Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-03-24

I
perate fight for the three remaining
craft Most of the officers were killed.
/ Courtenay got few of us together
| when Isobel and Mrs. Somerville join
ed you here, and we held off such of
! the madmen as tried to seize the jolly
boat They managed to lower two life
boats, but between murder and panic
not half of the crew escaped in that
way. Four men who were left behind
promised obedience, and Malcolm. the
, steward, was placed in charge, with
/ Mr.. Gray as second in command. One
of the engineers, acting on the cap
| tain's orders, brought can Of oil
| from the engine room and threw 1T
| over the side in handfuls. The result
was magical. We lowered the boat
easily, placed NJ. de Poincilit on board
| because he was worse than the wo-
men, and then Courtenay, as you know,
brought Isobel, the minister's wife.
who refused to go without her hus-
band, and the maid. There was room
| for you and another, so, at the cap
| tain's request, Tollemache and l toss
ed for the vacancy Meanwhile Courte-
1 nay had turned to go for you when
we heard a shout from Gray. Two of
| the Chileans had cast off the ropes
which kept the boat alongside. Gray,
who was Tending her from the ship
with the boat hook, jabbed one fell
low in the face with it, but he was
| too late The boat raced off into the
| darkness. And here we are!"
| That Christobal left several things
unsaid Elsie knew quite well. 1t
dawned on the girl that both her elder
ly friend and she herself were accept
| ing an extraordinary situation with re-
markable nonchalance.
"How many of us remain on the
ship" she asked.
Every few-on the effective list. The
captain, an engineer whose name do
not know, Mr. Tollemache and our
selves make up the total"
"Where is Mr.. BoyleT
| "Ah. poor Boyle. / fear he is done
for He is very badly wounded.
bandaged him as well as I could, but
the call on deck was imperative"
"Is he in the salon? Should we not
go to him|
81 have only just left him. The
hemorrhage has stopped, and l gave
him some brandy. Believe me, we can
do nothing more for him. 1 told
Courtenay it was quite useless to place
him on board the boat You may be
sure he was not forgotten"
| 81 did not imagine that any one
would be forgotten" said Elsie, and
for some reason the light in her eyes
caused ChristobaI to go on rapidly:
1--WE have a whole crowd of injured
ent we can render them no aid. l
thought it wisest to obey orders. The
captain told me TO bring you some
| wine and remain with you here. 1t
will not be for long"
'"Why do you say that?"
''The ship appears to be lodged hard
and fast on reef or sand spit. l am
told the tide is rising. If that is SO.
our only hope is in the raft which our
three allies are now constructing. With
a falling tide we might have a breath
ing space at low water. AS it is,
welP'-
He was interrupted by the opening
of the door and the consequent roar of
the gale. 1t was Walker. the engi-
neer, lank, swarthy man, with long
black mustache which dropped for
lornly down the sides of his mouth
He shouted with the inimitable accent
of Tyneside:
"Yo' wanted, Docto' Clwistobal The
captain thinks Mr.. Boyle is bettaw."
May / come, too?" asked Elsie.
mo, missile. You bide he-aw."
please tell me before you go If the
ship is full of water"
"She's dwy as bone" said Walker.
A sea splashed over him and sent a
shower into the cabin, "a vewy wet
bone" he added, with a broad grin,
for the Northumbrian had a ready wit
though he had such solemn jowl,
and he could not pronounce an ''r'' to
save his life.
So Elsie was left with Joey for COM
pany once more. A chronometer show
ed that the hour was past midnight.
She knew sufficient of the sea to I'M
derstand that the clock was probably
accurate, as the course had practically
followed the same meridian since the
Kansas quilted Valparaiso. So the
ship and those left on board had en-
tered on another day. How little she
had thought that to be possible when
the awful knowledge first came to her
that the Kansas was ashore. How
long ago was that? Then she remem-
bered that when Courtenay placed her
In his cabin with the promise to bring
1sobel TO her she had noticed the time,
IL O'Clock. Was it conceivable that
only one hour had elapsed since she
land her four footed friend were flung
all of heap into corner by the i'm
pact of the vessel against the sand
bank? One hour! Surely there was
tsome mistake She puzzled over the
problem. recounting each event since
the conclusion of dinner, and finally
convinced herself that her recollection
was not at fault.
joey was becoming restless. He
danced backward and forward on the
table, where he had taken refuge from