Show ISLAND by EDISON MARSHALL service copyright hi by emon EM on SYNOPSIS with his yacht the intrepid practically abandoned abundo ned by its tt crew felix II orlon millionaire ailing with his mother r his daugh daughter ar nan and roy 1105 stuart puts into nto squaw harbor alaska to recruit failing to secure sail ball ors on horton engages a bunch of non de scripts stranded there A gigantic pole called Sarn San lomar domar deal deaf but not dumb la Is their leader at the request of captain the intrepido skipper an old friend erlo eric Er edlessen lessen unemployed but holding masters papers engages to mail ball as chief officer CHAPTER II 11 2 eris lind retired feared that relations between himself and the yacht owner would he be strained but lie was wrong wron g horton had won his point to him eric was simply another tool that had bad resisted him at first but now had bent to his use for convenience sake he introduced the new first officer to the yachting party the man was roy stuart himself the son of wealth an of considerable standing in certain fields of biology and ethnology the choice of horton for his daughters hand band and apparently of the girl herself and certainly the most complex and perfect machine that had bad ever crossed erics trall trail roy was the only guest accompanying the party was afable chambord Cham bond nans mald maid from old lorraine and a bespectacled grave brave little man named allcox of erics own age who appeared to be Hor holtons hortons tons secretary an arid this said the yacht owner introducing his mother Is madam II horton orton madam fiddlesticks the old lady snorted young man simply some more of felixs nonsense my aly enemies call mo me the old witch strangers call me mrs airs horton orton II and to my fir friends lends and I 1 hope soon be among the number im mother teother hor ton felix thinks plebeian but I 1 like it had chosen one of the loneliest and least known cruising grounds in the seven seas the north side aide of the aleutian island chain north of egnak island far to the west theres a great shoal sixty miles in diameter horton bald 1 I propose to penetrate it and alna some uncharted islands eric looked unbelief but you cant get in I 1 well seel ive never failed yet on an undertaking where tiny any ship of our draft has gone the intrepid can follow finaev its the reefs and tides and weather that are fintel up in these seas eric said what makes you think a ship has ever been in there roy stuart hairfe record or d of it in an old russian diary an early explorer named kirilof found a pass through the shoals into deep water and came to some inhabited islands if the people ore are still there you yon know how the aleuts aleuns migrate from island to island they tire are of course visited by occasional traders out from perli perhaps tips every year ive never heard of it 14 sly theory la IS that the shoals are a hollow circle the submerged tops of mountains but bill the center Is deep water anyway well soon see through gli puss pass and westward the intrepid ventured already she was far off the sea lanes and the only craft she glimpsed was a gray speck halt half across the world that was the musts masts of one of americas far flung const guard eric was alone on the bont boat deck when a misty figure appeared in the moonlight it was nan horton II orton seeking the reality of the strange dreams of adventure that the enchanted night wakened in her young heart wholly without embarrassment with a frankness and self assurance that put him on guard she came and stood beside him her arm almost touching his for a long time she gazed in silence into the spangled sky shy erics henrt heart give a curious fling instantly tie he knew without knowing how bow or why that nan and himself could never cover ignore ench each other that they could not even pretend to be strangers that they reacted upon each other like wind on water As a sailor he was not without superstition and he believed that their fates were in ter bound yet she was tier her fat fathers tiers daughter although she was tine fine where horton was coarse generous gp nerous where he was mean gentle where lie he was hard yet his arrogance had come to tier her straight she obeyed no laws but her own desires she would take but not give ive sor st lf centeredness rather than 9 and she j imperious to the last curly hair of tier her beautiful bend beall like ilke tier her father she made tools or of those who came into her clircie not meanly to exult her own pinc not nit nn s r shoddy schemer but na as a queen to live to the full and enrich her ber days wa with h his quick perceptions schooled by wide travel eric saw through her game moreover he be did not propose that she should play it on mau him ile he continued to stare out to sea he made no play of ignoring her he simply waited for her to raise her foll foil at last she turned and spoke in deep throbbing cello tones youre mr ericssen arent you ile he met her glance coolly you tou know who I 1 am of course I 1 do I 1 remembered your name the second I 1 heard it but its much too long I 1 shant call you by it except in company what does it matter anyway in the half light she saw his bis dim smile 1 I suppose youre hinting like to call me eric the long pause showed that this shot had gone home As the mistress of the ship she sold said at last 1 I dont think I 1 must hint for permission to call one of my off officers leers by his first tiame name 11 As mistress of tho the ship please call me mr air ericsson lie ile spoke calmly and simply As an I 1 cant answer to any other address ile he paused and she suspected that he be was smiling ng but up here in the moonlight you may call me anything you please and ill call you nan secretly she conceded that he had won the first brush but it only made her more reckless why should we call each other anything she bhe asked dreamily why should we talk at all I 1 want to forget who you are who I 1 am everything except the magic of this unbelievable night ile he saw tier her profile in the nebulous light and saw mw that she was not wholly insincere she was trying to make use of him to enrich the hour to fill her own cup to sharpen her sense of being but her need was real and strong not just cheap vanity she was no milk and water girl but tempered steel and fire intelligence spirit exquisite sensibilities a devouring thirst for life these were the spurs that never let her rest now her eyes were starry her cheeks blazing her hands trembling happily retook betook he took tho the challenge when she turned to him her face lifted his hands slipped under her fur cloak to her silky shoulders and slowly drew her close she made no attempt to avoid his kiss but met it with eager lips hut but when she tried to draw away lie he would not let her go she had only meant to taste of this cup a mere moonlight whim but she felt his bis arms like bands of steel and pom happily he took tooh the challenge his lips still pressed hers ile he let her breathe at last but he still held her close and stalled smiled into her eyes and for all tier her pride a low cry broke from her tense throat it was hardly more than a deep gasp but it betrayed two secrets she would have given much to conceal one of them was that the kiss was not the empty gesture she had expected ills lips had been gentle but there was flame on them high voltage from the most dynamic being she had ever met she did not want him to know that she had felt the charge in every cell of her body but she feared that the deep catch of her breath spoke nil all too plainly tier her other secret hinging on the first was that for one of the few times in her life she was afraid she was nas afraid of him of herself of life and this fear deepened when instead of freeing her his arms drew her gently closer crushing tier her breast against his again he whispered no once Is enough for you perhaps not for roe me half smiling his lips sought hers and ad mastered them a long time ile he felt her slight body grow rigid when he freed her red mi mouth th low ominous tones crackled forth dont you yon dare do that again but his grasp only tightened it if you dance you must pay the piper he told tier her gravely then oblivious to her struggles he took the dare she was fighting him now but he be lid did not even seem to know it her round little arms were strong but it was like tugging at iron bars it if you dont let me go im going to scream for help no one would hear you in the first place in tho the second it would be hardly playing the game im only raising your bet for a few seconds secondi more her every muscle was flexed then she relaxed in his arms you win winthie this time she a lie told him dimply wow low let me KO 90 I 1 instantly she was free he watched her quietly its as she moved a few feet down the deck and stood in the seabreeze she seemed cool and well in hand ha did not know knorr that her heart was hammering her side at last sh she turned slowly and he saw tle the woon light in the deep fringed pools of her he eyes you were in your right of course she said quietly yes les but im sorry about it now im not perhaps it taught me a lesson believe we die I 1 can take care of myself from now on eries erics heart leaped up the giralt im glad now of course I 1 wont get a chance to prove it well probably never meet again in ID this way she went on gravely its too bad our lives are ordered so BO far apart it would be fun to fight with you ton and I 1 care enough for your respect to want you to know why I 1 did what I 1 did ton tonight light 1 I think I 1 do know you were bored and it was a magic night arid your life seemed insufficient ive felt that tant way a few times and it usually ended with a fight down in some waterfront dive erie eric spoke slowly and gravely every person Is given just so much time to live tilt nil he be owns really the rest Is just circumstance yet your whole alm aim Is to make time pass as quickly as possible and fineis to make it last to bo be jealous of every minute so BO to do and see cee and feel that much more and why I 1 envy you why leyen I 1 even envy marle most girls but I 1 do nan drew her cloak about her shoulders and turned toward the stairs forget all this wont you ive been a fool but the moons to blame tomorrow ill be very aloof and call you mr air ericssen she held out tier her hand and he shook it vigorously 1 I think youre just wonderful lie he told her gravely 1 A small but radiant smile lighted her face generous coming from the victor because you won tonight you were overconfident you be next time there wont be any next time im afraid snips ships that pass in the night 1 dut but they meet again you know I 1 once saw a n ship in hongtong nong Hong kong and never expected to lay eyes on her again and then just missed colliding with her tn in boston harbor 1 the journeys just begun and these are magic waters CHAPTER III north of egnak island they came to the great gray davy jones shoal at quarter speed captain cruised round the reefs hla his eye on the automatic sounder in the pilot house and one of his seamen heaving the lend lead even so BO it was perilous sailing the waters seemed mysteriously troubled there were powerful currents varying in direction from hour to hour that would sweep a pulling dory out to sea big eddles eddies formidable ground swells 41 1 I dont like it eric said if we hangus and have to take to the boats well be in a sweet fixl fix I 1 we last long captain shook his gray head our only hope would be tor for these cussed currents to sweep us to sea before one of those big swells hit us make kindling wood of those skiffs of ours why dont you tell horton so the crazy fool will lose his ship and drown the whole company theres no way through these reefs tell him yourself if you want to its like talking to the wind ile he thinks hla his checkbook will buy off a typhoon 11 As the intrepid cruised on the deep toned bay of the breakers became a gurgling roar and the waves beating on the crags hurled up eerie clouds of spray the first days search was fruitless when the shadows fell hastened into open sea and dropped anchor early the next morn ing prospects brightened eric had token taken accurate hearings bearings it if roy stuarts old diary was correct the pass through the reefs was less than a league away presently the long sweep of blue waves wares showed open water ten minutes later inter they were at the gateway through the shoals a strait half n mile wide and guarded on each side by perilous reefs the strait led into what might be termed an immense lagoon surrounded by shoals twenty fifty than a hundred fathoms were recorded on the automatic sounder the puzzling currents remained but bill the waves had bad lost their short violent chop and the last breaker gleamed pallid far behind them horton was jubilant and granted bonuses to the whole company roys noys impassive face did not flush nor his v voice olce raise one note but nan knew that hat his cold soul was exalted she and eric shared a childs thrill in the adventure itself captain alone remained dow downcast lie ile was an old man and did not like young waters the wide lagoon seemed to him like a trap late in the murky afternoon a cry rang down from the watch aloft land hot hoi where away on our port bow she may be another fog bank hut but in a few minutes the glaires showed what was unmistakably an island low and gray and guarded by black crags it was insignificant tn in size not more than three miles frow from cape to cape and it if it were oi bac c of the scores of minor links in the aleutian chain fafty miles to the south it might be hardly worth a name but here it was waa a discovery of some little scientific importance no chart in the pilot house bouse recorded its existence ato TO BM BE CONTINUED |