Show E 11 SLA S LA re installment SIX k WE THE STORY soa FAR I 1 karen water W OB convinced by her lawyer john colt that the he has a claim to the island estate of 0 grandfather garrett waterson has bal come to honolulu to attempt to gain control of the property then through a strange range circumstance and nd somewhat ome what against hr her will oh the e find ands hers herself if on the very inland isla ln d alagoa with richard wayne or tonga tong 13 dick ick as he to Is known he Is X member ol of the wayne wayn a fa family which which has hai been in c control 0 arol of the island since luce the disappear disappearance a of her grandfather they have found that dicks uncle james wayne wayn who has been managing r civery the property la Is very sick sic k dick tries 0 to o get karen to work out a compromise settlement lett lement to her claims but she refuses ret usei late during the night lilua a native house bouse girl comes to dicks room and teus tells him she has strange foreboding of cf evil As they talk a rap Is heard at the door now continue with the story at the door when dick opened it was W as the tiny figure of 0 a kimonoed k japanese girl her hair usually as neat nea as polished ebony was down ill all about her face and through it her eyes stared so widely that they showed the whites Ml mister ster dick you cornel comell what is it what Is it now 1 I top tap on mister wayne door I 1 take mister wayne him milk mister wayne he not answer well did you go in no no nol no where Is he in his office yes mee office plenty light but no speak something something moves in there I 1 hear something move movel but nothing in there will speak dick wayne drew a deep breath and the air ot of the hall was so clammy upon his lungs it was as if he had bad breathed in the outer rain all ali right once more he went striding through the house the broad old floorboards speaking under his tread and the th e tabes ol of the japanese girl pattering behind him there was a line of light under the door of james waynes office but as he reached tor for the latch the ja japanese p girt girl flattened herself against the wall fearful lest she accidental antal 9 lly ay see into the room and tonga dick wayne himself hesitated he knew what was within james wayne still sat in the chair behind his vast desk in the same place he bs had sat during so much of twenty hard driving years bubnow but now his bis head was forward upon tle the desk and by cheslack the slack emptiness of his uncles hands dick knew that this was the end all over the floor were scattered the ginger blossoms of a broken let lei when dick wayne had made certain that his bis uncle was dead he picked up the scattered ginger blossoms and opening a casement threw them out into the night he went to the door the japanese girl looked smaller than ever standing there with her back pressed t tight against the koa wood wall as 9 mf if trying to hide herself from things unseen send the missey here he be said missey allua no nol the haole missey yes mister dick As soon as you have sent the haole missey to me bring me charles wong As dick turned back into the room he spotted one more of those inescapable ginger flowers under the corner of the desk ile he picked it up and put it in his pocket then he went and stood at the window looking out into blackness unmindful ol of the cold spit of the rain it seemed to him a longtime long time before karen came Is Is something wrong her words were faltering has anything happened dick wayne stared astonished deep in his pocket docket his bis fingers were still rolling between them the petals of that last ginger flower but karens eyes were uncommunicative and he saw that she did not so much as glance atthe at the floor to make sure that the flowers were gone suddenly a terrible pity for this girl got the better of him and he shut his jaws ft dick karen cried out what I 1 D A it he was it unable then pitying her as he did to tell her that he knew she already had the answer to that james W wayne a is dead he answered this this Is a terrible thing perhaps not what do you mean dicks voice was hard and bitter if you are going to take this island perhaps it is better that you take it from me and from my brothers apt rpt from the man who made it what it is karen waterson stood staring at him blankly until now it had seemed to dick wayne that nothing he had ever said to her had reached her completely in its full rAe meaning aning but now he knew that he had hurt her as definitely as if he wd struck her across the face the elleace that followed had bad a strange hopeless quality about it empty yet singularly acu acute dick was glad that charles wong now appeared moving quickly into thi the room Charle Charles gWong Wong went straight to the desk but his eyes were questioning on an dicks face yes dick answered the unspoken question A wave of swift emotion crossed the chinese secre secretary face he raided one hand and his fingers angers ran through bis his heavy hair bill charles wong went straight to the desk yes to 9 answered the unspoken question get the doctor on the phone get him up here at once that is necessary tor for the proper reports when done get my brothers in honolulu on the wireless phone tell them what has happened and that I 1 will be in honolulu tomorrow night regardless 0 of whether they will be here by then or not then get me john colt I 1 think you already know where in honolulu he is and what shall I 1 tell him ill talk to him myself the holokai did not weigh her hook until after dusk of the next day but as she beat her way slowly out through the reefs hall half an hour alter after sunset dick wayne was glad that the day was over tonga dick had respected and a ad admired m ired his uncle had und understood erswood what hat his uncle meant to alcoa everything ery thing productive that alcoa possessed had existed first to in this s one mans mind they had all depended ed upon him and been guided by him all of them except dick himself had been controlled by him A careful conference had been necessary with james waynes physician being already familiar with the case he had no brou trou trouble ble describing in technical terms the failure allure 0 of james waynes heart could this have been caused by shock dick demanded A shock said with an oddly humorless locution would not have been necessary but it would have helped dick wayne experienced no relief at this declaration he was certain that karen waterson had bad been with james wayne when he died and that she had sought to conceal this and he knew that almost anyone else knowing these facts would leap at once to a dark and savage suspicion he found however that for or himself he did not need dr mazus report he was already convinced beyond any shadow of present or future doubt that karen waterson had not killed james wayne when they had communicated with dicks brothers and with john colt tonga dick wayne threw the radio cutoff cut off switch what remained was a full day with charles wong repeatedly interrupted by the visits of cane field bosses mill superintendents cattle foremen it was turning dark before dick and karen waterson at last drove steeply down the mountain toward the anchorage of the holokai later atter after the holowat had put out from shore dick and karen found themselves sitting face to face across a completely set get table under the cabins skylight the main cabin of the holowat was trim and well lighted but necessarily very small here not even the hovering of the chinese mess boy could coald spare them a sense of being shut in very close together karens eyes rested unhappily upon her plate her fork fiddled with broiled bakli but she was unable to eat her clear cut poise had returned in the form of fit a reticent withdrawal but behind the thin shell of that poise dick wayne was able to perceive that the girl was nervously distraught tonga dick wayne ate tor for no other reason than that he had not eaten in more than eighteen hours and waited for karen to speak now surely he though she would have something to say about her presence at the death of james wayne then presently he become became aware with a slow amazement that karen was not going to speak she must have known who had picked up the broken ginger bloss blossoms onas that would have given her away but did she dick suddenly recognized that karen perhaps did not know he let his eyes rest with some de upon her face and taw saw that she was uncommonly pale it gave her an exceptionally fragile look it teems to me he began that you might tell me he let the question he had begun lose itself in the black race of the sea past the lee porthole were making fast time he said well be in honolulu before very long 11 karen murmured im glad A little shiver ran across her shoulders so EO that her two words made honolulu seem a long sought haven for her theres something I 1 want to tell you karen she waited relaxed and impassive except tor for th that a t sense ot of strain behind her pale composure im sorry 1 I 1 shanghaied shanghai ed you I 1 realize what I 1 was letting you in for im not exactly used to being pushed about karen said after all he reminded her when you came aboard you believed me to be deceived even as to your name and though your visit to alagoa was against your will you yourself and your friend john C colt 0 it were partly responsible I 1 think kar karen e n was silent B but u t I 1 im rn no not t all sorry dick said in spite of everything I 1 know you better now and that has been worth while 1 I have tried to fool you about who I 1 was karen said I 1 in n spite ot of her concealed nervous tension she seemed very tired so that he could hardly hear her words that was a very silly mistake I 1 there have been other mistakes dick said she met his eyes for a moment and he wondered it if she was thinking about a silent room and a bra ken lei he wanted to tell her that ther ewas no reason for her to think about that and that he believed in her completely dick said morosely you and I 1 ought to be able to talk to each other more easily than we do do we have to go into all that we can work these things out dick wayne said you and I 1 are the only ones who can karen waterson stiffened and sat back 1 I can only say this if there are to be any negotiations at all they will have to be carried on with john colt not with me if the case came to trial as it now stands dick wayne said 1 I have no doubt that you could win after that would follow appeal after appeal delay after delay and even if you won in theand the end be a white haired old lady before your victory ever paid out the waynes wayne 9 wont give in because they cant ilive ive in neither said karen looking at him directly do we intend to give in what you mean is that john colt wont give to in its the same thing dick wayne looked at her q queerly u beer ais Is it karen are you in love with with colt are you going to marry him CHAPTER VU karen looked at him steadily a moment there any reason why I 1 should answer that she said at last but I 1 will I 1 have no intention of marrying john colt what I 1 mean la Is that I 1 believe I 1 have a sound claim and I 1 am perfectly willing that the court should decide it if your uncle had lived she stopped and a silence fell between them so that they noticed again the voice of the ship and the rush and slap of the sea later tonga dick began talking to her again trying to tell her what his uncle had bad been as dick saw him he was trying to make her see a man who had bad lived not for personal conquest but tor for a dream he was trying to make her understand that james wayne had been a man who did not know how to use anything for or himself beyond the bare necessities one who took less from life than the salary of charles wong commanded he showed her his uncle breakfasting at in the morning so that he be could be at work by a quarter of tour four he was trying to make her see twenty years of labor r in which james wayne bad given every hour pt his time every resource of his bis mind to making alagoa what it had become she interrupted him after a while why do you tell me all this im trying to make you see that there is something there that cannot be measured in dollars and cents and that even though james wayn Is dead the fight for the things he stood for will have to go ozi tto ITO BE CONTINUED |