The commonwealth. (Scotland Neck, N.C.) 1896-1929, 1914-11-26
fonbeoue smiled into her eyes, smiled /,


vincible one who grieves for the weak
ling that dashes against him.
Her eyes appraised toward the boat,
a mass of whitish smoke now through
which leaped playful reddish flames.
Now and then a figure would dart to-
ward the rail and lunge overheard, the
bodies striking the water in great cir
cles that lost themselves in one an
other And for second the thought
came to her that even that inferno of
ship was preferable to this man be-
side her.
"Well played. Miss Love-" the spy
murmured silkily. But I fear you
must return the
A piercing shrek made him turn
swiftly, shrek that lost itself in the
heavy crunching Of wooden oars
against wood. Came q horrid humping
that seemed more like the crunching Of
a wild beast upon bones than anything
she had ever heard. Heat, intense.
steaming, beat upon her cheeks She
looked up and only the dark hulk Of
the Empress doomed above her, only a
lurid fame illumined the heavens.
She was conscious of her heavy
clothing. sodden now with water; was
conscious OF the lack of support. Some
thing long and wooden tilted against
her. and instinctively her fingers
clutched the oar which had foated out
to her from their boat, which had been
tossed and crushed against the burn
ing liners side. Again she looked up
And within her soul flickered the spark
Of combat which youth will not allow
to die.
Consciousness lapsed slightly and
was followed by state Of dull apathy.
Some instinct held Lucille's arms upon
the oar that had foated to her when
the lifeboat smashed itself against the
side of the burning Empress.
Mountains of waves siftcd along her
path, bearing her gently to their crests
and passing her through the trough
of sea to the next wave in line. From
watching the myriad stars blazing in
the heavens she became interested In
t7ifes, never thinking Of the precious
papers she had rescued ut SO great
effort from the international spy. for
getting even the ones at Manila on
whose behalf she had taken such risks
to get them back Came long inter
val of restfulncss where everything
grew dim and indistinct. and the wa
ter in which she was being tossed
about seemed like a fostering mother
upon which. in perfect confidence, she
could rest her weary head and sleep
Little needles continually prickin.
at her flesh brought her from slumber
SO abruptly she Strengthened bolt up
right, staring about her i:lcredulously
Every nerve and sinew Of her body
! ached terribly. cranlpins her so she
could barely look about the long OK
panse of beach that seemed to stretch
interminably in every direction BE
hind her she finally managed to clear
her eyes enough to make out lux
urious vegetation. obviously tropical.
Safety meant little to her Her brain
was in such state that the providen-
tial escape seemed natural. That she
+, tie clew. She stared at the oiled belt
/ thoughtfuiiy, fighting down the instinct
! which repealed her touching the secrets
! OF another
| The bulky envelope from Washing
+. ton to her father which the butler had
stolen from the safe was still un5ro-
zen. She placed the packet to one
side, knowing that if the spy did not
care to Investigate the contents there
could be nothing in them which would
assist her. The diary she investigated
| next
|
| Thouyhteuily Lucille sat there, the
| diary in her lap. the picture of her
mother in her hands She knew the
| life Of Hugo Loubeuue now. knew tii.,
| dominating hatred Of bis life. the love
| Of his life. the gigantic efforts OF the
! man. involving na tions and humanity.
| the thousand tentacies of the man.
stretching to every quarter Of the
! globe.
But rs she looked at the faded pic
/ ture the spy had cherished through al!
! tie years tears of pity filmed her eyes.
| pity for the man who could allow love
to associate itself inserarably with
! hatred. She realized now that destiny
| itself was fighting in her behalf; that,
giant intellect though he was. Hugo
! Loubeque had more than herself to
contend with because of the unnatural
| baseness Of his motives
But it was Il fight. would he fight
| to the bitter end. She must find out
where she was, what nature of place
this might be, what chance for rescue
there was. She must get back to Ma
Mia, for the papers were no better
than rags here. She must start imme-
diately.
A long shadow suddenly reached out
before her. Motionless she stood and
stared at it. From another direction
came the cracking report of a broken
twig. In every direction. as though
the sound had been a signal, shadows
fitted. The sounds were louder now,
more frequent Then. with a rush.
Lucille saw the shadows resolve them
selves into figures OF men.
She had but time to make out their
brown color. fear binding her. She
closed her eyes fearfully, knowing she
was surrounded. A hand touched her
! forearm timidly. Something in the
touch was reassuring. She looked
about upon a solid ring Of scantily clad
natives. who stared at her in bewil-
dered amazement Again the hand