Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1916-12-23
CHAPTER XIX

treat desoauou and. though nlght had
| gathered now and all WAS cluakcd IN gloom.
they landed with no, worse than a hard
| hhnke-up on level strip OF beach that
sdScd the confines ot tho unknown take.
Exhausted By the strain and the long
hght with death, chilled by that solourn
| Va the upper air, deruched and stincned
| aud half dead. they had no strength TO make
a camp.
Tho most that they could do was 10 drag
| themselves down 10 the waters cdgN and
| finding the water fresh. not Fait--drink
| deeply from followed palms Thon. too
I worn oui even TO cat they crawicd under
tho shelter of tho btpInnc'a ample wings.
/ and dropped Instantly into the long and
! drcAmlNss rlccp pf utter wcnrlnesa
Mld'morning found thcm. stili lame and
| rtin but rchied. cooking breakfast over a
| chccry fire on tho beach near the machine
/ Save Tor here and there q tree that had
! blown down ln tho forest tomo dead
branches scattered on tho sands and few
| NaRhodout places whore tho torrent OF yea-
| tcrday's rain had quilted tho earth, nature
once more seemed fair and calm
Tho fill force of the terrific windUtorm
| had probably pnEsed to northward this
| land whore they now found themselves--
| whatever II might bc---hRd doubtless borne
| only a stpai part of tho attack. But even
10. and Even though tho sky Eiennicd clear
and blue and sunilt once again. Stern and
the girl knew tho hurricane had been no
ordinary tempest
1T must have been cyclone. nothing
less" Judged the engineer. as he finished hls
| meal and reached for his comforting pipe.
And God knows where ita driven ug 20!
50 far as Judging distances goes. In a hurrl'
cnno Hike that ia Impossible. This may 30
any one OF tho Great Lakes: and. again
II may not For all we know, we may he
m In the Hudson Bay region somewhere
This may be Winnipeg, AthnbnHca, or Groat
Slave. with tho hind ~ storms Tint hap
pen nowadays anythings possible"
Nothing matters, after nll. y the glrl as
aurcd HIM except that we'rc alvc and un-
hurt; and the machine can sim travel
for"
.rravclr' cried stern with about
quart Of fuel or less! How far. ia liko TO
knowe'
"Thats 70 never thought OF thatg' the
girl replied, dismayed, oh dear, what
shall we do nowg'
Stern laughed.
Hunt for "A town. of course" he reas-
gurcd her There. there don't worry II
wo find alcohol we'rs all right. anyhow.
II not. we're better on than we were after
the maelstrom almost got w. at any rate,
Then we had no arms, ammunition. tools,
or means 20 mako nre. while now we've
got them all Forgive nly speaking aH I
did. little Rlri Don't worry---eyerything
win come right In the end
Treasured she sat before the hre. and
for an hour or more they drew maps and
diagrams Ia the sand. made plans md laid
out their next step IN this loni campaign
against the savage power Of deserted
world
At last. their minds made up they |
wheeled the plane back to the forest. where |
Stern cut out among the trees place for |
It's protection And, leaving Il here. COW
cred with branches OF the thick-topped |
fern.tree, they took provisions and once |
moro set out ON their exploration,
But this time they had an AZ and their
two rifles, and as they strobe northward /
along the shore they felt match for any
peril.
An hours walk brought them to the
ruins ~ a Htccl recreation pier, with nu-
merous traces Of a town along the lake
behind It.
THAT settles the Hudson Bay theory"
stern rejoleed. AS they wandered among
the debris 'sThis' IL certainly one OF the
Great Lakes. though which one, or course
we can't tell as yet And now, II we
can round up some alcohol Wen be on
our way before very long"
They found no alcohol. for the only ruin
whore drugs or liquors had evidently been
sold had cayed in, a mass OF shattered
briclswork smashing every bottle In the
place stern found many gplnieFed shardH
Of glass; but that was all. SO FAR uH fuel
else, however. that proved Of tremendous
value--the wreck of q printing office.
Presses and iron OF all kind had gone
TO pieces but some 0f tho larger lead
And the crucial thing. he turned up
Jagged bit of stereotype sheet frnin under
the protection Of concrete piiuth that
had fallen into the cellar
All eorroded and dscolored though II
,vae he stIlI could make out "A few letters
"A newspaper head, so help me- he
exclaimed as with a trembling hageF he
pointed the letters out 10 BeRtfies' Here's
an 'H'-hsre'B 'mhuF'-herea ally and
ronIcI'l En- whnte Chronicle Il must
ave been nv Jove. you're right Ana
.he whole thing used 20 spell Hamburg
oaily Chronicle. or Fm a Hart"
lie thought a moment-'hought hard
hen burst out; /
axe? Well. the only Hamburg by a lake !
hat know Of used 70 be Hamburg. New
York / ought 20 remember ! drew tho
,lans for the New York Central bridge .
uat north Of here over the Spring crceE 4
'sYs9 sir. this certainly Is Hamburg
yev York And this lake must be Erie I
sow. n I'm correct. just back up there on !
hat hin we'll find the remains Of the rail-
yav eut aud less than ten miles north Of ..
- -. H. M that's ieft Of Bunaio. Some =
nj enc Cast away only fifteen miles :
\ !, from Il place like that And We :
,Iebt have gone 10 Great Bear Lake, or
hen l---to any other place. for all the q
yelone cared a
well come on now. let's see II the rail- i
,.v cut Is siln there, and my old bridge \
IA II %. it's Buffalo for ours :" !
N vas an as he had said. The right /,
f-syay af the railroad atili showed dis.
'netly. IN spite Of the fact that ties and :,
m had long since vanished or the
ridge nothing was left but some rusted a
'ssf strlngsTs entangied about the dlHln- i,
rated concrete piers But Stern viewed Il,
en- with q melancholy pride and interest | 4
bis osn handiWork In the very long ago. ] 4
rhsy had no time. however for retro | n
,eetion; but. onfe more taking the shore.
M steadily noFthward And before noon / a,
~ reached the debris of Buffala, stark / h
ad deserted BY the lake where once It's
~ commerce ana ltE noisy life had j
'roased BY I o'clock that afternoon a,
~ had collected fuel enough 10 do that
sfanea on and more Late that night
~ 4ere again hack at the spot whars
~ had landed the night before.
And here Ia high spirits ana with every
ne 81 better fortune nov 70 follow evil
ey cooked their meal and spent an hour V
planning their next move then slept q
~ III - -