, 1923-06-13
CHAPTER Ix-con.Inued.

EtCS
".Jude,"- said he 1azily.
"What?" He
aThis is the %jolliest time I ever
,nept. I've never felt free before till
inst now. I'd like to go sailing round
and round the world in this little
dinghy and forget civilization. Do you
remember the morning 1 came on
hoard the Sarah first?"
Them pajamas!"
ayes. them pajamas. Only for
them YOU wouldn't have laughed at
me. and If you hadn't laughed at me
shouldn't have come aboard, per-
haps."
"Oh. yes you would"
"whyY'
satan wanted you"
"oh, did he? Bless Satan The made
me young again."
Lord you amt so old as all that"
'Tm over twenty-one-and you're
only"
"Raisln' sixteen" said Jude. with
steady eyes fixed ahead where the
rulls above the spit were now well
visible.
They held on. the gulls shouting
over them now. and the sigh of the
sandsplt. Tuning to the lazy sea in
their ears. 1t was full tide, and as
the keel touched the sand, letting the
sheet go and the sail to fog in the
wind, they tumbled over and dragged
the little boat high and dry.
That was one of the stangest mo-
ments in RatcliTe's. life. He had
never seer anything comparable to
this long white street of sand curbed
With emerald waves. leading nowhere.
lost, useless. deso'ate. brilliant with
A brilliance that hit the heart as well
as the eye, flown yer by the white
pulls.
The sands fixed to the sea wind.
and away to the north and south they
trembled and waved In the heat; but
the curious thing was the fact that,
despite their loneliness. one did not
feel alone. The place seemed popu-
lous. filed with a crowd that for a
moment had made itself invisible.
Perhaps 1t was the riot of color and
the hrilliance of light: tbs effect re-
NAMED.
They got the provisions and water
Jar from the boat and sat down on tile
sands. 1t was past noon and cooler,
for the breeze had livened up, the
outgoing tide was leaving n strip OF
wet sand glitterlng like n golden
currd o-I tAA h1.1l alr.r
the air resonant with the gentle
rhythm of the waves.
They ate leaning on their sides like
old Athenians. They had no cup: so
they took II in turns to drink from
the water jar. Then he lit a pipe.
This Is Jolly" said he.
"Aln't bad" said Jude.
She made n pillow Of sand for her
head, and then. on her back with her
head on the pillow, lay like n star
fish, spread-eagled. her hat over her
.syes.
He followed suit.-
How about those gulls' nestsl" he
asked.
which onesT" evaded Jude.
The ones you were going to hunt
forY'
"oh, them? Wen. / reckon there's
dead loads of time"
"Lots-llsten to the sand 7"
ITS the wind blowing It,"
u know. All the same this is n
rum place. Do you know when we
landed here, just now. the first thing
That struck me? I felt as II the place
was full Of people,"
which wayY"
"oh. don't know people I couldn't
see, ghosts"
Jude, Interested. rolled over, rested
ner chin In her palms, and kicked a
pare heel to the sun.
reckon you're not far wrong"
sald Jude. 1--WE felt the same way
nere myself, as II there was hants
a%pout and II you'd turn your head
snhrp you'd see someone behind you.
aow you've talked OF II. I'll be always
u~iinking It IL I come here again. Wish
'oud Kept your head shut"
enc sat up and looked about her.
sorry said Radcliffe, raising him
On his ARM: but II you come
In III come with you. inc that'l
"eep the hants of-unless I'm gone"
How d'you meanY
Wen. when this cruise is over I'll
ne TO leave you both and go home.
upht want to go. I'd much sooner
No. on here with you and Satan.
mats that thing floating out thereY'
Iurkle," said Jude. Look, hes
going to diver"
ne sat up beside her.
80 ne has. Well, he's gone" He
the sea. ~" w"
d,raun mere with Jude she seemed n
No. en' person from what she Ind
aooard the Sarah. The strange
l,aa nism she had suddenly exhib-
"h'NNs Hnd N .