New Ulm review. (New Ulm, Brown County, Minn.) 1892-1961, 1914-09-23
Gordon Crai0
SOLDIER
OF
FORTUNE
By RANDALL PARRISH
Copyright. 1912. by a. G. McClurg 4

AAuAShl NC uclS duu pOSSeu SlleuCly 1fOlu
door to door, vaguely hoping for some
Sign of guidance They We're all tight
" closed, and l dare not try the locks,
as was certain one, at least. of the
under officers would be sleeping below.
My round had brought me to the Sec
ond door on the port side when in the
dim light l perceived something lying
at my feet and stopped down to better
!! determine its character. 1t was the
end of a very narrow light blue rib
bon, apparently caught beneath the
door. The door was numbered 49,
Whether by accident or design, she
had left the one clew l most needed.
~ thrust it into my pocket. but the soft
$5touch OF the silk seemed to bring back
to me sense of caution l knew the
q door was locked and assured myself
There was no space beneath. II l was
TO communicate with her other means
must be employed. What? This was
the second stateroom on the port side
Judging from my own, the width of
Zach room would be about six feet
There ought to be no difficulty in locat-
ing her portfolio from the deck above
aor in attracting her attention.
The one thing desired now was to
re-establish myself fully in her conf
dence, assure her was at liberty on
board. able and willing to be of serv-
.ice. This necessity overshadowed ev-
Y erything else. If could discover
81 means of communication we could
8 plan hopefully. assured of cooperation.
This seemed possible. the way to it's
;" accomplishment open. Swallowed from
observation by the thick butt of the
after mast. wrote a few lines hastily
on the back of an envelope, thrust it
into my pocket and ventured up the
companion stairs
: glance suthced to convince that
was alone and unobserved The deck
! was unrestricted aft. except for a
small boat swung to davits astern and
the cabin transolns. These last were
elevated some three feet, but consider
able space separated from the rail. I
slipped into this opening on the port
side. crouching in the dense shadow
until again assured l was alone. NV
position afforded as good view for
ward as the darkness would permit
and likewise enabled me to see into
the dimly lit cabin below. l was not
watched or Spied upon. For the first
time began to feel free.
With glance below at the unoccu-
pied cabin l stepped back and paced
off the distance until convinced that I
had safely located where the portfolio
of No. should be. l leaned over.
seeking to trace it's outline by some
reflection of light from within. but the
recedlng side Of the vessel baffled me.
Yet assured that | must be correct in
my measurements. I marked the spot
on the rail and began search for some
means by which l could open COM
! munication with the girl below.
The flag locker was astern, and
standing Gu it could feel inside the
boat swung to the davits. 1t was a
small. light boat. fashioned like a cut
ter, good seagoing craft for it's size.
Two oars and 4 short mast. together
with roll of canvas. were slowed on
top of the thwarts and secured by
lashings. | cut one of these and drew
forth about three fathoms of line. suf
hclently pliable for my purpose The
boat hung ready for launching, the
! falls easily unlocked. and two pair of
a hands would be sufficient to lower il
INTO the water. There was locker
Forward l was unable to reach but
tWo water kegs. filed, were strapped
under the stern sheets. leading me to
Y believe the craft was fully equipped
( for immediate service My mind filed
with daring hope by this discovery.
l fastened the note to the end Of the
cora. weighted it with bunch of KEYS
and crept back to where had marked
the rail. Inch by inch l paid out the
line. leaning we'll over. At last nv
ears detected the dangling of the metal
lie keys against the glass. and by
manipulating the rope, managed to
make them sound with clear insistence
l repeated the effort several times be-
fore there was any response. Then the
port seemed to be opened cautiously,
although no CLEAN OF light shot forth
She had evidently eXtinguished her
lamp before venturing to answer the
signal, but felt her grasp on the cord
Then it was left dangling against the
SAOSCu put, lCdN LuC " lulet CudC
she was reading the hasty note.
My line was again hauled taut. but
as l Strengthened up, prepared to haul
up the returning message, l saw the
shadow Of man passing across the
cabin below. He was already at the
foot of the companion stairs; in an
other minute he would be on deck
There was no time to do otherwise.
and released my grasp of the rope.
letting it drop. silently into the water.
had barely turned my back to the
rail when Henley emerged within six
feet of me.
who is this? Oh, you, Craig?" he
questioned sharply. Not asleep yet?''
mot even drowsy,'' said, pretend
ing an ease was far from feeling.
You think favorably Of my plan. l
hope
Il see no reason to refuse. if the
pay is all right