The Irish standard., 1911-08-05

He had been tortured-1 won't 70 into
the details Of that-and logged nearly
to death. ~ ~ >
OF the Walrus people, in all, there
were II, and these, with the three
original castaways, settled down to
the prospect of an indefinite number
of years upon that nameless coast.
1--WE can live like Christians" Cap
tain Fielding had said, and we can
always hope"
His superior knowledge of arctic
conditions made him, rather than Cap
tain Planck, naturally commander Of
the little company. He established
the regimen of their life, doled out
the store from day to day, and, as
best he could, through that long win
ter night, provided entertainment for
the forlorn little group. He told them
of his explorations on the coast, of the
lay of the land, of what they might
hope to see when the sun should
come back to them, marking the be-
ginning of another long arctic day.
Among other things, quite casually
he told them of ledge in the hills,
across the glacier, which contained,
he believed, the most extraordinary
deposit of gold in the world. So In
credibly rich was it, that the rock
itself had almost been replaced by
solid metal. The Alaska gold he said,
was only the sweepings, in his opin-
Ion, of this immense store.
At the sound of the word gold" the
eyes of the man named Roscoe had
frightened for the first time since
they had taken him, shivering from
his long immersion in the cold water,
aboard the Walrus. He drew into the
circle that sat about the reading lamp,
and began asking questions. Gold was
something he knew about He had
mined it in Australia, in California,
and in the Klondike. He questioned
Captain Fielding about the exact
whereabouts of the ledge, about tho
sort of ore it occurred in, and about
the best means of cutting it out.
To some extent his own excitement
Infected the others. Even Captain
Planck, whose only MISUNDERSTOOD
form of wealth was whale blubber be-
gan to take an interest in Roscoe's
questions and in the explorers an
swers to them.
1t was a strange and rather pathetic
sort of excitement, Captain Fielding
thought. To them, in their practical
ly hopeless plight, gold was about the
least useful thing they could find; not
hard enough to tip lances or arrows
with, too heavy and too easily melted
for domestic purposes. However, it
gave them something to think about,
and he, without suspicion Of the
sinister direction in which these
thoughts might turn, went on and told
them all he knew
When, after a period of tantalizing
twilight, the sun again came fairly
over the horizon, they besought their
commander, with savage sort of
eagerness from which he might have
augured i'll, that he take them at
once to the ledge. They had caught
sight of it from distance, even as
Cayley had done, hung in the air
above the valley, and had run reck-
lessly on ahead of their leader. When
he came up to them, he found them
dangerously excited, the man Roscoe
fairly dazed and drunken with 1t.
Finally Fielding had left them to
their own devices, and came away
with his two companions. And until
the light of that short day had begun
to fail, they-the Walrus people
stayed, gloating over this strangely
useless treasure.
For three days after that the man
Roscoe never spoke a word. On the
fourth day, when the little party as
semb]ed for their midday meal, the II
men of the Walrus were the only
ones to answer the summons. Cap
tain Fielding and his two companions
had disappeared.
Captain Planck could not recall that
meal now without shuddering, for
there at the foot of the table. oppo.
site to him, had sat the man Roscoe,
VAIN AAu1 VA1tICu pldlu III every
line of his face. He had looked a
beast, rather than a man, that day.
The stated blood lust in his eyes made
them positively terrifying so that the
others shrank away from him. He
had seemed not to notice it, at least
not to take offense at it. He was in
hilarious spirits for the first time
since they had known him; seemed
really to try to be good companion.
Captain Planck abdicated his lead.
ership that day. He was perfectly
conscious of the fact. He had known
that to retain the leadership he must
take that murderer out and execute
him. He knew that if he did not do
this, the murderer. not he, would here
after command the party, and that
unless he himself yielded the prompt
est obedience Of any, he would follow
the luckless trio whom they were
never to see again.
From that day to this there had
been no more murders. Roscoe had