Show black sheea dold un hav rone down to the south as toyed a few months or a year two and have come back and writ n novel of varying degrees of mostly romantic glamorous id colorful talc which have captured interest not on of them ban authenticity of the novels of beat ce all of the other south as writer combined hav not equaled r output of neither hav they talked to anything like her huge in europe america and oth parts of the world during nearly a quarter of a cen ry he lived in that romantic tract and ha written its noels for lout the came length of time she u nailed the sapphire and turquoise anted waters and visited the salce anted tropic laden coral built atolls id islands from papua to the limits polynesia and groups farther east ard she knows not only the various pes of natives but also the polyglot of humanity that have been traded from other parts of the orld and she has firsthand first hand knowl ge of the physical attributes and ie flora and fauna of that K section of the globe beatrice grimshaw Is an authority i the south seas she draws with ire band whether she be depicting orld vagabonds and beach combers traders sailors gold hunters pl government officials or ad of type above all she aws the country with its waters i its verdure and its de ched mystical characteristics and ath it all ebe has the gift of roman lam the ability to construct plots id weave the fascinating elements of e region into novels one has never ad a real south seas story until he is read the fiction of beatrice grim law CHAPTER I 1 the cigar was nn wontedly good it d made me peaceful and dreamy at or the reaction after the fuss of aboard and away at all eats 1 leaned back in the cushioned nohe room chair and gave myself to enjoyment let the sounds and aghta and the smells of the great flow pleasantly over me they ere all there the things that I 1 bad lown and forgotten and the beat at of the great steamer heart that as to carry on day and night until ong kong and the barely heard ng wash of the coral sea as we ran arth from cairns in queensland up wards torres straits through all the and topaz glory of a tropic inter day I 1 had the sum of one hundred and two solid pounds mine since st erday in the care of the ships purser there s nothing akes a man feel s innocently drunk i a hatful of cash when he has been long time short this cash of mine as the result of a ducly win in a on the english derby nothing ore respectable than that but the richest purist could hardly have und fault with my way of spending I 1 was down in cairns upon busl ess very small business and cheap hen the windfall came and wisely decided to go home at once instead t waiting for the monthly B P boat ne treat I 1 must have I 1 decided and ie call of the caracara Cat acara suggested its end I 1 would spend eight of my pre ions pounds on a two day run to thursday island and get back thence new guinea by cutter for two ays I 1 would dream that I 1 was back i the epa cloua days of home and aches thai years when my father a fine country house and a mallash ton bouse and I 1 had been to be an english squire some me or other and ufa and society nd the right people and what one rag going to do with oneself after arrow and the varsity bad all been changeless han geless eolla as died stars nothing than that house the ng avenue with the firs and the gravel the cottages and arms that were ours the garden and s strange old fashioned roses rice scotch yellow moss roses cabage nothing more cure than the assing tor ever and ever the same f those slow summers and winters a the north of england climate pale uns and pretty passionless flowers aln and short days and snow every bang get unalterable in one half hour it was swept away ly father fell dead of unsuspected beart trouble the solid bouse the ira and the avenue the cottages and arms harrow cambridge the tight people the set unalterable way of all went down the wanda of the horld together swept by the same ecat hurricane he had speculated anyone can fill in the rest that was in 14 you know whit allowed oll owed I 1 was eighteen years of age learty and husky of build there waa only one thing to do I 1 did t a 19 de mobilized aged twenty three faced the world with some scars ind medals to my credit also two sr nothing mch more I 1 had been in egypt I 1 mesopotamia fhe sun lands bad got me I 1 took up land in australia failed went north ind north landed at last at capua I 1 had a trading store at the wild west end ol 01 thit country I 1 was some years older a attle wiser a little tougher than even the war had left me the ald lands had marked me for their own I 1 and on that jeweled day of equa tordal winter I 1 was on board the eastern liner caracara Cat acara having my treat with no thought of anything but a couple of days enjoyment under clr that had been mine and were not no dream of fateful anything significant in th brief journey I 1 as merely going back to daiil by T I 1 so I 1 thought what I 1 did not know you ferem r you did cot know waa that aff beatrice illustrations by copyright by huch co was on that day running right into the double fate that was to change mv life it began in the oddest manner con I 1 had finished my cigar looked at myself in the long mirror as I 1 strolled oat on deck and decided that I 1 was at least not I 1 was in a peaceful mood I 1 found a chair and dropped into it wishing I 1 knew how to purr like a cat tor t felt that way I 1 was simply lifted ont of the chair before 1 had time to settle down by shrieks proceeding from forward where there was a wide unoccupied space of deck girls shrieks at least three were in it and they were screaming at the top of their voices of course I 1 made for the space of foredeck extremely ready to come to the aid of beauty in distress I 1 don t know what I 1 expected certainly it was not what I 1 saw three ship s officers attired in all their tropic glory of white drill and gold were bantering cantering cant ering down the deck like horses on the shoulders of each eat astride an extremely pretty girl dressed in a bathing suit of the kind known as one piece the girls had lockey caps on their heads and they one of them a tall white limbed lass with red bobbed hair was apparently winning were flogging their mounts along with silk handkerchiefs and screaming encouragement coura gement at the top of their rather high voices I 1 saw all this in a moment and guessed without much difficulty that the riders were three musical comedy actresses going to join a revue corn pany touring the east of whom I 1 had heard when taking by passage one of them a tall walte limbed lass with red bobbed hair was apparently winning her mount the chief officer was yards ahead of the rest I 1 saw that I 1 saw too the face of a girl on the appo site side of the deck staring hard at the racers ehe had a profile like an italian coin dark hair close shingled and exceedingly blue eyes that face held me tor an instant it was as it the owner had suddenly called then I 1 saw what made me leap across the deck tear off my jacket and fling myself over the rail of the caracara Cat acara down thirty feet into the sea in the excitement of winning the red haired girl bad let go her hold of the chief officers forehead waved her arms and lost balance completely they were near the rail she began to topple and I 1 saw she was bound to go I 1 wait for her to fall I 1 sprang first I 1 think we went through tho air almost together she struck the water about as soon as I 1 and we both went down in a smother of foam and boiling blue we came up well in the rear when I 1 had grabbed the girl and got the water and my own hair out of my eyes I 1 could see the steamers am tall stern already hundreds of yards aay and leaving us as if no bady had seen us go overboard of course they bad they were getting fl boat out and taking the way off the ship as quickly as might be but if ever you have been left in the midst of the inhospitable ocean by a liner running at full speed yon will realize that I 1 bad plenty of time to grasp the situation plenty of time too to wonder if we veren t both like ly to be drowned before help could reach us because the red haired girl in spite of her stags bathing costume swim at all she was plucky no one could have been pluckier she gasped a good bit but did not cling she did as I 1 told her put her hands on my shoulders and let her legs swing out to support her 1 I I 1 can float a bit she said chokingly I 1 I 1 m not a scrap afraid never say die th that s my motto if she was not afraid I 1 was abom so because I 1 had seen something she with her face toward my back had not seen something I 1 did not want her to see A black sharp finger ger of ideath and ugly death that beckoned to us both I 1 need to look at the caracara Cat acara now motionless a long way off to know that the boat she bad lowered stood no chance tn that alfe and death race I 1 knew what a shark could do la the way of speed when once it scented food tula shark waa only cruising so 1 thought but if it made ap its mind to attack us twenty sec onda would safe the finish the shark was getting curious tig ragging about coming nearer with every tack look here I 1 said sud denly are you ame to do just what I 1 tell yon and ask no questions arent IT try me then put your mouth down to the water and blow as hard as you can she stared was about to speak but something in my face 1 I think checked her awkwardly she bent her lips to the swaying green that barely held ns up but deter blew I 1 blew also bubbles went streaming from our lips under water a string of silver bells a web of pearls years ago in mid pacing I 1 had heard about this way of keeping off sharks bad even seen the girls who swam in the prussian blue pools of mue blowing bubbles every now and then just as a measure of alon but was there really anything in dad any human creature attacked or in danger of attack ever kept away these tigers of the deep by merely puffing bubbles at them I 1 know I 1 only knew that there was nothing el elmeto seto do it was impossible to go on blowing forever we halted for a rest by this time the girl had certainly guessed what was happening but she said never a word her laughter ler silly bravado had vanished ab held to my shoulder with a clutch oi iron and her breath came short as sobs but she still kept her head still refrained from grabbing or hampering me I 1 looked at the aln again G d I 1 said and know I 1 spoke its coming for it bad turned end on and I 1 saw it as a black spike out of the water incredibly huge I 1 put my mouth down again and blew blew till my lungs were one hot pain all down my back the black fin poised I 1 felt the girls finger nails like claws tn my neck beard her spluttering splutter ing uselessly into the water game to the last swung her round I 1 dont know how so as to get my body between her and the sea tiger that was hungering for our blood saw it go off with a rush like a torpedo and thought the end was come what I 1 had forgotten about was the boat I 1 dont think for a moment that our and had any effect upon the shark other thin to excite its curiosity it was the near approach of the ships whaleboat furiously rowed that gave it pause pause I 1 say because when the boat had dashed between us and the shark and four strong arms were busy hauling us up over he gunwale a thing that cant be done in seconds try how yon may the shark suddenly seemed to realize that its dinner was leaving it and made such a determined charge that the sailors bad to fight it aff with all the available oars they got us into the boat and the chief had a tot of whisky ready I 1 never saw a man look more as if he wanted one himself but that was small wonder it he had not been playing the giddy goat nothing would have happened I 1 think I 1 told him as much also that I 1 was not in the least cold and would have a dry shift tn ten minutes need a drink the lady I 1 eald had better have one she and be shared it her face looked very white under her wet red hair find I 1 dare say be may have thought she would take cold anyhow he put his uniform coat round her and was making all fast with bis arm when she wriggled apart from him and flung herself down on the seat beside me im going to sit next the bravest man I 1 ever met she said her breast heaving up and down very fast under the white and gold cot I 1 saw eb was almost in hysterics so I 1 answered kits we foil over together and nobody said anything more till the whaleboat nosed against the ships side when they got us on board it was the very devil for five minutes people came and shook my hand and told me I 1 was a brave man some of them thumped my back several wanted me to come and have a drink we all know gin slang Is game said somebody but youre gamer we coulden couldn t have done without alo ny cut in some one else no by jovel jinny for ever I 1 gin slang s I 1 they would have it I 1 was fairly mobbed I 1 could hardly get to my cabin for a change of clothes without being carried on the shoulders of the crowd but that I 1 was determined against I 1 slipped down a stewards companion and got away I 1 dropped on the lounge it wa some time before I 1 even thought of dragging off my sodden shoes and shedding my wet I 1 bad not touched the chief officers or accepted the champagne champ igne that other had been anxious to uncork tor moi but I 1 was drunk mind and body ox one look that I 1 had caught as I 1 cam slowly drenched with weariness and wet up the ships ladder A look roni blue eyes below black hair A look that cast soul at mv feet i S TO nal nfl continuant |