| Show the vale of amadon by n FRED mclaughlin s author of the blade of copyright ly by dobbs bobbs merrill co service THE STORY at nightfall in the old city of new orleans in the year 1821 loren r ren garde recently an onisor under general jackson la Is surprised by the appearance of three figures in ancient S spanish p anish costume two men and a w woman 0 man whose beauty enchants him resenting the arrogance of 0 the ider elder of the two men garde lights fights a duel with hin him wit with h swords word s and wounds him afterward ho he learns his opponent Is adol adolfo to d de 0 puentes e a colonel in the sp spanish army in venezuela oar ar do de fleek tram from gens eno darmes taking t refuge in a garden where he over overhears hars a plot to overthrow span spanish I 1 h ru rule le in venezuela discovered he ha fights but la Is overpowered recovering consciousness to ii find ad himself a prisoner on the santa luerecia Luc spanish ship b oaring bearing contraband arms and amm ammunition unit on tor for the vene under bolivar on board ar are the conspirators he had overheard heard the lady of his love her brother polito and do de fuentes fuen tes an attern attempt pt to seize the ship fal alls 1 CHAPTER II 11 continued 4 she bowed her head and the slim shoulders drooped 1 I know monsieur only that it touches me liere here she pressed lier her hands over her heart 1 I I 1 do not understand what have they done to francisco perez and santini the soldier we are approaching the shores of venezuela she said and tomorrow as the sun rises irises she raised her hands band and nd let et them fall in a gesture of hope hopelessness ersness ess ness 1 I have tried to save them I 1 do not understand adolfo in some things he Is hard bardl I 1 did not have to ask her what they intended to do with loren garla who as far as they knew had cast his lot lol with the forces of revolution resolution who had bad hidden his identity behind the masquerade of insanity I 1 knew what have they done with manuel 1131 manuel anuel she bhe questioned all ah manuel he of the dark face a and n d heavy shoulders they have d done one nothing he be Is free a good sailor find and a brave man though somewhat stupid now I 1 laughed laughed until I 1 saw a deep hurt in her eyes ees and her chin begin to tremble then I 1 stopped apologetic perhaps said 1 I my moon madness has never quite forsaken me she had bad called manuel stupid I 1 what was it francisco had said to me all ah yes it if the captain questions our innocence and even becomes so suspicious as to confine us there la Is yet set manuel and the mixed crew of this ship surely francisco had not done things by halves if courage and brains could win bolivar would never lose if it helps you QU to laugh in the shadow of the gallows gallons blo monsieur n bleur garde your moon madness Is a ble blessed s sed gift she turned away as though to leave me but came back again 1 I 1 I want you to know that I 1 have tried so hard to save you sou 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 tour majesty just one before you go surely she raised her fair face questioningly it if there Is ought augh t 1 now while she kept her tape upturned to me I 1 studied the smooth forehead the high arch of eyebrow tile the deep blue of her eyes ees the quivering lips and the tender curve of cheek check and chin may I 1 tell you sell that you are beautiful and may I 1 offer apology for having followed you for having wounded your your lour for having wounded de fuentes and for that night of madness and terror in new orleans I 1 wonder if you ou have imagined me crazy it Is not that monsieur I 1 do not understand I 1 think we cannot rend read america that you should laugh a at the gallows seems strange to me and that you should have followed us from new orleans Is Is that the act of a sane man no your majesty fa jesty it li 19 not could I 1 tell her of my mad of that overwhelming love 0 t mine would that have gained gaine love anit anything hing for either of us to have hae told her would merely have added to her unhappiness ter for I 1 had only a short night of life left to me 11 1 I am going to adolfo she said at last and tell him that the senor americano Is not responsible that the venezuelans Venezuela ns perez and santini nl held him captive adolfo will do much for or roe me but not that your majesty for adolfo does not love me lie ile has every reason not to love me for I 1 have wounded him 1 I shall try at least I 1 knew she would fall knew she would not return so I 1 tried every conversational ver al subterfuge to detain her with no success for she extended a hand to me smiling adelos even ns as I 1 held tile the slim fingers the sound of shot came from the d eck deck above us follo followed wod by the roar of a commanding voice captain alvarez Alra rez she cried tile the voice of captain alvarez what Is itt it Blons monsieur leur another shot another yell a shrill medley now and swift padding footsteps our guards disappeared in the gloom of the channel clinn nel running for the upper deck the air wits was tilled filled with ith tile the menace of tin lin approaching storm as well ns na of vh holding to me what has happened senor tell me I 1 laughed shortly tho stupid manuel Is playing the game according to hla his orders unless something Is done swiftly and well this ship will be very soon in the hands of 0 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 but you senor are in the service not at all I 1 have never served francisco nor bolivar only the senorita Senor ltd dulce said she completing my sentence dulce 1 now how prophetic had been that name for it was wag at once a caress and a description will you remain here then in safety while I 1 ia TI no senor no I 1 I 1 will go with you there Is polito and I 1 knew she visualized adolfo but she did riot not call his name so land hand in hand we sped along the freight cluttered channel I 1 led her to the ho companion ladder and halt half lifted her up through the quarter deck bat hatch h from which position of vantage we were able to overlook the upp upper L r deck it seemed at first deserted del but the report of a pistol came from the starboard rail abaft the mainmast a shrill scream followed it and a tall figure lunging toward a slim boy whose body was braced against the bulwark struck the rail bent over ever it and 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 Poil tol 1 my ily brother has killed a maill now other figures raced from the foredeck fore tore 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 bis adversary and the two went down in a scrambling heap adolfo cried the woman at my 0 U arr perhaps said 1 I 1 my moon mad ness has never quite forsaken M me e 11 side Adol adolfo fol 1 oh the terror of this hour I 1 I 1 and the loy joy I 1 breathed m my y soul with the hope of freedom again my brother she gasped 1 I must go to my brother I 1 I 1 well as 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 lucrecia Luc lay not in the contending human forces on her deck but in the power of bf the approaching tempest 1 I made my way in the rising tumult 0 of f the storm to the wheelhouse which as I 1 lind had suspected was empty my bly 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 lucrecia Luc pitching prodigiously dived into the body of a mountain of blue green sea ani and the mizzen maZ came down with a note of rent timbers that lifted above the din of the storm it tell fell crushing the wheelhouse but I 1 had dived out of the path of its ita fill fall and buffeted by the waters waiters LIM had come up short against the low wall ot of the afterdeck clinging desperately to a stanchion I 1 wondered it if there was waa another soul alive on board the ship which was waa now only a plaything of 0 the storm faintly came calne the sound of mother another rending crash and I 1 imagined that tile the foremast for ennst had gone for or tha ahe laboring vessel after heeling perilously v whipped hipped back to an even keel again while I 1 crouched in the protection of the afterdeck after deck the spirit of youth south took hold of me spoke to me and tile tha spirit of love loe also she had come to see me had glorified my prison had let me feast my eyes upon the beauty of lier her face spurred by a sudden resolve to find her to save her or to sink to the depths with her in my arms I 1 left my place of refuge and made my way by eccentric stages fo forward rivard I 1 stumbled over oer a battened bitt ened companion and rode the alie crest of a tumbling wave halt half the length of the deck my outspread arms came in contact with a rail stanchion and I 1 helito held to it as the wave passed on in the piled up masses bosses of foam that beat over roe me I 1 felt the clinging touch of a dress my fingers found a slim arm and I 1 heard a shrill scream tant rose above the roalf roar of the tempest the senorita dulcea in the tha semidarkness she recognized me A light of happiness took the place of the terror that had filled berebes be her reyes 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 slie she said smiling bravely and smiling fainted well it was w as better so holding her I 1 awaited waited for the storm to destroy us idrew 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 my life even cven as I 1 waited thus the great ship stopped suddenly ns as though it had met an invisible wall the stern lifted skyward and the mainmast sheared clean at the partners fell forward tearing a great gap in the tha rail now the stern went down again with a sickening lurch and the bowsprit pointed toward the boiling clouds while the santa lucrecia Luc balancing upon a submerged reef that had caught her amidships teetered teet ered like a sparrow on a twig the rain ceased as aa Fud suddenly denly as it had come and the wind abated somewhat though it still blev bleil half a gale with the ald aid 0 of f the stan stanchion chlon and tb the e ral rail I 1 got t to 0 my f 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 flat ita of a starboard rei ba boat A tall figura of the f four ur bl F frond an 1 I bent 11 ay step 30 stoward tha tl 1 I 0 wd 4 rail where another group showed in the fading twilight anxious smile wits it ghastly thing for one side of his face was smeared with blood lie ile took his sister in his arms and turned to placa her in the boat As he did so adolfo swung upon me with a clubbed pistol 1 I 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 descent rolled went through gli a wide space in the rail that the falling foremast had made and fell tor for what seemed to my half dazed senses im measurable immeasurable distances the plunge into the raging sea gea revised 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 landward 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 nass mass of 0 darkness passed me passed me silently like a lifeless derelict riding before a storm it passed on and 1 I was left alone in the turbulent sea it 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 w was as not the booming note of b 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 ind through the forest whereat I 1 wondered even more until it a giant wave receding left me stranded 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 tha w water ater had subsided TO BE CONTINUED |
