The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1906-08-25

was as yet entlrely puzzle TO MIN, anu
this was only a new complication. He
could not understand it, just as better
men than Claud Tyars have failed to un-
derstand it all through. For no one, l
take it, does understand love. and no man
can say whittier it will lead.
There need" continued Oswin Grace.
perforating a series of small holes in his
blotting paper with the point of cedar
wood pencil, "be no nonsense of that sort.
am going to take it upon myself to
watch over Helen's interests; they are
much safer in your hands than in mine"
Still Tyars said nothing, and after
little pause, Grace went on, in measured,
thoughtful tones, carrying with them the
weight of elaboration.
There is one point" he said, upon
which 1 think there must be an under
standing
YES" said Tyars anxiously.
ANY risks-extra risks, such as boat
work, night-work up aloft-these must be
mine. From what you have said, gath
er that your intention was to be skipper,
and yet do the rough work as well. When
anything hazardous is to be done, | shall
do it. You must stick to the ship"
Il have no doubt" said Tyars, seating
himself at the table and beginning to
open his letters, that we are all con-
structing very fine mountain out OF ma
terals intended for a molehill. l, for
one, have no intention of leaving my
bones in the far North. There is no rea-
son why we should not all be back home
by this time next year."
hot
perfunctorily, adding, with a suspicion OF
doubt the next minute: Suppose we
succeed!"
We'll, what them"
Suppose we get there all right, rescue
the men and go on safely; we get over
the elemental danger, and then we have
to face the political, which is worse"
Il do not see it." replied Tyars. I'VE
sell the ship at San Francisco. Half
the crew expect to be paid off there, the
other half will disperse with their passage
money in their pockets, and very few of
them will find their way back to England.
Our doctor is German socialist, with
several aliases our second mate a SIM
ple-minded Norwegian whaling skipper.
The exiles do not know a word Of Eng
lish, or pretend they do not, and none
of the crew speaks Russian. There will
be absolutely no intercourse on board,
and only you, the doctor and myself will
ever know who the rescued men really
are. The crew will imagine that they
are the survivors of Russian ivory hunt
ing expedition, and if the truth ever
comes out, it will be impossible to prove
that you and | knew better"
But it will not be easy to keep the
newspapers quiet"
1--WE shall not attempt to keep them
quiet. 1t will only be local matter.
The San Francisco papers will publish
libelous woodcuts Of our countenances and
a column or two purporting to be bio
graphical. but the world will be little the
wiser. In America such matters are in
teresting only in SO much as they are per-
Sonal, and there is in reality nothing
easier than the suppression of ones per-
sonality. There is no difficulty in kick
ing an interviewer out of the room, just
as one would kick out any intruder: and
we are quite Indifferent as to whether
the American newspapers abuse us or not
after having been kicked. As to the de-
tails Of the voyage, shall withhold those
with the view of publishing book, which
is quite the correct thing nowadays. The
book shall always be in course of prepara-
ton. and will never appear"
In this wise the two men continued
talking, planning. scheming all the morn
ing, while they worked methodically and
prosaically.
The eleventh of March was fixed for
the sailing of the Argo. exploring vessel,
and Easton's chief thought on the SUBJ
ject was a vague wonder as to what he
would do with himself after she had gone.
The Argo was to pass out of the tidal
basin into the river at one O'Clock, and
at half-past twelve Easton drove I'D to
the dock gates. He brought with him the
last items of the ships outfit in the shane
Of a pile of newspapers. and bunch of
dollhouse roses for the cabin table. for
there was to be a luncheon party on board
while steaming down the river.
He found Admiral Grace stro,Iine
about the deck with Tyars. conversinr in
quite friendly way. and endeavoring
honestly to suppress his contempt for
seamanship of so young a growth as that
of his companion. The ladies were below.
inspecting the ship under Oswin's guild
ance.
"She is he said. addressing himself TO
the admiral, with Transatlantic courtesy.
"a strange mixture of the man-of-war
and the yacht-do you not find it so.
sir?''
"She is answered the old gentleman.
guardedly, lone of the most complete yes-
sells | have ever boarded-though her
outward appearance is, of course, against
her"
"One can detect" continued the Ameri
can, looking round with a musing eve.
the influence of naval officer"
The old gentleman softened visibly. AT
this moment the ladies appeared escorted
by Oswin Grace-Miss Winter first. with
a searching little smile in her eyes. Eas-
ton saw that she was very much on the
alert.
II feel quite at home" she said to him,
looking round her, although there are so
many changes
$50 do 1; the more so because the
changes have been made under my own
directions"
They walked aft. leaving the rest of the
party standing together. As they walked.
Oswin Grace watched them with a singu-
lar light in his clear gray eyes; singular