The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1914-12-10
CHAPTER XIII.
The C~astaways.

drinking his Till OF water, pure,
delightful drafts Of fresh water.
With Il start he regained con
seriousness to find himself wet through
by torrents of rain that were falling
into the open boat upon his body and
his upturned face. A heavy tropical
shower was beating down upon them.
He opened his mouth and drank. Pres
emily he was so revived and strength
ened that he was enabled to raise him
self upon his hands. Across his legs
lay NJ. Thuran. A few feet aft Jane
Porter was huddled in a pitiful little
heap in the bottom Of the bOat-she
was quite still. Clayton thought that
she was dead.
After infinite labor he released him
self from Thuran's p%inioning body and
with renewed strength crawled toward
the girl. He raised her head from the
rough boards OF the boats bottom
There might be life in that poor. starv
ed frame even yet. He could not quite
abandon all hope. and 50 he seized a
water soaked rag and squeezed the
precious drops between the swollen
lips.
For some time there was no sign of
returning animation. but at last his
efforts were rewarded by a slight
tremor of the half closed lids. He
shafed the thin hands and forced a few
more drops of water into the parched
throat. The girl opened her eyes,
looking up at him for a long time be-
fore she could recall her surroundings.
Water" she whispered. Are we
SavedT"
1T is raining he explained. I'VE
may at least drink. Already it has re-
vived us both
M. Thuran:' she asked. He did
not Kill you. Is he dead?"
81 do not know" replied Clayton
he raised his eyes from the body of
the man. and as they passed above
The gunwale of the boat he staggered
weakly to his feet with a little cry Of
JOY.
through his cracked lips. Thank God,
land"
The girl looked. too, and there, not a
hundred yards away. she saw a yellow
beach, and beyond. the luxurious foil
age of a tropical jungle. They set
about reviving Thuran. but it required
The better part Of half an hour before
the Russian evinced sufficient symp-
toms Of returning consciousness to
open his eyes. BY this time the boat
was scraping gently upon the sandy
bottom.
Between the refreshing water that he
had drunk and the stimulus of renew
ed hope. Clayton found strength to
stagger through the shallow water to
the shore with a line made fast to the
boats bow. This he fastened to a
small tree which grew &C the top Of q
low bank.
Next he managed to stagger and
crawl toward the nearby jungle. where
he had seen evidences Of profusion of
tropical fruit. His former experience
in the jungle with TarZan Of the Apes
had taught him which of the many
growing things were edible, and after
nearly an hour Of absence he returned
10 the beach with a little armful of
food.
For n month they lived upon the
beach in comparative safety. AS their
strength returned the two men con-
structed a rude shelter in the branches
Of a tree. high enough from the ground
to insure safety from the larger beasts
c' prey. By day they gathered fruits
and trapped small rodents: at night
they lay covering within their frail
shelter while savage denizens of. the
jungle made bideous the hours of dark
ness.
They slept upon filters Of jungle
grasses. and for covering at night Jane
Porter had only an old ulster that be
longed to Clayton. the same garment
that he had worn upon that memorable
trip to the Wisconsin woods. Clayton
had erected a frail partition Of bOughs
to divide their arboreal shelter into two
rooms. n for the girl aud the other
for NJ. Thuran and himself.
From the first the Russian had ex
hibited every trait Of his true charac-
ter-selfshness. bOOrishness. arrogance.
co%wardice. Twice had lr and Clayton
come to blows heS.ause Ut Thuran's NJ
titude toward the girl The existenrr