Brownsville herald. [volume] (Brownsville, Tex.) 1910-current, 1930-02-23

illAA ~ 4Co<cQAA nAA0ACNNA W lAAAAAh
his love may be returned. AS for
Rex, I'll tell you just as ! told him
that night mn the taxi: AS long as
I can't have you myself there isn't
another man in the world I would
as soon see have you as himl"
ITS awfully sweet OF you, Frank,
10 say thati" returned Pat. her
voice husky with emotion. II can
we'll understand now what Rex
meant when ne said you were the
kind OF a square-shooter and man
that made a man proud Of being
q mani"
AS Pat was engaged during the
ten minutes she haA stood in her
stateroom before going for her stroll
"all alone" so was Rex during
about the same length OF time in
the apartment on the opposite side
Of the cabin occupied by Jimmy
and himself.
Sleep, however, was one Of Rex's
pet vacations. Perfect health and a
clear conscience were the two re-
quisiteS he possessed in abundance.
Added to these now was serene con-
tentment. the JOY OF knowing the
dearest girl in the world cared
enough for him to be his wife. His
wife! Rex thrilled. Certainly Is a
glorious kick In that thought" he
soliloquized.
He turned and looked down at
the sleeping Jimmy. In whatever
way the latter might be lacking Il
was not in the ability to sleep.
He's much like me in that re-
spect." muttered Rex. and then he
chuckleo. He never had heard. he
told himself, his sense of humor
being touched at the thought. that
a high quality Of brain power wa
strictly essential to the perfect
sleeper" Ten minutes later he. too.
was rambling through Elysien fields.
hand in hand with Pat.
The crashing roar Of a d~eafening
stunning explosion which must have
lifted the yachts stern entirely out
Of water. was frightful. appalling,
coming as 1t did when nearly every
body was asleep. The plunge and
roll of the vessel threw everyone Of
Pats party out of his or her berth
with a force that rendered two tenn
porarily unconscious. Rex ballard
was one of these. II was fully ten
minutes before he recovered suffi-
GENTLY to begin even 10 think.
Dallard's first real understanding
OF matters came when he heard Pats
voice and a knocking at his state
room door. He opened the door at
once.
His still whirlin- senses enabled
him to distinguish Pat. Margerv and
Lucy. Aunt Lottie and Capt Ice, All
were fully dressed. the girls and
Aunt Lottie in their most servicable
clothing and the Captain in his reg
ulation white flannel uniform. Rex
began 10 realize then that he had
been unconscious.
"Jimmv?" quavered Pat. her voice
shaking with apprehension. "is he
hurt?"
Whatever else the explosion had
done H. had not affected the yachts
lighting system. Rays from the
cabin poured into the room disclos-
ing teh body Of Jimmy lying inert
on the floor. With a little CRY Pat
darted forward and knelt down, rails
ing his head on her knee.
4 b-uise on the right temple from
which a trickle Of blood slowly oozed
accounted for his in~sensibility. But
he was breathing with perfect rcgu-
larty, so he would probably come 10
IN a few minutes 1t was decided.
What has ~haPpened?" queried
Rex. still half daZed as Pat rose and
stepped back out Of the room, The
captain answered him.
"A very serious explosion. Mr.. Dali
lard" he said. IN explain while
you arc dressing. AT the same time
I'll be getting Miss Blair's brother
dressed. for we don't know as vet
how seriously the ship is damaged. I
left Mr.. johnson, the first officer. TO
attend 10 matters on deck. and the
first engineer Is TO investigate the
cause and result of the explosion"
He had entered the stateroom
while speaking. and as Rex began 10
dress he started putting Jlmmys
clothes ON him.
It'll be daylight in a few min
utes." he continued. That accounts
for me being awake when the ex-
plosion occurred. I had intended TO
weigh anchor at daybreak and was
lust on the point Of rising to dress
The plunge Of the yacht didn't get
me I'D forward a. 1t did you back
here. for the explosion took place
In the l~azarette." He paused for an
instant. Then: 1T was no accident.
Mr.. Dallard!" he went on. his voice
weghtd with ~portntous severity. ~
was the result Of a dastardly plot,
and I'm very much afraid that sew
eral men I trusted were implicated
as well as that deck hand We locked
M. Mr.. Paulson. I think Is the man
mostly 10 blame. He released that
fellow, I'm cehtain. The engineer Is
in the lazarette now. investigating.
I'm confident It was a dynamite
bomb. probably an internal machine
set to EXPLODE at a given time.
"As I VIZ, h%urrying into my clothes
immediately following the explosion
I heard a sound like the exhaust oil
a motor boat. But my room Is on the
port side and the motor boat was on
the starboard side. So I had 70 wait
70 get dressed to take a look. When
I did get out on deck the motorooat
was sixty yards from the yacht and
going Al a speed Of twenty miles an
hour, I counted eleven heads. the
five deck hands. Paulson. the two
oilers. the two walters and the por-
fer. They must have been rounded
nm bv Paulson. all Of them, Just be-