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Show OEr THE SEA ATIs T11K STORY TIM'S FAR: After belnc artrirt for four days on a raft, Dick Jordan Is picked up by a mall salllnc vessel In the Caribbean. Pick realises the captain and his crew are little better than pirates. Tucu, the captain, starts toward the area where the sunken steamer on which Dick had been a passencer Is now lying. On the way they come upon a derelict schoon-r. schoon-r. On board Is Captain Bedford, apparently ap-parently Insane, and his daughter, Rose. Tucn, captain of the pirates, attempts to board the vessel, but Is turned back by Rose's automatic. Dick swims to the schooner and helps Rose to drive on" the pirates. Dick fears Tucu will return during the night. of maternal care. Captain Bedford was lonely; Jealous ol relatives who gave His child a home when he was away, and absolutely hungry for her companionship; and when he reached a point where he could no longer endure the separation he literally kidnapped her and carried car-ried her away to sea with him. After that Rose had lived on the schooner, visiting more coast towns and cities than few girls of her age expect to see in a life time. She grew into a strong, robust, independent inde-pendent girl, skillful in handling anything that floated or had sails; learned at first hand all the mysteries mys-teries of the sea and the lore of sailors, and during her brief sojourn so-journ on shore in various ports of the world picked up miscellaneous information that was more practical practi-cal than theoretical. But the sea was her life and the old schooner her home. When Dick Jordan met her she was as competent a navigator of a sailing craft as any man afloat, and her knowledge of seamanship had enabled her in the crisis to save the schooner after the crew had abandoned her. - Captain Bedford had been injured by a falling spar, and for twenty-four hours had hovered hov-ered between life and death. When he recovered the use of his muscles, mus-cles, but not of his mind, he was worse than useless. His wild babbling bab-bling frightened the superstitious When Rose appeared again he told her of his belief, and she agreed with him. "You haven't such a thing as a searchlight aboard, I suppose?" he queried. "No," she smiled, "schooners are not usually equipped with such modern mod-ern improvements." "Well," glancing up at the sky, "it's going to be moonlight until one or two o'clock. After that it will be black as ink. Until then I think we're safe." "Then we'd better take turns resting," she replied practically. "I'll take the first watch." But Dick was in no mood to sleep. He urged her to rest, pleading that he could stay awake all night without with-out discomfort; but she was obdurate, obdu-rate, refusing to rest unless he promised to do the same. Their long vigil began the moment mo-ment the sun set and the shadows of night began creeping across the ocean. Twilight was succeeded by intense darkness, which brought them to alert watchfulness. This lasted for hall an hour until the moon came up and dispelled the gloom. It cast a broad path of white light that revealed every object ob-ject almost as clearly as in the day time. The lugger lay directly in this broad streak of light, enabling them to see all that took place aboard. It was better than a searchlight. search-light. "If it would only last until morning," morn-ing," Dick remarked, "we wouldn't have much to fear in the way of a surprise." At first they talked intermittently of practical matters, exchanging views of what they should do in certain contingencies, and then hav-ingexhausted hav-ingexhausted all possible methods of attack and counterattack they lapsed into silence. For nearly an hour they watched and waited without with-out talking, but the moonlight and the balmy witching air. tingled through their nerves. Dick became conscious of a pleasant sensation in watching and waiting, with her close by his side. Once or twice he glanced in her direction, and their eyes met an instant. They smiled and returned to their silent vigilance. "You're a plucky girl," he remarked re-marked once, breaking a long pause "Not many could meet this situation without getting hysterical." hysteri-cal." In the few hours before the moon disappeared, Dick learned much of her lonely life with her father on the schooner. His own life had not beertt of the' pleasantest; he was a fugitive from justice unjustly so, but a fugitive just the same. He had been embittered by circumstances circum-stances that had torn him from his little niche in life and cast him relentlessly re-lentlessly upon a sea of adventure and restless wandering. Even in his moments of rest the shadow of the law had always poisoned what little enjoyment he had managed to pick up in his exile. The night wore on without anything any-thing happening. Their talk was running into personal matters when a cloud drifted across the face of the moon, and temporarily darkened the sea. They started up with a jump, as if it were a sign of trouble. trou-ble. Dick laughed after the first shock. , "I thought the moon had gone," he said. "It's only midnight, and we have it with us a couple of hours yet." "I'm afraid not," she replied. "Look at those clouds. A cloudy night is almost as dark as a moonless moon-less one." "Storm clouds, aren't they?" She nodded and looked worried. "Another storm now," se murmured, mur-mured, "would about finish'us." A Night of Anxiety Wears Sloivly On The fear of another storm, however, how-ever, was secondary to the danger threatening them from the lugger. With the sky completely overcast, the moment favorable for an attack was hastened by a couple of hours. They got up and began pacing the deck restlessly, watching and listening, lis-tening, peering through the gloom and halting every time a fish broke or a splash in the water attracted their attention. They talked in low, guarded voices. "We mustn't keep together," Rose whispered finally. "We must divide the watch. I'll take the stern, and you the bow. We can meet on our rounds and report." It was the only sensible thing to do, but Dick hated to be separated from her in the darkness. Besides missing her companionship, he was afraid something might happen to her when he wasn't present to lend J his assistance. Suppose the Caribs chose the stern for the attack and overwhelmed her before he knew of her dangerl He made his circuit of the forward for-ward deck a little hastily and recklessly, reck-lessly, and found himself at the meeting place long before she had completed her round. When he saw her finally emerge from the gloom, he drew a sigh of relief. "All well?" he asked. She nodded, and after a few moments mo-ments of pause she turned to renew re-new her beat. 1TO BE CONTINUED) CHAPTER IV She made no pressing inquiry for an explanation, but her eyes were watching him Inquisitively. "It Bounds like a stage farce," he laughed finally, "but it was the best I could do at the time. That Captain Cap-tain Tucu swallowed the story was a surprise to me." "Will you please tell me what the itory is?" Briefly as he could, Dick sketched all that had happened to him since the foundering of the City of Bahla. "Now," he concluded, "you can Understand why Tucu will persist in taking the schooner. So long's I'm aboard he'll keep at it. I'm not sure but I can do you the greatest favor by leaving. Perhaps I will." "Where will you go?" she asked, smiling with her eyes and lips. "Back to the lugger." "Wouldn't they kill you if they laid hands on you again?" "No, not right away," he replied. "It's my supposed knowledge of the existence of those jewels that would protect me. After they were convinced con-vinced I had been deceiving them why, then, I don't imagine Tucu would be restrained by any scruples from wreaking vengeance." "But you didn't intend to wait until un-til then?" she added. "No, I was planning to leave at the first opportunity. I was on the lookout for ships." "And this schooner being the first, you took it to get away from them?" "No, that isn't quite true," he returned, re-turned, his eyes twinkling. "I really real-ly didn't think of myself when I decided to change ships. I saw what they intended to do, and heard your defiance of them. It was was well, a habit of mine, we'll call It, of jumping in whenever there's a chance of an adventure. I wanted want-ed to see the fun; and Tucu had refused re-fused to let me come aboard." She appeared a little amused by his evident attempt to avoid the real reason. She suddenly grew more friendly. Turning to him, she said frankly: "I'm glad you came, and I hope you'll stay. Since father lost his reason, I've had everything to do. It was the storm, and the crew they abandoned us right in . the midst of it. Father was down with a high fever, and I I the men didn't trust me to manage things. I think they were superstitious about father; he talked and acted in a way that frightened them. His mind here he comes now," she broke on in a whisper. "Never mind what he says. He's not responsible for what he tells." Dick Gets Acquainted With Captain Bedford Captain Bedford, with a vacant Btare in his eyes, came tumbling up the companion, mumbling and grinning to himself. He was a man past fifty, stout and thick-set, grizzled griz-zled of beard and hard of muscles; but the mind had been thrown out of gear by a knock on the head, caused by a falling spar in the midst of the storm. Catching sight of Dick, he stopped and blinked hard at him. Then with an Idiotic grin on his face, he approached with both hands extended. "Is It ye. Mr. Crew?" he called cheerily. "He takes you for the mate," whispered the girl. "Humor him." "Well, it's most time we pulled up anchor, ain't it? There ain't goin' to be any storm after all. I told ye so I told ye so, Mr. Crewl If it wasn't for that pig-headed superstition su-perstition of yours that an easterly wind means a big blow ye'd believed be-lieved me afore." He stopped suddenly and gazed at the lugger. "What ship's that, daughter? I don't seem to remember remem-ber her. Hail her, an' ask the cap-- cap-- tain aboard. We'll have a dram of rum together. Cap'ns have to be friendly when in harbor. No," starting start-ing for the side, "I'll hail her." "No, father," Interrupted Rose, "not now. You must gn below and rest. Mr. Crew and I will follow." Dick nodded and smiled, which seemed to please the captain, for he descended the stairs, rubbing his hands and mumbling gleefully. When he was gone, Dick glanced at his companion. Her face was more drawn and set than when Captain Tucu had her cornered, with the Caribs in front and back of her. In that brief instant she had aged several years, a tired, weary expression ex-pression in the eyes and face. Rose Bedford was a child of the sea, born in a small seaport village, vil-lage, but bred and brought up on the sea under tlie tutelage of her father, her mother having died at an age when daughters have only the faintest conception of their ned Rose suddenly found that her seamanship sea-manship was of little avail without the power to command obedience. crew, and reduced them to a surly, disorganized, mutinous mob. The crew disregarded Rose's orders, and took matters in their own hands. They abandoned the schooner in the middle of the storm. They Make Plans for A Desperate Defense For three days and nights the schooner had been buffeted 'about by waves and wind, a plaything of the sea, drifting without guidance or direction. The chance of bringing bring-ing order out of chaos seemed an insurmountable task for a woman, and almost in despair Rose was about ready to yield to the inevitable inevita-ble when the lugger appeared. But her fighting spirit, in spite of its low ebb, had not entirely deserted de-serted her. The lugger's crew and suspicious character had awakened a worse fear in her mind. A fate more to be dreaded than drifting helplessly around on a derelict aroused her. In desperation she determined de-termined to defend the schooner against tke Caribs, selling her own life as dearly as possible. Dick Jordan's appearance as an ally immediately stiffened her courage. cour-age. They discussed the situation calmly and practically on deck after aft-er a refreshing cup of coffee in the cabin with Captain Bedford. "We have plenty' of firearms aboard," she told Dick. "Father always carried car-ried a regular arsenal." "Three of us, then, well armed," he replied, "can put up a pretty stiff fight." "Two," she said, shaking her head. "We must leave father out of it. I don't dare trust him with a weapon. He might turn it upon us in one of his wild moods." Dick nodded, recalling the friendly friend-ly overtures the captain had made to the boarding party against his daughter's wishes. "Wouldn't it be safer to confine him to the cabin?" he asked after a pause. "He would be safe there, and out of the way." "Yes, 1 thought of that," she nodded. nod-ded. "We could lock him in there. If things got desperate we would retreat to the cabin. That would be our final stand. I'd like father with me then." "That's the only thing to do. Where is he now?" "Dozing below. He always sleeps after taking a glass. I'll go down now. and lock him in while he's asleep " Dick paced the deck restlessly while she was gone. The lugger had dropped anchor at a safe distance from the schooner. Everything was quite aboard her, with no evidence that another plan of attack was brewing. "Tucu will wait until it's dark," he mused "Then under cover of night he'll attack from several quar- ! ters. That's his plan." 1 |