The Argosy, Vol. XXV, No. 3 — page 139: what you’re looking at

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

THE RIVER OF DARKNESS, 523 and striking one cautiously, he lit a torch which had been lying partly under his body, and was not too damp to burn. His companions were still sprawled out on the raft, holding to the logs with all their strength. When Guy assured them that all danger was past they sat up, looking very pale and dazed. ‘““That was awful,’’ said the colonel. ‘‘ It’s a miracle the raft lived through such a ride.’ ‘The canoe is gone,’’ exclaimed Forbes. ‘‘ Washed clear off the deck, Why, hello, what’s the matter, Chutney ?’’ Guy was looking about the raft with a ghastly and fear stricken coun- tenance, holding the torch over his head. ‘“A terrible calamity has happened,”’ he cried in a voice that was strangely and unnatural. ‘‘I fear we are lost men. Where are the provisions? Where are our torches ?’’ 7 ‘‘ By gracious, they are gone!’’ declared the colonel. ‘‘ Clean gone!”? It was truly a terrible situation in which they now found themselves. The provisions and the torches had been washed from the raft. If they did not reach the open air in two or three days starvation was certain. ‘‘ No,’’ cried the Greek suddenly, ‘‘ all hope is not gone. Look! here is . a bag that was lying partly under me. It is half full of crackers.’’ ‘“And I have three torches in my pocket,’’ added Sir Arthur. ‘‘ Bless me if I know how they got there, but here they are, anyhow.”’ 3 ‘That scant supply of food may last us to the journey’s end, if used in moderation,’’ said Guy solemnly. ‘‘ God grant us a speedy passage to the mouth of the river.’’ In spite of Chutney’s brave attempts to cheer them up, the spirits of the party sank very low. That medger bag of crackers must feed six mouths until they reached the nd of the cavern. That event might be in a week, and it might be in a month. ‘The uncertainty and the suspense were terribly trying. It was some consolation to discover that the river was still flowing very rapidly.- The possibility of encountering more rapids they now dreaded but little, for it was very improbable that worse places could exist than that which the raft had navigated so stanchly. ‘“ We must travel night and day,’’ said. Guy, ‘‘and in darkness. We have four torches left. Only when we hear the sound of rapids dare we light one of them.’’ He emphasized his words by putting out the torch that was burning, and instantly they were plunged in total darkness. This marked the commencement of a period in which all trace of time was lost. Huddled together on the few remaining rugs, they drifted on and ou with the current, alternately asleep and awake. At certain intervals a torch was lit for a few moments while they ate the pitiful scraps of food that Guy distributed with rigorous impartiality. The short periods of light were taken advantage of by the colonel to record in his-diary the brief incidents of the j journey. A few extracts from it, made with his permission, will make sufficiently ° ComicooolkxS.se©