Charlevoix county herald., 1916-05-19

ioremast peeling potatoes.
Hello, Dennis! How are the muir
plies holding out?" replied Hemen-
way cheerfully pulling himself togeth-
er. Il guess l must be growing homs
sick,' he added throwing himself Oh
the deck beside the detective.
Then after pause he said:
"Tell me what you know about
Lent, will you? ! never heard your
story"
Sure, I'll give you the whole his
tory. You see. Lent was bookkeeper
in bank and"
what bank?"
1.-THE Merchants and Drovers','
Hemenway let out low whistle.
whats wrong?" demanded Nc
Donald.
"Just a coincidence; that's all. 7
had an office in the same building"
Mcdonald started again and told all
he knew of Lent's affairs. When he
had finished Hemenway asked:
do you think he is crooked?'
"Surest thing you know!"
"Well, he's a queer chap all right;
and I'm sorry brought him along. II
you had only played on the level with
me, Dennis, all this could have been
avoided"
81 know it, and / have been kicking
myself ever since l got in this scrape
Never mind, I'll get him yet"
Hemenway went below shortly af
terward and carefully examined his
boxes Bright, new scratches in the
screw heads of one box proved beyond
a doubt that Lent had opened it. Only
one box had been tempered with,
Hemenway was sure.
Next day, after bordering the mat
ter overnight, he resolved to stow the
boxes and trunk in the forehold, for
there would be absolutely no excuse
for Lent going there. To throw off
suspicion, he got Lent to help him
move the boxes, making the plea thar
they took up too much room where
they were.
Lent helped him without saying a
word. Hemenway felt life choking
him while they were down in the fore
hold together, but he conquered his
desire and to all outward appearances
was as cheerful as ever toward his
companion.
There was no other incident wor-
thy of record in their long run south
The weather was remarkably fine all
the way. Even the squalls. which
sometimes had a dangerous appear
ance and gave the crew busy half
hours shortening sail to be on the safe
side, proved harmless as they passed.
There were days of calm and there
were days of head wind; but, on the
whole they made fine progress unde'
favoring breezes.
Hemenway and the twins, upon
whom the responsibility for the cruise
rested had not come to any definite
understanding as to where they would
land Hemenway's idea was to sail
around until they found an island
they liked and drop anchor"
This vague wish made the twins
smile. AS they approached that vast
territory known officially. as Oceanica
and in romance as the South Seas.
they got out a chart of the South Pa
cific and endeavored to settle the
question with Hemenway.
The twins had brought along sever
al books dealing with the South Seas.
but close reading of them left them
still in the dark as to destination, but
with a fine respect for shoals and
reefs. The twins were in favor of put
ting in at some island that was prop
erly charted and known to be inhabit
ed and there make some inquiries.
Hemenway opposed that plan siren
uously.
whats the use?" he said I'VE
don't know what we would run up
against. We have plenty to eat and
plenty of water. so | say peg along un
til we strike something we like"
That's just it, replied George
1--WE will probably strike something
we don't like-a reef, for instance.
You know this part of the world isn't
charted like San Francisco Bay,
Archie"
81 know" insisted Hemenway; "but
let's take a Steve Bodice
Thus they argued day by day, bu;
never could agree. Their talks always
wound up by Hemenway saying:
"Wait till we get there; then well
look il over" He seemed to think he
was taking buggy ride out to see a
piece of suburban property.
A few days later Hemenway watch
ed the twins as they made an observa-
ton at noon, and followed them as
they worked out the latitude and Ion.
gitude and marked the position of the
yacht on the chart.
According to that, we will be run
ming into something in about two days
time," Hemenway observed.
You have called the turn" replied
Jim.
Whats the proper thing to say |
when you see landr'
"Iand hoi"