Evening star., 1924-10-31
CHAPTER Y.
Don Diego.

Don Diego de Espinosa VALDEZ
awoke. and. with languid eyes in ach-
ing head. he looked round the cabin.
which was flooded with sunlight from
the square windows aStern. Then he
uttered a moan. and closed his eyes
again. impelled to this by the mon
strous ache in his head. Lying thus.
he attempted to think, to locate him
self in time and space. But between
the pain in his head and the con
fusion in his mind, he found coherent
thought impossible.
An indefinite sense of alarm drove
him to open his eyes again, and once
more to consider his surroundings.
There could be no doubt that he, lay
in the great cabin Of his own ship,
the Cinco Llagas, so that his vague
disquiet must be. surely, ill-founded.
And yet. STRINGS of memory coming
now to the assistance of reflection
compelled him uneasily to insist that
here something was not as it should
be. The low position of the sun.
flooding the cabin with golden light
from those square ports astern. sug
gested to him at first that IL was
early morning. on the assumption
that the vessel was headed westward
Then the alternative occurred to
him. They might be sailing east
ward. in which case the time of day
would be late afternoon. That they
were sailing he could feel from the
gentle forward heavc of the vessel
under him. But how did they come
to be sailing, and he. the master, not
to know whether their course lay
east or west, not to be able to recoi
lect whittier they were bound?
His mind went back over the ad-
venture of yesterday, il of yesterday
II was. He was clear on the matter
of the easily successful raid upon
the Island of Barbados; every detail
stood vividly in his memory up TO
the moment at which. returning
aboard. he had stepped on to his own
deck again. There memory abruptly
and inexplicably ceased.
He was beginning to torture his
mind with conjecture, when the door
opened, and to Don Diego's increas.
ing mystification he beheld his best
suit of clothes step into the cabin. It
was a singularly elegant and char
acteristically Spanish suit of black
taffetas with silver lace that had been
made for him "a year ago in Cadiz,
and he knew each detail Of il so we'll
that 1t was impossible he could now
be mistaken.
The suit paused to close the door.
then advanced toward the couch OF
which Don Diego was extended, anu
inside the suit came tall. slender
gentleman of about Don Diegos own
height, and shape. Seeing the wide,
startled eyes of the apxniard upon
him, the gentleman heightened his
stride
Awake, eh?" said he in Spanish.
The recumbent man looked up be-
wildered into a pair OF light.biue
eyes that regarded him out of d
eawny. sardonic face set in q cluster
of black ringlets. But he was too be
wildered to make any answer.
The strangers fingers touched the
top of Don Diegos head, whereupon
Don Diego WINGED and cried out in
pain. Tender. eh?" said the stranger.
He took Don Diegos wrist between
thumb and second finger. And then, a,
last, the intrigued Spaniard spoke
Are you a doctor?
Among other things" The swarthy
gentleman continued his study of the
patients pulse. Firm and regular. :
he announced at last, and dropped tn
wrist. you've taken no great harm. !.
Don Diego struggled up into sit
ting position on the red velvet couch
who the devil. are you?" he asked
And what the devil are you doing in
my clothes and aboard my shipf"
CONTINUED In Tomorow's Star.l