Martinsburg statesman-democrat. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1906-1921, 1911-04-21

| ~
! INDUCED in Long. Satisfied Look.
and regarding that little box as the
| sealed-up casket of the murder he had
done upon the owner of it. The crime
was there inside.
To overcome that feeling, he had
worked all the harder trying to solve
Its secret.
His interest. now, however, in ma
| king sure that the box had really been
| brought aboard the Aurora was not
| superstitious, but wholly practical
They were leaving most of their stores
behind them, as there was no time
| either to transport them to the Au-
| rora or to destroy them. With these
stores and with the shelter afforded
| By the hut and the little clump of sur
rounding buildings, it was prob
| able that some members of the Au-
rora's party, at least, would survive
/ the winter If a relief ship should
arrive the next summer, or even the
| summer thereafter, it would probably
! find some one on this desolate shore
/ who cGald tell the story of the disap-
| pearance of the Aurora and form a
more or less definite surmise as to
| the cause of it. That rosewood box
| had Captain Fielding's journal in it--a
| journal that had been written up to
| the very morning when Roscoe had
| murdered him. It's discovery would
| go long way toward bridging the
gap which Roscoe meant to leave in
their departing trail. In short, if that
rosewood box were left behind, Ros-
coe would always feel that he was in
more or less danger of detection And
he didn't mean to have a thing like
that hanging over him.
! Consequently, when he discovered
that the box was not on board, and
that his particular injunctions con-
corning it had been either neglected
or disobeyed, he came raging up on
deck again, most formidable figure,
which caused his companions, harden
ed ruffia ans though they were, to cover
and shrink away from him.
In torrent of furious blasphemy.
| he demanded to know why that box
had not been brought aboard; and the
concentrated lees of his rage he
emptied at last upon the two men
whom he had ordered to do 1t.
Now" he concluded, when the tor
rent had spent itself. you go ashore,
you two. Yes, you, Carlson mean
you-and you, Rose; go ashore now
and get it,
Then, after a momentary silence,
he ragged out the command again,
amid foul flood of abuse,
But still they made no move to
obey. and the big Swede, in evident
terror. answered him. Il won't get
it, Roscoe. If you want that box, you
can get it yourself
What in hell do you mean?' the
leader stormed But his voice, even
as he spoke, lost its confident tang of
authority.
You tell him." said Carlson, nod
ding to his companion, Rose. Evident
" it was Rose who had told the story
to the other members of the party He
was a squatly built man with stub
born law. and Planck, in the days of
his command had always disliked him
as that most undesirable pest that can
be found in a forecastle-a sea law
yer.
What did you leave the box in the
hut for?" he demanded He might
not have come back if you had left
1t in the cave"
Come back" echoed Roscoe, with
a growl.
That's what l said. We went to
the hut to get 1t, and there was
light inside, and there he sat- Just IKE
he used to. And he had the box
open"
He! Who do you mean% There
was no trace of turbulence In Roscoe's
voice now. He spoke as though MS
throat was dry.
at was Captain Fielding; him to
the life. And, yet, it was dinerent
from the way he used to be- we
couldn't see II very well. It's face was
sideways and the light was behind IT,
and it looked smaller and thinner
more-more like a woman. (lf Rose
had had the word spiritual in his yo-
cabulary he would have used it. In
default of it, he gave up trying 10
express Just what he meant) Any
way. there he sat with the box open
beside him. and that red book Of his
oman IN bie knees. Go back for it?