SHELTER

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20504, 21 May 1938, Page 21 (Supplement)

SHELTER

i (Continued from last week) It seemed as though the watershed would never be reached. The burn below the path seemed to be no smaller for half an hour’s tramping towards Its source; the V-shaped gap ahead showed no signs of opening upon any plateau. Yet at last she reached It. far later than she had planned to do, and a desolate place t? looked—a marshy, boulderstrewn hollow, intersected by meandering water, broken by peat-bogs, and now patched with the’ fine snow that drifted behind every rock and In the lee of every rushy tuft, while all around It the sombre slopes of hills soared mysteriously up Into grey folding oloud whose wreaths swept endlessly along them—a ghostly army driven before the furious wind that gave no quarter to the solitary human being who had dared to Invade that wild solitude. M Auntie would get the fright of her life If she could see me now!” Marion said to herself, as she halted behind a great rock to rest and to have another careful look at her map. The various tracks were distinct enough on the map. to be sure, but It was no realistic picture of the locality. Still, •he had been told that a little cairn marked the start of the path for Daigle’; that ought not to be hard to find. Perhaps In calmer weather it would not have been, but that wild bluster, the chill of the wind and the dazzle and sting of the snow-fluries In her face, were distracting and confusing. For the first time since she had set out Marlon began to feel, notwithstanding her romantic sense of “ belonging ” to all this, that the mountains and iheir weather might have moods hostile even to her. She was not the stolidly sensible kind of person to assume that In their angry as In their genial hours alike they were Indifferent to the puny Intruder. Well, If the spirit of the hills was making things unpleasant for her, she would pit her will against its malice and Justify her pride of birth by conquering It,

Taylng to disregard the bewildering snow-squalls, she carefully scrutinised the ground as she moved forward. The track was far from helpful; concealed here and there by newfallen snow, it wandered to and fro In a manner extremely perplexing, while from It branched any number of even vaguer paths, most’of which were, she guessed, merely the narrow aimless highways of the sheep. Refusing to be misled by any of them, she oontlnued on her search till she found a branch which she decided to She told herself that she vAs quite sure it was the right one, aware at the same time that she was taking It Just because It seemed the likeliest* Its beginning was, furthermore, marked by a little heap of stones that might very well be the cairn for which she had been told to keep her eyes open.

As she stepped out with determination, Marlon said to l.erself that the wind’s growing opposition and the increased roughness of the footing were proofs that she was on the right track: the elements were furious at her success! The success was satisfactory as far a** It went, but before long she began to wonder whether her physical powers would allow her to exploit it to final victory, in other words, could she reach Balglc? For a moment panic swept over her, for what was tfie alternative to attaining her destination? To retrace the whole of the laborious journey she had made would be. even with the wind behind her, impossible. The distance to Baigie was by now very much less than that, there was nothing for it but to struggle on. For a long time she had not looked at her watch, and when the increasing sombreness of her surroundings prompted her to do so. she was startled Indeed. How had the hours passed? Why. In another hour it would be dark! “This i-s an adventure.” sin* though! “and will be g»...| fun t » l-> .k hack upon, but at present l «l**n’t like it.” other human being! r i his was not what she thought of as solitude; the dusk seemed full of ruthless rntaeon- - sll around as cruel in their vast passivity as Hi*’ shr:e’-.inz -u.-i- that took i r •nd hail v'lie>ins - in't her with scarcely a moment « respite. and the broken ston? ground tint tripped and tffuised her wean feet. Into Marion's memory there came a

(By W. Kersley Holmes)

piece of advice from the book of a famous Arctic explorer, to the effect that when caught in a blizzard you should not go on till you were exhausted, but find some sort of shelter —even the scantiest —before that: so doing, you would not sleep the unwaking snow-sleep, but be roused by the cold before it grew dangerous. She wasn’t In the Arctic regions, but this was surely pretty much like a blizzard. Before she grew' any more exhausted, and before darkness hid everything, she would find a big rock and take shelter In Its lee. Immediately she had made this resolution the longing for an armistice in this unequal battle, for rest at any cost, became overwhelming. The mere cessation from movement would surely be perfect bliss.

And now her attention was concentrated on the desire to find a place where, in comparative shelter, she might relax the muscles that -seemed suddenly to have grown tired, and give way utterly to the overwhelming longing to close her eyes and give up the baffle she had been fighting for so long acainst this ruthless foe, ihe wind. She knew she was not by any means exhausted, and did not think she would sleep. But come what might, she must rest.

Yes, but where in this howling wilderness, now passing from white to grey, would she find a nook where the gale and Ihe whirling snow would not get at her? The wind seemed lo be attacking now from one direction, now another. Without realising it in the confusion and the approaching darkness, she had now reached the farther slopes of the mountains, and was no longer hemmed in by soaring slopes. The half-guessed track along which she was stumbling led across a wide rough brae, cut up in all directions by water-courses, and dropping gradually towards the valley where lay her destination. She was too tired now to think steadily, as she might, putting two and two together, have known that the worst of her journey was well over and it was worth while struggling on still till she had at least reached lower ground where the power of the storm was less formidable. As it was, having decided to halt, the idea of rest obsessed her mind. Night seemed to be capturing the hills with a stealthy swiftness that was terrible, and she was convinced that she was lost*

Several times, struggling across the deep worn water-courses, now half-filled with soft snow, she fell, and conquered the yearning to lie still only by a desperate effort of her stubborn will. It would not do, she knew, to yield to that yearning till she had found some better place. As she clambered across one of these gullies she was thrust back as by an icy hind against her face: it was a cluster of snow-covered twigs on a stunted bush, which in the fading light she bad not seen. The momentary scare i* gave her seemed the last straw: strength and courage seemed to abandon her, and there was a sob in her ttiroal and despair in her heart as she picked herself up again and scrambled • »ut of the gully on her hands and , knees. >lie could do no more; she was I beaten; and even as the thought over- ! whelmed her she saw a light—a warm rectangle, obviously a window, not a I quarter of a mile ahead. Shelter from this savage buffeting, this blinding snow; human company | after these hours at the mercy of the j cruel mountains! Marion gasped an I e jaculation of thankfulness as she j rose to her feet and, summoning her 1 reserves of energy, struggled on- ! wards. j Despite the clamour of the wind i and the muffling of her stumbling j footsteps In the snow, those in the cottage seemed to have been aware "f her approach. As she neared that [ blessed light a door was opened, and iblack against the radiance slreaming | from it she saw the silhouette of a ’ man’s figure. Another moment and • strone arm was round her shoulders. i .nd a kindly voice speaking soft word'- ; ?ri Li if>lir. She did ii"t understand I M e ; r precise meaning, though she had Ige of tl ancient tongue: but their tone was | full of comfort and reassurance, and - tl ey ie • died t ! e door M irion Ml i into the ready arms of a sweet-faced <.bi w>.man who stood we looming on the threshold. Yielding to the beatific reaction from the ordeal she had sur- \ \ed. she let herself go in a fit of Her impressions of that gentle old uple. • -;e> bf irded crofter -.rid his the tii f the food she ate and of the cupboard bed to which the motherly (Continued in next column;