Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-10-06
-vO dine on the veranda of the Marine
Hotel is the one delightful surprise
which Port Charlotte affords the ad-
yenturer who has broken from the

Hotel is the one dengnClul surprise
which Port Charlotte affords the ad-
yenturer who has broken from the
customary paths CT travel in the
South Seas On an eminence above the town,
solitary and aloof like a monastery and deep
IN its garden Of lemon trees, 1t commands a
wide prospect Of sea and sky. BY day, the Pa
cific is vas: stretch of blue, fiat like floor,
with q blur Of distant islands on the horizon
ahief among them Muloa, with its single vol
canic cone tapering off into the sky. At night,
this smithy of Vulcan becomes a glow OF red,
throbbng family against the darkness, ca
PRECIOUS and Suien bacon, imHeasuraoiy re
moved from the path Of men. Viewed from
the veranda of the Marine Hotel, its vast fiale
on the horizon seems hardly more than an in
significant spark, like the glowing cigar end OF
some guest strolling in the garden after dinner.
It may very likely have been my lighted cigar
that guided Eleanor Stanleigh to where ] was
sitting in the shadows. Her uncle, Maj. stan
leigh, had left me few minutes before and !
was glad of the respite from the queen busi-
ness he had involved me in. The two OF us
had returned that afternoon from Muloa, where
had taken him in my schooner, the Sylph to
seek out Leavitt and make some inquiries
very important inquiries, it seemed, in Miss
Stanleigh's behalf.
Three days In Muloa, under the shadow OF
the grim and flame throated mountain, while
I was forced to listen to Maj Stanleighs per-
sisent QUESTIONABLE and Leavitt's cratic and
garrulous responses-all this as I was to dis
cover later, at the instigation OF the majors
niece-had made me frankly curious about the
girl.
had seer her only once and then at dis
lance across the veranda one night when I
had been dining there with FRIEND but that
single vision of her remained vivid and unfor-
gettable-a tall girl of a slender shapeliness.
crowned by mass of reddish-gold hair that
OH fao o1iV We nal
skin
With that fiawless and brilliant coloring she
was marked for observation-had doubtless
been schooled to a perfect indifference to 1t,
for the slow, almost indolent grace OF her move
ments was that of woman coldly unmndfui
of the gazes lingering upon her. She could not
have been more than 26 or u, but I got an
unmistakable impression of WEAKNESS or baked
purpose emanating from her in spite of her
youth and glorious physique. looked up to see
her crossing the veranda to join her uncle and
aunt-corect, wen-to-do English people that
one placed instantly-and my stare was only
one of many that followed her as she took her
seat and threw aside the light scarf that
Swathed her bare and cleaning shoulders.
MY companion, who happened to be the edi-
AVA tor of the local paper, promptly in
formed me regarding her name and previous
residence-the gist of some social item" which
he had already put into print; but these meant
nothing and could only wonder what had
brought her to such an out-of-the-way part OF
the world as Port Charlotte. She did not seem
like girl who was travelling with her uncle
and aunt one got rather the impression that
she was bent on a mission of her own and was
dragging her relatives along because the con-
ventions demanded it. I hazarded to my COM
panion the notion that woman like Miss
Stanleigh could have but one of two purposes
in this lonely part of the world-she was fleeing
from lover or seeking one.
I'm that caSe," rejoined my friend, with the
cynical shrug of the newspaper man. "She has
very promptly succeeded. It's whispered that
she is going to marry Joyce-of Malduna Island.
you know. Only met him fortnight ago. Quite
a romance I'm told
She was endeavoring to get trace of a man
named Farquharson, as I was permitted to learn
few days later. Ostensibly, it was Maj. STAN
leigh who was bent on locating this young Eng
hshman-Miss Stanleighs interest in the quest
was guardedly withheld-and the trail had led
them pretty chase around the world until some
clew, which never clearly understood, brought
them to Port Charlotte. The majors immc-
date objective was an eccentric chap named
Leavitt who had marooned himself in Muloa.
The island offered an ideal retreat for one bent
on stunning his own kind, if he did not object
to the close proximity of FESTIVE volcano.
Clearly, Leavitt did not. He had scientific
interest in the phenomena exhibited by vol
canic regions and was versed in geological lore,
but the rumors about Leavitt-practically no
one ever visited Muloa-did not stop at that.
And as Maj. Stanleigh and were to discover
the fellow seemed to have developed genuine
affection for Lakalatcha as the smoking cone
was called by the natives Of the adjoining is
lands. From long association he had come to
know its whims and moods as one comes to
know those of petulant woman one lives with
Leavtt as a source Of information regarding
the missing Farquharson seemed prepoSterout