The Irish standard., 1911-08-26

himself, having partly regained con-
seriousness, uttered low moan for
help, which was heard by a chance
passerby.
The gale, which had been raging all
this while, had gone screaming by
unheeded, and It was not until dawn
that the Mortified conquerors of the
yacht discovered that there was no
land in sight.
1t was several hours after that, not,
indeed, until the captain had worked
out their reckoning from an observa-
ton, before they realized that they
were 100 miles away from their
anchorage Of the previous evening,
and that their return was hopeless.
Old Mr.. Fanshaw gave his arm to
his son, helped him down from the
bridge and thence to the now deserted
smoking room, forward. Tom sub
mitted to be led blindly along, and did
not demur when his father halted be-
side big leather sofa and told him
to lie down upon It, Since that mo-
mentary outburst of his upon the
bridge, the young man had been un-
naturally calm. His muscles, as he
lay there now upon the sofa, seemed
relaxed; his eyes were fixed, almost
dull.
Through long silence his father
sat there watching him, but there was
no dawn Of a corresponding calmness
in his face. It had aged whole years
over night.
ITS strange to me-" he Said, that
we ever recovered possession of this
yacht at ALL let alone that we were
able to recover it without it costing
us the life of a single man. This gang
must have had a leader, and a clever
one. They way he Unanswered his
men to keep them out Of sight while
he drew away first one party and then
the other from the yacht was a piece
Of mastery strategy. He worked it
out perfectly in every detail. He got
possession of the yacht without losing
q man, without even firing shot that
might give the alarm. And even with
the warning we had and with the
help of the fog, l don't see how we
defeated man like that His success
must have gone to his head and made
him mad"
"He was probably killed In the first
volley our people fired when they got
aboard" said Tom duly. "He alone
could have accounted for half dozen
of you, if he'd ever had chance-e
giant like that"
"A giant!'
II think he must have been the
leader" said Tom. "He was the first
man to come aboard, certainly"
but what makes you call him e
giant?" ~
Because he literally was. He
struck me down with just one blow,
and as he raised his arm to strike
saw that his shoulder-cap was above
the level of my eyes; and pass for a
tall man."
His father abandoned the subject
abruptly, and for a while contrived to
talk of other things of the details Of
| the fight and how different members
Of the crew had borne themselves
But his mind was filled with new
terror, and as soon as he could feel
that his son was in condition to be
left alone. he left him, with broken
word Of excuse. He must either set
this new terror at rest,i or know the
worst at once. There had been no
one, either among the survivors or the
slain of the Walrus party, who in any
way resembled the monster Tom had
described.
An hour later he went back to the
bridge to talk again with Captain
Warner. He thought that they had
sounded the depth Of despair that
former time when they had talked to-
gether there, but in this last hour he
had sounded new abyss beneath it
all. He knew now why the yacht had
been 30 easily taken. He knew all tho
details Of the devilish plan which had
so nearly succeeded More than that,
he knew the story of the man Roscoe
from the time when Captain Planck
had taken him aboard the Walrus,
down to the hour last night when he
had sprung into his boat again and
pulled shoreward. Captain Plancll
was dying, and old Mr.. Fanshaw's
questions had enabled him to enjoy
the luxury of full confession.
So they knew now. those two men
who stood there on the bridge, white,
Tipped, talking over The horror of the
thing-they knew that Jeanne was not
alone upon that terrible frozen shore.
The man Roscoe was there, too.
A sound on the deck below attracted
Mr.. Fanshaw's attention. Tom, with
the aid Of heavy cane, was limping
precariously along the deck toward
the bridge ladder, and, to their amaze
ment, when he looked up at them
they saw that somehow, his face had
cleared. There was grave look OF
peace upon It,
1--WE thought of something" he
said, after he had climbed up beside
them-"1ve thought Of something that
makes it seem possible to go on liv.