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Show SYNOPSIS. I ffXf5:5 ii "S j I the mist, Doris' gray eyes ever upon awmiiiMi illlll I I llllMlllli 1 1 1 Mill Ill I I lUHf , , . , nica u the mist, Doris' gray eyes ever upon me, her hand clasping mine; Celeste lying motionless day after day under the blankets; De Nova rocking back and forth, striving to sing, or creeping aft to the tiller, with his body shaking as though he had a palsy; Johnson, never moving, his head sunk into his chest, his gaze out over the bows; Mc-Knight Mc-Knight curled up as a dog lies, sometimes some-times cursing fiercely, only to break off and cry like a child. I remember when the bcom swung about, pitching Sanchez headlong and breaking his leg; how we pulled it back into position posi-tion with a sickening snap, binding it there firmly, while beads of perspiration perspira-tion told the Chilean's pain. I recall that other day when Dade suddenly stood up, his eyes staring dully out into the fog-bank which wpped us about, extended his hands, smiling,' and said: "Sure, I'm comin', ol' pal," and stepped overboard. We grabbed for him, but he went down and never came up again. McKnight was the first to speak. "He had his pockets full o' gold. I saw him takin' it las' night." There was a fierce storm of oaths, the faces of the men wolfish and savage sav-age as they glared down into the water; wa-ter; but Kelly fell on his knees and began to pray. It almost seems to me that this was the last, though it could not have been. There were hours after that, perhaps even days and nights, when I lived without really knowing that I lived. It was a period of fancies, phantoms, phan-toms, dreams, weird and fantastic, haunting horrors that left all reality blank. I know that Johnson helped me at the tiller while De Nova lay prone in the bottom of the boat, some- , times talking to himself, occasionally lifting his head to peer over the side. What he said had no meaning, jusf a jumble of French words, and he smiled like that dead Spaniard in the cabin of the Donna Isabel. I know that Sanchez, who had brave ly done all he could in spite of his broken leg, fell into the deliri. um of fever, screamed for hours that he was dying, and had at last to be bound fast in his blankets. I know Kelly came creeping aft with a knife in his hand, imagining he had been robbed, and I had to knock him flat with the tiller-bar, the boat falling off into the trough of the sea and nearly capsizing before I could get her head about again. . Doris was bending over Sanchez, who seemed to have an interval in-terval of sanity at the moment that was the last I remember; then, 1 think, I pitched over against Doris when she came back to me, and everything every-thing went dark. CHAPTER XXX. In Which We Come to the End. I was lying between white sheets la a rather wide berth when I came again to consciousness, a yellow glow of sunlight streaming in through an open port, and the clanking sound of machinery in my ears. I closed my eyes again, wearily, my head reeling yet from the delusions of the past. No, She Still Sat at My Knee, Yielding Me New Courage. have understood, for her oft hands touched my cheek, and so we rested for a long time, scarcely exchanging a word between us. It was later that same day, just at the edge of twilight, when Kelly called, "A sail!" pointing eagerly out over the port quarter. Then, some upon knees, some standing, we all saw it, a misty, white reflection, showing show-ing vague against the darkening horizon. hori-zon. I know not what it really was a gleam of canvas, a speck of cloud, or the pinnacle of an iceberg but as we swept toward it, the night dropped down over the waters blotting the last faint vestige from view. Yet we hung on desperately, the man staring out into the black void, grumbling and cursing, until the long night wore away with no reward. That was about the last. I recall clearly; afterwards all grew indistinct, indis-tinct, commingled, confused. It was like a dream rather than reality. I performed my work as before, the instincts in-stincts of a seaman leading me rightly, right-ly, and out of the mist numerous incidents in-cidents arise to memory proving l hat I observed and thought. Never can 1 forget the sight of that narrow boat, The story opens with the Introduction of John Stephens, adventurer, a Massachusetts Massa-chusetts man marooned by authorities at Valparaiso, Chile. Being interested in mining operations in Bolivia, he was denounced de-nounced by Chile as an insurrectionist and as a consequence w-xs hiding. At his hotel his attention was attracted by an Englishman and a young woman. Stephens rescued the young woman from a drunken officer. pre was thanked by her. Admiral of the Peruvian navy con-l'ronled con-l'ronled Stephens, told hirn that war had been declared between Chile ami Peru and offered him the office of cap':lin- He desired that tint night the Esmeralda, a Chilean vessel. should be cf.y,ti:red. Stephens ne.-epted the commission. Stephens met a motley crew, lo which lie was assigned. He gave them fi'uil instructions. in-structions. They boarded the vessel. They successfully captured the vessel supposed to bo the ' Esmerald:'., through strategy. Capt. Stephens gave d'reetions for the departure, de-parture, of the craft, lie entered the cabin cab-in and discovered the English woman and her maid. Stephens quickly learned the wrong vessel had been captured. It was Lord Darl'"'7''-n's private yacht, the lord's wife and maid being aboard. He explained the situation to her ladyship. lady-ship. Then' First Male Tutlle laid bare the plot, saying that the S"a Queen had heen taken in order to go to the Antarctic Antarc-tic circle. Tuttle explained thet on a former voyaee he had learned that the Donna Isabel was lost in 17S3. He had found It frozen in a huge case of ice on an Island and contained much gold. Stephens consented to be the captain of the expedition. He told Lady Darlington. Site was greatly alarmed, but expressed confidence in him. The Sea Queen encountered a vessel in the fog. Stephens attempted to communicate. This caused a fierce struggle and he was overcome. Tuttle finally squaring the situation. sit-uation. Then the Sea Queen headed south again. Under Tuttle's guidance the vessel ves-sel made progress toward its goal. De Nova, the mate, told Stephens that he believed Tuttle. now acting as skipper, nsane because of his queer actions. Stephens was awakened by crashing of glass. He saw Tuttle In the grip of a spasm of religious mania and overcame him. The sailor upon regaining his senses was taken ill. Tuttle committed suicide by shooting. Upon vote of the crew Stephens assumed the leadership and the men decided to continue the treasure hunt, the Islands being supposed to be only 200 miles distant. Tuttle was burled In the sea, Lady Darlington pronouncing the service. Stephens awaking from sleep saw the ghost, supposed to have formed the basis for Tuttle's religious mania. Upon advice of Lady Darlington, Stephens started to probe the ghost. He came upon Lieut. Sanchez, the drunken drunk-en officer he had humbled in Chile. He found that at Sanchez' Inspiration. Engineer En-gineer McKnight played "ghost" to scare the men into giving up the quest. Stephens Steph-ens announced that the Sea Queen was at the spot where Tuttle's quest was supposed sup-posed to be. The crew was anxious to go on in further search. De Nova and Stephens Steph-ens conquered them in a fist fight. Lady Darlington thanked him. The Sea Queen started 'northward. She was wrecked In a fog. Stephens. De Nova. Lady Darlington and her maid being among those to set out in a life boat. Ten were rescued. Stephens saw only one chance in a thousand thou-sand for life. Lady Darlington confessed her love to Stephens and he did likewise. Lady Darlington told her life story; how she had been bartered for a title, her yearning for absent love. She revealed herself as the school chum of Stephens' sister. She expressed a wish to die in the sea rather than face her former friends and go hack to the old life. A ship was sighted. The craft proved to be a derelict. They boarded her. She was frozen tight with hundreds of years of ice. The vessel ves-sel was the Donna Isabel, lost In 17o3. 126 years previous. The frozen bod;es of the former crew were removed. They read the log of the Isabel, which told how the Spaniards had died from cold, one by one. Lady Darlington sang to prevent the men from becoming moody. The crew commenced the hunt for treasure. They found the iron chest, said to contain a part of 3.000.000 pesos, firmly imbedded in ice. Dadv Darlington expressed the belief that it would never benefit the men, for she said the Donna Isabel would never reach port. The men got a lust for gold. Stephens quelled it by whipping one. The Donna Isabel showed indications of sinking. sink-ing. They prepared to depart with what treasure had been found. The next morning morn-ing thev departed. Stephens went back to try to rescue Cole, a gold-crazed negro, who was hunting treasure in the hold. Stephens plunged into the icy sea a moment mo-ment before the Donna Isabel sank. His Diates rescued him, the negro being lost. CHAPTER XXIX. Continued. If anything the women managed lo bear . up better than the men, but whether this was because of their dispositions, dis-positions, or failure to comprehend fully ful-ly the desperation of our situation, I am unable to say. Yet outwardly they seemed to retain courage longer. However, their eyes told me plainly plain-ly enough how heavily the hours rested upon them. 1 saw comparatively comparative-ly little of Celt-ste, as she chose a position po-sition near the foot of the mast, and remained there much of the time, wrapped warmly in blankets, ministered minis-tered to by De Nova, who sat beside her. But Doris remained aft with me, resting when I was off duty, bul sitting sit-ting wide awake, her head touching my lctiee whenever it. was my trick at the tiller. It seems a strange thing to say. yet I believe it was the very certainty cer-tainty of death which kept her strong, self-reliant, almost happy. Not for one instant did she consider our final rescue res-cue as possible. She lived in her love for me, utterly insensible to I he drear surroundings, and merely anxious lo prolong our life together. It was a revelation to me of a woman's heart, a woman's constancy. .May I never forget the clasp of her hand,, the tender ten-der lovelight in her gray eyes. Hie words of faith and hope on her lips, as we sat thus through those long hours battling against the sea. the motionless forms cf the blanketed sleepers alone evidencing other human hu-man life within the boat. It was her presence, her love, her inspiration, which stiffened me to the continued performance of a labor growing harder with each day. It became easy to see what this meant to us all. It was neither hunger hun-ger nor thirst, although I felt il safer to put all upon short ratio, s from the beginning, but rather the awful, continuous con-tinuous .'train of hopeless loneliness in that vast desert of ocean. The contemplation con-templation of it maddened us one moment mo-ment into frenzy, and depressed us the next into profound melancholy. We could not shake it off; awake or in dreams it held us to slavery. Everywhere, Every-where, everywhere the same eternal swell of the seas, the same eternity of clouded sky, the same dull, dead monotony of scene and motion, hour after hour, day after night. It drove us mad, crushing down upon the brain as though it was a real weight, merciless, merci-less, agonizing. The air remained frosty, the southwest wind chilling, the spray which slapped into cur faces icy cold. Our fingers stiffened with cold, our bodies shook from the chill; only beneath the warmth of the blankets could we find comparative comfort. Hour after hour the men lay, curled up and motionless, only crawling forth reluctantly to take their turn on watch. Our greatest effort was to keep the straining cordage cord-age free from ice, 'and to prevent its formation along the gunwale or at the bows, over which spray dashed in constant shower. , Good God, how those hours dragged, with the same heartless scene without, with-out, the same hopeless faces within! Most of us continued to live merely ', because we could not die. Indifference Indiffer-ence took the place of hope, and we performed our simple tasks automatically, automatic-ally, almost unconsciously. Johnson, De Nova and I took our tricks at the helm, with one man always awake forward to manage the running gear, and only once (luring those first six days were we compelled to lower our sail or take a reef in the jib. Then a fierce squall came I earing down upon us from out the norlhwesl, a swift, sharp blow, heralded by a blinding snow flurry which kicked up an ugly sea. lashing ns with heavier stinging spray, and coating everything every-thing with ice. For seven hours we fought in a blinding smother, every man awake, crouching beneath blankets, blank-ets, the women stowed away under the thwarts, and De Nova and I at (he tiller, . the huge surges pounding against our hacks, as we I bus kept them from sweeping the laboring bout fore and aft, ami swamping her. 1 never believed we could weather it. I he increasing waves tossing us about like a cor;, yet, us Ihe dawn broke, we succeeded in broaching to, with canvas drag holding her, and the very moment 1 realized she would ride safely I fell forward dead asleep. ICither Doris or one of the men covered cov-ered me with blankets, my icy clothing cloth-ing drying on my body. Hut it was Doris who welcomed me back to life again, as a little glimpse of westering sun grew barely visible through a rift in the dun clouds, with the mainsail again spread, and Ihe longboat leaping lo tha foaming summit:-;. Oh, but it was worth all suffering just to read the confession of her eyes, and to I feel her bend down over me in sudden tenderness! .1 am not ashamed that Ihe tears dimmed my eyes so 1 could scarcely see her dear face or that, my voice choked so I could tlo no more than whisper her name. She must this was real a steamer, rising and falling on the swell, but pushing steadily stead-ily forward to the rapid revolutions of the screw. I could hear the tramping of feet on deck, even the slush of the sea without. I opened my eyes again, watching a curtain wave lo the fresh air rushing in through the port, and then I turned my head on the pillow. Doris sat on a low stool gazing out through the aperture on the sea, her face partially turned away. She looked pale, careworn, her eyes heavy and sad. Suddenly she turned her glance in my direction, and sprang up with a glad cry. "Oh. Jack, you have been lying there so long unconscious!" 1 could only clasp her hands and gaze into the depths of her gray eyes. . "I have proved rather a poor specimen speci-men of a man, I fear, dear," I con- 1 fussed at last, ashamed of my weakness. weak-ness. "How long?" "Jt. is three days since we were brought, on board, and we were a day and night in the boat after you lost consciousness." I endeavored to think it out, to comprehend. com-prehend. She leaned farther over, her lips touching my cheek. "Don't worry about it, Jack; everything every-thing is all right now. Johnson took your place al the tiller, and and wa were picked up." (TO BIO CONTIXUKD.) tossing about on the crests of great seas, or plunging down into the black hollows; the green water pouring in cataracts over the gunwale; the constant, con-stant, bailing; the wet, soggy blankets; the moaning of wind through the icy cordage; the flapping of the sail; the gray masses of water curling over us in continuous threatening; the awful expanse of ocean revealed by day-lighl day-lighl ; the black loneliness through which we swept at night. We ceased to talk, to think, even, growing more anil more sullen, moody, dull-eyed, cramped of limb and benumbed of brain. We sat silently staring into the smother, forever beholding themirages of di.-Morted minds. Men would spring to their Iter', yelling out some discovery, discov-ery, only to sink hack again, with ghaslly faces buried in their hands. II was all illusion; the waves, the clouds mocking us, even our voices sounding unnatural, our faces growing unfa-milia unfa-milia r. Only Doris; Doris did not. change not, at least, to my eyes. Ay, she became be-came whiler, weaker, the shadows growing darker beneath her eyes, yel she still sat at my knee, looking up into my face, yielding me new courage ( tit of her heart of hearts. God knows 1 believe she saved me, saved me from going mini, saved me with the power of her love held me sane, held me steadfast, when the very soul in me had given way. I think of those other faces now with a shudder. Ii scms as if all that was human had gone out of us; we were no longei men, only things. We crawled about We growle.l rather than used articu lale speech, bruised by the constant buffeting of the sea, sure with th( smart of salt water, chilled through by the icy wind, we snarled like v.'ild beasls, our eyes bloodshot, our faces haggard and unclean. 1 know not how long It endured. I lost all track of day and night. J merely remember this and that out ol |