Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 122: what you’re looking at

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

BEYOND THE GREAT SOUTH WALL. 113 once been more than friends. Her face —I could but note it as I sped up from the mouth of the pit—had been white and anxious, and as I rolled unharmed from the edge to her feet, had flushed rosy red with what I could but hope was joy. She smiled at me as I rose to my feet, and shyly put her hand in mine, her eyes humid and wistful as she felt my answering grasp. But her words were few. “ Thank God!” was all she whis- pered as she drew back to let Lessau- tion fling himself upon me with a flood of gratulation and inquiry. We reasoned fluently with the pro- fessor as he escorted us back to the ship, aisclaiming any desire to compete with him in the realms of research, and ex- plaining to what simple and unsought chance our discovery was due. No argument, however, would move him from his set purpose. He demand- ed that he should be lowered without delay into the Mayan hamlet, vociferat- ing his determination with a volubilitv that drowned all reason in mere noise. Finally we compromised. We put it before him that the launching of the boat was the supreme need of the whole party, and would take all the power and ropes at our disposal. No one could be spared to attend to his gropings in the glacier. If he agreed to postpone his desires till the launch was accom- plished, we on our part solemnly prom- ised that he, first of any, should descend into the mystic solitudes below, soli- tudes which, we represented, were still practically unexplored. He gave a grudging assent, and thereafter quiet reigned. | Gwen walked between Denvarre and me, and somehow a sense of discomfort seemed to hang about my companions. Despite my thumped understanding I thought that I was bearing myself not ingioriously in the conversational melée, but the interest they manifested in my recital seemed to lag. Denvarre was distinctly gloomy, and a Gwen was so desperately vivacious that I easily understood that she was not lis- tening, but was occupied with other and unpleasant thoughts. I caught my breath as I wondered if by any possible chance they could have quarreled, try- ing with all my might not to dwell on the possibilities that such a matter might have for myself. They seemed all right again at din- ner, both of them, and Baines served a special effort to signalize our great de- liverance. After dinner we sat upon the deck in the starlight, and discussed coffee, cig- arettes, and the chances of getting away. That these depended utterly on ourselves seemed entirely conclusive. A passing whaler was the tiniest of probabilities, nor would she be likely to sight any signal of ours on these desolate shores. ‘True enough old Crum had a fair idea of our destination, but it would be many months before he would think it his duty to send to look for us. Nothing obviously remained but to attempt the launch of the boat, and decide who should go in it. It was quite certain that the ladies could not face fifteen or twenty days in an open boat. If they could not go, Garlicke and Denvarre wouldn’t. Gerry was in no fit condition to face hardships after his knocking about, no more was I. The man to take charge then was Waller or Janson. Waller we felt was the man for the job, but on the other hand we had also a strong feeling that bereft of his society and counsel we should be like children without their nurse. We decided to put the case before him, leaving the de- cision to his own good sense. I did not think the men would refuse a chance to go if it was offered them. I felt confident that a sufficiency of them would prefer a cruise on open water, even in an open boat, to sitting long- shore and hauling at hawsers for the entirely unprofessional object (from a seaman’s point of view) of bracing up what had become a land domicile 2 CONNICLOOOKS, CO