The Irish standard., 1920-03-27
CHAPTER u.

CHAPTER u.
Nine O'clock On night In June-no<
. June evening. heavy-starred on vel.
~, but 4 furious June night with
s0Etan blaekness looping overhead.
ana StyEian water batterinx and bon
ING against the hull plates The ship
~. dark as the nixht itself; blind
dark without single ray to play the
traitor. On deck 4 solitary venturer
augEed the rail. and apatheticaly
Watched the waves tear past
Out of the warmth and cheer a1a
the vftiated atmosphere OF the smok.
ing room came Martin Harmon. bis.
aodd. exuberant A heavinE lift of
eAe deck sent him lurching sldewise;
be saved his balance BY struggling
toward the rail. when suddenly the
saope was reversed. and he slipped
and slid to the barrier Of safety,
ciutched It, and found himself at arms
length from the lonely watcher. whe
hadn't stirred. Or even turned his
head.
~Heiioi" said Harmon. his surprise
tinctured with cay familiarity. "some
aight!"
"Yes. 1t Is" The tone Of the M
sponse was curt 50 curt that Harmon
tnstinctfvely leaned forward to- dis
cover what expression Of countenance
went with 1t. The night was SO black
that he might as well have tried to
penetrate 4 curtain Of solid fabric.
"Seen any U-boats YETI" he asked
humorously.
Not yet" The taclturn one moved
q trifle away; man less thin-skinned
and less dined and wined than Har.
mon would probably have taken the
hint and removed himself, but Har-
mons was IN inquisitive disposition,
and he never attempted to curb IT.
he was the sort Of travelling compan-
ion who makes Christians reflect up.
on the definition Of justifable homi-
eide.
"what is your liner he inquired
after . pause.
The other man laughed aueeriy.
The first if It makes -
much difference to you"
beg pardon1 don't quite get yeu.
You said !"
II said the first line. I meant the
drst-line trenches. I've been In It."
HaTmon Jerked his head upward IN
comprehension.
"Oh, seel You mean the warl
And you've been right On the spot
where the fighting is1 Pretty lively
up there, isn't it, Something stirring
most all the time1"
II imagine So" The other mans
accent was amazingly dif1dent, ana
Harmon peered at him, incredulous.
''Good Lord, don't you know7'
"Not q great deal. I happened 10
get hit the first day I was in the
trenches"
"But you got in it again afterward,
I suppose7 I'll bet you did,"
"No."
"whatl You never got back at all,
Just one day, and you're throughf''
eyes. After was discharged from
hospital was discharged from the
army too. Permanently unnt."
"English army1"
''No-French."
'Well, that's some recordl" said
Harmon appreciatively. ''That Ger.
tainly is some recordl Not to say
tough luck-the toughest kind. Going
back home, take it9'
'Looks that way, doesn't itr'
Harmon ignored the sarcasm.
Back to work, eh? What did you
say your line isr' 4
81 didn't say. I haven't any Just
now"
Harmon pondered second.
"Ohl Gentleman Of leisure1 Sol
dier Of fortune, eh7 Well, wouldn't |
worry If I were you. You're disap-l
pointed; that's natural {. r. but the
world hasn't come to an end yet. OF
course it is something Of q come-down
to leave the army and get into harness
again, but after all there's plenty Of
excitement right In the United States.
Big work to be done, son! Big money
to make. And it helps the war along,
too. tell you there never was big
ger opportunity to make money than
there is right this minute. The hard
Job isn't to find the scheme; it's to find
the men to run it. Don't you worry
you'll land something right of
the bat!"
"Thanks for the compliment!
"Oh, it's no compliment! Anybody
can make money these days. It's
plain statement Of fact Say,
let's 60 in and have something. Come
In and be sociable. What you wants
q drink. Am I right or am wrong?"
'Well-"
"And that's what the doctor or
deredl Come on! It's on me-"
The other man hesitated. and at
last succumbed, out Of sheer uncon-
Germ, to a companionship he realized
In advance would be distasteful.
"All right" he consented briefly;
and together, arm in arm, they stum-
bled and tackled across the treacherous
deck, and presently crossed the thresh-