The Connecticut labor press., 1920-03-27

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 A quick attempt to open 1t showed him that it was. But he had a chance, if he could break down the door, for the sound might pass un- heard in the gale, with the crashing of the ice against the sides of the schooner enabling him to pass into the hold unseen in the darkness.
 He hurled himself against the cabin door, fists, shoulders, body, with every muscle set tense. It broke upon it's hinges, and Hilary fell, sprawling into the passage between the piles of stacked lumber, which rose to height of twenty feet on either side of him. running to within a few feet of the 1 cabin and the deck ladder.
 He crouched there for a few sec onds, hearing Madeleine behind him, and looked upward. The wind was roaring through the rigging with a l noise far louder than that made by the l falling door. No one had heard the crash. Above him swung the great mainsail, obscuring the gibbous moon l that scurred like pale ghost among the 1 drifting clouds, haIoed in the fog. Hil- ary could just discern the hay fig ures of three men, hard at work to gain the middle channel, and the lan- tern that hung from the mast above. l faintly Illuminating them.
 He had seen, but had not conscious l ly observed, till the remembrance l came to him then. that pile of lum- Der, placed in the ship but not yet se- cured, lay about the center of the l {v, 0f a l could not shift with the rolling of the schooner so as to destroy her equi- l librium, on account of the stacks on l either side. It consisted of the last | load of logs, which had been dropped | there from the end of the Hume. Hil- ary raised two in his arms and car ried them in front of the broken door. | It was impossible to make his voice l heard. for the ship was staggering, l through the clashing ice foes with 1 noise like that of artillery, but Made | leine saw his purpose, and in an in- stant was at work helping him. They began swiftly building barricade; and, as Madeleine deposited her logs by the side of Hilary's, Hilary wedged 1 the ends against the chained stacks on either side, so that the whole would l form an immovable barrier. He toiled | furiously, for their scanty time was precious beyond value. Soon Made leine was behind the barricade, ad- | justing the logs that Hilary brought, I and it stood the height of his waist. It was improbable that either Du- pont. Pierre or Leblanc carried re- volvey; but. even if they did. the bar 1 ricade was bullet-proof. Hilary for got his aching head. the retching nau- sea. The barrier was shoulder-high. He clambered behind it and took his station there just as the grinding of the foes ceased. and the schooner l caught the clear water.
 A ray of moonlight, struggling l through the fog, disclosed old Dupont at the wheel above the poop, and the great mainsail sweeping over it-and two forms that crept along the pas sage between the lumber piles. They started back in sudden consternation at the sight of the unexpected barri- cade, and Hilary's club, aimed at Pierre's head, descended upon the out laws arm, which dropped limp at his side.
 
 Leblanc leaped forward, knife in hand. So sudden was the attack that it drove within an inch of Hilary's throat. Madeleine screamed, rushed forward, and pulled Hilary back. As Leblanc caught sight of her he uttered an exclamation and followed Pierre back into the darkness of the lumber piles.
 Silence followed. That wait was tense and nerve-gripping. Hilary tried to get Madeleine to return into the cabin, but she kept her place at his side. Then, to Hilary's utter surprise. he heard Brousseau's voice, and dis cerned him moving out of the dark ness of the lumber.
 Monsieur Askew, want to speak to you! !" he called. "I am coming to you. I can trust you"
 Hilary returned no answer, but Brousseau. apparently confident. of Hilary's honor, pushed forward and came up to the barricade.
 "Ah, mademoiselle, you have done a foolish thing!" he said quietly to Mad eleine. "No harm was meant to Mon sieur Askew. I want those papers that's all. I heard he was coming aboard and adopted this ruse to get them. They are lies. written by dis charged employee, and I can't afford to be lied about. I want to clear my honor in your eyes, mademoiselle."
 But as neither answered him he dropped his pose of blandness and ad- dressed Hilary.
 'Ive got more at stake than the seigniory and the asbestos mine," he cried. That's only a drop in the | bucket. I admit it's been a fair fight between us and you've won. I didn't | want the seigniory. wanted the fight | I'm willing to drop it now and give l you best. But want those papers.
 ''They ain't yours, Monsieur Askew. | Morris forged them, but you kept | them. and that's why I trapped you | here. It was me stopped Dupont from | killing you. because of his daughter"
 Madeleine laughed cOntemptuously at the lie. and Brousseau snorted like lashed horse
 "I want those papers," he went on doggedly. "They ain't in your clothes, and they ain't in your bag. Give them to me and we'll cry quits. and I'll put you and Madeleine ashore at Ste. Anne. I can trust you and you can trust me. Are you going to agreeT