River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1914-09-03

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 a state that the providen-
tial escape seemed natural. That she
was alone upon an island In the Pa
cific seemed simple enough. Nothing
mattered. Again she closed her eyes
and gave herself over to slumber.
which lasted until nightfan.
Securely hidden by the thick vegeta-
ton, she settled down. taking a firm
grip on herself and trying to reassem-
BILE the things that had happened to
her IN such fashion that she might
know what was best TO be Zone. And
always primarily did her thoughts re-
vert to the papers concealed in the
bosom Of her dress. the papers and the
man who sought them
The papers. Undoubtedly there was
something In them which would afford
the clew. She stared at the oiled belt
thoughtfully, 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which repealed her touching the secrets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 unbro
ken. 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
Thoughtfully Lucille sat there, the
diary In her lap. the picture of her
mother in her hands She knew the
life Of Hugo Loubeque now, knew the
dominating hatred of bis life, the love
Of his life, the gigantic efforts Of the
man, involving nations and humanity,
the thousand tentacles Of the man,
stretching to every quarter Of the
globe,
But as she looked at the faded pic
ture the spy had cherished through all
the years tears of pity filmed her eyes,
pity for the man who could allow love
to associate itself inseparabIy 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 a fight, would be 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
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 broken
twig. In every direction. as though
the sound had been a signal, shadows
fitted The sounds were louder now,
more frequent Thea with rusA,
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 solid ring of scantily clad
natives, who stared at her in Devil
dered amazement Again the hand
touched her arm.
The native stood beside her, evident
ly much bOlder than his fellows. Lucille
could scarcely repress a smile as she
caught the incredulity on the mans
face as he looked at his hand, evil
IDENTIFY expecting the white Of her flesh
to rub off. They had never before
seen a white woman. And the girl
was thinking how she might use this
thing which must appear a miracle to
them.
Lucille stayed close to the chief; the
one who had touched her arm.
An old man he was from the heavy
wrinkles that crisscrossed his face,
but his torso was magnifcently muscu-
lar, his carriage that Of man to
whom obedience always comes. There
was something very splendid about
his steady black eyeS-narrowed a bit
as though to hint Of Monaghan origin
about the thin nostrilled nose, the full
lips.