Elbert County tribune and Elbert County banner., 1920-06-25

II did not think about the car
tridges." she cried. II heard you were
in danger and | seized II and came to
you. What shall we do7 l am going
to ,iie with you"
1--WE are not going to die" he an
swered. But he felt trickle of blood
in his eyes. He pulled himself to-
gether to face the situation. thinking
with all the concentration of which
his mind was capable.
He heard the sails being run up. and
the creak of the cordage in the wind.
Then the schooner, grinding her
course through the drift ice. began to
roll and pitch as the force OF the gulf
current struck her. And through the
portfolios Hilary saw the lights of st.
Boniface reel into the enwrupping fog
and vanish.
With MadeIeine's arm about him he
thought with desperate concentration.
Doubtless the ruffians had gone to as
sist Dupont in taking the schooner out
into midstream. confident that their
victim WAS at their mercy. Once the
vessel had passed the dangerous ice
and deadly sunken rocks Dupont
alone could keep her on her course.
And Dupont had planned his death
He remembered the hate on the old
mans face: but he could not imagine
the cause of 1t, for he did not connect
1t with the story about Marie.
They would return, they would dis
cover that the revolver was useless;
his life was worth about ten minutes
purchase, and of Madeleine's fate he
dared not think He must fight fer
her and live for her He got his shak-
ing limbs under control.
"I'm all right" he whispered. "Fve
got my plan now. Keep behind me
and be ready to help. The doors
locked. l suppose?'
A quick attempt to open it 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 1t broke upon its
hinges, and Hilary fell, sprawling into
the passage between the piles Of
stacked lumber. which rose to a height
of twenty feet on either side of him.
running to within a few feet of the
cabin and the deck ladder.
He crouched there for few sec
onds, hearing Madeleine behind him.
and looked upward The wind was
roaring through the rigging with
noise far louder than that made by the
falling door No one had heard the
crash. Above him swung the great
mainsaii. obscurlng the gibbous moon
that scurred like pale ghost among the
drifting clouds. haloed In the fog. Hill
ary could Just discern the hazy fig
ures of three men, hard at work to
gain the middle channel. and the Ian
tern thet hung from the mast above,
faIntly Illuminating them.
He had seen, but had not conscious
ly observed. till the remembrance
came to him then, that a pile of lum-
her, placed In the ship but not yet Sc
cured, lay about the center Of the
open space in front of the cabin. 1t
could not shift with the rolling of
the schooner, so as to destroy her equi-
librium, on account of the stacks on
either side. 1t consisted of the last
load of logs, which had been dropped
there from the end of the f1ume. Hill
ary raised two In his arms and car
ried them in front of the broken door.
II was impossible to make his voice
heard, for the ship was staggering
through the clashing ice foes with
noise like that of artillery, but Made
leine saw his purpose. and in an in
slant was at work helping him. They
began swiftly building barricade;
and, as Madeleine deposited her logs
by the side of Hilary's. Hilary wedged
the ends against the chained stacks on
either side, so that the whole would
form an immovable barrier. He toiled
furiously. for their scanty time was
precious beyond value. Soon Made
leine was behind the barrlcade. ad-
justing the logs that Hilary brought,
and it stood the height of his waist.
1t was Improbable that either Du-
pont, Pierre or Leblanc carried n re-
volver: but. even If they did. the bar
ricade was bullet-proof. Hilary for
got his aching head, the retching nau-
sea. The barrier was shoulder-high.
He clambered behind 1t and took his
station there just as the grinding of
the foes ceased. and the schooner
caught the clear water.
ray of moonlight, struggling
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 CONSERVATION
at the sight of the unexpected barri-
cade. and Hilary's club. aimed Mt
Pierre's head, descended upon the out
laws arm, which dropped limp at his