The Argosy, March 1907 — page 69: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

of these frail crafts. a moment. ~ man,” sai aire it, and thus retarding ‘to some extent its disintegration. Around and around they raced. Gib- son had managed, at the risk of disaster, ‘to reef the sail down and retard in a measure the mad speed of the boat. Probably never before or since has there been such dexterous handling of one It was the dexterity of despair. - The clearing of the fog was only for Then it shut down again, denser than ever in the gathering gloom of night. The fog-horn at the light was now working again. Gibson and Barrett cursed its mocking moan under their breath. Many a sailor had gone to his death within the sound of that most mournful of all sea-dirges. The two men were now almost com- pletely benumbed with the cold. Barrett was beginning to feel a dreamy indiffer- ence creep over him. Gibson, by the strenuousness of his efforts had fought off the chill in his blood to some extent, but he, too, realized that his nerve was going, and that narrower and narrower were becoming the escapes of the flying ice-craft at the verge of the circular barrier between them and death. Now the boat was doing little more than whirl about in its tracks, a feat’ Gib- son in calmer moments would not have deemed possible. The end seemed only a matter of seconds. Around and around dashed the mad craft, now and again so close to the edge that on the windward side the whitecaps raced on to them and the salt spray froze over their faces. “ Better keep your blood going, old cried Gibson, catching sight of the stupor in Barrett’s eyes. ‘‘ You'll need it all when we strike the water. Never say die till you have to, boy. They may have a boat out for us now.’ Five, ten, fifteen minutes, a ete hour passed. Still the race with death con- tinued. Half a dozen times Gibson tried to rouse Barrett, but the boy sat in a semi- ' stupor and refused to stir. island had Meanwhile, the flimsy ? Darkness had grown steadily smaller. closed in at last. Finally Gibson reached out the hand SA ISLAND. i 7 : 2 - Se a ore > at =" 1S aa x a a ><: 3 s = Vrs es x — . “= = —~— = eon . = 4 —_ <= we 2 —_ . - a XS - any — 2 - x : - | youth. to which the rope was aos and ae The latter scarcely Barrett’s shoulder. noticed him. “We've got to quit, old man,’ Gibson. There was a note of tender pity in the rough old fellow’s voice. Then he threw the boat directly into the wind and cut the sheet, lowered the sail, and came to a stop almost in the middle of the floe. of ice, almost one-quarter the size of the whole, broke off as they halted, and their support rocked so violently that the boat threatened to slide off into the water before it could break through. Another big piece. Gibson steadied it with his pike- pole. For a moment they poised there. The. expected break did not come. ‘The drift- ice was concentrated in several layers under them. Two minutes passed; then three and four. They seemed like hours. Still they swayed up ang down in the sting- ing gale. Barrett looked on-as one in a dream. * said — “She’s holding!” cried Gibson, still a little doubtfully. He shook Barrett’s shoulder. The latter roused up a trifle under blows from Gibson's fists, and began to ~ shake off his torpor. The ice was holding, but that meant only a:slight prolonging of the freezing process, unless a vessel sighted them soon. Much chance of that in the blackness and fog. One might pass unseen within a few yards, “Keep a stiff upper lip, old Gibson’s voice was drowned ie a crash. Then a plunge and darkness. k KS Ag * Could it be possible? Barrett was waking up to the sensation of being dry and warm. “T guess you're all right now, me_ boy,” said a rough voice, and opening his eyes, Barrett saw a man in a Sailor’s pea-jacket bending over him. ‘Where am I?” asked the bewildered “Where’s Gibson? How did I get here?” “Your pard’s coming around all right,” answered the sailor. ‘‘ We ran Comicbooks.com An) ~~ AV? as ci Oras QT PEAS RTA AS 5 na Cy hy ry lt vi Pree