Show PIE H OZ 0 r AC aco SYNOPSIS th the I 1 s tory etory opens with the shipwreck of 0 the st steamer eamer on which miss genevieve Lesl li an american heiress lord winthrope an Engli sliman and tom blake a brusque american were pa passengers se ligers the three were tossed upon an uninhabited island and were the only onus ones not drowned blake recovered from a drunken stupor blake shunned on the bout boat because of 0 hla his roughness rough nesa became a hero as preserver of the helpless pair the Engl englishman ishma n was suing tor for the hand of 0 miss leslie ulak blake started to swim back to the th skip ship to recover what was lett left alake lake returned safely winthrope wasted I 1 his Is lt lint match on a cigarette tor for which ile tie was scored by blake their first meal ineal was a dead fish ash CHAPTER III continued to be sure the tha japanese eat raw fish admitted winthrope yes and swallow your share of it it if you had nit an invite to a swell awell dinner in tokyo go on now both of you its no lake joke I 1 tell you youve got to eat it you expect to get to water before night understand see that headland south well its to I 1 well not find water short of 0 there and it we make it by night well be doing better than I 1 figure from the looks ot of these bogs now go to chewing it fine bliss jenny miss leslie had bad forced herself to take a nibble of the raw fish the flavor proved less repulsive than she had expected and its moisture was so grateful to her parched mouth that she began to eat with eagerness not to be outdone out done winthrope promptly followed her lead blake had already rut ut himself a second slice after ho he had fiad cut more tor for his companions lie began to look them over with a closeness that proved embarrassing to alsa leslie I heres feres more of the good stuff ho he said while youre chewing it well sort of take stock everybody shell out everything heres my outfit three shillings halt ha lt a dozen poker chips and not another blessed say become of that whisky flask have you seen my flask here billere it Is light beside me mr air blake answered miss atlas leslie but lt iti la s empty t might bright be worse 1 what yon got hairpins hair pins thatch Wat cli 7 no pocket I 1 suppose none and no watch even most or of iny pins are gone replied the girl and she raised her hand to her ter loosely colled coiled hair well hold on to what youve got left they may come in for fishhooks lets see your sour shoes 1 miss leslie slowly thrust a slender blender little foot just beyond the hem 0 of her draggled dragg led white skirt I 1 good lord I 1 groaned blake alit pers arrs and high heels at abati that ilow how do you rou expect to walk lit in those things 1 I can at least try replied the g girl it will A ath spirit hobble pass em over here win rile my boy the sl slippers ippert were handed over blake took une one after the other and wrecked off the heel beel close to its base now youve at least got a pair of slippers he be said tossing them back to their owner tie themon tight with a couple of your ribbons it if you dont want to lose them in the mud now winthrope what aliat you got beside the knife winthrope held out a bunch of long hat flat keys and his cigarette case lie he opened the latter end and was about to throw away the two remaining cigarettes i when wh en blake grasped tits his wrist illoyd hold doneven on even they may carrie come in tor or something well at least keep them until we need the case and the reys keys make arrow ai row heads it if we can get fire ive heard of 0 sl savages making fire by rubbing wood yes and were a long way from being savages at present all the show we have lave Is to find some kind of quartz or flint and the sooner we start to look the better got your slippers tied miss jenny yes I 1 think do think its knowing the thing here let me look the girl shrunk shrank back but blake stooped and examined first one slipper and then the other the ribbons about both were tied iu in dainty bows blake jerked them lonso loos and twisted them firmly over anti and tinder the slippers and about the girls slender ankles before knotting the ends there more like takei youre not going to a danco dance he growled lie he thrust the empty whisky hank flask into his hip pocket and went back to pass a sling bung of leeda through the gills of tile the fall all ready now he ji called lets leta got get a move on keep my coat closer about your should shoulders eTs miss bliss jenny and keep your shade shada up it you dont want it a sunstroke thank you make blake ill see to that said aid winthrope im going to help miss leslie along ive fastened our two shades together so that they will answer for bath hoth of uri ull illow HOW about yourself mr air blake T inquired the girl cotou do you not find the sun tearfully fearfully hot bott sure lut but I 1 wet my iny head in the f aja a and heres ber i another gouge As he bo rose roje with walh dripping head front from beside the pool lie he slung the axia ilk i aft I 1 44 stopped utterly spent on ou his bach and started arteil st off without further fui her words CHAPTER IV A journey tn in desolation ij ORNING was well advanced 1 and the sun beat down upon the three with almost verb powering fierceness the heat would have hae rendered their thirst unendurable had not blake hacked backed oft off tor for them bit after bit of the moist flesh in a temperate climate ten miles over firm ground Is a pleasant walk for one accustomed to the exercise quite a different matter Is ten miles across mud flats bats covered with a tangle of reeds and rushes and frequently dipping into salt marsh and ooze defore they had gone a mile miss bliss leslie would have lost her slippers had it not been for blakes forethought lit la tying them so securely within a little more than three miles the girls strength began to fall oil oh blake called winthrope for tho the american was wag some yards in tile the lead pull up tip a bit on that knoll well have to rest a while I 1 fancy miss alias leslie Is about pegged that demanded blake were not halfway half way yet winthrope did not reply it was all he could do to drag the girl up on the tha hummock she sank balf fainting upon the dry reeds and he be sat down beside be alde her to protect her with the shade blake stared at the tha miles of swampy flats which yet lay between them and the out jutting headland of gray rock the base of the tha cliff was screened by a belt of trees but the nearest clump of green did not look more than a mile nearer than the headland I hell fell muttered blake despondently not even a short four miles mush and sas sass lely slety girls though he spoke to himself the others othera heard him miss bliss leslie flushed and would have risen hall had not win drope put ills hla hand on her arm could you not go oh and bring back a flask of water for miss alias leslie lie he asked by that time she will be rested I 1 no I 1 dont fetch back city any flasks flacks or of water ashes going when I 1 go or you can como come on to stilt bi lt yourselves mr air blake you you wont go and leave roo me here it if you have bave it a sister it 11 your mother 4 she died of drink and both my did worse I 1 my god awu man do you mean to say abandon ft a helpless young girl not noa A bit mote more helpless than were my sisters irs when you rich folks guardians ol of law and order bugged jugged me ine for the winter cause I 1 brive a jou and turned both girla into the street onto the it 11 you know what that means one only ii and the other 17 talk about helpless young girls mis leslie cringed hack back as though she had heart struck blak however seemed to havo aliv ancor arf the curse U fo for nho gala again spoke N there was nothing M moio alre than impatience in hla his tone conie como on now get aboard winthrope lug you a half ralle mile and longs its the only way dont be all day about it here winthrope look to the fish elsh out but my dear fellow I 1 dont quite take your idea nor does miss bliss leslie I 1 fancy ventured winthrope well weve wee got to get to water or die and as the lady cant walk ashes going on my back its a case of have to not no I 1 am not 1 I am not id sooner die im afraid find that easy enough later on bliss jenny stand by winthrope to help her up do you hear take the knife and ish fish and lend a hand band there was a note in blakes lakes Il voice that neither winthrope nor bliss loslie leslie dared disregard though scarlet with mortification she permitted herself to be taken pick a back upon blakes broad shoulders and weekly meekly obeyed ills hla command to clasp her hands about ills his throat yet even at that moment such baich are the inconsistencies of human nature she could not but admire the case with which he rose under her weight now that he ha no longer had the slow plow pace ot at the girl to consider he advanced at ills his natural gait the quick tireless stride of nn an american railroad surveyor ills feet trained to swamp travel in louisiana and panama seemed to find the firmest ground as by instinct and whether on oil the half dried mud of tho the hummocks or in tile the ankle deep water of the bogs they felt ther their way without slip or stumble winthrope hough bomb burdened only with the half eaten tolled along behind greatly troubled by the mud and the tangled reeds and now and then flung down by some unlucky misstep ills his modish suit already much damaged by the salt water was soon smeared afresh with a coating of greenish slime ills ono one consolation was that blake after jeering at his first tumble paid no more attention to him on the other hand band he was cut by tile the seeming indifference of miss its bealle intent on hla his own misery lie he tailed failed to consider that the girl might bo be suffering far greater discomfort and humiliation more alore than three miles had been covered before illano stopped on a hummock releasing miss atlas leslie he stretched out on ion the dry crest of at the knoll and called for a slice of the fish at his urging the othere took a few mouth mouthful fuls although their were so parched that even the molet flesh afforded scant relief fortunately for them all blike blake had bad bt been en thoroughly trainee trained to endure thirst lie he rested less than tew tea minutes then taking miss mica leslie up again like a rag doll ho h wung swung away at a good race pace the trees were less than halt ix tulle mile distant when he be halted tor for the second ae condi time lie he would h gono to them without a pause though his bis muscles were quivering with exhaustion had not miso wilsn IP acie he chanced to look around and driver that winthrop waar ailon ina I 1 n Z r tile the last mile he had been lagging farther and farther behind and now lie ho hall had suddenly disappeared at the tha girls dismayed exclamation blake released tits his hold and sho she found herself standing in a foot fool or more of mud and water aler the sweat was iiii st streaming learning town down Il lakes face As lie ho tt turned around lie ho wiped it oft art with his shirt sleeves do you iou can it be mr blake that lie ha has haa hall had a sunstroke asked alias leslie sunstroke no lies hos just laid down nil all I 1 thought he had noro sand band confound him nut but the sun la Is so dreadfully hot and I 1 have his shade and lies been tumbling into every other pool no its not tile the sun still ive halt a mind to let hith lie ho the paper legged swell it would no moro inore than square our aboard abill accounts surely you sou would not do that mr make alake it may bo be that lie ho lias has hurt himself lit in falling in fit this mud bah 1 lint but I 1 guess im lit in for tho the park panic mule stunt all around now now dont y yowl owl miss jenny ini im going hut but you cant expect tile me to lovo love the tha snob As he ha splashed away on tile lio return trail miss bliss leslie dabbed at her eyes to check the star starting tink tears oh dear oh dearl dear she moaned ned i what have I 1 deneto done to be ba so treated such a brute oh dearl dear and I 1 am so thirsty in her despair she would have sunk down whore where she stood had not tho the sliminess of the water repelled hor her sh she gazed longingly nt at tho the trees in the foro fore of which stood a grove of at stately palms tho the halt hall mile seemed an insuperable distance but the rido on blakos back had rested her and thirst go goaded abed her forward and slipping she bhe waded on across tho the inundated ground and came out upon a half baked mudflat mud hat flat where tho the waging was waa much easier but the sun bun was now almost directly overhead and between her thirst and tho the heat beat site she soon found herself liera elt faltering altering site she tottered tattered on a tow few alepa top farther arllier and then stop plopped Ded spent As she sank upon thi the dried rushes sho sh glanced around anil and was vaguely of a strange doub double C headed figure following hor bor path across the marsh all about her became black tho the next she knew blaho was splashing her head and faco face with brackish water out of the whisky flask site she raised her hand to shield her face and fat eat up sick and dizzy it IW said aid blake ho apoka in ill a kindly tone though bis big voice yo ce was wa harsh and broken with thirst all right light now pull yourself together gether and well get to tile tho trees in a jiffy iffy air winthrope im here miss atlas genevieve Genev leve it wa was 9 only ii a wrenched ankle it I 1 had a stick blake I 1 fancy I 1 could make a go of it over this drier ground and lay yourself up tip for it month come miss bliss jenny brace up for an other try its only a quarter mile anti and ive got to pack him the girl was gasping with ath thirst yet she made an effort anil and assisted by blake managed to gala gain her ter foet fact I 1 she was still dizzy but as blake illano swing winthrope upon his back lie lia told her to take hold of hla big arni arm win held the shade over her heat head thus assisted and sheltered front from tho the direct beat of the sun rays she tottered along beside Il lake halt ancon fortunately the remaining distance lay acresti a stretch of bare dry ground tor for oven even blako had all but reached the limit of endurance step by step ho he labored on staggering tin nn der tho the weight of the englishman and gasping with a thirst which hla fits exertions rendered even greater than that of his companions hut but through the tha trees and brush which stretched away inland ina in a wall of verdure ho he had caught glimpses of a broad stream and the hope of fresh water called out every ounce of hla his reserve strength at last the nearest palm was waa only a few paces distant blake clutched miss bliss lesliea Le arm and drugged dragged her forward with a rush in a final outburst of energy A moment later nil all three lay gasping lit in the shade but bill the river was yet another yards distant blake waited only to regain his breath then he staggered stagger bd up and went 06 on the others unable to rise gazed utter after him blin in silent misery soon blake found himself rushing through the jungle along a broad trail pitted with enormous enona oua footprints but he be was waa so near road mad with thirst he paid no heed to the spoor other than to curse the holes for the tha trouble they boy gave him suddenly the trail turned to the left and sloped down a low bank into the river blind to all else blake ran down the slope and dropping upon hla hir kneel plunged eti his head bead into the tha water TO nn BE CONTINUED |