Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-05-26
CHAPTER XIII.
can.ain Eleldina,s Gospel.

CAPTAIN Fielding's Gospel.
Side by side, upon that great sheep
shin they sat, those two people, in
tbo very lap of death. A reasonable
estimate of their chances would give
. tbam perhaps, week to live. With
.vcontlonal fortune, that week might
stretch itself into a month. The great
bue spirit of the arctic would darken
tn nurple. and to black. The icy hand
NJ the savage polar winter would get
IT'S clutches upon them. They had
nothing to resist it with. No stores OF
ammunition or of food. No clothing,
eycept what they wore. No fuel, save
. what they could contrive to gather
along the talus before the winter gales
would make further search impossible.
Neither Jeanne nor Cayley was of
sort to face the prospect of that death
with resignation. They were young,
Intensely alive, and with Jeanne, at
| least. the best and biggest part of life
lay, or had lain until yesterday, in a
broad open road before her. But
prospect like the one that lay before
them brings its own anaesthetic with
It. 1t was so utterly hopeless that 1t
became unreal. The face of the future,
! into which she had cast just one hor-
J rifed glance was so hideous that to
1.-THE girl, at least, 1t was like some
monster mask of carnival-too gro
tesquely horrible to be taken seri-
0usly
That is partly the reason why she
succeeded in surprising Cayley by sit
| ting down to breakfast with him in
the same mood and spirit which she
had shown before when she did not
know
Tn about half famishea," she said
as they began their meal "at least
that duck smells perfectly ire
sistible It's done to turn, I think.
In way. it's rather joke that we
should begin our arctic privations
with roast duck"
There's something queer about that
nut" he said, something that gets
queerer the more l think about it.
Why do you suppose the Walrus peo-
pie abandoned it? Or, rather, do you
suppose they did abandon it? They
couldn't have built another house
without dismantling this one. There
are no trees on this land to furnish
timber, and there certainly isn't any
hardware store where they could have
those doors swung on hinges. But
those doors swung on hanges last
night and the bolt worked, and, more
or less the walls and roof kept out
the gale, For this style of architecture
ITS in pretty good repair"
The girl was only half convinced.
THAT great heap of stones in there"
she began, doesn't look like good re-
pair or recent habitaticn."
No 1t doesn't" he rejoined ITS
been made to look as little that way
as possible. 1t wouldn't have got into
mat condition otherwise in 100 years.
Tome let's have look It's something
10 hope for, at any rate"
She followed him little perplexed.
ITO hope for?" she repeated ques-
tloningly.
he had already entered the hut. and
cld not at once volunteer any further
explanation, but from the shine of ex-
element she could see in his eyes, IT
was evident that he contemplated
something better than merely hold
ing death at arms length for a
little while.
10 the girls eyes there was but lit
We about the interior of the hut to ac-
count for such hope. even though
she saw that all of the things he had
SAD about it were true The flimsy
inner doors were still hinged to their
frames and were provided with q
instantaneous assortment of catches
At was marine hardware, all of 1t, evil
Tntiy from her fathers ship, the
"oeniX The hunks and shelves which
""5u The walls looked perfectly solid
a'u well built. But the general ap-
pedrance of the room presented a look
' NiSrepair- 1t was absolutely I'M
FINISHED The great heap of smoke
"ened stones, of various sizes and
t,5@Pes, and the hole in the roof above
In attested that they had once
0een a fireplace.
81 'oh the forlorn aspect OF the room
nav, elFl gladly turned her eyes away
H. STOOD looking at Cayley instead
az ~ nad been sweeping the walls, root
sI tu moor In a general survey. Now
lily he went over to the hean o.