The Glenwood post., 1911-07-15
CHAPTER Xxx.
A MoonIit Day.


The snow lay everywhere, save upon
the vertical face of the cliff itself. an
unrent. immaculate mantle over all
this arctic world The valley, the
hills, the beach and the frozen sea
all lay at peace beneath It, as II 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 awing for the
| first time since that eternity ago when
he had descended upon the beach be-
side Jeanne to warn her of the ap-
proach of the bear.
How long ago that was, by tho
measure Of hours and days and weeks.
he did not know. He had no data for
an estimate that would be better than
guess. He remembered how des-
perately they had worked that night,
saving what they could from the burn
ing hut and carrying it back into tho
cave; remembered with what labor he
and Jeanne had climbed the ice CHM
ney to the only shelter that now re-
mained to them, the little pilot house
observatory upon the clin-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 tho
hut.
DIT oft hot NJ n n
time which memory did not cover.
During that time he knew the ut
most fury of 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 and
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 tho
ambition to live. coming once more
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 the
| outer crust of the drift and the white
radiance of the midday moon shone
into the black tunnel where he had
| been working, he stood for moment
drawing deep breaths and gazing over
the scene which lay beneath his eyes.
He hastened back into the little pilot
| house.
Jeanne was doing upon heap OF
bearskins He reused her with some
diff Guilty; really waking up had been
hard matter lately, almost as hard
as really getting off to sleep. She
was still drowsy when he led her
along the tunnel to the cliff-head.
Breathe deep" he told her. we
were half poisoned in there. This air
will bring you back to life again. 1t
and the moonlight"
He had been supporting her with
| his arm about her waist, but now, as
| she held herself little straighter and
he could feel her lungs expanding
with the pure air she breathed, he
| withdrew the arm and 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 at
all; then, as if replying to COM
ment of his, she said:
Yes, It's beautiful. But
Philip, it's dead. Dead"
Not this air that has ozone spar
king all through it. 1t is alive enough
to make your blood dance. It's doing
that now"
| He tried to persuade her to take =
little exercise along the length Of the
tunnel but she demurred to that In
stead, she asked him to bring out
some bear-skins and let her sit there
at the cliff-head looking out.
And" she supplemented. IF you
want to know what l should like most
of all, it would be to have you bring
your wings SO that can see you ny-
ing again, and a feld-glass that can
watch you through"
| He felt some hesitation. partly out
! of a fear of leaving her and partly
from a doubt concerning his own
strength: but neither Of these reasons
was ono he cared to avow. So he un-
furled the bundle that had lain dis
used SO long. spread and ughtened
and tested 1t, and at last, with . nod
Of farewell to the GIRL, dived on the
cli6-head.
Any doubt he may have had con
corning his strength disappsarsd at
once. Tho mere touch Of those great
wings Of his seemed to bring 1t an
back, and hope and Joy and cooAdsaes
along with It.