Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-09

after that fulmar had gone .squawking
away, he glanced down into his mirror.
and his olympian calm was shaken with
the shock of surprise. For what he saw,
clearly reflected In his little reducing
glass, was land. There was a mountain,
and a long. dark line that must be
clifflike coast.
And it was land that never had been
marked on any chart. In absolute de-
grees of latitude he was not, from the
arctic explorers view. very far north.
Over on the other side OF the world
they run excursion steamers every sum-
mer nearer to the pole than he was at
| this moment. Spitzbergen, which has
thousand souls. lies three hundred miles
farther north than this uncharted coast
! which Philip Cayley saw before him.
But the great ice cap which covers the
and just here, northward from ALASKA.
| 1t juts its impenetrable barrier far down
| into the Arctic sea. Rogers. Collinson
and the Inflated De Long-they all had
| tried to penetrate this barrier, ana hdo
been turned back.
Cayley wheeled sharply up into the
wind and scared aloft to q height OF.
perhaps. a quarter OF mile. Ten. with
a long. flashing. shimmering sweep. he
descended. in the arc of great circle
and hung, poised. over the land itself and
behind the jutting shoulder Of the noun
tain.
The land was narrew-necked PEN
insula. Mountain and cliff prevented him
from seeing the immediate coast on the
other side of It: but out little way TO
sea he was amazed to discover open
water. and the smokelike vapor that e
saw rising over the cliffhead made 1t
evident that the opening extended nearly.
il not quite, to the very lands edge. IT
was utterly unexpected. for the side OF
the peninsula which he had approached
was tce!ocked for miles.
He would have lowered again above
the rocky ridge which shut off his view.
at closer range. had he not, just then.
got the shock of another surprise, great
er than the discovery Of land ITSELF
The little valley which he hung poised
Of rocky. ice-capped hills to the north.
and, except for streaks. denoting crew
ices. here and there. was quite free from
ice and snow. There were bright patches
Towering northern grass. and 1t was
fiecked here and there with bright bits OF
color yellow poppy, he judged II to be,
and saxifrage. Hugging the base OF the
mountain on the opposite side OF the val
ley. then notching the cliff and grinding
down to sea at the other side OF 1t was
a great white glacier. all the whittier. and
| colder, and more dazziing for It's contrast
with the brown mountainsde and the
greenfield valley.
side were great broad yellow. patches,
which he would have thought were poppy
fields. but for the impossibility OF their
growing in such a place No vegetable
thought. against that clean-cut. almost
vertical. rocky face. And yet. what else
could have given it that blazing yellow
color? Some day he was to learn the
| answer to that question.
| But the thing that caught his eye now.
that made him start and draw in little
Involuntary gasp of wonder. was the
| sight of a little cump Of black dots
from this distance. across the face OF the
| glacier. He blinked his eyes. as II he
suspected them Of playing him false. I'm
less they had played him false. these
| tiny dots were men.
Instinctively. he shifted his balance q
little TO the left lowering his left wing
and elevating his right. and began reach
ing along. thwartwise to the wind. in
their direction.
| Presently he checked himself in mid
flight. wheeled and hung. soaring. while
| he restrained that rebellious instinct OF
his. an instinct which would have led
! him to sail down into the midst Of them
and hold out his hand for welcome.
What were mankind to him? Why should
the sight Of them make his heart beat q
/ little quicker?
They must be white. He felt sure OF
that. for this land could hardly have any
permanent inhabitants. And. Of course,
he meant to go for a nearer look. Prob
4 ably he would descend among them; find
out who they were. where their ship was
and II they were In distress. he would
then set sail through tho air to carry
news of their plight to those who might
! effect q rescue. But not upon that first
instinct of his for companionship with
his fellow men; not until his heart was
| beating with its normal rhythm again.
| He wheeled once more and then sailed
| slowly In their direction. Their labor
| ious progress down the glacier led them
+. away from him. so that he came up from
behind and without attracting their at
:ention. The arctic sun was too low TO