San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-20
Begin Here Today.


! Ned Cornet is engaged to marry
Lenore Hardenworth. They are ship
wrecked and with Bess Gilbert they
take refuge on an island occupied by
a brute named Doomsdorf and his In
dian wife. Ned and the girls are
made prisoners by the master or the
| island and he tells them they are TO
be his slaves.
Lcnore is too weak TO work, so
Bess and Ned take up the burden.
Doomsdorf announces that he means
to make his prisoners do his winter
trapping. They are permitted to build
themselves cabin and Doomsdorf
gives them an old stove.
After the cabin is finished Lenore
is permitted TO remain and help the
squaw with the homework, but Bess
and Ned are started on different
routes to trap for their master. Now
20 on with th" +""v.
The beaver h;.s OF course not
frozen; and the skin stripped off
easily under the little, saving strokes
of his skinning knife. He was rather
surprised at its size. 1t came off
nearly round, and it would stretch
fully 80 inches in diameter. Washing
it carefully, he put it over his beck
and started on.
Other traps yielded pelts in his long
days march.
Tired out, barely able to stand
erect, yet wholly content with his
days catch, Ned made the cabin in
the twilight, built his fire and cooked
his meager supper. After supper he
skinned out such little animals as he
had not taken time to skin on the
trail, fleshed and stretched his pelts,
then hung them up to dry. He was
almost too tired to remove his wet
garments when the work was done.
He hardly remembered drawing the
blankets over him.
But in spite of the hardship, the
wrack of cold, the fatigue that crept
upon him like a dreadful sickness,
Ned had many moments of compare
tive pleasure. One of these mo-
ments, seemingly yielding him much
more delight than the occasion war
ranted, occurred at the end of the
second day of actual trapping.
This days march had taken him to
the Forks cabin; and there, as twi-
light drew about him, he was amazed
to hear the nearing sound of footsteps
in he snow. Some one was COM
ing laboriously toward him, with the
slow, dragging tread of deep fatigue.
1t was Bess, of course. At this
point their lines conceded. 1t was
her third stop, and since she had
left the home cabin a day ahead of
him, she was perfectly on schedule.
He could hardly explain the delight
that flashed through him at the sight
of her. In this loneliness and silence
mere human companionship was bless
ing enough.
His appearance in the doorway
was not n surprise to Bess. She had
knew his schedule would bring him
here. But now she was too near
dead with fatigue to give him more
than n smile.
With scarcely word he lifted her
to the cot, covered her with a blan-
ket, and in spite of her protests,
went speedily about the work of
cooking her supper.
They had a quiet hour Of talk be-
fore he drew the blankets about her
shoulders and left her to drift away |
in sleep. He was unexplainably Xx- |
nltant; light-hearted for all this dread |
waste that surrounded him. This |
little hut of logs was home, to-
night. The cold could not come in;
The wind would clamor at the roof in |
vain.
He did her work for her tonight. |
He skinned the smaller :nimals she |
had brought in. then tleshed and |
stretched all the pelts she had taken.
After preparing his own skins, he
made a hard bed for himself on the
floor Of the hut.
1t was with real regret that they |
took different ways in the dawn.
Ned's last office was to prepare kind
ling for her use on her next visit TO
he cabin four days hence-hardly |
Aalizing that he was learning a little
trick of the woodsman's trade that
would stand him in good stead in
many dreadful twilight to come.