Omaha daily bee., 1910-07-03

he went on. with rice and a baked yam;
and a planked green trout from the lake
back hyah; and some coffee. Sit down,
nla'am and Anil suhve it,
The little table was spread on the gall
lery, its top made of derelict cask, It's
legs of barnacled sections of a boom. Vir-
ginias head ached in dreadful slmilitude
to the traditional feeling OF the morning
after; and the coffee fragrance was pleas
ant.
You are too good said she, accepting
the chair IL shall be glad TO eat a little.
Where is your-your friend?'
Hes som'eres about" replied the cap
tain. "Ah really don't know, ma am.
Won't you please take 20 coffee?'
The coffee was black and strong; the
broth was temptation, and she slipped
with increasing appetite Buttered yam
and planlSed trout brought the meal TO a
triumphant end, with.the world not such a
chamber of wild horrors as II had seemed
when she bad awakened. Yet where was
she, and how should she depart? Where
was the Roc? Who were these men? The
guns, the brass instruments that looked as
if they pertained 10 navigation, the big
windowless shed, all suggested things
nautical, bold and nefariois. The kindness
and courtesy of the rough looking fellows
treasured her as to her personal safety.
Yet if they were smugglers or freebooters,
how could they safely return her to the
civilization Of coast-guardE and constables?
1t was delieiously romantic--but how
creepy! There was a horde of them; and
this pretty boy was too young to control
their turbulence. The blacksvised captain
with the red sash-necessary to the color
scheme-would be less deferential than this
girl-faced lieutenant The must be lieutenant)
with his meticulously proper attitude. Far
lessl
The red-faced captain was habtually
"naddened with drink and always roared
10 the pretty girl captive, Come ere, my
pretty and give us a kiss"
silly, but Il made her heart tlutter to
imagine the motley sea rovers with blunder-
buses at the right shoulder shift, filing
toward the cabin. The lieutenant must ar
range her departure at once. In the midst
of her panic, she recalled vaguely the in
fluence OF the medicine, her waltz with the
lieutenant, the holding OF her hand, and
the shunt-wound dynamos. Were these
things true, or fragments of a wild dream
Now II there be added to visions Of leer-
ing pirate CO plains, a hot and cold and
shivery feeling arising from tho conviction
that one has done something horr!d, Virgin
las impulse 10 see the young robber and
end the dyl for ever may be accounted
for. She tuiaed to Captain Hsirod with an
expression so agitated that he was some
what startled.
~ wish you would say 10 the lieutenant,
said she, that 1 must see him al once II
possible"
The fisherman analysed this speech tor
perhaps a minute, in absolute silence. Thea
he said, Eyes, ma am" and instantly pro-
duced Carson, who. so far as Virginia
could judge, had been within the captain
sight when she had been assured that his
whereabouts were unknown. This was tel
onious and eovert-looking. She must fiy
this lonely shore.
you are" said the young man, avoid
ing any reference to her recovery, doubt
less wondering where your companions
may be. and thinking 1t strange that thcy
have not returned?"
1T is strange" said she. Some thing
must have happened to the engines"
NO. said Theodore mot that. They
all but blew out 10 sea. They simply had
to fight their way off toward Pensacola
where they must have made harbor 1t wa.
almost half a gale"
And so-they went-and left me?"
''rhey really couldn't help IT," urged the
young man,
1T shows the sort Of man slberg -
she cried hotly, and
quite So" assented Theodore And YET
in the present state OF the art. the aeronsi
viii not allow you TO do quite as you
would especially on a lee shore off q
thousand miles OF open sea, you know
with a good deal more than a eapful Of
wind. They really could not be expected
Virginia silenced him with gesture in
which dissent was mingled with emphatic
dismissal Of the subject
And now said she, perhaps you viii
be so good as to help me to some con-
, yeyanoe TO MobIle?'
II have q boat on the lake" said Carson
half a mile inland. There 10 a channel Il
Palmetto Beach. The boat and crew are a,
your service"
i should prefer TO walk. II you please,
said she
> Unless you have day or two TO spend