The Tacoma times. [volume] (Tacoma, Wash.) 1903-1949, 1940-01-26

| ,ASTAWAYS
BY PRISCILLA WAYNE

plane by the explosion and il isn't
even singed. guess I'm glad
now that Steve brought ii along
even II I did laugh when he put
it into the plane.
He said he intended 10 be
ready for any emergency Well.
I guess he must have known what
he was talking about"
Doris stopped her excited chat
ter abruptly. conscious that no one
listened, Mark had drifted back
into the coma that had gripped
him most of the time since the
accident.
After that Doris busted herself
trying to make her patient more
comfortable. II was the work OF
almost half an hour to blow up
the air mattress. Steve had
bought three mattresses when
they shopped for supplies before
the beginning of the expedition
and the salesman had demon
strated how easily the mattress
could be gotten into condition.
Scoffed at Mark
Because she scoffed at the need
of them Steve had very quietly
packed his mattress in his own
duffle bag. The other two Mark
had packed somewhere in the
demolished plane.
After she had blown the mat
tress up enough to bear his
weight, Doris pulled it alongside
Mark and spread a blanket over it.
Can you make it over 70 the
mattress. Mark ?" she begged.
IF you'll just help yourself a
little l can lift you"
But the unconscious man did
not respond. Doris managed final
ly to get him over on the mattress,
lifting his shoulders first, bodily.
and using every ounce of her
strength.
Then, pantingly, she half lifted,
half dragged him to a more COM
Portable position.
She unfolded the collapsible cam
vas pan and journeyed to the lake
to bring water. Returning she
washed Marks face and lips with
the clean, cool water.
Dismayed Sound
The sick man said, Thank
you" and then, Il think we ought
to turn back, Miss Denton. We're
undoubtedly off our course"
Those were the words he had
been saying in that tense minute
in the air just before all of them
knew for a certainty that the
crash was inevitable. Those were
the words that had caused her
anger and sudden mismanagement
of the plane.
Doris said. Eyes, yes. we will,
Mark" soothingly and trembled
at the far away. dismayed sound
of her own voice.
She hunted through the emer-
gency medicine kit. There were
the usual things in it. Bandages,
cotton, iodine, some medicine
labeled Snake Bite Antidote and 4
bottle or two of pills.
But nothing particularly this
would help a man with a broken
leg and perhaps a broken back or
internal injuries. Not enough
bandage to begin bandaging a leg
even if she knew how.
For the first time since the acci-
dent she glanced at her wrist
watch-or at the place where it
had been. 1t must have been
sheered off in the rapid descent.
She tried to reconstruct the
scene. The details of the mishsp
were not very clear in her mind.
She had obeyed Steve's orders.
She had brought the plane down
herself. She remembered his calm,
shouted directions and trembled as
she lived over again the horror OF
those frantic minutes.
Long Hours
That must have been near nine
O'Clock in the morning. They
were barely three hours out from
the airport.
Now it was late afternoon. The
sun. sinking low to the horizon
and casting binding path
straight across the lake told her
that.
Steve had been gone seven or
eight hours, it seemed to her like
seven or eight eternities.
Suddenly she heard him COM
ing.
Her heart beat wildly when she
realized she was not mistaken. He
came crashing through the I'M
derbrush.
Presently he came closer and
Doris could see that his face and
hands were torn from their con-
facts with the brush His face
was gray with fatigue. He was
alone. He had not brought help!
ITO Be Continued
n N