Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1912-09-17
Cynthia-of -the-Minute
Copyright 1871 By Louis Joseph Vance

I Of interminable whistlings. pulling and
pushing and attacking with steel hooks
/ and stern fury and naked hands a
myriad articles-huge bales and bundles,
crates and packing boxes-that were be-
ing hoisted out OF the hold of the Gym
thia to the tune Of grooming winches,
grumbling engines, whining cranes, and
shriel1ing. greaseless tackles, to be de-
posted in the hold of the Orion.
over the process OF these furious
labors hung a veil. tenuous but distinct
! a haze Of sunlit dust and dancing, heated
! air; and from IT rose in heavy, sitting
gusts a reek compounded of the odors
of perspiring humanity and the dank and
tainted effluvia of the holds.
From all of which II was apparent that
the pause at Coffin Cay was to be made
as brief as the will of those in authority
could contrive.
BY it's sights and sounds and smells
deferred from attempting even the most
casual inquiry into this proceeding,
Cynthia gave her heed all the more will
ingly to the scene Of peace and beauty
that formed its incongruous setting; to
the cay that EMBODIED them in its hos
pitable arms OF sand and earth-in-
crusted limestone, to the islet-dotted sea
that rocked and danced to the soft rush
of a southerly wind a sea lonely and
bare OF sail to its empty. purple shaded
horizons.
No better spot she thought, could
have been found or contrived, whether
by accident or design, TO meet the needs
and purposes of this iniquitous adven-
ture. The island, serene and smiling in
its insolate and isolate solitude, offered
little aside from such popularity in the
a.
by hundreds studded the circumjacent
waters: islands for the most part en-
dowed with the advantages Of greater
size and accessibility. Here was only
rocky atolL low-lying, a mere several
acres in extent crowned by bird-haunted
wilderness OF sun-wreathed vegetation,
with its small lagoonlike harbor acces-
sible only after traversing a league-long
channel, narrow, occult and intricate,
through lightless and unbuoyed waters.
Nature would seem TO have designed
this cay solely to be Of old the refuge
and stronghold Of the one-time plea
rooms and buccaneers. of the Bahamas;
I'm its degenerate present to be day
mark for the sponge fishermen and the
negro wreckers of the archipelago and
trysting spot for common swindlers Of
the high seas.
The eager. far-sighted gaze Of Gym
thia's eyes. raking the glistening cres-
cent of the coral sands. scarcely an
eighth of a mile away, was quick to
locate the Cynthia's small lifeboat.
drawn up about midway between the
horns Of the island. II was empty. Two
men. evidently ordinary seamen. sat
smoking in the shade of a thicl1et on
the edge of the leach. and near them
Cynthia deserted a small box or two
and a key. These circumstances per-
picked her. OF Rhode, Lobb, Perez or
Crittenden there was no sign.
She fingered at the rail. waiting in
anxious wondering.
Wearying of the monotonous rose-tint-
ed glare OF the strand, baffled OF
Wrestling hint of what was taking place
ashore by the silent. dark-green hedges
of foliage that masked its farther
beaches and meager upland, her gaze
sought rest in wandering over the rain
bow-tinted reaches of the sea whose
shimmering surface showed a poly
chrome of blended colorings. from the
maroon shadow of a week-rank ledge
through shades of exquisite amethyst
and lapis lazuI to the translucent jade
Of white sand shoals brilliant with re-
fracted sun rays.
But its beauty was that of desolation
only o.
Cynthia returned her heed to the
beached lifeboat
Now Lobb appeared, and stood at
pause, looking back up a glade of the
wooded rise, while the seamen. scram-
bling hastily to their feet, shuffled down
to the boat.
Then Parez ambled into view, followed
In a moment by Rhode and Crittenden
in company.
Something moved violently, stopped
and moved again with more methodic
beat, in Cynthia's bosom. The small
knuckles of the hands clasped before
her. arms at rest on the rail, shone white
in constraint. and her poise grew tense.
Thereafter she had eyes for but one fig
ure of the six upon the beach.
She noted that he walked with a GER
tain lack OF freedom, wearing his should
ers oddly; that he was clothed in shirt
and trousers only. She saw him stop
within the shadow of the thicket ex-
change a few final words with Rhode.
dismiss him with a careless gesture, and
remain where he was while the Red
Man ambled heavily down to join his
companions at the waters edge.
Perplexed. she saw the boat put on
with the three leaders, leaving Critten-
den alone.
This suddenly she understood, a flame
of indignation leaping up from the fire
a-smolder in her heart. She understood
now the reason for the cask and boxes
on the beach. and why the young man
stayed behind while the others returned
to the comfort Of the ship.
A hot spot blazed in her either cheek,
and In her eyes burned bnghting flames.
He had transgressed the code of the
party of might; he had dared move, lift
his hand in defense OF her honor; and so
he was TO be punished.
A key of drinking water, box or two
OF ships biscuit-with these he was to
be left to languish on that lonely island;
marOoned for his act of honesty and
faith.
CHAPTER XVI.
BLOWS.
Deliberately Qike some strange, clumsy,