Argosy, Vol. 1 (1882) — page 127: what you’re looking at

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

rg water to fill her breakers. All these we passed down the swinging rope to Raf- ferty, who bestowed them in_ her lockers with nautical precision and neatness. | Finally by eventide Waller and his six chosen associates descended, and amid the cheers of the assembled com- pany took their places at the oars. Then with one last encouraging shout, and amid great wavings of hand- kerchiefs and caps, they pulled away steadily up the channels between the pack ice. We watched them as they gradually faded to a black speck among the lanes in the floe and berg, and then disap- peared to come into view again on the open water. There we saw their sail rise against the rays of the setting sun, and slant away slowly towards the horizon. At last even this vague dot upon the effip- tiness of ocean was not, and we turned away to seek the ship in the growing darkness. There was sadness and an irresistible presentiment of coming evil in my heart; undefined it was, but none the easier borne. It was a silent and joyless meal we took before turning in, and I think every man of us sent up a prayer that night for our comrades on the open main; whose lives bore double burden, in that if evil befell them, we should all likewise perish. CHAPTER XVI. THE TEMPLE AND THE LAIR OF CAY. TuHouGH during the days of hard work, while the boat was being launched, we continued to live in the ship, we did so by compulsion of neces- sity alone, not having the time to seek another dwelling place. Now the strain was over, we felt that it behooved us to seek shelter elsewhere, since another shock of earthquake might easily de- stroy the Raccoon and leave us utterly THE ARGOSY. without abode in this land of desola- tion. Therefore we cast abdut for a refuge which should be stable enough to with- stand earthquakes, and also form a pro- tection in case the Beast came down upon us. Several moderate sized peaks rose from the glacier foot. They were pre- cipitous in parts, but broken with ledges and crevices, making their as- cent arduous, but by no means difficult. One of these, a mass of granite shaped something like a pyramid with a flattened top, seemed to meet the case admirably. The breadth of its base made it unlikely that it would topple, however much it might be shaken, and its summit was scarred with deep clefts. Any of these might be roofed over with a few planks to make a famous shelter. Janson and I made the ascent with some of the crew and made examination of the spot. We got up some timbers and a tarpaulin or two, and soon ar- ranged an excellent series of little cab- ins, sufhcient to house the whole party if the need arose. We transported up to this eyrie a certain proportion of our provisions and stores, arranged hammocks for ourselves and cots for the ladies, and then felt that we had a satisfactory al- ternative abode if the ship should fail us. This being accomplished, we had time and opportunity to turn to less pressing matters. We set forth on the following morning, therefore, to inves- tigate the matter of the Mayan temple beneath the glacier, anent which Les- saution had muttered many jealous words during the last six or seven days. For he openly declared that Gerry and I wished to keep the glory of this discovery intact, and were delaying his entrance into its mysteries of malice prepense. We took our ropes, poles, and a lad- der to the cliff top, found the crevasse; which we had marked with a cross hewn in the ice, and according to promise _ eo