The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-12-29


one of New York city's former police
chiefs:
Now wouldn't that blow your hat in
the rirer!"
He then took over the personal su-
pervision of the eleaning-up process.
to such good purpose that by nightfan
the yacht was as spick and span as a
battleship.
1t was perhaps close to ten o'clock
or four bells Of the first watch
when Tom, arrayed to his satisfaction,
heard the officer of the watch respond
to the launch's hail. He hurried on
deck and stationed himself at the
head OF the commodation-steps, men
tally deploring the absence of lights.
A stir came up from the river, but
the launch was invisible. In a mo-
ment a mans head and shoulders
doomed dimly in the gangway. He
stepped upon the deck and, leaning to-
ward Tom, peered into his face in a
vain attempt to make out his features.
To Tom, the mans face was quite in
istinguishable a denser blot
against the blackness.
'Is this the captain?" inquired a
voice strangely familiar.
Tom started with surprise. Where
had he heard that voice before? He
could not recoHect on the spur of the
moment, but for some inexplicable rea-
son 1t seemed so necessary that he
should, and he tried so hard to do so,
that the man was obliged to repeat his
question.
Il beg your pardon" Tom STAN
mered. Il am Captain Phinney."
1t was only natural that he should
expect to hear his Questioner's name
in return, or to be handed the note of
introduction mentioned by Brownlow !;
but the man walked away without an
other word.
The others were following one an
were ranged along the deck, wholly
invisible in the shadow of the super.
structure
All at once the now very alert skip.
per directed his attention to murmur
of feminine voices in the launch. The
ladies, manifestly, were finding con
siderable amusement in pretending q
hazardous embarkation, for their
| transfer from the smaller craft to the
steps was accompanied by little terri
fed shrieks and much subdued laugh
ter. In moment one came quickly
and agilely up to the deck, halted and
| turned around. Her outline presented
only the vaguest sort of blur.
Welcome to the Kohinur!" she
called back gayly to whoever remained
below.
And if Tom had started at sound OF
the mans voice, what words are ade
quate to describe his sensations now
None, it is to be regretted. Keeling
backward until he stayed himself by
mechanical clutch at the rail, he
chung there, electrified with amaze
ment-stupid with incredulity. If the
sun had suddenly burst into view over
head he could have been no more com
! pletely overcome.
/ Next instant, however, conviction
was hammered home Two other laugh
ing figures had joined the first, the
, three blending in one faint outline
when he again heard the voice.
Dear mel" it complained. "Hov
dark it is! Aren't we to have an.
lights?"
Then, in the mulatto stewardess
mellow accents:
! This way, please, follow me. II
show you the way to the saloon
And by the time Tom had collected
his scattered wits sufficiently to ours,
his awkward hardness and ineptness
he was alone.
Incredible as every law of probabil
ity might try to make it appear, never
theless there was no gainsaying tn,
fact that the fresh, sweet girlish voic'
which had just fallen upon his hearin,
was the same that, only few night
previously at Rocky Cove, had set hi
pulses to leaping and his imaginatio,
to reveling in an ideal, ridiculous, rose
colored dream of the future.
| Continued Tomorrow