Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-04-02

! ment, and Mrs. Someryille was almost
UNCONSCIOUS, while her husband knelt
| by her side and wrung his hands in
abject misery. Anything was better
than to go back to that woeful assem-
| bly,, yet she cholzed down protest and
said quietly:
81 am ready. am afraid have
been bother to you, Captain Courte-
nay"
"Say, rather, you have given me
hope. think heaven has work for
/ you to do in the world. Let me go out
/ first Never mind Joey. He can strug-
| gle along behind. Steady now. Head
down and lean well against the wind"
Elsie found, to her amazement, that
| there was less sense of danger in fac
| ing the wind than in being driven
along before it. Moreover, she had
greater confidence during this second
] transit over the exposed portion of the
deck. She felt Courtenay dragging her
on irresistibly until they gained the lee
of the smoking room. He LET her rest
! there beneath the ladder leading to the
bridge. Then a strange revulsion Of
/ feeling came to him. He experienced
/ an overwhelming desire not to be part
ed from her. He had sickening fear
] that he might never see her again, so
| he shouted very close to her cheek:
"Would you like to sit in my cabin a
little while if | bring Miss BaringT
/ She thought that would be splendid.
| Courtenay, If any one, would succeed
In calming Isobel. In order to make
herself heard she in turn had to put
her lips quite near to Courtenays face.
Eyes," she cried; 81 shall be only too
pleased. But be patient with her. She
is very frightened"
There is no accounting for the work
ings of a mans mind. Courtenay, at
no time lady's man, most certainly
had other matters to attend to just
then. Yet here he was thinking only
of a woman's comfort. His dismal
| forebodings We're banished by a rush
of absurd delight at the thought that
he would have an opportunity of speak
ing to her occasionally. What brave
girl she was! What wife for sail
or! In truth, these were mad notions
that iostled in his brain when his life
1 and hers were not worth an hours
/ purchase. He drew her to the foot OF
the ladder.
"Run ahead, Joeyp he cried. The
dog, a weird little figure, leaning for
| ward at a ridiculous angle against the
tearing wind, obeyed instantly. s'Now
you," he said to Elsie, "but wait until
4 pass you at the top"
/. Though her skirts were troublesome
she managed the ascent. Then she
was taken off her feet again and hard
" knew where she was until she found
| herself in the haven of Courtenay's
cabin. Joey was glad to be there too
He shook himself noisily in his heavy
coat
| 'You won't mind if fasten the dool
on you?" And the captain so far forge
his anxiety as to smile.
| ssNo indeed" And she smiled in re
Spouse.
every well. I shall bring Miss Bar
ing in about FIVE minutes. You wont
stir till we conner"
.sWhat-face that gale without you I?
She almost laughed at the idea. Ht
bolted the door and ran into ths
chart house to tap the barometer
1t moved appreciably. 1t was rising
All. If only the wind moderated he
i could save the Kansas yet! He glanced
at the compass: still the same course
| not a fraction Of point gained to tht
| north. That was bad. The ship was
| already within the danger zone. Pray
heaven for a falling wind or even {
change to the southwark Still, it wa:
in an altogether more cheerful moot
that he regained the promenade decl
and made his way toward the salon.
| He was in the very act of entering
| the doorway when a shudder raj
through the ship, and she lifted slight
/ ly. Clinging to rail, he waited, rigit
as statue. A second time the grea
steel hull shook, but much more vic
lently. Then the Kansas ran her nos,
| into shoal, swung round broadside t,
the sea lifted again, struck heayil,
| and listed to port.
| Courtenay was on the starboard side
He heard yell of dismay from tn,
men attending to the boats. Screams
came from the salon. The sea leapeS
| triumphantly over the rails and nearl.
smothered him with its dense spray
| So this was the end? Tt had come al
too soon. And what place for tn,
ship to be cast away-twenty miles
| from the nearest land, in the midst o
sea where no boat could live! Coz
help them all!
CHAPTER v.
i - OURTENAY waited for tn,