The St. Charles herald., 1922-08-05

moved by; astern her now the silent
steamer vanished In the snow.
Gongs doomed ebelow: through the
new confusion and the cries OF men,
orders began to become audible. Alan.
scrambling to his knees, put an arm
under old Burr. half raising him; the
form encircled by his arm struggled
up. The skipper, who had knocked
Burr away from the wheel. ignored him
now. The old man, dragging himself
up and holding to Alan, was staring
with terror at the snow screen behind
which the vessel had disappeared. His
lips moved.
"It was a shipl" he said; he seemed
speaking more to himself than to Alan.
"Yes," Alan said. ut was ship;
and you thought"
'Tt wasn't there!" the wheelsman
cried. "It's-it's been there all the
time all night, and rd-Td steered
through It ten times, twenty times.
every few minutes; and then-that
time 1t was ship!"
Alan's excitement grew greater; he
seized the old man again. "YOu thought
It was the Miwaka!" Alan exclaimed.
"The Miwaka! And you tried to steer
through 1t again."
"The Miwakal" old Burr's lips reit-
Grated the word. "Yes; yes-the Mi
wakal"
He struggled, writhing with some
agony not physical. Alan tried to hold
him, but now the old man was beside
himself with dismay. He broke away
and started aft. The captains voice
recalled Alan to himself. as he was
about to follow, and he turned back to
the wheelhouse.
The second officer, who had gone be-
low to ascertain the damage done to
the ferry, came up to report. Two Of
the compartments, those which had
taken the crush Of the collision, had
| flooded instantly; the bulkheads were
holding-only leaking little. the off,
Ger declared. Water was coming into
third compartment, that at the stern |;
the pumps were fighting this water.
The shock had sprung seams else
where; but II the after compartment
did not fill, the pumps might handle
| the rest.
Alan was at the bow again on look
out duty, ordered to listen and to look
for the little boats. He gave to that
duty all his conscious attention; but
through his thought, whether he willed
1t or not, ran a riotous exultation. AS
he paced from side to side and hailed
and answered halls from the bridge,
and while he strained for sight and
hearing through the gale-swept snow,
the leaping pulse within repeated,
"rve found himI I've found him T.
Alan held no longer possibility Of
doubt OF old Burr's identity with Ben
jamin Corvet, since the old man had
made plaip to him that he was haunt
ed by the Miwaka. Since that night
in the house on Astor street, when
Spearman shouted to Alan that name
everything having to do with the Sc
cret Of BENJAMIN Corvet's life had led
so far a. Alan could follow 1t, to the
Miwaka; all the change. which Sher.
rill described but could not account
for, Alan had laid to that. Corvet
only could have been so haunted by
that ghostly ship, and there had been
guilt OF some awful sort In the old
mans cry. Alan had found the mar
who had sent him away to Kansas
when he was child, who had support
ed him there and then, at last, sent
for him; who had disappeared at hii
coming and LEFT him all his posses
sions and his heritage Of disgrace, who
had paid blackmail to Luke, and whs
had sent, last, Captain Stahord'i
watch and the ring which came with
1.-THE wedding ring.
Alan pulled his hand from his GLOW,
and felt IN his pocket for the littl.
band Of gold. What would that meal
to him now: what Of that was he t.
) learn? And. a. he thought Of that
Constance Sheriff. came more insist
entity before him. What was he t
learn for her, for his friend and Ben
jamfn Corvet's friend, whom he, Uncl'
benny, had warned not to care to
Henry Spearman, and then had gon
| a~x.n~ - loa~,o Hos, fr ms vpv hlm9 E0