Dakota farmers' leader. (Canton, S.D.) 1890-19??, 1911-07-28
CHAPTER Xxx.
A MoonIit Day.

CHAPTER Xxx.
A Moonlit Day.
The midday moon had changed the
somber purple Of the snow to silver.
The snow lay everywhere, save upon
the vertical face of the cliff itself, an
unrent, immaculate mantle over all
this arctic world. The valley. tho
hills, the beach and the rozen sea
all lay at peace beneath it, as If asleep
or dead.
To Cayley, where he lay, suspended
in midsky. the moonlight cleaning
upon the sensitive fabric of his
planes, as 1t CLEANS upon the faint
ripples on a mill pond in the dead OF
some June night-to Cayley this white,
sleeping, frozen world looked very
far away. He was awning for the
first time since that eternity ago when
he had descended upon the beach be-
proach of the bear.
How long G that was, by tho
measure Of hours nj days and weeks,
he did not know. He had no data for
an estimate that would be better than
a guess. He remembered how des-
~perately they had worked that night,
saving what they could from the burn
ing hut and carrying 1t back into the
cave; remembered with what labor he
and Jeanne had climbed the ice Chin
ney to the only shelter that now re-
NAMED to them, the little pilot house
observatory upon the cliff-head; re.
membered the unremitting labor OF
uncounted hours while they adjusted
their way Of life to the conditions i'm
posed by the calamitous loss of the
hut.
But after that there were lapses Of
time which emo did not cover.
During that time he knew the ut
most fury O. the arctic winter had
been raging over them, without cessa-
| ton. They had been sheltered from
| it down in the heart OF the great drift
| of snow which the storm had heaped
about them. But, even in this security
the shock of those successive parox-
ysms Of natures titanic rage reached
| down and benumbed them, body n
soul.
But at last the rage Of the storm
had spent itself and had become still.
| The bitterness of the cold relaxed and
became milder. Cayley had felt the
blood stirring in his veins again, the
power Of consecutive thought and the
ambition to live, coming once moro
| into his possession. He had gone to
work, feebly and drowsily at first, but
with constantly increasing energy and
strength, at the task Of opening up,
once more, the tunnel through the
! drift which the great storm had
choked.
When he had broken through tho
outer crust of the drift, and tho white
radiance Of the midday moon shone
into the black tunnel where he had
been working, he stood for n moment
drawing deep breaths and gazing over
the scene which lay beneath his eyes.
He fastened back into the little pllot
house.
Jeanne was doing upon a heap OF
bear-skins. He reused her with Some
difficulty; really waking up had been
a hard matter lately, almost as nara
as really getting of to sleep. She
was still drowsy when he led hef
along the tunnel to the clih-head-
Breathe Deep" he told her. w
were half poisoned in there. b slf
will bring you back TO Life again. II
and the moonlight"
He had been supporting ner with
his arm about her waist. but now, al
she held herself a little straizhter ana
he could feel her lungs expanding
with the pure air she breathed. &c
withdrew the arm n let her stand
alone. Even the white moonlight re-
vealed the color that was coming
back into her cheeks.
For "a while she did not speak 1t
all; then, as If replying to 3 COM
ment of his, she said:
yes, it's beautiful. q
Philip. it's dead. Dead"
Not this air that has o1one spar
king all through it. It is alive enough
to make your blood dance. It's doing
that now"
He tried to persuade hsr to take .
little exercise along the length of the
tunnel but she demurred to that. In
stead. she asked him to bring out
some b%ear-skins and let her sit there
at the clif-head looking out.
"And," she supplemented. III you
want to know what I should Hike most
of all, it would be to have you bring
your wings so that / can SEQ you ny.
ing again. and a field-glass that I can
watch you through"
He felt some hesitation, partly out
Of q fear Of leaving her and partly
from a doubt concerning his own
strength; but neither Of these reasons
was one he cared to So he I'M
furled the bundle that had lain dis
used so long. spread and frightened
and tested 1t, and at last. with a nod
OF farewell to the girl. Owed on the
clif-head.
Any doubt he may have had con
corning his strength disappeared at
once. The mere touch Of those great
wings Of his seemed to bring 1t all
back, and hope and Joy and confidence
along with 1t.
tTo BE coNTINuED.)