San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-23
Begin Here Today.


Bess Gilbert, Ned Cornet and the
latter's fiancee, Lenore Harden
worth. are shipwrecked. They take
refuge on an island occupied by q
brute named Doomsdorf and his In
dian wife. The master Of the island
takes Ned and the two girls pris-
oners and informs them that he
means to make them slave for him.
Bess and Ned, with but very little
help from Lenore, build cabin and
Doomsdorf gives them an old stove:
When the cabin is finished Bess and
Ned are sent on different routes to
do the winter trapping for their
master.
Lenore is allowed to remain and
help the squaw with the homework.
Ned falls into q deep crevice and
Bess rescues him. The two make
plans to escape from the island. Now
go on with the story.
XVII.
When food and warmth had brought
complete recovery, Ned took up with
Bess the problem of deliverance from
the island. He found that for weeks
she had been thinking along the same
line, and like him, she had as yet
failed to hit upon any plan that Of
fered the least chance for success.
The subject held them late into the
night.
They took different trails in the
dawn, following the long circle Of
their trap lines. All the way they
pondered on this same problem, con-
ceiving a plan only to reject it be-
cause of some unsurmountable OBJ
stacle to its success; dwelling upon
the project every hour and dream
ing about it at night. But Ned was
far as ever from a conclusion when,
three days later he followed the
beach on the way to the home cabin.
He had watched with deadened in
terest the drama of the wild things
about him these last days; but when
he was less than mile from home
he had cause to remember it again.
To his great amazement he found at
the edge of the ice the fresh track
of one of the large island bears.
The sight of the great imprint was
a welcome one to Ned, not alone be-
cause the Weakening forecasted, per-
haps, an early spring, but because he
was in immediate need of bear fur.
His own coat was worn; besides, he
was planning suit of cold-proof
garments for Lenore, to be used per-
haps in their final flight across the
ice. And he saw at once that con-
ditions were favorable for trapping
the great creature.
Scarcely a quarter of mile ahead,
in a little pass that led through the
shore crags down to the beach,
Doomsdorf had left one of his most
powerful bear traps. Ned had seen
it many times as he had clambered
through on a short cut to the cabin.
Because it lay in n natural runway
for game-one of the few spots
where the shore crags could be east
ly surmounted-it was at least pos
sible that the huge bear might fall
into it, on his return to his lair in
the hills.
Ned hurried on, and in a few mo-
ments had dug out the great trap
from its covering of snow. For n mo-
ment he actually doubted his power
to set it. It was of obsolete type,
mighty-springed. and its jaws were
of a width forbidden by all laws OF
trapping in civilized lands, yet Ned
did not doubt its efficiency. It's
mighty irons had rusted: but not
even n bears incalculable might
could shatter them.
This was not to be bait set, so
his success depended upon the skill
with which he concealed the trap.
First he carefully refilled the ex-
cavation he had made in digging out
the trap; then he dug a shallow hole
in the snow in the narrowest part of
the pass. Here he set the trap. util-
izing all the power of his mighty
muscles, and spread a light covering
of snow above.
1t was delicate piece of work
Ned had no wish for the cruel jaws
to snap shut as he was working above
them. But his heart was in the ven.
ture for all his hatred of the cruelty
Of the device: and he covered up his
tracks with veterans skill. Then he
quietly withdrew. retracing his steps
and following the shore line toward
the home cabin.