The daily Alaskan., 1919-04-26

plained what had occurred at your trial, naturally you became to me something entirely different from the others. Were you actually with Mon mouth?"
 Tn sympathy, yes; but I had no hand in the actual fighting. was not even ashore until 1t was all over with. Still l shall pay my share of the Dill"
 And you know what that means, do you not? What will happen when We reach VirginiaT
 Perfectly; have no Illusions. I have seen just such ships as this come in. We are to be advertised, and sold to the highest bidder. A week from now shall probably be out in the tobacco fields, under the whip of an overseer, who will call me Jeff. All l can hope for Is a kind-hearted master, and an early opportunity to escape"
 "Oh, now and in her eagerness her hands actually clasped mine. Tt Is not going to be quite so bad as that. That is what I wanted to tell you. That Is what gave me boldness to come across here to you tonight. It has all been arranged. You are not going to be sold on the block with those others. Uncle Roger has already contracted with the captain for your services. You are going north with us +o NTor,-Iop1
 I drew q deep breath, and in the sudden impulse Or relief which swept over me my own fingers closed tightly about her hands.
 "I owe this to you; am sure l must owe this to you-tell me?"
 Her eyes dropped, and in the dim light I could mark the heaving of her bosom as she caught her breath.
 "Only-Only the suggestion" she managed 10 say in whisper. "He- he was glad of that. You see Fl knew he needed someone to taSe charge of his slOOp. and-and so 1 brought you to his mind. So please don't thank me"
 q shall never cease to thank you" I returned warmly, conscious suddenly that I was holding her hands, and as instantly releasing them. "It will save me the degradation which I dreaded most of all-the toiling in the fields beside negro slaves, and the sting of the lash. Ay, it means even more"
 heSitated, instantly realizing that I must not utter those lmpetuous words leaping to my lips.
 More" she exclaimed. "What more?"
 "This," I went on, my thought shift ing into a new channel. "A longer ser vitude. Up to this moment my one dream has been to escape but must give that up now. You have placed me under obligations to serve. Be tween us this hus become a debt of honor"
 But wait" she said earnestly, "for l had even thought of that. l was sure you would feel that way-any gentleman would. Still there is way out, You were sentenced as an in dentured servant. saw the entry n.y. self. It read. 'Geoffry Carlyle, Master Mariner indentured to the Colonies for the term of twenty years, unless sooner released; crime, high treason Any indentured man, under our Mary land laws, can buy his freedom, after serving a certain proportion of his sentence Did you not know thatT
 I did know 1t, yet somehow had never connected the fact before d. rectly with my own case. God! what a relief; I stood up straight once more in the stature of man. 1 hard fy know what wild words I might have spoken had the opportunity been mine; but at that instant the figure of a man crossed the deck toward us, emerging from the open cabin door. Against the gleam. of yellow light I recognized the trim form advancing, and as instantly stepped back into shadow. My quick movement caused her to turn and face him.
 "What!" he exclaimed, and evil dently surprised at his discovery. "It is indeed Mistress Dorothy--Out here aloneY Twas my thought you were safely in your cabin long since. But prithee-I mistakei you are not alone"
 "I was preparing to go in," she an- swered, ignoring his latter words. :'The night already looks stormy"
 "But your frIend?"
 The tone in which he spoke was insistent, almost insolent in it's de mand, and she hesitated no longer In meeting the challenge.
 "Your pardon, I am sure-Meuten- ant Sanchez, this gentleman Is Cap tain Geoffry Carlyle"
 He stood there stiff and straight against the background of light, one hand in affected carelessness caress- ing the end of waxed mustache. His face was ln shadow yet was quite