The Southern herald., 1912-07-05


quiet their chatter. yawn. stretch and
slip below TO stuffy staterooms
He suffered q dreamy eye TO rove
where II would. greedy Of the nights
superb Illusion
-Four bells-two o'clock-ehimed
upon bis consciousness ike a physical
shock He verified the hour BY bis
watch and. reluctantly enough. agreed
that II vas time he got himself to
bed. He half rose from his chair. then
sank back with an inaudible catch Of
his breath Without warning the ap-
partition Of a White-elad woman had
invaded the promenade deck. For an
instant he hardly credited his eyes.
then. with a nod Of recognition. be
Identified Mrs. Prynne
Unquestionably unconscious OF his
presence in the shadow, she fell 70
pacing TO and fro Nov and again,
she stopped. and with chin Graded in
her small hands. elbows on the rail,
watched the approaching cliffs Of
Arabia; then. with perhaps a sigh. re-
turned to her untimely constitutional.
Partly because be had no wish to
startle her. partly because be was
glad TO watch unobserved (he had a
rare eye for beauty. the O'Rourke),
the wanderer sat on without moving,
stirred only by active curiosity. The
strangeness Of her appearance upon
deck at such an hour fascinated his
imagination no less than her person
held his eye. He gave himself over
to vain and profitless speculation. :.
+. Why. be wondered, should she
keep to her cabin the greater part OF
the evening, only to take the air when
none might be supposed to observe
her?
Why. II not to escape such observa-
ton? Then, he told himself, he must
be right in his suppotition that she
had something to fear. someone to
avoid. What or whom? What was II
all, what the mystery that, as he
watched her seemed to grow, to cling
about her like some formless, i'm
palpable garment?
Events conspired to weave the man
into the warp and woof OF her affairs;
more quickly than he could grasp the
reason for his sudden action, he found
himself a-foot and dashing aft at top
speed. But an instant gone Mrs
Prynne had passed him, unmolested
and wrapped in her splendid lsola-
ton; and then from the after part OF
the deck he had heard a slight and
guarded cry of distress, and a small
scufling sound
In two breaths he was by her side
and found her struggling desperately
in the arms Of a lascar-a deck-hand
on the steamer.
At first the strangeness OF the bust
ness so amazed o'Rourke that be
paused and held his hand, briefly
rooted in action. For although It was
apparent that she had been caught OF
her guard, wholly unprepaFed against
assault, and while she struggled fierce
ly to break the lascar's hold. the WON.
an still uttered no cry. A single
scream would have brought her aid
yet she held her tongue.
The two, the woman's slight, white
figure and the lascar's gaunt and sin
ewy one, strained and fought, swayins
silently In the shadows, tensely, with
the effect Of fragment Of some dis
ordered nightmare. But then, as the
lascar seemed about to overpower bis
victim, O'Rourke, electrified, sprans
upon the mans back. With one strong
arm deftly he embraced the fellow, an
elbow beneath his chin forcing biz
head up and back. With the Other
hand O'Rourke none too gently tore
away an arm encircllng the woman
Then wrenching the two apart, he
sent knee crashing into the small ol
the lascar's back, all but breaking hin
In two, and so flung him spraWline
into the scuppers.
Without a word the man slid upor
his shoulders a full halfdozen feet
while O'Rourke had momentary
glimpse Of his face In the moonlight
-dark-sklnned and sinister OF expires
sion with its white, glaring eyeballs
Then, In one bound, he was on bis
feet again and springing lithely back tc
the attack: and as he came on a Jag
ged CLEAN Of moonlight ran like light
ming down the sinuous and formidable
length Of a kris, most deadly oil
knives.
0'Rourke fell back a pace or two
His own hands we're empty; be had
nothing but naked fists and high cour
age to pit against the lascar and his
kris. Keenly alert, he threw himself
into pose Of defence
But O'Rourke had forgotten the
woman; it was enough that he had
made possible her escape, and he had
no thought other than she had fed. II
was, therefore, with as much surprise
as relief that he caught the glimmel
Of her white figure as she thrust her
self before him and saw the lascal
bring up in the middle Of leap, his
! nose not an inch from the muzsle oi