Browning chief. [volume] (Browning, Mont.) 1941-1953, 1941-04-11
Four Who Met A5 as s;;
copyrigh, 1910: BY News Syndicate Co, IL
IN TWO PARTS-PART TWO

This goes with the rest of it?"
Yes" said Luce.
How about me climbing over?" he
wondered. In case he tries any fancy
tricks"
GO ahead" nodded Luce. IF 1 bring
the kid out I'll whistle something
Yankee Doodle. Then you can join US
at the hotel"
IF you dont?'
III whistle Dixie instead. And wait
for you" Luce glanced around him.
THE coast looks clear. I'll give you
He stopped abruptly and chuckled
He had meant to say he would give
him boost, but already MacDougal
was up on the wall. He saw the young
skipper slide over and vanish. and
minute later Luce rang the front bell.
Inside the garden MacDougal heard
it, medium ring and, after pause.
longer one-like those hsrbor lights.
He felt his way cautiously past shrub:
Darkness. The fragrance of tropical
plants. Faint STRINGS of growth, even
though the sun now shone on lands
half around the world.
The captain stopped suddenly, see
ing a glow in the earth at his feet. He
smelled burning tobacco. A cigar still
alight! 1t had just been dropped, per-
haps when he scaled the top OF that
wall.
MacDougal turned quickly. But he
was too late. Before he could see who
was there in the dark, something
crashed hard on his head and he fell.
II was black where he lay in a
mingled stencil Of fish and of bilge. A
fragment of sky with few still stars
was all he could see through break
overhead. But he knew from the gentle
rocking motion, the tapping OF water
against the bends. that his lying place
was the hold of a boat.
this cppmnd like some
torturous dream. His wrists and his
ankles were tightly bound. His head
was afire. His throat felt parched;
But more disseminating even than
these was the thought OF a girl 70
whom, in truth, he had never so much
as spoken word. What had happened
to Mary? To judge by his own predica,
ment now, and he sailor accustomed
to nights in the far-flung ports, OF a
vicious world. she might well be III
serious danger.
Feet battered upon the deck above
him, MacDougal called out, but no one
answered. He heard the creaking OF
halyards in blocks. the Stating sound
of restless sails. Then the boat heeled
a bit as it got under way, and he
groaned when its bows began bucklng
the waves.
Time passed. 1t seemed hours-it was
only administrators the hatch was
opened wider and a flashlight shone on
his upturned face.
what the hell-?" he began, and a
voice rasped:
Il want some water" MacDougal de-
The light moved down to shine on
his ankles, inspecting the cord with
which they were bound, and again the
voice spoke its careful EngiEh: .,,;rs.
You will not be troubled by thirst
for long" l..
Then someone else began talking IN
Spanish. and the man turned his head
away from the hatch while words
passed back and forth between them.
But his hand still dangled the -lghteo
torch. Its beam started amnesty mere
and there as the boat pitched along
through resisting seas. MacDougal
kept following it with his eyes. FOR an
instant 1t shone on something brlght,
a jagged tin patch newly cut from
can-metal nailed on canvas 10 stop
small leak.
The light swung away and then
blinked out, and MacDougal was left
in the dark with his thoughts. Ihey
we're far from assuring: Nine words
stood out: You will not be trouoied
by thirst for long" Meaning what?
That MacDougal would soon be dead,
his body weighted down by an anchor
as it sank oversize to its grave IN the
sea?
This conviction grew as the minutes
dragged and the boat labored under IT'S
straining canvas. He tried once more
to loosen his bonds but they were TOO
well secured for that. :.
Then a light-the memory of it
returned and he saw once again the
crude tin patch rejecting the, beam
from a pocket torch. A lubberly JOB;
The rough jagged edge had been turned
up slightly along one end.
MacDougal kept shifting his position
until he had found the patch IN the
dark. Then began painfully awkward
maneuver to brace himself by means
of his feet while he brought his wrists.
Which we're tied behind him against
the biting sharp edge of the tin;
Thus he strained and struggled to
saw through the cord. One wrist be-
came raw. Both his hands were cut
deep Each time wave jolted the boat
he was jabbed.
But at last the cord slackened as a
coil of it parted. Heartened by this
he worked harder than ever. Vaguely
he knew that a gasoline engine had
Joined its power with that of the wind
to push the boat faster toward where
it was bound.
His hands fell free and MacDougal
Law back so exhausted that he could
only breathe. The tropical dawn burst
over the sea. AS its light came through
to the sinking hold he remembered to
put his handS DenlnQ HlIIl, 50 tldt eyes
might not see they were no longer tied.
He heard running feet on the deck
overhead. They were taking in sail, but
the engine still chugged. Some one
called in Spanish from way up for
ward, This hail was succeeded by fur
ried action. Shouted orders. The crew
going into reverse. And then the sound
Of a heavy cable rubbing against the
hull farther aft.
MacDougal sat up and united the
cord which was binding his ankles. He
took off his shoes. He still did not know
lust what he would do. Wait-that was
best-till those men quit running all
over the deck like pack of mad apes.
Gradually the furry subsidized. A
TAXI!
A taxi was creeping slowly through
hour traffic q nd