Gilpin observer., 1911-06-08
The sight Of her made it hard for

The sight Of her made It hard for
him to stick to his maps. But present
~ he looked up with sudden ques-
ton. do you happen to find any
thing" he began, and then broke off
shortly.
From her face, half-shaded as it
was, he could see that what she had
been reading Just then was no mere
description of this land upon which
they had been cast away, but some
thing far more personal to the father
she had lost here.
There's something perfectly terri
fying." she said, about fathers de-
scription Of this man Roscoe. Over
here near the end. before the sun
came back to them, he tells of going
out for walk by himself and of dis
covering that Roscoe was stalking
him. in the hope, he thought, of dis,
covering. in advance of the others.
where the gold ledge was. In the twi-
light, father says, he looked, in his
white bear-skins, perfectly enormous
and incredible. And Philip"
She closed the book, holding 1t tight
in both hands, and leaning forward a
little as she went on, "and Philip, his
description sounds-oh. 1 suppose it's
silly, but 1t sounds like the thing
thought saw today when was alone
there on the beach. before you came
flying down out of the sky 1t didn't
look like a bear. 1t wouldn't have
been SO dreadful If 1t had"
ITS possible" he said gravely, 1T
may have been he whom 1 frightened
off when 1 came down last night. Ger
tainly there was somebody, and that
somebody may still be here on shore.
though supposed he had gone out to
join in the attack on the yacht. But
it's very strange. II there is any one.
that we could have passed a whole
day without encountering him"
The, girl shivered; then, with a
shake of her head as If dismissing the
uncanny thought from her mind, said:
You started to ask me about some
thing else. and interrupted"
1t took him a moment to collect his
thoughts. "Oh, yes. There's some
thing marked here on this map which
took at first for the location OF the
hut. but 1t appears now that it was
marked before they built it. wonder
If. in the early pages Of the journal,
there was a description of any natural
formation about here like q cave,
or"
She made as II to open the book,
then, suddenly. changed her intention
and held 1t out to him, instead.
Il haven't been playing fair" she
said. Il wasn't really looking for any
thing. l was just reading stories and
dreaming over them. It's his hand
writing, think, that makes it SO hard
to be good. It's-well, almost like
hearing his voice. Won't you work
the book and the maps and give me
something to do-with my hands, l
mean?-oh, know I'm tired, but that
doesn't matter"
Cay,ey-s first impulse was to refuse,
but 1t needed only one thoughtful look
into her face to convince him that the
kindest. as we'll as the wisest, thing
was to do as she asked. An uncanny
horror of the monstrous Roscoe and
the appalling idea that he, and per-
haps others of his gang. might be
sharing the solitude OF this frozen
coast with them was plainly TO be
read in her eyes, and her own pre-
scription for dispelling 1t was prob.
ably the best that could be thought Of
With nod Of assent, he rose and
went into the storeroom, returning the
next moment with an armful of heavy
rope.
'In the old days of wooden ships"
he said. when they wanted to disci-
pline sailor. they set him to picking
oakum. Next to pounding rust off the
anchor, it's the dullest job in the
world. But we need some for calking
up the cracks in our walls. Do you
mind?"