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Show ! (Under the circumstances It could not V" ita a B'en of cowardice to beat a mas- "' .tcrly retreat providing Merrick waa 'with blm. So Jones sang out, Intending to give the other fair warning of his lnten-,:tJons. lnten-,:tJons. Then ho began to move away, opening open-ing a course by means of his sturdy sts. I The sailors hung on fairly well, and "took severe punishment as though determined de-termined to earn their money, like honest fellows that they were. Finally Jones broke loose and start-ted start-ted to retreat with more expedition fln truth, ho even ran. Rapid footfalls behind him assured thlm that Merrick had been as ready to :selzo the chanco as himself, and the '.pursuit was speedily abandoned. Jones was panting for breath, but In a fair humor, for his own bruises were really Insignificant, whllo he had fcthe satisfaction of knowing that ho iad visited condign punishment upon uch of tho rollicking sailors as ran up against his knuckles. Ho gradually caruo to a halt, and tthe flguro In his rear started to shoot 3ast, when Jones throw out an arm and caught him. "Hold on, my dear boy no hurry, you know tho rascals havo quit chasing chas-ing us tho luck of tho Joneses, you Jtnow how do you come out?" Then and there ho stopped talking and looked at the man ho held in. consternation. con-sternation. . It was not Merrick at all, but a "C atranger, and apparently a badly .scared Individual at that. "Hello!" cried Jones, "who tho deuco dire you and whero's Merrick?" Tho gentloman found his tongue :and In a mixture of German and Eng-Jlsh Eng-Jlsh declared that ho was an entirely I 'innocent party, alarmed by tho mad rfrollc of tho barbarian sailors, and Jntent only upon seeking safety In flight. As to Morrlck, he know nothing .about any Individual by that namo, sb And as Jones In his surprlso had ro- f leased his hold, tho Teuton resumed i Oils gallop along tho beach. Jones was for tho nonco almost paralyzed. Luckily ho had, early In 3il career, learned to placo great do-3endenco do-3endenco upon himself. Such a man usualry gets along In life and mounts the ladder of success -without hardly a break In his ascent. He drew a weapon and then started back along the beach, running swiftly and half bent over In tho aggressive manner of one who Intends giving bat-tie, bat-tie, no matter how seriously outnumbered. outnum-bered. He ran along tho edge of the wator, which -wot his feet without notice-Tan notice-Tan along, straining his eyes to see 1 Any floating body that might drift -within reach, but no matter how eagerly eager-ly his search was prosecuted, nothing noth-ing camo of it. lf Jones curbed his excitoment, know- 4ng the folly of thus allowing himself o run at largo. He set himself to thinking. Snrnlv thoao sailors who had mado jiuch a grand pretenso of being half aeas over until tho ruction began, and then straightened out In a Jiffy suro- ly they had talkod English and must j porforce belong to a vessol flying tho ; Union Jack. Was Mark abducted? What could they want with him un- loss It wero a mistake, and tho Jolly I Jackles bad gotten hold of the wrong I man? I Ho knew not which way to turn, t And stood thero llstonlng eagerly for clue to guide htm. j Hal the measured dip of oars, and upon the starlit water of the sea ho ould Just distinguish somo moving I object that steadily receded. S Jones was really alarmed for his -friend, and on tho impulso of the mo ment called his namo aloud. He bollovod tho rowing momentarily momentari-ly stopped, and ho dotccted somo sort of a scuffle, accompanied by a half-muffled half-muffled shout that thrilled him strangely, since ho felt euro it was J In answer to his call. Thon camo I some muttered oaths that might bo . lusty sailors, tho scuffling sound -4- -ceased, again tho oars struck tho water In regular mano'-war stylo, nnd tho dusky, mysterious boat passed farther away from tho shore, out upon tho starlit Bea. 0HArTi'.r. vin. I Harriers Burst Away. ' Uwrlck camo to Us senses with a dim consciousness of what had passed. Ho found ho was In a stateroom, state-room, thrust into n lower berth, clothes and nil. His head has boon slightly cut, proving that It .iad been a cudgel or some sort through which his downfall had bcon brought about. Looking out of tho small opening ho could sco tho many lights along the shore that Indicated Nice. Ho tried tho door. Of courso It was locked, but, as ho had fully expected this, It gavo him no additional uneasiness. The door was solid enough to resist any ordinary nttnek. but Merrick's quick eye detected one weak point about It tho brass binges wero on tho Inside, as tho door swung Inwardly. Inward-ly. Given a screw driver, and tho Job was ono at which ho could laugh. Ho choso tho thickest blado,of his knife, and had removed ono screw when the steel snapped off short. This seemed at first to prophesy a calamity, but upon investigation ho discovered that tho broken blado answered an-swered tho end ho had in viow admirably, ad-mirably, and after that tho work proceeded pro-ceeded rapidly. And so tho last screw gavo way bo-fore bo-fore tho magic of the broken blado. Then Merrick set out upon a tour of investigation. His hopo lay in tho chanco of a boat dangling from tho stern, which he could quietly onter and cut loose, to be carried away upon tho tide, still gently on tho flood. That was what took him to this part of tho craft, and not a dcslro to spy upon any of those who might chanco to bo In tho cabin. At the samo time, in passing near tho open skylights through which air and light wero admitted into tho saloon, sa-loon, fashioned much after that of a sailing boat, what was moro natural than that ho should lean over to glanco downward? It was a move that had a decided bearing upon his destiny, for what he saw gave him a tremendous shock, whllo at the same tlmo ho felt a hand laid roughly upon his arm and ho was Jorked rudely back. He was Just on tho point of opening his batteries upon this unknown captor, cap-tor, who still maintained his rigid clutch, when ho was thrilled to hear his own namo whloporcd. It was Jones, no ono else but tho ubiquitous and lrrcprcsslblo Jonc3. Mark reached around and seized tho hand that had held him so tightly, seized it with burning zeal and proved by his forcible prcssuro what ho thought of Joneses in gcnoral, nnd this ono in particular they -wero all trumps. "I'm awful glad to sco you," ho whispered. "It's Just grand luck I'm In hardly hard-ly got aboard before I run across you," came from tho other, sotto voco. "Of courso you havo a boat?" "Close by tho Btern, and held by a Corslcau I'vo bought, body and soul." Ho mado as though to urge Merrick Mer-rick in tho direction ho Indicated, but, strango to say, tho lato prisoner, who had orstwhllo appeared bo eager to quit tho steam yacht for tho shoro that ho would havo exchanged his kingdom for n stanch boat, now actually ac-tually resisted this friendly pressure. "Hold on," ho Bnid. "Why delay It's dangerous, I tell you, my boy," persisted tho Yankoo eagerly. "Thon you haven't looked?" "Well, I wanted to, but considered tho chances of being seen," cautiously. "Bother. Take Just ono peop, and then tell mo If you think It advisable to lcavo hero without making further Investigation." Something in Merrick's mysterious words aroused the other's slumbering curiosity. What ho saw seemed to astonish him so much that he acted as though paralyzed Indeed, it was Mark who now bad to tako hold of his arm and drag tiio unwilling Jones back. Jones gavo a low hissing sound, Intended In-tended for a whistle It was his method meth-od of allowing tho surplus steam to escape, and doubtless served as a safety valve. "Jerusalem!" he gurgled, showing that bo had boon considerably staggered stag-gered by what ho saw. "You saw him all right?" "Tho Itooshan well, rather," dryly. "Ho escaped disaster?" "Ho must havo come here on tho next train quick work, too. And looks as though ho had beon through n scratching match with somo Amazon. "Stroraby's all right I can understand under-stand how ho and Count Leon should bo hero with tho owner of this steam yacht, evidently a great friend nnd admirer of tho bravo oxploror, but It's tho others that fetch mo," purrod Jones, always keeping n bright lookout look-out around In order to mako euro that they wero not about to bo overtaken over-taken by some discovery. "Depend upon It, she did not como here of hor own free will. There Is some trickery about It, something not down on the bills," ho wolspored, with a deslro to arouse now hope. And in this ho succeeded, for Mark began to show signs of eager interest. "But soo hero, wo havo no tlmo to lose, Jones." "Correct." "And I'd liko to havo an Idea how tho caso stands boforo I put my foot in it. While I'm ready to save Con-stanco Con-stanco from danger and annoyanco, it might appear a silly thing In her eyes If I tried to tako hor away from hor chosen frlonds, wIiobo society sho sooms to havo sought of her own frco will. Did you notlco tho big Mogul?" "You mean tho pari) at Uio head of ihu tnlK, with ono of tho ladies m cither side?" "That's It. Ho's English all overdid over-did you over hear tell of a British branch of tho Dares?" "Why certainly. Thero was a cou-lu, cou-lu, with whom sho rorrcspondad." "His namo was Sir Lionel." "That was not a guess, by Jupiter!" "No. My good Corslcau boatman, on tho way out, Informed mo that this flno craft was tho property of an Ens-llsh Ens-llsh globe-trotter nnmed Sir Lionel Dare. Tho similarity of nainoa didn't strllio mo as odd until I saw her sitting sit-ting thero besldo him. "That girl Is slowly but surely awakening awak-ening to her position. Yes, Llttlo Miss Millions has been suddenly seized with a startling conviction that this Is all n set up Job to securo unlimited moans from her vast fortuno or elso to compel her to marry tho count." "Tho mlscrablo Bcoundrols," Mark mutterod between his teeth. "Prove that to rao, Jones, and I'll stand between be-tween that girl and danger again It It costs mo my life." "All right," said Jones, cheorlly, "Just you como wltli mo, my hoy, and we'll beard tho lion in his den, you bet." Again tho darkness of tho night was of great assistance and Merrick found occasion to feel thankful. Fortuno favored thorn at least they wero ablo to descond without discov ery, and as this was of prlmo Importance Import-ance Just then, they considered them-solves them-solves lucky. And tho cabin door was ajar, which helped things amazingly. At tho first glance Merrick bocame aware that the situation within the saloon had changed during the few minutes they had spent In perambulating perambulat-ing the deck and dodging jackles. Tho volcos now soemed to vibrate with a new enorgy, as though something some-thing had occurred to lnjoct excitement excite-ment Into tho gathering. Jones bad boon right, after all. The look ho bad seen upon tho face of Constanco Daro had been one of awakening consciousness and alarm. Her first act had been to oxpross a desire to return to tho hotel. Of courso, tho good company en-dcavorod en-dcavorod to dissuade her with all manner man-ner of entreaties. Finding these of no avail, tho yachtsman showed a littlo of his claws beneath tho velvet. If his fair cousin were indlsposod It would bo very uncivil In him to allow her to return tho long distance to tho city, ospeclally since tho wind was rising nnd tho sea growing rough tho very best statoroom on board was quite at her sorvlco, and in tho morning morn-ing n safe landing could bo mado. Llttlo Miss Millions was accustomed accus-tomed to having her own way pretty much, and this polished but posltlvo manner of rofuslng her demands kindled hor femlnlno anger. Her lip curled with scorn; sho stamped her llttlo foot In anger. "It Is not so you have other reasons, rea-sons, less honorable for refusing to land mo. I am not blind, sir, and tho fact thnt you aro not alono In your mlscrablo schemo Is very patent to mo," sho said, looking at tho others In turn. Sir Lionel turned vory red In tho faco under her reproaches, but held hlmBclf well in hand. Ho was a master hand at finding words to cover tno case, and his plea had all tho earmarks of a clovor bar-rlstor, bar-rlstor, which ho had really onco beon when a sudden legacy spoiled his business busi-ness prospects. Tho veneer wa3 so desporately thin that It provod of no avail as a disguise. dis-guise. Constanco saw through It easily. Although tho situation certainly presented pre-sented enough of danger and difficulty to alarm her exceedingly, sho did not seem to Ioso her prosence of mind. Indeed, It anything, sho grow moro Indignant and angry, for sho stamped her foot as might an angry despot, and poured upon tho dovotod head of her cousin a torrent of reproaches that must have staggorod one less dense. (To bo continued.) |