Show V J cE THE STORY THUS FAR Zone Zoria Corey i who hates herself for being meek and shy finds herself railroaded Into taking a a. ajob Job she does not want assisting Admiral Duncan grandfather r of her fiance flance Paul Duncan to write his memoirs Aboard the tha steamer Samoa Samo en route to Hawaii t I Zone dances with Steve Pauls Paul's band hand t some tome brother only to discover that Paul PaulIs Is terribly Jealous Paul refers to Steve AS a Nazi spy The admiral dictates s some tome of his memoirs to Zone Steve and Paul are critical On returning to her herr r r stateroom Zone discovers that her note notebook notebook book and an important treatise on enl engi engineering are missing She suspects Amber Am ber Lanning with whom she shares her ber stateroom CHAPTER IX It Zone Zorie came to the turn of the deck and started across She was outside the Palm Room She stopped at a window and looked in The iThe Palm Room was crowded She saw Steve dancing with Amber Watching them she forgot Mr l Lanning A wave of this afternoons afternoon's jealousy returned She wanted to I cry She felt neglected and unloved Zorie Zone walked on She felt desi des des- i She walked aft on the other sidel side l' l There was no moon It was a black ni night ht She found stairs l leading ading to a lower deck She went down several several several sev sev- eral flights and came to an iron bulwark on either side z At the end of this deck were steps that went up She climbed them She deck and climbed r a J passed one another Zorie Zone leaned on the rail and looked down at the water Ghostly light lighte D e showed the race and churn of water lashed white by the propellers Beyond BeJ Beyond Be Be- J yond was blackness What was she to do about the stolen notebook To whom could she turn for counsel In her confusion and woe she thought of the iron cast-iron Buddha on Professor Folsome's desk the desk the genuine genine gennine gen- gen nine ine jungle wishing Buddha Buddha and and her three wishes She had wished j to tto be transported to an enchanting eland Viand Vand of palms and flowers of jade jader y r r seas and singing birds and of J harming charming people too gallant to take ake advantage of her meekness She had wished that Paul would go gothere there too And she had wished that thatto to Ctt she would lose her meekness c 51 Since then everything had gone goneI I jf Fr wrong It was as if the jungle Buddha Buddha Buddha Bud- Bud t dha were granting a parody of her lavishes wishes If she were superstitious x she would believe that the Buddha was was an evil genie of iron who dealt solely in the cruellest irony M J She suddenly tasted on her lips the just clust and rust of bis his iron forehead A soft mocking whisper came out of the darkness just behind her Ah it H said Ah ht 1 A h hand d w was brutally ll clamped i d over her Sher mouth Another hand went scooping under her knees She was swiftly lifted to the rail and over it She was thrown far out h Ml She fell down and down through In the blackness toward the churning I white water It II Zorie Zone was falling through blackness blackness blackness black black- ness as you fall in a dream falling and nd falling never reaching bottom If U f you reach bottom in a nightmare fall your heart some people say stops beating r I Her brain must have been working workIng work- work Ing frantically because she did not have long to dwell on the horror of Ser her fate i jL It was like cold claws tearing her earl eart to shreds j J Long before she struck the water pe orie was fighting for lor her life lite She Shea Shei i ok a deep breath and held it t Paul had told her that anyone falling faIling from a swiftly moving ship r r s almost inevitably sucked into the rfd is instantly battered and lorn to pieces by the giant steel Blades l lades s U. U u LuL j om She struck Ll the me LUC water waier The ine lonc shock the impact almost knocked the out of her The next instant she h as deep in the insane churn from e a propellers with their mighty might Y y tea to thumping in her ears She Jas has a helpless rag of a girl caught t 1 insane convulsions of n water She Tyas as violently jerked whirled and IU I this way and that by savage I She felt as if she were icing torn apart I There was only one thing she Auld uld do to help herself she herself she could IIII fold lold her breath She might be held down lown indefinitely sucked this way nd that by monstrous eddies Nance hance ance alone would determine Nether Aether or not she would be drawn to ito the thumping steel blades She tried to hold her breath She SheI I eld old her breath until she thought her rigs gs would burst She flailed the hissing water with wither er arms She could not draw in iner iner iner er breath or force it out Some ater ate was lodged in her throat and would not let the air pass She r led to dislodge the obstacle but it there f But even in her panic her brain tas as trying to work out this im ilm m. m Zorie Zone was a n fair swimmer she was not afraid of I crater ater The sensible thing to do was 1 t is relax to lie on her back and j lake ake no effort al she la lay on her back After a icy she coughed the water out r t e could breathe again But her herts ts I cart art was still a frantic g to lotfi her ears tS t fiShe She could see the Samoa Samoa no- no There It had evidently sped on onto onto onto to to the night I t E tI I I. I Her fate was inevitable She would paddle about in this great waste of water until she was too tired to paddle about any more then she would simply sink sulk Zorie Zone began to think more clearly It would have been better if she had been sucked into the propellers and battered to pulp It would have been a far kinder fate Zorie Zone thought of Paul and she suddenly wanted to cry Poor Paul He would be sorry as people always always always al al- al- al ways are when someone has died died died- sorry for the unkind things he had done to her and the kind things he hadn't done for her And how would Steve feel And Aunt Hannah And the admiral All of them All these people who had treated her as a human doormat A white ghostly glow was beginning beginning beginning begin begin- ning to fill the world It silvered the tips of the small rolling waves about Tier nero It seemed to fill the sky It was like the glow that is supposed to accompany a religious miracle All this time Zorie Zone had been lying on her back resting getting her breath calming her heart Now she turned over and faced the glow It was a dazzling spot of white glare not more than two hundred yards away It was floating on the wat water r in the direction opposite to that in yr I 4 T. T rw j r v o f. f s t ta a Y a t ISM rY d s r s i She fell down and down through the blackness toward the churning white water which she had thought the Samoa had vanished She cried out involuntarily with relief and joy It must be a life- life ring Someone must have seen her hergo hergo hergo go overboard and thrown the ring Paul had explained them to her When the ring life-ring was thrown into the water a magnesium flare attached attached attached at at- to it by a short rope was spontaneously ignited Its glare would guide a swimmer in the dark to the ring She struck out toward it The flare blinded her She did not see the Samoa turning about until it miraculously miraculously mi mi- stopped not far away mi-I mi a ablaze ablaze ablaze blaze of horizontal rows of lights Then she was blinded by the beam of a searchlight on the bridge It went off in a moment She swam steadily She was growing growing growing grow grow- ing tired Her slippers were gone She was all in She had not realized realized realized real real- how the shock the horror of her immersion had exhausted her until she tried to use u her arms and ann n n legs The magnesium flare seemed no nearer The strength seemed to be draining out of her arms her chest her legs This inability to reach safety something to cling to until she was rescued was more nearly like a nightmare than her moments in the savage thrust of water from the ships ship's screws Then the white flare seemed suddenly suddenly suddenly sud sud- denly closer She put what was left of her strength into a final spurt She reached the l life e But she was now so weak she could hardly cling to the covered canvas-covered cork The rest of it was a confusion of shouts and mens men's red faces in the white glare and the rattling of oars in oarlocks Someone pulled her into a lifeboat A gruff voice voice she she never knew to whom it belonged belonged- was calling her a brave kid a damned brave kid And she never knew who it was who told her in a whining voice that an who had just come off watch had been leaning leaning leaning lean lean- ing on the rail of the deck below the theone theone theone one from which she had fallen She had shot past him screaming He Heit Heit it was who had thrown overboard the ring life-ring and then had telephoned the bridge Zones Zone's next clear recollection was of the woman in white The woman in white was square-faced square rather grim and very efficient She helped her out of her tattered rags rags all all that remained of her white pique dress Her stockings were gone Once s she e was in her nightgown and in her bed Zorie Zone had hysterics But it wasn't a bad attack Later the nurse told her she had never neverseen neverseen neverseen seen anyone come through such an experience so bravely The nurse gave Zorie Zone a sedative and Zorie Zone went to sleep It was midnight when she awoke She felt tense She ached here and there and there was a faint drugged feeling feeling feeling feel feel- ing in her brain the brain the residue of the sedative Otherwise her brain felt clear Everything felt clear In all her life she had never felt so clear Amber Lanning was sitting on the bed across the room She was looking looking looking look look- ing steadily at Zorie Zone Except for a ghost of a smile at one corner of her mouth her face was expressionless Her eyes were like dark round holes When Zorie Zone sat up in bed Ambers Amber's Ambers Amber's Ambers Amber's Am Am- bers ber's eyes followed her Zorie Zone swung her feet to the floor She winced as asa asa asa a pain shot through the small of her back Her left knee hurt All her teeth ached a little And her right hand felt fell a little numb But she could stand And she could walk She walked across to where Amber sat and she slapped Ambers Amber's face There Zorie Zone said softly She waited for Amber to do some some- thing She hoped that Amber would resent it The smile was gone Amber com com- pr pressed s h her lips ip and st d stared f at t her but she did nothing and she said nothing Zorie Zone reached up to one of the hooks It was supporting severa several hangers of Ambers Amber's clothes She took the hangers down and threw them on Ambers Amber's bed She went about the stateroom taking down hangers and throwing them on Ambers Ambers Amber's Ambers Amber's Am Am- bers ber's bed When the hooks were emptied she emptied one of the closets Its contents she threw on Ambers Amber's bed From now on said Zorie Zone in a calm assured voice this closet is mine Amber sitting on the bed with her clothes all about her said nothing Zorie Zone now dumped the contents of two of the four drawers on Ambers Amber's bed She put the drawers back and said From now on these are mine You are the first person of a great many who are going to learn that Im I'm never going to be pushed around again as long as I live You will either behave yourself in this stateroom or you will get out Zorie Zone could see Ambers Amber's brain working in her steady brown eyes Amber was being crossed She would now make some sort of adjustment adjustment adjustment ad ad- because she was a real real- A realist Zorie Zone decided is one who fights others and not ones one's self Amber got up She picked up a package of cigarettes from the dressing table leisurely selected one lighted if it Sh She p puffed ff d at t it it and d considered Zorie Zone through the smoke Now that Ive I've smoked you out said Amber shall we be ourselves I was getting so fed up with your act and act and these gosh-awful gosh clothes of yours I mean the whole picture Who Vho Zorie Zone asked do you think I am She was determined to say nothing now or ever to this girl about the attempt at drowning her She was still as determined as ever everto everto everto to spend the rest of her life if necessary necessary necessary sary in finding out who had thrown her overboard She would be as smart as they were and as sly Amber shrugged and lifted eyebrows eyebrows eyebrows eye eye- brows and eyes with a wryly despairing despairing despairing de de- grimace All right my dear she said Keep it up if you want to I know youre you're a great actress God knows I should I have the greatest respect for you I envy you more than any my woman that ever lived You have more lives than a cat Frankly I think youre you're a witch Ill I'll be good We might have a ladies' ladies agreement agreement agreement agree agree- ment to that effect said Zorie Zone I Yes es Amber Amber agreed u And d now darling how are you fixed for clothes Im not fixed for clothes uN Nothing in the hold Nothing Amber seemed surprised I thought you always traveled with a terrific wardrobe Id I'd forgotten that month you spent in Were We're the same size You can have anything I own Who Zorie Zone wondered was this woman she resembled A notorious secret agent It wouldn't do to ask questions And at the moment she was enjoying this arrogant girls girl's awe her submission This woman she resembled must be much more ruthl ruthless ss than Amber It would be very dangerous Zorie Zone realized to permit Amber to keep on assuming that she was the girl girt they thought she was Yet it would be useless to deny it Amber Mr Lanning and the sinister Mr Savoyard Savoyard Savoyard Savoy Savoy- ard wouldn't believe her She wasn't afraid That was the surprising thing She wasn't afraid of anything any more She wasn't even afraid of death A few minutes ago she had accepted death and death no longer frightened her She looked at the jumble of clothes on Ambers Amber's bed There was one evening dress that looked new It looked as if it had never been worn Tomorrow night Zorie Zone decided that dark red Ill wear gown Certainly dear Anything I have haveis is yours The phone rang Zorie Zone answered it Pauls Paul's crisp voice said Zone lorie Are you all right Yes TO BE CONTINUED |