The Waterbury Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1917-1946, 1940-04-10
CHAPTER XII

The weather became rougher as
they nosed north past Cape Hag-
gerty. 1t was a dull, laden dawn that
broke over the Pacific, and Val no.
ticed through the portfolio that 1t
was impossible to penetrate the mist
for more than rs feet. Steve Han
sen must have been on the bridge
all night, she figured.
When she stepped outside her
cabin the wind almost Knocked
her fiat. Gratefully, she grabbed
one Of the lines that had been
strung along the deck for support.
It was treacherous, slippery going
and every time the bow OF the
Northern Belle pitched deep into a
eavernous trough of water, Val
had to stop and hang on grimly.
She virtually had to fight her
way up the bridge. Hi, Stevle,"
she greeted Hansen. Mice day to
fly q kite, what?"
you ought to go below and stay
there" he answered. This Is un-
usually dirty weather for this time
O. year and I don't like it, nohow.
No sir, I don't"
Val looked up into the sky.
Looks like we're going to have a
lot of water above and below us
pretty soon"
"More'n might be good for us, "
he muttered. THE barometer has
been droprin' like ton O. lead.
Tell you what you do, honey.
Have Wong Lee send me up a pot
O. coffee and a couple sandwiches
and have Barney MacGregor see
that everything's ship-shape in the
hold. Might anchor that mining
gear a little more too. Can't afford
to have any of that stuff break
loose"
She bumped into Pop Grimes
coming up the companionWay.
"How's Kelso getting on?" she ask
ed.
Fop grinned. "Sick as ever. He
sWears We'v been half way
around the world by now. I tell
IllII IL Oll1y UCCIl AOAA NoJo' o"AAN
he calls me a liar"
We'll be in Prince Rupert to-
morrow night. Maybe thatll cheer
him up," she said. "And you car
also tell him I received a wire
from our San Francisco Office
They've persuaded the boxing
commission to rescind their order
on that $4,000 bond. That ought tt
bring him right out of his bunk"
When Barney MacGregor took
Mike Kelly, Eddie Cavalier ano
another man down in the hold she
went along with them. She
watched silently as they threw
more ropes around the mining
gear and secured everything
tightly.
"Where do you go from here?'
she asked Eddie after few min
utes.
Back to the galley, of course
Wong says he can't release d. me
until you give him the word"
IT can't do that" she replied
somewhat impishly. Be bad fol
discipline and general morale. But
I will give you a hand, though
C'mon."
She was opening can of aspar.
agus when the ship lurched heav-
ily. 1t threw her off balance
slightly, but just enough to strike
her finger across jagged edge Of
tin.
Eddie helped her bandage the
wound. She WINGED as he bathet
the cut in iodine.
Anyway" she murmured. "Thi!
ought to be proof"
proof? OF what?"
She held up the finger. Blood,
she said succinctly. "Not ink. Re
member"
He nodded. "You sure do gair
your points the hard way, though
And before I forget - thanks TO.
getting your Office to square tina
forfeit bond for us. You didn'
have to, you know"
Forget it" she said.
But Eddie Cavalier found h,
couldn't forget it-completely. Twic'
he caught himself looking up at he
when she wasn't aware of it. Their
was something disturbing about tn
set of her blond, curly head. He hat
seen a lot more beautiful women
but he couldn't recall one with a
much spark.
She was the kind of girl, Eddi
thought, who probably had
dozen or more guys cluttering VI
her doorstep. Guys with a lot o
dough and a lot Of spare time t.
spend it. Guys who played pole
maybe, and belonged to two o