The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1913-01-01

to westward. Trailing In our wake
was our squalid salvage. the dory of
the fisherman.
Macleod. trained to coolness, re-
tainsd his wits. systematically he
set to work. Likely and unlikely
places aboard the yacht were looked
into. Before / knew what he was
about. we were going back over the
way We had come with the search
Hight swinging In circle and a half
dozen sharp-eyed seamen scanning
every square foot Of rolling wave.
II can't understand It," I kept re-
peattng aloud, with senseless iteration.
Il can't understand it."
was standing alone, well forward,
leaning over the rail. Presently Mac
Leod laid hand on my shoulder.
We cant do anything more than
we are doing. Mr.. Clyde" he said In
his matter-of-fact way. "For my part
can't understand 1t. either; but since
Mr.. Cameron's not aboard, there's
only one conclusion, and that Is that
he's overheard. And since there was
no one interested In throwing him
there. then 1t seems very clear that
he must have Jumped"
jumped" cried, In irritation.
MY God. man! Don't tell you that
was not three feet away from him.
and only for minute or two? How
could he have jumped without my
hearing him? How could he even
have got out of his chair. without my
hearing him?"
The captain shrugged his shoulders.
There's no other explanation" he
decided, conclusively.
You mean he committed suicide ?"
Call II what you like, sir"
But there was no reason for him
to do such a thing" ] objected.
/ understand he's been pretty I'LL.
SIR"
He was Ill, yes. But he was on the
road to recovery" And then, with the
realization that / was speaking Of
Cameron in the past tense, as though
IL were already settled that should
never sec him alive again, a shiver
OF horror swept over me. I know Mao
Leod observed It. for he said:
There's been q drop in the tenn.
perature, In the last half-hour. It'll
be more comfortable In my cabin, sir.
II you don't mind coming In. and talk
Ing the thing over a bit"
Good Heavens. Macleod" ex.
claimed. turning On him with nervous
savagery, do you expect me to sit
down and talk calmly at such q mo-
mentf can't. It's all 1 can do to
stand still here. for a minute at q
time ! feel must do something. It's
torture to lave ones hands tied this
way"
Il think I know how you feel. air.
But walking the deck will do no good.
and II you could calm yourself enough
to talk II over quietly, We might get
down to something that would guide
US. 50 to speak"
Guide us?" repeated.
Yes, sir. It's not impossible, you
know, sir, that when he went over.
board he was picked up"
The light from his cabin porthole
illuminated us both, and now as he
looked at me he must have seen my
perplexity.
you said yourself, SIR" he, ex.
planned. that you thought you heard
the exhaust Of some sort o. craft not
far away"
IL was this reminder, I think, which
brought back my woolgathering wits
and steadied me to a perception of the
real importance of the captains plea.
or one thing. at least, l was assured: {:
Cameron was not a suicide. How he
could have gone over the taffrail with
out my seeing or hearing him, should
never be able to understand. But gone
he was, and II lay upon me to dis.
cover by whose assistance this mar
Veious disappearance was accom-
plished. And so II came about that,
controlling my futile unrest, was
presently seated In MacLeod's swivel
chair, while he. from a place on the
side Of his berth. fired pointed ques.
tions at me, which | either answered
as best could or returned in kind.
Now maybe It's none Of my bust.
ness. Mr.. Clyde, but in view OF 10.
nights occurrence | think it's perti.
nent to know why there was such q
thorough inspection of the Sibylla be.
fore We sailed, and such a lot of eau.
tion regarding the crew." That was
the trst OF his volley, and for q mo-
ment 1t staggered me. I recognized,
however. that this was not a time for
quibbling. and as Macleod had been
for years a staunch soldier in Gamer
on's army of employees, saw no
harm In letting him know the truth.
III tell you" / returned, frankly,
but It's not to go any further. In the
past nine weeks Mr. Cameron has
been receiving a series OF threatening
anonymous letters. The last one came
week aRO today, and IN q thia ,xaa