The Washington herald., 1914-10-18

. ambition for David could not be 81
lenced with a raise in wages. She dic
not say this, but David knew that II
( him she still found something lack
ing. and when they said good-by they
both were III at ease and completely
umhappv.
David did not, ask her why this was
so. He did not d7re And, sooner than
learn the truth that she had decided
not to marry him, or that she was even
considering not marrying him, he asked
. no questions, but in ignorance of her
present feelings set forth on his trav-
els. Absence from Emily hurt jusi
as he had feared it would. He missed
her, needed her, longed for her. In
numerous letters he told her so. But
owing to the frequency with which he
moved, her letters never caught up
with him. II was almost a relief. He
did not care to think of what they
might tell him.
On the night of the Ist of March
! 1897, two trains were scheduled to
leave the Union Station at Jackson
vile at exactly the same minute, and
\ they left exactly on time.
Now when Dame Fortune gets on the
job she is omnipotent She placed Da-
vid on the train to Miami as the train
he wanted drew out for Tampa, and an
hour later, when the conductor looked
at David's ticket, he pulled the bell
cord and dumped David over the side
into the heart of a pine forest If he
walked back along the track for one
mile, the conductor reassured him, he
would find a flag station where at mid
night he could flag a train going north.
In an hour it would deliver him safely
in Jacksonville
There was a moon, but for the great
er part of the time it was hidden by
ftful, hurrying clouds, and, as David
stumbled forward, at one moment he
would see the rails like strealls of sill
yer, and the next would be encom-
passed in a complete and bewildering
to tie only by feeling with his foot.
Whether it was or was not the flag sta
ton the conductor had in mind, he
did not know. and he never did know.
He was too tired, too hot, and too dis
gusted to proceed, and dropping his
suit case he sat down under the open
roof of the shed prepared to wait
either for the train or daylight So
far as he could see, on every side of
him stretched swamp, silent, dismal,
interminable. From its black water
rose dead trees. naked of bark and
hung with streamers of funereal moss.
There was not a sound or sign of hu-
man habitation.
Il am alone" he told himself, "on a
railroad embankment, entirely sur
rounded by alligators."
And then he found he was not
alone.
In the darkness, Illuminated BY a
match, not a hundred yards from him
there flashed suddenly the face of a
man. Then the match went out and
the face with it. David noted that It
had appeared at some height above
the level of the swamp, at an eleva-
ton higher even than that of the en-
bankment. II was as though the man
had been sitting on the limb of a tree.
David crossed the tracks and found
that on the side of the embankment
opposite the shed there was solid
ground and what once had been a
wharf. He advanced over this eau
tiously, and as he did so the clouds dis
appeared, and in the full light of the
moon he saw a bayou broadening into
river. and made fast TO the decayed
and rotting wharf an ocean-going tug.
1t was from her deck that the man. in |
lighting his pipe, had shown his face.
AT the thought of a warm engine room
and the company of his fellow crea-
lures, David's heart leaped with pleas |
ure. He advanced quickly And then |
something in the appearance of the |
tug, something mysterious, secretive, |
threatening, caused him to halt. No
lights showed from her engine room, |
cabin, or pilothouse Her decks were
empty But, as was evidenced by the |
she was awake and awake to some pur-
pose.
David stood uncertainty, questioning
whether to make his presence known
or return to the loneliness of the shed |
The question was decided for him He
had not considered that standing in
the moonlight he was a conspicuous |
figure The planks of the wharf creak-
ed and a man came toward him. As |
one who means to attack, or who fears
attack, he approached warily. He wore
high boots, riding breeches, and SOM
brero. He was a little man, but his
were alert and active. To
David he seemed unnecessarily excited.
He thrust himself close against David.
WHO the devil are you?" demanded
the man from the tug. How'd you
get here?"
'I walked" said David.
Walked" the man snorted incredu-
Iously.
Il took the wrong train" explained
David pleasantly. They put me off
about a mile below here. l walked
back to this flag station I'm going to
wait here for the next train north"
The little man laughed mockingly. Il
"Oh, no, you're not" he said. IF
you walked here. you can just walk
away again With sweep of his
arm, he made a vigorous and peremp-
ory gesture.
"You walkl' he commanded.
'Ill do just as please about that,
aid David.
As though to bring assistance, the lit
le man started hastily toward the tug.
'T1f find some one who'll make you
yalkr'' he called. "You wait, that's
ii, you wait !" +
David decided not to wait
lie recrossed the tracks and sat down
m his suit case in a dark corner of
he shed. Himself hidden IN the shad- |
,ws he could see in the moonlight the
pproach of any other person.
They're river pirates, said David J
o himself, cor srnugglers. They're GER