| Show DE en ISLA WN IA installment TEN THE STORY SO 0 FAR karen waterson convinced by her lawyer john job colt that she has a claim to the island estate of her grandfather garrett waterson has bias come to honolulu to attempt getting the property in an effort to find out tom something ethIng about the wayne family now BOW in control of alagoa the island she accepts a date to go sailing with richard tonga dick wayne against her wishes he takes her to alagoa while there lames fames wayne dicks uncle and manger manager ot of the property Is found dead from overwork while taking karen back to honolulu next day dick tells her he loves lovei her but they later quarrel dick then sees john colt and when a compromise offer to him tails falls he teus tells colt that their pacific venture will fall ail he toes goes back to alagoa and tells his hall half brothers that he knows garrett waterton waterson to be alive they question his word now continue with the story P granting that an ordinary man might drop out of sight that way willard said it still would have been impossible for garrett waterson he was too big too important P dick was getting disgusted again no he he only imagined he was once he was broke he of any importance or interest to anybody except to you and to you only because you thought he was a skeleton in the closet doubtless this will surprise you but the fact is that alagoa is a small obscure and unimportant speck on the map suitable tor for supporting a few hundred people and of no other significance whatever the fact that garrett waterson once had hold of it tor for a while would not distinguish him in the eyes of anybody except yourselves both brothers looked scandalized it if all this can be proved ernest began 1 I mean if hio bin actual identity can be proved of course it can be proved its a plain demonstrable tact fact cant you understand that it if dick is to be believed willard said our worries are over ernest emest they can go ahead and investigate vesti gate their heads off and it wont get ern em a thing And AncL Karen water sons case against us falls flat as as As a bird in the hand dick suggested suddenly a new angle occurred to willard wayne 1 I suppose he said since you are working tor for waterson as you say this boat of yours yours at all but his is that right certainly then said willard whatever business hes in now he must be enjoying a considerable success that alone ought to furnish proof that hes competent d tuna tely theres a catchin catch in unfortunately too said dick and its a big one just what business is he ing in ernest demanded where does his money come from or is that something else that supposed to concern us it concerns you very much dick said well dick wayne grinned sardonically even maliciously and stood up preparatory to walking out ask garrett waterson he suggested it he feel like telling you it wont do you any good to know john colt aboard a diesel boat hardly better than the sampans the japanese fishermen used arrived at ala alagoa koa at sunset jfe wayne watching the little sa blunder and grope its way through the reefs she was sounding frantically with no less than three lead lines knew at once that I 1 the he one eyed captain ramey had managed to sell john colt a charter at last it if only tor for an excursion boat dropped anchor five hundred yards from the holokai evidently dicks brothers had sent orders to the dock that john colt should be brought to the house immediately upon arrival for Ala koas shore launch put out immediately bokano steering and took oft off john colt tonga dick watched this maneuver impassively there was no longer any danger that his brothers would be bluffed into something by colt the decision would rest with waterson himself and no one else he got his binoculars now and focused them upon boat the swift twilight of the latitude was closing sharply but the glasses were still able to bring out every detail aboard the diesel boat the I 1 lank ank agility ty pulled himself over the I 1 Holo kais kars rail what do they want up there now dick asked wearily nothing mr dick that I 1 know wong was nervous there was a flutter in his long boned hands as he produced a twisted slip of paper 1 I came to you of my own thought up at our receiving station they keep hearing some ship calling the holokai they cant tell what ship its call letters arent listed no one ever heard them before we think it may be some outlaw station at any rate the call comes in very persistently and we hear you answer so I 1 came to tell you what were the call letters 1 I have them written here tonga dick took the paper wong offered him and unfolded it even before he made out its typewritten d the swift twilight of the latitude was closing sharply but the glasses were still able to bring out every detail aboard the diesel boat little tramp vessel sat awkwardly on the water her snub nose tilted upward inanely she had bad a disorderly faintly disreputable look but dick knew she concealed a surprising turn of speed karen waterson was leaning over the rail talking to captain ramey dick could see the stitching in her narrow hat brim and the shadow of her lashes the movement of her lips while he could hear no least sound of her voice had a strange effect making her seem immeasurably far away As darkness fell dick saw captain ramey leave karens side and in a moment or two a light showed in the seals galley tonga dick smiled a little without much humor as he deduced from this that ramey had been left in the lurch by his cook now the shore boat put out from the dock again this time pointing directly to the Hol holokai okal tonga dick watched d it approach with a minimum of interest by the time it was coughing alongside he had made up his mind that if his brothers had sent for him he was not going to go ashore until he very well felt like it but it was charles wong who with an unexpected characters in the failing light he knew what ship it would be they were still calling when you left the house yes sir 11 come here wong tonga dick ran back along the deck and dived into the little kennel abaft the galley which served as a radio shack and charles wong came pattering after him he clamped on his earphones and carefully with micrometer delicacy began to turn the big dial of the short wave receiver but for minutes there was no result he must have shut down dick said at last it if you catch it again at the alagoa station better answer and take the just then the hunted signal came in so powerfully that the effect was basting bL blasting sting somewhere unexpectedly close at hand garrett waterson was calling dick wayne from the sea dick quieted the blocked and clattering receiver good lord hes right on top of us yes hes calling us all right dicks earphones were beginning to zing with the measured letters of a message that was something more than news SAR WIT WATERSON ABOARD 2 HRS 11 dick wayne could not believe his own ears angrily he worked his key sending out a protest RPT ALL RPT the message from the sea hesitated and started over again abruptly it changed its pace breaking into a racing chatter IN HELL IS MTR U CANT U understand ENGLISH 10 PM STAND OUTSIDE CORAL TO PILOT THRU SHOALS G WATERSON tonga dick wayne acknowledged with a curt and shut off his generator garrett Water sons power yacht sarah will be in in two hours he told wong and waterson himself is on board charles wong stumbling after him out of the radio shack looked as it if he had seen a ghost obviously he had been able to hear and to understand the international code do do you want your brothers to know it make a particle of difference either way charles wong waited a moment and seemed about to say something so methin 9 more but changed his mind and lowered himself over the side into the waiting boat the launch chattered its way back to the dock and presently after its voice had died there came across the water the sound of a racing automobile engine as charles wong handling his car badly raced through the village toward the hills dick stood for some minutes with his hands on the rail staring at the darkening sea roughly checking known distance against the relative speeds of the sarah and the holokai he estimated that garrett waterson must have pointed the sarah north no more than a few hours after dick had set sail with the Hol holokai okal hurriedly dick waynes eyes swept the bay an outrigger canoe sailed silently in the light air by a single hawaiian spearman was coming in across the still water from a days fishing beyond the reefs dick sent a low whistle across the water and the outrigger sheered in close to the side of the Hol holokai okal take me over to that stranger boat tonga dick swung over the rail and dropped into the moving canoe okay captain dick karen waterson was still standing by the rail quiet and alone as the silent outrigger sliced close tonga dick stood up reached the boats low rail and swung aboard stand on and off dick told the kanaka fisherman and wait for me CHAPTER X the outrigger moved off a little drifting idly it was the girl who spoke first her voice hushed in the quiet 1 I thought you might come over here dick wayne leaned close to her so that their shoulders touched and held his voice low hoping that captain ramey would not be brought out of his galley 1 I have something to tell you he said Some things happened the whole situation is changed john colt cant accomplish anything here the fight is off and it if it starts again it will be on an entirely new basis she waited and in the rapidly thickening dark he could not see what was in her eyes karen dick said you are not an heiress and you have no claim upon alagoa you see karen your grandfather is alive there was a long minute of uneasy silence he expect her to believe him at least not at first shock incredulity refusal to accept the truth he supposed he would have to contend against all of these before he could go on karens answer astonished him when it came she spoke in a low drawl you know I 1 rather thought so dick having braced himself for an uphill attempt to convince her dick was taken aback why how on an earth did you know john colt admitted that one thing might destroy our case and tell me what it was then yesterday when you told him that you could bring our claims to nothing it seemed to me that he be believed you though he admit it he hardly would have come here if he feared a new development would he be so the only thing I 1 dould could think of was that my grandfather might still be alive and that you had dug him up hell be here soon karen very soon she considered that her eyes on the disappearing horizon it will be strange to see him I 1 suppose I 1 will see him wont I 1 its going to be like meeting a ghost hes been such a vague misty sort of gigantic figure overshadowing everything for so many months ever since john colt first convinced me that I 1 might have a right to alagoa A great legendary figure lost in the past and now to actually see him face to face its very surprising who knows what standpoint he be will take garrett waterson has always been a man given to extreme views for all I 1 know he may jump to the conclusion that he be would like to recover the island and hand band it over to you to me after ive tried to prove why not garrett Water sons later years have been bitterly lonely it seems to me very likely that he will wish to do just that certainly john colt will undertake to show him exactly how it can be done colt will be ready to handle all details waterson needs only to make a decision and the whole thing is as good as accomplished you mean my grandfather could recover alagoa Ala koa hes in perfectly sound mind but he can have himself shown incompetent if he wants to god knows hes eccentric enough but dick frauda its just what you and john colt started to do in the first place TO BE CONTINUED |
