San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-09-13
o l,mlt. BROWN Q COMPANY. re,

Enthusiastically silver fox.
|, The blond hair grew in a great maj
about his lips and jowls. His noss
was straight, his eyebrows heavy, al
his features remarkably even and well
proportional. But none of these lesser
features could be noticed because oil
the compelling attraction of his gray
vivid eyes.
pardon me for not making myself
known sooner" he began in his deep
sardonic. voice. 'My name is Dooms.
dorf-trapper, and seemingly owner OF
this island. At least I'm the only liv-
ing man on it, except yourselves.
His speech, though careless, and
queefly accented, had no mark of ig-
norance or ill-breeding. Il told you
the islands name-believe me. it fits
it perfectly. Welcome to it"
Ned Strengthened, .white-faced. "Mr.
Doomsdorf, these girls are chilled
Throughout of them, is near to col
lapse from exposure. Will you save
that till later and help me get them
to fire."
For all the. creeping terror that was
possessing his veins, Ned made a brave
effort to hold his voice steady. The
man looked down at him, his lip curl
ing.k pardon my ne8lige nce," he re-
piled easily. "Of course she isn't used
to the cold yet-but that will come in
time" He bowed slightly to the shiv-
ering girl on the shore. IF you follow
my tracks up in the wood. you'll find
my shack-and there's fire in the
stove" 20
Ned bent, seized an armful of blan-
kets from the boat, then stepped to
IGNORES side. "The captain will help
YOU, Miss Gilbert" he said to Bess.
Then he and the golden-haired girl he
loved started together through the six
inch snowfall toward the woods. Bess,
stricken and appalled,, but yet not
knowing which way to turn, took the
trail behind them. But KnU.:en still
waited on the shore, beside the boat.
Doomsdorf, incredible to Ned and
Bess, was wholly plausible to him. He
feared him to the depths of his heart,
yet in some measure, at least, these
three were in his charge, and if worst
came to worst, he must stand between
them and this island devil with his own
life. He had stayed on the short after
the others had gone so that he might
find out the truth.
He was not long in learning.
Through some innate, vague, almost
inexplicable desire to shelter his three
charges and to spare them the truth,
he wanted to wait until all three OF
them had disappeared in the wood
but even this was denied him. Len0re
and Ned, it is true, had already van
ished into the patch of forest; but
Bess seemed to be walking SLOWLY.
waiting for him. Doomsdorf was
bent, now, unloading the stores and
remaining blankets from the canoe
but suddenly, with one motion, he
showed Knutsen where he stood.
With one great lurch of his should
ers he turned over the empty boat
and showed it off into the sea. The
first wave, catching it, drove it out
of reach. you won't need that
again." he said.
With half-uttered, sobbing gasp
that no man had heard from his lips
before, Knutsen sprang to rescue 1t.
In an instant he had seized it, and
standing hip deep in the icy water, he
turned TO lace tne DlOHu uldH Oh the
shore. The latter roared once with
savage mirth, sound that carried
far abroad the snowy desolation ]
then he sobered, watching with gilt
tering eyes.
"Let it CO." he ordered simply. His
right arm lifted slowly as if in in
and rested almost limp
across his breast. His blond beard
hid the contemptuous curl of his
lips
Knutsen's hand moved toward his
hip. In the days of the gun fights,
in the, old North, it had never moved
more swiftly. In this second of need
he had remembered his pistol.
But he remembered it too late.
And his great hand. though fast, was
infinitely slow. The great arm that
lay across Doomsdorf's breast sud
denly flashed out and up. The blue
steel of revolver barrel streased
in the air, and a shot cracked over
the sea.
Knutsen was already loosed from