Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-04-18

rs that YOU Senior Suarez?" asked
voice which he recognized instantly as
belonging to the Senorita Maxwell.
YES" said he drowsily.
Have you the witch doctors clothes
you Wore when you came ON board the
ship"
Yes, senorita."
A hand. slight. but strong, grasped
him by the shoulder. He felt the rim
of a revolver barrel pressed against his
forehead.
Get up then: Dress quickly in those
clothes and come out on deck. By the
side of your bunk you will find tins of
black and white paint to smear your
face and hands. At the slightest re-
fusal on your part to do as l bid you
If you utter Il cry or make a noise to
attract attention. shall kill you with
out another wOrd.''
The soft voice had a steely ring in it
which persuaded the man from Argen-
tina that he had better obey. In less
than five minutes he emerged from the
doorway. The corridor in which his
cabin was situated led into the salon.
Elsie awaited him. A lamp, dimly light
ing the gangway, revealed her face
Suarez thought he had to deal with q
mad woman. The dog standing by her
side shifted at him gingery, but Il
muttered BE quiet. Joeyr' prevented
any outburst. every fox terrier being a
born conspirator.
What do you wish me to do. senO-
rita:' began SuareZ, thinking to pla-
cate her until he could obtain assist
ance.
You must obey me in silence" she
whispered tensely. "You must not even
speak. One syllable aloud on deck will
mean death. Walk in front of me up
| the main companion and go straight to
the ships side"
"But, senorita"-
The hammer of the revolver began
to rise under the pressure of Elsie's
| finger on the trigger The mans hair
| rose even more rapidly His nerve
was broken He turned along the cor
ridor in front of her. not knowing the
! instant Il bullet might crash into his
head. The girl followed so closely
! that she almost touched his heels The
dog would have trotted in front, but
she recalled him.
When SuareZ reached the port rail
of the promenade deck Elsie breathed:
"Climb quickly and go down into
the canoe by the rope ladder you will
find there
| ''The Cancer gasped he.
"Quick! One, two
| Up went Suarez over the rail- He
found the topmost .rungs of the lad
der. AS he descended the revolver fol
lowed his eyes When his head was
level with the deck the order came:
Take the dog and go DOWN.
81 cannot, senorita.''
"You must try. You are going down,
dead or alive"
He did try. Joey scuffied little.
but Suarez caught him by the neci
and made shift to descend. Elsie wa:
already on the swaying ladder whei
Boyle's voice rang out sharply from
the spar deck:
Below there! Who is there?"
81, Mr.. Boyle!' she answered.
"You, Miss Elsie? Where are your
"Here-not so far away"'
She was descending all the time
She had cast loose the rope which fas
tened the canoe alongside, and her diff
ficulty was to hold the ladder and a
the same time by clinging to the mas
to prevent the canoe from slipping
away with the tide The revolver. sh
gripped between her teeth by the but
Boyle, puzzled by the sound of he
voice, ran from the side Of the bridg
down the stairs and across the deck
He was a second too late to grasp tn
top of the mast as it drifted out o
reach. He heard Elsie utter a low
voiced command in Spanish, and tn
dip of a paddle told him that the ca
noe was in motion.
"For the Lords sake, what are yo
doing?" he reared.
81 am going to save Captain Courts
nay" was the answer. You canno
stop me now. Please hoist plenty o
! lights. If I succeed. look out for nj