The Miller press. [volume] (Miller, S.D.) 190?-current, 1920-07-01


II did not think about the car
tridges," she cried. II heard you were
in danger and | seized 1t and came to
YOU. What shall we do? l am going
to die with you"
I'VE are not going to die" he an
swered. But he felt a 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
he reak 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 Madeleine's arm about him he
thought with desperate concentration.
Doubtless the ~rufiians had gone to as
sist Dupont In taking the schooner out
into midstream. confident that their
victim was at their mercy. Once the
ftSSCl ldu DuSSti lHt uulStIOuS lCt
n deadly sunken rocks Dupont
alone could keep her OH her course.
And Dupont had planned his death.
be remembered the hate on the old
mans face; but he could not imagine
the cause of it, for he did not onnec
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 for
her and live for her. He got his shak-
Ing limbs under control.
"Tm all right" he whispered. I've
got my plan now. Keep behind me
and be ready to help. The doors
locked, | supposeT
A quick attempt to open II 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 a few Sec
onds. hearing Madeleine behind him,
and looked upward. The wind was
roaring through the rigging with a
noise far louder than that made by the
falling door. No one had heard the
crash. Above him swung the great
mainsail, ~obscuring the gibbous moo
that scurred like a 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
rain the middle channel, and the Ian
| tern that hung from the mast above,
family Illuminating them.
He had seen, but had not conscious
" observed. till the remembrance
came to hin 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
the schooner, so as to destroy her equi-
iibriEn, on account of the stacks on
either side. 1t consisted of the last
load of logs, which had been dropped
shere from the end of the fiume. Hill
arg raised two In his arms and car
| RED them In front of the broken door.
Il was impossible to make his voice
heard, for the ship was staggering
through the cIashing ice foes with q
noise like that of artillery. but Made
| leine Jaw his purpose. and in an in
staut was at work helping him. They
began swiftly building a barricade;
and. as Madeleine deposited her logs
by the side OF Hilary's, Hilary wedged
rhe ends against the chained stacks on
either side. so that the whole would
form I'm immovable barrier. He toiled
~furiously. for their scanty time was
precious beyond value. Soon Made
lelne was behind the barricade. adj
justing the logs that Hilary brought,
and 1t stood the height of his waist.
1t was improbable that either Du;
pont, Pierre or Leblanc carried a re-
~voiver; but, wen II 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 II and took his
station there just as the grinding of
the foes ceased. and the schooner
caught the clear water.
A ray of moonlight. struggling
through the fig. 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 consternat ton
at the sight of the unexpected barri-
cade. and Hilary's club. aimed at
| Pierre's head. descended upon the nut
laws arm. which dropped limp at his
side.
With a yell Pierre started back. but
Leblanc leaped forward. knife In hand.
So sudden was the attack that II
drove within an inch Of Hilary's
throat. Madeleine screamed. rushed