Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1908-10-31
The sailors stared at her boldly.

was a little pale and there were shadows
under her eyes, but when she came on
deck her hair glowed red-gold in the early
brightness. She guessed that her visit to
the. captain was already known among
the men. The sailors stared at her bodily,
and the seamen who had taken the place
of the dead mate approached her and
smilingly asked if she was ready for
breakfast.
II am going to take breakfast in the
captains cabin." she replied. viii you
tell Capt. jerks that l am ready"
Her authority confused the mate. If
Capt. jerks was subject to the author
ity of this woman 1t behooved him to act
with propriety. and he dropped a few
words of warning to his mates as he car
ried Mrs. McEwen's message to the skip
per. The developments of the day showed
that his judgment was right. McEwen's
wife not only breakfasted I'm the captain s
cabin; she took complete possession of it's
occupant. and when the two came out
upon the deck she chung to the mans arm
with an astonishing air of ownership.
During the whole of the morning the two
We're continually together. with the ex-
cAption of brief intervals which the woman
spent in the prisoners cabin. At noon
the two dined together. A little later Mrs.
McEwen reappeared alone. Her face was
flushed with excitement. her eyes sparkled
with triumph. She tried vainly to hide
her emotion as she hurried to her husband.
Williams. who saw her. knew that she
had achieved something which meant
much to her and to the shackled man in
the little cabin. She flashed the news to
him with her eyes as she passed, but
Williams was too duh to comprehend in
detail. so he fell to guessing. That after
noon Capt. jerks called him into his
cabin.
You're at the wheel from twelve until
two tonight amt you, Williams" he
asked.
'Yessir,' replied the sailor.
Well. you needn't report until one
O'Clock And see here Williams The
giant captain stood up and placed both
hands upon the Seamans broad shoulders.
There amt no use of gossiping about a
little change like this. is there? Take a
reef In your jaw. Williamson hold it
Understand" The sailor returned to his
duty. filled with mystery. and with feel
ing in him that something stupendous de-
pended upon his silence-something that
in some way had to do with the welfare Of
the little woman who he knew was plot
ting. Once he asked himself If 1t was
possible that Mrs. McEwen had turned
traitor to her husband. but he imme-
diately growled out a curse at himself
for having allowed such thought to en-
ter his head.
band all of the afternoon. Capt. jerks
showed no anxiety to see her. and even
evaded as much as possible that part of
the ship where the prisoners cabin was
situated. Toward evening the woman
came on deck again and went into the
stern of the schooner. Until the ship
lights began to glow in the gathering
darkness she amused herself by throwing
crumbs of iron ore into the bottom Of a
skiff that was dragging behind the YES
sell At first she missed frequently. Ten
-twenty-thirty times. and her judgment
became more accurate. Then she closed
her eyes. and with tragic earnestness
tossed the bits Of ore blindly. She count
ed missing once out Of three, once out
of Ave, and at last only once out of ten
times. She was still practicing when the
captain came up and stood beside her at
the rail.
What are you doing?' he asked He
leaned over and looked down into the bot
tom of the boat The woman laughed as
she called his attention to the little pieces
Of ore.
rive tossed seventy pieces out of a
hundred in there" she cried. "1'll wager
you couldn't do 1t, captain! She gave
her companion a handful of ore and
watched him with apparent earnestness
as he measured the distance. When he
missed twice out OF ten throws she clap
ment she became sober as the cook ap-
preached to inquire where she would have
her supper
with my husband, please" she said.
"And send supper for half a dozen. I'm
ravenously hungry Captain. tell him
to bring us double allowance, will your?
She appealed to the skipper, who reit-
Grated the order.
Il was hoping that you would take