Charlevoix county herald., 1915-02-20
CHAPTER XII.
The HOmeward Road.

the fdnRe-nnulnR ueNlCe. ne TORE IL
from its fastenings and plunged it
into its box, snapped the paddock,
and came back to Shiela's side.
Very tenderly he lifted the mas
sive head from her lap and laid it
down, turned, and assisted her to her
feet. "Do you know" he said, 81 be-
lieve Karlof died happy. He was
strange and wonderful man."
'He died to save me-" choked
Shiela.
ITO save you and the whole
white race" replied Gafford. He
picked up the padlocked box and put
out his other hand. "Come; we must
CO." he told her. "Come. Shiela.'
They found the motor where they
had left it. Gafford helped Shiela
aboard and started the car. They
sped away. From the red valley
where the menace of a world had
been turned against those who had
planned it, they fed through now
quiet night.
And they said no word for long
miles. Each was too full of the grip
of the things that had been. Bent
over his motor, with Shiela brooding
behind him, it seemed to Gafford
that suddenly he was very old and
very tired, and that he had been
hunting the woman he had won
through long ages of time instead of
days.
That she was there, safe, and on
the way to a greater safety, was all
sufficient without words to put it into
form. What thoughts were in the
brain of the girl only she herself
could know.
Up and up, around bends, and
through gullies, over spidery trestles
where waters babbled far below, on
and up where the fr-trees clustered
and whispered the world-old songs
of the night, the little motor went.
After a time they passed the summit
and began to drop down.
"All right. Shiela ?" called CAT
ford
She answered: "All right"
Down and down, the click of the
wheels and the sigh of the air, as
they passed, the only sound. After
a long time there grew a Tightening
of the east. By then they had come
to a place where the track ran be-
tween fields of bamboo and beside
|
ford eyed the radiance which grew
in the sky.
Presently he brought the car to a
stop. A "trip of open water lay on
either side of the track. Beyond it
rose the tall walls of the rushes,
waving slightly in the morning air.
Waterlilies slumbered on their pads,
their white and lavender and pink,
. &c uyh
were staining the east. A wild duck
rose and fled off on a whirring wing
as the motor stopped. From some
where ahead came the hoarse cry of
a fsherman's cormorant. Just ahead
of them, tied to the right-of-way OF
the railroad was a little, double
ended boat, such as the fishermen
use.
"Isn't it beautiful" said Sheila
as Gafford began to dismount from
his seat. Gould you imagine any
thing last night in the midst OF such
| peace 2"
Gafford surveyed the scene from
place beside the car. Its beautiful,
all right" he admitted; "but I've got
to mar the idyl by stealing that boat.
Let me help you down"
mot necessary" she returned.
smiling, and sprang from her seat
to the ground. What do you want
with the boat, Lieutenant Ned 2"
eve go a sailing" said Gatford.
1--WE can't go into Kobe in daylight.
No doubt they heard the explosion
and will investigate. They'd pick us
up too quick A train is apt to come
along any moment now. Well have
to hide out today and make it by
night"
81 see nodded Shiela. What
will you do with the motor ?"
Drown it," declared Gafford as
/ he ran around in front and stopped
to lift the trucks off the rails. He
/ came back and lifted out the pad
/ locked box, then turned up the pow
or and stood while the car shot for
ward, left the right-of-way with a
leaping splash, and sank from sight.
at seems a pity" said Shiela. at
was a good little car"
Gafford smiled, turned, and led the
way TO the boat, and helped her
aboard. showed off, and leaped in
himself and began to row.
They shot away from the railway
| embankment toward narrow chan
mel in the rushes, entered it, and
were wrapped again in twilight. The
/ thick, round stems of the great
AQUATIC life forms still held back the
/ light of morning. The waters of the
marsh glinted and twinkled family
as they pushed on along the green
banked canal.
Gafford padded as though hand
ling a canoe. There was no room for
the sweep of oars. The great stems
pressed close upon them, rising ten
and twelve feet in the air, as they
wormed a way toward the heart of
the swamp. Now and then a wild
fowl, disturbed in its solitude by the
appearance of the boat, whirred up
ward. The water rippled softly
about the boat. Save for such sounds
they moved in silence, with the rush
es whispering above their heads.