Evening star., 1907-11-16
CHAPTER K.
"Missing at Lloyd's.'

Elsie had slept long and soundly; she
found herself in a n@w world of sunshine
and calm. When she looked over tn
side to examine the crudely fashioned
canoe, she was astonished by the lirnpit'
purity of the water. She could see whit
pebbles and vegetation at a vast depth.
1t seemed to be Impossible that few hours
should have worked such change, but
Suarez assured her that the streams
which tu,nbled down the prscipitnus
gorges of the hills ran clear quickly att:
rain, owing to the sitting of the surfac ,
drainage by the phenomenal trecsrowth.
wherever timber can lodge on the hill
Sides he told her. fallen trunks lie ia
layers of fifteen or twenty feet. Th J
rot there, and young saplings push their
way through to the light and air, Will
creepers bind them in an impenetTabl
mass; in many places small trees and
shrubs o. dens, foliage take root amid
the decaying stumps beneath, so that
even the Indians cannot pass from one
point to another, but are compelled t.
climb the rocky watercourses or Sollow
the slopes of glaciers. When you see
what appears to be smooth green spaca
above the lower brown coloTed belt of
copper beech, that is not a mosscovered
stretch of open land, but the closely
packed tops of young trees, where new
tract mas DcS0 DaFpu an dNaiancne.
She was In no mood this morning to as
simulate the marvels Of Hanover Island
Her brain had been cleared, restored to
the normal. by refreshing sleep. With Il
more active perception of the curious
difficulties which besat the Kansas cama
feeling akin to despair. The brightn SIS
of nature served rather to convert the
ship into a prison. Storm and stress
whether of the elements or of the less
candid foes who lurlSed unseen on tn"
neighboring shores. made the Kansas q
veritable fortress, a steel refuge seeming
the vessels helpiessness. and o. tie equal
ly desperate hazard which BEST her in
mates, was rendered only more poignant
by the smiling aspect of land and sea.
Elsie was not philosopher. She was
just a healthy. clean-minded Englisi-
woman, imbued with love of art for
arts sake. girl whose wholesome, cour-
ageous temperament probably untitled
her to achieve distinction in the artistic
career which she had mapped out for her
self. So the super-Alpine glcries sur
rounding that inland sea, and the pris-
matte hues flashing from many a glacier
and rainbow of cataract mist, left her un
moved solely because the rough-hewn In
dian craft bobbing by the side of the
great ship called to mind the extra
ordinary conditions under which she and
all on board existed.
But she was hungry, and that was a
saving sign. She guessed that many OF
the men. after mounting watch until
broad daylight, were asleep. Others were
at work below, as was testified by a sub
duad sound of hammering, with the sharp
clink of metal against metal Walker
was tinkering at the engines. With him.
in all likelihood, were the captain and
Tollemache. She and Suarez were the
drones of the ship, and Suarez, poor fell
low, had earned an idle hour, if only on
account of the scrubbing he had given
himself to wash away the tokens of five
years of slavery.
Before going in search of the cook. she
walked a few steps toward the bridge.
At the top of the companion she saw
Joey, sitting disconsolately on his tail. a
sure Indication that Courtenay was oc-
cuped in depths approa chable only by
steep iron ladders whittier the Cog could
not follow.
She whistled softly to her little friend,
knowing that Christobal, and perhaps Mr..
Boyle, would be the bridge keeping
the lookout, and she was not inclined for
talk at the moment. The doctor would
have understood at once that the girl was
below par, owing to the strain of the pre-
ceding days, and the lethargic rest which
exhaustion had imposed on her Yet
there are times when science does not
But Joey, who rocked naught of philoso-
ply, and to whom the alarms and eXcur-
sfons of fights on deck came as a touch
of mother earth to the sole OF Antaeos-
Joey, then, sprang down the stairs, bark
ing joyously, and ieaped into her out
stretched arms.
He honored no other person on board
except his master, with such extrava-
CANT friendship, and, as the girl carried