The Irish standard., 1911-09-16
CHAPTER XIX.
Roscoe,

Roscoe had never been able to clear
up his doubt as to Jeanne's identity,
nor to solve the mystery of Cayley's
appearance in the air. The doubt
and the mystery tormented him worse
than any final conviction could have
done. When he thought. as he some
times did, that the cause of all his
terror, the thing While. kept him
penned up here in the cave and de-
MED him access to more than the fur
tive edges Of the beach, might be Just
rather defenseless human couple a
man and woman. and the woman
beautiful, young. alluring-when he
thought Of all that he would 20 of
into transports of rage. which left
even his gigantic body limp and ex-
hausted. If that were the situation,
he might have killed the man weeks
ago and taken possession of the
woman
The thing that kept him sane was,
in itself, a species of insanity, the pas
sion for gold which had led him to
murder Captain Fielding. Every day
he tramped up the glacier to the gold
ledge and there, while the light lasted,
he worked, cutting the precious metal
out Of the rock and with infinite labor
beating 1t pure
AS the weeks and months dragged
along, this UNMARRIED routine more than
compensated for the solitude and tho
terrors his superstition thrust upon
him, and gradually restored him to his
old normal, formidable, brutal self.
On the day when he made the discovery
that was to terminate the long series
of golden days which Jeanne and
Philip had been enjoying, he was,
again. the very man who, during those
long years OF exile. had dominated
crew and captain Of the Walrus and
bent them to his will
He was returning from the ledge
along the crown of the glacier, when,
on the day of this discovery, he found
that his accustomed path was inter.
rupted by new assure in the ice; 1t
had occurred since he had come that
way In the morning, and was too
broad to leap across. So he was forced
to descend by the rougher and more
! mOraine.
Before he had gone three PAGES
along this track his eye made out
something, Just off his patch and lit.
tie below 1t, which caused him at first
to utter snarl Of anger, but led him
the next moment to give wild bias.
phemous yell of Joy.
The great flssure which had opened
In the ice had done, in an instant,
what the party from the Aurora had
failed to do after hours of hard labor
it had yielded up the body of Perry
Hunter, which, during all these
months, 1t had kept imprisoned.
| Strapped across the dead mans
shoulders, just where he had carried
1t in life, was rifle and around his
middle belt full of cartridges.
The next instant Roscoe was bend.
ing over the body, Jerking savage]y
at the frozen buckles which resisted
his impatient fingers. But they were
[ not to be denied. If they were clum.
sy, the hands we're strong.
1t was not five minutes later when
Roscoe, rifle and ammunition belt in
his hands, was hurrying on toward his
cave once moro. The body lay just
where his desecrating hands had left
1t.
The rifle was uninjured; that he had
seen at glance, though of course
all the mechanism Of it's breech wal
frozen fast But half hours hard
work with cleaning rod and rags O!
what once had been shirt, sufflcet
to put it into commission again.
Then, with the rife over his shout
der. he staggered out of the cave
With his first glance abroad, hi
started His devil was being kind II
him today. There could be no doub
Of that. Only, was he being too kind
Roscoe wondered . little uneasilJ