The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1917-10-04

AGNES was no special concern Ul mIne.
and lay down ngnln. But sleep would
not return. I tossed and turhed and
finally arising in sheer desperation.
hastily donned my clothes. The utter
cabin was deserted, dimly lighted by
one shaded electric globe. beneath
which the brass stair rails shone duly.
| emerged on the deck, gratefully
breathing in the fresh night air As I
stood there. a man descended the Ind
der from the bridge, entered the chart
house and switched on n light. In the
momentary CLEAN recognized the face
Of the second officer. and when he final.
ly came out again, l crossed the deck
so as to intercept him.
Anything going wrong, Mr.. Seeiey?"
l asked. "You have stopped the en-
glnes."
He stared Mt me through the dark.
blinded still perhaps by the glare of
the chartroom, md unable to recog.
nize my strange voice. Yet he was a
yachtsman, trained above all to cour-
tesy.
Nothing serious, SIR" he announced.
civilly enough. "The engines are new,
and not well adjusted yet; a bit of
shaft went wrong, md has to be re-
paired"
He turned away, but at that Instant
my eyes caught the flashing of O bea-
con away Off to the southeast.
"Whnt light is that out yonder, Mr..
Seeleyf We must be well beyond Ea.
tOnf'
He glanced In tAe direction indI-
Gated.
"Those white dnshes1 That is Old.
field point, sir. Are you acquainted
with these watersr
mot Intimately, although I retain
some memory Of the charts. saw
merchants service on the old Atlns
| line"
"A fine line that" he acknowledged
heartily. II made my irst voyage. as
cabin boy, on the Mohawk. You are
Mr.. Hollis, presume, sir. overheard
Mr.. Darlington tell Captain Turner you
were to be one Of the party aboard
Well, good night, sir; must make
certain the watch Is awake"
He tOnched his cap courteously. and
disappeared beneath the shadow of the
bridge, leaving me again alone, unde-
cided whether to return below, or en-
deavor to walk of my .sleeplessness
I scarcely know what Idle curiosity led
me to stroll along the narrow deck
space. around the cabin to the loung-
Ing place ut the stern. stopped sud-
denly In surprise. staring across nt the
opposite rail, questioning the evidence
of my own eyes, There, clearly out
lined In the star gllmmer, was plainly
revealed the figure of woman. Some
instinct of fear, or, perchance. a slight
sound of approach. must have appraised
her OF my near presence for she turned
instantly toward me, bending slightly
forward, her face visible in the. shad.
ow; and then. before i could either
move or speak. she fled along the port
rail, vanishing Immediately behind the
protection Of the cabin. / felt sure
that her parted lips had uttered n
quick exclamation, and her startled ef-
fort Mt escape was sufficient to urge
me to pursue. Who could she he?
| Why was she here on board the Esme-
raldn? Above all, why should she be
SO eager to escape observation?
ran forward across the deck, and
quickly explored the passage between
the cabin and rail. II was clearly WIS.,
ibie In the bright starlight. but the
swiftly fleeing figure had totally van.
| II ha afA nf th<
panion. and gazed down through the
glass doors. The light below revealed
nothing, the cabin remained quiet and
deserted. Not n shadow rewarded my
search, either on the open deck. or be-
| low. Yet surely this was nd dream.
no hallucination. no mere vision Of the
night. The woman had actually been
there; l had seen her plainly enough |:
had even heard the echo of her voice.
There was then woman on board
n woman who sought to hide from oh
servation; who yentured on deck only
when she thought 1t entirely deserted
and who fled In fright from discovery.
I even felt vague impression of her
personality-she was young. slender OF
form, dressed In some shlmmering
gray stuff, light, fluffy scarf conceal
Ing her hair.
There was nothing more to do then,
although prowled about for some
time peering into dark corners. and
turning the matter over and over In
my mind. II must have been nearly
daybreak before fell asleep again In
my own stateroom. nor did awaken
until the steward announced the las,
breakfast call. By vigorous rapping
on my door.
Darlington was seated alone at the
table when entered the cabin, linger-
| ing over his coffee. AMI he remained to