Show i S M eI5LANDofQrTrNnnON1 V llUS1bWNtND 1 v BRADY IJTPATJItJ 6 Y 7iAywrERj iIl rrrwcrx + tanvrwrrh1CM AfTAI SYNOPSIS cast ashore on a loner woman d 5 finds a solitary Inhabitant a dressed like a savage rhlto man In any known lan speak Be to to educate him and IShe decides f mind that to her leads own her Ideals to believe She 1dence Is John Ilovclt Charnock of I man and that ho wan cast ashore Katharine nrnnton was a child product of a leading eclaUze writings on the sex prob I Her wide attention The son of y icd becomes infatuate fS millionaire they decide to put her theo w < practice With no other cere prnctlce theyl go away Can 101 a handshake they go away in few days on his yacht re A > that he only professed lofty Imuess her Wile drunk he at possess her She knocks him down kiss him unconscious escaping In a launch During In a gasoline ness the Is cast ashore on an Island teaching gives the man a tears education Their love for each revealed when he rescues her rove where she had been Impri I tp earthquake A ship Is sighted a beacon to summon It < light r sights the beacon Ion his yacht en his yacht put In The woman the yacht and tolls her combat M com-bat a man on board had Injured greatest way Langford recog Ie itlmrlne He tells the man that been his mistress and narrowly being killed ItfTER XVIContlnued I peal to you said the woman to Langford send back the A moment since I saved your tiword from me ho would have tyou from him and broken your JBe generous You must And In shall give mo a hearing e safe from him I promise might t have been the result of jpeal can never bo determined I that moment a new factor en upon the scene a factor whose te was as surprising and unex as It was determinative From jsea yet near at hand came a detonation the roar of a Iran Around one of the head liat rose on that side of the Is ere swept the white sides of great ship beside which the imposing though she was was It was the woman who saw It i she cried A ship of war Jr See from her staff the Hag United States This land Is I claim It by right of dls Lay but a hand upon this bd I will have you hanged for Langford They see us there asses have searched the shore live seen this encounter That a warning A boat puts off God we are saved from you s had transpired even as she hat the cruiser was doing in as how happened she to be ere things as yet unknown she was there was apparent 1 approached tho Island from er side and had sailed around f men had observed tho encoun the shore which seemed to een natives and persons from ht which was In plain view a irther out to sea and the gun a fired to call attention to the t of the United States ca put an entirely new face on Die affair Matters were taken he hands of the parties to the 1 The law had como to tho is The islander did not could not but his baffied antagonist fit immediately So did tho At Langfords command his h uch bewildered at tho scene Shi id witnessed went back to at Ho himself presently fol after and stood upon the awaiting the approach of the manofwar cutter which had cruls it away from the white tt + e s she said softly this is k tad to tell you n odded A hollow groan burst I linn 11113 mistress ho muttered bro 1 liuld had learn 1 r old not have you I way and now that you have 4 of much must hear more I f 0 i you herself Int on not sparing W lihe might have Justly resent with Jnord She was dealing erlous things than words now hough they might be Thatch That-ch Is tho ship of our country O or law as his i for license I 1 u 1 sinned against than sin > 10 g hen you have heard all then l Judge This Is the test < a God that it had never been hoarse j me nab tho man ould God that the beacon had lighted on tho hill returned tho woman gently past praying for Decision h you but you must nut pass Iron have heard the whole The world holds mo stained It may bo said but I lio slnnor that It thinks me or lays T iald it was true doggedl r man tat not all true r t had him In my hands and re lives the you hear mo pleaded I j iw shook her off and turned I lie very innoconco which hindI hind-i his understanding at first to niado It tho more hideous prehension came Ho had Ii woman with n lovo that SR lovo of man for there had not entered Into his mind the faintest osslblllty that she could ever bo or ever have been other than what sho wooed a daughter of the gods In ruth in sweetness and In purity And this strange man had come from out ho world and proclaimed her his mistress mis-tress his castoff abandoned mistress Once the clew was given ho found more hideous depths of Infamy In that word than would have appeared had his been a wiser and more experl need vision Indeed so clear and pure was tho soul of this woman that a man of tho world would havo known nstantly that there was an explana Lion which the child of nature could not see forthcoming Ho wanted to be away from her and alone and he I turned as If to plunge into tho depths of the forest but with gentle force she restrained him You are a man with a mans power pow-er and a mans soul and a mans heart ou cannot fly now You must stay and face the problem The question oust be pursued to the bitter end My life and your life depends upon what wo do now perhaps his life too 0 God cried the man recurring gain to that bitter thought I had him In my hands and spared him But you spared him for my sake aid tho woman think of that For your sake declared the man olntedly I would and should have llled him Thou shall not kill said the woman wom-an softly An eye for an eye and a tooth or a tooth returned the man lie and you between you slew my heart His death would be no murder but etrlbutton But It was In part my fault returned turned the woman bravely making her confession I will never believe It It cannot be And yet It was but you shall have the whole wretched story today and I will you shall Judge This much say that though all that he said was true yet I hold myself blameless and Innocent The world Judges me harshly and It may be that you will find Its Judgment Just Yet I do not hold myself as on trial at this moment but you I do not understand There are many things that you do not understand my friend I would that I had been loft in ignorance norance Nay that Is not a mans wish but a childs Of one thing I am certain And what Is that That I should have killed him Nay said the woman again that Is not a childs wish but a brutes You said yourself he flashed at her that there were some things a woman could not forgive and this in the same Is one that a man puts class The woman sighed There occurred to her at the moment no answer which was adequate to the stark realism of this fact The conversation had reached an Impasse beyond which It could not progress without the full and complete com-plete explanation which now there wai neither time nor opportunity to give for the boat from the manofwar was approaching the shore The woman stepped resolutely down the strand to meet it and the man after a slight hesItation followed her So soon as the boats keel grated on the bottom In the shallow water a middleaged officer rose from the stern sheets and stepped ashore followed companion In tho unl by a younger marines A form of a sergeant of Ittle squad of privates In the bows anded and fell in line with martial elerlty and precision The officer in charge who wore the white tropic unl form of a lieutenant commander now faced the people on the island who had instinctively divided into two groups one on either side of him To the right stood the man and be hind him the woman to the left Lang ford back of him his crow It was flin Mint thn flu cer fl ram t nd o uiu latter unit iiiu uiucur rcssed himself Sir he began I am the oxecu ive officer of the United States rulser Cheyenne detached on special ervlce We raised this Island this morning ran It down circled it saw he yacht yonder lie paused It Is my yacht sir the Southern Cross answered tho other Jly lame Is Langford Glad to meet you JSIr Langford Mine Is Whittaker The lieutenant commander touched his cap as he spoke Longford lifted his and the two shook hands Wo saw continued the lieutenant commander what appeared to bo some sort of a fracas with the natives and fired a gun to attract attention and Capt Aahby sent this boat party ashore under my charge to do whatever what-ever was necessary Perhaps you can explain how you came to be embroiled em-broiled with the natives Sir said tho woman And the fact that she addressed him In his own language and with tho cultured accents well cents of the wellbred and the educated caused tho officer to start violently = tho island Is mine Mr Whlttnker turned and looked deliberately at her his surprise only equaled by his admiration The tunic rough garment that sho wore was a and shapeless but few vestments wore calculated to sot off her ex bettor proportions The grace and nulsito tho nobility and of her figure beauty Intelligence of her face took added luster from tho contrast of the utterly roff r1 simple natural and primitive Whit takers glance fell upon a well nigh perfect per-fect woman Tho constraining Influences Influ-ences of chlllzntlon had been so long absent that nature had time and opportunity op-portunity to reassert its claim She was tall exquisitely modeled Her bare arms might have supplied those missing from tho Venus of Milo her limbs which the short tunic to her knees left exposed wore perfect In their symmetry and strength her feet were such as those to which ancient Greece had bowed her hands were shapely graceful y strong her dark eyes looked at him fearlessly her dark hair rose like a somber cloudy crown above her brow Tho fierce sun the open air the wild wind had not materially altered the clear slightly olive pallor of her face Tho woman had been beautiful before Now that nature had had free sway she was nobly lovely She had stood a little In tho rear of the man at first and tho lieutenant commander had not particularly partic-ularly observed her When sho spoke she stepped Into the open He stared and stared amazed Indeed the direct Intensity of his glance added a sudden new perception percep-tion to the Womans faculties and for the first time In years she realized that she was standing before her fellows fel-lows half naked In one swift moment mo-ment convention leaped across the missing years and caught her In its arm The red flashed Into her cheek beneath her rude vest her bosom rose I and fell Her Instinct for tho moment was to fiy She wished that sho had put on those treasured garments which she had kept for a scene like this in that cave all those years It was too L w 4 k oI yf R I 1 1 4 II 1 a f LtH TcA 11 a I Know That I Love Her Now late now She summoned her courage cour-age and realizing that dignity after i all Is not made of clothes or conventions conven-tions once more addressed him Sir she said my name is Katharine Kath-arine Brenton I am not as you might well think a savage but a castaway I beg your pardon said the officer offi-cer a man of wide reading and culture cul-ture Is it possible that you are the Katharine Brenton who wrote Fate and Destiny I am that unhappy woman Ilnhnnnv Ulll1UIJ Yes returned the other I Madam said the lieutenant commander com-mander flushing deeply and bowing in his turn lIe had taken off his cap at her first word I beg your pardon I have heard something of your story u much embarrassed It Ho was very was Langford who took up the tale Since you know so much Mr Nyiilt taker you may as well hear the rest Indeed I am anxious that the wqrld should hear It Miss Brenton and I weerdld not believe in marriage and we went awaytogether I Every word was agony to Langford H n who was a proud man it was worse Katharine Brenton who Lhan agony to was a proud woman and It was worst I ugcny of all to the man of the island Is-land But Langford persisted lie did not care how he hurt himself Indeed luxuriated In tho consciousness ho rather part of I ness of his own pain It was his expiation Ho realized that ho would have to hurt Katharine but per the very keenness of her pain haps would make her realize her position and ho wanted to win her now that ho had found her and seen her moro ever Nor was his passion abase than Again he was ashamed of one base what he had already said so ho spoke frankly Ho gave no thought the more but it ho had man other at all to the 1 ho would havo been glad to hurt him t until ho killed him Wo went on my yacht yonder three II years ago IIn shortI behaved like a brute on It I will admit I discovered that ho was a married mar-ried man said the oman swiftly at 1 this Juncture She too would bo frank This grave and middleaged officer of-ficer should hear all lIe had professed pro-fessed his belief In those views which it you have read Fato and Destiny you realize that I entertained The officer bowed And have you abandoned them now ho asked Absolutely was the firm answer I ate a Christian woman thank God Thank God say I too continued Langford Yet I was not altogether a sham or a lie It was true that I was a married man The lieutenant commander flashed a contemptuous look at him at which Langford winded but ho went on lie was determined to make an absolutely absolute-ly clean breast of the whole affair it IH trim I was a married man it is IIUU of Miss but I was under the spell Brentons eloquence and of her beauty I can well understand that said of tho officer gravely as n matter course I thought that marriage meant nothIng noth-ing and that tho old tie might be disregarded dis-regarded I hated the woman who bore my name and so as Miss Bren tons disciple as her devotee for I loved her I will admit she smiled I drearily moro than her philosophy proposed that we should trample upon tho conventions sho had taught mo to believe she despised and go away together C to-gether t But you were not free said the i woman to enter upon such an undertaking under-taking No by heaven cried Whittaker Now this conversation had been i carried on with three auditors or groups of auditors besides those participating i par-ticipating Langfords yachtsmen tho marines and seamen from the Cheyenne Chey-enne for the boat was against tho t shore and the man of thot Island t Whlttaker first awoke to thin situa lion I beg your pardon he said but I would it not be better to continue this conversation privately I think SQ returned Langford No said the man of the Island addressing the lieutenant commander for tho first time you and these men are the world I want the story told whore all the world may hear Whlttakors surprise at this remark was scarcely less than ho had eXile ilenced when the woman addressed him Who was this splendid godlike lorna of man standing glooming by the womans side a Illont eager listener to all that transpired What hud ho to do with tho question that he assumed as-sumed this tone and manner of authority au-thority The officer tuuied toward the woman I think said he quietly that the lady should be allowed to decide My wish Is my friends wish said tho woman laying her hand softly upon tho mans arm Whlttaker observed that the man shook It oft nervously but the point being settled thero was no further appeal ap-peal Pray proceed with your story Mr Langford he continued No lot mo tale up tho tale cried the woman Believing that I was I right believing that the education j and training which had made mo what I was were sound believing that this man was as free as I to choose Ills course and order his life knowing nothing of his wife 1 yielded to his pleadings I thought it was a noble nnd splendid opportunity vouchsafed mo and In a measure vouchsafed him to show the world that wo did really believe what we said Had I believed In God then I should havo said his meeting with mo his conversion to my theories his passion for me his willingness to abldo by my decision were Provldcntal I was glad to consecrate con-secrate my life to the truth with his aid to tako the final stop In attestation attesta-tion of my belief to convince the world that one woman at least had tho courage of her convictions It was a mistake a frightful > mistake an irreparable Ir-reparable mistake for which I suppose sup-pose that I must suffer to the end of time No cried Langford I am hereto here-to repair the blunder There is no power on earth said the woman passionately that can put me whore I was that can give me back that I have lost Kate Kate cried Langford you I dont understand n n I understand too well Why continue con-tinue the sorry story Mr Whlttaker and you that are men beyond that I have wives and children and sweethearts sweet-hearts that have been taught to love God to believe In him and to observe his laws that have submitted yourselves your-selves gladly to the conventions of society so-ciety or if any be among you who have outraged theso and gone against I them taken the law Into your own handsyou will understand sooner or later what camo to me I discovered that there was nothing high or holy In this mans regard for mo that ho persuaded himself that ho believed as I simply to get possession of me I awoke to a dreaded realization alone with him on that yacht He was not kind to mo Ho acted according to > Uln lt 1 n his lights I will confess it said Langford I was a brute to her I drank I acknowledged ac-knowledged that I had a wife I said she was in my power I celled her s vile names There was a low growl a muttered roar from the men behind Whlttaker Even Langfords own men in his own pay shrank back from him Tho man was frightfully pale yet he went on resolutely Whlttaker stilling the tumult tu-mult with upraised hand No one he cried can think moro hatefully of a human being than I think of myself now I have not learned her philosophy I havo learned T m a son another ana a Letter in v u I that I can of a way at least I know I never bo happy until I have made her happy I know that I love her now as I should have loved her then that I have hunted these seas for her without ceasing since sho left me in a drunken stupor one night Left you how asked tho lieutenant lieuten-ant commander I am not qulto clear I must have descended very low said Langford I remember some sort of a scene at supper and when I awoko In the morning or I didnt wake for six months they found me In the mornIng morn-Ing with a fractured skull on the cabIn cab-In floor and they took me back to the United States It was a year or more i before I could begin tho search for her He said things to me that night said the woman that no woman could endure or forgive He came toward me I threw him from me with such force and violence am a strong woman wo-man that he lay senseless in the cabin The motor launch had been ot overboard for al trial ana was railing astern I got In it drifted way started the motor and ran It ntll the gasoline was gone I brought jod and water from the cabin table lived a week In the boat bearing outhward all the time by means of sail which I improvised from a boat lock One night thero was storm At the height of It I was brown upon this Island The I hoped said Langford taking upi tie tale that that might be the case nd with that end in view I havo enrchcd the Pacific I have landed von many uncharted Islands I have xplored others little If over visited I raying to God that she might be I live that I might find her and make eparatlon and now I have found her It last when bland given up all hope bandoned all expectation And I tand hero confessing my fault before men ready to do anything and everything every-thing that a man can do to make amends for the past But you havo a wife said Whltta cer coldly No shes dead these two years hank God 1 never loved her It for designing voi u boyish Infatuation a signing adventuress who wanted a lold upon my fathers money I nm roe freo to make her my wife I asker ask-er I beg her to tako mo to give no a chance to show that I feel what I havo done to devote my life to expiation ex-piation Ho stopped wiped tho moisture from his forehead ttood for a moment In the silence that followed his words his face downcast Then ho lifted it haggard worn sad the humiliation of the last few moments having entered into his soul Koto he said softly your tu s swor f tr r J > iER 51 jJ i CHILD c ks tmonth9 months CHAPTER XVII l otter Jo ast Sfttui The Womans Plea I services W Miss Brenton said Whlttaker IT reside with tho deepest gravity ho could infuse he Holt lid fuse in volco and manner you hava il been n most unfortunate a most unhappy and His un-happy woman Allow mo to assure spake ten you of my sincerest commiseration j hope to my deepest respect my most profound litivts admiration You have suffered but ihnsoit wish innocently If I way speak the voice harks to of society if I may stand for tho i ShO gcncro world as your companion has said t sickness i t + can only express my reverence for you and my homage to you in this way thtr Ho stopped nearer to her ho seized l her hand Ho was an oldfashioned P humble mhnded quixotic sort ot a SHIVERS sailor tr you will for before anybody realized what ho was about ho bent tunVERS his head low over It and kissed it And the two the sailors behind him and the marines heir weld ma-rines in rank broke Into a hearty Id wife cheer 1 There madam said Whlttaker I i and jolnuj 1 dinner you havo tho approbation of society ye for my act As for you sir hit 1 Some ofi turned toward Langford I i should be J Mrs fl oo untruo to manhood if I did not Bar ill Lewis what you yourself have said that you bdr of 1njj acted not only like a brute and a Btudeni coward but sir when I look at the t 10 The lady I am constrained to add liko a 11 IlicU I fool I Langford started forward but the lieutenant checked him I Having said all that I must admit f I I 1 TQi that you have conducted yourself since flE r1 that time as a man of honor and as a gentleman I havo no doubt that it l school bd your offer will bo accepted that the iprlngvillc i world wlll forgive you as it will admire J 1aViUonj ad-mire and respect your wife ue umc Nol cried the man of tho island f Y h I much I int I suddenly mi tchod Ho had kept silence resolved to i n y bo illterc Ho hear it all out without interruption had suffered as the miserable story playing had been unfolded to such an extent i ted to cop that all that ho had gone through with co-p All o before seemed llko childs play He I f conditions had heard Langfords noble confession t s practice his generous offer to repair his wrong etwccn sol but without tho appreciation of Jt t 1 tho lughi which the circumstances and its Intrinsic rCEultc sic quality might havo evoked He had g heard the womans defense her splendid gll school splen-did Justification of her course tho bitter bit-ter repentance that had followed it ivcralip but without appreciation of what long 1 the 0 Justification there was for her and tha why ou value of her remorse which the account m ac-count should have brought to him He < i had observed Whlttakers prompt aml E touching expression of confKlence and Li reverence but without understanding 1 of the its force and power Indeed ho had i will be Instinctive shrewdness enough to second realize that even though the sailors > 30 p m touched by tho net of gallantry and and at for the woman moved with pity young ay come who stood there lovely in her sadness of tHe chad c-had cheered yet the world would bo very slow to the same expression He saw that the woman was face no Sccre to face with a crisis that she would either have to accept or decline de-cline Langfords offer to marry her at once oncHis heart was tilled with bitter rage 1 r Ho knew that he loved the woman t that ho never would love any person but tho woman but nevertheless tho resentment against fate which had t placed him in so awful a position of VT U whose malign purposes he had been f f rl1ir y the blind Ignoble victim was so great that for tho time being his love was In abeyance He pitied himself i he loathed Langford he was contemptuously contemp-tuously indifferent to the world and Ii Av for tho moment he almost hated the a woman Tho subconsciousness that i ho had that this was as ungrateful ns hit lIt l-it was unwarranted added to his i Q have wretchedness and misery f g e am No he cried before any answer f i ccount Is made let me speak 2 to the Your pardon said Whittaker may I ask who you are Sir returned the man as to who NT I am and what I am I do not know nor does It greatly matter Your pardon again retorted tho u terms lieutenant commander coolly but it ndcred matters very much Unless you have ulTnirs some right to interfere I do not concede cods of con-cede that any suggestion from you in t bu liness this crisis which seems to concern these two people this lady and this i gentleman Is at all In order of any But It does concern me returned appincss the man Impatient of this chocking t for I love this woman myself and she J has done mo the honor to say that sho I J loved me T had intended to make her my wife should Providence over r bring us to civilization again Had Intended exclaimed the woman wom-an under her breath but no one noticed no-ticed her words and tho lieutenant spoke again That being the case some Information In-formation as to who you are and how Tn you came hero Is the more evidently J U in order i TO BH CONTINUED |