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A Pom ance 01
6y RANDALL PAPPI5H
AUTHOR oj flYLADr' cj theNORTH, ' DAID oflhe FOREST/' ETC
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SYNOPSIS.
F
I
CHAPTER I—Robert Hollis, one-time
tea captain, who tells the story, Is a
guest on Gerald Carrington's yacht, Es
meralda. It Is supposed to be a "stag"
party and Hollis la surprised on discover
ing a woman, who evidently wishes to re
main unknown, aboard.
CHAPTER II- Hollis, the next night,
succeeds In having an Interview with the
woman. She merely tells him her name
la Vera.
CHAPTER III—Carrington tells his
guests of the coming war, and that he
Is engineering a copper jfool.
CHAPTER IV—The yacht is sunk In a
collision and Hollis saves McCann, mil
lionaire, and one of the party.
CHAPTER V—Hollis and McCann res
cue Vera and leave the ship In a small
boat.
CHAPTER VI—Hollis and Vera become
friendly, though he la unaware ot her
Identity.
CHAPTER VII—McCann refuses to sub
mit to Hollis' authority, and the latter
enforces It.
CHAPTER VIII—The castaways are
Sighted by a ship, the Indian Chief, which
takes them aboard.
CHAPTER IX—The Indian Chief has
recently been struck by lightning and is
almost a wreck. All the officers are dead.
Hollis meets the owner, who tells him
the vessel has a cargo of ammunition,
consigned to the German government.
CHAPTER X —Hollis consents to take
charge of ship and continue voyage Vera
recognizes an old friend In Robert
Bascom, owner of the Indian Chief.
Bascom and McCann are deadly ene
mies.
vn«r TER XI—Dissatisfaction among
the crew quickly develops, and Hollis
•elects his officers.
CHAPTER XII McCann wants to retu
to New York, and tries to corrupt crew,
CHAPTKR XIII—Hollis finds himself
Torced to confine McCann to a cabin.
CHAPTER XIV— Vpra and Hollis agree
that for Rascom's sake the ship most bo
taken to Its destination. Hollis learns that
Yura Is Gerald Carrington’s daughter.
'CHAPTER XV—Tha crew. realWng
danger of capture by allied warships,
•vlnce disinclination to continue voyage.
CHAPTER XVI—leaders of the crew
warm Hollis and make him a prisoner.
CHAPTER XVII—In a fight with the
mutineers Hollis Is badly hurt. On recover
ing consciousness he realties that he must
submit, though, being the only navigator
on board, he Is In position to make lerms
with McCann. He la made a prisoner.
CHAPTER XVIII—Vera pretends to
agree to Mi Csnn's plans, to Ilollts’ won
der.
"CHAPTER XX—McCann succeeds In
deceiving commander of warship, which
goes on Its way. Hollis la recaptured.
CHAPTER XXI—Vera and Holiis reach
understanding by which they will outwit
McCann.
CHAPTER XXII — Vera acknowl
edges her love for Hollis. McCann,’
Ilollts, "Liverpool Red.” and the lead
ers of the mutiny have a conference.
"CHAPTER XXIII-Hollis realizes that
McCann and his followers are preparing
to abandon the ship.
CHAPTER XXIV—Vera releases Hollis
and he frees the men loyal to him, who
had been confined by McCann.
'CHAPTER XXV McCann seeks to
compel Vera to go with him In the small
boat, but the girl Is rescued by Hollis.
McCann and his followers escape.
'CHAPTER XXVI—Hollis and the f#w
men who remained loyal successfully
navigate the ship through a storm. They
overtake the vessel’s boats, In extrema
peril.
"CHAPTER XXVII—McCann and his fi'l
lowers. after agreeing to recognize Hollis’
authority are allowed the freedom of
the ship. Dubois, a sailor, Is found
murdered, stabbed from behind.
"CHAPTER XXVIII Efforts to ascer
tain Who was the slayer of Dubois re
sult In the conviction that there Is a
maniac aboard. Another man Is found
dead, and all realize Bascom. who can
not be found, Is the murderer.
CHAPTER XXIX.
t >1 -,
The Work of a Fiend.
In spite of what I know; of the hor
ror and tragedy I had Just left behind;
the unspeakable terror of feeling that
somewhere aboard, hidden In some
blaek eomer, lurked an Irresponsible
being, with murder In his crazed brain;
0 being devoid of all Impulse, save the
frenzy of bate, the desire for destruc
tion, yet the sight of that cool, silent
deck, already darkened by the gath
ering shadows of night. Instantly
calmed me, and brought back my pow
ers of reasoning. The man was not
aft; then he must be forward. It was
impossible to hide long on shipboard In
the face of an Intelligent search. Of
one thing I wns decided—If the fellow
had, Indeed, succeeded In slipping for
ward unobserved, he wns never to be
permitted to return aft again unseen.
1 would, first of all. see to It that the
decks were guarded, and then the rest
of us would hunt him In his hole.
“White, you remain here In front of
the cabin, and keep your eyes open.
Don’t let a shadow get past you aft;
you understand?'
“Aye, sir."
“Give me the lantern. There Is no
knowing what that fellow- may do; he
might fire the ship, or wreck the en
gines, unless we get him In time.”
“You think he's forward, sir?”
“Where else can he be? I’ll put an
other man at the mainmast, and then
run him down."
Leayord, attracted by the gleam of
the lantern, leaued out over the poop
rail.
“Thut you, captain? Uave you got
Bascom yet?"
“No; he has managed to escape, and
get forward, but not without leaving
another victim behind. Tony Itupello
Is dead In the stokehole."
“The bloody villain}. How did he
ever get out of there?”
"Which is more than T can figure
out; stole on deck, probably, and thru
slipped along in the rail shadow.
I Where is McCann?”
‘Must gone forward to tix the rid In'
! lamps.”
"All right; sing out to him to keep
his eyes on the deck. There doesn’t
seem to be a great deal of wind or
"•ea, Mr. I.eayord; In you imagine Miss
! Carrington could hold the wheel for
hjilf an hour?”
"I don't see no reason why she
; shouldn’t, sir; I've seen her do it in
worse weather.”
“Then ask her. •please; I'm likely to
, need both of you if we round up that
J fellow. He’S crazy and armed, and sure
; to tight hard. Plek up any weapon you
car. find, and come down here.”
They were beside me almost instant
ly, eagerly questioning as to what had
occurred below, their faces expressive
of the deep horror both felt at the situ
ation In which we found ourselves. Co
der other conditions- 1 know I should
have felt sincere sympathy for the sud
denly stricken P.aseom. His former
friendship with Vera, what I knew of
his misfortunes, the very conception
of the man's character which 1 had
formed myself during our brief nc
qunintance on board, :i!l tended to
make the man an object of pity. The
murders ho had committed were hut
tlie result of a diseased hraln. the sud
den snapping of responsibility. ]
could not hate the man. or seek him
evil—but I could dread hint. That was
the whole of it—dread! li re was a
man crazed, murderously Insane,,who
had safely tasted blood, whose insan
ity had been caused by fear, and brood
ing over a great wrong. In Ids disor
dered brain a mad. desperate desire for
revenge laid overshadowed all else. To
ddain this no deed was impossible, no
crime too hideous. And this creature
was hidden somewhere between decks,
and. unless discovered and made cap
live, held in his hands the fate of every
soul on hoard. The thought of what he
might do during the black darkness of
the night terrorizes! me. At any cost
we must have him within our control;
we dare not even wait to hope that the
man might reveal himself—we must
go after him, crawling in the dark,
feeling within crevice and cavity, uutil
we uncovered his hiding place.
T explained this quickly to Ihe two
men. hiding none of my own fear, but
making them comprehend the des
perate need of thorough and eeaseles
-march. The look on tln ir faces evi
lenced that my words bad gone home
‘‘He’s forward, sir; that’s clear
■noneh ” insisted T.cavord. “We’ll nab
the fellow Iti^the fo’castie yonder ac
cordin’ to my notion. What do yer say,
Red?”
“That’s how I lay it out,” coincided
the big sailor, clinching and unclinch
lng his hunda. ‘‘He sure ain’t aft; thar
am t no way 1 know now no (nuiu gn
Into the hold with the lintcheB down;
so thar ain’t nothin’ left except the
fo'castle, an’ the forepeak. We’ll find
the cuss thur all right, sir.”
Their confidence had Its effect on
me.
“Good; White and McCann will
guard every Inch of the deck, while we
take the forecastle first. Itriug the lan
tern, Leayord.”
The door was two-tlilrds shut, and
we slid it wide open to gain entrance,
feeling our way cautiously down the
steps. The place had never been a
sea-parlor, but now, deserted by the
crew. It presented as dismal a scene, in
the dim light of the lantern, as ever l
put my foot Into. The air was find
with bilge-water, while rotting gar
ments hung to the beams above, or
were strewn along the deck. The shad
ows were grotesque and hideous, and
much of the space was cluttered up by
discarded seu boots, battered #chests
nnd miscellaneous riffraff which the
men had left behind in their flight. I
stopped at the foot of the steps, but
Leayord and Red udvunced to the tier
of bunks, the former lifting the lan
tern, while the latter took survey with
I Stopped at the Foot of the Steps.
In each. We found no trace of Hu.s
coiy, bu{ at thut I_was glad enough to
Ik* back again on the open deck, breuth
i big In tin* fresh night uir. It was like
, a tonic.
The paintroom and the forepeak
came next, and I explored the latter
i myself, as there was scarcely room in
the narrow space for even one to creep
about. llishing the lantern before me,
! every nerve singing like a copfiw wire.
I crawled out at last, dripping with
perspiration, and as black as though I
| had been for half a day in the coal
hole. To Leayord's inquiries 1 could
i only shake my head.
"Weil, sir," he said obstinately, “I'm
a sailonnan, but I never did believe in
glioiis, an' 1 ain't a-goin' fer ter believe
in ' in now. It warn't no spooks what
diti this job. ‘litis yere Itascoiu was a
sure enough liuuinu 1 lie last time 1 put
eyes on him, an' 1 don't reckon lies
• 'huugoft mu‘ li since, Yept maybe in liis
line o' hrains; do you, sir?"
"lie's (lesh and blood, all right, if
that is what you mean; only insanity
makes them cunning.'*
“ I hut s what I sed to Red here while
you was crawling ’round in the foro
I'eak, lappin’ tip bilge-water. lie reck
oned it might o’ bin a ghost a doin'
these things; hut 1 claimed tliot giiosts
don't shove knives into sailormen;
leastways i never heard o’ none that
did. So it naturally stands to reason,
I sir, that this bloomin’ lunatic is still
• iiiHiaru Miiurwuerr.
lie leaned forward, striking one hand
i on Hip other to better express his argu
! meiit. I was thinking, paying little at
[ tention to his words, m.v eyes un
, I'oiiseiotislv viewing ttie ship aft. The
j deck was so wrapped in gloom that
| outside the radius of our lantern I
'•oilId perceive no movement, not even I
determine the presence of tie* two men
left on guard. The two masts, with
their heavy spars, east nil below into
dense shadow, but beyond, on the poop,
the faint rays of the binnacle lamp re
tlooted softly on the face of the girl at
'he wheel, making her appear almost
■ is it vision. The sight for an instant
fascinated me.
“Ain't thet so, sir?’’
“Why. yes I.eayord; 1 am unable to
see it any other way—but where?”
“Well, there ain't but one place
aboard unexplored, sir. Hanged if I
know how he ever got there, but lie’s
either there, overboard, or aloft; or
else I've got to take off my hat to Red
here, jin' acknowledge it's a real ghost
we've got aboard the old hooker.”
“The cargo hold?"
“Aye. aye; I'm fer takin’ off the
hatches, and letting a man or two creep
down there; we’ve got to And out
where that devil Is.”
There was no answering his logic,
and a determination to complete the
job was already in my own mind.
“Opt the tarpaulin out of the way,
Liverpool,” I said sharply, throwing
the lantern where the light was need
ed. "Cut It loose, man; don’t waste
time with the lashings; there’s plenty
of spare nnnvas In the sailroom. What’s
stowed first below, Mr. I.eayord?”
“That’s the devil of It, sir.” he re
plied soberly. “I never told you. for I
didn’t see no cause. There was a lot
o’ boxes come on board, sir, maybe a
thousand of 'em, the ends clamped with
iron, an’ they was almighty heavy. -We
had to load ’em with tne aomtey en
gine. an’ most of ’em were dumped In
Jlst below the main hatch."
“I >n you know what they contained?"
“Mr. Itascom told me they was army
stoves, sir, and maybe he thought they
was, fer he seemed sure about it ; hut
along at the last the hook slipped off j
one of them, an' the box dropped about
thirty feet, smashin’ the whole end iu
—It was plumb full o’ loaded shells.”
“Loaded shells?”
“That's what; there was powder
enotmh scattered about there ter blow
the whole ship to Hades an’ back.”
“No doubt other explosives are
aboard. The greater reason for us to
lay hands on Baseoin. Take hold
there with Red and help rip up that
tarpaulin; now get the point of this j
capstan bar under the hatch clos
ings; here’s your lever—It'll take the
weight of the three of us to move the f
Iron—now. heave ho!”
We heal to It, exerting every ounce j
of strength, encouraged by the fuct I
that the heavy hutch yielded to our
combined effort, and began to move, to j
lift over the grooves, and shove hnck
slightly. With no other thought but to
gain opening enough for another Inser
tion of the lever, we bent to the tnsk.
Something caught, rendering the great
iron lid Immovable.
“White,” I called, “come over here,
nnd give us a hand.”
I heard him patter across the deck
In his bare feet, hut before he reached j
the bar. the fellow stopped, staring at
| the narrow opening, nnd sniffing like a
; pointer dog,
“Lay hold!" I called out angrily.
“The weight Is breaking our backs.”
“Put there’s fire below, sir,” he
roared excitedly. “That’s smoke a
rlsln' out the hatch—the cargo's afire!"
I saw it now, nnd so did Ked, and the
mate—a thin, circling vapor barely per
ceptible in the night, curling up
through the hole we had succeeded in
forcing. For an instant I hardly knew
it ns smoke, but the fresh draught of
air had already worked Its miracle,
and the wisp thickened as I stared Into
a threatening black coll, durtlng up
ward Into our very faces. I dropped
upon my knees, shading my mouth ns
best I might, nnd sought to peer down
Into the black void between decks.
Away forward a red eye winked out of
the darkness, then another, and a third.
I leaped to my feet, realizing there was
no hope, nothing we could do hut get
away alive—and, If we were even to do
this, every second was worth a king’s
ransom.
“She’s afire forward!” I exclaimed,
striving to control my voice. “That Is
where the fellow was. nnd he’s don#
the 3°h; there’s no stopping her now."
i “There's plenty hose forward.”
For the Blue-Jackets
Our boys in the Navy enjoy their Bevo. The Navy De
partment has put its official seal of endorsement on this
triumph in soft drinks, by allowing it to be sold and served
on all Naval Vessels.
Ashore or afioat, you will find Bevo a palate-pleasing,
refreshing and nutritious beverage.
Just the thing to take along for sail or cruise—auto trip
or camp and for the ice-box at home.
Bevo—the all-year-’round soft drink
Bevo is sold in bottles only, and is bottled exclusively by
anheuser Busch- St. Louis
RITCHIE ( ROGER CO.
Wholesale Dealers Lb DORADO, ARK.
Y
“But the donkey engine Is not con
nected, and we dare not take chances
with all those explosives below. Heav
ens, man. we may go sky high any sec
ond. Don’t stand talking: get over the
dinghy. It’s the only boat we have:
haul her aft and §wlng her to these
falls below the after-hatch—that will
give us a chance to get away, jierhnps.
.Tump now, the three of you. No! wait'
lied and Leayord can rig the boat, and
I'll give you a hand when you hook j
on. McCann, get a beaker of water In, I
ami some biscuits, we’ll have no lime i
for anything else. Hurry men! there's
flame breaking through now!”
There was; a red serpent, sticking,
Its ngly head up the hatch opening, the
ghastly light glimmering In our faces, j
The men seemed fairly paralyzed at
tills sudden outburst of new horror, but
T drove them, even using hands and
feet In my mad desire for action.
"Aft with it now—aft with it. All
will be a mass of flames amidshlp In
five minutes. Ts there water In that
keg. McCann? Then throw It in!—non
the biscuits. Miss Carrington—Vera !“
“Yes, Captain Hollis.”
“Can you hold to the wheel a few
moments longer?—till I come for you?"
“Yes.”
“Call down the tube to the engine
room: tell Masters and Olson to come
mi deck at once—ns quick as they can
foot the ladder."
“Yes, sir."
The cool quietness of her voice
calmed me as though she had pressed
her hand on my brow In fever. I
sprung to the help of the others, as
sisted to hook the light dinghy onto
and swung it outward over the rail.
The flame streaming up the main-hatch
by this time gave us light enough, and
helped hurry our movements. T saw
Masters and Olson emerge from the
shaft, stare at the red glare, and run
toward us. I have n vague Impression
that McCann hurst out of the compan
ion, n hag of sea-biscuits In tils arms,
and flung It Into the stern-sheets of the
dinghy. He must have done so, for
later the biscuits were there. But It
was Impossible to think of these things,
to see clearly, to realize just what was
happening. Every second I expected
the ship's deck to rend asunder under
our feet, blowing every human being
aboard into atoms.
“Overhaul those pulleys, Leayord;
no, we’ll load at the rail, and lower the
boat itself—are there oars? that’s if:
stow ’em. Olson, to the wheel with
you; take a couple turns about It with
» rope’s end, and help the girl down.
Over the side Red, and Ship the tiller:
now lads, over with you. Masters, you
and Leayord lay hold of the ropes—
don’t lost vonr heads now and lower
too fast. Here, Red, help the lady;
step quick, dear; yes, I’ll come—are
you all in? now where’s McCann?’’
(c ontiuued Next Week, j
Begin your gardening and help
reduce the high cost of living.
I
red ms mis
22.Mfl.BBfl CHILDREN
IN IIS MEMBERSHIP
Resolutions requesting the govern
ors of the five states in the South
western Division of the Ameriran Ked
Cross to make official proclamations
if they have not already done so, ree
ognizlng the Junior Red Crons as an
Important element in the worii of the
schools of these states and calling spe
clal attention to the Junior Red Cross
drive from Feb. 14 to 22 were adopted
by the advisory committee of the Jun
lor Red Cross at & conference in St
Louis recently.
The committee also urged the vart
ous boards of education, state, county
and city, In this division, to recognize
the Junior Red Cross as the one af
flcial organization for war relief ac
tlvities in schpols, and asked the L'nlt
ed States Bureau of Education
through its department work for com
munlty centers, to give all possible
help to work of the Junior Red Cross
It was requested that the Depart
ment of Superintendence of the Na
tional Education Association in its
meeting in Atlanta recognize the work
of the Junior Red Cross.
Slogan of the Campaign.
‘ Every school a Red Cross aurxiliauy
and center for national service" is the
slogan of the intensive drive for the
enrollment of all public, private and
bijiiuuih rveu tyusa BUDUUl
auxiliaries George VV. Simmons, man
ager of the Southwestern Division,
who has gone to France for Red Cross
information,, said since the South
western Division passed all other di
visions In the country during the
Christmas membership 6rive the. jun
iors must "go over y>e top" la the
same splendid way. The goai % for
22,000,000 Junior members in the llnit
ed States, which, with the pKssexrt Red
Cross membership of 22,0^0,000, will
make the total 44,000,000.
Mrs. E. R. Kroeger, director of Jun
ior membership in the Southwestern
Division, says each schot^i will be en
rolled as a unit, all of fts pupils be
coming Junior membfrt of the Red
Cross, the school un>t assuming the
obligation to raise ij, sum equal to 2K
c* nts for each meijher. This fund re
mains in the school treasury xp be ad
ministered by^fhe pupils themse'ves
in the purchase, of raw materials wjth
which to Work or otherwise, as they,
with thft advice of instructors, may1
elect.
What Children Can Do.
"There are many definite ihings
which the Junior membership csn *u>
compllsh within the range of thesi i
scholastic activities," says Mrs. Km* '
ger. "It is not the intention to ca j
Ctoach in anjr wav iijjon the pupils? i
i _ _ _r —I
[ p/ay time, but to deflect tba covr*.«
in manual training, domestic science,
etc., into some form of Sad Cron pro
duction."
President Wilson Sept. 15, 1517. <*•
sued a proclamation to tba achool chil
dren of tba United States offering
them the privilege of membership !a
the Red Crosa. Dr. Haary H- Mae
Cracken. president of tbe Vaaaar Col
lege. developed tbe Idee of junior mem
bership.
TRACTORS ARE USED BY CITY
Buffalo Declared to Have Beat Gar
bage Collection System by Boston
Investigating Committee.
Buffalo has the host new garbage col
lection plan according to three engi
neers that Mayor Curley of Boston
sent to other cities to tlnd out which
had the best one In operation. The en
gineer’s rejiort describes the Buffalo
system briefly us follows:
"The city Is divided Into districts of
such size that four horse-drawn ''Ve
hicles will handle thetgarbage. atiies or
refuse, picking It up from the houses.
Th«fse four vehicles after tilling are
pulled to a central point from a’hk'h
a tractor takes them on the long haul
tt> the reduction plant, or dump, as
the case may be. Ire this way the short
haul with Crequent stops Is taken care
of by horsps, while for the long haul
the tractor is used taking several trail
ers. Care In routing vehicles would
be necessary to get full advantage of
the tractors and keep them constantly
working. These tractors cost about
$0,000 ajpieee und the trailers about
$1,500. l or a city of the size of Bos
ton the first expense for this scheme
might be $250,000, and considerably
study would be required to assure
Its eccmomy.”
Evening Clothe*.
New fashions Indicate the lrreg&ar
hem for both the afternoon and eve
ning dress. The full-dress costume
stilt, is short, while although the Eu
ropean thrones begin to crumble, yet
the. court train still trails at great
length behind ralladi when in real
function attire.
' A Domestic Indignation.
*T just can’t get along with rn,T hus
band, and that’s nil there is to it,.’? re
marked the square-Jawed woman'1
*‘I understand you begged him with
tears in your eves not to go intd the
army it lie could possibly avoid if.”
did talk rather sentimentally
about the fear of losing him And he
made iny affection an> excuse tc put
up ruicli an argument foi exemption
that they'll probably lei 1dm out Vve
got !*• look forward to bavin, i slack
er sitting around the house ail through
the lyr!”—Washlngton-ptar.