The Cairo bulletin., 1904-03-25
CHAPTER ".
n REANWHTLE Charlie had
III" brought the Bertha Millner
IVA up to within hailing dis
10 3 : al Ia,
CHAPTER ".

IN" brought the Bertha Millner
IVA up to within hiiling dis
lance of the bark and had
hove her to, kitchel ordered Wilbur
to return to the schooner and bring
over couple of axes
Wen have to knock holes all
through the house and break in the
skylights and let the gas escape before
we can do anything Take the kid
over and give him whisky Then come
along back and bear hand"
Wilbur had considerable difficulty in
getting into the dory from the deck of
the plunging derelict with his dazed
and almost helpless charge. Even as
he slid down the rope into the little
boat and helped the girl to follow he
was aware Of two dull, brownish green
shadows moving just beneath the wa
ter's surface not ten feet away, and
knew that he was being stealthily
watched. The Cinnamon Mt the oars
of the dory. with that extraordinary
absence of curiosity which is the mark
of the race did not glance n second
time at the survivor of the Lady Let
tvs misadventure TO them ii was
evident she was but for'mast hand.
| However, Wilbur examined her with
extraordinary interest as sIe sat In
the stern sheets, sullen. half defiant,
half bewildered and bereft of speech.
She was not pretty--she was too tall
for that--qute MS tall as Wilbur him
self, and her skeleton was too massive
Her face was red, and the CLINT of
blue ice was in her eyes. Her eye
lashes and eyebrows, as we'll as the
almost imperceptible down that edged
her cheek when she turned against the
light. We're blond almost to wilderness.
! What beauty she had was of the fine,
hardy Morse type. Her hands We're
red and hard, and even beneath the
coarse sleeve of the oilslSin coat one
could infer that the biceps and deltoids
We're large and powerful She was
coarse fibered, no doubt. mentally as
well as physically. but her coarseness
so Wilbur. guessed, would prove to be
the coarseness of primitive rather
than of degenerate character.
One thing he saw clearly during the
few moments of the dory's trip be
tween bark and schooner-th fact
kept from Captain Kitchell. Wilbur
knew his man by now. 1t could be
done. Kitchell and he would take the
Lady Lefty into the nearest port as
soon as possible The deception would
have to be maintained only for day
or two
He left the girl on board the schoon-
err and returned to the derelict with
the axes. He found Kitchell on the
house, Just returned from hasty sur
vey Of the prize.
shes a daisy" vociferated the cap
| tain as Wilbur came aboard. I've
| been havin' look round. She's brand
new. See the date on the capst'n head?
Christiania is her hailin' port built
there. But it's her papers I'm after
Then wen know where we're at.
How's the kid?'
she's all right" answered Wilbur
before he could collect his thoughts.
But the captain thought he had ref
erence to the Bertha
II mean the kid we found in the
wheel box He doesn't count in our
! 10 10 al, oH
as plain as paint. If thought he stood
in our way and Kitchells Jaw grew
salient. I'D shut him in the cabin
with the old man spell till he'd cop
ped off. Now. then. son. first thing to
do Is to chop vents in this we're house"
Hold up, We can do better than
that" said Wilbur. restraining Kitch
ellis fury of impatience. slide the big
skylight off. It's loose already"
A couple of the schooner's hands
were ordered aboard the Lady Lefty
and the skylight removed. At first the
pour of gas was terrific. but by de-
grees il abated. and at the end Of half
an hour kitchell could keep back no
longer. r.
| Come one' be cried. catching up an
az. aRot the difference All the plum
dering instincts Of the man were
aroused and clamoring. He had be
come a very wolf within scent of its
prey. q veritable hyena nuzzling about
its carrion.
Lord he gasped. "To think that
everything We see. everything we find,
IL ours'
Wilbur himself was not far behind
him in eagerness. Somewhere deep
down in the heart Of every Anglo Sax
on lies the predatory instinct of his
viking ancestors, an instinct that a
thousand years Of responsibility and
tarpaying have not quite succeeded In
eliminating.
A fight Of six steps. brass bound and
bearing the double L of the barks
monogram. led them down into a sort
Of vestihnle. From the vestlbule a
door opened directly into the main
Ieabsn. they entered.
TIE cabin was some twenty feet .o1g