Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-10-05
ting by my bedside with an awful smile
and with CLASSY eyes fixed on mar
The Yacht IdriS TrOndhein.

ting by my bedside with an awful smile
and with CLASSY eyes fixed on mar
THE Yacht Idris, Trondheim,
10th September 1876.
Il verify believe that Marville Is mad! He
pretends that he has deciphered the runic
inscription. Il. relates to the buried treas
ure of an old Morse Viking-which treasure
he AYERS. still exists in the spot where it
was hidden, thousand years ago, the site
being some point on the eastern coast Of
england A short run across the North
On finding it. Is 1t not clear shat he is
mad?
Hitherto l have taken charge of the
yacht Now he has assumed the command.
needless of my mild protests. The crew do
not like this change of masters His sea-
manship is of the widest character. He de-
lights to sport with reefs and eddies, with
winds and storms. Thank heaven! we are
going no farther north. or he would take
a diabolical pleasure in steering Us iii
into the Maelstrom in order to demonstrate
how cleverly he could get mt again.
In love with death, but for my part 1
prefer to live.
He has exchanged his former melancholy
mood for one OF reckless mirth. He drinks:
vide his imaginary treasure among the
crew. ITO obtain it, he says. we shall
have to penetrate to the CHAMBER of the
dead, for its hiding place is the tomb. But
you, he added, turning to me, shall be
my classics have grown rusty. Who the
devil was Protesilaus?"
1.-THE Yacht Idris. Bergen.
18th October, 1876.
II have discovered VIII, Prclesilaus
was Greek hero who sacrificed
his life G to wh the des M Of hs
mean by calling me Protesilaus?
"A strange occurrence took place last
night. A subdued wailing was heard
among the shrouds. The thick fog pre-
the sound. Fear fell on the crew, and
none of them would ascend the rigging to
ascertain the cause. They muttered that It
was a ghost, and that it foreboded Ill to
all on board. Marvile laughed at them for
a pack of fools! Of course it was moth ng
but the moaning of some sea bird. but, for
all that, in my then state of mind it was
sufficiently diSquieting.
all night with that eerie sound playing
around the vessel. The sailors have lost
all cheerfulneSs. and believe themselves to
be living on a doomed ship. What vessel
ever did we'll. after she was renamed"
asked one l confess that l myself am
affected by the general gloom, but when
expressed to Marville my intention Of re-
naming at Bergen till his return from the
treasure search. he cried No no! you, of
all persons must not leave u.s.. Why not?
1 thought of Protesilaus again.
THE more 1 consider his moody watchful
manner toward me of late. the more con-
WINGED l grow that he suspects me of tnt
killing of Duchesne. He has 1ured on
board this yacht with the object OF tortur-
ing my conscience: by perpetually dwelling
upon the crime he hopes to entrap me intc
a confession. So far he has failed, but my
position is a terrible one. / feel intuitively
that he is maturing some scheme of ven
ge2nce.
why do I not escape?' you may ask.
Ty,1y LOT hnIi .,au
orders to watch me. If I go ashore ne ac-
companies me- ostensibly from friendship,
in. reality to keep guard over me. lis
dreadful smile fascinates me. and chains
me to him. seem to have lost all freedom
of will and action. and to have fallen COM
Iletely under theu spell iof some weird
being from another world l feel that ere
long he will draw the secret from me.
when behold my reflection in tho glass
I cannot refrain from the thought, Can
that be the once brilliant and handsome
Rochefort? l look ten years Oldcr--gray,
haggard. l should be quite safe In return-
me now,
IF there be tribunal above to which one
is responsible for the deeds done on earth.
] trust that the remorse have suffered OF
late will be taken into account" @-syt
THE Yacht Idris: In Ormsby Roads,
18th October. 1875. pm.
I'VE are anchored off the English coast
in front of little town called Ormsby-On-
sea. 10 the TlBnI OI the lOWI anu dDOul
mile from the shore rise the towers of some
old castle. EMPOWERED in a woodland vale.
and forming pretty feature in the land
scaDe. Marville seems to take a Sreat in
terest in this edifice: all this morning M
has been studying it through the telescope.
Haven't seen the place for ten years.
he muttered. Wonder if he Is still alive
II asked him the name of the place. A
scowl was my only answer. He hasn't i'm
proved in amiability since we eft Bergen
In the dictatorial spirit assumed by MIN of
late he will not permit any of us to land
He himself is going ashore for some pur-
pose which he refuses to disclose. He will
not return to the yacht till tomorrow. 1
am dispatching this letter to the post by
the sailor who Is to row Marvile ashore-a
sailor whom l can trust. FAREWELL!
THE last letter we ever received from
him." murmured Lorelie, laying GOWN the
missive.
The tone of the final letters conveyed an
impression terrible in its suggestiveness to
her mind now that by means of her hyp-
motto experiment she had become aware of
the tragedy that had taken place within
the interior of Ormfell.
THE Idris went down on the evening OF
October 49," she murmured, land late that
same night Olave Ravengar returned to
Ravenhall after an absence of ten years
Is this a coincidence. or is the present earl
the same person as Eric Marville? Did my
father go down with the yacht, or did he
escape the sea only to fall within the inte-
rior of Ormfell by the hand of the man
whom he had wrouged?"
(To be continued tomorrow)