The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1912-04-23


Chapter Y.
! An incident occurred that morning
/ which drew Rowlands thoughts far
! from the happenings of the night A
/ few hours of bright sunshine had
brought the passengers on deck like
bees from a hive. and the two broad
! promenades resembled, in color and
! life, the streets OF city. The watch
/ was busy at the inevitable scrubbing.
and Rowland, with a swab and bucket,
7 was cleaning the white pant on tho
! starboard taK-ra!l, screened from
| view by the after deck -houAe. which
shut OF a narrow space at the stern.
! A little girl ran into the Enclosure.
| laughing and screaming, and cIung
! to his legs. while she jumped up an9
| down In an overflow of spirits.
II wunned way" she said; II
wunned way from mamma"
Drying his wet fa nds On this trous-
| ers. Rowland lifted the tot and said.
tenderiy: Well. little one, you must
run back to mamma. You're In bad
company" The innocent eyes smiled
into his own. and then---a foolish pro-
! ceeding. which only bachelors are
guilty of--he held her above the rail
in TESTING menace. Shall / drop you
over to the fishes. baby" he asked.
| while hi sfeatures softened to an un-
wonted smile. The child gave a little
scream of fright. and at that instant a
young woman appeared around the
corner. She sprang toward Rowland
like a tiEeress, snatched the child,
stared at him for a moment with di-
lated eyes. and then disappeared.
/ leaving him limp and nerveless-
breathing hard.
1T IL her child" he groaned. That
was the mother look. She i. married
married" He resumed his work,
with a face as near the color OF the
paint he was scrubblng as the tanned
skin OF sailor may become.
Ten minutes later. the captain. in
his office. was listening to COM
plant from, a very excited man and
woman.
And you say. colonel" said the
an old enemy"
admirer OF Mrs. Selfridge That Is
all l know of him--except that he
has limited at revenge. Ny wife Is
certain OF what she saw, and / think
the man should be confined"
Why. captain" said tho woman,
vehemently, as she Rugged her child.
you should have seen him: he was
just about to drop Myra over a. I
seized her-and he had such a fright
full leer on his face. too. Oh. 1t was
hideous. ! shall not sleep another
wink in this ship know"
Il beg you wiIr give yourself no
uneasiness, Madam" said the cap
tain. gravely. Il have already learn
ed something OF his antecedents-
that he - a disgraced and broken
down naval offlcer: but. ali he has
| sailed three voyages with US, l had
credited his willingness 10 work be-
| fore-the-mast to his craving for IL
auor. which he could not satisfy
without money. However-as you
think-he may be following you. Was
he able to learn OF your movements
that you were to take passage in
this ship"
Why mott" exclaimed the hus-
| band; ''he must know some OF Mira
Selfridges frfends.'
Yes, Yes" she said. eagerly: II
have heard him apoken Of. several
times
Then It Is clear" said the cap
tain. IT YOU will agree. Madam. to
testify against him in the English
courts, l will Immediately put him In
irons for attempted murder"
oh. do. Captain" she exclaimed:
liberty. OF course ] will testify
Whatever you do. Captain" said
the husband savagely. rest assured
that shall put = bullet through his
head II ne NEEDLES with me or mine
again. Then YOU can put me in
irons"
Il will see that he 10 attended to.
Colonel" replied the captain an he
| bowed them out OF his once.
/. But "a. q murder charge Ia not al
ways shs best way to discredit
lieve that the man who had defied
him would murder = child: and ~ the
charge would be din1cult 10 prove In
any case. and would cause him much
trouble and annoyance. he did not
order the arrest OF John Rowland.
but merely direcsvd that. for Che
time. he should b kept at work by
day In tho 'tween-deck out of sight
.of. thu passengers ..a,s,,s,
Rowland. surprised ut his sudden
transfer from the disagreeable scrub
bling to = ''soldier's job Of paint
ing life-buoys in the warm tween
deck, was shrewd enough to know
that ne was being closely watched by
the boatswain that morning. but not
shrewd enough to A6ect any symp-
toms OF intoxication or drugging.
which might have satisfied his anu-
GUS superiors and brought him more
whisky. As . result Of his brighter
eyes and steadteF volce-due to tina
curative sea air--when he turned out
for the first dog-watch on deck at
tour o'clock. the. captain and boat
swain held an interview In the chart
room, in which the former said: do
not be alarmed 1t II not poison. He
Ia half way into the horrows now.
and this will merely bring them on.
We will see snakes, ghosts. goblins.
shipwrecks. Are and all sorts Of
things. 1t works in two or three
hours. Just drop II ntio his drink
ing pot while tho port forecastle. In
empty
There was fi9ht IN the port FORE
castle--to which Rowland belonged
ut sapper time. which need not be de-
ecribed beyond mention Of the fact
that Rowland. who waa not par
ticipant. had his Dol IT tea. dashed
from his hand before he had taken
three swallowA He procured = fresh
supply and nnished HIS supper: then.
taking no part IN his wAtchmates'
open discussion Of the AGht. and
guarded discussion Of collisions roll.
IA into his bunk and smoked until
eight hsils. whom he turned out with
the rest.
chapSsr vi.
Rowland said thu hig hcatswain
.nsv-6~...S.44 -. -