The Seattle star. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1899-1947, 1905-04-17
CHAPTER NXVL.
SEALED ORDERS.

/ cover. my first sensation was that
of motion was lying down aad
the thing i lay ON waI BwRyirg
i aliEhtly To and fro IN my ears
/ there huzzcd muffled metallic Vi
/ bratiun
/ Then. as my heavy eyes raamed
/ wildly round the cramped space. all
E. that had happened came back 60 the
Ia flash, and ! knew that | was
In one OF the sleeping bsrthH 81 the
/ NlEhtshadc. aud that the Night
shade was M hunger In the dock
i The vibration was caused hy the
| pulslnE ~ her engines She Waa
steaming slowly I'm open water The
voyage had begun, and was a
E prisoner ON boaTd her bound
I Whitherg
The shock OF my awakening Was
80 horrible that the full significance
/ of my detention On the vessel only
came to me BY degrees. but when
I tried the plan Of carrying my
mind back "a the day before. they
I were degrees that followed each
/ other quickly. and appalling enough
/ found them. That steady throh 81
/ the steamers screw suunded like a
death kunll. for I guessed all too
I surely that | was tho victim of a
deliberate plat % set me cat of tho
way Of launching ruin on Roger
E Marske
That the brutal captain Of the
I NlRhtshasle had any knowledge 81
Arthur's unfortunate sister. or had
ever sailed with Roger Marske on a
/ yacht. Was extremely improbable
Belcher dla not look like man
who would ever be intruafed with
/ the command ~ a yacht However
by the light % what had befallen
me at bis hands. that was lmmateF-
iai Doubtless Roger Marske. or
maybe SIR Gideon himself. had had
previous dealings with him. and
knew that be would be an unarrup-
uloua instrument for conveying mo
-whefef
/ with an effort I staggered - my
feet and looked shout ms. The place
! was In was small cabin. with
two sleeping hunks. on the lower u
which I had slept cut my drugxed
sleep. ! saw with a thrill % ap-
prehcualnn that the bedelothes we're
fairly clean. aor was this incansiat-
ent. ON such e vessel aa this clean
illness suggested preparation and
design. and there we're iufiuita pos
abilities IN the designs % such PEG
pie as had hold Of me
One step brought me 20 the door.
which. % course. was locked. and !
turned 20 the circular port hole. IL
was closed. hut had been able -
I open II. Il would have been useless
for purposes of escape. for Il was
too small 90 admit the passage al
my head. 60 say u1t-ins % my
body. n offered thia advantage.
I though. that it gave me = ueE 81
the oulaids world.
Tho Uln vas rising from a hauk
uf haze. between which and The
ship. ~ a considerable distance. q
long line % low lYiuE mud flats Vas
visible waa able 20 e0uclnda.
therefore. that Il vas early morn
Ing. ard that the steamer vas some
where in the lover reaches uf the
Thames. heading for the open So.
And as gated with wisfful lung
lnKa AZ the far-off shore through
the plate glass circle. the steamer
bore 70 the right. the land fell away
| quickly. and. minute BY minute the
waves ran higher. I knew that We
vcre out u The river. standing
down channel ON a southerlY course
Tor the Straits - Dover.
] III #s~as.N 80 #rf e.faHFr FrrHaa
heavily laden barEca % huge In
ward bound oceAn liners. bat none
30 near that even had I been on
deck could have made my distress
known on board them.
I think that the tears would have
come had I not been distracted by
loud knock al the cabin door--a
superflu0us attention that ! appre-
ciated vaguely, seeing that the door
was locked on the outside. and that
Il was open 20 anyone 10 enter
Alloy there, missy. You'll be
wanting some breakfast. en- - came
the husky tones Of Capt. Ha!chers
voice.
decided rupldly that. a. was at
| the mans mercy and In complste
/ ignorance of hts Intentions toward
mo. there waa nothing to be gained
BY open defiance or display Of
[ temper.
How soon will breakfast be
ready7" ! asked. striving 10 make
the question sound rs Indifferent rs
II I was addressing the steward OF
/ an Atlantic mail boat.
Ny apparent complacence must
have aslonlshed him. Tor bias
phcm0us but not uufrlendly oath
prefaccd the reply Now you're
| talking sense. The eoffeell De hot
as soon as you want O.. and your
| doors unlocked"
The truth Of the latter statement.
/ evidenced by the scrooping OF the
key. cmboldened me 10 pat the
/ question:
Il wish you would tell me where
/ you are bound for Capt Bolahcr /
cannot pretend 10 feel very com
| Portable TN ! know that"
The raspinE laugh that met my
! request for enlightenment was not
relssuring There you have mo.
| missy" replied the captain You
may believe me Or not, bat I know
no more than you do. and shant TN
we've passed the Straits. We're
sailing mau-o-war fashion this trip
| under sealed orders"