Evening star., 1909-06-30
CHAPTER xXI-Continued.

This rock she declared, lis the very
one I leaned against when we stopped
before. I'm certain. We've been going
| in circle
Maybe We were going right. in the
| first place." said Caleb. ION the way
| out we went up hills an down 'em. too.
Maybe if we'd KEEP on going upward
we'd a come out on the hill above the
camp"
| They started once more; going pur-
| way through the binding mist without
speaking.
| OF sudden the fog was gone from
and they stood on a hilltop, under the
stars.
| Desiree sank weared on the stump of
a twin tree, her back against the trunk
of the unfelled half. Caleb glanced
about to locate the camp. His eXclama-
ton of wonder brought the tired girl
| to her feet.
| 1t was no hilltop they stood on 1t was
a tiny island jutting upward out of an
lmmeasurabie sea. In the &c. distance & to
| was the cloudless sky. Below, lay that
vast waveless deep.
| It's the fOg.' cried the girl, finding
her voice as the marvel explained itself.
DOH you see. IL lies lOW, ONcI Lie
water and the valley. And we're above
it, 1t has settled down over everything
like white cloud But some of the hill
tops pierce the top of it. Were above
the clouds.'" she quoted, laughing; her
spirits coming back with her returning
strength.
We're above that one. anyhow" as
sented Conover. You're right. But
where's the camp?
Down there, somewhere she replied,
vaguely.
But how can we find it," he urged.
I'VE don't know which side of this hill
it's on. 1t may be five miles away. If
we go down. the chances are million to
one We won't strike it. An then Well
have to wander round all night in that
| Shiny white cloud, like we've been doin'
for the past hour We're up against it.
girl"
Il wouldn't spend another hour in that
mist for a fortune she shuddered. 1T
stifed me; and hideous woozzey faces
seemed to be peering at us out of it. l
could hear invisible things whispering
all around us: lght
| across the sea of mist. Again and again
he beloved forth his long-drawn halloo
To any one on the nearer hilltop Islands
his call might readily have been heard.
But human voice could a. readily have
as carry sound through that waste of
cloud reek.
At length the two fugitives realized
this last shout, a final straining of
ears for some answering cry; then Con-
over turned again to the girl
They wouldn't hear us a hundred
yards away" said he, even if they were
awake. Well have TO- Why, you're
shiverin'.''
To Desiree the glow of the long climb
was giving place to the chill air of the
Adirondack autumn night Her teeth
were chattering: but she bravely secuted
the idea of discomfort
Nevertheless. in an instant Caleb had
whipped off his thick macintosh and
wrapped her in it's huge folds. She
vainly protested that he must not rob
himself; but the coy comfort of the
big garment well as his flat refusal
to let her remove it soon silenced her
objections Conover had taken charge of
the situation. 1t was the work of
minute to scratch together an armful of
twigs. chips and small boughs-relics of
the hewn tree-to thrust. under the heap
a crumpled letter from his pocket, and to
set a match to the impromptu fire.
Then. as the twigS cracked and blaZed,
he secured the hilltop for larger wood.