The Turtles of Tasman

t noduled and oozed on their faces; yet their feet, heavily moccasined and woollen-socked, tingled with the bite of the frost. Such was the difference of temperature in the small cabin between the fl

back of the bunks the frost showed white and glistening. A window of oiled paper furnished light. The lower

air that lost was to dig a fishing hole through th

this in March," remarked the man who

y below-all of that. Wh

nced at the lower part of t

the fifty mark, but you'll notice the upper edge is ragged. The time she went seventy the ice climbed a full fou

til he had removed his ear-flapped cap and thawed away the ice which had formed on beard and moustac

ooking anxiously from face to face, his own face haggard and drawn from

tor. What's

which was monstrously swollen. At the same time he began a rambli

broke in impatiently. "Lay it

t were a great bo

lled a hundred miles to have it fixed. I'll fix it in a j

n the swollen crooked finger. The man yelled with consternation and agony. It was more like the cry of a wi

ely. "How do you feel? Better, eh? Of course. Next time you can

he finger felt better. The pain was gone. He examined the finger curiously, with wondering e

w m

patiently. "Nothing. I'm not

t, re-examined the finger, then tu

od man. Wha

answered, as if solicitous to save

nd of the hand, while he shuffled. "Better rest over to-n

ck and precise. He did not fumble his cards. The eyes were black, direct, and piercing, with the trick of seeming to look beneath the surfaces of

in the last trick. "Now for the

brought a quick ex

plained, as the door opened. "What's the matter

the cheekbones was black with repeated frost-bite. From nose to chin was a mass of solid ice perforated by the hole through which he breathe

e to thaw his mouth to speech. He assisted the process with his fingers, c

in the outfit he's sure needed. They's a man up the Little Peco that's had

" Doctor Lin

of a hundr

long

hree days c

ad

n' clawed clean to the bone most all over but the face. We sewed u

" Linday sneered.

oma

sight

dope before we stitched. Only temporary anyway. H

s Linday's judgment, as he

ome for a doctor, an' he'll make out to live until

"Well, I'm not practising. Nor can I see myself trav

n' for a man a lo

ou had your trip for nothing. B

e pullin' out

cocksure?" Linday

Tom Daw made the

her, an' she's got a will like hisn. If he weakened, she'd just put her immortal soul into hisn an' make him live. Though he ain't weakenin' none, you can stack on that. I'll stack on it. I'll lay you three to one, in ounces, he's alive when

earflaps, drew on his

ed, glaring vindictive