The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1915-01-07


The Sixth Member Of the Boarding
Party Was Judith Urine.
signals Of other shipping sounded o
concert of discordance-the man
power horn Of a catboat crying the
warning back to the deep-throated
whistle of q coastwise steamship and
the impertinent drumming of a motor
boats exhaust with the muller cut
out.
This last boxed the compass. sound
Ing now near, now far, though the COM
plants OF other shipping diminished
In volume and died away In the dis
lance. giving place to others still. the
plutter-plutter Of that motor wa W
altogether lost; II at times II faded.
1t seemed certain always to return I'm
even louder volume.
Vainly straining his vision against,
the blank pallor Of the encompassing
fog, Alan wondered, worried. dreaded!
At irregular intervals, starting
from preoccupation, he would manipu-
late the brass pull on the wheel-box.
provoking the horns suffering blasts
Of protest. But the need for unremitr
ting vigilance and exercise of the fog
signal failed none the less tc reconcile
Alan to that blatant clamor which 20
widely and 80 hideously advertised
their whereabouts.
| If there were anything still TO be
feared from Judith and her crew-if,
for instance, as Barcus had suggested,
they had sought out n OF the life
saving stations on Nauset beach, ap-
propriated its powerdriven hfeboat
and renewed the pursuit. II aver they
heard that horn there would beyond
question be the devil to pay!
The loneliness of his vigil was ven
tually relieved by the appearance on
deck Of the m Alan loved.
The tableau that greeted her vision u
she emerged from the companionway.
of the haggard. unshaven wretch 1t
the wheel and the other who lay at his
feet, where he had fallen, In a stupor
Of fatigue, instantly wrung from Rose
a little cry OF solicitude. And she was
quick to do what little she could to
alleviate their discomfort. For Barcus
she fetched a pillow and blanket from
the cabin, and this one suffered her
ministrations without once rousing
from his slumbers. Then Fastening
forward, she got the galley fire going
and prepared a makeshift breakfast
for her half-famished lover.
Warm food and hot coffee-such as
they were-lending a little tone to
Alan's spirits, he was presently able
to discuss their situation with some
optimism. Yet nothing could gloss
the fact that the problem confronting
them was one whose solution baffled
their utmost ingenuity-one the simple
contemplation Of which taxed their
courage and intelligence to the ex-
treme.
He summed up: g" can't see any
thing for It but father and Judith are
determined to have my scalp, and I'm
hanged II l a see how to protect my
self without taking a leaf out Of their
books. What I'm most afraid Of Ia
that some time / may forget It's q
woman I'm defending myself against.
When a fellows fighting for his very
life he can't always stop to calculate
the weight Of his blows"
The young man sighed, shook his
head, laughed uncertainty, and held
her closer to him. Don't fear; I'll
find some way out without injnring
either OF them. l promise you .hat!"
He sealed the pledge upon her lips.
And in that moment of their obliv-
ion to the world from some point for
ward a mufled crash sounded stimuli
t~aneously with the dull shock Of .
collision with q smaller vessel, and q
strange voice cried out with an &C
cent of high e%xultation.
Before either Alan or the girl could
disengage the decks rang loud with q
rush Of booted feet pounding aft.
The figures of the boarding party
were already taking shape through the
fog as Alan sprang toward the com.
~panionway to fetch the rife. And in
this action his feet slipped on planks
greasy with moisture deposited by the
surcharged atmosphere. He went down
~ oSuAhoAib6 thuhlpp anu Oil ~
slant later two men fell bodily upon
h~im-active, strong fellows in the
dress of fishermen. He was suffered
to rise only as a prisoner, helpless in
the grasp Of two pairs Of powerful
hands.
He saw Barcus, rudely reused and
still dumb with sleepy confusion. In
no better case-jerked to his feet and
held captive by two moro fishermen.
A NTH had taken charge Of Rose.
clamping her wrists in the wise Of
one big hand.
The sixth and sole other member or
Iths boarding party, likswise In the
rough-and-ready garb Of fisherman,
Wa Judith Urine.
Down he sida-a heavx lits'bos1