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L STORY )
i Sable
Lorcha 1
SS Horace Hazeltine W,
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SYNOPSIS.
MlVli-. Vuf "'" r""""' conu1t
- ..-! Iln 7III1II llllllllll.ni.
r.i,H .. - ----.. ...U1I( iin( ...it- ilia
r.n ..?.'. """"'ut.le.1 ""i the l.-a.l liter
i.v TnM, bV "T.""3 ,,f H """" Hinotlced
rJ nt,,7"n i:"lyn:r.noii r.nnermr-.
.1, v."h "'" 'lMif U 1-1 l..ve ltll.ll
... . I'Hli.-'-kewr Civile mnkes hii ex
"ie to .hII n Mnrpli .mil H r.-inl5"'
'J t'retencN I ,. inveMlmttliu; nllege.1
"l'",,'Jn f lhe Cdine l.ii .mil speaks
r nnillng the bowl of nn opium pipe tin
ner u.e tree where Cniiieron'i portrait
J1, found The Chinese 1mv l fmin.l
"nil next tnornlni; Wlillc l.-llintr i'hiii
"rn in hl tlrmslni; rimm NVM Owvnnr
nilrrnr 1 inHtirioul lmtter.-d Camrruii
ioomrs .rrl)ii-.lv m ns a r-tilt oT tlio
Miock. Tlip third lrttpr Hppcari nyitert
"Jiaiy on Cameron's slrk Imt It iiiak-
Olrwt thrrat.s aealnl the life of Cntnrroii
iyd trlU CiiniiTon the nnIopf ai
mpt Uf. telN KHlvn n-rvtlilii and
Plan, to tal.19 f'aiiifrnii on a atlit trip
CHAPTER VIII.
Somewhere Eait of Nantucket.
The Slbjlia under stress of her
powerful turbines was racing easily,
reeling off her thirty knots with no
seeming effort anil scarcely a percep
tible ibratiou Theie had ben n
stiff breeze during tlie night, but It
had died down at sunrise, and now. at
noon, the sea was calm Hh Hie bosom
f a nun. The sun blazed on the
vat-hfg polished brasses. Inleuslfyiiig
the snowy whiteness of her glossy
paint, and turning to jewelled nbow-
.1. . .s... I.I.I. f.11 .. n i tftnn
ri3 me islim nillt:u III; nwaj tiuui 1
her sharp prow and caressed her longer
- Jmt- -- t. .. .. ...ln.r..l .. ....it..... I
for late October. On the nineteenth
me temperature naa ri?en to ninety
in New York, breaking all records ;
for that date, and now. lo da8
later, here at the meeting of sound
Hnd ocean, with Point Judith Just
oimng Into Mew oxer our port bow,
and Block Island a blur 11 baft our
(-larboard beam, we sat. Cameron and
I. fcliadeil li spread awnings, on the
dftertieck. as though it weie mid
summer. Kor he had In-rn onvinied
by my righteous untruth, after re
peated and emphatic dinning, and had
dally grown stronger; readily agree
ing 9 length to a ciui.xe along the.
coast, with Har Harbor as objective
"That Is precisely what I had the
Sibylla built Tor." he told me. when
my suggestion found acceptance.
Old ou eer notice the inscription
on the brass tablet oer the fireplace
In the saloon? No? Well. It's this.
'Sibylla, when thou sees! me favute.
address thjselfe the gjde of my cotn
playnte.' "I found It in an old hook, published
In 1563, a poetic Induction to 'The
Mirror of Magistrates,' written by
Thomas Sackvllle. You can fancy
how tny application distoits the orig
inal intention; but Sackvllle Isn't
likely to trouble me over it."
, I repeat this explanation now main
ly to indicate the improved temper of
the speaker His mind was placid
once again, and with this recovered
placlditv bad come a return of his
yulet humor. Kor m own part I
isas not nliugeiuer nam... -j -light
over my friend's recovery, and
Kvelyns pleasure invi-i. "- - -
died b self-reproach regarding the
Instrument I had emploed to bring
It about. A He Is to me a most con
temptible agent, and to make use of
one has been alwajs abhorrent. In
"his Instance I had salved
scence In a measure with the old ex
cUBe that tbe end Justified .he means
but u was only in a measure, and
was r from being as happy as I
Pr3oSr. I could no, rid myself of
a uneaslness-a misery. Indeed In
which I ww now without corapany-
ncemtng the day and Its menace
.-v "without company, for earner
f course had quite dismissed tbe
object Z Ktelrl. -ho previously
wi greatly perturbed, had seemed o
?r all apprehension directly
"hlwu, -afe aboard the yacht.
The had been .ome talk of her ac
.n?me us but without signlfy
rompanlng us ju managed
!ng my real rMOn- '
to dissuade her waj rer
For my QiqureiuU- ----Ujnjv
ro logical ground. 1 h1 1
o? ,17 .-?.'' n '- nr'" IT'imlB u amt.I I
(in h,. '.; power on a lert.-vtn !.iv
from ?V'"V V" ,"""1 ' ""ti-niniM rut
from a Portr.H of Oumer..,. while tli l.u-
hn. .hi '"" r'.""" r,wj" " theory
'nnt me portruli vu ..,.,.n ...... ...1..1.. .1...
..i . '-""enin's portrait iwtil-.l ti
fJ ' ,,.lere 'I was l.ad been use,! a n
!"n.r , I'1 ll li- P.irlMi t. wwy
.. J'"'n" lhHt ' Chinese . .rnpluW
.. '""'" Murphv n artl-i Uvlni;
I'nruy. lmtl I voir. .-.I n rill- (mtn i'.....-
?n the precaution of having the
Sibylla marched from masthead to
kfelson before sailing. The coal waa
xptnined as carefully as that of a bat
tleship in time of war; every locker
aid cupboard was inspected; even the
ventilators were metaphorically turn
ed inside out and the record of ev
ery rran of the crew was looked Into
with vigorous scrutiny So I could see
no loophole unguarded. Hut the past
was an argument which be I logic at
naught if such things could be as
hat which had happened a month ago
In Cameron's dressing room, how
much further might the Inexplicable
carry? Of what use were precati
tlons against an enemy who with ap
parent ease calmly detled nil natural
laws?
All the morning my thoughts bad
Iwen running In this line. Foolish
1 hough Is they must seem to one who
reads of them; worthy onlv to be
classed with the Idle, superstitious
feats of oung girls and old women,
and impossible 10 a well-balanced,
clear-headed man of twenty nine. It
may be that 1 was not well balanced
and clear-hiaded. And vet the be
ilBel v.ould tend rather to a contrary
conclusion.
Cameioti was Mill nailing the Her
aid. and 1 bat with a pair of binocu
lars at my eyes sweeping the waters
for tbe trailing Miioktt of a llntr or
borne object of lentiur inteiest.
Presently the silence was broken
by m companion
'I see." lie began, dropping the pa
per to his knees, "that China is really
in eurnest In her anti-opium cam
paign. Two Peking olllcials have died
from the effects of a too hasty break
Ing or the habit. Men do not die in
the attempt to obey mete paper re
forms. The Chinese aie a wonderful
old people. Clyde "
1 loweied mv glasses, all at once in
teiesied.
"You've been in China?" I asked
'No. I haven't." was his answer.
"I've alwajs meant to no, but when
I was nearest, HI news drew me home;
II ml so I never got closer than Yoko
hama on one side, and Srinagar, In
Kashmir, on the oilier."
"You've seen something of them In
this country. I suppose?"
"No. very Utile. 1 attended a din
ner once at which 1.1 Hung Chang wus
the guest of honor, and I've eaten
1 hop sue In cue of those Chinese
eating palaces thev have In Cnieago.
'I hat's about the extent of m person
al Chines? experience. Hut 1 have
alwavs been interested In the country
and Its people. I have read about
eveij thing that has been published
on tli subject. Hy the way. did they
ever rind out who killed that boy of
Murphv a?"
Not vet." I answered "l bey've
had some of his own kind under ur-
vcillauie. but 110 more atresia have
been made."
"Murphv was released?"
"Yes."
He took up his paper Hgaln and
niu, more I applied mv self to ea
gaZJUg.
Far awaj .0 the northeast I made
out what appealed to me to be a sea
going lug 01 pilot boat, steaming, I
thought, with rather unusual speed for
a vessel ot her class It was not
much of a discovery, hut the waters
had been very barren that morning,
espcciallv for the last two hums, and
insignificant as this object was I felt
In a manner rewarded for m vigil.
Half an hour later she had sllpiied
out of sight and I was busv In an ef
fort to pick her up again, when a cry j
from the lookout foiward directed my 1
attention 10 a noaiing specK possioiy
two miles or more dead ahead, and
not more than a point off our course
"Come." I said to Cameion, "let's J
go up on the bridge and have a look!"
And have our trouble for our I
pains'"' he returned, incredulously. 1
"It's piobablv some bit of wreckage.'
a box or a cask."
'very well, I agreed, startiug off)
alone "Kven a box or a cask is wojtw
ul.tl.. ;. u u inrl.itlnn ' i
When on nearer approach the"drlft
lug object proved to be a fisherman's
ilorj. with a man. either dead or un
tonsclous, plainly discernible In tbe
bottom, 1 should hardlrMiave been hu
man had 1 not experienced a degree
of satisfaction over Cameron's failure
as a prophet. That, however, was the
least abiding of my sensations. In an
Instant It had giyt-n way to anxiety
concerning tbe boat's occupant and
Interest In the business-like manner
In which MacLeod, tRV stocky young
executive officer of tht&tSlbyUii, was
preparing to pick up ou?jtid.
The engine room had beea-nlgnaled
half-speed ahead, and already a sailor
with a coll of rope In hand was sta
tioned at the forward gangway. I
have frequently eeen river pilots make
landings that were marvels of clever
calculation, but I never saw any steer
ing more accurately gauged than that
by which MacLeod, here In the open
sea, with the precarious swell and
surge of ocean to combat, brought tbe
vacht gliding within a bare three
inches ot the rolling dory's bow.
I waa leaning over the rail at we
came thus upon the castaway, and
saw clearly enough for Just a moment
the huddled creature In oilskins, silent
and motionless In tbe stern, with
closed eyes and wet, dark hair mat
ted upon his forehead. Then a sailor,
dropping lightly Into the boat, abut
off my view for a little. There was
a whir of flung line, an exchange of
quick-spoken. aud to me unintelligible,
words between the sailor In the dory
and a sailor standing beside me on
the jacht's deck; and then, the line
was taut and straining, and the dory,
which had sheered off astern, waa be
ing brought up slowly alongside.
No. I realized for the first lime
that our engines had stopped and that,
save for the roll, we were almost sta
tionary They were lifting the fisherman
aboard when Cameron, at length
aroused by the unusual, strolled for
ward and joined me.
'There's your bit of wreckage," I ob
served, smiling.
"Poor devil!" he exclaimed, sym
pathetically "Ho seems more dead
than alive
'He's breathing, sir." announced
Ht.tndon. the first officer, "and not
inuc-li more We'll take him below,
aud see what can be done for hlra.
sir."
lie appeared to be about forty jears
of age. a somewhat shrunken, weather-beaten
creature, with face deeply
lined and half hidden behind possibly
a week's giowlh of dark beard It Is
not easy 10 read a nan with his ees
closed, but I was far from prepos
sessed by what of this fellow's fea
tures was on view. Ordinarily I
should have given him scant heed, but
today was no ordinary day. and my
suspicions weie supcractlve. Kven the
moat trivial occurtences took on sfg
nittcance And this was not a trivial
occurrence. Certainly it was not
usual. Fishermen blown to sea In
storms and overcome by exposure,
hunger and thirst were common
enough. erhdps. but within the past
week thete had been no storm; the
weather had been as mild as that of
June, with an August day or two
thrown In. How was it possible, then,
for this bit of flotsam to have come
where It was and in the condition it
was?
'lo Cameion I gave no hint of my
reasoning, but to Captain MacLeod I
put the question without hesitation.
"It iliKD seem a bit odd, Mr. Clyde,"
he returned. Judicially, 'but you see
his mast and sail had gone by the
board aud his oars, too It looks to
nie. sir. aa if he'd been run down, may
be, and nigh swamped. Of course we
can't tell till he gtts his senses and
lets us know. "
Though this put the matter In a
new light, it did not bv anv means re
lieve my anxiety, and I aked Mac-l-
od to have a sharp watch kept on
the fellow, adding that I would come
to him later for anything he might
learn. I took care, too, to tautl
to make no mention of
the pieseuce of Cameron
ll was not mill! afier tllrrt
evening that I found opportmTtt
lo riuettiou the lap am I liune-Wyu.
him in his stateroom, a ( omfyribjy
commodious cabin, far forward ouThe
upper deck. On his table was Spread
a 1 hart, over which he wyJjemling
when I entered A bnarJjioTl was
gripped firnilv between lils'teeth and
the grateful odor of rlcatn-plpe unoke
greeted me as 1 entered 1
'He's ome aiuiind. Mr. Clyde.' he
Informed me. turning about in his
swivel chair, "and I 111 just trying to
check up some of his statements by
means of this 1 hart here, and our
weather record."
'And how do they heck so far?"
I asked, a little dubiously
"Quite to a dot. sir." was his an
swer 'There's no breakdown any
where, so far According to his story,
he sailed out of Gloucester harbor on
Monday morning His name's Peter
Johnson, and he lives in Hast Glouces
ter. He says the wind was strong from
the westward, and he made the banks
all right without mishap. Hut about
noon, the wind died, and a thick fog
came In from the northeast, chill and
sopping, sir He kept moving about.
rfd finally In the thick of It Inst his
ngs. It hnd clouded over and
little It began to rain. He
iV for Gloucester liarhor hut
ave SvJie'ussoutheast Instead of
northwest. Their the night came
down, and "I lie fog wailke a dozen
blankets, he says. His fdod was gone
and most of his water, but he said
he'd seen worse than that many a
time, and Just prayed for the fog to
lift and give him a sight of tbe stars.
And the next thing that happened was
what I suspected, sir. He heard a
steamer's whistle He had his sheet
out and was running before the wind,
and that steamer coming upon him
out of the fog, caught his boom, ripped
out bis mast and nearly capsized his
dory. When she righted, the steam
er's lights were fading Into the fog
again, his boat was half full of water
and his oars were washed away. Well,
sir. to make a long story short, he
must have caught a current that car
ried him well out beyond Cape Cod,
and then slewed blm around the
southermost end of Nantucket Island
I questioned him about lights and foe
signals, and making due allowance for
hla condition, hla yarn works out pret
ty atralgbt. He'd been drifting about
for three aaya when we picked him
up and was half dead of thirst and
hunger. But he's come around better
than might be expected, and"
And then I Interrupted blm.
"Three days without watr?" I questioned.
un.miwr wou
dafj'aPw
K!H3?
"And without food. Tea. sir."
"When did he tell you this story?"
"About six o'clock, air."
"Could a starving man recover that
quickly?"
"He might, sir." Mad.eod answered
"The average healthy man can go ten
days without food or drink."
"What have you done with him!"
"He's In the seaman's quarters, for
'ard. air."
"See that he' kept there. Mr. Mac
Ieod," I told him. "I'd feel better If
you put a watch on him tonight. To
morrow we'll run In to Gloucester and
look up his people and friends."
"Very good, sir."
"Thank you"
I thought of having a look at Peter
Johnson, myself, for I was somewhat
curious to study that face, again when
it was sentient, and had eyes open,
but on second thought I decided to
wait until morning It seemed silly
to suspect this seemingly honest but
unfortunate fisherman
We had not been speeding so well
during the afternoon; there was some
trouble reported from the engine
room, and It was a question whether
we had made over fifteen knots an
hour since two o'clock I know that
at ten o'clock that night, when the
moon went down, we wer somewhere
east of Nantucket, and directly In the
path of the transatlantic liners
The night was bnlmy us a night In
springtime, and Cameron and I In
light overcoats sat on the after-deck,
watching the moon slide slowly below
the dark horizon line. Our chairs were
close together, facing the lee rail; his
the farther astern We talked of
many things, I remember. He was al
ways Interested in my work, and es
pecially in my ambitions lo make The
Week a power for national good; and,
I remember that we discussed several
projects I then had In mind for bring
ing about reform In high places. Hut
the subject which then Interested me
most, and regarding which I still ex
perienced a vague, unreasoning uneas
iness he had avoided throughout the
day and evening, with what seemed
to me studied Intent.
The sudden cessation of hostilities
on the part of those whom Le had
been given every teason to look upou
as his Implacable enemies, was cer
tainly strange enough to have Invited
endless debate; and I marveled that,
after having accepted my falsehood
as truth, he had not chosen to go over
with me the whole marvelously per
plexing business.
Ills mind. 1 knew, was relieved by
what 1 had made him believe, or he
would not now be the man he was;
but despite that. It appeared to me.
Id be most natural for him. on
y, of all days the twenty-first
month--to question, at least.
previously emphatically stated
onc
elusions
There had been a moment of silence
between us, and these reflections were
dominant with me. as six bells, ring
ing iiit musiiiajly. announced that
midnight wasJintan hour distant. At
that Instant, ttfille In time to the
bell's strokes, there echoed In ray
brain the words ' Know then, that be
fore the morning of the eighth day
hence " Cameron, lowering his ci
gar, lurned to me with.
"Clyde. I wonder 'if you have for
gotten what day this is!"
1 don't know why. coming at Just
that partitular Juncture, the question
should be more upsetting than If It
had come at some other time of day.
but I know it seemed so to me
For a little space my tongue refused
its office. There was a lump In my
throat which demanded to lie swal
lowed, and I made a pretence of
coughing to hide my filight. At length
I answered, a bit lamely:
"No, I havn't forgotten. It's
Wednesday, the twenty-first of Octo
ber." He returned his cigar to his lips and
smoked In Hence for a full minute
Then, he said, quietly:
"It's seven days since that empty
enveloiH" came."
"Yes." I returned. .
Theie was another slight pause ?nd
he went on:
"I have been thinking that possibly
you were wrong about the significance
of that empty envelope. Possibly
those enigmatical persons Intended
.that absence of a definite threat to
Imply the Inconceivably terrible."
Now that be had started to talk
about It, I wished thai he had contin
ued his silence. 1 could not under
stand how I had convinced him be
fore, knowing all the while that 1 vvasj
without truth to support me. Cer
tainly, now, pervaded as I was with
that grim disquietude. It would be
even more difficult to carry conviction
with my words.
"Whatever they Intended." 1 ven
tured, yielding a fraction of a point.
"It seems to me that they'll have some
difficulty In carrying It out. There
are no portraits here to mutilate and
no mirrors to smash. For the previ
ous performances there must be some
more or less simple explanation.
Neither you nor 1 believe In the su
pernatural; therefore tbe things that
happened at Cragholt were brought
about by natural meana. seemingly In
explicable aa they were. Now no nat
ural meana can be brought to bear
to perform any auch legerdemain on
tbla yacht. You know that. There's
not a man here, iopt that poor old
fisherman, that we don't know all n4
everything about. So. 1 say. r.o mat'
ter what they planned; this Cine they
are outwitted." And even as I said
It, I saw clearly before my vision
these words: "Say not Heaven la high
above! Heaven ascends and descends
about our deeds, dally inspecting us
wheresoever we are."
"Then you agree with me? You
think something may have been
planned?"
"I wouldn't pretend to Interpret
their symbolism." I answered evasive
ly. "The empty envelope Impressed
me as synonymous with saying,
'Nothing more at present !' Kven now
I think that If they had meant to con
tinue they would have said so. I'm
almost sure they would."
1 was quite sure, of course, but I
dared not say so.
Cameron smokeo. on quietly for
while In a ruminative mood. Even
tually be threw the end of his cigar
over the rail, and leaned forward.
"I don't know." he said perplexedly.
"I don't know."
This I hoped was to be the end
of the matter, for tonight at least; but
presently he began to talk of those
first two letters, to conjecture, to won
der, to dissect phrases, to dig out
subtleties of meaning from euphemis
tic expressions And tbeu I knew that
he had every word memorized. Just
as I hnd
Seven bells had strut k and we were
still talking. Hut now and then there
were pauses In our converse Inter
vals of silence of varying length dur
ing which I sat with my gaze stretch
ing out over the black waters and my
hearing strained for any unusual
sound .More than once during the
evening I thought I had detected far
off the pounding note of a raotor
boat's exhaust, but had put the notion
aside as too Improbable for entertain
ment. Now. faintly. I seemed to bear
it again; not so distant, but muffled
I got up and stood close to the rail,
and listened with ear bent. Then I
determined to go to my cabin for a
night glass which I had Included
among my traps. Hut at that moment
the sound, which I had made sure of.
ceased, and I stood a second or two
longer, expecting It to resume.
Altogether It was not over a minute
or two that I stood theru. It seemed
much less nan that. Then I turned,
with a question for Cameron. I won
dered whether he had heard the sound
too.
"I say. Cam " I began. and stopped,
startled, with his name half uttered.
His chair was empty. He was not
on deck I ran to the saloon. He was
not there. I flung open the door of
his stateroom He was not there, ei
ther. I had the yacht searched for
him He was not on the yacht.
CHAPTER IX.
A Craft Without Lights.
Composure is second nature with
me. I ilalm no credit for it; It Is a,
matter of temperament rather than
cultivation. Hut now my temperament
was all awry, and my composure fled
me. I was excited. More than that.
I was frantic, distracted, rattled. I
wanted to do a dozen things at once;
to get answers to a score of ques
tions in a single moment. And the
consequence, may be imagined. For
five ten minutes, nothing was done
whatever. Then the searchlight was
got Into play, swteplng the waters on
all sides, far and near; but with pal
try result. Five or six miles astern
wc made out a power boat, similar to
that which I had sten through the
glass earlier In the day To the east
ward a steamer with two funnels was
just coming Into range. The white
sails of a coasting schooner showed
to westward. Trailing In our wake
was our squalid salvage, the dory of
the fisherman.
MacLeod, trained to coolness, re
tained his wits. Systematically he
set to work. Likely and unlikely
places aboard the yacht were looked
into. Hefore I knew what he was
about, vve were going back over the
way we had ome with the search
light swinging In a circle and a half
dozen sharp-eyed teamen scanning;
every square foot of rolllug wave.
"I can't understand It," I kept re
locating aloud, with senseless lUratlox.
"I can't understand It."
I was standing alone, well forward,
leaning over the rail. Presently Mao
I.eod laid a hand on my shoulder.
"We can't do anything more thaa
we are doing. Mr. Clyde." he said la
his matter offact way. "For my part,
I Jani understand It. either; but since
ML.Vameron's not aboard, there
bnry one conclusion, and that Is that
he's overboard. And since there was
no one interested In throwing him
there, then It seems very clear that
he must have Jumped."
"Jumped!" I cried. In Irritation.
"My God, man! Don't I tell you that
I was not three feet away from him,
and only for a minute or two? How
could he have Jumped without my
hearing him? How could he even
have got out of hla chair, without my
hearing him?"
The captain shrugged his shoulders.
(TO BE CONTINUED.)
Love That Endures.
Remember, that there Is sometle
a fine lore that never leaves a mast's)
heart. It stays and walUl
chester Union.
I fin
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