The Wreck of the South Pole and Other Strange Tales — page 32: what you’re looking at

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

The Wreck of the South Pole. 25 turning over in my mind what todo. To turn back I was most strongly inclined, but there was something which drew me down the valley. What that was I could not say then, although I learned afterward. In spite of pros- pective dangers and mysteries, I felt impelled to proceed instead of going back. Step by step I went down the valley, noting at almost every step new indications of-a different clime. Vegeta- tion began to spring up and the air assumed a softer tem- per. Animals and birds could be seen, flowers appeared, and as I descended farther | came to cattle grazing and fields of grain and corn. As I reached the last descent before coming into the valley, or down to the plain, I saw a man approaching, a man who seemed in figure strangely like the one I saw for a brief time out on the ice fields, and I will confess to a feeling of fear again. But this time there was no dis- appearance. We gradually drew near each other until within hailing distance, when he called out in a cheery voice in English telling me to hasten and bidding me wel- come. But while I did not stop, yet I did not hasten, and I viewed him with ill-concealed suspicion until he reached out and grasped my hand in a hearty handshake. Then I realized that whatever mysterious experiences I had gone through I had met at last a human being, and then—all the strength which had held me up for days gave way and I sank down upon the ground and cried. Yes, cried. And any one else would have done the same thing under similar circumstances. Connicloool (FO)