The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1911-04-13
icHAPTERixx.

" sho ,'oiauo pIuyeu Tue coward. lie
was afraid to be alone. The others,
the officers of the ship, that is. not
Langford-he had gone back to his
own yacht, declining the captains In.
vitatlon to dinner--would have ere.
spected the islanders mood and have
left him TO himself. but at was eyi.
dent that he +craved their society.
Whitaker and the old chaplain rsus.
rpected how 1t would be with him, but
they knew sfthatg sooner or later he
would .haveStoSretiree to rest, and soon
ers or later. he would be alone:
And then his grief was 80 obvious:
that inaccordance with natural and
commendable tendency they strove,t to
cheer him, up. They encouraged him
to ask Questions. They told him
many things In reply that theswoman
could not have told him; that he. had
half dimly suspected, Abut had not
known. They cleared up to him many
things which; had seemed mysterious
and strange to, him - t&
And ;onstheir part they marveled at
the things lie did 9know, at the thor!
.oughness with which he had been
taught and at thet Wonderful acute
ness d pefte option which he displayed.
The swanan had tnarteled at It. too.
but she had become used to It In three
years of intimaSy. They, saw, IT Id!
medlately swiths gfeatesffS Ssiuirrpptski sse. ST
Hs1n !suche engrosslhE 5a6ntersatIon tia
; long ;hoRts passed uH..ltftbefstriklIg
Flight aaadiit &ea3sI ahfdaigRtT3No osie
had any.desire-to-a sleep in..yiew IL
(, the unusual and stimulating expert.
Sence which bothepattes to the inter.
change Of thought in the play Of cues;
etion and answer were, enjoying But
1T was the captain, hard!headed and
practical, who gave the, signal for re;
firing. The. men were not accustomed
ito disregard even the suggestions Of
the autocrat Of the ship. al
"a spare cabin in the 3wardroom had
been arranged for the islander, and
there provided with etheSunwonted lux.
nry OF night wear after a hearty
Goodnight" from the lieutenant com.
mander and a fervent God bless you.
from the old chaplain. he was left
to his own devices. The strangeness
ofshis situation. the soft bed. the
snowy linen. the silk pajamas. the con.
filming area Of the cabin. the sudden
touch with luxuries of civilization
would iniitself have kept him awake
had she been as heart whole and as
care free as when the woman had
landed upon the island. But, indeed.
the strangenes3 Of these things
aroused no emotions in his mind at
all, for the moment he was alone his
thoughts. which. he had been fighting
desperately I'd keep upon other things,
reverted to her. What was she doing
for the FIRST time alone upon that is.
land? What was she thinking? He
realized that no more than heicould
she be sleeping. ~.
These were the first moments that
he could give to reflection, the first
quiet hours that he could spend In
considering the situation and In get.
ting back his rudely disturbed ball
nnce. There had been method In his
training, and he had been taught the
value Of considering series Of events
logically in all their lights and bear.
ings. Lying nlthetcomfortable berth,
he reviewed ut length and deliberate
ly the history of his life from the day
that he had been born when he first
bent over her sleeping upon the sand
until that great glad hour. when. the
earthquake ,enlightening him. he tore
the rocks asundeE olasped her In his
arms and pressed the first kiss that
he had seyer5elven any one upon her
lips. SFE. III. Ii. u
UnfInchIHgly he reviewed with
i what oalmness he could muster the
scenes OF the morning and the day.
He forced himself To- consider in all
Its lights and bearings the informa.
ton that had been given to him. He
tortured himself by the deliberate
slow recalling Of. every detail, and
then. quiyering as ~ underthe stimu.
lus Of some blow upon raw wound,
he reviewed his own conduct. Enlight.
eminent came to him I'm ,thut dark and
silent hour. He discovered first Of all
that he loved her: lthatthe check and
counter.check and variation and alter.
alton in his emotions had been swept
away IN a great development Of Il
more stransccnding feeling. II she
should ask him that question on the
morrow as sto ,,whath he loved her
70 c,,aE II !, IN