Evening star., 1928-03-23


end of the hold to explore,
Peters hand went to his temples,
pressing fiercely against them. He cried
out suddenly. sharply. Hours! He had
no hours to waSte Marion! Where
was she? Perhaps he was even now
too latel He battled with the thought,
trying to drive it from him, but it surged
back again. bringing in its train a
frenzy of fear and anXietv--and, too, a
mad lust for vengeance. What had they
already done to her? And the Isis?
What had happened TO the Isis? The
brig had sailed away Had the Isis,
after being looted and Marion taken,
also sailed away-or what?
He began to crawl again, making
his way aft now. It was difficult, al
most perilous work in the intense dark
ness He could not see his hand in
front of him. and the barrels. bales
boxes and packages of all sizes and
shapes that were piled and packed to-
gether formed a surface so broken and
uneven that it could only be negotiated
/ by the sense of touch, and not always
| then with safety. Now his hand, feel
| irg out before him, would shoot down.
ward into nothlngneSS, as into a minia-
| ture abyss; now. struggling out of some
crevaSse. as it were, his head and shoul-
| 6erS would bump against a box or case
higher than its fellows and which either
must be climbed or detour made
around 1t. 1t was slow work, and III
the Suffocating hnat eXhausting,
For perhaps five minutes Peter
scrambled and crswled and fell. and
crawled on again--and then suddenly
he paused. Sounds came to him from
further aft, sounds like muff1ed voices
and then the sudden creaking of what
was perhaps a door being opened. a
door that yielded grudgingly. or perhaps
the straining of tightly wedged plank
ing as possible partition in a bulk
head was being removed.
Peter raised himself on his elbow.
peering in front of him over the top of
a huge packing case. Yes! There was
a light There was a way out then,
knew a swift rush of relief, a surge of
uplift-and then he caught his breath
in equally quick dismay. There was not
a light now; there were at least six or
seven-and they were all bobbing up
and down. Lanterns! For some rea-
son or other the hold was being invaded
by half dozen or more men.
His mind was working in quick, stab
bing flashes now. They were after
stores of some sort probably. But If
they found him! That would be the
end, wouldn't it?-the end of any
chance of reaching Marion.
The voices reached him now quite
distinctly-one in command The lam
terms began to spread out Jerk up and
down violently, as though their owners
were beginning to climb up and advance
over the cargo.
Peter instantly began to retreat.
There was only one chance for him.
and that was to hide: and the only
place that flashed into his mind as Of
fering him any chance on that score
was where, few yards back he re-
membered crawling over a number of
large bales that had been massed to-
gether. If he could worm his way in
between or under some OF those.
He was crawling, scurrying back in
almost frantic haste now. needless of
the slight noise that he made-the
groan Of bulkhead and timbers, the
ships noises, must take care of that.
And besides. the voices. drawing ever
nearer, were constantly shouting out to
one another and helped 10 drown out
any sound he made Over his shoulder
he saw the glimmer Of the lanterns. |
spread out from port TO Starboard. ad-
vanclng IN line Of dancing lights
He shut his teeth as the sweat poured
from him. Thank God. lantern did
not penetrate very deeply into the
shadows.
A minute more and ne had reached
the bales. He worked desperately TO
prize two Of them apart, and then. with
one loosened. the rest was compare
lively easy. owing 70 the light weight OF
the bales and the soft. yielding nature
OF whatever the material was they con-
tanned. He wriggled his way down be-
tween the two and then IN under one
Of them
He lay still now. He was quite safe,
ne felt. unless. by the most improbable
OF i'll luck, what the men with the Ian
terms were after happened TO be under
these particular bales or we're the bales
themselves. But he seemed 10 have
absolutely shut out from himself what
little air there was in the hold. and he
could breathe only with the greatest
difficulty.
He could see nothing, nor could he
near the voices now save in faint. all
most inaudible way, and then presently
ne felt a sudden weight upon him.
Some one was crawling over him. A
moment more and the pressure was
gone. Peter drew breath OF relief
They had passed on up toward the for
ward end Of the hold. It should be
safe now. until they came back, 10 push
the bales little farther apart, so that
he could get more air. and
PeterE jaws snapped together. His
hand, in the cramped space, fought its
way swiftly 70 his pocket and closed
upon his revolver Something had
| touched the sole Of his shoe and was
touching 1t again now--nudging 1t de-
| 1berately. II seemed
| And then Peter lay in amazement lis
tenlng 70 voice, voice that whis-
/ pered and came from just above his
/ head, as though the speakers lips were
al the opening between the two bales.
| is II in the sahibs mind that he Is
| an ostrich? II the sahib who wears
white shoes viii draw I'm his foot and
| viii make no sound, all will be we'll In
q little while. when the search lis over
/ Will return. Is II understood sahib?"
| 1t Is understood Peter answered in
a numbed, mechanical way.
! Peter drew IN his foot II must have
| been protruding slightly from the end
Of the bale. He. had had no means OF
knowing that. The bales had certainly
! seemed U be long enough. Perhaps he
F had disturbed their position more than
ne mad imagined when he had craWled
| underneath. His brain was chaotic
! WHAT did IL mean2 He had been
canght-and befFiended. Why7 Who
was this man, a native obviously, who
at least pretended 70 offer help2 Was
! y pfetenSe -triekery--natigc cunning?
konsensel The man need only have
shouted out his discovery and his COM
panions would have sYarmed around
MIN, What was the game, them But
equally, what was the good Of pro-
pounding unanswerable questions2 For
the time being he. Peter, had appar-
entity acquired an ally and was safe
but neveftheIess-Petef smiled grimly
low-ile did not propose 10 depend the
less on another ally, one wholly immune
from the possibility of duplicity which
he already possessed I'm the revolver
that Was gripped In his hand
A time that seemed interminable ~
Peter passed He gas no longer under