Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-08-10
CHAPTER III. (contlnued).

CHAPTER III. (~contInued).
He had, then, these alternatives: he
might either compose himself to hug
the leeward side of a dune till day
break Tor till relief should Gomez Or
else undertake a fve-mile tramp on
the desperate hope Of finding at the
end of it the tide out and the sandbar
a safe footway from shore to shore.
Between the two he vacillated not at
all; anything were preferable to a
night in the dunes, beaten by the i'm
placable storm, haunted by the
thought of Quain; and even though he
were to find the eastern causeway I'M
der water, at least the exercise would
have served to keep him from freez-
ing.
Ten minutes after his last cartridge
had been fruitlessly discharged, he
set out for the ocean beach, pausing
at the first dune he came upon to
scrape a shallow trench in The sand
and cache therein both guns and his
game-bag. Marking the SPOT with a
bit of driftwood stuck spright, ne
pressed on, eventually palsing on the
overhanging lip of a 20-toot bluff. To
its foot the beach below was aswirl
knee-deep with wash OF breakers.
Awed and disappointed, Amber
drew back. The beach was impass-
able; here was no wlNe and easy road
to the east, such as pe had thought to
find; to gain the sa,dbar he had now
to thread a ~tortuous and uncertain
way through the ~beTildering dunes.
A demon Of anxiety prodded him
on: he must learn Quain's fate, or go
mad. Once on the mainland 1t were
a matter of facility to find his way to
the village Of Shampton, telephone
Tanglewood and charter a team to
convey him thither. He shut his teeth
on his determination and set his face
to the east.
Beset and roughly buftered by the
gale; the o settling III ripping
drifts in the folds of his clothing and
upon his shoulders cling1ng like a
cloth; his face cut by clouds ofNsand
flung horizontally with well-nigh the
force of birdshot from a gun: he
bowed to the blast and plodded stead
lily on.
Imperceptibly fatigue Denumbed his
senses, blunted the keen edge of his
emotions; eve the care FOR Quain be-
came a mere dull ache in the back OF
his perceptions; of physical suffering
he was unconscious. He fell q prey
to freakish fancies. For a long time he
moved on In stupid, wondering con.
temptation of a shining crescent OF
sand backed by a green, steaming
wall of jungle. Many visions formed
and dissolved in drcam-like phantas-
magoria; but of them nll the strongest
and most recurrent was that Of the
girl in the black riding-habit, walking
by his side down the aisle Of trees,
So that presently the tired and over
wrought man believed himself talking
with her, reasoning, arguing, pleading
desperately for his hearts desire;
and Yakened with a start, to
hear the echo of her voice as though
she had spoken but the instant gone
to find his own lips framing the syl
tables OF her name-"Sophia!"
Abruptly he regained consciousness
OF his plight, and with an effort SHOOK
his senses back into his head. II
was not precisely a time when he
could afford to let his wits go wool
gathering. Infexible of purpose in
the face Of all his WEAKNESS and dis
enlargement, he was on the point Of
resuming his march when hel was
struck by the circumstance that the
whitened shoulder of a dune, quite
near at hand, should seem as II
frosted with light-coldly luminous.
Staring, speculative, he hung In tho
wind-inquisitive as a cat but loath tc
waste time in footless inquiry. The
snowfall, setting in with augmented
violence, decided him. Where light
was, there should be man. and where
man, shelter.
His third eager stride opened up c
wide basin in the dunes, filled witt
eddying wells Of snow, and set, al
some distance, with two brilliant
squares Of light-windows in an in
visible dwelling. IN the space be
tween them, doubtless, there would b.
a door. But a second time he paused
remembering that the island was sale
to be uninhabited. Only yesterday h,
had asked and been 10 informed. .
Oddl
So passing strange he held 1t, in
deed, that he was conscious Of a sin
gular reluctance to question the phe
nomenon. He had positively to fore,
himself on to seek the door, and evel
when he had stumbled against III
step he twice lifted his hand ana Ie
1t fall without knocking.
There was not q soufI within tina
no could hear above thu Glamour o
The Rohiix cight
MlanAAH 4M.I -. a.L--4 IL ~Zt-n.