The Lakeland evening telegram. (Lakeland, Fla.) 1911-1922, 1915-07-27

mailing OF the letter 10 MI. au;uraith.
Many times during the evening she
wrought herself up to the plunging
point, only to recoil ON the very brink;
and when at length she gave up the
(, the struggle and went to bed, the
sealed letter was still under her pill
low.
Now 1t Is q well-accepted truism that
an exasperated sense of duty, like
remorse and grief. fights best In the
night watches. It was Of no avail to
protest that her intention was still
mistaken. Conscience urged that de-
lay was little less culpable than refus.
al. since every hour gave the criminal
an added chance of escape. The min
utes dragged leaden-winged, and to sit
quietly in the silence and solitude
Of the great saloon became a nerve.
racking impossibility. When it went
past endurance. she rose and stepped
out upon the promenade deck.
The Belle Julie was approach.
ing a landing. The electric search.
light eye on the hurricane deck
was just over her head, and its great
white cone seemed to hiss as it poured
its dazzling flood Of fictitious MONDAY
upon the shelving river bank and the
sleeping hamlet beyond. Out Of the
dusky underglow came the freight car
riers, giving birth to q file of grotesQue
shadow monsters as they swung up the
plank into the field Of the searchlight.
The foot plank had been drawn in.
the steam winch was Gathering, and
the landing stage had begun to come
aboard, when the two men whose duty
it was to cast Off ran out on the fitting
stage and dropped from its shore end.
One Of them fell clumsily. tried to rise,
and sank back into the shadow; but
the other scrambled up the steep bank
| and lOosened the haif.hitches in the
wet hawser. With the slackening Of
the line the steamer began to move
out into the stream, and the man at
the mooring post looked around to
| see what had become of his COM
panion.
Get move on youse!" beloved
the mate; but instead Of obeying. the
man ran back and went on his knees
beside the huddled figure in the
shadow.
Al this point the watcher on the
promenade deck began vaguely to un-
derstand that the first man was dis.
abled in some way. and that the other
was trying to lift him. While she
looked, the engine-room bells tangled
and the wheels began. to turn. TIE
mate forgot her and swore out Of full
heart.
She put her fingers in her ears to
shut out the clamor of abusive pro-
family; but the man on the bank paid
no attention to the richly emphasized
command to come aboard. Instead, he
ran swiftly to the mooring post, took
a double turn of the trailing hawser
around 1t and stood by until the strain
ing line snubbed the steamers bow tc
the shore. Then, deftly casting of
again, he darted back to the disabled
man, hoisted him bodily to the high
guard. and ciambered aboard himself
all this while McGrath was brushing
the impeding crew aside to get at him
Charlotte saw every move of the
quick-witted salvage in the doing, and
wanted to cry out in sheer enthusiasm
, when 1t was done. Then, in the ligh
from the furnace doors. she saw the
. face of the chief actor; it was the face
Of the man with the stubble beard.
She could not hear what McGratl
was saying, but she could read no
, wrath in his gestures. and in the wa,
, the men fell back out of his reach
All but one: the stubble-bearded whit.
man was facing him fearlessly, and b,
appeared to be trying to explain.
Griswold was trying to explain, but
the bullying first officer would not le
him. It was a small matter; with tn,
money gone, and the probability tina
capture and arrest were deferred onl,
, from landing to landing, little abuse
more or less, counted as nothing. Blu
he was grimly determined to keep Nc
Grath from laying violent hands upor
. the negro who had twisted his ankl,
, in jumping from tho uptilted landing
stage.
mo; this is one time when 20,
don't skin anybody alive!" he retorted
when a break in the stream of abus,
, gave him chance. you let the mai
alone. He couldn't help it. Do yol