Milford chronicle., 1905-02-03
CHAPTER ".

AE up to WITHIN halilhS us
tance of the bark and had
hove her to. Kitchell ordered Wilbur
to return to the schooner and bring
over a couple Of axes.
"We1l 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 core
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 at the oars
Of the dory, with that extraordinary
absence of curiosity which is the mark
of the race. did not glance a second
time at the survivor of the Lady Let
tvs misadventure. To them it was
evident she was but a fOr'mast hand
However, Wilbur examined her with
extraordinary interest as she sat IN
4 the stern sheets, sullen, half dehant
half bewildered and bereft of speech.
She was not pretty-sne was too tan
for that-quite as tall as Wilbur MIN
self, and her skeleton was too massive.
Her face was red, and the CLINT Oh
blue ice was in her eyes. Her eye
lashes and eyebrows, as well as the
almost imperceptible down that edged
her cheek when she turned against the
light. were blond almost to whiteness'
What beauty she had was OF the me
hardy Morse type. Her hands were
red and hard, and even beneath the
coarse sleeve of the oilskin coat one
could infer that the biceps and deltoidS
were large and powerful She was
coarse fibered, no doubt. mentally as
well as physically, but her coarseness
so Wilbur guessed, would prove TO o'
the coarseness of a primitive ralnel
than of a degenerate character
One thing he saw clearly during tint
few moments of the dory's trip De
tween bark and schOOner-the rae
that his charge was a woman must d
kent from Captain Kitchell WilDu
knew his man by now. 1t could d.
done. Kitchell and he would take tn'
Lady Lefty into the nearest port a
soon as possible The deception woul'
have TO be maintained only for da.
or two.
He left the girl on board the schoon
[ or and returned to the derelict VIII
the axes. He found Kitchell on Tn
t house. lust returned from hasty sur
vey of the prize.
r "she's a daisy" vociferated the car
tain as Wilbur came aboard.
r been havin' look round. She's bran
$ new. See the date on the capstn heau
Christiania is her hailin' port-Dui
] there. But it's her papers I'm atteI
K Then wen know where were a
e How's the kid?"
"She's all right" answered WllDu
< before he could collect his thougnu
!. But the captain thought he had re
: erence to the Bertha.
/ 81 mean the kid we found IN u
wheel box. He doesn't count IN OF
salvage. The bark's been abandone
2 as plain as paint. If thought he stoo
e in our way and Kitchelrs jaw gre
n salient I'D shut him in the caDl
.e with the old man spell till hea co
l. ned off. Now, then, son, first thing
do is to chop vents in this yere mousse
d Hold up! We can do better tina
d that" said Wilbur, restraining kltc
ID ellis fury Of impatience. "Slide the b
i, sl,vlight off. It's loose already.
to A couple of the schoOner's han'
le were ordered aboard the Lady Let
and the skylight removed. At hrst u
le pour of gas was terrific, but by d
n erees it abated and at the end OF ha
ID an hour Kitchell could keep back
I'd longer.
az. "Rot the difference All the plu
>" dering instincts of the man we
he aroused and clamoring. He had 9
Id come a very wolf within scent OF
prey, a veritable hyena nuzzling apo
its carrion.
id aI,ordr' he gasped. "TO think tn
nd everything we see, everything we III
a is oursHk b
re. Wilbur himself was not far penn
lie him in eagerness. Somewhere de
,el down in the heart Of every Anglo-Sa
of on lies the predatory instinct OF
ell viking ancestors, an instinct tnat
Thousand years Of respectability a
ID, taxpaying have not quite succeeded
i'll eliminating.
tn A Fight Of six steps, brass bound a
lit beaEing the double L Of the bari
n't moBogram. led them down into 81