The Adair County news., 1921-11-15

She produced a small mirror, little
larger than dollar, and held it before
her fathers lips. When she took it
away Rainey saw trace of moisture.
"Carlsen cannot rouse himT he
asked
"Cannot-or will not" she answered
in voice that held hard quality for
all its dependency.
Lately the doctor has seemed un-
certain. He talks of perverted nerve
functions, and he has obtained a ire
mendous influence over father.
You heard what he said when-the
night he tried to shoot your You see,
am trusting you in all this, Mr..
Rainey. 1 must trust some one. If
don't | can't stand it. l think / shall
go mad, sometimes. The doctor has
changed. 1t is as If he was a dual
persOnality-like Jekyll and Hyde
and now he is always Hyde. He said
last night that he could save father or
-or-that he would let father die.
told him it was sheer murder! He
laughed. He said he would save him
for price"
She stopped, and Rainey supplied
the gap, sure that he was right.
IF you would marry him.?
The girl nodded. Father will do
anything he tells him. 1 sometimes
think he tortures father and only re-
lieveS him when father promises what
he wants. Otherwise could not un-
derstand. Last night father asked me
to do this thing. He told me he looked
upon the doctor as son, that II would
make him happy for me to marry him
now. That he would perform the
ceremony. That he did not think he
would live long and he wanted to see
me with a protector.
ut was horrible. What shall do?"
Miss SimmS," said Rainey, "your
father is not In his right mind or he
would see Carlsen as you do, as 1 do.
CarlSen's brain is turned with the lure
of the gold. If he marrieS you, 1 be-
lieve it is only for your share, for
what you will get from your father. 1t
cannot be right to do a wrong thing.
No good could come from it. But
something may happen this morning
cannot tell you what. do not know,
except that Lund is to face Carlsen. 1t
may change matters"
"LunG," she said scornfulIy. what
can he do? And he accused my father
of deserting him. L"
A knock came at the door, and il
started to open. Carlsen entered.
"Ah," he said. II trust 1 have not
disturbed you. l had no idea I should
interrupt tete-a-tete. Are you salts
fed as to the captains condition, Mr..
Rainey"
Rainey went On deck, raging but i'm
potent. He told Lund briefly of the
talk between him and Peggy Ssmms-
and described the general symptoms vf
The skipper's strange malady. 1t was
nine O'Clock, an hour to the meeting.
He went down to his own room and
sat on the bunk, smoking, trying to
piece up the puzzle. If Carlsen was
potential murderer, if he intended to
let Simms die, why should he want to
marry the girl? He thought he solved
hat issue.
AS his wife CarlSen would retain her
share. If he gave her up, it would go
into the common purse. But, If he ex-
pected to trick the men out of it all,
that would be unnecessary. Did he
really love the girl? Or was his lust
for gold mingled with a passion for
possession of her? He might know
that the girl would kill herself before
she would submit to dishOnor. Per-
hapS he knew she had the means!
One thing became paramOunt-tO
save Peggy Simms. Lund might fight
for the gold; Rainey would battle for
he girls sanctity. And, armed with
that resolve, Rainey went out into the
main cabin.
CaTIsen took the head of the table.
Lund faced him at the other end. All
six of the hunters, as privileged char
acterS, were present, but only three
Of the Seamen, awkward and diffident
at being aft. The nine, with Rainey,
ranged themselves on either side of
the table, five and five, with Rainey
on Lund's right. The girl was not
present. Yet her share was an impOr-
tant factor.
Lund sat with folded arms, his
great body relaxed. Now that the
table was set, the cards all dealt, and
the first play about to be made, the
giant shed his tenseness. Eyen his
grim face sOftened a trifle. He seemed
TO regard the affair with a certain
amount of humOr, coupled with the
zest of a gambler who loves the game
whether the stakes are for death or
dollars.
CarlSen had a paper under his hand,
but deferred its reading until he had
addressed the meeting.
"a ship he said, lis a little COM
munity, a world in itself. To its safe
ty every member is necessity, the
lookout as much as the man at the
wheel, the common seaman, the navi-
gator. And when a ship is engaged
in certain calling, those who are
hired as experts in that line are equal
ly essential with the rest. Each mans
responsibility being equal, his reward