Show TS CD d mow author the place efe SYNOPSIS 9 V warrington en american adventurer and james his servant with a cased par rot the trio known up and down the ir as parrot co are bound tor rangoon elsa chetwood rich american girl tourist bees warrington and asks the f purser to introduce her lie tells her that warrington has beaten a syndicate and eold his oil claims for 20 warrington puts najah the parrot through his tricks tor risa and they pass two golden days S together on the river martha elsa s companion warns her that there ie gos IP in rangoon warrington interferes in a row over cards caused by an enemy newell cragg and threatens to shoot him unless he leaves town lisa Is annoyed by cragg and stabs him with a hatpin P warrington bids bisa good by warring fc ton discovers nisa on the singapore steamer elsa tells him of her engagement he usa who thinks he anay be and makes inquiries regard less of the misinterpretation of her con sf corn cragg la aboard and Is warned by i warrington warrington ceases to avoid elsa cragg stirs up evil gossip cisa tells i of the hatpin incident and he hunts up cragg on murder bent only to fand him stretched out drunk on deck warrington turns the hose on cragg he tells bisa that he Is a man under a cloud S and to be avoided but elsa refuses she f gets the cut direct from society aers CHAPTER XI continued for years martha had discharged her duties t mechanically yet with a art sense of pleasure and serenity at IK this moment she va v a as one pushed unexpectedly to the brink ot a krecl pice over which the slightest misstep would topple her the world was out r of joint fc I 1 wish we bad gone to italy she r remarked finally it would not have served my pur pose in the least I 1 should have been dancing and playing bridge and going f to operas I 1 should have had no time for thinking martha elevated her brows with an air that implied anat s i she greatly doubted this statement yes thinking it Is not necessary that I 1 should mope and shut myself up ES in a cell martha in order to think I 1 i have finally come to the end of my doubts it that will graaf you from now on you may rely upon one thing i to a certainty martha hesitated to put the ques alon 1 I am not going to marry arthur he Is charming graceful accod but I 1 want a man I 1 should not be happy with him I 1 can twist him too easily around my finger I 1 ad mit that be exercises over me a tain indefinable fascination but when he Is out of sight it amounts to the cum of all this doddering and doubt ing it Is probable that I 1 shall make an admirable old maid wisdom has its disadvantages I 1 might be very happy with arthur were I 1 not so wise she smiled again at the reflect alon tn the mirror now let go and astonish the natives there was a mild flutter of eyelids as she sat down beside warrington and began to chatter to hm in italian vl lie made a brave show of following i her but became hopelessly lost after a a few minutes elsa spoke fluently twelve years had elapsed since his last visit to italy he admitted his con fusion and thereafter it was only oc caslo nally that she brought the tongue into the conversation this diversion which she employed mainly to annoy L her neighbors was in truth the very worst thing she could have done they no longer conjectured they as edmed warrington was too strongly daz 1 tied by her beauty tonight to be men tally keen or to be observing was his habit he never apoka to bis neighbor be had eyes for none but elsa under whose spell be knew that be would remain while he lived he was nothing to her he readily under ethod she was restless and lonely and be amused her so be it he be cleved that there could not be an un happier more unfortunate man than himself to have been betrayed by the one he had loved second to but one and to have this knowledge thrust upon him after all these years was evil enough but the nadir of his mis fortunes had been reached by the appearance pe arance of this unreadable young woman you are not listening to a word I 1 am saying 1 I beg your pardon but I 1 warned you that my italian was rusty he pulled himself together V but I 1 have been rattling away in english and I 1 have been wool gathering not at all complimentary to me it Is because I 1 am very unhappy it Is because tantalus and I 1 are broth fr ere I 1 with 1 could make you forget i on the contrary the sight of you makes memory all the keener he had never spoken like that bei tore it rather subdued her made her regret that she had surrender d to a vanity that was without aim or durec alon farthest from her thought was L conquest of the man she did not wish i to hurt him she was not a coquette after dinner he did not suggest the promenade instead be excused himself and went below they arrived at early mon day morning elsa decided that war arington rington should take her and martha on personally conducted tour of the pretty town As they left lor shore he produced a small beautiful blue feath er he gave it to elsa with the comell ments of rajah and she stuck it in the dugree of her helmet this Is ut from the dove of peace its archenemy rather he laughed 1 I wish I 1 had the ability to get as furious as that bird it might do me a world of good and how long Is it since you were here four years he answered without enthusiasm he would not have come ashore at all but tor the fact that elsa had ordered the expedition there was no inclination to explore the shops so they hired a landau and rode about town climbed up to the quaint temple in the hills and made a tour of the botanical gardens it delicious murmured cisa taking in deep breaths of the warm spice laden air since her visit to the wonderful gardens at kandy in cey ion she had found a new interest in plants and trees she thoroughly enjoyed the few hours on land even to the powwow warrington had with the unscrupulous driver who at the journey s end sub one price for another despite his original bargain As they waited for the tender that was to convey them back to the ship elsa observed a powerful middle aged man gray haired hawk faced steel eyed watching her companion intent ly then his boring gaze traveled over her from her canvas shoes to her hel met there was something so baldly appraising in the look that a flush ot anger surged into her cheeks the man turned and said something to his companion who shrugged and smiled impatiently elsa tugged at warring ions sleeve who Is that man over there by the railing she asked in a very low voice he looks as if he knew you knew me warrington echoed the moment he had been dreading had come someone who knew him I 1 he then hie boring gaze traveled over her turned his head slowly and elsa who bad not dropped her hand could feel the muscles of his arm stiffen under the sleeve he held the strangers eye defiantly for a space the latter laughed insolently it silently it was more for elsa s sake than for bis own that warrington allowed the other to stare him down the flame passed leaving him as cold as ashes I 1 shall tell you who he Is later not here for the second time since that night on the elsa recorded a dis agreeable sensation it proved to be transitory but at the time it served to establish a stronger doubt in regard to her independence eo justifiable in her own eyes it might be insidiously lead ing her too tar away from the step ping off place the spoken words in those hateful 1 I be man knew warrington knew him perhaps as a malefactor and judged bis associates accordingly she thus readily saw the place she occupied in the man s esti matlon she experienced a shiver of dread as she observed that he stepped on board the tender she even heard him call back to his friend to expect him in from singapore during the sec ond week in march dut the dread went away and pride and anger grew instead all the way back to the ship she held her chin in the air and from time to time her nostrils dilated that looka it she had been nearer she was certain that she would have struck him across the face there will be no one up in the bow eald warrington will you go up there with me after a hesitation she nodded A moment after she felt the old familiar throb under her feet and the ship moved slowly out of the bay do you know that that man came aboard I 1 know it the wide half circle of palms grew denser and lower as they drew away this Is the story its got to be told I 1 should have avoided it it it had been possible he Is the owner of the plantation ob I 1 rather expected something like this it s my run of luck I 1 was just recovering from the fever god knows how he found out but he did it was dur ing the rains he told ma to get out that night dian didn t care whether I 1 died on the road or not I 1 should have but for my booy james the man sent along with us a poor discarded worn an of whom be had grown tired she died when we reached town I 1 had hardly any money he refused to pay me for the last two months about fifty pounds there was no redress for me there was no possible way I 1 could get back at him miss chetwood I 1 took money that did not belong to me it went over gaming tables cragg I 1 ran away cragg knows and this man mallow knows can you not see the wisdom of giving me a wide berth oh I 1 am sorry she cried thanks but you see I 1 am an out cast tonight not a soul on board will be in ignorance of who I 1 am and what I 1 have done trust cragg and mallow for that thursday we shall be in singapore you must not speak to me again give them to understand that you have found me out that I 1 imposed on your kindness that I 1 will not do act as you please there are empty chairs at the second class table among the natives and now good by the happiest hours in ten long years are due to you he took oft his helmet and stepped aside for her to pass she held out her hand but he shook bis head don t make it harder tor me mr warrington I 1 am not a child I 1 to me ou have been the angel of kindness and the light in your face I 1 shall always see please go now very well A new and un account able pain filled her throat and forced her to carry her head high I 1 can find my way back to the other deck CHAPTER XII the game of gossip during the concluding days of the voyage elsa bad her meals served on deck she kept martha with her con promenades promenaded only early in the morning and at night while the other passengers were at dinner this left a clear deck she walked quickly her arm in marthas literally propelling her along never spoke unless spoken to and then answered in bables her thoughts flew to a thou sand and one things futilely and vain ly in the endeavor to shut out the portrait of the broken ma what was he doing of what was be thinking where would he go and what would he do she hated night which no longer lottering ottering ott ering sleep provided nothing in lieu of it and compelled her to remain in the stuffy cabin she was abrald early wednesday morning she passed cragg and mallow but the two had wit enough to step aside tor her and to speak only with their eyes she filled cragg ath unadulterated fear mallow dragged along the gambler whenever he found a chance to see elsa at close range there s a woman gad that beach comber has taste 1 I tell you to look out tor her cragg warned again I 1 know what I 1 m talking about mallow whistled oho you ably acted the tool drinking cragg nodded thought so even a yokohama bar maid will fight shy of a boozer I 1 m going to meet her when we get to singapore or my name s ot mallow cragg laughed with malice I 1 hope you will it will take some of the brag out of you say let s go aft and hunt up the chap I 1 understand he s tala up quarters in the second cabin want to run into mo all right come on well stir him up a little and have some fun they found warrington up in the stern sitting on the deck surrounded by squatting lascara lascars La scars some and a solitary white man the chief en ginders assistants the center of in terest was rajah 10 was performing his tricks among these was one that the bird rarely could be made to perform the threading of beads he despised this act as it entailed the put ting of a blunt needle in hi eak he hung it aside each time warrington banded it to him but ever his master patiently returned it at length lecog mizing that the affair might be pro longed indefinitely rajah put two beads on the thread and tossed it aside the lascara lascars jabberer jabbered jabb ered the grinned and the chief en ginders assistant swore approvingly the parrot shrilled and waddled back to his cage fine business for a whole man warrington looked up to meet the cynical eyes of mallow he took out his cutty and fired it otherwise he did not move nor let his gaze swerve mallow towering above him could scarcely resist tho temptation to stir bis enemy with the toe of bis boot his hatred for warrington was not wholly due to his brutal treatment of him mallow always took pleasure in domi bating those under him by fear war arington rington had done his work well he had always recognized mallow as bis employer but in no other capacity he had never offered to smoke a pipe with him or to take a hand at cards or split a bottle it had not been done offensively but in this attitude mal low bad recognized his manager s dis approval of him an inner conscious ness of superiority in birth and aduca alon he had with supreme satisfaction ordered him off the plantation that memorable night weak as the man bad been in body there had been no indication of weakness in spirit warrington neton read the desire at l AS A hiu A fj patk in the others ayea I 1 t do it mallow he eald I 1 t nothing would please me better than to have a good excuse to chuck you over the rail upon a time you had the best of me I 1 wib a sick man then I 1 m in tolerable good health at present you crow I 1 could break ou like a pipe stem mallow rammed his hands into bis coat pockets scowling con lie weighed fully twenty pounds more than warrington crow warrington shrugged in the east crow Is a rough synonym tor thief you re at liberty to return to in the east crow Is a rough synonym for your diggings forward with that am pres slon be replied coolly when we get to singapore rising slowly to his height until eyes were level with mallows when e get to singa pore I 1 m going to ask you tor that fifty pounds earned in honest labor and it I 1 decline to pay bently we 11 talk that over when we reach port now roughly get out there won t be any baiting done today thank you cockalorum Cocka lorem jeered mallow cragg touched his sleeve but he threw off the hand roughly lie was one of the best rough and tumble fighters in the straits settlements you thieving I 1 don t want to mess up the deck with you but cut your comb or you when we get to port warrington laughed insolently and picked up the parrot cage bring the comb in act I 1 always carry it not a word to cragg not a glance in his direction warrington stepped to the companionway and went below cragg could not resist grinning at mallow s discomfiture wouldn t break eb shut your mouth the sneaking dock III take the starch out of him when we land always bad that high and mighty air wants biks to think he s a gentleman he was once said cragg no use giving you advice but hes not a healthy individual to bait I 1 m no kitten when it comes to scrapping but I 1 haven t any desire to mix things with him the ury ot the man who had given him the ducking was still vivid he had been bandied as a terrier handles a rat I 1 tell you he s yellow and with a hundred thousand in bis clothes hell be still A hundred thousand cragg browned and gazed out to sea he had forgot ten all about the windfall let s go and have a peg he suggested immediately upon obtaining her rooms at raffles hotel in singapore and leaving martha there to await the arrival of the luggage an ing collection of trunks and boxes and kitbags kit bags eisa went down to the american consulate which had its offices in the rear of the hotel she walked |