The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1909-04-03
THE CAPTAIN OF THE KANSAS
A Story of Love and Adventure on the
Little Known Coast of South
western America
CHAPTER vIl.
tBy Louis Tracy.)

inner staircase communicate
ed with the principal state
rooms. but she knew that the door
leading to the promenade deck had
been left unlocked, so she sign=.issi him
to lead her the speediest way. Speak
she could not Although there was q
perceptible improvement in the wealth
er. Elsie found the wind even harder tc
combat than when she traversed the
deck with Courtenay. This apparent
contradiction arose from the TACT that
during their early dealing With re
boats the sailors had cut away the
greater part Of the canvas shield rig
ged to protect passengers from adven.
turous seas.
Nevertheless. all Clustered ard breath
less as she was. she held Walker back
when he would have left her ga the
shelter of her cabin.
do spare me one moment" she
pleaded when have put on dry
clothing. what am ! TO do? Where
am ! to to go2 will do anything
rather than remain alone"
Walker jammed himself IN the door.
way to break the violence of the M
ceasing deluge Of spray.
well, missile" he said. I'm examin-
ing the engines. Mistaw Tollemache is
fi-wing up the donkey boiler, and Doc
taw Chwistobai is with Mistaw Boyle
You know whe-aw the captain is. so |
weckon yo' best place is the salon."
"Dr christobal said yor we're max
ing raft?"
That's wight. But when the ship
got of we tackled othaw jobs. She IS
ow-ah best watt
SHAY | not look after some of the
injured meni"
iThat you can't was Walkers
prompt assurance. "You'd bettaw
stick to the salon. IN tell the captain
yo' the-aw."
Tell him? Are you returning to the
IridgeY'
."TeIephoneg' shouted Walker as an
unusually heavy sea caused him to
slam the door unceremoniously, He
bolted it too. Not IL he could help 1t
would his charge come out on that
storm swept deck unattended
The electric light glowed brightly in
EIsie's cabin. exactly as she had left II
an hour ago. This was one OF the
anomalous conditions of the disaster.
II lent a queer sense of midsummer
madness to the nights doings. In
"a few days 1t would be Christmas.
the Christmas of sunshine and flow
ers known only to that lesser por-
ton of the habitable earth south OF
the line. In Valparaiso the weather
was sitting. yet here, not so very far
away, it was bitterly cold And the
ship was driving headlong to destruc-
ton. though electric bells and switches
were at command in luxuriously fur
nished apartment. while the engineer
bad Just spoken Of the telephone rs a
means Of conversing with the captain.
Away down in her feminine heart tie
girl wondered why Courtenay himself
had not come to her Why had he sent
Christobal first and Walker subse-
quentlyi Oh, OF course he had more
urgent matters to attend to. though In
the helpless condition OF the ship it was
difficult to appreciate their precise de-
grees Of importance.
Anyhow, ne had sent word that she
was to change her clothes. and he must
be obeyed. as DIR. Christobal said. Then
she discovered as a quite new and
physically disagreeabIe fact that her
skirts were soaked up TO her knees.
while her blouse was almost In the
same condition ewing TO the quantity
Of spray which had run down inside
her thick ulster. She busted herself in
procuring fresh clothing and boots
The outcome of the pleasant feeling Of
warmth and comfort was such as the
girl herself would not haze guessed In
a week. The mere grateful touch Of
the dry garments induced an extraor-
binary drowsiness. She felt that she
must lie down--just for a minute. She
stretched herself on the bed, closed her
eyes and was straightway sound
asleep. At the captains suggestion
Christobal had given her strong dose
OF bromide in the wine
1t was better so. IL the ship were
dashed to pieces against the rocks
which unquestionably lay ahead. Elsie
would be whirled TO the life eternal
before she quite knew what was hap
pening If. on the other hand, some
miracle of the sea enabled the men to
construct a seaworthy raft in time or
the rising tide permitted the Kansas
to escape in so far to run ashore again
In a comparatively sheltered position,
she would be none the worse for an
hours sleep. And now that the ship
was afoat there were things to be done
which only men could do The salon,
the decks. the fore cabin. were places
Of the dead. Fearing lest Elsie might
pass, Christobal before attending TO
Boyle had thrown tablecloths over the
bodies OF men slain In the salon. for
Gray and Tollemache had gterniy but
yainly striven TO repress the second re-
volt. Tollemache and Walker had
dragged out of the smothering spray
near the port darits three men who
seemed TO be merely stunned. These,
with the chief o1acer and perhaps four
survivors OF the explosion. made up the
list of living but 3oneffective members
Of the ships company. There was one
other. Gugliel,no Frascuelo. who was
bawling for dear life in his bunk In