San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-14
Begin Here Today.

Begin Here IOuay.
Ned Cornet takes his fiancee,
Lenore. and the latter's mother on
a voyage to Northern Canada and
Alaska. He has two thousand silk
and velvet gowns to exchange with
the Indian trappers for fine furs.
The craft is destroyed in a gale
and the passengers are forced into
the life-boats. In one boat is Cap
tain Knutzen, Ned, Lenore and Bess,
a seamstress. Land is sighted by
the captain and man meets them
at the edge of the shore. When they
land the man tells them his name is
Doomsdorf and that he has named
the island "Hell."
Ned helps Lenore to Doomsdorfs
cabin and Bess is left with Captain
Knutzen. Doomsdorf sets the life
beat adrift, and. when Knutzen
the captain dead. Now go on with
the story.
She fought back the instinct to
scream out her story from the door
way. At the bidding Of an instinct so
sure and true that it partook of a
quality of infallibility, she checked
her wild pace before she crossed the
threshold. Everything depended on
Ned and the coz strong quality of
Ned's nerves. She caught her breath
in a curious deep gasp, then stepped
into the room.
Then that gasp became very nearly
a sob. The way of deliverance was
not clear. A wrinkled native wo-
man, an Aleut or an Eskimo, who
was evidently Doomsdorf's wife,
looked up at her with dark inscrut-
able eyes from the opposite side of
the room.
The whole picture went home to
Bess in a glance. Lenore was hud-
died in a chair before the stove,
yielding herself to the blessed
warmth, already shaking off the
semi-apathy induced by the nights
chill. But as yet there was no hope
in her. She was shivering, helpless,
impOtent. Ned bent over, her, his
arms about her, now and then giving
her sips from a cup of hot liquid
that he held in his hand. His care,
his tender solicitude, struck Bess
with a sense of ur tterable irony.
Evidently he had no suspicion of the
real truth.
He looked up as Bess entered. Part
1y because the light was dim, partly
because he was absorbed in the work
of caring for Lenore to the exclusion
of all other thought. he failed to see
the drawn look of horror on Bess'
face. "I'll need little help here,
Miss Gilbert" he said. II want TO
get this girl to bed. The night
seemed to go harder with her than
with the rest of us, and rest is the
best thing for her."
Bess almost sobbed aloud.
At that instant she knew she must
work alone. She must give no sign
of her own desperation before this
stolid squaw. And yet she almost
screamed with horror when she real
lied that any second she might hear
Doomsdorf's step on the threshold.
She glanced about till she located the
Russians rifle, hung on the wall al
most in front of the squaw's chair.
Did you hear shot?" she asked.
With all the powers of her spirit, she
kept her voice commonplace, casuel.N
Yes" Ned answered. 1T wasn't
it?" His tone became
cold. "Will you please give me a
little help with Miss Hardenworth:
1T was bear-Mr. Doomsdorf
shot at it with his pistol" she went
on in the same casual way. She
thought it incredible that they would
not take alarm from the wild beating
of her heart. She turned easily to
the sQuaw. "He wants me to bring
his rifle So he can shoos ut it again. /"
she said. THAT'S it-ol the WALTZ"
She stepped toward the weapon.
"Sure-take him gum" the squaw
answered her.
Now the Indian was getting up
and presently was lifting down the
weapon. But she did not put it at
once into Bess' hands. She pushed
back the lever. revealing the empty
breech. Then Bess saw a slow draw
ing Of her lips-a crued upturning
that was seemingly as near as she
could come to smile.
"Sure-take him gun she said.
"Got any shells?"