The St. Charles herald. [volume] (Hahnville, La.) 1873-1993, 1920-05-08

she made the discovery
Il did not think about the car
trldges," she cried. 81 heard you wer
in danger and seized it and came t,
you. What shall we do? / am goin:
to die with you"
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 I'D, 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 enwrapping fog
and vanish.
With Medicines arm about him he
| thought with desperate eonceltra ton.
| 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 it, 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 Medicines fate he
dared not think. He must fight for
her and live for her. He got his shak-
ing limbs under control.
I'm all right" he whispered "rve
got my plan now. Keep behind me
and be ready to help. The doors
locked, l suppose?"
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 I'M
heard in the gale, with the crashing
Of the ice against the sides of the
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, sprawlng into
the passage between the piles of
stacked lumber, which rose to height
Of twenty feet on either side Of him,
running to within few feet of the
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
noise far louder than that made by the |
falling door. No one had heard the |
crash. Above him swung the great |
obscuring the gibbous moon
that scurred like pale ghost among the
drifting clouds. haloed in the fog. Hill
airy could Just discern the hazy fig
ures Of three men. hard at work to
gain the middle channel, and the lam
tern that hung from the mast above,
family Illuminating them.
He had seen, but had not conscious
y observed, till the remembrance
came to him then, that a pile of lum-
Der 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
he schooner, so as to destroy her equf-
ibrium, on account of the stacks on
,ither side. 1t consisted of the last
Dad Of logs. which had been dropped
here from the end Of the flume. Hill
Try raised two IN his arms and car
led them in front of the broken door.
t was impossible to make his voice
leard, for the ship was staggering
through the clashing ice foes with
oise like that of artillery, but Made
cine saw his purpose, and in an in
tant was at work helping him. They
egan swiftly building a barricade;
nd, as Madeleine deposited her logs
y the side of Hilary's, Hilary wedged
he ends against the chained stacks on
ither side, so that the whole would
Drm an immovable barrier. He toiled
uriously, for their scanty time was {
recious beyond value. Soon Made
inc was behind the barricade, adj |
listing the logs that Hilary brought,
nd 1t stood the height of his waist. .
1t was improbable that either Du-
ont, Pierre or Leblanc carried a re- t
Diver; but, even if they did, the bar v
cade was bullet-proof. Hilary for v
1t his aching head, the retching nau- t
"A. The barrier was shoulder-high. n
e clambered behind it and took his 3
alton there just as the grinding Of Il
le foes ceased, and the schooner b
lught the clear water r,
A ray of moonlight. struggling Il
rough the fog. disclosed old Dupont
the wheel above the poop, and the C
eat mainsail sweeping over it-and W
70 forms that crept along the pas b,
&c between the lumber piles. They h
arted back In sudden CONSERVATION Il
the sight of the unexpected barri- Ii
de. and Hilary's club, aimed at s
erre's head. descended upon the out b
VS. arm, which dropped limp at his bs
ie. Is
With a yell Pierre started back, but
blanc leaped forward, knife In hand ia