The Argosy, Vol. 83 No. 1 — page 127: what you’re looking at

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

HELLO, SOMEBODY! be—that some wandering fellow-being would come into that region. In view of the one infinitesimal chance, Stanbury kept his fire burning all day and as far as possible into the night. ‘There was plenty of dry undergrowth. But no sign of man nor sound of human tongue came in response to his constant signal, and by the third day Stanbury had given up immediate hope and fallen into a mechanical routine of eating, smoking, sleeping and reading, with occasional pac- ings up and down and baths in the lake. At the close of this day he took stock of his food and found that two days more at the most would see him at the end of his resources. For the first time Stanbury be- gan to feel a little anxious as to his per- sonal safety. Supposing that, after all, Carmichael had proved obdurate and Saville had failed! Would he keep his word as to leaving his enemy to perish? No, somehow Stanbury felt that he would not do that. Yet his plan of des- patching relief might have gone awry. - Then Stanbury suddenly recalled Sa- 117 ville’s mention of the hundred dollars which he was to pay his rescuer, whoever he was. ‘That would probably insure ebe- dience to Saville’s command. Instinctively Stanbury watched the part of the lake towards which the motor-boat had gone three days previously. It was surely from that quarter that aid would come, if at all. If at all! God, he was not to be left there to starve! Sooner than that he would try to swim across, though he knew it was, as Saville had said, quite beyond his powers; but at any rate he could go on until exhausted. Anything would be better than the agony of starvation. Throughout the fourth day, the slowest lingering of them all, Stanbury watched— watched feverishly, scarcely troubling to eat and not setting himself even to boil water. Evening came. The sun sank behind the distant forest and dusk gathered over the wide waters. Stanbury, weary of constantly straining eye and ear, collapsed on the ground with a despairing groan. To Be Continued. HARD WILLIS flung his arms across the table and his head down on them. “Oh, Lord!” he groaned. “Oh, Lord!” Through the open window of the board- ello. omebod ing-house bedroom, the warm fragrance of a soft June day played teasingly against his cheek. A light laugh floated up from the sidewalk and made him suddenly lean forward to see what was going on there. CORMICGLOOKS ~ (E@)