Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1936-12-11
CHAPTER 10

Sonia sighed Her body felt as II
she had been beaten with rods. Her
eyes kept shu t.ng of themselves. A
tear ran down her face as she allowed
them to place her in the boat. The
Baron coughed loudly.
''I'm very strcng," he said. Ill
ride the motorcycle. Get going!"
"Good idea, Baron!" replied Puy-
cassou. "You go ahead on the ma
chine. That will keep the young lady
quiet and she can sleep while we go
on by boat to our meeting place. If
you meet Narskine, hang onto him,
heh?"
clio, ho!" roared the Baron, throw
ing one leg over the motorcycle as the
boat, her engine purring, swung out
from the bank.
A man who as boy loafed around
the Marseilles waterfront, and sailed
a leaky cockleshell beneath the ram
parts of the Chateau DIFF, can handle
a boat on any river though it be full
of islands and the night pitch black.
"That beefy Baron!" Puycassou
thought. "He's worth an army!
Hmm, kids asleep now. Now, old boy
don't you drop off. Keep an eye open
and give her the gas. Well keep this
up till daylight"
Baron Otto hurtled like thunder
bolt through the night. There was
no danger of such man succumbing
to fatigue. He passed Kamychin be-
tween and in the morning, rushing
onward to meet the dawn. When the
sky paled in the East as he neared
Balyklei, he increased his speed to go
per hour, covering the stretch to Dou-
bovka with the zip of a meteor. A
few moments later, looking at the riv-
er, he smiled to himself.
A little ahead of him, in the middle
of the stream, small blue motorboat
glided downstream, the sound of it's
engine coming to him like the hum of
a bee.
Without losing sight of the little
craft, which he easily recognized as
the Hydra, he reached Tsaritsyn as
the bell were ringing o'clock. Tsar-
itsyn is rather important town. It
is the door to region more than half
savage, where Tartar villages are
scattered between the Volga and the
Yergheni hills.
Otto saw that the boat was STOP
ping. He sighed, having figured on
this. He had not expected to perform
a miracle and halt the Hydra in it's
course, but he had known that the trip
from Kazan to Astrakhan could not
be made without stops for fuel.
At in the morning Tsaritsyn was
very much asleep. So Baron Lilien-
thai watched the boat moor in a cor
ner Of the deserted harbor and Mar
jskine go ashore alone.
Heading towards the sea, Narskine
had only few more towns to pass, so
he must stop for provisions. He must
find a shop, rouse the owner and get
help to carry the supplies to the boat.
Narskine would be there for easily an
hour or more :. meanwhile his cap
tive would be unguarded.
It was true that the poor princess
must be careful not to show herself.
Her captor, no doubt, had told her he
was rescuing her. The proof was that
she had followed him without resis-
lance, choosing the lesser of two evils.
The Baron, after watching Narskine
walk off, approached the boat care
fully. He looked right and left, step
ped between two boats moored to the
wharf, and was about to board the Hy-
dra when he felt a hand tug at his
trousers.
It was Jean and Sir Herbert in the
next boat, motioning him to be silent.
They were lying beneath a tarpaulin.
The baronet moved his mouth nearer
Otto's ear.
"Sonia and Puycassou, where are
they?"
"Back up the river somewhere.
They'll be here in about nine hours.
They have a motorboat."
"Good! You stay here with JEAN
who knows my plans. leave Mar
skine in your care and no violence,
please. He may be a criminal, but
he's also my brother"
Finishing his speech, Sir Herbert
arose, leaped into the little blue boat,
cast off and took the wheel. The
motor parked few times, then chug-
ged steadily and the Hydra slid away
over the surface of the water.
The helmsman hesitated, consider
ing turning back up stream; then he
deliberately headed the craft for the
distant sea.