Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-10-30
West Wind Drift
By GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
Copyright. 1890. bv George Barr MocLtchson

sure you, but---well. thcy may be little
Scared You may not know 1t, but Mr..
Baltimore He belonged to q fine old
| family there--and he'd been very kind to
me. Poor fellow! Penned In. They never
| 1ad a chance down there. He was-well
| dragged out hero on the deck. His clothes
| were on fire. But let's not talk about H.
| Tell me, Is there anything can do to
make you more comfortable? or. your
the deck at present. Mr. Mott"
You ought to be in bed, Mr.. psrel-
| val," she interrupted sharply. Your
| face Is burned. too-you must be SUI;
fering terribly. Walt New, DON'T tel
| nose other men who were burned. l.
rupted. almost roughly. There are
dozens of men worse off than ! am, and
arc they in bed7 Not much. This Is no
got a leg to stand on. See that little chap
over there with his head and hands
covered with bandag.s and barely able
| % drag his feet after him? He's an
name. He was blown twenty or thirty
,eet across the after-deck. Brought up
| 1T the bottom Of tho companionway. He's
| nothing but cuts and bruises from head
20 foot. But he's around on his wobbiy
tile pins today, just the same, trying 70
,dge In on some sort Of job. Couldn't
eep him In bed"
Miss Clinton's eyes were full OF won
iar and incredulity. II cannot under
stand It," she said. MY brother was
, with the American ambulance In France.
lie says that the slightest flesh wounds
sends a soldier to the hospital"
"They haven't any choice In the mat
ter. Besides. 1t isn't the same. Poor
devils, they may have been at It In the
trenches for weeks and months. A wound
Of any sort means pleasant vacation.
| Still" hc went on after moment, q
faint. derisive smile on his lips, we
had a big husky UP in camp who insisted
nnssSIsss on sSIns to bed every time he had tho
She Vas looking into his bloodshot
eyes. infinite pity and concern In he'
own.
Mr.. Percival. whenever 1t Is necessary?
am getting used to It now
i IT'S good Of you. Miss Clinton he
replied gratefully "But think you'd
batter stick to the fellows VINO really
need attention. Don't add an extra ounce
to your burden. You'll need all your
strength and courage to face the de-
mands Of the next few days. Those chaps
have Just begun to suffer. They're going
II they get through at all. You have not
answered my question. Ia there anything
{ can do for you or your auntT
mo, not a thing" she said. I'VE are
quite all right As Mr., Mott said. we are
We've got to make up our minds 10
hat. We can't have the comforts and
the luxuries we had day before yester-
day whatever is left of them we must
Even with stowaways." he ventured
but not faiuously.
! mo one is likely to forget how ou,
only stowaway came by his wounds, wound.
AM, quite certain who 1t wa. thai
carried IN CO.. .ng.neer on deck. Mr.
percival;, While his clothes were burn
PercIyal turned his face away and
many seconds passed before he spoke.
"By tho way" he said at last, q
! trifie unsteadily,. "at regular intervals
. the gun UP there in the bow is to be fired
You must not be alarmed when II goei
may hear the rcpott. The British have :
, 'ew warships down here, you know
, They would investigate II they got wore
Of big guns being fired anywhere IT
these parts. Mr.. Mott VIII give %arman.
ono will understand. II just thought
I'd tell YOU"
"Thank you. Goodby for the present
} must get back to my wounded. -,
) Keep your spirits up" he sac, saia
That's the principal Job now. Miss Clin
E ton. Good-by, and thank you =,
: He watched her as she moved OF
town the deck He could not help notic
Ing that her figure drooped percSptip.s
. but two days before-straight, graceL9l
/ full of the Joy of living with strid
r hat was free snd swinging. He recalled
! her lovely. inquiring gray eyes eyes as ,tsr sn
. ,oon, the parted red lips and the smil
= .hnt came to them, the smarty dresses
:, hair, the Jaunty hat, the trim sport SUI .h
, Of tan-colored jersey-he reca,!ea n' .m'
, alluring picture she made tnat ohy' oh'
r sadly shook his head. ,.
J. "Poor girl" he said to himself, ane
walked slowly In the opposite directioh
;. tavoring his left leg. r,,,
0 He went down to see the cap,a'I1, Mt T. ts bis
0 o,d sea dog was stretched out IN me-
r berth. n look of pain and utter despair
in his eyes. Ono of the Russian aanS'
slavic type; WAS was Seanx Ssa ist left uP '"' ~
''Feeiing bit more comfortable SIT?
y inquired the young man. ,. =.
II wish you'd get this girl out 20 o.
$ here" growled Capt Trigger with ''''
Y ''"'li Il think it would be all right to tee g
: ahead with It, SIR. said Percival ,,,sn Shs
: doesn't understand a word OF Englss.nT,;, s.T,,
The captain nsh shook ,1otns hls at ae11 his visit
n or's bandaged hands: How are you
c "Fairly easy. The doctor, says tn.
burns are not deep. Mr. Mott asket
u me to step in and see YOU sir. and Wv wv
: you my opinion as to the bombs. Yol
a see, I've had a great deal OF experienc'
il with high explosives There isn't IN
q slightest doubt In my mind that yol
r found and got rid Of the worst OF them
4 The officer In charge of the gun creN
v agrees with me. They planted the bli
a ones, the ones that were to destroy IN,
ship, down In the hold where there wa. wa
=. less chance of discovery. The others
I am convinced, were much smaller.
O. would have been impossible 10 hide
\ bomb OF any noticeable size In any o.
A the places where the explosions occur
n red. They went about It very cunningly
" very systematically. or course, no ON
- ing by the actual results, they could no
= have been very powerful"
. "And also" said the captain, "thanl
! God we dug out the big ones" HI
!, scowled forlornly. "Dr. Cullen says an
" In for n week of this, Percival. You don
, think 80. do your
Y Of an expert on explosives, sir" he re-
, "Umph." grunted Capt. Trigger. :"
y see. Just the same. I think III be W
, and about by tomorrow. II wer,
|, your age. young man, you can bet
wouldn't be lying here In this bed"
= age, Capt. Trigger" sad Percivai. "Tt
u probably have sense enough TO do exact
ly what the doctor ordered"
y Capt, Triggers mouth fell open.
y well, Of all the damned--' h
', began, and then swallowed hard.
Il CHAPTER vi
. For three days and nights the DO
e raine drifted lazily IN n calm and rip