The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1911-10-28
Copyright. 1910. by Louis joseph vance,

He was briefly Silent, apparently in
reminiscent mood. Early in the
game" he resumed, Il had cause to
seeping In through New England. So
/ sat me down and tried to figure 1t
out from the other sides point Of
v!ew-supposing | wanted to turn
the trick on my own account. Seer
Clearly. Go on
Being a product Of this neck o
the woods made it some easier; |
know the coast pretty thoroughly. It
struck me how alfred easy 1t would
be to establish a depot for the re-
ception Of goods on one Of these little
islands hereabouts-or even at some
retired point on the mainland. Then
one could ship the stuff over by any
old unlikely tramp, trans-ship 1t TO
smaller vessel at some agreed point
of the coast, and stow 1t away for
distribution practically at ones own
station, the stuff could be smuggled
to the railroad through any number
of small harbors-a trunkful here, a
trunkful there. all disguised as pas
senger baggage; and these waters are
so thick with small craft that their
comings and goings attract practically
no attention. Plausible, fea-
sible-yes?"
Ingenious, certainly"
ITO cut 1t short, 1 finally satisfied
| myself that the schooner employed
| for the trans-shipment was the fisher
| man that, as you saw. preferred my
room to my company. l took chance
| there, like a fool-lucky to get of
| with a whole skin. But by the time
hit the water l felt pretty sure they
had some sure-enough good reason
for not wanting any strangers hang
ing round"
I'D think you justified in assuming
| that much"
THE worst of 1t was, that mishap
made me a marked man; I'd been a
| wee mite too indiscreet. For a while
| thought I'd have to fade into the
background and let one Of my brother
sleuths polish off the Job. You can
| fancy how that would have CALLED
| Fortunately you offered yourself"
| Il like that" Coast commented.
Anyway, my magnificent imag1na
ton offered you to me-" Appleyard
pursued without loss Of countenance.
Il began to see how easy it would be
to snoop along the coast as your crew
-inconspicuous, unsupported. You
seemed to have only the vaguest idea
of what you wanted to do, where you
| wanted to cruise And I'd begin tc
suspect myself of failure Of the parts
of speech If l couldn't insidiously talk
you into going where I wanted to-
| No Mans Land, Muskeget, Tucker
muck, Chappaquiddick, Or wherever.
I'm ready to certify you're quail
| fed to talk the hind legs off the do
nestle mule" Coast averred with en-
thusiasm.
| Don't worry; I'm a merciful man
|. Rather cheap, that-what?
Extremely"
Your fault: you fed it to me. I'm
beginning to think you must be the
only original. perfectly-pasteurised
| mascot. Since We met the very stars
have seemed to battle in their course
for me. Even the fog helped-shunt
ing us off to No Mans Land"
"Yes-?"
Il had no particular notion of in
vestigating that island first Of all; but
a number Of circumstances made me
suspect We were In its neighborhood
I had figured 1t out that the variation
of the magnetised compass must have
carried us sou'west, for one thing;
and the absence Of fog signals made
me think We must have got we'll south
of the main-traveled routes; finally
I knew that, once south of Devils
Bridge, the set of the tide would
snake us out toward No Mans Land
So, when We ran aground and I went
ashore, leaving you asleep, l wasnt
surprised to recognize the place
h1$