Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-02-10
CHAPTER XIV.

CHAPTER XIV.
I ordered supper at II o'clock and
invited both Larry and Benson, our
engineer, to my table. Hardly were
the glasses filed when l began to put
my laconic questions, and wrote pom
the slip of note at my side, the an
swers to them.
For how many days have you coal,
Mr.. Benson?"
THAT depends how far and how fast
you steam, SIR"
suppose that we are lying drifting
here in these Gains. There Is no great
consumption of coal them"
mo, sir; but IL you wish steam kept
up against q run, that empties your
bunkers."
~ will depend upon what the other
people can do, Benson. They may be
in the same position as we are. II
our friends at home believe u story,
l don't suppose there will be much coal
going for Val Innroth or any of his
company. OF course, he may have
other resources. He would not rely
upon relief ships from Europe alto
gether. The American governments
are not likely to concern themselves
eVcrr1uch III the matter. Their news
papers viii make as much Of the mat
ter as the police will make little. In
credulity we must expect. If we are
believed anywhere, it will be by the
men who lost hundreds OF thousands
OF pounds every yea in South Africa.
That's the keynote to this mystery.
lmroth may have a hundred agents
stealing diamonds for him at Kimber-
ly. He hides the men and the booty on
this great moored ship until the dam
ger mas passed. A hint TO those pleas
ant people, the magnates of Park
Lane, will supply money enough for
any purpose. l doubt their sense, how
ever. They will leave the protection
OF their so-caIled interests TO other
people, as they have always done. We
really need not consider them in the
matter.
TITS yourself and the young lady we
have to think ONO Others interrupt
ed Timothy; ''phat the divil is Park
Lane to o or to me or TO any decent
man? Do we care whether their di-
Almonds are safe or stolen? Not a tink-
er's curse, me bhoy. If we hunt Imroth
down, it's for your vanity's sake, and
not for the good of humanity at all.
Faith. I'd be a fool to tell We tits not
so! Ye wan the glory of this. and We
want the girl on top of the glory. Let's
be plain with each other, and We'll get
on the faster"
Timothy" I said. you are a philos-
opher. We won't quarrel about It. The
glory OF 1t is nothing to you, and if It
were In your power you'd return to
Europe by the first steamer willing to
carry you there. Let us agree to that"
De nangeu To III ! agree &c ccts
Ing of the sort"
"Ah, then. here is Madame Vanity
sheltered also in another human bos-
ON! Say no more. If I am serious, ii
Is to tell you that vanity has been less
to me in all this time than the safety
of Joan Fordibras and her freedom.
OF that | account myself the guardian.
n is on board the Diamond Ship
reflect among what q of VII
lains, thieves, and assassins! Captain
Timothy, ] have not the courage to tell
myself what may befall her. Perhaps
1t would be better If she did not live
to speak OF 1t. You know what it may
be. You must try to help me where
my judgment falls"
Tt the last mar on the ship said
Captain Larry very solemd1ly.
w should SIGHT the sh:S after
eight BELLS" said I, diverting the sub
ject abruptly, land then our task be-
gins. / am hoping to outwlt them, and
to force a surrender by sheer bluff.
Very possibly 1t will fail. We may
even lose the yacht In the venture. L
can promise nothing save this-that
while I live I viii hunt Imroth, afloat
or ashore. Let US drink to that, gentle
men, a bumper. IT may be the last oc-
casion we shall find for some days to
come"
We filled our glasses and drank the
toast. When the second officer in
formed Ii5 exactly al eight bells that
the telegraph was working again and
very clearly, I heard him almost with
Indifference. For the moment 1t might
be dangerous TO send any message
anr0c- The r.a cfn rf xcafarc r,lz~~~ - .
be no further talk exchanged between
Imroth n myself until I had def
nitely declared myself.
They would shift their position.
captain. We must hold them to il
and track them down. You say hat
we should sight them at two bells in
the middle watch. I'll step down and
hear what they have to say, but UNI
| less it is vital, 1 shall not answer
them"
I found the instrument tanning
sharply, as the second officer had said
The words spelled out Colin Ross"
the nam of the officer upon one Of
their relief ships, as they had already
Informed me. Repeated again and again
Ii gave me in the end an idea I was
quick to act upon. They must think
the relief steame broken down. 7 said
Such should be the first card I had to
play.
'fOrulDraS, L Observation-Disclosures
-"Fordibras," and then upon IL the
simple words-"Propeiler shaft broken
--all hands at work-repaired tomorrow
cable eight bells"
/ say that ! repeated the message,
az one almost invariably Is called upon
TO do when the instrument is wireless
n no receivers have been tuned to
a 5Sheine.s a little to my astonishment
there was no reply whatever. AS I had
ceased TO speak to the Diamond Ship
yesterday, so she had ceased 10 speak
20 me tonight. A renewal of the call
earned no better reward. 7 fci! 10 the
conclusion the news had been OF suffi-
Client Import to end the immediate re-
ceiver headlong to the vessels captain.
and that he would return me an answer
anon. So half ar hour passed and
found me still waiting. lit must have
Been nearly 1 o'clock by this time. I
recollect that II was at IL minutes past
one precisely that our forward lookout
discerned the lights OF the Diamond
Ship upon a far horizon and that
Captain Larry burst In upor me with
this splendid news. Now. surely. Ind
I no further need of messages. You
may Judge how I followed hinI TO the
deck 20 feed my eyes upon the spec.
Have you JUST seen her, I1arry?"
This veyv Instant, DOCTOR
4 <vonf r.- 1xs<r>n 49, t~t - $500 ~. z