Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-11-18
West Wind Drift
BY GEORGE BARR McCUTCHEON
THIS sTARTs THE STORY
Copyright, 1890. bv Georges Barr Mocutchcon

THIS STARTS THE STORY
Tho steamship Dordine sailed from
a south American port to the United
Stotns 7uifh $50 passengers. II Uds
nsper seen again Al0ernon Adonfs
perci,dl Is discoDered stoDdt1dU,
and Is put to cork under guard. Rufh
| clinton, n passenger, recognizes MIN
os n man she had danced 10Th at q
nortv. Ttpo dockhdnds Jorsdke the ship
| IN n boat: the tCirelesS trdnsmNter re-
fuses TO operate; forty-si1 o. the oreW
and mdny passengers are ktiled w an
cTplosior The boat springs a ledksd a
naric ensucs and they take to the NE
pootS. but rs-cntcr the big ship aud
Jrift for days. Percivdl has proved IN.
SaiudJle to the cdptdtnj he has quelled
a threatened muttny Gmong ,, me c;'.,n,, steer,
and Madame Obosky, a beautiful
SoMuo Russian, shotU marked interest
IN PerCivdl. Al q most critical point
land is sighted an NntnhdoIed
island. An exploration party. hedded
g. 9yy.,nes NJ, tho island and commences
N build h,uts and prepare for long
sjou Erc1.v one Is pressed into Serutco
and the tcork is ~ the hands Of Per-
c;,aL LandoUer. a NeW YORK banker,
,nokes trouble for hin, By refusing to
,otc mqc'S orders, and a clique IS formed
Miss clinton Is on the "LdndoUer
.ide NTH Madame Obosky aiding and
obcfting Percivui IN his endedvors.
pcrci,,dt Is In love tOith Ruth CLINTON
and Nine. Obosky Is IN loVo Wtth fer-
cipdL ,
AND HERE 1T CONTINUES
uA GOOD thunderstorm" began inc
n captain, musingly. but failed to
complete the sentence.
would settle something besides the
dust" said Mr.. Codge after deteren'
tial wait of a few seconds.
A figure detached itself from tho mass
on the welrdly lighted deck below ana
approaching the perch of the three on
GERS, came TO n halt almost directly pe'
low them. The light of lantern lei
fairly on the upturned, smiling face ol
Olga Obosky.
what is the hour. Captain Trigger
she inquired.
almost 0, Madame Obosky."
THAT is nearly two bells, eh, yes
How peaceful you look up there, yot
three old owls"
Come up" invited the captain, cheer
ily. She Joined them moment later
.arell me, are they leaving n shred o.
percival and his band of outlaws?'
Mr.. Codge struck a match and held i
for her to light cigarette She inhalee
deeply and then expelled the smoke II
what seemed like prolonged sign U
satisfaction.
"They are very funny, those women,
she said, placing her elbows on the rS, a,
and looking down at the crowd. bt
Won know what the trouble Is now! L
Il This; they cannot think of way u
condemn the action of those men as
body without also including Mr.. Perez
vail in the verdict
"HOw's that?' =,
"Ninety-five per cent of them want I,
oxonerate Mr.. Percival. but they doIi
know how to do It in view or the laE az
that he Is the guiltiest of them al,
those women They approve of what NJ n,
has done in naming the bapy' Decaua, a,a,
whatever he does must be right, put tie!
are almost unanimous in charging una
all the other men out there were WRONG
So they are in a great dilemma;
CAPTAIN Trigger laughed Il see
What was Miss Cl!nton's position In tn
debate?" f.,
oh. she was one of those who IN
sisted that Mr.. Percivail alone be mel,
accountahlc. the other men not at all
She was the chairman, you see, ana 'ns:
were ohige to listen to her at nrst. Du
zen, presently. one Of those brazi',a' ~,
ladies said it was shame 10 put an IN, ,n
L
a gentleman and so splendid and al "a
and zen-then Eat Mrs. BLOCK JUN
up and say that II IT was not lor W, ~,
Percivail her husband would nave pee
killed last week when he te!i Oh ol n Cu
landing into 10000 feet of water. AN
the great Careni-Amori she get up an
say She would die for Mr. PerclVaii pe
cause he Is such gentleman anu wv wv
OF those nurses at the same tiinc 81
out that he ought to be in the hospltta
because he Is so worn-out WORKING 10
other people Zat he can hardly drag M
poor feet around. And so 1t goes MIS-
Clinton has departed, her chh III ~ ~
air But she does not deceive me on 81,
has gone to her room 10 nave e''
',Weil, I wish they'd get together o
something" growled the captain; 50
we can all 80 to bed and get teN
like as not they're keeping the bah Dab
awake With ali this 'jabhering," sal a.
MIR Codge. And that isn't good 10
babies, you know. They've got to nav
plenty of sleep. Specially L.ttie IsSS rriSgo,
why Mr.. Percivail did not come ap1ar t1,ia
tonight?" asked Olga suddenly Inc
We're expecting him. , o,,or
And they we're disappointed, en-
IL dare say. At any rate. good man
OF them kept peering out over the wate
most of the time, and listening ior III
sound Of oars" She laughed softly; >, ,
The men shuckIeG bna rslk aPGTi biTd sttf at i
Kseps KSS' Sein 'em guessing. que; he does BY glory
] wish ia Known how to handle womo, me,
as we'll as he does. ! might have peel
married fifteen or twenty thnes or ~
could have kept 'em anxious ana M Mwot
ried--but | couldn't. / never dl9 nay
arfv sense about women. That's why In
bachelor instead of a grandtatneTa
He told Miss Clinton he was coming,
said Olga, barking back to 'he u""i'
swered question. ,oi
the captain rather eVasively 1880,
"I do not believe Eat. There Is som
other reason He is not woman Cal
tain Trigger w 49,. lo,,
let It go any farther, madame-he cam
aboard just before supper to nnd 9u
how Mrs. Cruise is getting along ~
Cullen told him exactly what az t.cs @
women down there know-thiaI SUI
very low-so he went ashore Sald some
thing about not wanting to take part
, any racket that might disturb her-
noisy talk and all that-and left q bunc
Of Wild flowers fol-. her In case she wa
There was a slight noise behind then
Turning, they saw the figure, of woma
in the shadow of the deck house;
Who's there2" demanded Mr.. Mott
Ruth Clinton stepped forward INTO IN
did he--dld he do that?" she aske
huskily.
"lie did" said the captain.
And Is she so very Ill? l ala nc
know, Captain Trigger"
She's likely to die, Miss Clinton
poor little woman"
Ruth was silent for moment: Then
DO you think she-she can hear Il
that hubbub down there?"
II am sure she cannot. But Perctv;
was afraid she could, so he-well. J
thought 1t best not TO make It any wors
by adding his groans of agony when yo
women tore him limb from limb out hel
on deck. That's tho way he put it, 5
don't look at me like that"
Ruth suddenly hung her head ar
walked away. As she disappeared dow
the steps, Mr. Codge remarked, sot