Williams news., 1922-09-15

| dSdln dHU, WlIn DnySlCdl strength, Oo-
 tained him. Wasn't it thatP' he de-
 manded. Answer me; it was the
 Martha CorvetT'
 The wheelsman struggled ; he seemed
 suddenly terrified with the terror | which, instead of weakening, supplied | infuriated strength. He threw Alan off
 for an instant and started to flee back
 toward the ferry; and Alan let him go,
 only following a few steps to make
 sure that the wheelsman returned to | Number 25.
 Because of the severe cold. the
 watches on the ferry had been short
 ened. Alan would be relieved from
 time to time to warm himself, and
 then he would return to duty again.
 Old Burr at the wheel would be re-
 lieved and would go on duty at the
 same hours as Alan himself Benjamin | Corveti The fancy reiterated itself to l him. Could he be mistaken? Was that man, whose eyes turned alternately
 from the compass to the bow of the | ferry as 1t shifted and rose and fell | the same who had sat in that lonely l chair turned toward the fireplace in | the house on Astor street? Were those | hands, which held the steamer to her | course, the hands which had written | to Alan in secret from the little room
 
 l careful1y-the newspaper clippings con- i cealed in the library?
 Alan faced the wind with mackinaw buttoned about his throat; to make certain his hearing, his ears were un- protected. They numbed frequently, and he drew a hand out of the glove to rub them. The windows to protect the wheelsman had been dropped, as the snow had gathered on the glass; and at intervals, as he glanced back, he could see old Burr's face as he switched on a dim light to look at the compass. The strange placidity which usually characterized the old mans face had not returned to it since Alan had spoken with him on the dock; its look was intent and queerly drawn Was old Burr beginning to remember that he was Benjamin Corvet? Alan did not believe 1t could be that; again and again he had spoken Corvet'S name to him without effect. Yet there must have been times when, if he was actual ly Corvet, he had remembered who he was. He must have remembered that when he had written directions to some one to send those things to Constance Sherrill; or, strange thought had come to Alan, had he written those in- structions himself2 This certainly WOulQ dCCOunt IIl0 pdCkdSe HdflhS been mailed at Manitowoc and for Alan's failure to find out by whom it had been mailed. It would account, too, for the unknown handwriting upon the wrapper, if some one on the ferry had addressed the package for the old man.
 What could have brought back that moment of recollection to Corvet, Alan wondered; the finding of the things which he had sent7 What might bring | another such moment? Would his see | ing the Sherrills again-or Spearman- act to restore hfm7
 For half an hour Alan paced steadily | at the bow. The storm was incre sing | noticeab1y in fierceness; the wind | driven snowflakes had changed to hard | pellets which, like little bullets, cut | and stung the face and 1t was growing | colder. From a cabin window came the blue flash of the wireless, which had | been silent after notifying the shore stations of their departure. It had again; this was unusual | still more unusual followed at once; the direction of the gale | seemed slowly to shift, and with it the wash of the water; instead of the wind and the waves coming from dead ahead now, they moved to the port beam, and Number 25, still pitching l with the thrust through the seas, also | began to roll. This meant, of course, that the steamer had changed its course and was making almost due north. It seemed to Alan to force its | engines faster; the deck vibrated more. Alan had not heard the orders for this change and could only speculate as to what 1t might mean.
 His relief came after few minutes nore.
 "Where are we heading7" Alan asked.
 Radio" the relief announced. "The 3. c. Richardson calling; she's up by he Manitous."
 "What sort of troublef'
 She's not In trouble; it's another hip.'
 What ship?"
 "No word as to that"
 Alan, not delaying to question fur her, went back to the cabins.
 These stretched aft, behind the ridge, along the upper deck, some core on each side of the ship; they ad accommodations for almost hun red passengers; but on this crossing nly a few were occupied. Alan had . oticed some half-dozen men-business 1en, no doubt, forced to make the rossing and one of them, a Catholic riest, returning probably to some mis- S lon in the north he had seen no wom- V n among them. A little group of t were gathered now in the t cor of or just outside the wireless n