Show the vale 1 ofA of amdon radon by FRED mclaughlin author of the blade of cardy Fl copyright by dobbs bobbs merrall co service THE STORY at nightfall in the old city of new orleans in the year 1821 loren garde recently an officer under general jackson Jac itson Is surprised by the appearance of three figures in ancient spanish costume two men and a woman whose beauty enchants him resenting the arrogance of 0 the elder 0 of the two men garde lights a duel with hirn him with swords and wounds him afterward he learns his opponent Is adolfo de fuentes Iu entes colonel in the spanish army in venezuela G oar ar do bleeg from gens barnies dar mea nies taking refuge in a garden where he overhears a plot to overthrow spanish rule in venezuela discovered lie lights fights but la Is overpowered recovering consciousness to find himself a prisoner on the santa spanish ship bearing contraband arms and ammunition for the vene under bolivar on board are the conspirators he had overheard the lady of his love her brother polito and do da fuentez Fu Vu entea entes an attempt to seize the ship falls CHAPTER 11 continued 4 she bowed her head and the slim shoulders drooped 1 I know alon monsieur only that it touches me here she pressed her hands over her heart 1 I I 1 do not understand what have they done to francisco perez and santini San the soldier we are approaching the shores of venezuela she said and tomorrow as the sun rises JI she raised her hands and an d let them fall lu in a gesture of hopelessness 1 I have tried to save them I 1 do not understand adolfo in some things he Is hard hard I 1 I 1 did not have to ask her what they intended to do with loren garde who as far as they knew had cast his lot with the forces of revolution who had hidden his identity identify behind the lie masquerade of insanity I 1 knew what have they do donewirth done with Bl manuel anuell manuel I 1 she questioner questioned ali ah manuel lie he of the dark face and heavy shoulders they have done nothing lie he Is free a good sailor and a brave man though somewhat stupid now I 1 laughed laug laughed hecl until I 1 saw a deep hurt in her eyes and her chin begin to tremble then I 1 stopped apologetic perhaps 11 said 1 I my woon moon madness has never quite forsaken me slip she had called manuel stupid I 1 what was it francisco had said to me ali ah yes if the captain questions our innocence and even becomes so suspicious as to confine us there Is yet manuel and the mixed crew of this ship 11 surely francisco had not done things by halves it if urage courage co and brains could win bolivar would never lose if it helps you to laugh in the shadow of the gallows monsieur garde your moon madness Is a bless blessed etl gift 11 she turned away as though to leave me but came back again 1 I I 1 want you to know that I 1 have tried so eo hard to save you but I 1 am helpless I 1 am not even a pawn in this tragedy they call the game of empire may I 1 crave a favor your majesty just one before you go surely she raised her fair air f face questioningly if there Is aught T now while she kept her face upturned to me I 1 studied the forehead the high arch of eyebrow the deep blue of her eyes the quivering lips and the tender curve carve of cheek and chin may alay I 1 tell you that you are beautiful f ul and may I 1 offer apology for having followed you for having wounded your your for having wounded de fuentes F and tor for that night of madness and terror in new orleans I 1 wonder iwonder if you have imagined me crazy it Is not that monsieur I 1 do not understand I 1 think we cannot read america that you should laugh at the alie gallows seems strange to me and that you should have followed us from nw new orleans Is Is that the net of a sane man no your majesty it Is not could I 1 tell her of my mad worship of that overwhelming love of mine would that have gained anything for either of us to have told her would merely have added to her unhappiness for I 1 had only a short night of life left to me 1 I am going to adolfo she said nt at last and tell him that the senor americano Amerl cano Is not responsible that the venezuelans Venezuela ns berez and santini San held him captive adolfo will do much for me but not that your majesty for adolfo does not love me lie ile has every reason not to love roe me for I 1 have wounded him 1 I shall try at least I 1 knew she would fall knew she would mi tiff return so I 1 tried every con to detain her with no success for or she extended a hand to me smiling adelos 11 even as I 1 held the slim fingers the sound of a pistol shot came from the deck above us followed by the roar of a commanding voice captain alvarez she cried the voice of captain alvarez what Is it monsieur another shot another yell a shrill medley now and swift padding footsteps our guards disappeared in the gloom of the channel running for the upper deck the air was filled baled with the menace of nn approaching storm as well as that of mutiny what Is it she screamed holding to me what has happened senor tell tel I 1 me I 1 laughed shortly the stupid manuel Is playing the game according to his orders unless something Is done swiftly and well this ship will be very soon in the hands of those who fight for simon bolivar it la Is a floating arsenal and Is therefore a welcome prize for the revolutionists we must act quickly 11 but you senor are in the service not at all I 1 have never served francisco nor bolivar only the dulce said she completing my sentence dulcet now how prophetic had been that name for it was at once a caress and a description will you yol remain here then in safety while I 1 T no senor no I 1 I 1 will go with you there Is polito and I 1 knew she visualized adolfo but she did not call his name so hand in hand we sped along the freight cl uttered cluttered channel I 1 led her to the companion ladder and half lifted her up through the quarter deck hatch haach from which position of vantage we were able to overlook the upper deck it seemed at first deserted but the report of a pistol came perhaps said 1 I my moon mad ness has never quite forsaken M me e 11 from the starboard rail abaft the mainmast a shrill scream followed it and a tall figure lunging toward a slim boy body was braced against the bulwark struck the rail bent over it and lopped flopped back again to the deck where he lay grotesquely flattened A puff of smoke wavered above the two figures mother of G d 11 the senorita breathed Pol polito itol 1 my aly brother has killed a danl now other figures raced from the foredeck fore deck and the forecastle one of them a heavy unwieldy figure with one bound arm lifted a left hand and fired into the face of a sailor whose groping fingers clutching wildly found the throat of his adversary and the two went down in a scrambling heap adolfo cried the woman at my iny side adolfo I 1 oh the terror of this hour I 1 and the joy I 1 breathed my soul with the hope of freedom again my brother she gasped 1 I must go to my br brother otherl 1 well as ion long as she want to go to adolfo the elements now had begun to add their fury to the storm of human hatred that already possessed the ship I 1 had seen these tropical storms before and I 1 knew that the greatest danger to the santa luerecia Luc Lue lay not in the contending human forces on her deck but in the bower power of the approaching tempest I 1 made my way in the rising tumult of the storm to the wheelhouse which as I 1 had suspected was empty my puny efforts to bring the craft around were poor enough yet I 1 knew that riding before the rushing wind the plunging ship was due for certain disaster gasping I 1 clung tenaciously to the straining wheel the santa luerecia Luc Lue pitching prodigiously dived into the body of a 7 mountain of blue green sea and the mizzenmast came down with a note of rent rent timbers ers that lifted a above ove the din of the storm it fell aft crushing the wheelhouse but I 1 had dived out of the path of its fall and buffeted by the waters had had come up short against the low wall odthe of the afterdeck clinging desperately to a stanchion stan chlon I 1 wondered if there was another soul alive on board the ship which was now only a plaything of the storm faintly came the sound of another rending crash and I 1 imagined that the foremast had gone for the laboring vessel after heeling perilously whipped back bach to an even keel again while I 1 crouched in the protection of the afterdeck after deck the spirit of youth took hold of me spoke to me and the spirit of love also she had come to see me had glorified my prison hd had let me feast my eyes upon the beauty of her face spurred by a sudden resolve to find her to save her or to sink to the depths deptris with lier her in my arms I 1 left my place of refuge and made my way by eccentric stages forward I 1 stumbled over a battened companion and rode the crest of a tumbling wave halt half the length of the deck my aly outspread arms came in contact with a rail stanchion and I 1 held to it as the wave passed on in the piled up masses of foam that beat over me I 1 felt the clinging touch of a dress ray my fingers found a slim arm and I 1 heard a shrill scream that rose above the roar of the tempest the senorita dulcet in the saml semidarkness dar kiess she recognized me A light of happiness took the place of the terror that had filled her eyes senor she cried the frail voice unconquered in the tumult 1 I have been searching I 1 placed one arm around her holding her close are you afraid no she ehe said smiling bravely and smiling fainted well it was better so holding her I 1 waited tor for the storm to destroy us I 1 drew an abiding consolation from the thought that if the sea claimed us I 1 should have her all my own to the last instant of roy my life even as aa I 1 waited thus thug the groat great ship stopped suddenly as though it had m met et an invisible wall the stern lifted skyward and the malu mainmast mast sheared clean at the partners fell forward tearing a great gap in the rail now the stern went down again with a sickening lurch hirch and the bowsprit pointed toward the boiling clouds while the santa Luc lucrecia balancing upon a submerged reef that had caught her amidships teetered teet ered like a sparrow on a twig the rain ceased as suddenly ns as it had bad come and the wind abated somewhat though it still blew half a gale with the aid of the stanchion and the rail I 1 got to my feet and staggering under the burden of the senorita dulce went forward slowly along the plunging deck toward four men who were working at the davits of a starboard boat A tall lall figure of the four resembled francisco so I 1 bent my steps toward the larboard rail where another group showed in the fading twilight Poll roll tos anxious smile was a ghastly thing for one side of his face was smeared with blood lie he took his sister in tits his arms and turned to place her in the boat As he did so adolfo swung upon me with a clubbed pistol I 1 tried to dodge the blow and failed the barrel of the weapon grazed my head and sent me spinning and the tilting deck slipped from under my feet stumbling I 1 reached futilely for things to stay my desce descent pt rolled went through a wide space ln in the rail that the falling foremast had made and fell for what seemed to my half dazed senses immensurable immeasurable distances the plunge into the raging sea revived me instantly I 1 have always been at home in the water so the danger of drowning was remote wind and the waves carried me swiftly IF landward ad as the short tropical twilight faded into a starless gloom A floating spar touched me and holding to it for support I 1 waited in the murk a towering mass of darkness passed me passed me silently like a lifeless derelict riding before a storm it passed on and I 1 was left alone in the turbulent sea a prey to doubts to bitter disappointments and vague fears I 1 heard at last the sounds of contact of the lashing sea upon the land it was not the booming note of breakers on a reef nor yet the rasping hiss of waves that rode along a sloping beach it was more like the rush of a mighty wind through the forest whereat I 1 wondered even more until a giant wave receding left me stranded lna in a tree I 1 held on while other waves rushed past and over me held until the storm had spent its fury until the water had subsided TO BE BD CONTINUED |