Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-05-21

81 have only just left him. The
hcmorrhage has stopped, and I gave
him some brandy. Believe me, we can
do nothing more for him. | told
COurtenay it was quite useless to place
him on board the boat You may be
sure he was not forgotten"
IT did not imagine that any one
would be forgotten" said Elsie. and
for some reason the light in her eyes
caused Christobal to go on rapidly:
1--WE have whole crowd of injured
men on board. Miss Maxwell. At pres
ent we can render them no aid. !
thought It wisest to obey orders The
captain told me to bring you some
wine and remain with you here. II
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 oul
| three allies are now constructing. With
n falling tide we might have breath
ing space at low water. AS 1t is
we'll
lie 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
lie shouted with the inmitable accent
Of Tyncside:
"Yo' wanted. Docto' Chwistobal. The
captain thinks Mr.. Boyle is bettaw."
"May I come. too"" asked Elsie.
"No, missile. You hide he-aw."
"Please tell me before you go II the
| ship is full Of water"
"She's dwy as n bone" said Walker
A sea splashed over him and sent q
shower into the cabin. "a vewy wei
bone" he added, with a broad grin
for the Northumbrian had ready vii
though he had such solemn jowl
and he could not pronounce an "r' tc
save his life.
So Elsie was left with Joey for com
pnny once more. A chronometer show
ed that the hour was past midnight
She knew sufficient of the sea to un
derstand that the clock was probably
accurate, as the course had practica lily
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 wher
the awful knowledge first came to hcl
that the Kansas was ashore! How
long ago was that? Then she remem
bered that when Courtenay placed hcl
in his cabin with the promise to brinf
Isobcl to her she had noticed the time
II o'clock. Was it concciv al BILE tina
and her four footed friend were fun,
all Of heap into corner by the i'm
pact of the vessel against the sane
bank? One hour! Surely there wa.
some mistake. She puzzled over thu
problem. recounting each event sine,
the conclusion of dinner. and fnall,
convinced herself that her recollection
was not at fault.
Joey was becoming restless HI
danced backward and forward on thu
table, where he had taken refuge from
the invading flood. Indeed. the do,
knew long before Elsie that the Kan
sas was afoat again. At last she no
ticed that the water in the cabin wa!
gurgl:ng to and fro, and in the sam,
instant she felt the regular swing o
the moving ship. She was speculatin
on the outcome of this new condition
Of affairs when the door opened ant
Walker thrust his lantern jawed fac,
within He grinned cheerfully.
i've come to fetch you to yo' cabin
miss" he announced. The ships I'm
der weigh. an - yo' pwobably an
winging wet the captain says yo' ough
to change yo' clo'es."
Joey followed her out, but deserted
her instantly. She saw the reason
when Walker helped her to reach thu
bridge companion. COurtenay was il
the chart house at the wheel. He CAV
her n friendly nod as she passed
Somehow Elsie felt safe now that thu
ship was in the captains hands again