TWO MEN AND A WOMAN.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CV, Issue 12428, 18 February 1901, Page 2

TWO MEN AND A WOMAN.

(By G. B. BURGIN.) In a snow-hut,' at an altitude of five thousand five hundred feet above the sea-level of the northern Greenland coast, crouched a man wanning his fingers over the flame of an oil-lamp. This snow-hut was divided into two parts bv a screen of heavy skuis. From behind the inner partition sounded t le somewhat fretful wail of a little child. I o the man crouched over the lamp the child s cry was annoying. He frowned, threw himself down on a rug by the lamp, and attempted to sleep. . .■-.■..'.','■ The tart itself was built of ice, with .» small hole for exit—a hole which. necessitated the ignominy of an entrance all fours. The inside of the hut had melted into one solid block of glistening ice, fretted here and there with gleaming icicles on the roof and walls. On the left-hand side.was ; a snow platform covered with bearskins. The man got up from the floor and flung him-; self upon these skins, mapping •one. round; his head as if to shut out the noise of the; ■child's crying. ' . ; Outside, the Esquimaux dogs, tethered tohu*e stones, their bushy tails curled on their backs, quarrelled over their meal of blubber. Knowing that they would be fed only on alternate days, they made the most of every fragment. The leader chewed at an old pulling-strap by way of dessert, while a smaller dog looked enviously on. -Inside the hut, the semi-human whines of a litter of pups answered the crying child. Presently the man got up 'from his couch, threw down the rug, and begam to pace the. floor of the hut, his hands to his ears as if to shut out the child's cry. ■' ■ ' ■ A very beautiful woman of about,three and twenty came from the inner part of the hut, holding the child in her arms. For a moment neither she nor the man spoke, but hesitated, as if afraid of what they saw in each other's eyes. The child—a little boybegan to crow, and stretched out his arms to Langtora. .' " Your husband will be back soon, said Langton, moodily. " Yes, he'll be back soon."

"And then?" "And then?" "Oh, nothing, I suppose. We shall go on just as usual. Put his child away;,.l can't bear the sight of it.". v • "You've no right to speak to me like that." But she went behind the screen and laid down the child. " Might is right here." He looked at her with fierv eyes. The woman did not shrink from his glance, but regarded him enigmatically. " These Arctic solitudes have turned your brain—and mine too, I think.. We're too much in the light." She passed her hand wearily over her forehead. " These cold, lifeless plains, the solitude, the silence—they're driving us both mad." He came nearer to her. " If day would only remain day and night become night; but it's always day—always day. There is no night. We are for ever in the light." "Might is right," he repeated. "The man—your husband—won you first. Let him keep you if he can. Here, the stronger wins." '.

She looked at him again, with curious; expressionless eyes. "He will keep me. We are in the light;" and went back to her child. ' ' ' .'

After vainly waiting for Mrs Blaine to reappear, Langton crept on. all fours to the door, pulling his reindeer koletah around him as he went, and listened. He had heard in the distance the grinding of sleigh-runners on rough ice. The dogs, nose in air, howled " O-au—o-au—o-au-—o-au," and were answered from afar by similar howls.

Looking through the limitless Arctic night, Langton saw a sleigh rapidly approaching over the snow. The light wis. so clear that he could even distinguish the colour of the leading dog. He crawled back into the hut, and put the pea-soup, with some lumps of pemmican in it, over ' the lamp, so that it might be hot- for Blaihe's supper. Then he threw himself down on the snow platform, and pretended to sleep. The baby had ceased to cry. Mrs Blaine sang "The bonnie, bonnie banks of■>Loch Lomond "toit in a sweet, low voice. Langton drew his cape over his ears as if to shut out the sound. Apparently, he was unsuccessful ; for he got up, crawled to the hole.in the hut, and went out.

He found Blame aireaay nusiiy engaged unharnessing the dogs, and silently beat off the leader of the home team, who was taking advantage of his rival's fatigue to worry him. Blaine finally settled matters by belabouring both dogs with the short handle of his whip. Having thus dispensed rough-and-ready injustice, he tied up his own dogs, fed each carefully with lumps of blubber, and followed Langton into the hut. Outside, silvery night-mists curled round the edges of a glacier below; above this glacial mist, the red midnight sun cast huge, distorted shadows on the snow ; over all was the pure blue of the sky. Inside the hut the atmosphere was an indescribable mixture of pea-soup, lamp-oil, and the odour arising from half-dried skins. The two men in the hut, the woman and baby, were alone, without even an Esquimaux for guide—alone in that awful waste, cut off from their party, and unable to travel on account of the little child.' The other explorers would not return for three weeks. Blaine, the husband of fhe woman, was tall and fair 5 Langton, the dark man, was about twenty —lie was Blaine's junior by ten years. 1 Blaine was ugly; Langton (the lower part of his face was hidden by a black beard) handsome, although the brightness of his eyes betokened that the grip of these vast solitudes had told upon him. When the. woman heard Blaine's voice she stopped singing, and .the. child again raised its fretful wail. . - ■ The everlasting day, the sun, never ceasing, never hastening, but always travelling its perpetual round, the monotonous silence, the white snow, the blue sky, occasionally varied by a fantastic cloud—all these had become part of the young man's disease. And the" woman had completed it. Day by day their close proximity in the little hut, the intimacies of their enforced companionship, had robbed Lang-ton of his remaining canity. She was the one woman in the world for hirii,adn, when he had been chosen to remain behind with Mr and Mrs Blaine until the return of the other members of the expedition, he ceased to struggle against her unconscious influence. Her taciturn husband—a .man of iron strength and endurance—seldom spoke : ; and siie was thrown upon Langton and .the child for companionship and amusement. IfBlaine- noticed that Langton's society was welcome to his wife, he said nothing. : He had his scientific observations to make, and they took up all his time. In three weeks the others would return and relieve the strained relations of the party. Meantime, there was nothing to do but wait. The situation had gradually become more complicated, however, owing to Langton's finding it impossible to wait. Blaine went to the partition, lifted it, and looked in. "How are you to-night, Mary? . Baby all right?" The woman answered dully: "Is that, you? Won't you come in ':"

"I'm not fit for even an Arctic boudoir,,l. can't kiss you ; my beard's all frozen." Mrs Blaine heid up the baby to him. Langton started, for there was a low gurgle of laughter from the child. It seemed to him that the light falling on its father's, frozen-beard hud attracted the child.- "I'm afraid to touch him," he heard BlaineY voice, say;-"he locks like a snowdrop." "He isn't," the young- woman said, somewhat ruefully. " When .you've had your supper, you must melt rne some .water for his bath."

-•'All right. Why don't you oil him all oyer, as if he were «n Esquimaux brat?". ...There was a murmur of. protest, from .Mrs. Blaine, and Blaine re-entered the main part of the hut. The two men didnot speak to each other. Lang'totf had already poured out the soup into a tin pannikin, and was now mfeltinfi

the water for the tea. When it boiled, he I dropped in a packet of compressed tea I ,' added.-a liberal allowance of - condensed milk, put a plate of pemmican by the side of ic, and Blaine's supper was complete. Langton himself did not eat anything. The other ate and drank a-a,veaMais(l;j% as if he had not a cara m the \rarl& Mrs Blaine's low voice sounded from the other side of the partition,— Oh, bright shines the sun on Huntley's green - stawes,' ■ The mavis and merlie are singing. Then the -baby seemed to demand immediate attention; for she would break off, satisfy his wants and again, never getting beyond the first two lines of the old scaig. Blaine listened with evident annoyance, as he pulled out a cake of tobacco, and began to shred it in the palm of his hand. ■ His'-dissatisfaction irritated Langton, who opened : his ■- lips as if to speak, then as suddenly closed them again. "I wish Mary wouJd. sing something more cheerful," said Blaine, filling his pipe. "What does she mean by her— Then you'll tak' "the high road and I'll tak* the laigh, And I'll be in Scotland afore ye? Might as well say 'you take a cab and I'll take a 'bus' for all the sense there is in it." " You never were a romantic man," said Langton, with a sneer. "If you appreciated her better, you'd understand her better." The other looked at him suspiciously. "Have you two been putting your heads together in my absence?" " What's the good of putting our heads together when we can't put our lives together?" Langton asked bitterly. "Seeing that the question's about my wife, it sounds rather cool. However, I've •my journal to write up. You'll be all right again, Langton, when the others come back. The" North Pole's got into your head." "And its snow into your heart," said the other, in a low fierce whisper. "Sometimes 1 wonder 'how she ever came to marry you. She was a penniless orphan, or she "wouldn't have done it." Blaine stopped shredding his tobacco! "You're madder than ever to-day. Hush! Mary's going to sleep." ■ Mrs Blaine's voice died away as if overpowered by sleep— But me and. my true iove we'll never meet again By the bonnie—bon—nie banks—of—Loch — Lo—mond! . "That sound.? as if she were happy, doesn't it?" demanded Langton. "Happy! What do you mean?," Blaine started to his feet. ' -' ■ "Come outside, you'brute, and I'll tell you 1;" said Langton, with concentrated fury. " It's the first' time she's slept for weeks." ' Blaine crawled outside the hat, magnanimously going first, although perfectly aware that Langton had him at a disadvantage in the rear. It was as if someone had sprung a mine beneath his feet. He ground his teeth ; the savage in him awoke. Langton. wanted to steal his wife from him. The veneer of civilisation dropped away beneath the pitiless Arctic light. He.was a savage; this man behind was also a savage, lusting for his blood; and there was no way out. Even the woman did n-ot : determine the question. If 'one killed the other, he would be accused of murder or else shut up in an asylum. And yet he knew that Langton was resolved to determine the matter in the course of the next few minutes. He made one more attempt to reason with Langton, as they faced each other outside the hut, but the latter would not heed. ' "Your life or mine," he growled, almost inarticulately. "Now then, how shall it be? Are you afraid?" ' Blaine swung round curtly. "Don't be a fool. You're mad." Langton drew out a revolver. "You've, neglected her, made her coma with you ; ! on this expedition—think of all she's, had to put up with. If you kill me, there's no help for her; if I kill you, I'll take her back i to England." . " Thanks," said the other curtly. " When j she wants to go back, I'll take her myself. | If you kill me you'll stand a very fair chance oif.-being hanged for murder, so that won't do. vou much good." . ■ "I-—" * " Stop, I have it!'' Blaine .reflected a moment. " You're as mad as a hatter, you know,' Langton. There's still time to cry off if you like. We'll forget, all this nonsense, and put you under the doctor's care when he comes back. You'll soon pick up again." ! ' Langton smote him in the face. Blaine looked at him regretfully as he wiped away the blood. " That settles it. One of us-must'die." "Of course. That's what I've been trying to make vou understand for some time -■*i.'i> past. " Oh, I understand well enough—too well for both of us. Now, look here; I've a plan which will be equally effectual and save us from slaughtering each other. It won't do for Mary to be left without a friend in the world. We'll toss fox it." "Toss! You " " Keep cool. Yes, toss for it. Best out 'of three., Loser to go away quietly—anywhere—it won't matter—and blow has brains out.' Then the survivor can't be arraigned for murder." ~ " That 'will do." Langton glanced towards the hut, and turned away as Blaine crept in to fetch a coin. Blaine soon returned with a penny. "It isn't too late if you like to forget your craziness," he said almost kindly. " I've a conviction I'm going to win, you know." '.. I Langton motioned to him to toss. I • "Best out of three." Blaine sent the--coin spinning in the air. '''Head," cried Langton, as it fell be-, tween them on the hard snow. " Head it is," said Blaine, picking it up. with unruffled .'composure. "Your turn now. Tail." ',•.-. ".One each," said Langton, i Blaine, picked up the copper coin from the snow. ".Want to go'on?" Langton nodded " Very well then. Your call." The coin left his fingers and spun high in the air. "Head," cried Langton. -. • -j .- .They both walked slowly towards it. The •penny bad stuck in a crack sideways. ;.':' Your turn," said Blaine, picking up th& penny and handing it to Langton. '"-You .spin, and I'll call." i Langton spun the coin again. " Tail," cried Blaine. " You've won," said Langton, turning coolly away.. "Just lend rne a hand to harness my dogs. Then I " He stopped, as if turned to stone, for Mrs" Blaine crawled out of the hut. .". "Baby's., asleep," she began. ; "Why, what are you.doing with that coin?" Langton ■harnessed his dogs with'feverish activity. "Is that you, Mrs Blaine? Oh, "nothing. I'm going on a journey." ."At once?" ; "At once. There's a big solution at the end of it. Here, Blaine ! Jam that black brute's nose in the snow and get the harness on him before he bites. That's it. Now I'm all right. Good-bye, Mrs Blaine." He took her hand for a moment in the most casual way. ' "So long, Blaine !" . Langton cracked his whip, and the dogs, tired of doing nothing, went off at a mad gallop. Before he disappeared in the shining world of snow, he turned and waved his hand; The whip cracked again, the sleigh 'grew smaller in the distance, became a black speck* and disappeared! " When is he coming ■ back?" abruptly • asked Mrs Blaine. "Never," said Blah:s, going down on his knees preparatory to reentering the hut. Mrs Blaine produced a revolver from tha folds of her dress. •" I heard all." . "And-if'l had lost?" " i should,-have, shot him." , " For rny'sake?" ' V For the child's sake !" "They went in.

No sword bites so fiercely as an evil tongue