Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1911-11-03

''whereabout on the cliff is the OBJ
servatory. Phi.sp?"
Il was wondering about that I'VE
| flown across the cliff q 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
had time for that There weren't
many more pages to write in the jour
nal when he made that entry"
/ She fell then into little sbstracted
silence. which the man did not know
how 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 about last
night. the mark on the map right here
where they bull the hut afterward?"
= didn't find Enything about 1t in
. the journal, but this morning. before
breakfast, when went outside the
nut, one glance at the fact of the ciiff
accounted for 1t fully. The cliff is
split right here, from top to bottom,
by deep, narrow fissure. The fissure
is full OF ice, which suppose hasn't
melted a thousand years. No sum-
mer that they could have in high lat
itude like this would ever melt it, GER
tainly"
The girl laughed and rose from her
place at the rude table.
Well" she asked, ARE you ready
for my 'scoyery now?"
She .ook down his pocket electric
bull's-eye from the shelf behind her.
held out hand to him and. on tip
toe, led him, with a burlesque exag-
geration Of mystery, out into the store
room. AS completely mystified In
reality as she playfully pretended TO
want him to be, Cayley followed.
She went straight across the store
room to the rear wall of the hut the
wall that backed squarely against the
sheer surface of the cliff. flashed on
the bulrs-eye for q second, apparently
to make sure that she had chosen the
right point in the wall. then. letting
go his hand, she stopped and picked
up stick Of 1re-wood which lay at
her feet. With this she struck pretty
hard upon the planking. The sound
which the blow gave forth was as
hollow as drum.
Cayley started. "A cave!" he ex-
claimed "A cave herei-oh. see
It's cold cellar they made by cutting
a hole In the ice that filled the fissure
And why do you suppose they boarded
1t up?"
The girl laughed delightedly. Evil
IDENTIFY she had not. as yet. developed
the whole of her discovery. She
flashed on the light again.
Look" she commanded.
In the center of little circle of
wall which the bull's-eye now illum-
mated Cayley saw the barrel of
rusty hinge.
you see," she went on. sits a door,
and they only nailed it up the other
day. There's a nail-head somewhere
here that's quite bright ] caught the
CLINT of 1t while was rummaging be-
fore breakfast, and that was what
made me look"
Cayley darted back into the living
room, returning almost instantly with
the broken-handled pick.
In less than a minute, with a pro
testing sQuawk. the rude door swung
open, and they saw before them just
what Cayley had predicted. rather
high, but narrow cavity. the sides OF
which were the naked rock of the
cliff. but the floor and ceiling solid
ice.
Despite the fact that the girls ex-
element over the discovery of the.
cave had, for a moment carried Cay
ley along with It. he was not greatly
surprised, and not at all cast down
when, at the end of I'VE minutes of
hasty exploration. It was made evil
dent 10 them that the ample supply Of
stores which they sought was not to
be found here.
Jeanne herself would not, perhaps,
have entertained so high a hope had
she learned Of the reference to the
other cave which Cayley found in the
journal before she herself had CHANGED
upon the mouth of this one. AS II
was, his theory that the stores were
to be found in a cave vaguely situated
along the glacier, made little impress
sion upon her, she was so sure that
they had been right here. under their
hands.
When their investigation made It
clear that whether he was right OF
not. certainly she was wrong. she was
bitterly disappointed Cayley was
aware OF that, even as they stood
here. side by side, with no light to see
her face by She said nothing, or
very little. but he knew, nevertheless,
that for Just this moment all the life
and courage had gone out Of her.,
knew that the slight figure there, SO
close beside him. was dropping. trem-
bling little.
He laid q steady hand upon her
shoulder. Almost instantly, under his
touch. she turned to him. caught with
both hands at the unbottoned edges of
the rough wooden jacket he wore, and,
sobbing little now and then, but 9TH
erwise In silence. simply chung to him.
He did not offer. with his arms, to
draw her any closer, to turn what was
mere instructive appeal to the protec-
ton Of his strength and courage, into
an embrace. He kept hand on each
of her shoulders, more by way Of sup
port than anything else, and waited