Page:A Wild-Goose Chase - Balmer - 1915.djvu/63

Rh a ship goes up into the Arctic for him, I'll send that ship. I'll go on it myself."

He could feel her wrists becoming tense in his grasp. The fire in her eyes burned deeper and her lips trembled, but she still met him directly.

"Go on!" she said. "I heard that. You said you'd take up a ship to search for Eric. Go on; under what conditions?"

"Under the simple conditions that if the expedition reaches and searches the lands which he must have reached if he and Thomas are alive, and then does not find him or discover proof that he is alive, he becomes to you what he is—dead."

"You mean more than that!" Margaret faced him. "You mean that if you do not find him I shall marry you!"

"Yes." He held her close before him. "I do mean that."

"And if I agree to that there will be no delay? The ship will be ordered at once and will start in time to be sure to get into the Arctic this summer?"