Tollemache, having nothing to say, was not given to the use of

unnecessary words. Elsie was conscious of a certain constraint in

their talk.

"Please don't mind me," she said quietly. "I know all about the loss

of the Emu. If we fall into the hands of the Alaculof tribe, we

shall be not only killed but eaten."

She was pouring out a second cup of tea for Walker when she made this

remarkable statement. Her eyes were intent on exact quantities of tea,

milk, and sugar, and she passed the cup to the engineer with a smile.

Each of the men admired her coolness, but Tollemache, who had been

quietly scrutinizing the nearer hills, gave painful emphasis to this

gruesome topic by exclaiming: "There they are now: smoke signals."

Sure enough, thin columns of smoke were rising from several points on

the land. It could not be doubted that these were caused by human

agency. They were not visible when the party sat down to breakfast.

The appearance of the ship was their obvious explanation, but not a

canoe or a solitary figure could be seen, though Courtenay and others,

at various times during the day, searched every part of the neighboring

shore with field glasses and powerful telescopes.

After an all too brief burst of sunshine, the Land of Storms again

justified its name. Giant clouds came rolling in from seaward. The

mountains were lost in mist; the glaciers became sullen, rock-strewn

masses of white-brown ice; the fresh greenery of the forests faded into

somber belts of blackness. Though it was high summer in this desolate

region, heavy showers of hail and sleet alternated with drenching rain.

At low-water, though the Kansas floated securely in a depth of twenty

fathoms, a yellow current sweeping past her starboard quarter showed

how accurately Courtenay had read the tokens of the inlet. Many a

swollen torrent, and, perhaps, one or two fair-sized streams at the

head of the bay, contributed this flood of fresh water.

And, with the evening tide, there were not wanting indications that the

gale without had developed a new fury. A solitary albatross, driven

landward by stress of weather, rode in vast circles above the ship.

There was no wealth of bird life in that place of gloom. Though fitted

to rear untold millions of gulls and other sea birds, this secluded

nook was almost deserted; generations of men had devoured all the eggs

they could lay hands on.

To Elsie and the doctor were entrusted the daylight watch on deck and

the care of the sick. For the latter there was not much to be done.

The cook undertook to feed them, and Frascuelo, the wounded stevedore

who had been discovered in a state of collapse, soon revived, and was

practically able to look after himself. The others, under Walker's

directions, were hard at work in the engine-room and stoke-hold, for

there alone lay the chance of ultimate escape.




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