Show pol p arco geoffry finds a friend and an enemy synopsis geoffry carlyle master of sailing ships nt at awen ty six Is sent sentenced to 20 years servitude in the american colonies for participation in the monmouth rebellion in england among the passengers on board the lie ship on which he is sent across are roger F fairfax wealthy 1 maryland planter his niece dorothy fairfax and lieutenant sanchez a spaniard who became acquainted with the fair faxes in london CHAPTER ill III continued 2 wily why especially with me rather hather a hard question to answer at the very keg beginning luning I 1 smiled back st at her yet not so difficult as the one I 1 shall ask you I 1 am only one of fifty prisoners scarcely cleaner or more reputable looking than any of my lay mates yet surely you have not sought speech with these others then why especially with me even in the growing dusk I 1 could mark a red flush flash mount into the clear cheeks at this insistent question and for an instant her eyes wavered but she possessed the courage of pride and her hesitancy was short you imagine I 1 cannot answer oh but I 1 can I 1 know who you are my uncle pointed you out to me I 1 am traveling home with him to maryland marland I 1 am dorothy fairfax ile he was present at your trial before lord jeffries Jef Cries you are geoffry carlyle in command of the ship that brought monmouth to england I 1 heard it all all what else pray her eyes opened widely in sudden surprise and she clasped and unclasped her hands nervously do you really not know have you never been told what happened only that I 1 was roughly forbidden to speak called every foul name the learned judge could think of and then sentenced to twenty years penal servitude beyond sens acis I 1 answered soberly following that I 1 aras dragged from the dock and lung flung into a cell was there anything else why you should have known lord jeffries Jeff rles sentenced you to death the decree was signed to be executed immediately then influence was baroug brought lit to bear some nobleman in northumberland made direct appeal to the king that was what angered jeffries so an appeal for me good god not Luc Duc clough was it he the duke yes it was whispered about that the lang king was in his lils debt some word of honor and dare not refuse the word of mercy came just in time ordering jeffries to commute collimate your sentence at first he be swore hed hang you kill king or no king but ills his nerve failed my uncle said he be roared like a bull this Buc Duc clough is he not your friend I 1 hesitated for an instant of indecision looking booking into her face but the truth would not be denied scarcely that I 1 I 1 said soberly nor can I 1 solve olye entirely his purpose ue ile Is HI mn brother broth cr orld and I 1 am the next nest in line we are not even on sp speaking ealing terms yet he be is childless and may feel some measure of dislike to have the family end in a hang mans knot I 1 can think of LO other reason tor for ills his interference I 1 knew nothing of his action 1 I am glad it became my privilege to tell you besides captain carlyle simply it may also alho help you to understand der stand my interest it if you are of the carlyles of how happened it that you went to sea aca largely necessity and to some extent no doubt sheer love of adventure I 1 was a younger son with very little income there wore were then the two lives between me and the estate and the old duke my father treated me like a servant I 1 always loved the sea and at fourteen to get out of his sight eight I 1 think largely was apprenticed to the navy but lost my grade in tile the service by a mere boyish prank ills influence then would have saved sad me but lie refused to even read my letter of explanation I 1 dared not return home in such disgrace and consequently arif drifted tell into tile the in merchant erchant service it is a story stor ry quickly told yet not so quickly lived no it meant many hard years on all the oceans of the world tills this Is the first message reaching me from the old biome ome 11 1 I iv 11 we tc seen scon that home she said quietly antl shall never forget the impression it made on me A n ali place I 1 was there on a coaching party the first summer I 1 was in eug eng 11 1 1 1 I lydora arv ahn Q anil 1 everything seemed wonderful I 1 have been away from maryland now for three years nothing else would satisfy father maryland Is only a colony you know your home Is at saint marys lower down the potomac nave have you ever been there twice once as mate and the last time as master of a ship my latest voyage in these waters was made nearly two years ago it Is not so strange then Is it that I 1 should have felt interested in you she asked suddenly as though justifying herself when uncle roger first told me who you were and then explained what had occurred at your trial naturally you became to me something entirely different from the others were you actually with monmouth in sympathy yes but I 1 had no liand hand ift 15 the actual fighting I 1 was not even ashore until it was vas all cider over with still I 1 shall hall pay my share of the tha bill and you know what nhat that means do you not what will happen when we reach virginia perfectly I 1 have no illusions I 1 have seen just such ships as this s come in we are to bo be advertised and sold to the alie highest bidder A week from now I 1 shall probably be out in the tobacco fields under the whip of an overseer who will call me jeff all I 1 can hope for is a kindhearted kind hearted master and an early opportunity to escape oh no and in her eagerness her hands actually clasped mine it Is not going to be quite sabad so bad as that that Is what hat I 1 wanted to tell you that Is what gave me boldness to come across here to you tonight it has all been arranged you are not going to be sold on the block with those others uncle roger has already contracted with the captain for your services you are going north with us to maryland I 1 drew draw a deep breath and in the sudden impulse of relief which swept L I 1 1 m 1 A i 1 I have seen that home over me my own fingers closed tightly about her hands 1 I owe tills this to you I 1 ar am sure I 1 must owe tills this to you tell me her eyes dropped and in the dim light ht I 1 could mark the heaving of her bosom as she caught her breath only only the suggestion she managed in to say in a whisper ile he he was glad of that you see 1 I 1 I knew he needed someone to take charge of his sloop and and so I 1 brought you to his mind so please dont thank me 1 I shall never cease to thank you I 1 returned warmly conscious suddenly that I 1 was holding her hands bands aud and as instantly releasing them it will save tile me the degradation which I 1 dreaded most of till all the tolling toiling in ta the le fields field 8 beside negro slaves and the sting 0 of f the laih ladli ay it means even more P I 1 hesitated instantly realizing that I 1 must not utter those impetuous words leaping to my lips more fore 1 she exclaimed 41 what more tills I 1 went on my thought shifting into a new channel A longer ser up to tills this moment my one dream lias has been to escape bu but T I 1 I 1 MUST must 9 give ive that up now you have placed me under obligations to serve be tween us this has become a debt of honor but wait slie she said earnestly for foi I 1 had even thought of that I 1 was sure you would feel that way faily gentleman would still there Is a way out you were sentenced US as an in denatured servant I 1 saw the entry my self it read geoffry Ge onry carlyle master V cpr npr ta ilip colonies tr for the term of twenty years unless sooner released crime high treason any indentured man under our mary land laws cart can buy his freedom after serving a certain proportion of hia Is sentence did you not know that I 1 T did know it yet somehow had never connected the fact before ill dl erectly with my own case god what a relief I 1 stood up straight once more in the stature of a man I 1 hardly know what wild words I 1 might have spoken had the opportunity been mine but at that instant the figure of a roan man crossed the deck toward us emerging from the open cabin door against the gleam of yellow light I 1 recognized the trim form advancing and as instantly stepped back into shadow my quick movement caused her to turn and face him what he exclaimed and evidently surprised at his discovery it Is indeed mistress dorothy out here alone my thought you were safely in your cabin long since but I 1 mistake you are not alone 1 I was preparing to go in she answered ignoring his latter words the night already looks stormy but your friend the tone in which he spoke was insistent almost insolent in its demand and slie she hesitated no longer in meeting the challenge your tour pardon I 1 am sure lieutenant sanchez this gentleman Is captain geoffry carlyle lie he stood there here stiff and straight against the background of light one hand la in affected carelessness caressing the end of a waxed mustache his face was in shadow yet I 1 was quite aware of the flash of his eyes ali ah indeed some passenger I 1 have not chanced to observe before A prisoner she returned distinctly you tou may perhaps remember my uncle pointed him out to us when he first came aboard and you have been out here alone talking with the fellow ce certainly why not why the man Is a felon convicted of crime sentenced to deportation it is not necessary that we discuss tills this sir she interposed rather proudly as my personal conduct is not a matter for your criticism I 1 shall retire now no thank you you need not come he stopped still staring blankly after her as she vanished then wheeled about to vent his anger on oa me carlyle hey be exclaimed sneeringly A familiar sound that name in my ears one of the brood out of Buc clough A cadet of that line I 1 managed to admit wonderingly you know of them quite as much as I 1 care to his tone ugly and insulting then an idea suddenly occurred to his mind saint guise but that would even up the score nicely you tou are as I 1 understand it sent to vir virginia inta for sale yes for how long a term the sentence was twenty years hela I 1 and you go to the highest bidder ill do it fellow I 1 to actually own a carlyle of Buc clough will be a sweet revenge twill count tor for more than were I 1 to tweak the duke bukea Is nose A very noble plan for revenge I 1 admitted and one which I 1 am not likely to forget unfortunately you come too late it happens senor that I 1 am already safely indentured to roger fairfax I 1 turned away but lie he called angrily after me do not feel so sure of that carlyle I 1 I 1 am in the game yet CHAPTER IV black sanchez pirate I 1 rested in my berth for a long time staring blankly up at the dark deck above unable to sleep and endeavoring to figure out the true meaning of all these occurrences I 1 felt that I 1 could understand the interest exhibited by dorothy fairfax and greatly as ns I 1 already admired her I 1 was not egotist enough to even imagine t that hat her effort to serve me had basis in any personal attraction but what about lieutenant sanchez why was this unknown spaniard already so openly my enemy could it b be e because of dorothy fairfax I 1 felt finally that I 1 had the clue jealousy the mad unreasoning jealousy of ills race I 1 had bad no false conception as to this no vagrant thought that her interest in me was any more than a passing fancy born bom of sympathy and a desire to aid nevertheless aishe had bad thus already served me I 1 now owed her service in return and here was the first call it if conditions made it possible s le it was my plain duty to ito place myself between these two what mystery is back of the namur of rotterdam the strange ship which the fairfax party encounters as it sails up the bay sanchez shows little interest but fairfax and carlyle are worried what tan can them the strange craft be ba doing in this spot TO 1311 CONTINUED |