The Falls City tribune., 1908-12-04
A p /.
Wave-Tossed and Castaway.
HE beginning was at Cape

49, Winthrope boarded the
steamer as fellow passengers with
Lady Bayrose and her party.
This was a week after Winthrop
had arrived on the tramp steame
from India, and her ladyship had eX
planned to Miss Leslie that it was
rs well for her not to be too hasty in
accepting his attentions. To be sure,
he vas an Englishman, his dress and
manner were irreproachable, and he
was in the prime of ripened youth.
Yet Lady Bayrose was too conscien-
tious a chaperon to be fully satisfied
with her c~ountryman's bare assertion
that he was engaged on a diplomatic
mission requiring reticence regarding
his identity. She did not see why this
should prevent him from confiding
in her.
Notwithstanding this, Winthrope
came aboard ship virtually as a men,
Der of her ladyship's party. He was
80 quick, SO thoughtful of her comfort,
and paid SO much more attention to
her than to Miss Leslie, that her lady
ship had decided to tolerate him, even
before Blake became a factor in the
situation.
From the m he crossed the
gangway the American engineer en-
tered upon a daily routine of drinking
and gambling, varied only by attempts
TO strike up an off-hand acquaintance
with Miss Leslie. This was Win
thrope's opportunity, and his clever
Illustration of what Lady Bayrose
termed that low Founders impu-
dence' served to install him in the
good graces of her ladyship as well as
In the favor of the American heiress.
Such, at least, was what WINTHROP
jntimated to the persistent engineer
with a superciliousness of tone and
manner that would have stung even a
British lackey to resentment. To
Blake it was supremacy CALLING. He
could not rejoin in kind, and the
slightest attempt at physical retort
would have meant irons and confine-
ment. 1t was a British ship. Behind
Winthrope was Lady Bayrose; behind
her l%adyship, as a matter of course,
was all the despotic authority of the
captain. In the circumstances, it was
not surprising that the American
drank heavier after each successive
goading.
Meantime the ship, having touched
at Port Natal, steamed on up the
east coast, into the Mozambique chan
mel.
On the day of the cyclone, Blake
had withdrawn into his StaterOOm with
a number of bottles, and throughout
that fearful afternoon was blissfully
unconscious of the danger. Even
when the steamer went on the reef,
he was only partially reused by the
shock.
He took a long pull from a quart
flask of whisky, placed the flask with
great care in his hip pocket, and
mrched out through h open door
way. There he reeled headlong against
the mate. who had rushed below with
three of the crew to bring up Miss
Leslie. The mate cursed him vir-
ulently, and in the same breath or
dered two of the men to fetch him up
on deck.
The sea was breaking I'VE the
steamer in torrents; but between
waves Blake was dragged across to
the side and flung over into the bot
tom Of the one remaining boat. He
served as a cushion to break the fall
of Miss Leslie, who was tossed in
after him. At the same time, Win
thrope, frantic with fear, scrambled
into the bows and cut loose. One of
the sailors leaped, but fell short and
went down within arms length of
Miss Leslie.
She and Winthrope saw the steam
er slip from the reef and sink back
into deep water, carrying down in the
vortex the mate and the few remain
ing sailors. After that all was chaos
to them. They were driven ashore be-
fore the terrific gusts of the cyclone,
blinded by the singing spoondrift to
all else but the hell of breakers and
coral reefs in whose midst they swirled
so dizzily. And through it all Blake
lay huddled on the bottom boards
gurgling blithely of spicy zephyrs and
swaying hammocks.
There came the seemingly final mo-
ment when the boat went spinning
stern over prov.
Half-sobered, Blake opened his eyes
anu stdieu ooieiihiy doout Hill iio
was given little time to take his bear
ings. A smother of broken surf came
seething up from one of the great
breakers, to roll him over and scrape
him a little farther up the muddy
shore. There the food deposited him
for a moment, until 1T could gather
force to sweep back and drag him
down again toward the roaring sea
that had cast him up.
Blake objected-not to the danger
of being drowned, but to interference
with his repose. He had reached the
obstinate stage. He grunted a protest.
Again the flood seethed up the shore,
and rolled him away from the danger.