The Madison journal. (Tallulah, Madison Parish, La.) 1888-current, 1916-03-04
CHAPTER Xxx.

Brave winds, blowing fair, swiftly |
drove the Ghost northward into the
seal herd. The hunting was perilous'
but the boats, lowered day after day.
were swallowed up in the gray Cd
security, and were seen no more I'LL
nightfall, and often not till long after'
when they would creep In like sea
wraiths, one by one, out OF the gray.
Wainwright, the hunter whom WOLF
Larsen had stolen with boat and men,
took advantage of the yelled sea ana
escaped. He disappeared one morn
ing in the encircling fog with his TWO
men. and we never saw them again,
though it was not many days when
we learned that they had passed from
schooner to schooner until they hnally
regained their own.
had read sea romances in my time,
wherein figured, as matter OF course,
the lone woman in the midst OF ship
load of men; but learned, now, that
| had never comprehended the deeper
significance of such a situation-the
thing the writer's harped upon and ex-
plotted so thoroughly. And here 1t
was. now, and was face to face with
It. That 1t should be as vital as pos
sible, it required no more than that
| the woman should be Maud Brewster,
who now charmed me in person as
she had long charmed me through her
work.
She was in striking contrast to
Wolf Larsen. Each was nothing that
the other was, everything that the
other was not. l noted them walking
the deck together one morning, and
likened them to the extreme ends OF
the human ladder Of evolution-the
one the elimination Of all savagery
the other the finished product OF the
finest civilization.
But this day, as | noted them pac
ing up and down, saw that 1t was she
who terminated the walk. 1t was In
his eyes that l saw the cause OF hel
perturbation. Ordinarily gray anc
cold and harsh. they were now warn
and soft and golden, and all adanct
with the tiny lights that dimmed anc
faded, or welled up till the full orb!
we're flooded with a glowing radiance
Perhaps it was to this that the COLDER
color was due; but golden his eye
were, enticing and masterful, at TIL
same time Turing and compelling, ant
speaking a demand and clamor Of tn
blood which no woman, much les
Maud Brewster. could misunderstood
Her own terror rushed upon me
and in that moment of fear, the mos
terrible fear a man can experience
| knew that in inexpressible ways sh
was dear to me. The knowledge tina
| loved her rushed upon me with tn
! terror. and with both emotions grill
ping at my heart and causing m
| blood at the same time to chill an
leap riotously, l felt myself draw
| by a power without me and beyon
| me, and found my eyes returnin
| against my will to gaze into the eye
i of Wolf Larsen. But he had recovere
NJ himself. The golden color and tn
NJ dancing lights were gone. Cold an
J gray and glittering they were as
Z. bowed brusquely and turned away.
Il am afraid" she whispered. wit
SILVER. 81 am so afraid"
~ I, too, was afraid, and what Of n
- discovery of how much she meant
me my mind was in turmoil; but
- succeeded in answering quite calml.
All will come right, Miss Brewste
Trust me, it will come right"
"a She answered with grateful lit
smile that sent my heart poundin
7 and started to descend the compani
q. stairs.
"a For a long while remained star
Nv ing where she had left me. The
~ was imperative need to adjust n
nv self. to consider the significance
,s. the changed aspect of things. 1t h
he come. at last, love had come, wher
We least expected it and under the me-
forbidding conditions. OF course, l
he philosophy had always recognized
ed ineyitableness of the love call soor
di. or later; but long years of book
lb- silence had made me inattentive a
Tut unprepared. And now 1t had con
L. In what could have been no less tn
de an ecstasy, l left my post at the he
-" of the companionway and star
he along the deck, murmuring to mys
those beautiful lines Of Mrs. Bro