Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1909-08-26

penetrating snore added itself unto
the cacophony of waves and wind an6
tortured ship.
kirkwood. comforted at first by the
blessed tobacco, lapsed insensibly into
dreary m%editations.
OF one or two things he was convinc.
ed-for one. that Stryker was a lia1
worthy of classification with Calendar
and Mrs. Hallam. His i%mpregnable
conclusion was that those whom he
sought had boarded the Alethea. but
a left her before she tripped her an
Choir. That they We're not slowed
away aboard her seemed unquestion-
able. The brigantine was hardly large
enough for the presence of three per.
sons aboard her to be long kept a Sc.
cret from an inquisitive fourth-unless.
indeed, they lay in hiding in the hold,
for which. once the ship cot under
way, there could be scant excuse. And
Kfrkwood did not believe himself a
person of sufficient importance in Cal
NASAA go w llltlhC llltl NOilllN ell
dure the discomforts of a tween decks
imprisonment throughout the voyage.
even to escape recognition.
With every second, then. he was
travelling farther from her to whose
aid he had rushed. impe!ied by mo-
tivcs so hot headed. so innately chiv-
alric, so unthinkingly gallant, so ey-
~ceptionally idiotic.
What else could | do?' he defended
himself against the Indictment of COM
mo sense Il couldn't leave her to
the mercies of that set of ro@ues. And
heaven knows | was given every rea-
son to believe she would be aboard
this ship. Why, she herself told me
that she wa; sailing."
Heaven knew, TOO. that this folly of
his had cost him a pretty penny. first
and last. His watch vas gone beyond
recovery, his homeward passage for
feitcd. He no longer harborcd illu-
sions as 10 the steamship company pre-
sentin~ him with another berth in lieu
of Cha, called for by that water soaked
slip OF paper then in his pockct-cour-
tesy of Stryker, He had sold for Il
pittance, Il tlthc of It's value. his per
sonal jewelry and had spent every
penny he could call his own. With
the money &t?ykcr was 20 give him he
would be allie 20 ret back to London
and his third rate hGstelr.y. but not
With enou@h over to pay that one
weeks room rent, or
"oh, the DEVIL" he gfoaned. head in
hands.
The future doomed wrapped in un.
speakable darkness, lighted by no least
ray of hope. 1t had been bad enough
to lose Il comfortable living through IL
gigantic convulsion OF nature, but to
think that he had lost all else through
his w egre%ious folly, to find him
self reduced to the kennels.
Stryker. emerging from his room for
breakfast. found the passenger with a
hostile look in his eye and Il jaw set
in ugly fashion. His eyes. too, were
the abiding place of smoldering devils,
and the captain, recognizing them, CON
siderately forbore to stir them up with
any untimely p~leasantries. To be
sure. he was autocrat on his own ship,
and kirkwood's standing aboard was
nil. but then there "a just enough
yellow in the complexion Of Stryker's
soul to incline him to sidestep trouble
whenever feasible. And, besides, he
entertained dark suspicious Of his
guest-suspicions he scarce dared voice
even to his Utmost heart.
The morning meal, therefore, passed
off In constrained silence. The captain
ate voraciously and vociferously, push
ed back his chair and went on deck
to relieve the mate. The latter, a
stunted little cockney with a wizened
co%untenance and n mind as foul as his
tongue. got small change of his at
tempts to engage the passenger in con-
versation on topics that he considered
fit for discussion. After the sixth or
eighth snubbing he rose in dudgeon,
discharged a poisonous bit of inso-
lence and retired to his berth, leaving
Kirkwood to finish his breakfast in
peaCe.