Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-04-07

of occasional brief spells of fine wealth
er at this period of the year. At any
rate, the gale may not be absolutely
continuous. and Walker is assured that
he can patch up the engines for half
speed Given d calm day-7a day like
this. for instanceA-We cnn reach the
strait in few hours. ""6
"And the Indians" ID.
Il leave them out Of my reckoning
What else can dor 80 !
"Kill 'em." said Tollemache.
Courtenay glanced sharply at his fell
low countryman. He disliked these
references to the Alaculof bogy in
Elsie's presence.
I'VE have dynamite aboard" said
Tollemache. why not construct a
couple Of Internal machines which
could be fired by pulling string and
let them drift toward the canoes when
the Indians are near enough?"
1T is worth trying" was Courte
nays brief comment, though b, saw
later that Tollemache's suggestion was
a very useful one.
Elsie's first task was to prepare a
large scale drawing of the southern
part of Hanover island as set forth in
admirably chart No. 1887 sheet 2,
Patagonia), which is the only trust
worthy record available for shipmas-
tiers using the outer passage between
the gulf of Penas and the strait of Ma
gellan. 1t was n simple matter to fill
In tht. fayy nnntnnpS ,yiyar Tho nai.rt,
boring small islands were shown in
reasonable detail. but the whole west
ern coast of Hanover island itself con-
sisted of q dotted line and q solitary
peak, Stokes mountain. the height of
which could be estimated and its po-
sition trianSulated from the sea. Even
Conception strait. on the north, and
were marked In those significant dot
ted lines. The coast was practically
unknown to civilized man.
1t was borne in On the girl while she
worked that the chief marvel in her
present condition was the triumph Of
science over nature I'm it's most hostile
mood. The Kansas boosted all the
comforts ard luxuFies of well enu,p-
ped hotel. Seated ut the same table
as herself was a skillful sailor, using
logarithms. secants and cosecants, po-
lar distances and hour angles as If he
were in some university class room.
She stole n glance at Courtenay. He
was so keenly engaged on the business
in hand. SO bent on achieving accuracy
in his figures, that she chided herself
for her reverie Then she wondered
ii he ever gave thought to that prom
ised wife of his, who must soon suffer
the agony of knowing that the Kansas
was overdue.
Elsie was sufficiently well acquaint
ed with shipping to realize the sensa
ton that would be created by the frs
cablegram from Coronel announcing
the nonappearance of the steamer IL
the strait. The Valparaiso newspa
pers would be full of surmises as t.
the vessels fate. They would publish
full details of the valuable cargo ant
would give list of the passengers ant
officers. All! Ventana would learl
then, If he had not heard it earlier
| that she was on board. And he alon
| would understand the true reason o
| her eight from Chile. Her cheek
flushed, and she applied herself NOR
| closely to the chart she was copying
She had left good deal unsaid In he
brief statement that morning. HOY
strange, how utterly unexpected,
| was that Ventana's name should ia
from Courtenay's ips-Courtenay Q
all men living! And what did Isobe
mean during that last dreadful seen
ere she was carried away to the boa
by screaming in her frenzy that Ver
tana had taken IAN ample vengeance
Vengeance for what? Had the hal
breed dared to- make the same prt
posal to the rich and highly place
Isobel Barring that he did not scrupl
to put before the needy governess
Surely that was impossible. Their
were limits even to his audacity-
"Well. how is my chief hydrogr,
pher progressingY"
Courtenay's CHEEKY voice banishe
the unwelcome specter Of Ventan
Elsie started.
4 II do believe you were day dream
Ing" said the captain, with a surpri
ed smile. "a penny for your thoughts
II don't think you can pay me-" ST
retorted. hoping to cover her confusio
won't you accept Chilean currel
cyl"
"Not on the high seas"
"But you are on dry land. Plea.
make dot on your map at 81 degree
Ia minutes 8 seconds south and IA d
grees SO minutes seconds west. TIL
is the present position of the ship. L
me pin this compass card ON the t
I. Bile. Use the parallel ruler, regal
each inch as q mile. and I'll do the re
by guesswork.' .
4 Courtenay took his binoculars ar
went on to the bridge. He called Oh
= the apparent distance of each ian
: mark he could distinguish, describe
it and gave its true bearing. In Il
: result Elsie found she had prepared
clear and fairly accurate chart Of Il
bay and its headlands, while the p
! sftion of the distant range OF mou
tains was marked with tolerabIe pref
sion But Courtenay was far fro
being satisfied.