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Show B " Wwiwiwn r hi hi I AN ARCTIC KNIGHT H Story of in Exploring I Party H ' By EDWIN B. ERIIART B 1 Copyright, 1910. by American t'reu H jk Mocl.itlon. H ArU-rn conned hltltiR IiIh unlto and H x rogtcd n lonp, loon chin In tlio hollow H 'T of IiIh ImwIh. H , "I could toll you fiotuptlilnj? Hint H ff a irrtuld riurprlxp yon." ho nnld, Ktwtnj; ut H tin ilcroHH Oil IiiIjIo. H I nlitrod nt lilm uxpoctnntly. j "What?" I niunoHylliibtud. H ArlorM 'loomed inetlllntlvoly, but H allowed no disposition to miniver. H ' The jilt I on tlio cot ilunn n pitifully H t 111 ti iirni ovtir lior liond mid inonuod H nd murmured In lior nloop. H " "Woll, what?" I rolli-rntrtl nttnrply. H The Iouk trip Hint tiny iktohh tlio mo- H iiotonoiis, n ovor eliding wlilto plnln H !$lind dono lltllo toward Improving my H H Artern nrono to IiIh fjront lielprht. m Hquarrd IiIh lirond Hliouldnrw and tip H , toed around tlio table. H "I am Ood!" lie wlilnporrtl In my car. H 1 aaw that I had to do with a mad- H , "TIiIh In n HtranRo world," continued B i ArlrrH. n ruminant note In IiIh voice. H "Here wo tiro come, you and I, to thlt 8 fonMltcn country In a quest for a lo.ii m I woman explorer and all for u minor- H ' bl plttnnco doled out to us liy u Clil H cnRo nowHpiiper." He liruHhrd nn im- H ' patient hnud iktohh lilti eyes. "My B. , memory Isn't nil that It nliould lie." B tic confcHHcd, "I hIioiiIiI hnve ionium 1 i Ijcred who I watt am and then thin Hji trip would hnvo been unnecuKHitry." H "' Art era cant n furtive glance toward m 'I the cot In the dim corner. "In hIio an Hj1 miri'I," ho inurmutTd iunruloimly, "or H f Ituth Proctor, the i;lrl wo came Hviircli H liur for? 1 can't huciii to remutuber H Homchow." B ' ."Moth," I miHwered, and my com pnulon was wit Mini. I It Boi'ined yearM hIiico the Meteor land itPKlKticd iih. Htuu reporters ut tin time, to the lmsm-dous tnal; of tlntllut; Outfit Proctor, the Intrepid ctrl ox-liwror, ox-liwror, who had net out two yearn before be-fore to Dud the north pole nisi! -vr B f miv HuppnMvd to be Homewheve l.i th. H ytolulty of thfjtiluctlcth deuiee, H " '1'1' Meteor la not one to mint Iti H' l ombas-ilrK We, the woiiIh of Artern ito the contrary, fairly rcvelrd In iitun-ey, iitun-ey, and the ewtPtitliilH of Hie trip were nil forthcoming and were of the beat. Our boat, the Lout Hope. wih it marvel Hf of. teeluileal coimtntetloii. made for Hi thin very purpone and for our enter- Hi prtilitK Jotiritnl. Hjl Mhn Proctor, the youuu Koclety wo H man who had forsworn New York Hl "n,l (he callow iiinuscinetitH of her net Hr to do iiomethluK really worth while, H had been coiuiplrttotiH In the limelight ' on the eve of her departure and for H twelve niontliM thereafter. Now If hIh R wiih refernd to ut nil la the pupers i formerly enthusing over her nerve and darltiK Hhe wiih given no more than a H lutHHlug paragraph. Uer fame bade H fair to be niched with that of her II- B 'himrloUH predecesHor, Andre, the fame H of fallutv H Hut the Meteor Uept nti impatient eye northward, and when the relief B expedition came borne without her Ar- torn and I were given the word to go H in Hcnrch of the girl. ' Artei-H was the Meujamln .1. Artcrs H, of much mad Hcrambllng on' the putt Hb! of mnhltlouri dallies that lusted for lilt B'i cillelent Hervlcea. He was a writer H t l;ecn of brain and pen and one of the Hj ltlghe.it Hiilnrletl fact getters in the HH't world of Htuudgo and cheap rutper. H:,t No college degree Joumallat was Ar- B toni, but n reporter. B iitultb, the uunmglug editor, had said B' to me. "You are to accompany Ar- B tera"-not on account of my utcllnr B position on the staff, understand, but 1 because 1 had been one of the adven H turcro In that tlrnt rush to the Yukon H and knew my north. H Our Hlilp bad rare good IneU. the Ice drift allowing us at the last to come H -within a quarter tulle of the silent H Maid of Orleans, Hutu Proctor'tt boat H Of course It was deserted. The log H book was gone. We bad no way of H tolling whether the crew had returned H to the trail after the original tlrst rush H toward the Ke or perlsbetl of cold H With four Ksiduuw, dogs and sletlgen H wo begu the tall of our trip Our H mute In all pnlmbtllty was the same H as that or Ituth Procter' party. H HsUlmos are peculiar buuiaus. Our Hl men eeuiet perfectb" contented, but HT one inondug we crawled out of our H bleeping tmirn to Had them gone. They H lmd tnUen with them our fastest dogt). H two BiediteM and n targe supply of our H provision. Wisely we decided not to H Kate must have ptauued our oxpedU H tlon with hu eye for the tnolodm- H motif. At any rate, when we found B the fur etrd maid explorer she was B alone, fwirtugy deserUnl by every H bodv imil.lwlf cnweil And'tilclc.' SW B bad fowl, but to ordr-r to ululie tills . ,vi jh nj.. tr i Ktrvitig npr h:' ti ileum. Hhe moving toward he poh- 1 ' ,n ,ov w,lh npr K'uitf'irwar. "d I guett Arters did. rtutli PrivliT wan n witching thing dfwplte hr ugly. h!tpe destroying s!:ltis, and the hunger and imow fever had uimlp her dainty face but thnt much more pathetically beautiful. He-cplte He-cplte her xfern renolvo to And the pole nnd the nelf rellnnr.j of her. he was a riot fyinltilne person. We turned trick. The glrltlnow Hint the liirentlvc for keeping un wn par-.dly par-.dly romovoil. now seiloiirtly III, citd tzr n!n. tbiyu on the back truck we Hiliv ucA'itw a desert td shanty that had been n vautace point on our pole-v. pole-v. aid trp it nil prepared, tit stuy then.' unfll she wan some rei-overed. We itww nothing of her struggle nor why we hud found her nlouo. Her inliid nrua gone tcmpornrily. " I wan worried, it ml had been fcr Munw time, about Artery Ills gnupt fare hnd nlotninorplio.Mod Into a plncbod, weird caricature of its former for-mer Innnticafl, nnd If t spoke to him suddenly he started curiously nor deigned uu nnswer. OccnMonnlly he broke out Into a babble of meaning less Hounds apropos of nothing whatever what-ever In our arctic world. He would sometime catch himself at this and flush (ihnuiofaccdly. Artcrs was now ngnln back In the rickety chair across tlio table from me. mumbling Incoherently and with his great knotted hands clinching and uu clinching restlessly. Thla deported shack, erected by some forgotten voynger who. Providence knows how, had got timber enough together for that snmo purpose, was the point of our flrst food cache. We had now cntcu down to almost the Inst of our pemmlcnii. Tomorrow we would dig up our treasure enough to Inst us until wo reached not too distant dis-tant clvlllzntlon. Artorn suddenly conned his mad Jutu bio of words. He pillowed bin head on Ids arms and slept. I yawned, and. desplto my resolve to stay awoke and guard my mad comrade, the rhythmic broathlng of the two sleepers lulled me to un unconscious condition I was awakened by a gentle nhako of tho nrm. The frightened eyea of Ituth Proctor stared Into mine. All Illness Ill-ness seemed to have vanished from her "He Is dead," she gasped and pointed point-ed mi eloquent linger, nt the still form opposite me. An Investigative baud touching the leed llesh of him testllled to the truth of this. With Iriflnlto tact Miss Proctor carae forward and placed a soft little hand In my own. "1 will be little bother ift you." she said Hlmply. "The snow sickness litiH left me. What what shall we do with" The tears sprang fruiu the black depths of her eyes, and she turned her head away, unable to complete the sentence. "We must leave him here." 1 nn sweicd. "We have only one sled, you know. Later I will return for him." "To think," came brokenly from the Mrs 6f the maid e.xj lorer. "that he gave up his llfo in Ids effort to savo mine." Womaii'llke, slio cradled bar pretty face In bur arms ud abandoned herself her-self to her grief. It devolved upon mc tojUlll the wnll In my own heart and bo practical. "Don't." I whispered, bo close to her that 1 felt her fragrant breath brus'i my cheek as she raised pathetic c,.es to me. "What Is done cannot be un dene." In what would be the morning In the United States 1 went forth and dug for our re-servo food supply and dug In vain! Some vandal had pirated U during our rl ettce. With a heavy heart I returned to the shack. The girl stared Interrogatively at my empty hands. "Looted," I ventured brlotly. What good for me to put off the truth? ICventuully she would have to know. "I t Norry tat your sake." she an-Hwered, an-Hwered, and again an luuxpllcable look canto Into her eyes. "We must go at oace." 1 vtrned. "We have only enough provisions for ubout two days." After a meager meal I hitched the dogti (Alters hud long since been laid at rest) and went back for tho girl, who was Untitling her hetivy arytle coat and mittens. A uolso caused me to leap to the door of the hut Just In tlmo to seo my huskies, mad. I It ho streaks of gray, speedlug across the snow In pursuit of that runt avis, an tiivtle bare. Yelping excitedly, they refused to re-npond re-npond to my cries lu fact. It Is doubtful doubt-ful If thoy hoard mu. With n heavy heart I romomboreu that everything was paoktfd In the sledge, I.turned dospalrlugly. The dogs wero gone. Tboy might nituni; more likely lluv would not. The arctic husky -more wolf than dog -is an uukuowu quantity. In the open door, as I raised my eyes, I saw the girl, t knw .from tho pallor of her face that she had seen nil, but 1 attempted n brave smile. "Thoy -will returu.'M jipoke 'reassuringly. 'reassur-ingly. "Perhaps." shb feald softly. "1 know them and tholr ways, you must r tuembor." She smiled at me lintvoly. Suddenly ui arms were- a'lipuf her. I know uot bow" It hauubucd. "My love." I nnld passionately, "must we die here Just when we have found ench other" At Inst 1 bad fathomed the secret In the eyes of her. "Dent-eat." she nnld. looking up nt last from my shoulder, "you will never know the snow ns I do. Search again for your supplies. I hnvo n belief I enn't tell why-that you will And them." I looked. Sure enough, they were not two feet from where I had hunted. Luck now cloyed us with her fnvorc. That night the dogn cnuic whining to the door, nnd oh. mnrveP-tln sledge, though overturned, was with tliotn. "Itutli." I philosophized. "so;.ie good ''nine mtt of It. for I am ntr brd tho dosts not run away I would tint hnve had thecournge to speak." And the llf.R of her enme .loso ebwfr! ' The trip was done in safety The maid explorer was given over to iv ship n in.tltl no longer, however, but, think tn n venturing, gold hunting clergyman, my wlfp. A Drink Peril. "Where are you going with tho goat, little boy?" "Down to the lake. Come along If yon wanter see some fun. Tills here goat has Jest eaten n crate of sponges, an I'm goln down to let him drink." Answers. |