Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-12-02
CHAPTER xvII-Continued.

Elsie was sick at heart with the knowl-
edge that red-eyed murder was stalking
its prey under the respondent mantle
spread by nature over a scene of rare
beauty. In an agony of apprehension sne
followed the progress Of the canoes.
Creeping nearer Boyle, she whispered:
'For heavens sake, say the nfeboat is
visible again.
He held up a hand to enforce silence. A
deep hush fell on the ship.
"Listen.' he muttered, so low that
Elsie alone caught the words. Can you
hear firing?''
She thought she could distinguish an ir-
regular patter of dull reports. and the
behavior of the Indians showed that adj
ditional excitement was toward. Many
of them stood up and waved their arms.
possibly as signal to their allies on
shore. The canoes raced madly. Where
speed was vital the rough-hewn native
craft were far swifter than the solidly
built lifeboat, with it's broad beam and
deep draft.
And that was all. Though they strained
never a. sight of boat or canoes was OBJ
tainable for hours after the latter were
swallowed up by the trees which shrouded
the creek at the foot of Guanaco hill.
Isobel Barring, moved by genuine pity
for her distraught friend. tried to induce
her to leave the deck. But she shrank
away, terrified by the fire which blazed
from the blue eyes resting on her for an
instant. Mrs. Somerville came, but she,
too, was repulsed. Elsie spoke no word.
She hardly moved. She chung to the rail,
and gazed at the deepening shadows with
the frozen stare of abiding horror. All
things around her were unreal. fantastic;
she dwelt in world peopled by her own
terrible imaginings. The smiling land
scape was alive with writing shapes. She
fanced it monstrouS jungle full of SER
pents and grotesquely human beasts. The
inert mass of the Kansas so modern. so
perfectly appointed in its contours and
appurtenances, crushed her by Its I'M
mense helplessness. The dominant idea
In her mind was one of voiceless rage
against the ship and it's occupants Why
should her lover, who had saved their
lives-who had plucked the eight thou
sand tons of steel fabric from the sharp
toothed rocks time and again-why should
he be lying dead, disfigured by savage
spite. while those to whom he had rem
dered such devoted service. were coolly
discussing his fate and specializing on
their own good fortune? That thought
maddened her Her very brain seemed to
burn with the unfairness of it ALL When
ChriStobal made serious effort to lead
her away, she threatened him with the
f1erceness of a mother defending he1
child from evil
But relief was vouchsafed in the worst
throeS of her agony. 1t was some poor
consolation to let her sorrow-laden eyes
rest on the far-off trees which enshroude6
| him. What would befall her when night
| came, and the ship drew back out of the
| living world into the narrow gloom Of
deck and gangway, she could not know
| She felt that her labored' heart would re
fuse. to. bear its pangs. any longer. Il
| death that would no Hpl
| only hope lay in the life beyond the
grave. /" = And what a grave! For her
| the restless tides. For him! Surely hel
mind would yield to this increasing mad
ness.
Boyle or Gray had never relaxed thei,
vigil by her side. 1t was Gray who mad
the thrilling discovery that the canoes
were returning. AS the fleet crossed the
| bay it could be seen that they were tow.
| ing the lifeboat. But never a sign of any
prisoners could the most careful scrutiny
detect. The boat was empty; it was easy
| to count every man in the canoes as they
passed into Otter creek And there were
wounded Indians on board, many of them
That was a significant. tremendous
| fact. There had been hard fighting, anG
| the boat was captured, but some, if not
all, of the crew must have joined theil
comrades in the sanctuary of the haunted
cave. The accuracy of this deduction
| was proved by the presence of the smoke
was generally held that it's spiral clouds
| were denser than at any previous hour
thus showing that the defenders were en-
deavoring to make known their con
| tinued existence.
| Elsie awoke from her trance. but, in re
turning to life, she was transformed int
a stern, resourceful, commanding woman
| Her face had lost its gentleness: thu
| pleasant curves and dimples of mouth ant
chin had hardened into sort of deter
mination; even her slight graceful figure
seemed to assume a certain squarenes.
which betokened her resolve to act as hel
lover would have acted. were he the
| watcher from the ship and she the pris
oner pent behind that screen of rock anc
| wild forest.
None suspected the mighty force which
| worked this resolution in her nature. She
conducted herself with a cunning that
| was wholly foreign to her character. Hel
| first care was to hoodwink her compan
| ions into the belief that the strain of the
day had passed. She accepted a cup OF
tea brought by Isobel. expressed her sor-
| row that il by word or look she had given
U oNP ~NrIx