Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-07-10
CHAPTER II.-Continued.


: 1t is made of quite commonplace ma
.terials" he said. with a smile-"splft
bamboo and carbon wire and catgut and
"a fabric of bladders. cemented with fish
glue. And folding it up is rather an I'M
FKainly job. The birds still have the ad-
vantage of ME there. In a strong WIND
it's not very easy to do without damag-
Ing something Would you mind slipping
that joint for me-that one right by your
hand? It's just like fishing rod
She did as he asked. and her smile con-
WINGED him that she had at least half
guessed his purpose in asking the service
of her The next moment her words con-
sfrmed it.
You wanted me to make sure. I sup
nose, that IL would not turn into great
roc when / touched it and fly away with
me 10 the Valley, of Diamonds She
patted the furled wing. gently, with poth
hands II suppose, she continued. one
could dream as wildly as this, although
I never have-unless. of course. this is
dream. But" and now she held out her
hand 10 him. but l hope l am awake
And my name is Jeanne Fielding
He had the hand in his. and noticed
how live and strong and warm it was.
before she pronounced her name. At the
sound of il he glanced at her cur1ouSly
but all he said just then was, IhanK
you'' and busted himself Immediately
:. When he had finished he tossed the
sheepskin down in a little hollow in the
foe. and with a gesture invited her to be
seated.
oh. I've a great pile of bearskins out
here" she said, quite a ridiculous pile
of them. considering 1t is not a cold
night; and we can make ourselves COM
Portable here. or go aboard the yacht
just you please"
They were seated. side by side, in the
little nest she had made for herself. be
fore he reverted to the idea which had
sprung up in his mind upon hearing her
name. There was a Capt Fielding
once" he said. slowly. who set out from
San Francisco half a dozen years ago.
IN the hope of discovering the pole by
the way of BerinS Strait His ship was
never seen again. nor was any word re-
Ceived from him Finding you here and
hearing your name, | wondered
Yes" she said, gravely. he was my
father We got news of him last win
ter II you could call il news. for il was
four years old before it reached us.
whaler in the arctic fleet picked up a
floating bottle with a message from him.
telling where he was. So We nave come
here to find hinn-at least TO find where
he died. for i suppose there is no hope
never SO much as grain of hope OF
anything better"
Cayley could not contradict her. and he
saw there was little need of trying to do
so. She had spoken simply. and very
gravely, but it was evident the years
. had taken the sting out of her grief
He told you where he was?. he asked.
"Oh, quite exactly" she told him; he
gave us latitude and longitude. and map
ped the coast line So you were wrong,
you see, in what you said about cartog-
raphers. And he gave us the route by
which. with reasonable fortune, We
might find open water. We had good
!. fortune and we got here safely, but. of
!. course. We were too late. The hut on
. the shore there is deserted. We have
; seen no signs of life at all. The men
2 have gone ashore to search. and there Is
= to be a gunfire if they find any one alive.
= But they have been out all day and there
has been no sound You will understand.
= I think. though. why / did not want to
sleep tonight in my cabin In the yacht
why the ice and the dome of stars seem
ed better
Yes he said. II understand" Pres
. entity after a moments musing. he add
+. ed ~What seems strange to me. incom-
prehensible altogether. is that men like
your father. and SO many others. should
: risk and lose their lives trying to reach
: the pole"
: toned. surprised. you. man with
z wings?''
Il suppose it's because of the wings"
he answered her. II slept there once.
early this summer-slept, and rested and
ate a meal"
There she echoed. incredulously.
where do you mean"
AT the pole, within a half degree
Of i'll won't guarantee my instruments,
nor my hit-and-miss observations any
more accurately than that-and ii seemed
q poor place to risk ones life trying to
reach. Just the ice pack-the eternal ice
pack: nothing but that. Then his eyes
lighted a little But l should like TO
60 there some time in the winter
should like to fly straight ahead, for
8 hours and hours. through the long dark,
until I could see the north star squarely
above my head in the zenith, the center
of all the universe. That would be a
sight worth having. / should think. Some
day. perhaps. 1 shall try for it. And
then one could go straight across-a
week or ten days would do 1t all-from
Dawson City. say, TO st. Petersburg.
Dawson City to ST. Petersburg" she
repeated; 'onl a creature of wings
could put those two cities into the same
sentence. even in imagination And even