Evening star., 1926-12-10

THERE W.
the ocean below. Or, If the rail with
as to which and how many Of his
bones would be fractured when the i'm
pact arrived.
It was even too late to jump. The
rug was folded firmly about his feet
Keeler had swathed him as securely
as an Indian mother binds hel
papoose.
He heard sharp cry behind him
and a rushing of feet. The rail was
nearer now. He set himself for the
shock.
But no shock came. The short space
of deck that lay in front Of him rose
up until it was tilted at an angle
that made ascent impossible. He was
no longer coasting; he was climbing
and the grade was beyond the power
of his momentum. The chair Stacked
its pace, creaked in the bearings anC
halted.
The halt was merely momentary
He began to roll backward toward the
rail from which he had come, and his
progress in the reverse direction was
even more rapid than in his fnltta
dash. He did not dare look behind
for he knew not what lurked there
All that he glimpsed was yard after
ward of white deck, rapidly recedin9
from him. 1t seemed to Trask tina
he sat on the rear platform Of the
Twentieth Century Limited, watching
the miles unroll themselves at his feet
He gripped the arms Of his Jugger
naut and clenched his teeth.
There was q soft shock. a momen
his flight. The chair nonchalantly
passed a PROSTATE form. Trask rec
ognized it instantly; it was that oi
the dragon. He had not seen, but he
knew what had happened. Where
the orbit Of the chair had intersected
that of the dragon two solid bodies
had met.
He grinned because he could not
help it.
She Law on the deck. clawing at the
swaying surface as though to prevent
herself from falling further. Her booR
was sliding rapidly to the point where
it would disappear under the rail-
Her umbrella was nowhere In sight
Trask had a glimpse of baleful eyes
turned in his direction.
Then there was a real crash. he
felt il to the very roots OF his teeth
and he knew that this time he had
met with a portion of the ship herself,
rather than one Of her company.
There was a pause in his career.
His fingers CROPPED behind him Tor the
rail, but before they reached 1t he was
off again. Full tilt he headed for the
still recumbent form of the dragon
with the horn-rimmed eyes.
She saw him coming and yelled,
hn rrt.iY
on his face. Trask felt himself in the
hands Of Providence Far be it from
him
The dragon executed SWIFT move
nent. She rolled Sidewise, after the
fashion of a lady intent upon reducing
flesh. She did it with a certainty and
swiftness that astonished the occupant
of the juggernaut, furnishing a clear
demonstration of the fact that her
wits were still in her head. She could
not have figured it more nicely If she
had known to the fraction of a second
when the incline of the deck would
favor her crablike escape.
The Gulf Stream took the sea at a
new angle. and the dragon, thereby
assisted in her project OF escape,
rolled rapidly across the deck and
fetched up with resilient impact
against a middle-aged gentleman who
was sitting tranSflXed In his steamer
chair.
They crashed into the rail together
and remained there until the Gulf
Stream up-ended again. What hap
pened to them after that there is no
time to say. 1t is more important to
follow the wheel chair.
Trask was headed now directly for
tho h,nN- of tho shin M lnnCpr did
he contemplate escape by leaping.
His blood was up: his eyes were flash
ing with excitement. He was ready
TO stay for the finish, even though it
might send him to the ships hospital.
\ settlement of deck chairs lay in
his path, half of them occupied by
wide-eyed cabin folk. He charged
magnificent gathering headway each
second a C.ckhand sprang from
somewhere and made a flying tackle.
Trask, with four years at Harvard
behind him. met him grimly and in
stinctively with a straight arm" and
proceeded on his rush toward the goal.
The deckhand sprawled. shouted and
staggered to his feet.
An empty deck chair went Gathering
as Trask' s runaway struck ii a glanC-
ing blow Then he came upon more
solid resistance, in the shape of lady
who was so much absorbed in a novel
that she was unaware of the world
about her.
Yet she became aware of it, with
singular emphasis. When she stop.
ped moving she lay gasping in the
arms of her neighbor. stout young
man who clutched her spasmodically
and called loudly, Help"
The wheel chair went onward.
scarcely diverted from the directness
of it's flight. Two girls had risen to
their feet in front of it. and as they
gazed upon 1t with terror-stricken
eyes Trask shot deftly between them
upsetting both and making swift note
of the fact that the vogue in hosiery
no longer confined itself to black.
Some invalid he muttered, as he
Gripped the arms tightly.
The deck was still friendly. 1t tilted
again, thereby averting an imminent
collision with a stanchion. Once more
the chair began retreat. bewildering
in swiftness and outmatching in craft
the feat of any general lately sprung
into foreign fame. 1t was corkscreW-
ing now, Ike the Grdf Stream herself,