The Spectator., 1916-04-28
"I refuse to go without her,"

tO HIS patience. lie SelZeu bralne Dy the shoulders and hustled him out of the house.
 Bring your proofs, mister, an nothin more'll be said; but till y bring 'em, keep away from this cot. tage."
 And, simple-minded sailor that he was, he thought this settled the mat ter.
 That night he kept his ears open for unusual sounds, but he merely wasted his nights rest. Quite naturally, he reckoned that the stranger would make his attempt at night Indeed, he made it in broad daylight, with Barnes not a hundred yards away. calking a dury whose seams had sprung aleak. Braine had Florence upon the chartered yacht before the old man realized what had happened. He never saw Florence again; but one day, months later, he read all about her in newspaper.
 Florence fought; but she was weak, and so the conquest was easy. Braine was kind enough, now that he had her safe. He talked to her, but she merely stared at the receding coast.
 All right don't talk if you don't want to. Here" to one of the men, take her to the cabin and keep her there. But don't you touch her. I'll break you if you do. Put her in the ra rd hn of oct keep an eye on it. She may take - into her head to jump overboarc
 Even the temporarily demented 1o not without species of cunning. Florence had never seen Braine till he appeared at the Barnes cottage. Yet she revolted at the touch of his hand. On the second day out toward New York she found box of matches and blithely set fire to her cabin, walked out into the corridor and thence to the deck. When the fire was discov- cred it had gained too much headway to be stopped. The yacht was doomed. They put off in the boats and for half day drifted helplessly.
 
 a game of chess. You move a pawn, and bang goes your bishop, or your knight, or your king; or she lets you almost win a game, and then check mates you. But there is one thing to be said in her favor-rail at her how we will, she is always giving odds to the innocent
 
 Mike Bannock was in the pilothouse, looking over his charts, when the look boats adrift off the port bow. sir." And Bannock, who was first-class sailor. although a rough one, shouted down the tube to the engine room. The freighter came to a halt in about ten minutes. The castaways saw that they had been noted, and pulled gallantly at the oars.
 There are some things which scl- ence, well advanced as 1t is, cannot explain. Among them is the shock which cuts off the past and the coun- tershock which reawakens memory. They may write treatise after treatise and eXpound. but they never succeed in truly getting beyond that dark wall of mystery
 At the sound of Jim Norton's voice and at the sight of his face-for sub consciously she must have been think ing of him all the while-a great blind ing heat-wave seemed to burn across her eyes, and when the effect passed glance at her surroundings convinced her that both she and her lover were in danger.
 Keep back" whispered Jim Don't recognize me"
 They believe that I've lost my mind. and I'll keep that idea in their heads. Sometime tonight I'll find a chance to talk to you"
 It took a good deal of cautious ma neuvering to bring about the meeting
 They shanghied me And thought you dead, It was all wrong It was trick of that Perigoff woman. and it succeeded Girl, girl, love you better than life."
 T know it now she said, and she kissed him. Has my father appeared yet?"
 No"
 Do you know anything at all about him?" sadly.
 Il thought I did. It's all a tumble to me But beware of the man who brought you here He is the head of all our troubles; and if he knew l was on board he'd kill me out of hand He'd have to-"
 Braine offered Bannock $l ,000 to turn back as far as Boston; and as Hammock had all the time in the world, carrying no perishable goods, he con- sented But he never could quite un. derstand what followed He had put Florence and Braine in the boat and landed them: but when he went down to see if Braine had left anything be- hind. he found that individual bound and gagged in his bunk.
 CHAPTER N.