Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-06-02
CON TR Alb AND
A Romance of the North Atlantic
By RANDALL PARRISH

OluefS came tumbling over the rail- atter
us, each face expressive Of mystihcation.
Vera touched my sleeve, her eyes searching
mine
What can have happened?"
Il do not In the least know" ! answered.
The mystery Is too deep to guess at.
There has been no storm, no fire. no evil
dence Of desertion. every boat seems to be
in It's proper place The only thing | can
think of as possible is drink. The whole
crew may be drunk but that seems like
dream. However. we can't stand here do
ing nothing. white, you are not of much
use with that broken arm, no remain along
side Miss Darlington. Keep your eyes
open. Leayord. you and | will have a peep
INTO that cabin; the rest of you take the
forecastle. BE careful, lads but don't miss
anythng-scatter now"
I watched them go forward. their re-
luCtanCe apparent enough The supcrsti-
ton Of the sea was In their blood and
every man among them was seeing ghosts
had 1t been dark not even threat of death
would have driven them into that grim
hole, Leayord grinned, as | turned and
faced him.
They are fair scared sir he said,
they think they're aboard a spook ship"
And how about you?"
Me OH I was brought up ashore, sir
but since then I've seen so many queer
things afoat I've come to take them as all
u
bit strange, but it'll all straighten out
reckon"
You have a theory them"
We'll, maybe not that exactly" he ad-
mitted gravely. But | expect We'll find
every mothers son on board drunk there
amt no other way such thing could hap
pen"
We'll We'll know in five minutes let's
try our luck aft"
gli1 t,,1. Al
tered slightly in advance. Tho cabin floor
was on level with the main deck and its
glass front flooded the interior with light.
glance revealed everything and / stood
motioness, my breath caught in my throat,
my hand still gripping the edge of the door.
! was aware that Leayord peered i'm across
my shoulder, and heard his startled lips
utter one muffled exclamation. 1t was a
low-ceiled apartment. painted white with
ports along the sides the only staterooms
being aft, bright-hued rug covered the
floor and there were leather divans under
the ports. The table in the center was fully
set for n meal, covered with a white cloth
and glistening bravely with china and glass.
Ihere was food in abundance, partially
eaten, and wine glasses half-flIed. / saw
all these details; | recalled them after
ward yet in that first instant of horror
the impression left upon me was merely
or those silent, motioness figures sitting
upright in their chairs. God il was a
gruesome sight; They actually seemed
alive as though they must turn and speak
challenging our presepce-and yet I knew
them to be dead A great monster of a
man faced me, his white CHASTITY face ap-
pearing above n shaggy gray beard his
sghtless open eyes. staring full into mine
wine glass had fallen from his opened
fingers, and lay broken on the deck In
deed. every one had apparently died as by
stroke retaining exactly the posture last
assumed in life
To the right of the broad -shouldered giant
was thin young fellow, scarcely out Of
his teens but with a hard, repulsive face
and at his left a dark-faced man almost a
negro, grinned horribly as though death had
stricken him even as he laughed. Nothing
could be more awful to look upon than the
CLEAN Of his teeth, beneath the fantastic
curl Of his mustache There were six AL
together, five sitting upright in swivel
chairs, screwed TO the deck, or leaning for
ward with heads resting on the table The
sixth, gray-haired and partially bald, had
tallen sideways, and lay in a shapeless
heap on the rug They had the look Of sea-
men, and were roughly dressed three Of
them plainly foreigners, one with rings in
his ears The big man alone possessed the
appearance Of leadership
saw all this in that one swift glance.
Breath had not come sobbing back to me,
when Leayords hand crushed my arm, and
his voice rumbled into my ear
Good God, captain they're dead they're
dead !"
Yes" answered, choking over the
words, there is no doubt Of that. Some
thing terrible has occurred here. Call
call all the other men,"
I heard him stumble out through the
companion door, and the roar Of his voice
as he shouted to those forward / could dis
tinguish the sound of their feet on the
deck, but l could not remove my gaze from
that awful sight in the cabin, The eyes
OF that giant dead man, staring at me so
tXedy across the table, held me as in a
vise-there was something so CHASTITY so ter
rible, about their expressions as to rob me
OF all sense, all courage. The men Joined
me, Liverpool entering in advance and
pushing past where / stood. l have no rec
ollection Of seeing the Others although
felt and heard their presence. But l saw
him-marked his sudden stop, the quick
banching of his face, and the sharp oath
which burst from his lips, the swift, in
credulous look Of surprise, of recognition,
which leaped into his eyes He was star
ing straight into the CHASTITY face of the
giant opposite. l doubt II he even saw any
Of the others
"Helrs hrew he shouted. 'If il isn't
Castor de Lys! So you've got it at last
you old devil"
He leaped forward, circled the table with
a single stride, hate memory, whatever the
| impulse might be, conquering all fear, and
| gripped HIS hand hard on the dead mans
shoulder. And then he stlffened, every
\ muscle OF his body stricken; could see
death strike him, his jaw set, his eyes fixed
Ian instant he stood rigid then his whole
form seemed TO contract and he fell life
Ices 10 the deck.
CONTINUED MONDAY