Farmers' champion., December 26, 1912, Image 6

About Farmers' champion. (Elgin, Okla.) 1912-1922

Image provided by: Oklahoma Historical Society

                
i
'
fit
r
If
!,
t!
;t i
ERIAL
STORY J
:3?KSI32&
The
Sable
Lorcha
BT-
Horace Hazeltine
vKWyWVAWA'AWAWAV
(OorrlM, UW, A. a MoClsrc 04
8YNOP3I8.
Robert Camrron, capitalist, consults
Phillip Clyde, newspaper publisher, re
fardlnf anonymous threatening! lettcra ha
he received. The first promliea a sample
of lha wrtter'e power on a certain dar.
On that day the head la mysteriously cut
from a portrait of Cameron while the lat
ter la In the room. Clyde haa a theory
that the portrait wns mutilated while tht.
room waa unoccupied and the head later
removed by means of a strlns;. unnoticed
by Cameron. Evelyn Grayson, Cameron a
niece, with whom Clyde Is In love, finds
the head of Cameron's portrait nailed to
tree, where It waa had been used na a
target Clyde pledges Evelyn to eecrecy.
Clyde learns that a Chinese boy employed
by riilletui Murphy, an artist llvlnir
nearhy, had borrowed a rifle from Cam
trail's lodgekeoer Clyde makes nn ex
cuse to cnll o". Murphy and Is repuHed
He pretend to be Invcstlnatlnir aliened
Infractions jf the came laws nntt spenka
of finding the nowlof nn opium pipe un
der the tree where Cameron'a portrait
wns found. The Chlneso boy Is found
dead next morning. While IsIIIiik Cam
eron In his dressing room n Nell Owynne
mirror la mysteriously shattered Cameron
becomes seriously III hh a result of the
shock. The third letter Appears mysteri
ously on Cameron's sick bed. It makes
direct threats acnlntt the life of Cnmeron.
Clyde tells Cnmeron the envelope was
empty. He tells Evelyn everything and
plans to take Cameron on a yacht trip.
CHAPTER VIII.
Somewhere East of Nantucket.
The Hlbylln under stress of her
powerful turbines wns racing easily,
reeling off her thirty knots with no
seeming effort and pcnrciiy n. perccp
tlblo vibration. Tliero linti boe.ii a
tiff breeze during tho night, but it
bad died down fU sunrise, and now, at
noon, tho sea wan calm as the bosom
of a nun. Tho sun blazed on the
yacht's polished brasses, Intensifying
tho snowy whiteness of her glossy
palnti and turning to Jewelled show
ers tho spray which fell away from
her sharp prow and caiessed iter long,
sleek sides. It waa wonderful weather
for lato October. On tho nineteenth
the temporaturo had risen to ninety
in New York, breaking r.ll records
for that date; nnd now, two dnys
later, here at tho meeting of sound
and ocean, with Point Judith Just
cuinlug Into view over our port bow,
and Block Island a blur abaft our
starboard beam, wo sat, Cameron and
I, shaded by spread uwnlngs, on the
nftcr-dock, as though it were mid
summer for he had been convinced
hV my righteous untruth, after re
peated and emphatic dinning, and hnd
dally grown stronger; readily agree
lug at length to a cruluo along the
coast, with Dar Harbor as objective
"That is precisely what I had the
Slbjlln built for," bo told mc, when
my suggestion found acceptance.
"Did you eer notice tho Inscription
on tbo brasB tablet over the fireplace
In tho saloon? No? Well, It's this:
'Sibylla, when thou scest mo fuynte.
uddtcsi thyselfc the gydo of my com
playnto.' "1 found It In an old book, published
In lSfifl, a poetic Induction to 'The
Mirror of Magistrates,' written by
Tht mas Kackvlllo. You can fancy
hovi my application distorts the orig
inal Intention: but Sackvlllo Isn't
llte.ly to trouble mo over It."
1 repeat this explanation now main
ly to indicate tho improved temper of
tho speaker. Ills mind was placid
once again, and with this recovered
jilacldlty had coin a return of bis
rjulet humor. For my own part I
was not altogether happy My de
light over my friend's recovery, and
Evelyn's pleasure thereat, was cur
dled by self-reproach regarding the
instrument 1 had employed to bring
It about. A lln Is to mo a most con
temptible ngent. and to make use of
one has been ulwnjs abhotreiit. in
till Instnnco I had salved my con
uclenco In a measure with tho old ex
ciif that tho etid Justified the means,
but it wan only In a measure, and I
im far from being as happy as I
pritended.
Moreover, I could not rid myself of
un uneasiness a misery, Indeed, In
which I was now without company
concerning the day and Its menace. I
say "without company," for Camer
on, of course, had quit dismissed the
subject, and Evelyn, who previously
was greatly perturbed, had seemed to
put sway sll .apprehension directly
she aiw us safe aboard the yacht
There had been some talk of her ar
rompunytnR us, but without signify
ing my real reason, I had managed
to dlisuade her.
V'jt my disquietude there was cer
tainly no loaical ground. 1 had tak
B3&f
53383
c5
4
en the precaution of having the
Sibylla searched from masthead to
keelson before sailing. The coal was
examined as carefully as that of a bat
tleship In time of wnr: every locker
and cupbonrd was Inspected; even the
ventilators were metaphorically turn
ed Inside out and the record of ev
ery man of the crew was looked Into
with vigorous scrutiny So 1 could see
no loophole unguarded. Hut tho past
was an argument which Bet logic at
naught If such things could be as
that which had happened a month ago
In Cameron's dressing room, how
much further might the Inexplicable
carry? Of what use were precau
tions against an enemy who with ap
parent case calmly defied all natural
laws?
All the morning my thoughts had
been running In this line. Foolish
thoughts they must seem to one who
reads of them; worthy only to be
classed with the Idle, superstitious
fears of young girls and old women,
and Impossible to a well-balanced,
clear-headed man of twenty-nine. It
may be that I was not well-balanced
and clear-headed. And yet the se
quel would tend rather to a contrary
conclusion.
Cameron was still reading the Her
ald, and I sat with a pair of binocu
lars at my eyes sweeping the waters
for the trailing smoke of a liner or
some object of lesser Interest.
Presently the silence was broken
by my companion.
"I see," he began, dropping the pa
per to his knees, "that China Is realty
In earnest In her anti-opium cam
paign. Two Peking otllclals have died
from the effects of a too-hasty break
ing of tho habit- Men do not die in
tho attempt to obey mere paper re
forms. Tho Chinese are a wonderful
old people. Clyde."
I lowered my glasses, all at once In
terested. "You've been In China?" I asked.
"No, 1 hnven't," waa his answer.
"I've nlwnjs meant to so; but when
I was nearest, 111 news drew me home;
and so I never got closer than Yoko
hama on one side, and Srlnagar, In
Kashmir, on the other."
"You've seen something of them In
this country, I suppose?"
"No, very little. I attended a din
ner once at which Li Hung Cluing wns
tho guest of honor; nnd I've eaten
chop suey In cue of those Chinese
eating palaces they have In Chicago.
That's nbout tho extent of my person
al Chlncso experience. Hut 1 have
nlwaya been Interested In tho country
and its people. 1 havo read about
everything that has been published
on the subject. Hy tho way, did they
ever lliul out who killed that boy of
Murphy's?"
"Not yet," I answered "They've
had some of his own kind under sur
veillance, but no more arrests have
been nindo."
"Murphy was released?"
"Yes."
He took up his paper again and
once more 1 applied myself to sea
gnzlng. Far awaj to tho northeast I made
out what appealed to mo to bn a sea
going tug or pilot boat, steaming, I
thought, with rather unusual speed for
vessul of her class. It was not
much of n dlscovory, but the waters
had been very barren that morning,
especially for thu last two hours, and
Insignificant nn this object was I felt
In a mnuuer rewarded for my vigil.
Half an hour later she had sllped
out of sight and I was busy In nn ef
fort to pick her up again, when a cry
from the lookout forward directed my
attention to a floating Beck possibly
two miles or more dead ahead, and
not more than a point off our course.
"Come," 1 snld to Cameron, "!e's
go up on the bridge and havo a look!"
"And have our trouble for our
pains?" he returned, Incredulously.
"It's probably sonio bit of wreckage,
a box or a rnsk."
"Very well," 1 agreed, starting off
alone 'Kven a bo or a cask is worth
wlilic its a variation "
When on nonrer approach the drift
ing object ptoved to ho n fisherman's
dory, with n num. either dead or un
conscious, plainly discernible In the
bottom, 1 should hardly havo been hu
man hud 1 not experienced u degree
of tntl8fnctlon over Cameron's failure
as a prcphtt. That, however, was ill
least abiding of my sensations. In a.)
Instant It lnitl given way to anxiety
concerning the boat's occupant and
Intorebt in the buHluess-Hko manner
In which MacLeod, tho stocky younw
executive ofllcer of thu Sibylla, naj
preparing to pick up our Hnd.
Tho engine room had been signaled
half-speed ahead, and already a sailor
with a coll of rope, In hnnd was sta
tioned at tho foiward gangway, 1
have frequently teen rlvor pilots, mak
landings that were marvels of clever
calculation, 'jut I never saw any steer
ing moro accurately gauged than thnt
by which MacLeod, here In the open
sen, with the precarious swell and
surge of ocean to combat, brought the
yucht gliding within a bare three
Inched of the rolling dory's bow.
1 was leaning over the rail as we
came thus upon the castaway, and
saw clearly enough for Just a moment
the huddled creature In oilskins, silent
and motlonlsss In the stern, with
closed i yes and wet, dark hair mat
ted upon his forehead. Then a sailor,
dropping lightly lute the boat, shut
off ay view for a little. There waa
a whir of flung Use; an exchange of
quick-spoken, and to me unintelligible,
words between the sailor In the dory
and a sailor standing beside me on
the yacht's deck; and then, the tine
was taut and straining, and the dory,
which had sheered off astern, was be
ing brought up slowly alongside.
Now, I realized for the first time
that nuretiglnes had stopped and that,
save for the roll, we were almost sta
tionary. They were lifting the fisherman
aboard when Cameron, at length
nroused by the unusual, strolled for
ward and Joined me.
"There's your bit of wreckage," I ob
served, smiling.
"Poor devil 1" he exclaimed, sym
pathetically. "He seems more dead
than alle
"He's breathing, sir," announced
Brandon, the first officer, "and not
much more. We'll take him below,
and ceo what can be done for him,
sir."
He appeorcd to be about forty years
of age, a somewhat shrunken, weather-beaten
creature, with face deeply
lined and half hidden behind possibly
a week's grow'j of dark beard. It Is
not easy to rend a man with his eyes
closed, but I was far from prepos
sessed by whnt 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 were superactlvc. Even the
most trivial occurrences took on sig
nificance. 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, perhaps, but within the past
week there had been no storm; tho
weather had been as mild as that of
June, with nn August day or two
thrown In. How wns It possible, then,
for this bit of flotsam to have come
whore It was and In the condition It
was?
To Cameron I gave no hint of my
rensonlng. but to Captain MacLeod I
put the question without hesitation.'
"It docs seem n bit odd, Mr. Clyde,"
he returned, Judicially, "bu. you see
his mast and sail had gone by the
board and his oars, too. It looks to
me, sir, as If he'd been run down, may
be, and nigh swamped. Of course we
can't tell till he gets his senses and
lets us know."
Though this put the matter In n
new light, It did not by nny means re
lievo my anxiety; and I asked Mac
Leod to have a sharp watch kept on
tho fellow, nddlug that I would come
to him later for anything he might
learn. I took care, too, to cuutlun him
to tnnko no mention of the affair In
the presence of Cameron.
It was not until nftor dinner thnt
evening that I founil opportunity again
to question the ei.utaln. I enme upon
him In bis stateroom, a comfortably
commodious cabin, far forward on the
upper deck. On his table was sprart
a chart, over which he was bending
when I entered. A brlarwood was
gripped firmly between his teeth and
the grateful odor of clean pipe fetnokc
greeted rve as I entered.
"He's come around, Mr. Clyde." he
Informed me, turning about In his
Bwlvel elinlr, "and I'm Just trying to
check up some of his statements by
means of this chart here, and our
weather record."
"And how do they check 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,
ho sailed out of Gloucester harbor on
Monday morning Ills name's Peter
Johnson, nnd he lives in IJast Glouces
ter. Ho ?aj'B the wind was strong from
the westward, and he made the banks
all right without mishap. Hut about
noon, the wind died, nnd a thick fog
came In from the northeast, chill nnd
sopping, sir. He kept moving nbout,
and finally In the thick of It lost his
beailngs. It hnd clouded over and
nftor n little It began to rain He
made a try for Gloucester harbor, hut
must have sailed southeast Instead of
northwest. Then the night came
down, nnd tho fog wns llko a &ai a
blnnkets, he says. His food wns gone
and most of Ills water, hut ho raid
he'd oecn worse Ihnn thnt many a
time, and Just prayed for tho fog to
lift and give him a sight of the' stars.
And the next thing thnt happened was
whnt I suspected, sir. Ho heard n
steamer's whistle He had his sheet
out nnd was running before the wind,
end that steamer coming upon him
out of the fog, caught his boom, ripped
out his muBt nnd nearly capsized his
dory. When she righted, the steftm
er's lights' were fading Into the fog
again, his boat was halt 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 him around the
southermost end of Nantucket Island
I questioned him about lights and fog
signals, and making due allowance for
his condition, his yarn works out pret
ty straight He'd been drifting about
for three oays when we picked him
up and was halt dead of thirst and
hunger. But he's cone around better
than might be expected, and "
And then I Interrupted him.
"Three daya without water r 1 que.
tloaod.
"And without food. Yet, air."
"When did he le'l you this storyr
"About six o'clock, sir."
"Could a starving man recover that
quickly?"
"He might, sir," MacLeod answered
"The average healthy man can go ten
days without food or drink."
"What have you done with hlra?"
"He's In the seaman's quarters, for
'ard. sir."
"See that he's kept there, Mr. Mac
Leod," 1 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 1 was somewhat
curious to study that face agalu when
It was sentient, nnd 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 hnd 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 were somewhere
east of Nantucket, and directly in the
path of the transatlantic liners.
The night was balmy as a night In
springtime, and Cameron and 1 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
tho farther astern. We talked of
many things, I remember. He was al
ways Interested In my work, nnd es
pecially In my ambitions to make The
Week a power for national good; and,
I remember that we discussed several
projects I then hnd In mind for bring
ing about reform in high places. Hut
tho subject which then Interested me
most, and regarding which I still ex
perienced a vague, unreasoning uneas
iness, he had avoided throughout tho
day nnd evening, with what seemed
to mc studied Intent.
The sudden cessation of hostilities
on the part of those whom ho had
been given every renson to look upon
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, ho had not chosen to go over
with mo tho whole marvclotisly per
plexing business.
His mind, I knew, wbb relieved by
what I had mado him believe, or he
would not now bo the man he was;
but despite that. It appeared t1? me.
It would ho most natural for hi pi, on
this day of all days the twent; -first
of the month to question, at least,
my previously emphatically seated
conclusions.
Tnene had been a moment of silence
between us, nnd theso reflections v?ere
dominant with mo, as six bells, t'ng
lng out musically, announced thnt
midnight was but un hour dlstnut. At
that Instant, while In time to tho
hell's strokes, there echoed In my
brain tho words "Know then, thnt be
fore tho morning of tho eighth df-y
honce " Cameron, lowering his ci
gar, turned to me with:
"Clyde, I wonder If you have for
gotten whnt dny this Is!"
1 don't know why, coming at Just
that particular Juncture, the question
should he moro 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 tonguo refused
Its office. There waa a lump In my
throat which demanded to bo swal
lowed, and I made a pretence of
coughing to hldo my plight. At length
I answered, n bit lamely;
"No, I haven't forgotten. It's
Wednesday, tho twenty-llrst of Octo
ber." He returned his cigar to his lips nnd
smoked In silence for a full minute
Then, ho said, quietly:
"It's seven days since that empty
envelope came."
"Yes," I returned.
There wns another slight pause and
ho wont on:
"I have been thinking that possibly
you were wrong about the significance
of thnt empty envelope. PosMbly
those enlgmnllcal person Intended
that absence of a definite threat to
Imply tho Inconceivably terrible."
Now that ho hnd started to talk
nbout It, I wished that ho had contin
ued his silence. I could not under
stand how I had convinced him be
fore, knowing nil tho while that I wbb
without truth to support me. Cor
talnly, now, pervaded as I was with
that grim disquietude, It would be
even moro difficult to carry conviction
with my words.
"Whatever they Intended," I 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 I believe In the su
pernatural; therefore the things that
happened at Cragholt were brought
about by natural means, seemingly In
explicable aa they were. Now no nat
ural means can be brought to bear
to perform any such legerdemain on
this yacht You know that There's
avet a xaau hart, except that poor old
isherman, that wo don't knuv nil and
everything about 8o, I say, no mat
ter what they planned; this time they
are outwitted." And even as I said
it, 1 saw clearly before my vllon
these words: "Say not Heaven Is high
above! Henven ascends and descends
about our deeds, dally Inspecting ua
wheresoever we are."
"Then you agree with met You
think something may have been
planned 7"
"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!' Even now
I think that if they had meant to con
tinue they would havo said so. !'
almost sure they would."
I was quite sure, of course, but I
dared not say so.
Cnmeron smoked on quietly for a
while In a ruminative mood. Even
tually he 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 ho 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 then I knew that
he had every word memorised, Jurt
as I had.
Seven bells had struck and we wero
still talking. But 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 motor
boat's exhaust, but had put the notlou
aside as too improbablo for entertain
ment. Now, fnlntly, I seemed to hear
it ngaln; not so distant, but muffled.
I got up and stood close to the rail.
nnd 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 thnt moment
the sound, which I hnd mado sure of.
ceased, and I stood a second or two
longer, expecting It to resume.
Altogether It wns not over a minute
or two thnt 1 stood there. It seemed
much lcs3 than thnt. Then I turned
with n question for Cameron. I won
dered whether ho hnd heaid tho sound
too.
"I say, Cam " I began, and stopped,
startled, with his name half uttered.
Ills chair wns empty. Ho was not
on deck. 1 ran to the saloon. He wns
not there. I flung open the door of
his stateroom. He was not there, ei
ther. I had the yacht searched for
him. Ho wns not on tho yncht.
CHAPTER IX.
A Craft Without Lights.
Compoburo" Is second nature with
me. I claim no credit for It; It Is a
matter of temperament rather than
cultivation. Hut now my temperament
was all awry, and my composure lied
me. I wns excited. More than that
I was frantic, distracted, rattled. I
wanted to do a dozen things at once;
to get ntiBwers to a score of ques
tions In a slnglo moment. And the
consequence may bo Imagined. For
five ten minutes, nc'hlng was done
whatever. Then tho Bcnrch-llght was
got Into piny, sweeping tho wnters od
all sides, far and near; hut with pal
try result. Five or six miles astern
wo mado out n power boat, plmllnrjto
that which I had seen through the
glnss earlier In tho day. To the east
ward a steamer with two funnels was
Just coming Into range. Tho white
sails of a coasting schooner showed
to westward. Trailing In otir wake
wns our squalid salvage, tho dory of.
the fisherman.
MncLood, trained to coolness, re
tained Ills wits. Systematically he
sot to work. Likely and unlikely
places nbonrd the yacht wero looked
into. Ileforo I knew what ho was
nbout, wo wore going hack over the
way wo hnd come with tho senrch
light swinging In n clrclo nnd a half
dozen sharp-eyed seamen scanning
every square foot of rolling wave.
"I can't undorstnnd It," I kept re
penting aloud, with scnsclcsB iteration,
"I can't understand It."
1 was standing alone, well forward,
Icnnlng over tho rail. Presently Mac
Leod laid a hnnd on my shoulder.
"We can't do anything moro than
we nro doing, Mr. Clyde," ho said In
His mntter-of-fact way. "For my part,
I can't understand it, either; but since
Mr. Cameron's not aboard, there's
only ono conclusion, nnd thnt Is that
he's overboard. And since there was
no ono interested In throwing him
there, then It seems very clear that
he must have Jumped."
"Jumped!" 1 cried, In Irritation.
"My God, mnni Don't I tell you that
I was not three feet away from him,
nnd only for a minute or two? How
could he have jumped without my
hearing htm? How could ho area
have got out of his chair, without say
hearing him?"
The captain shrugged hta shoulders.
(TO BB CONTINUED.)
Leva That Inauraa.
Remember, that there la soaetltaoa
a Baa love that narer laaroa a ataa'a
heart It stays aad waltal Mas
ekaatar Unloa,
aU
"SSfol