Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-06-18

tlpil. ~ EsiSie dliu 0Idy lJOh 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,
4 struck a match and looked at his
watch. 1t was long after j 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.
1t was well for Elsie that she had
learned how to scull when in her
| teens and that her muscles We're in
| fair condition owing to her skill at
| tennis Even so, she feared that she
could never hold out against the sus-
tanned 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. 1t was back
breaking work, but she neither falter-
ed nor sighed until Suarez said:
LET me take your place now, senori-
ia. 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 We're 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 difference
of hundreds of yards at such a dis
lance, and there was an ominous light
ening of the gloom, accompanied by a
limming of the stars, when Gray hit on
the idea that the powerful current had
probably carried them a good deal
southwark of the point they were aim
ing at He suggested that they should
boldly pull quarter of a 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 break in
the cliffs in that locality.
sPull in now she whispered tense
ly, and with a 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,
but impossible They were all worn
out Nothing but the most inhexible
determination on the part of Elsie and
Gray, eked out by a certain Responding
fear of both Of them felt by Suarez,
had sustained them thus far They
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
enfng sky. 1t did not seem credible
that this sheer cut through the heart
of a gigantic hill could continue for
more than a few yards nor that any
thing save a bird could find foothold
on its steep sides. Yet the current
flowed smoothly onward through a
wealth of vegetation which chung pre-
cariously to every ledge and natural
escarpment.
joey, embarrassed by his gag, never
theless managed to emit a warning
growl. Then the boat crashed into a
canoe, and a hoarse yell of alarm came
from beneath the lowermost trees,
whose dense foliage flung a pail over
the water. Gray was seized with an
inspiration. He grasped the canoe as
It bumped along the gunwale and held
1t down on one side until it filed and
sank. He sent another and yet third
guzzling 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 whizzed unpleasantly
close to the heads of the two men and
the girl, proving conclusiyely that they
were visible to the unseen enemy. Gray
whipped forth the revolver and fired
twice The second time a Shrek of
pain told that he had hit one of their
assailants. The two reports made
deafening din in that place of echoes.
They appeared to stir the Indians into.
perfect frenzy, and it was evident
by the sounds that the islanders had
not much liberty of movement on the
narrow strips Of land they occupied on
both sides of the gorge.
Elsie caught some significant splash
ing behind her.
t'They are swimming toward the ca
noesr' she screamed.
Telling suarez to pull for all he was
worth, Gray clambered to the stern Of
the boat and emptied the revolver at
what he took to be the black heads of
the swimmers.
"Quick! Load it again. he said,