Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-05-21

had been hooked back to keep
1t Wide open. so wind and sea Invaded
the trim privacy of the cabin. Spray
leaped over the ship in such dense
sheets that considerable quantity of
water quickly lodged on the port side,
where Courtcnays bunk was fixed.
There were no means of escape for it
In that quarter, and the angle at which
the Kansas lay would permit a depth
OF at least two feet to accumulate ere
the water began TO flow ont through
the door to the starboard.
At the great crises Of existence the
stream of thought is apt to form
strange eddies. Courtcnay when the
ship strickland it was possible that
each second might register his last
conscious impression-found himself
coolly reviewing various explanations
Of the existence of an unchartcd shoal
In locality situate many miles from
the known danger zone. Elsie, strung
half consciously to the highest tension
by the affrighting proha bility of being
set adrift in a small boat at the mercy
Of the sea roaring without-a sea
WuICH DOuu'ltu tIcs SlttI nun VI Tile
Kansas with suclY force that the
great ship seemed to finch from each
blow like creature in pain-Elsie,
then, faced by such an intolerable
prospect. was a prey TO real anxiety
because the wearing apparel scattered
by Courtenay on the floor was becom-
Ing soaked in brine.
She actually stopped to rescue a coat
which was not yet saturated beyond
redemption. AS she lifted the gar.
ment a packet OF letters tied with a
tape fell from its folds She placed
the coat on the writing table and en-
deavored to stuff the letters into a
pigeonhoe. They were too bulky, so
she laid them on the coat In doing
this she could not avoid seeing the
words, Your loving sister Madge,"
written on the outer fold Of the last
letter in the bundle.
And that brought a memory of her
previous visit to the captains state
room. She was incapable Of reasoned
reflection. She felt that if she were
fated to live to ripe old age she
would never forget a single detail Of
the furniture and decorations Of the
room. She would hear forever the do
lorous bowling Of the gale, the thump
ing Of the waves against the quivering
plates. the rapid, methodic thud OF the
donkey engine. which. long since de-
serted by its cowardly attendant, was
faithfully doing its work and flooding
the ship with electric light
Not thinking in the least what she
was doing she scrutinzed the closely
tied packet. She wondered idly why
he treasured SO many missives. Each
and every one, oddly enough, was
written on differently sized and vari.
ously colored note paper. and it could
he seen at n glance that they We're
from as many different people. The
outside letter was the most clearly Wis
ible. Miss Courtenay wrote we'll
formed, flowing hand. II handwriting
were a clew to character she was a
candid, generous, open minded woman.
But what was this2 Elsie suddenly
threw down the letters She had read
sentence at the top of the page twice
before she actually grasped its pur-
port. When its significanc. dawned
on her she flushed violently, for this
was what she read:
Il am glad Of II. too because under
no other circumstances would l wish
10 greet and embrace the woman des
tined to be your wife"
The knowledge that she had involun-
tarily intruded on Captain Courtenay's
private affairs brought her back with
certain slight shock to sense OF
actualities. The storm, the horrible
danger she was in, emerged from shad
owland. Why had he not come fol
her? Surely there must have beer
some further mishap, Heavens! Was
she alone on the ship, alone with the
dead men and the dying vessel? Hell
head swan with strange faintness
and she placed hand TO her eyes.
Then Joey sprang in through tn,
doorway and, with that splendid disre
gard for sentiment displayed by fol
terrier that has just come out Of frs
rate fight, shook his harness until i
ratified.
But he eyed the thrush OF the sc,
with much disfavor, so he leaped VI
on the table beside Elsie and LOOKED
at her as though ne would ask why sh'
had permitted this sacrilege.
Though the dog was apparently uA
Scathed and in the best Of condition
his head and fore paws were bloc,
stained. His advent dispellcd the mis-
which was gathering in the girl
brain. She feared n tragedy, yet Joe.
assuredly would not be SO cheerful, 81
daint1ly DESTROYS TO avoid the splash
ing water in the cabin IL his maste
were injured. The mere presence o
the dog was a guarantee that Courte
nay had not quilted the ship.
ooh, Joey" she said, II wish yo1
could speak,
The sound Of her own voice startle
her. She was yielding to nervousness
again and was on the point of ventur
ing out, at least as far as the dec
house ran, to see IL she could distin
guish what was taking place on tn
after part Of the vessel. when d.
Christohal entered.
II suppose you thought you were fol
gotten?" ~ cried. with a pleasan
smile, for Christobal would have
smile for a woman even on his death
bed. There. now, don't try to el
t.