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Show ; N THIS TALL: U J JACK LON- i lif PON'S SI-A l-X- j with all j -nis virili: PI-N ! CHAPTER XXVIII Continued. ji Ct i -Wo'.f Larson." 1 s.w.l stonily, for the first tl'.uo Hd.lrossius him by this : r..s most familiar muno, "1 am unable j to sh.vt holjiloss. Hiirosistins man. i Yoa tin' proved llial to my s.uist'ac- I tion ;i o!l as yours. Hut 1 warn you j now. ar.il not so mu oh for your own ; fivJ as for initio, that 1 shall shoot j -voa tho moment you attoir.pt a hostilo . got. I c.v.i shoot you now, as 1 stan.l ; fcoro: a"J if you are so minded. Just i go alu-aJ and try to elan on tho ! tjttoh" ! "Nevertheless. I forbid you. 1 ills- I tir.otly forhiJ your t.ir.iporius with my 'P'-t. mail!" 1 expostulated, "you i a.'.vanoe tho fact that it Is your ship ; as thetiih tt woro a moral right. You ! have r.ovor considered moral rlchts In your dealings with others. Y'ou suro-ly suro-ly do not dream that I'll consider thorn ia doa'.ir.? with you!" 1 tad stopped underneath tho opon titohway so that 1 could see him Tie lack of expression on his faoo. so dierer.t from when I had watched tia unseen, was enhanced by tho un f.xkics. staring eyes It was not a pleasant face to look upon. "And nor.e so poor, not even Hump, to do him reverence." he sneered. The sneer was wholly In his voice K!s face remained expressionless as yer. "How do you do. Miss Frowsier?' te said suddenly, after a pause. I started. She had made no noise whatever, had cot even moved. Could It be that some glimmer of vision retained re-tained to him? or that his vision was coning hack! "Kow do you do. Captain Larsen." sie answered. "Pray, how did you know 1 was here?" "Heard your breathing, of course 1 say. Hump's Improving, don't you tiink so?" "I don't know." she answered, smiling smil-ing at me. "I have never seen him c'jierwise." "You should have soon him before, ties." "Wolf Larssa. m large doses." I cumured. "before and after taking ' "1 want to tell you aeain. Hump. ' te said threateningly, "that you'd better bet-ter leave things alone." "But don't you care to escape as well as we?" I asked incredulously. "No." was his answer. -1 Intend dyi-g here." "Well, we don't." I concluded de9-J'dy. de9-J'dy. beginning again my knocking nd hammering. CHAPTER XXIX. Neit day, the mast-steps clear and everything in readiness, we started to get the two topmasts aboard. The caintopmast was over thirty f..-t in length, the foretopmast nearly thirty, and It was of these that I Intended caking the shears. It wa3 puzzling work. Fastening one end of a heavy-tackle heavy-tackle to the windlass, and with the other end fast to the foretopmast. I fcegan to heave. Maud held the turn a the windlass and coiled down the s'aCj. cut when the butt of the topmast as level with the rail, everything ra to a standstill. Instructing her how to hold the turn ar.d be ready to slack away at command, com-mand, I laid hold of the mast with ny hands and tried to balance It inboard in-board across the rail. When I thought 1 had it I cried to her to slack away; trat the spar righted, despite my ef-, ef-, forts, and dropped back toward the water. Again I heaved It up to Its old Position, for I had now another idea. I remembered the watchtackle a small double and single block affair and fetched It. While 1 was rigging it between the top of the spar and the opposite rail, olf Larsen came on the scene. We changed nothing more than good mornings- and. though he could not e, he sat on the rail out of the way and followed by the sound all that I did. Again instructing Maud to slack aay at the windlass when I gave the "ord, I proceeded to heave on the atchtackle. Slowly the mast swung 1n until It balanced at right angles across the rail; and then I discovered t0 my amazement that there was no jed for Maud to slack away. In fact, 'he very opposite was necessary. Making Mak-ing the watchtackle fast, I hove on ' windlass and brought In the mast, i nch by Inch, till its top tilted down j to the deck and finally Its whole j 'ength lay on the deck. ' les3 than an hour I had the main tmast n deck and was constructing shoars. Lashing the two topmasts Jther. everything In readiness. I aue a line fast and carried It direct-)- to the windlass. The shears rose 1 th" air. Refore I finished guying It 're and aft and to either side twi -H bd s,.t ,n Wf)lf Lars,., ft ri rf sat about and listened all after-tV,',n after-tV,',n MA nevr;r opened his mouth, had j '''in hlniselr off to the galley and s,r"-4 his suppf.r. -v ,8h " weren't bo late." 1 said. t to ;.e hf)W u work j Na',H " ', a glutton, Humphrey," JACK ION DON Zz-A : - row Is comiim. iliul you're so llrod now that ou can hardly stand." "And you'."' 1 said. with midden scv licitudo. "You must bo very tlrod. You have worked hard and nobly. 1 urn proud of you, Maud." "Not half so proud ns 1 am of you, nor with halt tho reason." sho an-sworod an-sworod looking mo stralKht in the eyes for a moment with an i-xpresMon In her own uiu a dancing, tremulous h-lit which I had not seen lieforo and w!ii, h gave mo a pang of quiek delight-1 know not why. for l did not understand it. Thou sho dn pied her 'es. to lift them u;;ain. laugliing. "If our friends could see us now," s!u said. 'Look ul us. Havo you over paused for a moment to com suier our appearance?" "Yes. 1 luuo considered yours, fro-nueiitly." fro-nueiitly." 1 answered, pui.-liug over what I had seen in her eyes and puz-iled puz-iled by her sudden change of subject. "Mercy:" she cried. "And what do I look like, pray'.'" "A scarecrow, I'm afraid." I replied, ".lust glance at your Jragglod skirts, for Instance. Uok at those three-cornered three-cornered tears. And such a waist! It would not require a Sherlock Holmes to deduce that you havo boon cooking over a camp tiro, to say nothing noth-ing of trying out seal blubber. And to cap it all. that cap! And all that is tho woman who wrute 'A Kiss Kn-dured. Kn-dured. " Sho made mo an elaborate- and stately state-ly curtsy, and said. "As (or you, sir " And yet. through the five minutes of banter which followed, there was a serious something underneath the fun which I could not but relate to tho strange and Heeling expression I had caught in her eyes. CHAPTER XXX. The next day we did no work. In tho morning oilowing we had breakfast and wore at work by daylight. day-light. There was no wind, tho tide was high, and the schooner floated, tasting oS" the shore lines. I kedged her cut by main strength, lowered the- big starboard anchor, giving plenty plen-ty of slack; and by afternoon 1 was at work on tho windlass. Three days I worked on that windlass. wind-lass. Least of all things was I a mechanic, and In that time I accomplished accom-plished what an ordinary machinist would ha ) done in as many hours. 1 had to learn my tools to begin wilh, and every simple mechanical principle prin-ciple which such a man would have at his finger ends I had likewise to learn. And at the end of three days I had a windlass which worked clumsily. clum-sily. It never gave the satisfaction the oid windlass had given, but it worked and made my work possible. In half a day I got the two topmasts aboard and the shears rigged and guyed as before. And that night I slept on board and on deck beside my work. Maud, who refused to stay alone ashore, slept In the forecastle. Wolf Larsen had sat about, listening to my repairing the windlass and talking talk-ing with Maud and me upon indiffer ent subjects. No reference was made on either side to the destruction of the shears; nor did he say anything further about my leaving his ship alone. But still I had feared him, blind and helpless and listening, always listening, and I never let his strong arms get within reach of me while I worked. On this night, Bleeping under my beloved be-loved shears, I was aroused by his footsteps on the deck. It was a starlight star-light night, and I could see the bulk of him dimly as he moved about. I rolled out of my blankets and crept noiselessly noiseless-ly after him In my stocking feet. He bad-armed himself with a draw-knife from the tool locker, and with this he prepared to cut across the throat-halyards I bad again rigged to the shears. He felt the halyards with his hands and discovered that I had not made them fast. This would not do for a draw-knife, so he laid hold of the i mining mi-ning part, hove taut, rnd made fast. Then he prepared to '.aw across with tho draw-knife. "I wouldn't. If I were you," 1 said quietly. He heard the click of my pistol and laughed. "Hello, Hump," he said. "1 knew you were here all the time. You can't fool my ears." 'That's a lie, Wolf Larsen," 1 said, Just as quietly as before. "However, I am aching for a char.ce to kill you, so go ahead and cut." "You have tho chance always," he sneered. "tlo ahead and cut." 1 threatenod ominously. "I'd rather disappoint you," he laughed, and turned on his heel and went aft. "Something must Le done. Humphrey," Hum-phrey," Maud said, next morning, v hen I told ' her of the night's occurrence. oc-currence. "If he bas liberty, he may do anvthing. He may sink the vessel, or not lire to it. There is no telling v.hat he may do. We must make him & prisoner." "ii.it how?" I asked, with a helpless shrj,-- "1 daro uot come witllin rcacl1 of nls arms, and ho knows (hat so long ns his resistance Is passive 1 cannot shoot him." "There must ho some way," she contended. con-tended. ' Let me think." "There Is one way," 1 said grimly. She waited. 1 picked up a seal club. "It won't kill him." 1 salil. "And before ho could recover I'd have him bound hard and fast." Sho shook her head with a shudder. "No, not that. There must bo Bomo less Iirutal way. Let us wait." Hut wo did not have to wait long, and the pio'.drni solved itself. In the luoiiiing, h ut several trials, 1 found the point ot balance in the foremast ami iituuhed my hoisting tackle a few feet above It. At tho end of an hour the single and double blocks camo together to-gether nt tho top of tho shears. I could hoist no more And yet the mast was not swung entirely Inboard The butt rested against the outside of the port rail, while the top of the imiHt overhung tho water far beyond the starboard rail. My shears were too short. All my work had been for nothing. Hut I no longer despaired In the old way. I was ncqulrlng more confidence In nivself and more confidence confi-dence In tho possibilities of windlasses, wind-lasses, shears and hoisting tackles. There was a way In which It could be done and It remained for mo to find that way. While I was considering tho prob lorn. Wolf Larson came on dock We noticed something strange about him at once. Tho Indocisiveuess. or feebleness, fee-bleness, of his movements was mo.e pronounced. His walk was actually His Free Hand Went to My Throat. tottery as he came down the port side of tho cabin. At the break of the poop he reeled, raised one hand to his eyes with the familiar brushing gesture and fell down the steps still on his feet to the main deck, across which he staggered, ).iling and fling-' ing out his arms for support. He regained re-gained his balance by the steerage companionway and stood there dizzilv for a space, when he suddenly crum pled up and collapsed, his legs bending bend-ing under him as he sank to the deck. "One of his attacks," I whispered to Maud. She nodded her head; and I could see sympathy warm In her eyes. We went up to him, but he seemed unconscious, breathing spasmodically. She took charge of him, lifting his head 'o keep the blood out of it and dispatching me for a pillow. I also brought blankets, and we made him comfortable. I took his pulse. It beat steadily and strong, and was quite normal. This puzzled me. I became suspicious. "What If he should be feigning this?" I asked, still holding his wrist. Maud shook her head and there was reproof in her eyes. I!ut Just then the wrist 1 held leaped from my hand, and the hand clasped like a steel about my wrist. I cried aloud in awful aw-ful fear, a wild inarticulate cry; and I caught one glimpse of his face, malignant ma-lignant and' triumphant, as his other hand compassed my body and I was drawn down to him in a terrible grip My wrist was released, but his other arm. passed around my back, held both my arms so that 1 could not move. His free hand went to my throat and in that moment I knew the bitter est foretaste of death earned by one's own idiocy. My face was against his chest and 1 could not see. but I heard Maud turn and run swiftly along the deck. Everything Ev-erything was happening quickly. I had not yet had a glimmering of unconsciousness, un-consciousness, and it seemed that an interminable period of time was lapsing laps-ing before I heard her feet flying back. And Just then I felt the whole man sink under me. i Maud's footsteps were very near as i his hand fluttered for the last time ; and my throat was released. I rolled j off and over to the dock on my back, j gasping and blinking in the sunshine. I Maud was pale but composed my THIS STORY OF I ( 1 a man who j 1N HIS OWN 1 Little woiLiy AliOARDSHlP WAS A LAW .UNTO- HlMSLLr,-- eyes hud gone Instantly to her faen and she was looking ul me with mln gled alarm and relief. A heavy seal club In her hand caught my eyes, and at that moment she followed my gaze down to It. Tho club dropped friini her hand as though It had suddenly stung her, nnd at tho same moment my heart surged with a great Joy. Truly she was my woman, my matt-wonian, matt-wonian, lighting with me and for mo as tho mate of a caveniuii would have fought, nil tho primitive In her aroused, forgetful of her culture, hard under tho softenli l civilization of tho only 1 1 fn sho had ever known. "I 'ear woman!" 1 cried, scrambling to my feet. The next moment sho was In my arms, weeping convulsively on my shoulder while I clasped her closo. I looked down at the brown glory of her hair, glinting gems In the sunshine far nioro precious to mo than those In tho treasure chests of kings. And I bent my bond nnd kissed her hair softly, bo softly that she did not know. Then sober thought camo to mo. After all. sho was only a woman, crying cry-ing her relief, now that tho danger was past. In tho arms of her protector or of tho ono who had been endan gered. Had I boon father or brother, the situation would have been In no wlso different. Besides, time and place were not meet, and I wished to earn a better right to declare my love. So once again I softly kissed her hair as I felt her receding from my clasp. "It was a real attack this lime." I said; "another shock like tho one that made him blind. Ho feigned at first, and In doing so brought It on." Maud was already rearranging his pillow. "No." I said, "not yet. Now that I have him helpless, helpless ho shall remain. From this day wo live In the cabin. Wolf Larsen shall live In tho steerage" 1 caught him under the shoulders and dracged him to tho companion-way. companion-way. At my direction Maud fetched a rope. Placing this under his shoulders. shoul-ders. I balanced him across the threshold and lowered him down the steps to ihe tloor. I could not lift him directly into a bunk, but with Maud's help I lifted first his shoulders and head, then his body, balanced him across the edge and rolled him Into a lower bunk. rut this was not to he all. I recollected recol-lected the handcuffs In his stateroom, which he preferred to use on sailors Instead of tho ancient and clumsy ship Irons. So, when we left him, he lay handcuffed hand and foot. For the first time in many days I breathed freely. I fell strangely light as I came on deck, as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I felt, also, that Maud and I had drawn more closely together. And I wondered If she, too, felt it, as we walked along the deck side by side to where the stalled foremast hung in the shears. CHAPTER XXXI. At once wo moved aboard the Ghost, occupying our old staterooms and cooking in the galley. The Imprisonment Impris-onment of Wolf Larsen had happened most opportunely, for what must have been the Indian summer of this high latitude was gono and drizzling stormy weather had set in. We were very comfortable and the inadequate shears, with the foremast suspended from them, gave a businesslike air ' to the schooner and a promise of departure. de-parture. And now that we had Wolf Larsen in irons, how little did we need It! Like his first attack, his second had been accompanied by serious disablement. disable-ment. Maud made the discovery in the afternoon while trying to give bim nourishment. "Do you know you are deaf In the right ear?" I asked. "Yes," he answered in a low, strong voice, "and worse than that. My whole right side is affected. It seems asleep. I cannot move arm or leg." (TO F!K CONTINUED.) |