The Montgomery tribune., 1910-03-18

on in spite Of cracking wood and sails
threatening 10 tear loose from the
bDltcycs taking shrewd advantage Of
each slant Of wind, and lowering can
vas only when danger was deadly. lie
had come into his own, he was at
home, and the reiuyenated Sea Queen
lCaped forward at his will, as though
endowed with fresh life. He seemed
to understand her moods, her Carrices,
as though he had sailed her in every
sea, and watched him test her, loos.
ening a rope here, tightening another
there, striving TO discover her good
and bad qualities, until my admiration
for his seamanship almost overbal-
anced my growing detcstation Of him
otherwise.
Lady Darlington became positively
afraid of him dreading his approach,
shrinking from his address, yet not dar.
ing to withdraw wholly from his pres
enCe. His sole topic Of conversation
was psychomancy, and every time she
| endeayored TO lead him to some more
pleasant subject he would return with
! dogmatic persistence to that one rath-
er dismal theme. His blatant self-cOn-
| ceit saved him from realizing her utter
wcariness, and he never seemed to
| tire of his own unctuous, nasal tones
| Heavens, but the fellow was an insult
! rcrable bore. Celeste would slip away
/ unObserycd, but her mistress and my
/ self had no means Of escape. | re-
manned quietly below for three days,
/ and even then was not released by
| any formal word of mouth. | simply
! became so tired of the senseless i'm
prsonment that | mounted to the
deck, taking Lady Darlington with me,
determined to be confined to the cabin
no longer except by physical force. De
Nova was upon the bridge when we
! emerged from the companion, but he
| merely glanced at us curiously. Tut
tie, coming aft a little later, retained
! sense enough to remain silent. The
| three days passed below had thrown
me much into the society of both mis-
tress and maid, although the frank
intimacy of that first conversation
with Lady Darlington was never re-
sumed. There seemed an intangible
barrier of reserve between us, al
| though we talked freely enough re-
garding our situation. the peculiarities
Of Tuttle, and the constantly changing
wonders of the deep. 1t was as if
neither of us quite dared to probe be.
meath the surface, opening up once
more the depths each endeavored TO
conceal; rather were we content TO
drift as the tide ran.
| saw comparatively little of De
Nova, the second officer, during this
period, and gained an impression that
ne was endeayoring to avoid meeting
me. Yet | ran across him twice in
company with Celeste, once in the
cabin, and again in the narrow deck
space oyerhanaing the stern, and be
gan to hope yasuely that the girl was
winning him over TO our interests
With the others | sought to approach
made no progress. Mcknight SCI
dom showed his nose above deck. and
then only TO smoke in sullen silence
seated gloOmily on the edge Of The
main hatch or TO the lee OF the chart
house, Olsen was undoubtedly honest
enough, yet without intelligence, his
eyes those of a faithful dog. The
Chilean, a smooth-faced young fellow
wonderfully deficient in chin, | learned
had been assigned as assis ant to tbs
cook, and was thus kept too busy in
side the galley even TO be approached
indeed, so far had not seen his face
on board the ship.