The Washington times., 1913-07-27

the berth, ana Paul DENT over the
stranger. He searched every feature OF
! the weather-beaten old face and his
| own memory at the same time. He was
F, positive he had never seen the derelict
| before.
Just out of his head, little woman
that's all. i never saw him-I don't
know him. although his own mother
| wouldn't recognize him now
As he spoke Paul timed the uncon-
| scious mans pulse and laid an ear to
! shake in PauFs head as he Strengthened.
[ Isis he going to get better?' she
whispered.
/ paul answered her with shrug of
| doubt.
I'VE can't ant do any more for him than
He added this as he saw her Vince
andN the CLINT Of plying tears come into
her eyes.
His heart is very weak" he went on
| weak. He seems to be in bad moor
| ing ground. He's burned up as IL he
| had been through fiery furnace. II
may sound strange to hear one speak
1t can burn a mans soul out of him just
as ii can freeze 1T out. And-mock him
| with bitter waters he cannot drink"
There was a world of bitterness in
| his tone as he finished speaking and
| left the room to go aft to the medicine
chest. He returned with some spirits
of inter, to find Emily placing a wet
pack across the derelict's forehead he
mixed a dose Of the fluid in a tumbler
of water and dropped some Of the fluid
| between the cracked lips.
This will help to pull the fever
1 down." he explained. ITS all 1 could
] find back there-this inter. He will
n need watching and attention tonight.
II this calm holds win slip in here
A low moan escaped from the stran-
ger.
him now"
Paul put up hand to turn down
1 the light.
mo; / am going to stay and do what
can for him, Paul"
But, Emily, this-this is no work
for you. You"
Paul Lavelle, it is my work." the
gold woman said firmly. I've been a
| ioafer-an idling nothing-a leaner
all my life. I've, never helped until
nova You've taught me how You
can't unteach me. If my hands can
aid this moor old man to keep hold
II they can make his going out any
easier, they are going to do 1t. My
God, the thought-that II might be
you-and a woman would turn away
from-from you
Her voice broke. Tears choked her.
and buried her face in IL away from
Paufs sight. Her nobility of soul
chastened his spirit. II exalted him.
In silence he went out into the night
Strangely there fingered in his brain
as he went about the ship two SEN
fences Emily had uttered with un-
wonted fire: You've taught me how.
You can't unteach me-.
There was much for the Daphne's
new skipper to do. While the calm
Gfc nf hrao fn0
lounge barometer held steady fer fair
weather, still he was uneasy. The
more he contemplated the task Of
/ handling the Daphne the bigger 1t
grew in his sight. He could not af-
| ford to let any precaution pass I'M
embraced. So he turned to work on
the theory that il is easier to let out
a reef in a breeze than 1t is to furl
| a sail in a gale. He then cut his coat
according to the cloth he had.
He doubie-reefed the foresail and the
, topsail, and. with the donkey-engine's
aid, found il not such a hard task as
he had imagined it might be. Steam
hauled the blocks of the reef-taekles
| closer together than the sailor-hands
could ever have brought them The
best he could do with the mainsail was
stopper it with gaskets. 1t would have
been vain and futile TO have tried to
roll the heavy canvas up on its yard.
He knew IL it should come ON to blow
he left it. but he could not help Ii.
The last thing he did forward was
to put the hatch-covers on and bar
them down. The tarpaulin had been
buried by the mutineers, but Paul was
uncertain that little water could enter
the Daphne there.
AS he went aft he was surprised to
see a light in EIston's room. Peering
through the portfolio under the gang
way-ladder leading to the poop, he saw
Emily writing at the dead boys desk:
She stirred slightly as his eyes rested
on her, IS if she was conscious of an
other presence. A sense of guilt star
tied Paul and he FASTENED aft to reer
down the spanker.
with the finishing of that task the
skipper leaned YEARLY against the
wheel and surveyed the things he had
done allow and aloft. The moon. which,
twenty-four hours gone, he had never
expected to see rise again, presently
caught him in its spell. 1t was now
nearly two hours high over the barks
starboard quarter.
In its beams the Daphne seemed but
the delicate tracery of ship o dreams.
Ii powdered the vessel with a snVery
dust, enveloped her in a mystic, SPIN
itual splendor. The gtded TRUCKS
cleaned like true gold. Masts and spars
shrouds and stays and running-gear
were invested with fairy grace. The
heavy sails were gossamer in their iine-
ness-butterfiy wings at rest. The night,
as If for the very beauty of the scene.
wept upon the fabric in dewy tears OF
pearl and opal and sparkling diamonds.
Emerging from the lounge, Emily was
caught in the moonlight's enhancement
For second it swept from her nina
what had brought. her seeking Laveile.
Paul. staring aloft, did not see her. nor
did he hear her football hiss or
steam from the donkey boilers safety
escape, which Paul had set at very
low pressure, broke the spell.
1T seems helpless-weak to say that
words fail one in expressing thought
an impression" said the gold woman.
But all | can say-I must say the trlte
thing: How wondrously beautiful!
Her words but expressed the thought
that had leaped up in Paurs mind at
discovering her. and which he had
braVely denied utterance.
The sea has no fairer sight to give
men than this-unless II is a square
rugged vessel like the Daphne under "a
towering cloud of canvas driving along
over the deep in such a light. But how
is the stranger?
The question brought serious eager
ness into Emilys face,
Are YOU positive. Paul, that you
have never seen this man before?"
II have searched my memory to place
him, He is not in 1t. Why"
He was quiet for perhaps a half
hour after you left. / went into the
room next door-the majestic write
something. Suddenly | heard him call
your name. 'Lavelle.
49,,