Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-06
CHAPTER xIx-Continued.

CHAPTER AIA-Contlnued.
A stiff breeze blowing from the south
| west. and heavy clouds rolling up over
the horizon. showed that the land of
storms was repenting the phenomenal
frivolity which had let it bask in sun
shine for an unbroken spell of ten days.
But the gale which whistled into Good
Hope inlet that night carried with it no
disa bled and blood-stained ship. Mr..
Malcolm. who got his diminished squad
of stewards in hand as though the vessel
had quilted port that day. served dinner
promptly at two bells in the second dog
watch-by which no allusion is intended
to an animal already gorged to repletion-
and wore a PROPER professional air of an
noyance because everybody was late, ow-
ing to the interesting fact that the half
minute fixed flashing light on Evan
gelistas Island had just been sighted.
Elsie noted that Count Edouard de
Poincilt came with the rest. and sat be-
side Isobel. Courtenay put in an ap-
pearance later to partake of a hasty
meal He gave monsieur a black look,
but. of course, catching E,lsies eye in
stantly. he meekly sat down and said
nothing-nothing. that is, of an unpleas-
ant nature. All good ladies will recog-
nize such behavior as one of the points
of man likely to become a model hus-
band.
DIR. Christobal and Gray were in great
form while Tollemache actually told a
story. When the captain sent Boyle
down from the bridge, Elsie made Tolle-
mache repeat tia simple yarn, detailing
an all-night search for Devonshire viii
lage, which he could not find because
some rotter had deemed it funny to turn
a signpost the wrong way round.
Huh. that's odd" said Boyle. Re
minds me of a thing that happened to a
the Ocean brig. Brown his name was.
an he had a wooden leg. The day his
son an heir was born he dropped into a
gin mill to celebrate. an his stump
stuck In a rope mat He swore bit. but
he CHANGED to see on one of the half doors
the name 'Nosmo.' an on the other.
King Dash me- says he. 'them's two
fine names for the kid - Nosmo King
Brown'-a bit Of all right. EN-? So he
goes home an tells the nissus. After the
christenin' he took a pal or two round to
the same bar to stand treat. That time
the two halves of the door were closed,
an any ass could see that the letters
stood for mo smoking Well. the other
fellows told me his language was so
sultry that his prop caught fire.
So all was well with the Kansas
Crawling quietly into the Straits Of
Magellan at daybreak, the ship put forth
her best efforts in the run through the
narrows. Passing Cape San Isidro she
signaled her name, and it was easy to see
the commotion created by her appear
ance. The real furore began when she
approached Sandy Point. A steam launch
Chilean warship, and the commander
brought the news that he had been sent
specially from Coronel to search the west
ern coast line thoroughly for the Kansas.
He was about to. return that day, to re-
port his failure to discover any trace of
the missing vessel. and he listened in
amaze while Christobal gave him Sue
cinct history of the ships doings. At the
end Courtenay presented him with pho
tograph of Elsie's chart, to which many
lovers directions. The position of the
shoal, and of Pillar rock. together with
the set Of the tidal current were clearly
shown, and 1t is probable that Good Hope
inlet, notwithstanding it's dangerous ap-
proach, will be thoroughly surveyed one
of these days. Then, perhaps. more may
be heard of those Jumps Of. silver and
copper ore which the savages hurled at
the Kansas.
The cruiser hurried away. under forced
draft, to report from Coronel, the nearest
cable station. Thence she would go to
Valparaiso, so she carried sheaf Of let
tiers, and one passenger, Frascuelo Find
ing that he could not execute the needed
repairs at Sandy Point. Courtenay de-
cided to make for Montevideo. where he
would be in Geographic communication
with Mr. Barring. He was fortunate in
finding a shipwrecked crew on shore,
awaiting transport to England. He Sc
cured a full complement of officers and
engineers, and the Kansas reached the
chief port of Uruguay without any diff
Guilty.
A sackload of kilograms awaited the
ship. The Chilean man-of-war put into
ly three days before the Kansas dropped
anchor on the east coast. Hence. there
was time for things to happen. and they
seized the opportunity. The copper mar
ket had turned itself inside out: the firm
of Barring. Thompson, Miguel & Co. had
rebounded from comparative ruin to a
stronger financial state than ever. and
Senior Pedro Ventana, after shooting a
man named Jose Anacleto had consid-
erately shot himself. Evidently Frascuelo
lost no time when he went ashore; Mr.
Barring. too, reported that the dynamite
wrapper had been traced to Ventanas
possession.
When Isobel Barring heard this final
item she tainted so badly that DR.. Chris
tobal thought it advisable she should be
taken to hotel while the ship remained
in port. But she vetoed this proposal de-
terninedly when she recovered her senses.
and straightway confessed to Elsie that
Ventana was her husband. She had fool
Anacleto had witnessed the ceremony
Within month she regretted her choice;
there were quarrels and threats; ulti-
mately an agreement was made that they
should separate. Her father knew and
approved of the arrangement. He could
not afford to break openly with Ventana,
and it must have been dreadful shock
to him when he learned that the scoun-
drel had plotted not only to destroy the
ship but to murder his wife at the same
time.
$50 you see.' she added, with wan
smile, II did not give serious thought to
your troubles. Elsie. Ventana could never
have married you while was alive"
Elsie's cheeks Redeemed.
II never told you he asked me to marry
him." she said. 1T would have been just
the same had he done SO. AS 1t was, I
feared the man. Now you know why I
ran away from Chile. II permitted an
other impression to prevail. I acted for
the best. But the unhappy man is dead;
let us endeavor to forget him."
His memory haunts me with an endur-
ing curse cried Isobel, bitterly. Among
my papers / had some letters of his. the
| Use not to modest me. On that awful
| night when the ship was disabled, I went
| to my cabin and secured them. or
thought l did. AT any rate. I could not
| find them when we landed on White
| Horse Island and, from hints dropped
by that wretched little adventurer. de
Poincilit, 1 feel sure they have fallen into
| his hands. Believe me, Elsie. I was half
mad when I helped him to steal the
| boat"
"SteA the boat! What boat?".