The Mobridge news. [volume] (Mobridge, Walworth Co., S.D.) 190?-1917, 1909-08-27
CHAPTER XlI-Continued.

went III the hold. The thirty or forty
passengers, one and all, seemed to
have disappeared below. There was
the welcome clang of the engine-roOm
bell, the slow throbbing OF the propel
Ter, and the quay was already three
yards away. The streak Of mOonlit
water between the ship and the tide
wall widcned and widcncd. The pas
sage had begun.
The two young men climbed to the
upper deck and paced slowly up and
down, arm in arm, talking Of what
lay before them.
The turbine slid away into the night
on the long four and a half hours pas
sage. The white cliffs of England
gimmcrcd for a little space. and then
sea fog got up and hid them. The
steady thrOb, felt rather than heard,
of the mighty engines peryadcd the
still air. mile or two out from land
the harbour wind ceased. but there
was an oily swell, wtlich made the
Princesse Hcnriette roll a little.
Grant was a good sailor, however,
and Basil Marriott was, of course, more
at home upon deck than the floor
OF a room.
They were quite alone upon the up
per deck. All the seats were deserted
The great tunnels rose amidships
white and ghost-like. and the only
sound of life came from the bridge
above them, where the captain and
the mate were pacing. They could
see the red lights Of their cigars, as
they passed and repassed each other,
and now and then they heard the cap
tain give an order to the man at the
wheel, and the hoarse reply: Port
It is! Starboard it Isl"
well, old chap" Grant said 1--WE
are fairly I'm for it now. and | hope
you don't feel you have come upon a
wild-goose chase. At least, | don't
quite mean that. What mean is, that
you don't regret having thrown in
your lot with us upon this business"
"RoSret, my dear fellow?" the sailor
answered; regret? You don't know
what it means to me. Why. | have
met my sweetheart on this voyage.
That is fact, only It's a fact you
need not expatiate upon"
''Do you know" Grant answered, II
thought there was something OF the
sort, and it was | who proposed to
the Duchess that Miss Hobson should
accompany her. / thought-dOn't you
sect was my artfulness-that I'd
get you more easily!"
"Oh, come, Grant" the other an
swered, you could not have known
about it myself until it actually hap
pened It's astonishing, by the way,
how rapidly these things do happen
sometimes"
"Oh," Grant replied. time is nothing
to men like you and me. 1t Is what
we feel, not how long We have felt it,
that really matters"
THAT Is just what have thought"
Marriott replied. 'Halloa! What's
this?" he broke off short.
Someone came stumbling up the
ladder to the upper deck.
The two men were forward, and
In the moonlight they saw tall. thin
figure 60 rolling away and plump
down upon a seat on the port side
Then, quite distinctly in the still air
of the summer night, they heard
groan.
Grant and Marriott bent over the
valet and looked in his face. The
mans breathing was thick and ster
torous. There was something about
his face they did not like.
Grant lifted up one eyelid with his
thumb. The cornea was ,urned up
wards. The edge of the pupil, which
they could see, was strangely dilated.
"Why, the man Is in a fit," Grant
said, in a sharp, frightened voice.
Basil bent down towards the Wallets
face. He shifted.
mo, it is not that" he said. Then.
In a curiously hurried voice, 1T is not
that at all The man is drugged
You know, Grant, | was one of Percy
Scott's Naval Brigade In the Boer
War, and some of our chaps were
wounded, and l went to them In hos
pital; In fact, | saw good deal of
field doctoring. Someone has dosed
1OuI man with a oicCpihS vi duSul
but that is impossible!" Michael
answered. 1--WE have been on deck
all the time. Nobody has been up"
Basil thought for a moment.
"Good heavens!" he said. "My
flask! Somebody must have put
something into it at my rooms, when
Williamson went to fetch my gear"
Nonsense" Grant answered. NO
body could have got into your rooms.
All! l think l see it now. Marriott!
what about that man with the beard
who was in the carriage with US?
Didn't we go to sleep?"
Il believe we did, for half an hour
or So" Basil answered. That's it!
This little dose was meant for you.
and perhaps for me-"
The athlete continued in a hard.
stern voice. Where Is your S..sk?"
Basil took it from his pocket. un-
screwed the tcp, poured little OF
the brandy that remained into the
c-c, end smelt ~
Seems to have a queer sort of
smell!" he said. and then he slipped
. little.
He went to the side of the ship and