The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1910-10-15


ditiun, would come washing ashore"
tie had carved the duck dextrously
senough with his sheath knife, but for
eating IT, there was nothing. of course.
but their fingers.
III you'll treat the revelation AZ
confidential" said the girl 'lll adj
I mil that ! always hike to eat like this.
especially when I'm hungry, IL any
thing looks good. l want to take IL
up in my fingers and pop ii into my
mouth. without waiting TO have 1t put
! deeorously before me on plate. 1
! suppose. though she added, Il shall
he entirely reconciled to forks be-
| fore l get a chance to- eat with an
other Shall you make me one out
/ OF watrus tnsk. or an old tin can.
or something Why, what are you
thinking about p?
There's something queer abou,
that hut" ne replied. Something that
gets aueerer the more ! think about
II. Why do you suppose the Walrus
people abandoned IL? Or. rather. DO
ye. suppose they did abandon IT,
Il don't see exactly what you
mean. of course, 1t Is Abandoned
utterly We know that
He shook his head I'm not sure.
but put the question the other why.
! Why did they? What possible rea-
son could there have been for such
move"
They might have found it un-
heaIthfui or unsafe" :.
The girl answered abSentlS. for half
OF her mind WAS exploring for the
! drift OF Cayley's, and did not find IL
Your father lived here for years
he went on. and the Walrus people
must have continued living here FOR
good whiie--afterwards. For&car-
tainly the place hasn't been abandon
ed very long
Perhaps" she hazarded. they
had given up hope OF rescue. and
~ didn't care to sta on the beach.
They might have found some more
/ convenient place in the interior
| That's what | supposed" he said.
but the theory won't work---for just
this reason. They couldn't have built
another house without dismantIinH
this one. There are no trees on this
| land to furnish timber, and there Ger
tainly isn't any hardware store where
they could have bought nails, bolts
and hinges. But those doors swung
on hinges last night and the bolt
worked. and. more or less. the walls
and roof kept out the gale. For this
style OF architecture it's in pretty good
repair
| The girl was only half convinced.
That great heap of stones IN
there she began, doesn't look like
| good repair or recent habitation.~
| No II doesn't" he rejoined. IT'S
been made to look as little that way
as possible. II wouldn't have got into
that condition otherwise in y hundred
years Come, let's have a look. It's
something to hope for, at any rate"
She followed him a little perplexed.
/ ITO hope for?" She repeated ques>
tioningly.
1. size had already entered the hut. and
did not at once volunteer any further
| explanation, but from the shine OF
excitement she could see in his eyes,
| II was evident that he contemplated
something better than merely holding
| death at arms length for little'
| while.
| To the gifts eyes there was little
about the interior Of the hut to ac-
count for such. hope. even though
she saw that all OF the things ne had
said about IL were true. The fiimsy
inner doors were still hinged to their
frames. and we're provided with
| miscellaneous assortment, of catches.
!, 1t was marine hardware. all Of It,
| evidently from her fathers ship, the
Phoenix. The hunks and shelves
which lined the wallis locked perfect
! ~ solid and well built. But the gem
eral appearance OF the room present
ed a look OF disrepAir 1t was ahso-
luteiy nnfnrnished. The great heap
smoke, bla ekened stones. OF various
sizes and shapes. and the hole In thu
roof above them. attested that they
had once been a fireplace.
From the forlorn aspect OF the
room the girl gladly turned her eyes
away. and stood looking At Cayley in
! stead. He had been sweeping tho
walls, roof and floor in a general sur
vey. Now. abruptly. he went over to
the heap OF stones, picked up one Of
them. rubbed his thumb over II and
serutinized. with an air Of consider
able interest, the black smear II left.
THAT would account for the Drift
wood" he said absently.
At that he might have seen In the
girls face a look Of hais-amused Inn
patience. but his abstraction WAS too
deep for him to notice II.
He walked over to ono Of the side |
walls, pulled open what proved to be
a big solid shutter, revealing a glazed
window. and. for . long while, stood
there, unconscious Of the look the
girl had turned upon him. unconscious
OF his present surroundings.
Yes. something To hope for. GER
tainiy." He turned away from the
window as he said It, and smiled at
her "A good hoppe good lighting |
hope that when the relief comes back |
next summer they'll md you here
alive
III you say so, I'll believe It," sait1 I
the girl because you told me the /
truth before. But do you mind tell
ing me why?"
ITO BE Conttnned.)
-vy--v