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Show g kep wire -m BEN AMES WILLIAMS TtIK SVONY SO '.K: ttoblil l.lli Ik iuip: arlixt. ne lo M.wfl ll;iy to tier tun.-, Will M.rh.ill. Juvt nttrr hrr Boat, th? White liuifH, 1vks, Witt tx c cMfnully klllf.t lr.rnlnt th.it Wlll troth r, Antii-i, bUmr hor tor hi, ilctili. KiiMn iHt to AiiRUTi' ttNhtuB rruUfr to i.iit tor him. She (Alts -tre ami aw. -! t.t(T to ttiul the bo.it At r.v bourn! tor I AhrAitoi. Angus' crew eons!--!!! of t'At Pottoho mul csMn boy n.Amol Ho-nttsv. Ho-nttsv. Kohln mul Auris arc Ulkluc whrn itother t'rolNer draws Ahre.t of them. On det-k 1$ a man nanicil Jrnktus. who nas a VAenser on the White Quern, He r.tes his tint to Kohln. then Is tone. Now they Are tWhms for salmon. Now continue with the story. num u ix slit' wvul.l ni i'i with hint i tut' t Corner llioi'k ;is .settled. An hour or twn hili'i'. ltonieo Immclit the bunt to imi'liof nntr tlu-iit; tuul til sunset they wont nboimi lii'f mul K"t limit'!" way. Put took tho wheel, mill Koinoo tinned to In thi' K-'iHi'.v. Koliln, In lior ntnlo-room, ntnlo-room, he:ul tin- I'lmltor of Ills nc-tivity nc-tivity tlu'io; inul he li'Kim to sine In n t'Kii, lnthor swoct tonor. Whon sho fiinm out Into tin onutn, ttlio saiil to Anvils: .i "Ho tin s n plonsunt villi"!, Imsn't lii""" Aukus iuhUIi'iI. "Vi'S. Somotltiu-s tu plays tlu acoorilion aiul sines tit Uu sanu time. I always enjoy it." Tin enciiie stoppeil. On tiny pow- While Pat and Ansus wore work-Ins work-Ins the easternmost pair of nets, Rohin saw a larse craft comins toward to-ward them from the west: ami when It drew near she called Romeo on deck to see it. She thought m some surprise that he seemed imeasy at what he saw. The new boat ran past them at reduced speed; and an otficer looked at them for a Ions time through glasses, and she realised real-ised this was some kind of Government Govern-ment vessel. "It's like seeing a policeman," she decided. "When you're driving and see a uniform, you always slow down and feel guilty." Then she saw Angus leave the net and so alongside the cutter, at an- er-driven craft at sea, or on a plane in the air, the sudden silence of the motive agency is startling. Angus looked around in quick surprise; and then the door between engine room and cabin opened. Mr. Jenkins was there in the doorway. His checked suit was stained with grease, sadly rumpled and soiled. He held a pistol pis-tol in his hand. Angus stood up sharply; but Mr. Jenkins said in gentle tones: "You might as well sit down, Mr. Mcrhail. While I explain." When Robin saw Jenkins appear from the engine room, she had n sense of familiarity, as though all this had happened before. Even the pistol in his hand seemed to belong and be daiiiedl Hut you understand, Pll Jump you If I can." "Sun'. I would myself. If you do, you take your own cluini'i'.i. No hiuil fccltng'i. That's undei'.'ilood." Mr. Jenkins was streaming per.'iplrat Ion now; but tin pistol in his hand was steady and ready. "I'm a pretty good shot, Mi'l'hail. I don't want to kill you. I'm In a devil of a hold If I have to kill you to get clear, Pll do It; tint Pd rather not." He added frankly: "There's some chance I won't get away. If I'm caught, I don't want a killing proved against me." "Naturally. You don't want to be hanged." "Right. So If I have to start shooting, shoot-ing, I'll take a crack at your knee tlr.st. That will be just about lis bad, for you, as killing you. Lots of men would as soon be dead as one-legged. It will be as bad for you, but not for me. They wouldn't hang me for shooting your leg ulT. See what I mean? I'm just telling you, MePhail. I have to use you and your boat, but I don't want to hurt you." MePhail said: "What do you want?" "Why, right now, I want you and the young lady to go into the stateroom state-room there, without any fuss. I want you to promise lo stay In there with her till I tell you to come out." He added, frowning a little at his own perplexities: "You see, MePhail, Me-Phail, Romeo's got Pat Donohoc at the point of a gun, forward. We've got to tie him up. I shut off the engine en-gine till we could get things straight. I can take your word, but I can't take Pat's. That Irishman would swear to anything, and then kick me in the head the minute I turned my back. Pll have to see him tied up before I can be easy in my mind. Romeo can't do it alone. So I want you to go in the stateroom with Miss Dale here, and promise to stay there, both of you, till I call you out." He looked at Robin thoughtfully. thoughtful-ly. "I don't want to hurt either of you," he said. MePhail considered. "Just now, you've got the bull by the tail and can't let go. You've got me under your gun here, and Pat under Romeo's Ro-meo's forward; but you're not getting get-ting anywhere. The boat's drifting. If we stay here long enough, the patrol boat will be back and pick us up." "Right," Mr. Jenkins agreed. "So you'll know I'm pretty jumpy. You won't want to push me too far, MePhail." Me-Phail." "Suppose we make a bargain?" Mr. Jenkins said wearily: "Now, MePhail, you know we can't bargain. bar-gain. You wouldn't take my word for any promise I made. Let's just do what I say. You and Miss Dale go in the stateroom and promise to stay there while we fix Pat so he can't make trouble. We won't hurt him, you understand. Then I'll start r" , ,...-...r.."- " ,-r,; -m - wr , -r..: chor to receive him. Pat Donohoe returned to join her here, and as he climbed aboard, Robin said quickly: "Listen!" The plane they had seen a while ago was returning. She heard it t far away, and after a moment they saw its lights, low above the water, growing swiftly nearer, the roar of its engine loud and louder till the plane itself burst out of the purple dusk close by. Its pontoons touched; it taxied toward the coast-guard boat: they saw it moored astern. It was dark when Angus returned. A boat from the cutter fetched him; and they were all aft to meet him. The boat rowed away; and Angus looked at them in the darkness and spoke briefly, in French. Romeo asked a question; Angus answered too casually; and Romeo and Pat I went below. When they were alone, ! Robin asked quietly: ; "What is it? What is happening?" j "What? Oh, you mean the cutter? cut-ter? Why, they're on patrol all the , time." i She smiled in the darkness at his ; evasion, did not press the question; but afterward when they were under un-der way, she and Angus at table to-I to-I gether, Romeo in the galley, Pat in the pilot-house, she asked without warning: "Does Mr. Jenkins know they're watching him?" She saw his eyes turn sharply toward to-ward the galley where Romeo was busy. Then he looked at her again. "Miss Dale," he said, "talk can't mend a broken plate. But it can break one." "I'm sorry." She saw that there was real concern in him, doubt and uncertainty. When she woke next morning, the sun was high; and the cruiser was at anchor. She dressed and went on deck and saw that the small dir.ghy which they carried lashed in chocks on top of the cabin was gone, the falls dangling. She was alone. The cruiser lay in a wide shallow bay bordered by a sweep of wooded shore. In one place there were some cleared fields and a scattering scat-tering of houses and a dock and warehouse. This must be Beaver River. There were small fishing craft at anchor here, sharp-sterned, with stubby masts; there was one larger schooner; and she saw the coast guard cutter coming up from the westward. Angus came at noon with news. "Miss Dale, that cruise boat isn't stopping here. I'd forgotten they change their route on this trip. She's going home by way of Corner Brook. Nothing's expected here for ten days, except the schooners to take the salmon. I don't know what to do with you." He said doubtfully: "There's a steamer going on to Labrador Lab-rador tomorrow, but that won't help you get home." "I've certainly made a nuisance of myself. What can you do?" "We'll stop at Corner Brook ourselves our-selves within a week or so." His tone was tentative. "We're pretty far out of the world, aren't we?" "Pretty far out of your world, yes." "No. I mean out of other people's peo-ple's world. My world is where I am. Wherever I am is mine. For then. It's the place I belong in then." She smiled. "I don't mean to be philosophical; just practical. If you can stand being put out of your stateroom may I go on to Corner Brook with you?" He said, coloring slowly: "I think you know I'll do anything you want. I owe you anything." She spoke in quick reassurance. "Please, all that's forgotten. You were tired, distracted." He spoke gravely. "You're . . . Well, you've a lot of steadiness, and honesty, and strength. I'm not good at putting things in words; but I want you to know that I'm glad my brother had the happiness of loving you before he died." She was at once warm with happiness happi-ness and choking with tears. There was nothing she could say. That The plane they had seen was returning. re-turning. there. She decided that this was what you expected from Mr. Jenkins. Jen-kins. Perhaps that was why, when now the pistol actually appeared, she was not frightened. She knew quite well that he was the sort of man who might shoot you; but she decided de-cided that he would shoot only if he were badly scared, and he did not seem scared just now. Her lips were dry, and her palms were moist, and her heart was pounding; but though physically she was thus disturbed, mentally she was entirely calm. "Sit down, MePhail." The cabin suddenly was very small. It seemed crowded. Mr. Jenkins, standing in the doorway with the pistol in his hand, crowded it. But when Angus did sit down, there seemed to be more room. Mr. Jenkins seated himself on the bench across the table from Robin. This bench ran along the port side, and for much of its length it served as a seat during meals, but it was a little lit-tle longer than the table. Mr. Jenkins Jen-kins sat on the clear end of the bench that extended toward the engine-room door, so he was free to move quickly if he wished. Robin was four or five feet away from him, the table between them; Angus sat at his desk to her right and behind her, on the starboard side of the cabin. "There," said Mr. Jenkins. "Now, McPhaiL you know I don't want trouble. Give your word not to start anything?" "I won't promise anything blind," Angus told him. "What do you want?" Robin saw that Mr. Jenkins was perspiring a little. There were beads of moisture on his brow. She wondered won-dered inconsequently whether he had lost his hat. It had been rather a dashing hat, brown and fuzzy. She saw that the man was under a heavy strain; and just as she decided this, he told them frankly enough that it was true. "I hope you'll sit still and talk easy, MePhail," he said. "I'm jumpy. If you want to move, tell me beforehand what you're goinjg to do, and then do it slow. I don't want to hurt anybody; but if you moved suddenly, and I didn't know what you were doing, I'm so nervous nerv-ous I might shoot first and ask afterward. after-ward. Okay?" MePhail nodded. "If I make a move without warning you, shoot the engine and we'll pull our freight out of here, and then we'll all calm down. I don't want anybody coming along and asking questions. Be sensible, sen-sible, MePhail." He added in a soothing warning: "And don't get any ideas, will you? I know you had guns aboard here; your shotgun, and Pat's rifle. But they're not where you left them. I took care of them. Don't start anything. Mc,Phail." "You can't hide a boat this size where a plane can't see it. You're bound to be caught. So you won't do any killing." "Don't get me wrong, MePhail," Mr. Jenkins told him almost pleadingly. plead-ingly. "If I can get clear away by killing you, and can't do it any other way, I'll kill you in a minute." He added simply: "But if I do kill you and Pat, I won't kill Miss Dale. You might think of that." MePhail nodded, his lips tight. "I have thought of that. Very well, we'll go in the stateroom and stay there; but suppose I call to Pat first, tell him not to make a fuss? Will that help you?" "It just might. I won't trust him, anyway; but it may save him getting get-ting hurt." He opened the door beside be-side him. "Go ahead," he directed. "But MePhail be careful what you say." Angus nodded, and he raised his voice. "Pat, can you hear me?" The big Irishman's answer from the forecastle sounded surprisingly near. "Aye, sorr." "I'm making a deal with them, Pat," MePhail explained. "Let them tie you up. They'll be nervous and dangerous as long as you're loose. Take it easy, and do whatever they say. Nobody's going to get hurt if we keep our heads. Understand?" "I hear what you say, sorr; but shame it is, to be sure." "We've Miss Dale to consider." Pat submitted grudgingly: "Aye, sorr, if you say so." "I do say so. Miss Dale and I have given our word to be quiet, to make no trouble. You let them tie you up." "Aye, sorr." MePhail looked at Mr. Jenkins. "All right?" "As far as it goes. But if he makes a move, you'll understand I can't take any chances. He's a powerful pow-erful man. Now you and Miss Dale go into the stateroom. You first, I don't want her crossing between us." "Very well," MePhail smiled grimly. "I'll stand up and walk directly into the stateroom." (TO BE CONTINUED) |