Worcester Democrat and the ledger-enterprise. (Pocomoke City, Md.) 1921-1953, 1937-02-12
CHAPTER VIII

"come by hundreds. Never was such
a great ju-ju-beautiful white she
goat without horns. Ale. Aie.-Come
my children. Two blood offerings-she
and-"his blazing eyes suddenly met
those of the amazed pilot, while he
extended quivering claw-like finger
in a gesture of deathless hatred
land thou. Thou Of those our faith
ers slew! You, too, die-die tomor-
row night-you not escaped"
Very abruptly the CLEAN faded
from those hollow, predatory eyes and
the savage, relaxing suddenly fell ov-
er sidewise, the necklaces swinging
free of his chest swaying gently in
the sunset light.
Struthers never saw 1.-THE witch
doctors broken narrative held too
much impending terror and disaster.
Poor-poor Liette. At this same mo-
ment she was being paved, prodded
and gloated over by the canibals in
habiting the long ship.
For a moment he hesitated on his
course of action; then stopped and
swiftly stripped the corpse of its taw-
dy jewelry and regalia-these he care
fully set aside with a definite pur-
pose in mind. Then shuddering in re-
pulsion, he gathered the paint smead-
ed body in his arms. 1t was unbe-
lievably heavy, requiring all his
strength to bear it to the rail.
With a quick heave he swung the
feet, decked with anklets of clotted
fur, over the rail; then hastily drop
ed the corpse to that narrow strip OF
water between the two ships. Fol
a long moment the weed supported the
dead man whose CLASSY, open eyes
leered up at Struthers in a final ex.
preston of mockery; then slowly the
dead mans weight forced the yellev
masses of vegetation apart.
Once back on the lie de Tarasco1
Struthers deliberately made himself
sit down in the midst of that wildly
disordered cabin still pervaded b,
the indefinable aura Of Liette Lin
coins exquisite personality. II,
caught a glimpse Of himself in tn,
mirror and was shocked to see wha
a dirty, haunted, unshaven creatur
he had become. In his weary brail
burned the thought that he mus
somehow save Liette Lincoln from tn
incredibly terrible fate of a voodo
sacrifice offering.
Scene by scene his mind went bacl
over the various incidents that had oc
Cured since the flying boats force
landing.
"Now," he said aloud, cycling hi
untouched cigaret, "when that vito
doctor spoke of an almost island h
meant, of course a peninsula-pres
que-ile. The shore line is very ir
regular-but long boat with six fin
gers-?' He paused a momen
puzzling over the problem; then de
decided that the others weird prose
eology was a description of a six
masted schooner. "What was tina
country's name? Ait-ie!-Haiti" I
was suddenly all quite clear-th'
French, the slave population. "Mus
have been during the massacre O.
the French in Haiti at the end of thu
18th century! Of course, of course
those black devils couldn't navigate
when they ran away-they were help
less; so, they just got carried dowr
into the Sargasso Sea-"
Bit by bit Struthers' capable. brair
reconstructed the probable history o!
that great slave-seized ship. He coult
see her decks swarming with blood
bathed slaves of all ages and boil
sexes eager to escape Napoleon.
avenging troops. Helpless to manage
the ship, but finding sufficient pro
visions aboard, they must have drift
ed down to the MINDLESS area of the
Sargasso Sea.
Once arrived at the wreck pack
they had evidently made no attemp
to return to the outer world. Tn,
imprisoned ships, had held ample pro
vender for this strange colony.
Tense, on the lookout for suddel
attack, the pilot returned once NOR
to the Spanish brig with the intention
of retrieving the witch doctors taw
dry finery. Though he found tn
headdress greasy and malodorous
Struthers, mastering his repulsior
donned tin passing curiosity h
glanced at the heavy necklaces o
bright stones, obviously glass-too hi
to be anything else. These and tn
bracelets he added to his sketchy dis
guise. Then, barefooted for the SAX
of greater noiselessness he starte
off through the gathering gloom i
that direction where he had previous
lv noted the fan of red light agains