The commonwealth. (Greenwood, Miss.) 1896-1923, 1912-05-31

instant he hardly credited his eyes,
then, with a nod Of recognition, he
identified Mrs. Prynne.
Unquestionably unconscious Of his
presence In the shadow, she fell to
pacing to and fro. Now 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 he had no wish to
startle her, partly because he was
glad to watch unobserved Che 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 proitless speculation. .
i. . Why, he 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, If not to escape such observa-
ton? Then, he told himself, he must
be right in his s~upposition that she
had something to fear, someone to
avoid. What or whom? What was 1t
all, what the mystery that, as he
watched her, seemed to grow, to cling
about her like some formless, i'm.
palpable garment?
Events consplred to weave the man
into the warp and wool of her affairs;
more quickly than he could grasp the
eason 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. isola-
ton; and then from the after part OF
the deck he had heard a slight and
guarded cry of distress, and a small
scufTiing 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 he
paused and held his hand, briefly
rooted In action. For although it was
apparent hat she had been caught of
her guard, wholly unprepared 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 l~ascar's gaunt and sin
envy one, strained and fought, swaying
silently in the shadows, tensely, with
the effect of a fragment of some dis
ordered nightmare. But then, as the
lascar seemed about to his
victim, O'Rourke, electrified, sprang
upon the mans back. With n strong
arm deftly he embraced the fellow, an
elbow beneath his chin forcing his
head up and back. With the other
hand O'Rourke none too gently tore
away an arm encircling the m
Then w%renching the two apart, he
sent a knee crashing into the small of
the lascar's back, all but breaking him
in two, and so flung him sprawling
into the scuppers.
Without a word the man slid upon
his shoulders a full ~half,dozen feet,
while O'Rourke had a momentary
glimpse of his face in the moonlight
--dark-skinned and sinister of express
sion with its white, glazing eyeballs.
Then, In one bound, he was on his
feet again and springing lithely back to
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 of
knives.
O'Rourke fell back a pace or two.
His own hands we're empty; he had
nothing but naked fists and high cour.
age to pit against the lascar and his
kris. Keenly alert, he threw himself
into a pose of defence.
But O'Rourke had forgotten the
woman; it al enough that he had
made possible her escape, and he had
no thought other than she had fled. 1t
was, therefore, with as much surprise
as relief that he caught the glimmer
Of her white figure as she thrust her
self before him and saw the lascar
bring up in the middle of a leap, his
nose not an inch from the muzzle of
an army Webley of respect-compelling
caliber.
simultaneously, he heard her voice,
clear and incisive If low Of tone:
Drop that knife!"
The kris shivered upon the deck.
FAITH" murmured the freshman,
and what manner of woman is this,
now?"
The lascar stood as rigid as though
carven out of stone, long, gaunt legs
shining softly brown beneath his cool,
dazzling white cummerbund. the up
per halt OF his D0dy l0st IN the suauoW
Of the deck, a gray blur standing for
his turban.
O'Rourke stepped forward, with a
quick movement kicking the kris over
board, and would have seized the fell
low but that the woman interviewed.
She said declsively: "f you please
no"
Bewildered, O'Rourke hesitated. i
beg your pardon" he said In con-
fusion.
She did not reply directly; her at
tention was all for the lascar, whom
her revolver still covered. To him.
Got" she said sharply, with a signih-
cant motion Of the weapon.