The Comrade. (Winnfield, La.) 1890-1914, 1910-09-02


likely that any one would be up there.
Scrambling to her feet, she drew
her knife and severed the taut rope
that held the launch to the yacht. 1t
parted instantly. She was whirled
backwards and sideways with sud-
denness that again almost threw her
out of the boat. For one agonizing mo.
ment the launch lay full in the broad
beam of light that proceeded from the
bright cabin window she had left. Fer,
one agonizing moment of suspense she
hung there and then the swirl Of the
wave carried her into the darkness.
She lay directly in the. wake of the
yacht, and the launch was pitched up
and down by the waves made by the
rapidly moving ship with violence
of motion that was sickening. There
were a pair of oars in the boat, but
she did not break them out. She just
drew herself down in the stern sheets
and lay there waiting. She knew that
the clatter of the motor could be heard
a long distance in so still night and
over so still sea, and therefore, al
though her impulse was to start it at
once, she restrained herself and
waited, watching the yacht rapidly dis
appear. She could mark her course
easily by the light from that eeehin
window. Her ear was keen and she
listened until she could no longer de-
tect the beat and throb of the steam
er's engines. Then she rose and
started the motor.
The boat was provided with a COM
pass, and although she could see no
star, she was able to set a course
which was directly at right angles to
the course of the yacht She realized,
or at least she thought 80, that she
would be pursued. She believed that
the yacht would retrace it's course
She decided that those aboard her
would reason that she would endeavor
to put as much distance as possible
between herself and the yacht, and
therefore she would sail straight away
from 1t. Consequently, she went broad
off to starboard at right angles to the
other course. The gasoline tanks were
both full. 1nasmuch as the boat had
been designed for extended cruising
in shallow waters, there was enough
fuel to keep the motor going for over
30 hours at full speed. The motor
was capable of developing at least ten
knots per hour. BY the same time
tomorrow night she would be 240
miles away from the present spot. The
yacht was going IL knots an hour. Her
escape would probably not be discov-
cred for ten hours BY that time the
yacht would be 120 miles away. They
would be $50 miles apart by morn
ing, measured on the hypotheuse, and
by night, who could tell? At any
rate, she had now done all that she
could.
Her condition was desperate; her
prospects gloomy beyond expression.
She was alone in small power boat
which would be helpless, the sport of
wind and waves, after perhaps 30
hours. That boat was alone in the
great expanse of the Pacific ocean.
Somewhere about there were islands
probably. Indeed, on the charts those
seas were dotted with points of land
but they were small, inconsiderable,
uninhabited, unknown In that little
boat she might pass close by many
of them without seeing them. She had
provisions, such as they were, and
water sufficient perhaps for a week
or ten days. After that unless she
landed somewhere she would drift on
until she starved and died. If storm
came, the launch probably would not
survive it, Her chances of escape, in
any event, were worse than problem
atical. The end was almost certain
But she was happy. The first real
ray of happiness which had entered
her soul since the beginning of the
great awakening, which had culmin-
>ated in the frightful scene Of the
night, illumined her being. As she sat
in the stern sheets, her hand on the
steering wheel, listening to the steady
drumming Of the motor, seeing the
black water broken into foam by the
boats bows fash by her, keeping the
launch steady on her course by the
aid Of the compass needle, her eyes
turned ever and anon to the fast d.
minishing point of light which marked
the rapidly disappearing yacht, and
she realized that she was free. She
had hurled out of her path-and how
she exulted in her own prowess; it
was something of a salve to her soul
for the Wretched humiliations which
had been heaped upon it-she had
hurled out of her path and stricken
down as any other animal might have
done him who had brought her to this
awful pass. She was away from him,
free from him. She was once more,
so far as wind and wave allowed, the
master of her fate, the mistress Of her
destiny.
She was glad in her heart, too, that
there were to be no physical conse-
quences from her brief alliance. She