The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-09-08

There is no water" he said gently. "In their hurry they put an empty keg in the boat. It is the test of fate, my dear. Try not to think of it-try''-
 He did not finish for the pity within him at her brave struggle not to show her fear, her pain. Her lips trembled as she tried bravely to smile, then, with determined effort, she sat up right Her head ached maddeDingly and the sun seemed to fairly sizzle down upon her.
 ''Last night when discovered thR keg was empty Loubeque said reas- suringly, q started working out our reckoning. We are well within the fishing zone of the coast There is al- ways a chance of being picked up. Don't fear, Lucille"
 She smiled bravely, the effort only making her realize that the heat was paralyzing her facial muscles. After that she sat quite still, enduring h Gi- 1ence the maddening heat, the worse thirst At times she thought she would be unable to stand it longer, that she must reach into this endless expanse of ocean and drink-drink; that she must plunge over the boats side and allow the salt water to be absorbed by her body.
 Night came and the Gtara, but night and stars from which all kindIiness had fed She knew it would be impOs- sibIe to endure tho strain longer. Lou beQue's silent figure was motdo1less. In one long. gliding motion she half rose, then dropped swiftly from the boat, the water encirchng her, cooling her, Tapping at her ears in soothing re- frain that IuTled her senses to a glori- .u10 r4C{A in a flash of sanity came the horEthed face of the man who was dragging her back into the boat. Darkness, blank, netrable-s1umbers goblin haunted sun and desert with nirages of water that reeeded before her lips
 
 In her deliriam Hugo Loubedus wak constantly Ininistering unto her slight est want, soothing her with tender words, a veritable Goliath in fighting back the hordes of imps that would have tormented her. Always was he by her side always until the mantle of blackness completely reached out and swathed her, soothing her to UUfHou- bled slumber, slumber disturbed but once and that when LoVbeque st1sod before her looking down at her with q light of mingled happiness and tFi-
  dimIy back to her the memory of cer- tain things yet to be accomplished, but which she had not the strength to eomr pleteIy recall, look so tranRitory that when she fought her eyes wide open he was gone, and she was conscious of be ing in a strange place, a black figure rising from the corner, then slumber once again.
 Instinct forced her finally from the Iethargie sIumber, the instinct common to all higher forms of animals of pro- tecting ones treasure. Her hands groped at her neck, where a slight tug had wakened her. Something brushed across her hand when she forced her eyes open, the figure she remembered to have seen in the corner was still squatting there, a figure that might have been inanimate save for the burn ing eyes fastened upon her. Nervously she fumbled at her neck, the feel of the ruby necklace meeting her fingers and puzzling her for moment before it started chaotic chain of recOllec- lions that finally marshaled themselves in semblance of order.
 Out of the delirium of fever she fought remembrance of all that had happened since Hugo Loubeque drag ged her back in the boat, recalled ytv- idly from the subconscious brain that had attained ascendancy during that narrowing period, his tender nursing of her, his denial, his stern self mas tery when the, blazing sun, the thirst, the hopelessness would otherwise have compelled him to give up the fight; and then the fishing boat. the blessed relief of water, the breaking of the fever and consequent repairing of burned out nerve tissues, the arrival in this house and the spy's leave taking.
 A cat and mouse game she played for two days with the silent Chinese woman nursing her The woman had discovered the neckIaces and Lucille knew she was constantly after it.
 Short periods of time there were when the nurse would sleep lustily and then Lucille walked warilY up ana down the floor, gradually regainias perfect power of loconaotion. That necklace meant everything Co her iD this strange country. It meant the ability to travel, to do anything shs pleased in her fight to regain the pre- cious papers that meant honor and 1ib- erty to her falsely accused sweetheart.
 And with the return of strength came a terrible uneasiness, a great fear. Hugo Loubeque, tender though his care of her had been, had left immedi. ately she was out of danger, and she knew his motive was to seek the pa, aers that Captain WethereIl had stolen.
 It was dawn of the third day that the nurse slipped from the room, slip ped out with stealthineSs that some. how sent chill through the girl and made her sit bolt upright in the bed. then, as the door closed, spring toward the chair beside the door. The soft batter of slippered feet upon the foo1 without made her stiffen with resolu, tien as she hid herself so that the opened door would secure her fron sight. Then the door opened an incl at a tirna, silently, cautiously, whil the woman slipped inside the room looked at the blanket upon the cou9