The Washington times., 1908-12-30

4
that September nigh;
on the deck Of his lone
" sloop amid a wide waste OF waters in
the other side of the globe, TO this little
Harlem fat on a May evening; and in
the meantime the Secret Service had
maintained an lndefaugabIe search. no
vessel anOat or port officer but had been
upon the lookout. and the woman ne
regarded as his other self had remained
i'm ignorance OF his whereabouts, mourn
ing MIN as dead.
Why had he rested silent all this time.
with no effort 10 disprOve tha false ac-
ousations lodged against him. allowing
his enemies to flourish as the green bay
1ree@
How came II that he appeared now
iu New York at Starr Spencer's psyche
logical momeut2
The answer to il all could have been
found In the wreck Of that other sIoop.
the waterlogEed and sinking Streak OF
Foam. with her adventurous skipper
fathoms down upon the bottom. The
answer was there, if at the time Helene
had possessed the eyes or the under
staining TO read the riddle.
The treasure lost 10 him forever, the
hopes and dreams which he had built
upon its recovery, shattered in a sin
gle instant, Jim had sat huddIed III
despair all that night upon the deck of
his drifting vessel
Sunk IN a sort OF stunned apathy at
first, he croUched beside the mast, heed
less Of wiCd, or tide or sea, conscious
only of mis- overwhelming disappOint-
meut. hut gradually there came TO him
n sense OF his solitary condition. which
cold and clammy to his very bones.
From horizon 10 horizon, nothing but
his little boat and himself upon the
dark watersl
lie began TO look over his shoulder.
lie strOve to speak aloud IN an effort
20 dispel his growing nameIess fears;
but his voice was lost in that vast
emptiness.
The brain OF man is a delicateIy-
balanced mechanism, and an unexpect-
ed shock may temporarily derange even
the strongest OF us. In such a crisis.
one needs amusement, distraction, as
sociatiOn with his kind.
But for Jim there was only the muir
mur Of the breeze I'm the rigging, the
monotonous lift OF the sloop % the
hesve or the seas. the broOding night
about him, and-loneliness.
He knew that he ought to 60 down
into the cabin and retire; but he did
not dare. He was afraid to cross that
dark stain upon the floor at the foot
OF the companion way.
He dreaded the possibility Of a spectraI
form seated at the table muttering over
the ancient charts, or lying PROSTATE
with the top OF its skull blown Off. and
the old fowIing-piece cIenched tight In
its gripping fists.
Yet the decl, was but little better.
for out in the gloom faces began 70
appear, moving and mapping. and glib
herinS at him; and the whistling OF
tho wind among the SAYS and the
lap-lap Of the waves against the keel
transformed themselves into voices
which chuckled, and derided. and mock
cd at his terror.
And then al the faces melted into
one; and there out upon the sea In a..
sort Of Pickering. baIefuI light. was the
old mad skipper strIdinE after hin,
across tho waves. and angriIy demand
ing the maps and record Of the treas
ure.
1T Is a mere hallucination a croa-
ture OF NY imagination declared
Jim. stoDtly. He is no more there
than WIS 1, when he thought I was
bounding him TO his death must
take a grip on myself and shake off
such silly fancies."
He closed his eyes and sought to
reason himself out OF his obsession:
but when he looked again the threat
ening figure was still there, ansrier.
more determined than ever
Give me my papers instantly" H
cried. ''or else III come abca~, and
take them and you, tooI'
Il was coming closer. But r few
scant yards now separated II from the
sloop. And now its spectral hands were