The Washington times., 1913-07-22

l
behind II kept II from swinging
more than a couple of inches.
He gave 1t a quick shove and
| stepped inside only to halt with a gasp.
At the invaders feet bathed in the
morning sunlight which poured
through two ports, lay the stark body
OF a young. blond. lithe-limbed son OF
the sea. Barely more than a boy he
! was. There was a gaping bullet wound
between his eyes. II was a wound Of
exit-where the lead which had killed
him had sped away from its work. II
cried out a story of assassination. He
had been shot from behind as he lay
in his berth with his back toward the
door. The laboring of the ship had
rolled his corpse onto the deck.
The lockers OF the room were wrench
ed open. Everywhere were signs of dis
order; the marks of hurrying maraud-
ing hands. Yet it had been the castle
of \ man of order and cleanliness.
Lavelle looked particularly for the
barks log book, which ordinarily would
have been on the desk at the foot Of
the berth. II was missing.
With the thought that life must have
been very sweet to this young fellow
and his wrath mounting against his
alleyway to the second and third mates
room. Its doors opened at his touch.
Here, strangely. the sour, unmistakable
odor of the forecastle met him. In
stantly the Searcher vizualized the
coarse type OF men who had occupied
this room-the rule-of-thumb sort who
may spend a lifetime at sea without
ever winning to rank about second
mate. Here disorder was not apparent
because disorder was natural
ha
mates. 1t was empty. A door imme-
diately opposite had been forced. II
was another stateroom filled with stores
1t was plain that quick draft had been
made upon these supplies.
Darling into the forward saloon or
cabin, only the echo of his own hall
answered him. red tablecloth lay on
the deck where II had been swept by
struggle. A white metal castor rolled
under the dining table and made a tink-
ling noise among its broken cruets
The pantry and three more staterooms
opened upon this cabin.
The staterooms reported only empti-
ness. They had not been recently occu
pied. The pantry s cleanliness and or
der might have been produced by
careful housewives hands.
The doors leading into the after cabin
were open and hooked back. Like the
forward compartment II was done in
Indian teak. bird's-eye maple and ma
hogany. 1t contained two comfortable
easy chairs. a small center table, a d.
van built into the bulkhead against the
starboard side a tiny piano stood be-
tween the forward entrances. Through
the after end a companionway led up on
to the poop.
There were two more staterooms here.
They were empty and gave no signs OF
recent occupancy. They were on the
port side. To starboard was the chart
room. A litter of books. charts and
chart-pipes covered the floor. The chro-
nometer case stood open. A glance told
Paul that II had been wound within
forty-eight hours. He bent his head
and quickly caught a tick Of even,
smooth escapement /
Hurrying aft from the chart room the
castaway came TO what he knew to be
the shippers room. The door to IL was
shut. Its middle panel was splintered.
Something made him turn the knob
with gentleness.
Just inside the door to the left a mar
in pa ajamas sat at a small writing desk.
his head cast upon his arms a. u slssn