The Detroit times., 1914-08-27
The Million s & s:,;s
Dollar Mystery

went well till he laid his hand on
Florence's shoulder. She gave a
startled cry and ran over To Barnes,
clinging to him wildly.
mo, MOI" she said.
mo what, my child?" asked the
sailor.
She shook her head. Her aversion
was inexplicable,
Come, my dear; can't you see
that II Is your father" Braine turned
TO the captain. "She has been like
this for year. Heaven knows IL
she'll ever be In her right mind
again." sadly. Il was giving her an
ocean voyage, with the kindest
nurses possible, and yet she jumped
overheard. Come Florence"
The girl wrapped her arms all the
tighter around Barnes neck.
An idea came into the old sailors
head. "Of course, sir, we got proof
tibet she's your daughter"
Proof" Braine was taken aback.
"Yes; somethin L prove tibet you're
her father. got skinned out OF
sloop once because / took a mans
| word at it's face value. Black an
white, an on paper, says hereaf-
ter"
But never thought OF such
thing" protested Braine, beginning
to lose his patience. Il can't risk
sending TO New York for documents.
She is my daughter, and you will find
1t will not pay to take this peculiar
stand"
I'm black an white. r y can't
have her"
Braine thereupon rushed forward
to seize Florence. Barnes swung
Florence behind him.
Il guess she'll stay here leetle
longer, sir
Time was vital, and this obstinacy
made Braine furious. He reached
again for Florence.
Clear out o. here, r show your
authority" growled Barnes.
"She goes with me, or you'll regret
| It."
"All right. But guess tn law
won't hurt me none. I'm In my rights.
There's the door, Mister"
Il refuse to 60 without her!"
Barnes sighed. He was on land q
| man OF peace, but there was a limit
to his patience. He seized Braine by
the shoulders and hustled him out or
the house.
Bring your proofs, Mister, an
nothin' more1l be said; but till y
bring EN-. keep away from this cot
tage."
And, simple minded sailor that he
was, he thought this settled the mat
ter
That night he kept his ears open
for unusual sounds, but he merely
wasted his nights rest. Quite natur-
ally, he reckoned that the stranger
would make his attempt at night. In
deed, he made ID In broad daylight.
with Barnes not a hundred yards
away, calking dory whose seams
had sprung leak. Braine had Flor
ence upon the chartered yacht be-
fore the old man realized what had
happened. He mover saw Florence
again; but one day, months later, he
read all about her In newspaper.
Florence fought; but she was weak,
and so the conquest was easy. Braine
was kind enough, now that he had
her safe. He talked to her, but she
merely stared at the receding coast.
All right; don't talk IL you don't
want to- Here" to one Of the men,
take her to the cabin and keep her
there. But don't you touch her. III
break you II you do. Put her In her
cabin and guard the door; at least
keep an eye on IT,"
Even the temporarily demeHted are
not without species OF cunning.
Florence had never seen Braine till
ne appeared at the Barnes cottage.
Yet she revolted at the touch OF his
hand; hated him with a violence
which would have stirred the scien-
tific interest Of an alienist. She
wanted to hurt him, torture him, beat
him down and trample on him. But
as this was physical impossibility,
she did the next most agreeable thing
TO her disordered mind. On the sec
ond day out toward New York, she
found q box OF matches and blithely
set fire to her cabin, walked out into
the corridor and thence to the deck.
When the fire was discovered II had
gained too much Roadway to be
stopped. The yacht was doomed.
They put or In the boats and for half
q day drifted helplessly.
Fate has everything mapped out
like game Of chess. You move q
pawn, and bang goes your bishop, or
your knight, or your king; or she lets
you almost win game, and then
checkmates you. But there Is one
thing TO be said In her favor--rail at
her how we will, she Is always giving
odds to the innocent
Mike Bannock was In the pilot.
house, looking over his charts, when
the lookout In the crows nest sang
out: Two boats adrift on the port
bow, sir!" And Bannock, who was
a frstclass sailor, although q rough
one, shouted down the tube to the
engine room. The freighter came to
a halt In about 10 minutes. The cast.
aways saw that they had been noted,
and pulled CALAMITY at the oars.
There are some things which SCI
ence, well advanced az II Ia, cannot
explain. Among them Is the shock
which cuts OF the past and the coun-
tershock which reawakens memory.
They may write treatise after treatise
and expound. but they never succeed
IN truly getting beyond that dark wall
At the sound OF Jim Norton's voice
and at the sight OF his fac,s--for sub
consciously she must have been
thinking OF him all the while-a great
hIindfnU haaf.wava aaar,a.l a. 49,.