The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1902-11-06
CHAPTER XVI-Continued.

tered her terrible prophecy, l turned
sharply round, and seeing close to
me the white face of her, with
shadow of scorn and triumphant
wickedness, l asked in no very peace
Legetting accents, what she meant,
what she dare insinuate.
81 dare anything" she replied, as
she drew herself to her full height.
"As for knowing-but look, there
goes Miss Pelham-now I'll tell you
what | know. If they have only ten
minutes rough weather they will go
under. know that"
How do you know that?"
Because the boat is rotten"
"How do you know the boat Is rot
ten?"
1--WE thought at one time of send
ing Warren away in her and friend
of mine examined her and found her
to be rotten"
"Then how dare Warren"
81 did not say Warren examined
her: he knows nothing about It,"
While this heated conversation was
going on, we were, as said, standing
on a ledge of rock we'll hidden in the
shadow of the cliff that overhung us,
while below, and to the left of us,
the colonel and his party, in single
file. were slowly picking their way
from point to point toward the boat
that lay half hidden beneath my ia
ble-rock. watched them, half
dazed, for some seconds, wondering
what next would happen and what
was to be done. With this terrible
woman about anything in the way of
,,efN q
dazed men will, folded my arms and
stared at the ground, and tried to de-
eide what was the duty lying near
est me- but decide could not; think
ing at all, in the halo of superstition
that had built about this woman.
was out of the question. When next
I looked up, the two sailors were on
board. and the others preparing to
join them. Something must be done,
and at once; what that something
was could be better decided out of
the range of this woman's influence,
and so decided, promises to the con-
trary, notwithstanding, to make with
all haste to the beach. She, from my
movements. or by intuition, OWNED
my intention, and as | was just start
ing, put out her hand, and holding
My sleeve asked: What are you 60
ing to do?"
my duty-stop them"
And them"
81 don't know; but please release
me: there is not time to-"
The sentence was never finished,
for as | quickly turned round to re-
lease myself from her firm grasp, |,
forgetting the narrow ledge of rock
on which we were standing, took one
step backward and fell, how far
don't know; | only remember going
from bush to bush, from rock to rock.
until at last | landed upon a bed of
soft sand on the sea level. Almost
before l had recovered consciousness
she was at my side and lifting me IN
to a sitting position, and then, find
ing | was all right, she was gone
again.
Then, in the misty dawn of re-
turning consciousness, | saw two
women talking hurriedly, and one,
the younger, gesticulating and point
ing to the boat; then the other ran
across the sand toward the man who
held the rope. The boat | could not
see for she was beneath the level of
the rock. Then, still half stunned,
remember the man and woman en-
bracing each other. and then the man
disappeared and the woman was left
standing alone, with both hands held
up to shade her ewes that she might
see the most of the man just gone
from her, and perhaps forever. Grad
ually, and at first as events that
had occurred long, long ago, the MIS-
tory Of the last hour repeated itself;
and then, as the blood currents grew
stronger and stronger, they (these
events) came nearer and nearer, I'M
til the history of them, the details
and the date of them, were
close to me-within my reach, and
yet | could not quite grasp them. To
better my chance | buried my head
in my hands. and held my eyelids
tightly closed. and shut out the world
and the restless waves, and waited
for the coming of memories that even
in that state Of semi-consciousness
felt were pregnant with painful in
terest to me. How long | sat thus
don't know-neither time nor space
has any existence to the semi-con-
scious-.t was probably only a few
seconds, when a voice that was we'll
known to me brought back with a
-ush, as we'll known sounds and scents
will. all the memories l had been
waiting for
Are you better?"
Thank you-yes."
"Can you Walk"
81 think So"
LET US see."
Then she half lifted me. and half
carried me. up and down the little
patch of hard sea washed sand upon
which I had heen living and so randi