The Kenna record. (Kenna, Roosevelt County, N.M.) 190?-1924, 1913-01-03

past nine weeks Mr.. Cameron has
been receiving a series Of threatening
anonymous letters. The last one came
a week ago today; and In II this was
named as the date for the climax"
Climax" he repeated. questioning
ly.
yes. Today. the letter stated. Mr..
Cameron would disappear"
The calm, phlegmatic young captain
did not start. He simply narrowed his
eyes in thought.
That's odd," he said, gravely,
damned odd" And then, after a sec
ond's consideration, he asked: WAS
that-but Of course It was-why he
took this cruiser"
mo-" told him. That was not his
reason; though 1t was NINE"
did not mean to be enigmatic, but
| suppose | was, for Macleod showed
plainly enough that he failed to I'M
derstand.
you see," l went on, in calculation,
"Mr. Cameron did not know about this
last threat. He was Ill when the let
ter came, and we kept 1t from him ="
1t was evident to me that the cap
tain dlsapproved. but he held his
peace.
What were the previous threats?"
he asked, presently.
Nothing DEFINITE" answered.
simply that on certain fixed days the
writer's would demonstrate their
power"
And did they?"
Most marvelouslyH
Again Macleod was silent for a
space
Under the circumstances, Mr..
Clyde, don't you think 1t would have
been better If you'd told me about
this?"
"Mr. Cameron was very anxious
that no one should know"
The captain comprised his right
knee with his locked hands.
All the same" he said, he'd never
have been spirited off this yacht II I'd
a known what was in the wind"
This statement annoyed me, and |
resented II.
What could you have done"
asked. 81 was with him almost con-
tinuously."
There came a strange, haif-medita-
tive, half-bold look in the mans eyes,
and | was wondering what 1t portend-
ed, when. quite ignoring my question.
he began speaking:
"You see there oughtn't to be any
misunderstanding between you and
me. sir. This Is too serious a bust
ness to be bungled because / am only
captain of this yacht and you are the
owners friend. So, II l speak plainly,
sir, you'll understand why, and not
think me disrespectful
smiled to reassure him, still puz.
zled, and added:
60 straight ahead. captain. You
are perfectly right"
WELL" he began, "I'll tell you, Mr..
Clyde. Your story, as you told 1t to
me, has some weak points In 1t. You
say, for instance, that you were with
Mr.. Cameron almost continuously.
Now I'm not mentioning the little
while you were in here, early in the
evening, but during ne last quarter
Of an hour before you gave the alarm,
you weren't with him, either"
| stared at the speaker for an In
slant in absolute dumb amaze.
81 don't know why you say that"
said, at length, more hurt than an
gered. Il told you that from the mo-
ment l last spoke to him, seated be-
side him there on the after-deck, un'
til l turned from the rail and found
him gone, not more than two min
utes elapsed. And that was Gods
TRUTH
You said you were listening for
what you thought sounded like a mo
tor boat, didn't your"
81 did"
And you were leaning over the tan
rail. looking for 1t. weren't your"
II was"
But you didn't see it?"
mo. didn't see it; and I couldn't
hear 1t after the first few seconds"
The captain had fixed a gaze on me
that seemed aimed to penetrate to my
souls fiber. After my answer he was
silent a moment. Then he said:
Where we're you, Mr.. Clyde. when
that boat-motor, tug, or whatever
she was-crossed within ten feet Of
the dory we are towing?"
Had he struck me in the face
could not have been more dumfound
ed.
what do you mean?" were the only
words that came to me.
81 mean that the craft you have