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Page 77
"Oh!" she cried, "listen to this!" and continued: "'Word has been
received at this place of the safe arrival of the arctic steamship
Curlew at Tasiusak, on the Greenland coast, bearing eighteen members of
the Duane-Parsons expedition. Captain Duane reports all well and an
uneventful voyage. It is his intention to pass the winter at Tasiusak,
collecting dogs and also Esquimau sledges, which he believes superior to
European manufacture for work in rubble-ice, and to push on with the
Curlew in the spring as soon as Smith Sound shall be navigable. This may
be later than Captain Duane supposes, as the whalers who have been
working in the sound during the past months bring back news of an
unusually early winter and extraordinary quantities of pack-ice both in
the sound itself and in Kane Basin. This means a proportionately late
open season next year, and the Curlew's departure from Tasiusak may be
considerably later than anticipated. It is considered by the best arctic
experts an unfortunate circumstance that Captain Duane elected to winter
south of Cape Sabine, as the condition of the ice in Smith Sound can
never be relied upon nor foretold. Should the entrance to the sound
still be encumbered with ice as late as July, which is by no means
impossible, Captain Duane will be obliged to spend another winter at
Tasiusak or Upernvick, consuming alike his store of provisions and the
patience of his men.'"
There was a silence when Lloyd finished reading. Bennett chipped at the
end of his second egg.
"Well?" she said at length.
"Well," returned Bennett, "what's all that to me?"
"It's your work," she answered almost vehemently.
"No, indeed. It's Duane's work."
"What do you mean?"
"Let him try now."
"And you?" exclaimed Lloyd, looking intently at him.
"My dear girl, I had my chance and failed. Now--" he raised a shoulder
indifferently--"now, I don't care much about it. I've lost interest."
"I don't believe you," she cried energetically; "you of all men." Behind
Bennett's chair she had a momentary glimpse of Adler, who had tucked his
tray under his arm and was silently applauding in elaborate pantomime.
She saw his lips form the words "That's it; that's right. Go right
ahead."
"Besides, I have my book to do, and, besides that, I'm an invalid--an
invalid who drinks slop."
"And you intend to give it all up--your career?"
"Well--if I should, what then?" Suddenly he turned to her abruptly. "I
should not think _you_ would want me to go again. Do _you_ urge me to
go?"
Lloyd made a sudden little gasp, and her hand involuntarily closed upon
his as it rested near her on the table.
"Oh, no!" she cried. "Oh, no, I don't! You are right. It's not your work
now."
"Well, then," muttered Bennett as though the question was forever
settled.
Lloyd turned to her mail, and one after another slit the envelopes,
woman fashion, with a shell hairpin. But while she was glancing over the
contents of her letters Bennett began to stir uneasily in his place.
From time to time he stopped eating and shot a glance at Lloyd from
under his frown, noting the crisp, white texture of her gown and waist,
the white scarf with its high, tight bands about the neck, the tiny,
golden buttons in her cuffs, the sombre, ruddy glow of her cheeks, her
dull-blue eyes, and the piles and coils of her bronze-red hair. Then,
abruptly, he said:
"Adler, you can go."
Adler saluted and withdrew.
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