The Mena weekly star., 1911-04-13

even III l hadn't minded leaving you
asleep here. unprotected, in the hut, l
doubt very much II could have found
Il at night But whats the mystery
you were about to reveal to msr
No." she said; tell me more about
your discovery FIRST. What was the
reference In the journal7"
He rose and took down from the
shelf the big leather-bound volume
which was proving itself. with every
hour, their greatest treasure.
IT'S over here. toward the end" he
said, in that last winter when the
Walrus came-oh, here we are"
He seated himself on the bunk be-
side her, and began to read.
March 10th.--We have just spent
an arduous and fearful week upon
tho task OF unloading the wreck OF the
whaler. Tho weather has been severe
utterly cold (--10 degrees Fahren-
hsit being the mndest) and three
quarters OF gale blowing most OF the
time. The men are inclined to be re-
bsllious over my driving them out to
work in such weather. but dared not
wait for II to moderate
When the Ice opens round the
whaler. she win 20 down like a plum.
met: and If that event should have
happened before we unloaded her Of
her stores, our plight would have been
utterly desperate. OF stores in the
ordinarily accepted sense. she had put
scanty supply, and those of mis-
erahly 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-
sity which this land itself does not
supply us with. or course we shall
have to forego the. delights of bear
steak when our ammunition gives out.
but walruses we can kill with har.
poons. And with these and scurvy-
grass, which we gather in the valley
every summer, there is no danger OF
actual starvation.
I'VE hoisted the barrels OF blubber
out of the whaler's hold with hand
tackle, sledged them ashore along the
foe and the crown of the glacier to
Moseley's 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
rs that all he says about it?'
ITS all he says directly, but there's
reference Just little further along
which made me all the surer | was
right. $3.50 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 should not repeat now. Fol
instance, carrying her pilot house
with infinite labor. up to the cliff
head for an observatory. 1t is thor
oughly inpracticable for this purpose
doubt II have visited 1t 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. / have but
little to apply the knowledge to. This
Walrus IL, believe, the most utterly
wretehed hulk that ever sailed the
ssas--ili-found, detestably dirty and
literally rotting to pieces. We shall
however, get enough planks and tim
bers out of her to build shed or two
near the hut for the more convenient
storage Of our supplies.
Again he closed the book. That's
what / was looking for" he said. "Yor
see they brought that stu6 down from
the cave to these sheds; 80 the cave
would be almost inevitably the nrsi
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"
81 was wondering about that. I've
Town across the cIin number Of
times. but have never seen anything
Of It, He may have wrecked It; taker
II down and used 1t for some otheI
purpose"
NO" she said: he'd hardly havs
had time for that There weren'
many more pages to write In the jour
nal when he made that entry"
She fell then into little abstracts
silence, which the man did not know
how to break But presently she rouses
herself and came fully back to the pres
emit, back to him.
Ibid you succeed In accounting 70
the thing you asked me about las
night, the mark on the map right her
where they built the hut afterward !?
Il didn't fnd anything about It Il
tho journal, but this morning, befor'
breakfast, when | went outside thu
hut, one glance at the fact Of the clii
accounted for 1t fully. The cfff i
split right here. from top to bottom
by q deep, narrow fissure. The issur