The Yale expositor., 1917-02-15


said. 81 believe in you absolutely.
l know that you will find the treas
ure, and that you will bring 1t back
to me. And that you will come home
with all the untold millions of the old
buccaneer and-and marry me-" she
added softly, with downcast eyes.
"How about Sebastian Navarro" he
asked
He is nothing to me-" answered
Leontine.
"Au revoir, Leontine, then," he said,
"till come back to marry YOU"
81 shall always watch till the day
when your ship comes sailing in," said
the girl. 81 shall watch for you and
hold you in my heart always"
"Fire!"
Jerry heard the words through his
dreams and thought they were part of
them.
the running Of feet upon the decks
then he was out Of his berth and
pulling on his clothes.
He dashed out of the little cabin. TO
meet wall of smoke that coiled
about him, the thick, acrid smoke of
burning ship, composed of particles
of all the chemicals that have i'm
| pregnated the timbers during the
course OF years of many cargoes.
He staggered back, but now the lit
tie cabin itself was filled with the
fumes. He grabbed a blanket from
wound it about his head. Thus pro-
tected, he dashed again into the smoke
clouds.
He tore the blanket from his face
and drew in a gulp of air. Then he
saw that already the entire after part
Of the vessel was wreathed in flames.
There was no hope OF saving her.
In the far distance rose the rugged
slopes of upper Patagonia, an inhos-
I pitable shore, abandoned to the ele-
ments and wandering savages who
/ inhabited it. Toward this he saw a
boat making its way through a tur-
bulent and rising sea.
He realized then that he was alone.
The cowardly Levantine crew, which
had replaced the New England sea-
men of former days, had hastily let
down the boats and fed in them.
A little boat still hung from the
davits.
Hand over hand he swung down
the davit ropes. He gained the rock
! ing boat and, with his clasp-knlfe, cut
the ropes that held it.
Suddenly, with a roaring detona-
ton. the burning ship seemed to split
into halves. There was a last flicker
of red and gold on the surface of the
water; then nothing but the level top
of the sea, split by the undulating
waves.
Jerry pulled with all his might.
Late In the afternoon, with his last
ounce OF strength, he drove his boat
ashore upon a rocky beach, pulled out
the cask, and, flinging himself down
above the tide level, slept.
At the same hour Leontine, seated
upon the cliff, was looking seward
and breathing out a prayer for his
safe return.
She breathed a prayer that filed
her soul with yearning for her absent
lover. Jerry had been gone five
! months, and her position in Porto
Delgado had become increasingly diff
ficult.
SO long as her fathers business af-
/ Col oh
the young planter, about whom Jerry
had questioned her, had hardly trou-
| bled her life.
Two unlucky shipments, which had
gone to the bottom uninsured, had
almost ruined the once wealthy ex-
port merchant. Day by day John Wal
colt looked into the eyes Of future
increasingly grim. Day by day the
thoughts of maturing notes perplexed
him. For long time he had been liv-
ing on a gamble. He had extended
his operation with borrowed capital,
never doubling their success. Now he
saw himself encircled by the creditors
who, already surmising his distress,
looked obviously at him as he walked
down the sunlit street between his
house and his Office.
John Walcott had weathered many
storm as young man. But the fu-
! ture of Leontine was an increasing
concern to him. He had never liked
Jerry, he did not believe that a pro-
fessional mans income could be a
stable one; again, he was practically
denationalized, and liked the people
Of the Argentine and their ways.
Above them all he liked Sebastian
Navarro.
Sebastian lived with his brother
Diego on a huge ranch ten miles away
in the pampas. 1t covered possibly
as large territory as Wales. 1t was
one of the largest in the country, a
hacienda of the old time, where the
vaqueros wore silver spurs and herded
cattle by the hundred thousand.
He knew, too, that as Sebastian's
| e., l.. L.. n. 20,