The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-09-19
continued from saturday. )

Continued from Saturday,
But stili, the slow, irresistible drift,
OF the Ice pack carried them north
and west into q latitude and longitude
which, 50 far as they knew, no hu-
man travellers mad ever crossed before
And then In the depth of the Arctic
night, bereft Of hope. and half mutt
nous. they found land that never
had been charted, and. most marvel
ious of all, a human welcome. For
here on the shore were Captain Field
ing and the two other survivors of his
Inflated expedition.
The fate OF the explorers ship had
been, ii seemed. precisely that of the
Walrus She had been caught in the
pack. crushed In it and carried against
this coast Before the coming OF
spring, and with IL the breaking OF
the Ice. Fielding and his men had been
able to carry their stores ashore. and
of these the greater part still re-
manned
OF the Walrus people in all there
We're eleven, and these. with the three
original castaways, settled down TO
the prospect of an indefinite number
OF years upon that nameless coast.
We can live like Christians" Cap
tain Fielding had said, and We can
always hope
His superior knowledge OF Arctic
conditions made him, rather than
Captain Planck, naturally, command
er of the little company. He estab-
lished the regimen of their life, doled
out the stores from day to day, and,
Is best he could. through that long
winter night, provided entertainment
for the foriorn little group. He told
them Of his explorations on the coast.
OF the lay of the land, of what they
might hope to see when the sun should
tonne back to them, marking the be-
ginning of another long Arctic day.
Among other things. quite casually
he told them of Il ledge in the hills,
across the glacier. which contained,
he believed. the most extraordinary
deposit OF gold in the world. SO in-
rreaibly rich was II, that the rock it,
SELF had almost been replaced by solid
metal The Alaska gold, he said, was
only the sweepings. in his opinion,
OF this immense store.
At the sound OF the word gold"
the eyes OF the man named Roscoe
had frightened for the first time since
they had taken him, shivering from
hts long immersion In the cold water.
aboard the Walrus. He drew into the
circle that sat about the reading lamp,
and began asking questions. Gold
was something he knew about He
had mined 1t In Australia, in Cali
1ornia and In the Klondike. He aues-
toned Captain Fielding about the ex-
act whereabouts OF the ledge. about
the sort OF ore II occurred In ana
about the best means of cutting IL
out.
To some extent his own excitement
infected the others. Even Captain
Planck, whose only well understood
form of wealth was whale blubber.
began TO take an interest in Roscoe,s
questions and in the explorers answers
10 them.
II was strange and rather pathetic
sert of excitement. Captain Fielding
thought. To them. In their practically
hopeless plight, gold was about the
least useful thing they could find: NOT
hard enough to tip lances or arrows
with, too heavy and too easily melted
for domestic purposes. However, IL
gave them something to think about.
and he. without a suspicion of the
sinister direction in which these
thoughts might turn, went on and told
them all he knew
When. after period OF tantalixing
twilight. the sun again came fairly /
w over the horizon. they be sought
their commander. with a savage sort
Of eag3rness from which he might !
have augured Ill. that he take them |
at once to the ledge. They had caught |
sight of II from a distance, even as |
Cayiey had done. hung in the air above |
the valley. and had run reckiessIy on /
ahead OF their leader When he came |
UP tn them he found them danger
pusiy excited, the men Roscoe fairly |
dared and drunken with it.
Finally Fielding had left them to /
their own devices, and came away
with hts two companions. And until /
the light OF that short day had begun
10 fail. they--the Walras people
stayed. gloating over this strangely use
less treasure.
For three days after that the man
Roscoe never spoke q word. ON the
Fourth day, when the little party as
sembled for their midday meal. the
steven men OF the Walrus were the
only ones to answer the summons.
Captain Fielding and his two COM
panions had disappeared
Captain Pianck could not recall that
meal now without shuddering, for
there at the foot Of the table. oppo-
ute to him. had sat the man Roscoe.
With murder written plain In every
line OF his face. He had looked a
beast. rather than man. that day.
The stated blood lust In his eyes made
hem positively terrifying. so that the
,thers shrank away from him. He
aad seemed not to notice It. at least
aot to take offense at IL. He was I'm
hilarious spirits for the first time since