Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-12-12
BOOK II.
ABOARD SHIP IN THE SOUTH
SEAS.
The Murderous Mutineers and
the Woman.
BOOK II.
CHAPTER vi.
In Which Am Punished for NV
Presumption.

1 pass over the events of the next six
months, but not because they were un-
interesting. Oh, no. One could not sail
from Plymouth, England, to the South
seas. touching at Madeira, the Canaries.
Rio and Buenos Aires and rounding the
mighty and fearsome Cape Horn, without
seeing many things Of interest and par
ticipating i'm scenes as dangerous as they
book of travels. though. perchance, 1 may
some day endeavor to set forth some of
my far voyages in unknown seas. Suf-
flee it to say that we passed safely from
the much-traveled Atlantic to the lonely
Pacific and were drawing near to the
island we sought. according to the calcu-
lations Of good Capt. Matthews and my
self. when something happened.
I had brought it on myself, 1 realized
but that made it no more bearable. In
deed. 1 was mad, mad all through; out
ragged in dignity. Inundated in self-re-
spect, and were it not foolish to speak so
Of a man of my years and sturdiness, 1
should say 1 was broken in heart. I sup
posed that should feel the wound to my
affections more than that to my pride
later. but at that present moment feel
ings of indignation predominated. 1 had
been fool Of course, and l should have
expected nothing else; equally, Of course
perhaps I should even have anticipated
this. and probably if 1 had been in my
right senses on that day l would have
known 1t. But then, you see, l was not
in my right senses and that was the Sc
cret of my disgrace. And that it all hap
pened after half a year of the friendliest,
pleasantest intercourse between a man
and a maid only intensified the situation.
My mistress had been so kind to me
that I had dwelt In a fools paradise.
awoke to realize that she had not for
gotten the difference between our sta
tions. She had been born in the castle, 1
in the gardeners lodge: she was of the
forgotten it in these long months at sea-
by heavens, the sight of her was enough
to make a man forget anything il he
loved her as I. There. the secret is out.
but I make no doubt you guessed it long
before. But she had not. There was no
mirror in the cabin, but / could well
guess that the sight of me was not suffi-
GENTLY prepossessing to make any woman
forget. In birth. in breeding, in educa
ton. in everything, she stood immeasur-
ably removed from me. SO far removed
that association on any terms scarcely
seemed possible. Yet she had been so
kind. was her only confident or COM
panion in the ship. I had forgotten, L
had endeavored to leap the gap. l had
fondly hoped that the one thing in me
that was truly great, my passion for her.
would land me safely by her side. l did
not see how she could fail to compre-
bend it, though did try to disguise it.
Well. that love of mine. it had not
brought her nearer. On the contrary. it
had put me under lock and key. And
here was. shut up like criminal in my
own cabin in her ship, or mine, for that
matter. Come to think Of it, that mo-
ment I believe love had completely dis
appeared. 1 could recall-and can to this
day. for that matter-the fierce, burning
rush of color to her cheek where l had
kissed 1t: the fire of rage and surprise
mingled which sparkled in her eyes The
Duke Of Arcester 1 had marked for life
for less than this. recalled in shame 1
hardly recollected the fierce blow Of her
hand upon my face. That was nothing.
had laughed at II as she had recoiled
from me when had released her-actu-
ally laughed! I was not laughing at her,
God knows. but at her impotence phys
ically compared to my strength. She
was of q small, slender, little body. L
could have carried her easily with my
one hand-and have often done SO since
yet she struck hard when she did strike
Come to think of it. suppose that laugh
was my undoing. Perhaps she thought
1 laughed at her. Well. what mattered
it? Whatever the cause. 1 was undone.
All the patient devotion of years. all
the restraint OF the long voyage, had
come to naught.
There was plenty of bright starlight on
deck. She had stepped out from the dark
shadow Of the spencer and I had follow
ed on her heels. The first night watch
had not yet been called and the men idled
about the decks waiting the boatswains
shrill whistle, had noted 1t all. can
see their sneering. laughing faces even
now. God! could bear anything from
her. but nothing from them, and but for
the sorry figure I must have cut in a low
brawl with the ruff1ans. would have
fought them until they killed me.
Al IL WAS I AreW NnYaelH I'M and wait.