Waterbury evening Democrat., 1908-03-23

rent from a 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- | tion, 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 a match and looked at his
 watch It was long after 1 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-
 tained 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. It was back
 breaking work, but she neither falter-
 ed nor sighed until Suarez said:
 Let me take your place now, senori-
 ta. In ten minutes we shall be at the
 mouth of the creek, though heaven
 only knows how we shall find it."
 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 neighborhood 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 a difference
 of hundreds of yards at such dis
 tance, and there was an ominous light ening of the gloom, accompanied by a dimming ot the stars, when Gray hit on the idea that the powerful current bad probably carried them a good deal southward of the point they were aim ing at. He suggested that they should boldly pull quarter of 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 a break in the cliffs in that locality.
 Pull in now" she whispered tense . ly, and with 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. 1 but impossible They were all worn out. Nothing but the most infiexible | determination on the part of Elsie and | Gray, eked out by a certain desponding fear of both of them felt by Suarez, had sustained them thus far. They l went on and on. They swept rapidly | into the jaws of a precipitOus defile. the lofty crests on either hand coming mOmentarily nearer against the bright l ening sky. It did not seem credible that this sheer cut through the heart of a gigantic hill could continue for more than q few yards nor that any. thing Save bird could find foothold on ifs steep sides. Yet the current flowed smoothly onward through q wealth of vegetation which clung pre- cariously to every ledge and natural escarpment
 Joey, embarrassed by his gag. never. theless managed to emit a warming growl Then the boat crashed into canoe. and a hOarse yell Of alarm came from beneath the lowermOst trees whose dense foliage flung a pail over the water. t..a. ,...s selEet with an inspiration. He ..raSped the canoe as Il bumped along the -unwale and held il down con one side until it filled and sank. He sent another and yet a third gUzzliug tO the bottom before the out burst of raucous cries from both banks showed there were Indians here in some force.
 Stones. too. began to hum around them. Some struck the boat. but the greater number whizzad unpleasantly cluse to the heads of the two men and the girl. proving conclusiyely that they werp visible to the unseen enemy. Cray whipped forth ihe revolver and fired tWioe. The second time a shriek of pain told that he had hit one of their aSsailants. The two reports made a deafening din in that place Of echoes ! They appeared t0 stir the Indians into a perfect frenzy. and it was evident by the sounds that the islanders had not much liberty of movement on the narrow strips If land they occupied on lz,th sides of the gorge It
 Elsie caught some significant splash Inz t@h5nd her. |,
 They are swimming touard the cs- loes-- she screawed
 AFalAle G4dEEA t8 Et4al -Hl aa- ut N as [ worth. Cray cIamherei to the stern of Inc b-sat aRd eInptiei the revolver at what he took to t.e the back heads Of , he swimmers
 Quick. Load ft aEzin-- he szid- [ md EIsie obeyef win a ninblsaess and certainty that were smszinz
 The American fred three Eore shots -efa~e he was sstfSSesf that the canes EeTe uuteaaated ard not cut sdrift- Tbar were now EesrTaz ths pz1dernp-