Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-17

promenade up and down the other side
of the deck was altogether insufficient.
The sight of a small boat at the foot of
the accommodation ladder seemed to OF
fer something better So. pulling on a
pair of fur gauntlets. she dropped into 1T.
cast off the painter. shipped the pair OF
light oars it contained and rowed away
without any thought of her destination
of any destination whatever; without even
very clear idea Of what she was doing.
She must do something; that was all she
knew. Certainly she pulled away from
the yachts side with no idea that she
was running into any possible danger.
She had believed Cayleys story. She
was the only person on the yacht who
had believed it fully. Yet the belief did
not translate itself into any bar to her
actions.
Profound as was the impression Cayley
had made upon her, she had not. as yet.
articulated him at all into her real world.
He was very vivid, very thrilling; he set
her imagination on fire when she saw
him and heard his voice. But when he
took wing again, he left strange feel
ing of unreality behind him. That sense
of unreality was all the stronger now
that almost the reallest thing in her uni
verse-namely. her relation with Tom
Fanshaw-was absorbing the full power
both of her mind and of her emotions.
1t was half a mile, perhaps, from the
Yacht to the particular bit Of shelving
beach toward which she unconsc1ously
propelled the boat. She rowed steadily.
without so much as a glance over her
shoulder. until she felt the crate OF The
shingle beneath the bow.
She became aware, not only that she
had unconsciously come ashore. but also
that the yacht was nowhere to be seen.
the eastward. SO heavy as to render an
object one hundred PAGES away totally
invisible. The clump of empty buildings
here on the beach could hardly be half
that distance, is She remembered yet
looking round from her seat in the row.
boat she could make out no more than
their blurred masses against the white
ice and sand which surrounded them.
She shivered at first with an instructive,
half-formed fear. This was solitude. in
deed But she braced herself and dis
missed her fear. Solitude was what she
had left the yacht for: and, then, it was
a condition she could terminate at WILL
Through the still air and across that
quiet water her voice would carry easlIy
to Toms ears. She had only to hail ana
she would hear his voice in answer.
For a moment she thought she would
do it. Then she decided the other way.
If Tom should miss her he would GER
tainly call aloud and she could answer
and use his voice to guide her back to
the yacht. 1t was, of course, impract1c-
able to attempt to row back without some
such assistance. She had only a vague
idea in what quarter the yacht lay, anu
the cnanC6 Oh IIllSSlllB IL duo SOetAhS
really lost indeed was toe great to be
taken.
She scrambled out Of the boat and
pulled it high up on the beach. The fog
made the air seem cold. though for the
arctic it was a mild night. Two Of the
abandoned buildings on the beach behind
her were mere sheds, windowless abso-
Iutely bare, never having served. evident
ly, any other purpose than that of stor-
age. But the third and largest. as she
remembered it, offered shelter that was
becoming attractive. There were some
rude hunks in it where she could rest
comfortably enough; aQd unless she was
mistaken, Scales had left in the hut a
half-burned candle which they had used
in exploring it's dark interior. She had
a box of wax vestas in her pocket. She
could go in there and make herself at
home, and at the same time keep an
alert ear for hail from the yacht.
She found the candle in the place where
she remembered Scales had laid 1t down,
struck a light and wedged the candle
into a knot-hole. She turned toward one
of the hunks with the idea Of stretching
out there, and by relaxing her muscles,
persuade perhaps, her overstrung nerves
to relax. too.
(To be continued tomorrow