, 1911-03-23

Walrus people aren't armed at all.
They knew-your people I mean
that the yacht was likely to be attack
ed. / told them so myself, and then
their pretended guide confessed
How did you know about the Wal
rus?" she asked c%uriously.
"The Portuguese was one Of them;
he had guided your first party down
into a little valley of perpetual fog.
under orders to abandon them there.
When he saw me sailing about over
head-through the fog. you know he
broke down and confessed and then
we'll, he made a clean breast Of 1t. He
knew nothing of the details Of his
leaders, plans: but the mere fact that
he had been delegated to guide the
party into a place from which It was
to be expected they could e get
lions at least"
He had spoken rather disconnected
ly, his sentences punctured by the
sounds Of firing from the yacht. BY
the time he finished they we're almost
continuous.
WHY does It sound 30 much fainter
than 1t did," she asked. TITS not
nearly so loud as that first volley we
heard"
IT'S a trick of the fog. very likely"
he said. Fog is a f-;ghtfully treach-
erous thing, It deceives mems ears as
we'll as their eyes. There's no judg-
ing distance through 1t. When you
cried put just now. I couldn't tell
whether you were so feet below me or
500 feet. I was up above 1t, o see,
and I hadn't any way of telling how
deep II was.-There! Do you hear?"
he went on. THE firing has stopped
altogether. Your people are almost
certainly safe"
VIII you let me go inside this hut"
he asked. land see II 1t is habitable?
II il is. you'd better go in and let me
make you as comfortable as I a I
don't think you need have any fears
about the Walrus people. And worry
ing wouldn't do n good any way.
There's nothing W. a do but wait
for daylight. Nothing can happen any
where until then"
He had, very distinctly, In mind
what might happen then II the Walrus
people we're repulsed from the yacht.
Unless they were all destroyed In the
attack, they would undoubtedly make
trouble as soon as morning revealed
the fact that they had two hostages
in their hands. But he could fight
them off better from the doorway OF
the hut than from anywhere else. And
there was no need of troubling tho
girl with t'nt consideration, not for
the present, at east.
IT'S all right In there she said.
81 spent I don't know how many
hours there reading before you came.
But the candle has burned out"
The open door behind them gave ac-
cess into a tiny shed, protruding from
the corner of the hut and serving, evil
IDENTIFY. as a vestibule for It. The In
ner door, a heavier and stronger af-
fair, opening at right angles to II.
gave access to the interior of the hut.
Cayely switched on his bul's-eye
and cast a brief glance about the
room. There we're two or three rude,
fimsy-looking doors which ~undoubted-
~ opened into small. cabin-like bed
rooms: but the principal part of the
hut was taken up by the room In
which they found themselves.
Cayley set his little bull-eye on a
shelf where they could make the most
of its thin pencil of light. He then
turned his attention to the door, and
after a little struggle succeeded In
getting It shut. and, what was more.
securely bolted. by means Of a heavy
wooden bar which dropped into an
iron crotch. II they were attacked
with the first Of the daylight. this
place would AFFORD them security until
the people from the Aurora could
come to their rescue. His revolver
was a Colt, AZ, and his belt was full of
cartridges. With that weapon, he re-
membered that he had once been con-
sidered the best shot in the army.
The girl, when he turned to look at
her, was seated on the edge of a bunk
at the other side Of the hut. Her pal
Tor, the traces of tears he could see
in her eyes, the pathetic droop to her
lips. all emphasized the thing her
voice had told him already. namely.
that some emotional crisis, which
she had been through in those recent
hours. had left her quite exhausted.
Without a word, he turned to his
bundle which he had deposited In a
corner of the room, and flshed out
from It his sheep-skin sleeping bag. II
a not until he approached her, with
It across his arm, that his eye fell
upon the rosewood box and the mo
rocco-bound book which lay beside It
Her eye followed his. They're ia
TIERS papers," she said. II found the
box In here. That's why I stayed.
had come ashore"
wait a minute" he interrupted. He
took up the book with . gentleness
Utmost reverent. laid 1t In the little
chest and set 1t down on the floor be-
side the bunk.