Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1908-07-17
BY LOUIS TRACY,

the nfSt canoe came unQer ler mana.
1t was quite easy to manipulate the
painter rope. The stem had notched
knob provided for this very purpose,
and there was sternpost against
which steersman might press pad
die and thus swerve the canoe in any
direction. But it was slow work. The
craft were moored without any sem
blance Of order, yet Suarez was forced
to secure them in a definite sequence
or string of half a dozen would be-
come unmanag eable.
When the second canoe was made
fast Gray bent toward the girl once
more.
II have been listening to the tick of
my watch" he breathed against her
ear Il reckon 1t has taken ten min
utes to collect two dugouts. Unless we
mean to remain all night we must let
up on the cutting adrift proposition"
Il agree" she murmured. But we
must have two more
He told Suarez of the new develop
ment, which was essential, though it
+ 0OOCu " lu0 ONASOl VI NAlS OARA ISL.
By sheer good fortune, however, they
/ Numbered against the lifeboat. A dog
barked, and Elsie had thrilling strug-
gle with Joey, who was furious that
this unlocked for insolence should go
unanswered. The sleepless cur that
yelped ashore speedily subsidized, but it
appeared to be an age before Suarez
moved again He knew better than his
companions how ready the Indians
were to note such sentinel challenges
Elsie found the painter Of the life
boat coiled in its proper place. Soon
she experienced a steady pull on the
rope. Her little feet was in motion
Gray began to help in the padding.
Ere long they came under the influence
OF the tide, and she heard the ripple
Of the water against the planks Of the
boat. Then Suarez called halt and a
parley.
Z It would be better, he advised, to
use the oars in the heavy boat than at
tempt to tow 1t across the strong cur
rent from canoe. They would gain
time and be safer So they climbed
into the lifeboat, but continued to tow
the canoes.
Suarez, somewhat weak from his
knock on the head overnight, was not
equal to the strain of continued exer-
ton, so Elsie and Gray took two oars
each and allowed their companion to
rest. When. Judging by the surround
ing hills, they were half way across
the inlet, Gray stopped low in the boat,
struck match and looked at his
watch. 1t was long after / o'clock.
There could be no doubt whatever that
the dawn would find them far from the
ship, no matter how fortunate they
might be in their further adventures.
It was well for Elsie that she had
learned how to scull when In her
teens and that her muscles were In
fair condition owing to her skill at
tennis. Even SO, she feared that she
could never hold out against the sus-
tanned stress of that pull across the
bay. The heavy boat, intended to be
rowed by six men, had the added bur-
den Of four canoes. 1t was back
breaking work, but she neither falter-
ed nor sighed until .Suarez said:
"Let me take your place now, senori-
ia. In ten minutes we shall be at the
mouth Of the creek, though heaven
only knows how we shall find 1t
He did not exaggerate in thus ex-
pressing his fear. Time and again they
neared the shore only to hear the tidal
swell breaking heavily on the rocks.
The lights of the Kansas, fully three
miles away, could only tell them that
they were in the neiShborhood OF the
place where Courtenay had last been
seen in this identical boat. The least
divergence from, the line given by the
position of the ship meant difference
Of hundreds of yards 1t such dis
lance, and there was an omfnous light
ening Of the gloom, accompanied by
dimming of the stars, when Gray hit on
the idea that the powerful current had
probably carried them a good deal
southwark of the point they were aim
ing at. He suggested that they should
boldly pull quarter of a mile or SO
against the tide and then try their
luck. Their progress, Of course, became
slower than ever, and Elsie began to
despair that they would ever find the
mouth of the stream which ran
through the cleft in the hill when she
suddenly saw the luminous crescents
which heralded the sunrise over the
inner mountain range. They could not
be visible unless there was q break In
the cliffs in that locality.
"Pull in now" she whispered tense
ly, and with a little further effort they
found that the boat was travelling not
against but with the tide. which was
flooding a small offshoot Of the main
estuary.
Precaution became not only useless
but impossible. They were all worn
out Nothing but the most in1exfble
determination ON the part of Elsie and
Gray, eked out by certain Responding
fear of both of them felt by Suarez
had sustained them thus far. They
went on and on. They swept rapidly
into the jaws of precipitous defle.
the lofty crests on either hand coming
momentarily nearer against the bright
ening sky. 1t did not seem credible
that this sheer cut through the heart
Of a gigantic hill could continue for
more than few yards nor that any
thing coyo n k}r.l could dpd foot hold