The times., 1900-12-23


ne heard Drayton had called him vain
| peacock. Then he got very red and be-
| gan to Asteh, and when l showed him
my handbook he dropped the misther and
| called me Larry. And when l tould him
how l wpuh pay of the mortgages he
was as fath~ily as a hen over basket of
eggs. But thin he went all pale and pulled
out noIe- Now what do you think that
blackguard Drayton has done? 1t ap-
! pears your 70 ther never bothered to pay
] the last Interest of the mortgage, and
your father has lost his right to redeem.
! That old Jew can foreclose at any blessed
mint, and has written a note to say he IL
| send his solicitors in two or three days
| to take possession
| "Oh, Larry. shall we really be turned
| out 7' cried Lotus.
! Your father thinks so," he replied;
/ 'but l have got a notion of how / can
/ make that fellow sell me the mortgages
| / have all the particulars here, and am
| off 20 San Fernando straight away"
| 1t was late that night when Larry ar
; rived in the township and sought the
house of Devaine's solicitor From him
he learned that Draytop could undoubted
ly take possession of Devaine's estate,
and, so aided, utterly beggar him
/ He viii never consent to sell now"
said the lawyer, after hearing the ac-
count of all that had happened.
There is persuasion and persuasion"
said Larry, oracularly. Anyhow. just
draw me regular release of ali these
mortgages in proper form and a receipt
for the money"
"You will have to be quick If you are
going to catch Drayton tomorrow" said
the solicitor. as he parted from Larry an
hour later. His lawyer sent round to me
tonight to ask me to confer with him and
his client tomorrow at 10. l daresay he'll
be bringing up the Geeds.''
Thanks" said Larry, cheerfully, I'm
not intending to lose any time"
He knew the way to Drayton's estate.
and. taking 1t, rode hard for a couple of
hours. Then. leaving Devaine's planta-
tions to the left. he followed the road on
to the beach. After passing along this
for nearly mile he dismounted, tethered
his horse. and looked carefully around.
For mile either wae>he commanded a
perfect view of q nat, rnud-colored beach;
on one side the sea, oily and sluggish. on
the other brake Of reed and tangled
bush and bog. About twenty yards from
this brake number of large white bold
ers marked the limits of a deadly bot
tomiess quicksand. which ran out to near
ly low-water mark.
Larry regarded these stones carefully
No one used that path save Drayton or
the whites staying with him. The natives
had a holy horror OF it. Then for few
minutes Larry went to work and moved
the cornerstone of the row which marked
that border to which Roger Drayton must
approach ten yards further out to sea. He
then disappeared into the bush and in two
hours reappeared dragging after him six
or seven bamboo saplings whose length
could easily cover the angle Drayton would
probably cross. BY the time he had ar
ranged everything to his satisfaction the
dawn was breaking. A dip into the sea re-
freshed him. and then. pereeiving in the
distance the figure of a horseman advanc-
ing. he creuched low behind boulder and
watched
Draytcn rodt. straight for the stone near
est the brake Of bush utterly unsuspect-
ing. Fora moment the speed of his horse
carried him well into the dangerous sands
before he noticed 1t. He was busy reading.
and 1t was not till he heard the thud and
wrenching sqnish OF the horses hoofs as
it attempted 70 drag its feet free of the
sucking sand that he realized what had
happened He glanced round wildly help
lessly. Not soul was in sight-nothing
save the long green roll of the sea. the
siekly. sweet smell CT the swamps, the |
'suck-suck' OF the sand and the strong |
tremors OF the painting horse.
He knew perisctly Well that in an hours |
time should no helR arrive. no trace Of
aim would be ieft.-sAs a last hope he let /
himself glise gentIy OF his horse and made /
cash fai the arm ground. Tt wa no |
good At the th1rd step he stuck He |
selt an irritable sense of modification as |
he saw his horse. released Of its load. with |
4 valiant effort gather itself together. |
buck twist. and with a bound scramble |
into safety.
Suddenly, as though starting from the |
earth man appeared. drawing after him
he approached nearer Drayton recognized |
him as Larry Tighe, and yelled aloud in
sheer relief.
THANK God you've turned up so iucki-
iy.'' he cried, as the other stood on firm
ground ten PAGES away.
at is lucky" replied Larry. laconically.
and sitting on the sand he began to load
his pipe.
What the deuce are you doing. man.
yelled Drayton. run the hamboos across
Can't you see I'm sinking?'
Perfectly, I want little conversation
win you," replied Larry and taking no
notice OF the others biasphemous and
frenzied comments he pulled out from his
pocket fountain pen and packet OF pa
pers.
"See these?'' he went on, phiegmatioal-
ly. with stony disregard OF the others
dumb look Of rage. "No. /: Release Of all
the mortgages you hold over Deyaine. No
,: Receipt for the money. No. 8: Ny
check in fun for the amount. When you
have signed the first two, III pass you the
third and help you cut. VIII you sign?"
''I'l1 see you hanged first" roared Dray-
ton his face purple with fury.
Then you will be sucked slowly into
that hungry. black ooze," said Larry. with
2 gruesome. relishing lingering over each
word. /
For scme minutes he silence reigned