Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-09-17
By Louis joseph Vance
Author of"The Brass BOtOL, "
"No Mans Land. =" Etc.

Il sion IndL consumed bIt itdu hiONh
the meaning of reticence or womanly re-
serve; If she had not been so keen to
share with him the Joy of her discovery
If she had had the simple delicacy to
hold her. peace against a time more
| suitable; Crittenden had not been driven
| TO confession and thereafter to that pitch
of desperation which had ended in this
sentence of exile.
Her imagination, spurred by a merci-
less conscience, limned his fate In vivid
colors. She saw him doomed to death
in-life, saw the atoll as living tomb,
its smiling verdure but a grinning
mask for harsh and barren inhospitali-
ty. She figured to her fancy the cycle
| of his days sequestrate, from that on
which his straining vision should see
/ the last film of smoke fade from the
staring skies. through those. in which
hope must perish, to that when mad
ness should blunt his sensibility to suf-
| fering or death put a period to this
chapter of crime, brutality, horror and
4 starvation.
/ Unconscious OF exaggeration, denying
another side to the picture, she dashed
| herself into a state of semi-hysteric
CONSERVATION and contrition; the while
she stood without a CULVER, eyes spell
bound by the fascination of that Lonely
and beloved figure.
At length-stin with that puzzling
stiffness of carriage-he turned and
slowly moved away into the shadows
Smitten unreasonably with a panic
premonition that she had looked her
last upon him, Cynthia started and
barely restrained cry. A fit of trem-
bling seized her, so strong that she was
/ glad there was none by to see. And
then she Gained, suddenly discovering
/ that the lifeboat had been drawn close
in under the vessels side.
Rhode, sitting with head bowed in his
habit of injured melancholy; Perez play
ing with a cigarette; Lobb staring up
at her with fabulous smile; the sight
/ of these so near inboard, beneath her,
/ affected her with an almost physically
painful disgust; and the contemplation
Of their monstrous complacence left her.
with swelling bosom and a heart on
fire.
She swung away abruptly, knowing
/ herself unfit to face them in her pres
ent violent and unsettled temper, and
went below, with the privacy of her
state room desirable in her thought.
But by the entrance to the alleyway
she, checked on the memory that
Madame Savaran would be there. pot
! tering about one of her idle occupa-
/ tons, with eyes quick to read the signs
of trouble on her companions face. a
mind keen and ruthless to. inquire, and
a tongue sharp to question. Cynthia
dared not face her-yet. AS alternative
she chose the ordeal of breakfast.
AS on the first day of the voyage
seeming so strangely distant in the pass
/ she had the saloon to herself, aside
from the attending Acklin. But on tits
| occasion in contrast with the former,
she had no appetite. The dishes AslSlir
| set before her she left untouched; even
coffee threatened to choke her.
Respecting her distress, as patent in
its manifestations as it's cause in his
knowledge, the steward made no adj.
vances, but rather waited patiently for
her to address to him some observation
unconnected with his services. But she
did nothing Of the sort. Absorbed in
narrowing introspection, she was barely
conscious of the man in waiting. Put
| ting herself, as a slave to. routine,
through a hurried pantomime of eating,
she rose and left the table as uncere-
moniously as she had approached it,
At the head of the companiohway.
with every inclination urging her to-
ward her state room, she was again
diverted, this time unexpectedly enough,
/ by finding the burly proportions of the
Red Man! obstructing the passage as he
numbered aft, evidently returning from
Madame Savaran's room. Cynthia per-
force paused and drew to one side, wait
ling. But Rhode took his time, moving
slowly and cumbrously as though he
found exertion wearisome, his huge
shoulders sagging, his aspect logged
and sultry
In the entrance blocking it complete
| ", he paused to favor the young woman
with morose nod.
"Mirnin'," he mumbled.
] Cvnfbfo ohIfOad
unconsciously favoring her cool Good
morning with the crispness Of coerced
civility. She moved expectantly, as if
to enter the passage, bur Rhode made no
/ offer to get out of her way To the con-
/ trary. with a sour grunt, he settled one
shoulder against the partition, dug his
hands still deeper into his pockets. and
looked her over with a Grabbed and dis
NAL scrutiny.
| Good mornin:," said he, with a crude
Imitation Of her enunciation. Just like
that huh? Nobody" he quot
ed. lugubrious, loves a fat man."
Cynthia lifted her chin with a hint of
hauteur; a flush Of umbrage darkened
her face and the light of it fickered in
her eyes Otherwise she made no an
swer.
II guess that lines worn threadbare.
air right" commented the Red Man.
1t uta be funny, though. I've heard em
laugh like thunder at it, once, in play.
But mebbe it's me; 1 guess that must be
tim bad actor. None Of my comedy
ever seems to get hand from you"
Comedy! You'll" Cynthia ejacu-
lated.
Never mind" Rhode produced a
great red hand and waved it largely
with a somewhat incoherent combina-
/ ton of effects, seeming at one and the
same time to flaunt a. danger signal
and dangerously to concede a trouble
/ some question. God knows" he as
| serted with great earnestness, 81 don't
| expect to be taken for a comedian;
but I'd think it'd stake most anybody
to a laugh the way L have to stand
for all the slapstick work in this
| turn"
Il don't know what you mean"
! mo, 1 don't guess you do. You
wouldn't naturally. I'll have to change
my act and come through with tine
straight talk if 1 want you to get
next I was in the th'atri-
cal business, once" he explained oen-
sively'-and, to Cynthia. inconclu-
1 sively.
I'D like to go to my ROOM" sug-
gested the girl, not overpatiently.
you can't" said Rhode, without
/ stirring. It's again the general or
ders for the day. That's how 1 come
to be stuck here to get myself dis
I