Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-06-09

,.1er The wea her has been severe
h;tterlv cold (--10 degrees Fahren-
"a ,bsing the mildest) and three
D,,.rters of a gale blowing most of the
- The men are inclined to be re-
,oIljous over my driving them out to
rnrt IN such weather. but | dared not
,,oit for 1t to moderate.
when the ice opens round the
xbaIer she will 90 down like Q plum
r,s7. and II that event should have
bannened before we unloaded her of
ber stores, our plight would have been
utterly desperate. OF stores in the
ordinarily accepted sense. she had put
scanty supply, and those of a mis-
erabIy inferior description; but she
contained half cargo OF whale oil in
barrels which now that they are
landed will settle the problem of fuel
for us as long as the last survivor OF
our company can hope to remain alive.
And fuel is, after all, the only neces-
sry which this land itself does NOT
supply US with. OF course we shall
have to forego the delights of bear
steak when our ammunition gives out,
Int walruses we can kill with har-
moons And with these and scurvy-
grass which we gather in the valley
every summer. there is no danger Of
actual starvation.
We hoisted the barrels of blubber
cut Of the whaler's hold with hand
tackle, sledged them ashore along the
foe and the crown of the glacier to
Moseleys cave, which seemed to be
the most convenient place to store
them temporarily"
Cayley laid down the book and
turned to the girl
That's the place, I'm perfectly
sure" he said. 1T evidently faces
the glacier, but it must be very near
the beach, for they wouldn't have
hauled those barrels any further than
necessary
is that all he says about it?"
IT'S all he says directly, but there's
a reference just a little further along
which made me all the surer l was
right Let's see."
He opened the book again and ran
his eye down the page. a hundred
weight or so of spermaceti and two
barrels OF sperm oil we took directly
to the hut'-here, this is what / was
looking for
THE knowledge we get by expert
ence often comes too late to be Of any
great service to us. made some
mistakes in stripping the Phoenix,
which l should not repeat now. For
instance, carrying her pilot house,
with infinite labor, up to the cliff
head for an observatory. 1t is thor
oughly impracticable for this purpose.
doubt II have visited it three times
since Mr.. Moseley's death"
He was the astronomer and botan-
list of fathers expedition said the
girl.
Cayley read on: but now that
have learned my lesson, l have but
little to apply the knowledge to. The
Walrus is, ] believe, the most utterly
wretched hulk that ever sailed the
seas-ill-found, detestably dirty and
literally rotting to pieces. We shall,
however, get enough planks and tim
hers out of her to build a shed or two
near the hut, for the more convenient
storage of our supplies"
Again he closed the book. That's
what l was looking for" he said. You
see they brought that stuff down from
the cave to these sheds; so the cave
would be almost inevitably the first
hiding place they would think of
when the sight Of the Aurora drove
them to hustle everything out of
sight,
'Whereabout on the cliff is the OBJ
servatory, Philip"
Il was wondering about that. I've
flown across the cliff a number of
times, but have never seen anything
OF it, He may have wrecked it; taken
1t down and used it for some other
purpose"
No." she said; he'd hardly have
mad time for that. There weren't
many more pages to write in the jour
lal when he made that entry"
She fell then into little distracted
silence, which the man did not know
now to break. But presently she reused
herself and came fully back to the pres
ent, back to him
Did you succeed in accounting for
The thing you asked me abou; last
night, the mark on the map right here
Where they built the hut afterward?"
didn't find anything about It in
tne Journal. but this morning, before
breakfast, when l went outside the
nut one glance at the fact of the cliff
accounted for it fully. The cliff is
spit right here, from top to bottom,
oy deep, narrow assure. The assure
Is iull of ice, which | suppose hasn't
melted for thousand years No sum-
l4ef that they could have in a high lat
'-dde like this would ever melt it, GER
family"
Ire girl laughed and rose from her
mace at the rude table.
Well,' she asked, ARE you ready
'o' nay discovery now?"