fur
ther than she had explained to Captain
Stephens. 1t was much easier to let
things continue as they were, and
there was, after all, SO little that she
was at liberty to tell them.
In the short time since meeting them
the girl had grown to like Dextry, with
his blunt chivalry and boyish, whimsi-
cal philosophy, but she avoided Glen
lister, feeling a shrinking, hidden ter
ror of him, ever since her eavesdrop-
ping of the previous night. At the
memory of that scene she grew hot.
Inen coIu--nOI Win anger, ICY at the
sinister power and sureneSs which
had vibrated in his voice. What kind
Of life was she entering where men
spoke of strange women with this as
surance and limited thus Of ownership?
That he was handsome and uncon-
scious of it she acknowledged, and
had she met him In her accustomed
circle Of friends, CARRIED in the con
ventionalities, she would perhaps have
thought of him as a striking man, Wig
orous and intelligent, but here he seem
ed naturally to take on the attributes
of his surroundings, acquiring pic
turesque negIigee Of dress and morals
and suggesting rugged, elemental,
chilling potentialities. While with
him-and he had sought her repeat
edly that day-she was uneasily aware
of his strong personality Juggling at
her: aware of the unbrfdled passion
ate food Of a nature unbrooking of
delay and needless of denial. This 1t
was that antagonized her and set her
every mental sinew in rigid resistance.
During Dextrys garrulous ramblings
Glenister emerged from the darkness
and silently took his place beside her
against the rail.
"What portent do you see that makes
you stare into the night so anxiouslyr
he inquired.
Il am wishing for a sight OF the
midnight sun or the aurora borealis,'
she replied.
TOO late for one an too fur south
for the other" Dextry interposed
"Well see the sun further north
though"
"Have you ever heard the real origin
of the northern lights?' the young man
inquired.
NATURALLY, I never have" she an
swered.
"Well. here It is. l have 1t from
the lips of a great hunter of the
Tananas. He told 1t to me when was
sick once in his cabin, and inasmuch
as he Is a wise Indian and has
for truth l have no doubt
that 1t is scrupulously correct.
"In the very old days, before the
white man or corned beef had invaded
this land, the greatest tribe In all the
north was the Tananas. The bravest
hunter of these was Itika, the second