The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-11-06
Copyright. 1910. By Louis Joseph Vanee1
CHAPTER XIV.

coast awakened with q gasp, Jump
ing to his feet as II to the peremptory
summons Of a subconscious alarm
clock Such, in fact, was more Or
less the case: he who sleeps upon the
thought Of danger is apt TO waken
with that thought predominant.
A moment gone everything had been
densely dark, with that narcotic black
ness which characterizes the slumbers
of the overworked and overweight
Now in a twinkling he found himself
intensely conscious, in the middle Of
the floor, pistol in hand, every nerve
on the qui vive, every muscle tense.
Gradually he realized that his nerves
must have tricked him, that the hair
trigger Of his suspended faculties
must have been pulled by some COM
mon but unexpected noise. The room
was bright with garish daylight; at
the doors the chairs were in place, as
he had left them; there was not
sound to be heard in the house.
Very stealthily he opened the hall
door and looked out. From the silence
astir. He went out and back to the
kitchen, finding it empty. After some
momentary hesitation he returned to
his room, found a towel and took 1t
with him out into the open.
He went quickly down through the
Cold LARS to the beach. The Echo
was gone, but this did not surprise
him; it had been Appleyard's purpose
to heave anchor and get away as soon
as the gale showed signs of slacken-
ing. Inside the sheltering spit
sturdy little catboat was dancing
crafty at its mooring, but it was evil
IDENTIFY deserted, and Coast rightly
guessed that the vessel belonged to
Blackstock, that its tender was the
boat which Power had been accused OF
st aling-principal1y no doubt, to al
lay the suspicious of Katherine; some
means Of accounting for the mans dis
appearance had necessarily to be in
vented. The boat was, Of course, no
where to be seen; doubtless Black
stock had caused 1t to be carried up
and secreted in one of the abandoned
dwellings, or in some recess beneath
the bluffs to the west and south
It was In the shelter Of the westerly
bluff that Coast stripped and took to
the water. Here, as all round the
island, the beach shelved boldly, the
surf breaking close inshore.
Scrubbing his flesh aglow, he
dressed quickly, tingling with the ex-
hilaration of his recent contest, every
trace of fatigue and drowsiness
washed clean away. A sense of life
and wellbeing ran like quicksilver
through his veins; he could have sung
aloud or whistled but for the SOLDERING
thought, never far beneath the sur
face of his consciousness, of his re-
sponsibility. With Katherine to
guard and care for with Blackstock to
watch and guard against and circum-
vent, there could be little room for
cheerfulness in his humor
Instead of returning the way he had
come, an impulse moved him to scale
the bluff, which at this point pre-
sented not too steep an ACTIVITY.
+ AS he continued along the sole, ap-
preaching the heel of what has been
nkened to a crude sketch of a child's
shoe, Coast remarked the crumbling
stone walls of what had apparently
once been rude summer house and
observatory set atop the highest hill
lock to seward. But he had drawn
quite near to it before he deserted
q hem Of skirt whipping round cor
ner Of a half-fallen wall He quick
ened his steps and took her suddenly
unawares as she stood, half-sheltered
from the breeze and wholly invisible
from the body of the island, her back
to the weather-beaten and Hchened
stones, her gaze leveled to seward
In somber rever1e.
1t was as II she had been expecting
him; she seemed not at all surprised.
But there was no light of welcome IN
her look, nor any trace of welcome In
her greeting as he stopped before her,
hat in hand and heart in his throat,
with something In his bearing that
called to mind a child convicted OF
transgression and pleading for suspen-
sion Of judgment.
lat least to try to think But l
hoped that if you saw me you would
follow
I'm glad" he said; though | didn't
know you were here. It's hardly like
~ We'll have so good a chance to talk
again"
Yes" she admitted simply There
was little catch in her voice and he
fancied her lips quivered like the lips
of tired child as she looked away
from him. seeking again the sight OF
the sea as If she drew from it some
solace, some sorely needed strength
against her trials We must talk, OF
course | have been trying
all night to think but every
thing seems so.
She left the sentence incomplete,
raising her hands to press them
against her temples and then dropping
them with a gesture of utter weari-
ness.
oh" she cried, why did you come
back? You promised, you went away,
and II was sorry for you and prayed
you might find happiness. Garrett
You promised, and-you came back
came back like a ghost to haunt me
with memories and regrets. Her
voice rose to a pitch Of wildness
Sometimes, last night, thought that
surely you must be q ghost-that you
had been executed, killed and buried
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