Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1916-11-10

gan to come down the stairway. Gloria
twas stupeied to see how much there
was of him. His face appeared last of
all and il appalled, her. He carried a
rope in his hand
Trask did not. see Gloria at first. But
in the rocking chair and it frightened
him. He stared back. But a muffled
shrek came from the depths. PA! Pa!
It's me, She did it,
Trask understood that the witch
woman had performed another of her
feats and he was sure that he was under
the hoodoo. Then he saw Gloria stand
ing by the stove. She looked so small
and SO timid that he regained courage.
He roared at Gloria and moved toward
Nell Gloria cried: stand back"
Trask was so astonished by her ;m-
pudence that he laughed.
why, you little fluffy pullet, I'll tie
you up and drop you in the river,'
"Oh, you will?" said Gloria.
She snatched the poker from the fire.
Trask laughed at it, She hit the table
with IL and sparks flew. She rubbed
II on the wooden top OF the table and
smoke arose. There was a kissing
sound. Trask shuddered. Gloria jab-
bed at him with her red-hot sword. He
could feel the soaring pain Of It
before it reached him. When it arrived
where he was he was not there. Gloria
was a trifle conceited over her success.
And now, what next? She saw the
rope in his hand. He had brought it to
tie her with. The next idea came. She
gloated trifie.
You thought you would tie me up,
did you? Well, you can just tie your
self up!''
Tfask could hardly believe that any
he tn ind ar
such an insulting injury. But Gloria
arguments were pokes with the poker
If Trask had been more intelligent
and less confused. and had known how,
he might have tied himself up as the
cabinet tricksters dO-so that he could
slip out easily. But this was beyond
him at the time. and Gloria was vigil
liant.
y She made him fasten the rope around
a stanchfon, then knot il about one
wrist, then pass it around him till he
looked like a package of Gloria's own
tying. The last knots she attended to
herself. She set the poker on a plate
within easy reach. and knotted, and
knotted, and knotted. Trask CRASHED
his teeth with rage, but he could not
bulge. He yelled just once, then she
seized a dish towel, whirled it into a
roll and gagged him so that he could
not even gnash his teeth.
Gloria heard footsteps along the deck
overhead Probably Jed was coming
down. The poker was cold. There was
no time for relocating it. Something
must be done at once. She put out the
lamp that Nell had lighted she set at
the foot of the stairs wicker rocker,
she laid il on its side, and fell back to
await Developments.
Jed came down the stairs in the dark.
AS he left the last step he put his foot
in the wicker rocker as in a trap. Jed
went on over with a crash that shook
the barge. He was yelling that he was
being bitten to death by a wildcat, when
Gloria sidled past him, ran up the stairs
and out on deck. She closed the hatch,
fastened it and voted herself three
cheers.
She looked about her now and saw
that she was in the middle of the Hud-
son river and a great distance from
either shore. The view was magnifl-
cent In the cleaning, but she had had
enough of it and the hateful tug was
furrowing the water and dragging the
barge farther and farther north.
She saw the tiller of the barge flop
ping idly, and it occurred to her that if
she could get free from the tug she
could steer the barge to shore herself
Stas and his father and mother would
be waiting for her. Perhaps her own
father was alarmed. 1t was time for
her to go home. She would take her
prisoners back to her father and deliver
them to whatever punishment seemed
right.
She had never steered a canal barge
but she imagined that it would be about
the same as a motor boat In general
principles. Fortunately. she had been
carried so far north that the current
would act as engine power.
She was delighted with the scheme.
She went forward and saw the big haw-
ser connecting the barge with the tug
The. hawser sagged i'm the middle and
cut the water. The tug was buckled
down to it's work, churning up noisy
wake. she could see the back of the
crew OF the tug where they sat smoking
and solemn and bored to death.
They would have had a good laugh If
they had seen Gloria trying to unite the
knots in that hawser with her little
hands. she was laughing to think how
surprised they would be later when they
discovered by chance that the barge had
disappeared
When a parcel came home from shop
Gloria always tried to unite 1t, then al
ways went for the scissors. So now
when she saw that she could not quite
unknot the hawser. she looked for the
shears. She found an AK on deck and
attacked the big rope.
She hit everything but the hawser,
and when she hit that at last IL was IKE
hitting a huge rubber band. The ak
bounced out of her hands and just es-
caped falling into the river. She picked
il up and chopped at the hawser where
II was wound. Every third of fourth
blow hit the cable and severed lew
strands. And finally the rope gave
and flew. The barge quivered at It's re-
lease from the tension, and the tug SUD
denly unhitched from its load jumped
forward and sent the crew SPRAYING.
/ Gloria ran to the tNler to steer her
prize home. She was greatly disappolnt-
ed when she heard the yells from the
tus and saw that the pilot already was
making ready 10 recapture the barge az
soon as he could take in the hawser
Also she could family hear the howls
OF her cabined and confused prisoners.
IL the tug men came aboard and releas-
cd them. what would become OF GLORIA
Gloria wondered.
CHAPTER XVI
People who raise children are sure
Of a life of surprise. They would
have more than they get If they
could see everything that goes on.
Pierpont Stafford had been kept pref
~ we'll surprised of late by his
daughters actions. In his haste he had
said that she was probably ION that
canal barge in the river" He did not
A2lr w