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

= coin at his side. "Liette," he whis-
pered. How ineffably dainty and pa
( trician! ooh, Liette-If only you
were within my reach"
He sighed-what business had he
to whom a mere ten thousand dollars
meant everything-to think of old
Lincoln's daughter? But as he crouch
ed cold and miserable in the dark
: ness, number Of forgotten happen
ings that betrayed the vanished girls
real self came back from his memory.
What rare, silent courage she had
shown at the time of Carnforth's
: murder-not cry beyond the first
r not whimper! Gradually, like an
, overwhelming tide came an apprecia-
ton of how inextricably the safety
( and future happiness of Liette Lin
: coin concerned his own. Ad so the
, hollow-cheeked pilot waited for the
, dawn, hoping against hope that the
witch doctor had indeed spoken truly
( when he said the sacrificial ceremony
= would take place not that, but the
4 following night.
All day long the pilot toiled with
a feverish energy that racked his
weary body to the verge of complete
E exhaustion. Ship after ship he scour-
ed, exploring endlessly, seeking those
: pieces of equipment he must have;
then, staggering back to the flying
f boat, laden with the spoils of his
S searching to begin tinkering and ar
: ranging an amazing series of braces,
S wires and switches.
In that same chart house in which
: he had spent the night, Struthers I'M
: expectedly found a box of articles
: that gave him a ray Of hope and joy.
with these" he muttered, "they'll-'
! Doggedly, he bent to his task once
g more while the scorching sun beat
e down and drew rivulets of perspira-
. ton from his face and body.
= Mistress Liette Lincoln, no longer
= clad in her faultlessly tailored black
. suit, lay a miserably huddled prison.
er on the floor Of small foul smell.
:. ing deck house built well forward OF
- the deck of long, very old schoon
er. She shuddered as the rough goa
- skin in which she was swathed, chat
/, ed her, filling her narrow, delicat'
+" nostrils with an unbearably stroni
animal odor, then for the thousandtl
. time that agonizing day, she glanced
: at the window and the door. Ono,
more her slender white shoulder
y shivered, for at each was the watchfu
y face of scowling hideously daubet
'e guard, each with brightly shining
axe held ready in his hands.
- From her fluent knowledge O.
# French the unhappy girl had been abb,
~ to gather enough words to give he
!, an inkling of the fate in store fol
:. her.
- When she had been hailed roughly
20 aboard, she had noted a great square
g of fire-blackened stones that formed
;s three-foot platform, perhaps fiftee1
- feet long and ten feet wide, reared
on the fore deck of the schooner
, Far too deeply sunk in her misery te
: give it another thought at the time
a realization of it's significance was
borne in upon her as from the prison
C she watched shining black young mer
! staggering up under huge arm loads
of wood.
4 She deliberately forbade herself to
!, entertain the least hope of rescue, il
6 was but to add to her torture. From
q where she lay she could everywhere
see armed, alert guards watching ov-
;, er the swarms of fierce red-eyed chill
! dren and the shapeless, shrill, abus-
\ ing women that were their slaves and
; wives. A large part of the cannibal
community evidently inhabited the
W big schooner and the nearest sur.
4 rounding ships.
q With the approach of darkness
9 Liette was conscious of an increased
q activity. Stealing glance down the
! deck she again beheld that great
- square of stone which in shape form
- ed rude altar. On the top of this
r had been placed, of all things an or
y binary kitchen table. but a table
! whose sturdy legs were dark with
dribbling splashes of age darkened
! spots. Around this gathered host
o of noisy, naked and pot-bellied chill.
dren to rub its surface tentatively
" and shrek with ear-piercing laughter
- among themselves.
= When twilight had fallen, bitter
\ acrid smoke came drifting back to the
\ noisome hutch in which Liette Lin.
= coin lay imprisoned.
y And this is the twentieth cen
). tury!" she whispered incredulously