Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-04-30

| meet the freak of some Valparaiso loaf.
er with the deep laid scheme which
i contemplated the destruction of the
| Kansas She had followed the discus
sion in the chart room with full appre
citation Of its significance. Valuable
as the ship ana cargo were. there was
far more at stake III The effect Of the
loss on the copper markets of the
world. The most important copper ex.
| porting firm in Chile would practically
De ruined while the Paris "ring,r OF
which she had read in the newspapers.
would have matters its own way.
Financial interests of snch magnitude
would hardly be bound up with the
carousals and quarrels of Fraseuelo
and "Jose the Winebag." Yet
Have yon ever heard of Senior Pc
dro yentana," she asked suddenly.
"Has he to do with mines?v inquired
the Chilean tentatively.
yes
81 know him by sight, senorita."
would he be acquainted with this
nan Anaclete do you thinks'
Cant say. Jose would know any
| body whom he could touch for few
pesetas.'
| She left him, promising to visit him
daily in the future. AS she walked
back toward the bridge companion
she met Dr. Christobal. His fit Of III
/ humor had gone. He was all smiles,
but Elsie, having extracted such in
formation as Fraseuelo possessed, was
/ lau% ~ asIdfxr 10 bars ss4aFc ff trorr1.
edge. incidentally she meant to widen
the doctors views.
Why have you taken TO lecturing
rne?. she asked, with simple direct
ness which CIlristobal was not slow
to profit by
Because, though old enough to be
your father, have not vet reached
years of discretion
You mean, suppose, that if every
one attended to ones own affairs il
would be a less spiteful world? / am
inclined to agree with you. Unhappi-
| ly life is largely made up of these
/ minor evils Yet should have thought
that the desperate conditions under
which we exist at this hour might pro
teet me from uncharitableness.
.'You are pleased to be severe
mo; it is the last privilege of dan
ger that sllams should vanish. Yet
we plumb the depths of absurdity
when we contest the right of any wo-
man, even a young and unmarried one,
to appreciate all that a brave man has
done and is doing to save her life
Elsie was speaking without heat
She might have been reasoning some
disputed point in ethics. The Span
lard was obviously thrown off his
guard
ssYou seem to demand an explana
ton, he said, with some warmth,
"Well. you shall have it. / am not
man to finch from the disagreeable /
admit a sort of impression, I might al
most describe it as a conviction, that
j Captain Courtenay's manner toward
you betokens a growing admiration
s.This is the widest folly, cried
Elsie in bewiIderment I'll cannot
imagine what put such notion into
| your head"
sLet me at least lay claim TO a spe-
cies of altruism, he replied. Il can
see fifty excellent reasons why our
young and good looking commander
should be drawn to you, nor can urge
one against it,
s.But he is already engaged to an
other woman. so my one reason is
worth more than all your fifty
..Ah. can that really be soss'
The tense eagerness in his voice
might have warned her were it not
| that she was shocked by the bitterness
which welled up in her heart She
glimpse. 1t alarmed her. she must
convince herself at all costs that she
had spoken truly.
Although the evidence she rendered
was of dubious value. she stroye to ad,
vance her argument further
Il have priced our friendship great
", Dr. Christobal." she said. speaking
with calm deliberateness that rang
hollow IN her own ears, $50 greatly
that l am compelled TO utter this pro-
test Now, to end a distastefuI con
troversy let me tell you what know
| to be true. When the ship was strand
ed and we all thought our only chance
of safety was to take to the boats, by
fuke, the accident of the moment,
was left alone in the captains cabin.
/ The sea was breaking in through the
doorway, and it brought an odd relief
| to my overburdened mind when I en-
| deavored to rescue the contents of
locker which for some reason had
been scattered on the floor previously.
Among them l found some letters. !
think you viii believe me when say
that / would not consciously read an
other persons private correspondence
Just then I was hardly responsible for
my actions, and did happen to see
and grasp the meaning Of passage in
a letter from Captain Courtenay's sis
ter which alluded to his affianced
wife TT Il not sf1rh q ira rri<. Admission