THE WHITE WORLD 



just recovered. A chill would run through my veins, which 

 was by no means the result of the cold of the atmosphere. 

 It was a chill of apprehension. 



What! Only forty days' rations left, and that was eight 

 months ago! What unspeakable agony of mind and body, 

 what untold sufferings must have been undergone since! 

 My heart ached as I pictured it. The ship seemed to 

 crawl. Moments appeared to be hours then. The anxiety, 

 coupled with dread, to know the truth, was torture. Still, 

 there was some inward voice which told me, in unmistak- 

 able accents, that we were not to be too late. This buoyed 

 me up through all the weary watching and waiting. I 

 knew instinctively, standing there, looking with strained 

 eyes over the frozen expanse before us, that our quest was 

 not to be fruitless. 



As in a mirage, those poor, suffering fellows came up be- 

 fore me, and I prayed, as I have never prayed before or 

 since, that we might be in time. I am sure to-day, as I 

 revert back, that the good God heard that prayer. 



It was late in the evening, and a storm was raging when 

 Colwell arrived at his aimed-for point, but it was still day- 

 light, although dull. Finally the boat reached the shore, 

 keen eyes watching for any sign of human life, but nothing 

 could be discovered. Then, as a point was rounded, all 

 hearts for a moment seemed to stand still. 



On the top of the ridge, some fifty or sixty yards upward, 

 could plainly be distinguished the figure of a man. The 

 coxswain snatched up his boat-hook, with a flag attached 

 to it, and waved it wildly. 



The man caught up a signal flag, and responded. 



Then slowly and painfully he came down the steep in- 

 cline, falling once or twice, before he reached the water's 

 edge. He could only walk feebly and with the utmost 

 difficulty. 



" Who of all are there left? " cried out Colwell. 



" Seven left." 



Seven out of twenty-five! Oh, the pity of it! Xo, 

 worse, the horror, the unspeakable horror of it! 



The man was a ghastly object to look upon. Great hol- 

 lows indented his cheeks, and his beard and hair were strag- 

 gling and matted. What he wore was simply an apology 



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