rayford," he began, "of the interest which
you take in me--"

"And you will follow my advice?" Crayford interposed, eagerly.

"My mind is made up, old friend," Frank answered, firmly and sadly.
"Forgive me for disappointing you. I am appointed to the expedition.
With the expedition I go." He moved nearer to Wardour. In his innocence
of all suspicion he clapped Wardour heartily on the shoulder. "When
I feel the fatigue," said poor simple Frank, "you will help me,
comrade--won't you? Come along!"

Wardour snatched his gun out of the hands of the sailor who was carrying
it for him. His dark face became suddenly irradiated with a terrible
joy.

"Come!" he cried. "Over the snow and over the ice! Come! where no human
footsteps have ever trodden, and where no human trace is ever left."

Blindly, instinctively, Crayford made an effort to part them. His
brother officers, standing near, pulled him back. They looked at each
other anxiously. The merciless cold, striking its victims in various
ways, had struck in some instances at their reason first. Everybody
loved Crayford. Was he, too, going on the dark way that others had
taken before him? They forced him to seat himself on one of the lockers.
"Steady, old fellow!" they said kindly--"steady!" Crayford yielded,
writhing inwardly under the sense of his own helplessness. What in God's
name could he do? Could he denounce Wardour to Captain Helding on bare
suspicion--without so much as the shadow of a proof to justify what he
said? The captain would decline to insult one of his officers by even
mentioning the monstrous accusation to him. The captain would conclude,
as others had already concluded, that Crayford's mind was giving way
under stress of cold and privation. No hope--literally, no hope now,
but in the numbers of the expedition. Officers and men, they all liked
Frank. As long as they could stir hand or foot, they would help him on
the way--they would see that no harm came to him.

The word of command was given; the door was thrown open; the hut emptied
rapidly. Over the merciless white snow--under the merciless black
sky--the exploring party began to move. The sick and helpless men,
whose last hope of rescue centered in their departing messmates, cheered
faintly. Some few whose days were numbered sobbed and cried like women.
Frank's voice faltered as he turned back at the door to say his last
words to the friend who had been a father to him.

"God bless you, Crayford