Show OF OF M THE MINUTE I I By LOUIS JLOUIS JOSEPH VANCE C Copyright h 1911 by by LOUIS LU JOSEPH JOSPE JOSPH VANCE AO O CHAPTER TR XV XV Continued Over tho process of those furious fusions labors hun hung a veil vei tenuous but distinct dis a hazo haze of bf sunlit dust and dancing dane in ing heated air and from it i ros rose in n heavy he stifling gusts a reek reck con com compounded pounded ou ded pf the odor dor of perspiring huma humanity hu bu hu- hu ma manity ity and the dank and tainted ef of- effluvia fluvia of th the holds holds- J r From all an of which it 1 t was apparent that the pause a at t Coffin Cay gay was to tobe be made ii's as nOs patso brief as the tho wil will of those in In authority c could uld contrive i By its is sights and sounds Bounds and smells deterred from attempting even oven the most c casual sual inquiry into this proceeding proceed proceed- lug ing ins ins' Cynthia Vo her heed beed all al the tho themore more willingly to tho seOn of peace and nd beauty that formed its is' is incongruous ous setting betting to the cay cy t that tat at enfolded enfolded d sand them in its it hospitable arms of and nd earth incrust d. d limestone to the ther islet dotted doted sea that rocke rocked and danced r sea to td the soft rush of a a- southerly wind winda a sea ea lonely and d baro bare of sail sal to its ea empty purple shaded horizons I No better spot she thought could have been found foud or contrived whether heth r rby by accident or or design to ie t meet tho the needs and purposes ses' ses of this iniquitous t adventure The island serene and aud smiling in it ita it insolate insolato and ad isolate solitude sol soli tude offered little asido aside from such ch peculiarity pe po po- po in the wa way of ain singular lar at at- traction Its Is brethren by hundreds studded d u the te waters islands for lor the themos most most- part endowed with the advantages of greater este size and nd ac ac- ac Hero Horo was only ony a a rocky rock atoll Jow lying a mere more several acres ares ato ln in extent et bordered border lyn d by it its it broad brad pin beaches crowned cowed by bird haunted wilderness wi wil derne of sun weathered vegetation with its it small email lagoon like liko harbor habr ac accessible accessible ac- ac ac lt only ema after fter ter traversing is a a. league lege lon long cha channel l narrow narow occult and intricate intricate itri cate te through lightless and and water Nat would seem sem to have havo designed this cay solely to bo be of old the refuge refue and stronghold of the one time pica pica- picaroons picaroons pic rons a and ad td buccaneers of tho the Bahamas in i its d degenerate present to be a day mak mark marlc for for- forthe the tho sponge sponge- fishermen and the I negro ner wreckers of the archipelago ana anaa a trysting spot st for common swindlers of the high seas sa The eager er far fa faBi farsighted Bi sighted ht aze of Cynthia's Cynthia's thia's thias thias thia's ey eyes ran raking the glistening Jae crescent eros cres cent of the coral sands Bands scarcely an te eighth of a a mile me away was quick to locate the Cynthia Cynthia's a small maIl sa lifeboat drawn thawn UT about between the horns hon of ot the island It I was wa empty Two To men evidently ordinary ordnary seamen sat smoking ok in i the shade of a thicket on the te edge of the beach beh and near ne them tem Cynthia ege descried a small smal box or two aa and nd a k keg g. g These Tee circumstances perplexed her Of Rhode Lobb Perez Pe Pc- rez or Crittenden there was wai wa wano no no sign sig She lingered at at the rail rai waiting in in anxious wondering We Wearying of at the monotonous rose roso tinted glare lae of the strand baffled of wresting 3 a hint bint of what was wa taking taing place lico ashore by the silent dark green hedges of foliage that m masked ked its gen farther far far far- thor ther tar beaches and meager upland her gaze aze son sought ht rest in in i wandering over the rainbow tinted tinte reaches of f the sea sea the maio maroon n shadow of a weed rank rank whose hose shimmering surface showed sowed a ap ap a p polychrome of blended colorings from Ie ledge e through h shades of exquisite isit amethyst and ad lapis lapis' lazuli to the tran translucent trans trans' lucent jade jae of white sand shoals brilliant brilliant bri bril bril- with refracted lant wIh sun su rays B But t its beauty w was s that of ot desolation desolation desola desola- tion ton only Cynthia returned her head to the tho beached lifeboat Now Lobb appeared and nd stood at pause l looking khi b back k up a glado l de' de of the wooded rise while the seamen scrambling scram scrambling bling hastily to their heir feet shuffled down to t tho the boat boat Then Perez ambled into info view tot tol- lowed in a moment by Rhode and Crittenden in company Something moved violently stopped and moved moved- again aI with pith more more methodic r beat in Cynthia's Cynthia's bosom The small knuckles of the hands hads clasped before her arms at rest rast on the rail rai shone white in constraint and her pois poise crew tense Thereafter Thereafter she had bad eyes for lor but ono one figure gure of tho the six upon the beach bech She noted that he walked with a a certain fain tain tan lack of freedom wearing his shoulders oddly that ho ho was wa clothed in hi in shirt and trousers only She saw sav him stop within the shadow of tho the thicket exchange e a few fow final words with Rhode dismiss him hm with a a careless careless care care- less gesture and remain remain where ho he was while the red man ambled heavily down dawn to tn join his liis companions at tho the water waters water's edge edae Perplexed she saw the tho boat put off with tho the three leaders leaving leving Critt Crittenden Crit Crit- t alone rhen Then suddenly she a aflame allame flame of ot i indignation ul nat n leaping up from the fire smolder a-smolder smolder a-smolder in in her heart She understood now the th reason for the tho cask and boxes on tho beach beah and and wh why tho young Toung man ma stayed behind while the tho others returned to the comfort of tho the ship A hot spot blared blazed in in her either cither cheek and in in her eyes burned blighting blight blight- in Jn ing flames faes He Ht had hd trans transgressed ossed tho code codo of the tho 1 rt of mi might ht he ho had dared move lift his h hand in defense of her honor and ad so lie he was to be punished A ke of f drinking wu water er a box or two of ships ship's biscuit with biscuit with these hew ho he was to be left leff to languish langish on that hat w l lonely island marooned for his act of bODe honesty ty and ad faith CHAPTER XVI I Blows Blow r f D Deliberately like liko some strange i f clumsy clums grizzled creature creaturo creeping creping I t across across a plato plate of polished long oars Il lifting and dipping in slow sow rhythm 1 the lifeboat crawled tho over stretch o ol ot S sun and sky k stained waters that Ja Jay within the circling arms of the cay as still t i as glass only casually flawed b by tu fugitive breaths of ah air of h currents from the sweeping wind that whipped the tho outer main Prom From the edge of the painted beacht beach t where the tho shadows of wind swayed foliage maculated the glowing sands with shifting shapes of mauve Critton- Critton len Jen den forlorn and desperate of air and pi plight nt alike aike watched the ho boat a as ait it itI I moved away move By the tho rail rai Cynthia likewise I w watched apportioning her attention bei be be- i t tw tween e eu the two the boat with With its ts crow I of tho cay with it its it solitary ici ic j i tim tm of at a mal malign and ar arbitrary tion Whether or not lie he saw her she nho I was tot unable to determine at that distance dis dis distance t tance nce fo for a a long span spa he nei neither bor moved o nor nor made a sign out but ut merely stood at I t gaze aze his pose poso proclaiming a deep cori cor cor- I If I f i rodin roding desolation of spirit no less Ices leBI than 1 of circumstance c. c I To To this pass was he lie because of her hen i t b her heras heras to b bet deserted and abandoned by a as w well l as by those nga against wh whom m he I h hal had l pi pitted tod himself lf an and all his strength th and p wits and aud daring rm in the tho hope or cit t serving her hot Bitterly she blamed herself at her own 01 door J laying int all an responsibility for this extremity that he was wa's come como to face If she had not permitted him to turn tur aside o to do lo her a common kindness kind kind- ness floss m moved to pity bv by t the tho c evidences pf ot of s she sho bad had nol Dot sought ou bt to disguise disguise dis dis- guise from froni him there hun there had been no subsequent subsequent sub sub- sequent propinquity no community of thought and interests to bo be the tho occasion occa occa- sion mon of this devastating love of theirs If I when at length she learned th the thi name namo of tho the passion that consumed her she had bad Known the meaning of reticence or womanly reserve if if she she had not been boon so so o keen n to to ful share with wih him the tho jo joy o oher of of her discovery if she sho h had d had the simple sim situ pie pIc delicacy to hold her peace against a n time more suitable Crittonden had hadnot hadnot hadnot not not- been driven to confession and thereafter cr to t that hat pitch of or desperation which had ended in this tbt sentence of exile Her im imagination spurred by a l merciless merciless merci morel less conscience limned his his' fate fato in vivid IVIo colors She saw him doomed to death in in n life Hf saw saw tho the atoll tol as a n living ivin tomb its smiling 1 verdure but a grinning masK for harsh and barren inhospitality Shet She Sho t figured to her fancy tho the cycle of his I days dars str te from that on which h hh h his is straining sQ f vision should see ECO co the last ast film fm of Jade fado from th tho staring skies 1 through ough thos in n which hope bope must perish to that when madness should blunt his sensibility to suffering Buffering or death put a period to this chapter of crime brutality horror and tion ton Unc Unconscious of 01 exaggeration denying denying deny deny- in ing another side to the pi picture turo she sho lashed herself into a state of semi semi- semi semi- hysteric consternation and contrition the while she tood without r eyes eyo spellbound by by the f fascination ot of that lonely and beloved belo f figure re At length still length sti still with wih that puzzling stiffness of c carriage he o-he o he turned an and slowly moved away into the shadows shadow Smitten unreasonably with a panic premonition that she had haJ looked h hr r last upon him Cynthia Cythia started ard and barely restrained restrain cd a cry A lit fit of trembling trem tram bling seized her so stron strong that sho she was was was' glad arad there was none none b by to s seo o. o And then she calmed s suddenly dd discovering that the lifeboat had hadj been drawn close in under tinder the vessels vessel's side Rhode sitting with th head bead bowed in in his habit of injured melancholy Perez erez playing with wih a cigarette Lobb staring up at at her ner with th a smile the si sight ht of these so near inboard ard beneath her ler affected her ber with an almost physically caly cally painful disgust and the Nation of their monstrous complacence left eft her with swelling boom and a heart hearton on fire fre She swung syung away abruptly knowing herself hersel unfit to face them in her present present pres pres- ent violent and unsettled temper and went below with the tho privacy of her desirable in i her thoughts thought But by the entrance to the alleyway she sho was checked on tho m memory mory that Madame Savaran n would be there pottering pottering pot pot- terin about one one of her idle occupations lions tons with eyes quick to read the si signs s of trouble on her companions companion's face a mind keen and ruthless to inquire and anda a a tongue sharp to qu question tion Cynthia Cythia dared not face her her ber yet As alternative ive tive she ch chose se sethe the 0 or HI al 1 of or bre breakfast As Js on the the f first Bt d day of th the voyage seeming so stran strangely distant in I the post she he she had the saloon to herself hersel asido from the attending Acklin But on on this occasion in contrast with the ormer for or former mer she had no appetite The dishes Acklin set before her ner sho loft u un untouched untouched un- un touched even coffee fee threatened d t to choke her T To be continued |