The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1912-05-24


ed with the information that the mis-
tress OF Cecile. the maid. was suffer
ing from heat exhaustion.
This was entirely reasonable
O'Rourke accepted the demolition of
his airy castles Of Romance. laughed
at himself. in part was successful in
putting the woman out Of mind;
doubtless, in time, he would have done
80 altogether, had not the lady chosen
to take the air the night that the
Panjnab negotiated the Straits Of
Bab-el-Mandeb For on that same
night, ORourke. himself wakeful, was
minded to sit up and watch the lights
Of Perrin Island heave into view
O'Rourke. in a deck-chair on the
starboard side, we'll cloaked in the
shadow of the deck above. watch
ed the other passengers. one by one,
quiet their chatter, yawn. stretch and
slip below to stuffy staterooms.
He suffered a dreamy eye to rove
where 1t would. greedy Of the nights
superb illusion.
Four bells-two oclock-chimed
upon his consciousness like a physical
shock. He verified the hour by his
watch and, reluctantly enough. agreed
that It was 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-clad woman had
invaded the promenade deck. For an
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 bad no wish to
startle her. partly because he was.
glad to watch unobserved (he had
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 profltless speculation. Z.
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 supposition that she
had something to fear, someone to
avoid. What or whom? What was it
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 wool 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 isola-
ton; and then from the after part OF
the deck he had heard a slight and
guarded cry of distress, and a small
scuffling 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 busi-
ness so amazed O'Rourke that he
/ hnI a.. a.
rooted In action. For although 1t was
apparent that she had been caught off
her guard, wholly unprepared against
assault. and while she struggled fierce
| ly to break the lascar's hold, the wom-
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
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 overpower his
victim, O'Rourke. electrified, sprang
upon the mans back With one 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 woman.
Then wrenching the two apart, he
sent 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,