The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales — page 24: what you’re looking at

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

CHAPTER ITI. I WISH TO TURN BACK. When I awoke, after ten hours of sleep, such as J had not enjoyed for many a day, the cabin was as I had left it when I turned in, except that the fire was burning low. Everything else remained the same. No one had entered while I slept. Food for breakfast I found in a cupboard behind the stove, and as I was preparing my meal I saw a placard on the wali which I was quite certain had not been there the night before. It read: “This hut was erected for shipwrecked mariners. When you have rested, travel due south.” That was all, but the meaning was plain. There must _ be people living somewhere in this country. Hence I was on what many geographers had supposed this great mass of ice to be—a frozen continent. But 1f there were people living on it, then some portion of it cannot be covered with ice. After preparing and eating a hearty breakfast, I set out for the south, guided by my pocket compass, which, for- tunately, I had placed in the boat before we left the ship. I traveled ten hours that day, and again came to a cabin which I entered and found provisions for a meal. Noone met me, and a second time I lay down and slept. A similar placard was on the walls of this hut also, direct- ing me to continue my journey southward. ECORNIE OOOLKS (FO)