The Bluffton news. [volume] (Bluffton, Ohio) 1875-current, 1942-03-19
Yes, Captain


THAT last is for you," Dick told
Karen. The wheel was kicking crazi-
ly, but he let go with one hand, and
pulled her close against him. Il
thought you might want to see the
ship that's bringing him in, out of
the south.
.'Out of the SOUTH" Karen repeat
ed; "out of the sea, out of the past
itself !"
You'll like him, Karen; I prom
ise you that
"You and I have so much to talk
about" Karen said. I'm terribly ca
ger to know more about my grand
father. I want to know where he's
been, and what he does, and how he
lives. want to know what he's
really like, and if you think he'll ap-
prove of me-
And" Dick said, ''why he dis
appeared, and hid his manner"
did he run from something,
Dick?"
"Only from his own pride. l un-
derstand it; | understand it WELL
But it's a little hard to explain to
quiet people, leading quiet lives"
Hard to explain?" she repeated.
mo, not to mel Even from what lit
tie know of him, do understand.
As if it had been myself"
He marveled a little at that. This
utterly feminine girl, with her finely
chiseled face and gentle small voice,
could show flashes of something
strangely reminiscent of Garrett
Waterson; as if the mountainous
and craggy fires of the old adven-
turer had perpetuated themselves in
thread of fine steel.
II can tell you most of the rest"
he said. ''I-"
Dick suddenly spun the wheel
hard over, and the Holokai waved
as the reef-rollers struck her in
the bottle-neck of the entrance; then
she steadied upon the easy swell of
the open sea.
Inyashi stepped forward, and Dick
turned over the wheel. 1--WE can go
below now, Karen. ! don't think a
whisky soda would do us any harm,
do you? l have some of the same
Scotch the British embassies use.
And something to eat?"
Below, he moved briskly about the
cabin, switching on more lights.
This door back here in the stern
is to my own cabin-pretty small,
but the only one there is. It's yours
while you want it; can sleep on the
settee. But"
1t suddenly occurred to him that
this was the first moment in which
they had been alone since he had
persuaded her to leave the Seal.
He turned and faced her, his eyes
gay. A hundred voyages among the
islands of little known seas had
brought him less adventure than he
believed belonged to him tonight.
For a moment she met his eyes
and her smile was shy, misty; he
had never seen her in this mood
before, with her defenses lowered
and the keen brilliance of her
glance shadowed and softened. "But
but" He forgot what he had
meant to say.
"But what?" she Knocked him. "If
you mean to suggest"
She stopped. Abruptly the smile
left her face, and the softness, to be
replaced by establishment and an ut
ter disbelief.
After his first split second of sur
prise he saw that she was looking
past him, and he whirled.
The door of the inner cabin had
opened, and Lilua was standing
there-Lilua, with half-clad body
and blazing eyes.
She stood very straight, swaying
with effortless balance to the lift
and tilt of the sea as only the Poly
nesians can. She was wearing moth
ing but wrapped skirt of tapa
cloth-not even a lei, or a blossom
in her hair to account for the odor
of ginger flowers that came subtly
into the cabin from the doorway
where she stood. The delicate but
full modelling of her cream-brown
body contradicted the childlike oval
of her face; and there was fire in
her eyes, and something suggestive
of volcano smoke in the pagan bush
of her hair about her shoulders. She
might have been the daughter of the
fire goddess, then.
She spoke straight to Karen: it
was as if she could not see Dick at
all.
"What are you doing here?"
There was appalling silence, filed
with the rush of the sea along the
ports. "Lilu', this is ridiculous-it's s
fantastic!"
"You stay out of this, Dick! It
isn't your fault-it's this woman.
You can't understand her because
you're man, but I understand her.
What she can't steal she'll destroy.
She'll eat the soul out of your body,
Dick-and then go back to John
Colt!"
"Be still!' Dick roared.
"I'l not be still! Send her
back to her own man. She has no
right here. This is not her place. "
Lilua was speaking to Karen, ig-
noring him again. Her voice was
quiet, in comparison to his; yet
somehow it cut his down, SO that he
stopped.
This is my man. You know that.
Why don't you go back to your
own? Do you have to have every
thing-the land, and the sea, and the
fish, and all the men in the world?"
For moment a terrible exaspera-
tion half blinded Dick Wayne. Some
thing that was worth more to him
than the breath in his teeth had been