The Washington times., 1911-08-09


- seemed 4 trIfie more, CHEEKY
tnan on the prey i0us evening.
though stIll anxious. 1t was not
alone the prospect of losing his be-
that troubled him, nor the serious diff
cul;ics tha; Eeset oul path to the LAM
&sery. The situation was beWtlderlng,
tho physical conditions that surrounded
US iueXpliCable. Never fOr an instant
old ne despair of finding the lamasery,
or of resCuiug the girls, although he
was beginning to See that the time set
fEr the task was all too short. Jack
NIrncy was the guiding star that held
him with unttnChing determination to
the work
of a saW-shaped cash between walls 81
inconreivable sOlemnity. At times the
ChasIu was lark and solemn. again 1t
daZZled with the reflection of the icy
glare that shot down from the peaks
above. Al one time the CltaClVsm was
miles across. at another it would close
about us till we doubted our ability to
thread 1t.
At noon we settled uron a gravelly
bottom. near where a pool Of water had
collected from the glacier, There was
not a sign of vegetation. We could heat
no water. and were reduced to tinued
meats and barley cakes Fortunately
our supply of these, with tea and but
ter. was still abundant
GWynne made a calculation.
T We're nineteen thousand feet above
the sear'
There was ar unmistakable look Os
anxiety as he said this.
1t was very uncomfortable. Breathing
was difficult. and the cold intense. Even
the midday sun no longer warmed us.
I'VE can't 60 much higher without
freezing" I casually remarked.
Nor mich farther. for another rea-
SON." GwYnne replied.
Do you think were. going, to be
clicked OF by those glaciers?" asked.
Worse than that He was looking
down at the ground, his head resting
upon his hands as he spoke.
/ was conscious of a mental chill.
What did he mean?
I'm afraid were lost" he went on
keep the thing in my head, but the
twists and turns of this Internal gorge
have put me out. 1t was all right 10
sail west from Gim-ra, but ii has been
Impossible TO keep the bearings through
all this labyrinth. IN fact, we may be
too far west already. We may have
made more northing than westing, more
southing than either. Who can tell?'
Maybe we'd better go back" l sug-
gested. We're sure /" find some habi-
Iation in the lower country"
I'VE can't do it,
why not?" l exclaimed.
For the simple reason that we're out
of power. We can't walk and we can't
fly. In short, Pete, were trapped. We're
doomed
DO you mean to say the air-ship
Not exactly. but she's near the end
of her tether You remember l told you
! wanted to save her for emergencies.
How much farther will she go?"
That's hard to say. The greater the
elevation, the greater the expenditure of
force. At sea-level she would probably
last a week, but here-Who can tell
] never calculated on such scarcity OF
air. Do you remember in the London
garret 1 showed you an empty crucible.
and told you that the lifting power
came from what was in it-air7'
And do Won remember that 1 show
ed you a ring on shpboard. before
reaching Calcutta-and-"
1 also remembered the ring.
We'll, there's something in the rudi-
combines Without it's not neces-
sary to tell you now; you wouldn't
understand. Let II be sufficient to say
that we're nearly out of very I'M
mineral in chemical combination with
an element which has a peculiar effect
upon the air we breathe. 1t requires
twice, four times, as much of this ma
terial here as in a lower altitude, and
we are nearly out of it
Even If we got to Tad-sa-fuh then,
we couldn't fly away with the Varney
girls 1 ventured. .,
Gwynne. I'VE shall fly again If We
ever get there with the air-ship!'
Perhaps the young ladies have a
supply Of this queer mixture with
themT
"Perhaps!'
Did Jack give you that ring?'
He shook his head.
Gwynne was at work with a pinkish |
powder and some liquids. He was
weighing, measuring: and asserting.
From time to time he sighed. l was
dismayed upon rejecting how much time
had elapsed since leaving London, and
now we were about to be stranded,
without power to proceed, or even dis
cover our present position.
The loss of a thousand pounds was
bad enough, but even the thought OF
that didn't seem to trouble Gwynne as
much as the present and very formid-
able conditions that confronted us.
of course, l can't tell how long this
stun will last" he said, returning the
Chemicals to their proper places in the
vessel. Il mean that 1t Is impossible
70 estimate the density OF The cir at !