| Show ZIP ORN AN D CHAPTER XIV continued 21 they were under way in three hours of erics live five mates all but two had deserted but it was a good riddance die big smith returned to join ills his brother guiltless of any crime of blood petroff bargained with nelson for passage to the auril islands the chelsea cruised round the shoal find and at noon of the next day adny eric was on her bridge spying for the pass the search was long and nerve wracking but he remembered the approximate latitude of UP the mile wide rap gap in the reefs and another twenty four hours found the trader safely through into deep water heading for forlorn island nan looked often to the deep in the three lays days of erics absence and was first to see tile the Cliel seas masts prick the sky line the sight seemed to break tile the last thread of her self keif con arol sobbing she ran to Hor II ortona tons hut but she could not speak and could only beckon tier her friend to the beach it was true the ship was coming in deliverance fulfillment fill ment home while the aleuts aleuns gazed darkly the castaways casta ways leaped into the nearest boats and sped to met the ship cheering laughing with streaming eyes weeping with smiling lips they paddled alongside until the anchor dropped then boarded and held revelry on the deck even petroff and nig smith shared in the reunion it was n sight new to captain nelsons belsons Nel sons eyes a millionaire and hla his family out of their minds with rapture embracing him and his fits grinning sailors and dane ing hand in hand with cut throats it was a complete breakdown of civilized reserve even roy hoy caught the general cont contagion Aglon and danced a wild hornpipe on the deck wanted w anted to leave at once but nan remembered her humble friends forsaken on the blenk bleak shore of course we must tell them goodby said bald contritely oh ob it we only had some presents to give them de hold of dig ship Is clean full fall of presents ll 11 nelson told him would would you let us have some of lem cm horton spoke lo in faltering tones sure all you want the flush of excitement on holtons hortons nor Hor tona tons face ace swiftly died away he seemed to remember something ills trembling hand dove into Us pocket felt his talisman and came out steady and strong aprong of course this Is a trading ship there was a clang in his voice that silenced nan and made eric r alc whirl captain nelson I 1 want to buy a thousand dollars worth of your goods to give the natives eric here will know what they want worst lies hes been looking after them steel knives axes rifles sweets and the like everything that will make them hem happy the boats were loaded to the gun wales such a treasure ure as the tribe had bad never dr dreamed lamed and the gifts taken to the beach and distributed amid an awed silence from now on life would not be so hard behind the shoals every r very squaw would wax fat from the grent great killings made mada with steel pointed spears and firearms now that the pass was known a little schooner would steal in once a year to trade the white mans luxuries for pelts eiderdown eider down and fossil ivory yet by the annie tokens the loom doom ot of the lost people was sealed in the end they roust must either migrate to the larger aleutian islands surrender their tribal identity iden t ity and become cannery workers under the white mans law or perish victims of his civilization the latter was more ll loly it would be hard for them to leave the aril crass ms and windy benches beaches of forlorn island they only grunted when the palefaces bade them goodby eyes unlit and brown faces impassive as their own sand dunes but when to in a dreamy silence the ships boot boats glided away into the harbor their strange lonely souls rave voice on the baach an old crone struck up a wavering chant all her people joined in a weird song of farewell in the minor key hey that might have been brought from the lost asiatic hIrth birthplace place beyond the setting sun possibly a dirge springing extempore from their savage hearts their aring swung in rhythm finally they dropped on their knees and with imploring hands lifted to the skies called on their tribal rods gods to give safe rate passage to their departing friends nou kou audam I 1 achlin this was repeated again and again kouyou dall dah kouyou dah dab the song rong died away awe struck the rested on their oars oara eric looked into nans eyes to find them brimming with tears why roast must we leave them here she whispered where could we take them that be bettor better off this Is their home nut but its so fio lonely so dreary I 1 cant bear to think of it lets go quickly nut but now mother had struck vp up the heart gong of the palefaces pale faces and even the chelsea sailors joined in across the water the old strains ewel d should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind well fill IL cup clip of 0 kindness kIndne gs yi yet tor for dorm ft f auld ganir syne the oars oara flushed flashel I 1 the crowd rn en the file I 1 ench bench dwindled to black dots in the shadow of nf the crags it was still rough fare for the cast by edison marshall copyright by edison Mars marscall ball service the three women would occupy the he captains cabin tile the others were given bunks blinds below leeks decks but great changes Im eric gazed southward with troubled eyes only two hundred miles through the aleu thin chain lay the well charted sea lanes or of the north paci pacific and beyond the port lights were shining n 9 the dream was passing just as nan had foretold horton was among tho the first to woken waken with nervous tumbling fumbling hands he removed his parka and donned the clothes of civilization saved from the wreck a rumpled blue suit and a yachts mans cap still salu trig and smart but presently his leaping heart beat steady and cool after aft L r a reassuring touch of the little leathern book in his fits pocket he made for the pilot house I eric alc and nelson were looking at charts but lie ho pushed boldly between them E eric ric glanced up with narrowed eyes not only holtons hortons Hor tons clothes hut but hla his race face was changed ills sagging jaw was wag set his expression confident and resolute nelson were not very far north from tho the great circle route to the orient are we he began nelson come came to attention about a days run it if we lilt straight trough de dc aleut chain 11 1 want you yon to intercept one of the big liners and put us aboard how soon do you think you could do it de empress of castile iss eastbound right now about eight hundred miles away we heard her talking last dinst night do you think you son could catch her wit fair luck yes dut but de empress nm press she do not stop at sell sea to take from it ft picket packet like dds shell stop tor for mel me I 1 horton spoke calmly get in touch with ith her right f 11 vol 1 I am not dead she spoke in solemn exultation 1 I am not asleep I 1 am alive aw awa ay tell her its felix horton and his party arrange to meet her in the shortest possible time without a word to eric he wheeled and went out of the room the radio crackled changes came thick and fast the empress sped east a clear SOO miles in 24 hours and the little chelsea dipped south nearly half that distance in the same time they met in a sheet ofa of unlit sunlit water between curtains ot of mist the liners huge funnels looming against the sky eky grandly she hove to her many any storied castle a boat was lowered manned by trig looking sailors for the passengers that lined her rail this was higher romance than any they had found in the cherry orchards of japan they saw the oars flash mid and seven survivors of tile the intrepid id 9 given iven up for dead clamber down the traders tr 1 I 1 ders ladder the middle aged in roan an in the yachting cap was horton himself they could see him plain through their shiny new binoculars many of them had met him before the old woman was his mother a very eccentric old lady so they whispered and one of the girls his fits daughter tho the younger yachtsman was roy stuart believed to be nan holtons nortons Nor Hor tons dance but no one knew the blond headed beaded man in the blue coat probably he was just one of the officers leers off of the ill starred intrepid id the ast dinst two were no the secretary and the mald maid spoken of in the wireless bulletins further survivors of the wreck remained aboard the chelsea cameras clicked and purred the young people began to cheer the himself waited at the head of the stairs to greet thorton presently the stewards were taking the party in charge norton and his friends went to the queens suite the blond mate to the off officers leers quarters this was mid afternoon hy by eight in the evening holtons nortons nor Hor tons party were ready to take their place in the carefree luxury of shipboard life friendly passengers anti and the he ship shops had supplied them with every want bathed manicured only their wind burned faces and red hands beIrn betrayed their long ions banishment lights were shining uniformed servants plied piled back and forth orchestras played in stately rooms forlorn island baj no more than a gray dream in the faery seas of 1 keats eats when they went to dinner the three II ortona tind and ro 1107 were given seats at the captains table aric seated with the first officer saw them come in but although nans eyes raced around the crowded room they did not meet hla his own onn she bhe wa as never so lovely so alluring her form fitting red dinner gown revealed ree aled her girlish contours and eu en chanced the dull glow of her cheeks tier her dusky hair cut again in a long ions bob was as lustrous as sea otter fur in the mellow light and hoy ft were ere ray gay over their champagne glasses nan seemed quite grave erae orion often her gaze gae swept the hall but still no glante glance passed between tier her and her lover over not one smile made his cold heart leap had he won the island aar war only to lose the prize was the great adventure nit nil to in al lie would soon know tle ie would tako take his fits answer tonight win ar or lose when nan rose from the table he strode forward and touch touched edher lier hand she whirled with ft a low cry but before site she could ppe speak tk pushed between them what Is it eric llor tons tone tona was grave hut but not unfriendly 1 11 I want to talk to inan you roil may in a ni moment ment id like to talk to you first came to my stateroom nun nan you the deck presently they were seated in 11 bior 0 r tons luxurious suite the cool confident millionaire and lie grim steady eyed ships officer horton offered him a cigar hut but eric declined it lie ile had not come here to make truce 1 I want to tell you first of all how indebted we all feet toward yon norton r began quietly you saved bayed our lives on the island and ill not forget it and I 1 mean to stand behind you now I 1 propose for you to captain your own ship moreover ill always want you for my friend ill the long pause erics straight g ze did not waver but Nor nortons tons cheek a bones flushed I 1 now about nan horton went on ive reserved a stateroom for her adjoining mine it Is true tint that you and she went through a certain ceremony under duress but I 1 cant regard it as a legal marriage and I 1 feel sure that she either it was only an aleut rite and she has never I 1 feel sure of tills this really become your wife did she ehe ask you to say tills this to me no not in words I 1 think however I 1 am carrying out tier wishes r eric alc I 1 want you to be reasonable about this forget that empty form in the mud church as quickly as possible it will w be better for her and for you too tor for nan to say not you E eric ric rose to his full height beight im going to talk to her rose too 1 I advise adle against it 11 her r answer will be the same and it will be keenly embarrassing for both of you later when we are arc all homo home again you may come to see tier her and try to win tier her although I 1 think it better for a girl to marry in her own immediate sphere I 1 would have no objection to you as a son inlaw in law but it must be brought about in the conventional vent ional lonal way im going to know right now I 1 can stand the embarrassment and so can she unless she herself says saya otherwise she Is my wife lie ile strode out to find nan waiting by the rail on the boat deck un under ter the waning moon they found a secluded corner but at first ills his tense throat could not shape his question the long drawn seconds fell and wasted one by one at last she touched his hand what did you want to say to me eric 1 I want to know whether we are going on together or part there cant be any halfway half halt way you must make up your sour mind now did fattier father speak about the ceremony on the island yes ile he hinted that you CO consider it binding true I 1 cant feel th that at im n rl your wife it was only a savage to rite t e a and nd I 1 think we may as well consider it annulled the moonlight died ta in erie eraca a eyes all I 1 need to know lie he turned as though to go hut but her hand fell lightly un on his arm but uric erle you might like to know that im going to be really married tonight by the captain of the ship provided the man I 1 want will take me MC and I 1 think lie he will Il hell lell take you iou but hell never love you as I 1 love you we eric spoke in the grave slow way she knew ot of old to la sorrow not in bitterness 1 I dont blame you nan you warned we me all tile the time I 1 suppose it was inevitable that decide on lloy boy as soon boon as you got back to your own world the girl smiled dimly and a starry shine ne was in her eyes this Is not r y world something in her tono tone shot an electric current through every fiber of his big body and soul it paralyzed hla his heart and rustled up his hair 1 I I 1 dont understand 1 I am not dead she spoke in sol dmn exultation 1 I am not asleep leep I 1 aro am alive ile he stared in dazed wonder don I 1 i nuke make me hope and then let mo me tall fall he begged you you mean roy boy dont you jou 1 I mean you bouno one in this world but you iou hungrily her warm arms arins crept about him and her eager lips pressed his dont you under stand now hold me eric and dont ever let me ind go ills old mother the sea would die in tier her bej and hla his father the he greit great north would wear chains on his strong strona free limbs before he would let her go hero bere or in valhalla young love lomance rapture victory viiu adl |
