Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-10-27

plain terror
Cayley went out into the little yes
Thule and closed and bolted the outer
door. He contrived to waste a minute
or two over the trifiing task, in order
to give her that moment by herself.
When he came back. closing the In
ner door behind him as he did so, he
found that she had taken OF her cap
and the heavy cur coat which had en-
numbered her shoulders all day, and
hung them upon a convenient wooden
peg IN the wall She was standing
near the fireplace now, warming her
cold fingers at the blaze.
Cayley started a little at sight Of
her, for now she was transformed,
too. Standing there, silhouetted
against the blaze, in her gray cardi-
gan jacket and moleskins, she looked
like young boy. He had discovered
before this that there was not grain
OF false modesty about her; neverthe-
less, it pleased him when. with a GER
tain charming frank simplicity. she
called his attention to her costume.
It's a lucky thing" she observed.
that ! dressed for a scramble over
the Ice before coming ashore with
Uncle Jerry and Mr. Scales. And
lucky, too, that l didn't change back
when we returned to the Aurora.
left 1t the second time with no other
idea than of pulling about for awhile
in the dinghy. I'd have done that Just
the same II had dressed for dinner
that night. as usually did"
Yes he said "A skirt would
have been a pretty serious matter to
people in our situation"
Show me the rest of our house."
she commanded presently. This is
the only room I've seen"
The subdivision of the hut was &C
complished by an L-shaped partition
seven feet or so from the outer
wall. around two sides of it. IT.
yielded two tiny, cubical bedrooms
THAT was the purpose which the
wooden bunk In each Of them
indicated); and a third room Of
the same width (about seven feet),
but running the entire length of the
side of the hut nearest the cliff. This
room had evidently served for stores
and for kitchen, since part of the
reconstructed fireplace projected into
it. 1t was in this last room where the
greater part of what the searchers
from the Aurora had dismissed as
rubbish" was accumulated.
Cayley did as the girl commanded,
and showed her every nook and cup
board which the four walls of the hut
contained. When they returned to
the living room where the fire was,
she dropped down on one Of the hunks
with little sigh of fatigue.
you've been disobeying orders" he
said. looking her over with a serious
sort OF smile. You've let yourself
get too tired. You'll have to make
up for it by being exceptionally obedi-
emit now"
As~he spoke, he shook out the sleep
ing-bag on the bunk, behind where
she was sitting.
You're to lie down on that" he
said, until can get supper ready;
and directly after supper you're to
take this bag into whichever of those
bedrooms you would like for yours,
and really undress and go to bed"
She assented to that after a little
demur. That he had rightly guessed
the degree of her fatigue was attested
by the fact that when he re-entered
the hut after dressing the fowl that
was to provide their evening meal. he
found her cuddled up upon the great
fast asleep.
1t was not until his rudimentary
culinary operations were about COM
pleted that, glazing over to where she
lay, he found her regarding him with
a sleepy smile.
Il thought of something just as /
was dropping of to Sleep" she said, |
"a really beautiful idea. l tried to
call out and tell you. but I was too
sleepy. hope l haven't lost it. 1t
was something about-oh, l know.
Don't you suppose we might find
clue to where the stores are hidden in
fathers journal or in the maps:"
He laid down the drum-stick he had
been about to bite into, and gazed at
her, partly in establishment. partly in
a sort OF amused dismay that the idea
had not occurred to him before THAT
he said. lis worth the
whole o. my days work. OF course
that's the way to begin our search
the only way, and tomorrow morn |
ing"
Tomorrow morningi thought the
worst thing you could possibly say
would be after supper. / wanted to |
let the duck go and begin the search
now" She smiled at him You'll
won't you, on directly
after support"
He assented with a-laugh. 'If you
can keep awaEs. but the first time
catch you nohding-"
"All right, she said, only let's hur-
ry with the duck" Then. little later
1T can't be possible, can it, that we're
going to eat the whole of 1t at one
meal? It's beginning to look that
way"
There was one compensation to the
rudeness OF their fare and the ex-
Equity of their equipment Clearing
up after dinner was an operation Of
extreme simplicity.
When 1t was completed. Philip
heaped more wood on the fire, and in
the glow of the cracking flames they
snread out the mans and began their |