Show iota 01 abea t M or M I 1 VAT s f fb BEN AMES WILLIAMS WILLIAMS THE STORY SO PAR FAR robin dale a young artist goes to moose bay to see her fiance will mcphail Wc Phail when will Is accident accidentally any killed his brother angus blames robin she goes to angus fishing cruiser to see him while sh she is on board the boat sails carrying her angus pat donohoe and romeo toward labrador the boat Is seized by a man named jenkins who is trying to escape from a government patrol the boat runs aground and sinks when jenkins tries to steal the last of the food there is a free tor for all fight coming on jenkins lying on the ground angus has just asked are you hurt jenkins looks at him in contempt and fear now continue with the story CHAPTER XVI 2 engus jumped down beside the her man hurt he muttered mr jenkins grinned at hi him M what do you think he countered in sardonic question think im lying here to watch the pretty clouds his lips twisted venomously his words were vitriol cursing angus cursing pat cursing robin robin most of all it if she been along wed be all right he finished id like to get my hands bands on her just once just long enough to give her neck a twist he grinned 1 I got the irishman through the leg something wheres romeo hell butcher the lot of you he had not moved at all lay flat on his back in the beating rain the raging anger boiling out of his helpless body was a terrible thing to see angus said gently ill get you under cover jenkins he bent to lift the man and mr jenkins hands flew up and fastened weakly on his throat angus caught the others wrists tore those ha hands ads away flung them down jenkins had no strength in him his hands were as weak as a childs be sensible man angus said let me take care 0 of f you jenkins spoke in sudden full surrender AU all right im done my backs broken mcphail do as you please well do what we can angus said he lifted the hurt man managed somehow to carry him up to the shelter from weakness or from pain mr jenkins lapsed into unconsciousness again on that short journey robin moved aside when angus appeared and he laid mr jenkins in the shelter he told the irishman 1 I am sorry to put him in with you pat but hed die in the rain aye pat agreed his voice was gentle the poor man saved my life for me whether he meant it so or not and whatever hes done hes paid for now full if running over ill tend him all n mr jenkins opened his eyes ile he was clearly paralyzed from the waist down yet there was life in in him when angus gave him a bit of chocolate he gobbled it without a sound robin said now we must bandage pats leg somehow angus there anything handkerchiefs not big enough no not nearly my underwear then angus started to unbutton his shirt but mr jenkins spoke take my shirt mcphail he said his tone was mild enough the fog of battle rage had left him and he was sane again its white and I 1 dont need it theres no warmth in anti inti f anyway not enough to do me f bood yvain felt her eyes sting she thought she could almost like mr jenkins pat spoke for all of them YOU had the makings ot of a man jenkins he said its a sorry end youve come to mr jenkins chuckled im luckier than the rest of you he said with grim humor youre cold all over but im only cold from the waist up cant feel it in my legs at all id trade my shoes for a flannel shirt right now robin still wore leather jacket with pats great stag shirt over it she began to strip them off mr jenkins should have the one pat the other they protested but angus supported her and she had bad her way by the time pats leg was bandaged early dusk was settling around them angus dis distributed tribu ted bits of chocolate to each of them robin chewing her morsel making it last as long as possible felt warmth and strength run through her body like a flood for the night they all packed into ta 06 shelter side by side first mr jenkins then pat then robin then angus himself in the open end with mr jenkins oilskin for protection against the rain dark came down and robin pressed nearer pat angus sat like a wall between her and the weather after a while she spoke to him come closer she said we can all get under here ive the oilskin im all right 1 I need you to keep me warm lie back against me take it off and tuck it around us he hesitated then obeyed she drew him back against her in in her arms he spread the oilskin coat to cover them both there she cried almost contentedly tent edly but he felt her trembling cold he asked no just scared dont be keep your nerve well manage the rain cant last forever and we wont starve ill get some fish tomorrow trap them in the shallows when the tide goes out then there are shellfish snails at least in the seaweed well find food something im not so terribly hungry his voice was quiet and steady in the darkness being hun grys not so bad after the first two or three days as long as youre not scared people have lived a month without food im not scared she told him she asked do many people live alongshore here angus not many way up here five or six families pat says I 1 dont suppose there are fifty people in fifty miles he added quickly but Gloucester men and the nova fishing schooners ners come coma up this way well be able to attract attention as soon as it clears she whispered her lips close to his ear my being here makes it extra hard for all of you im sorry angus its my fault I 1 should have taken you back to moose bay that first but that cant be mended now after a moment she said softly angus im glad youre not here alone if this was going to happen to you im glad im with you he said after a little hesitation in a defensive tone dont be afraid well come through she felt chilled rebuffed by the remote impersonality of his words she knew she loved him yet even in her arms he seemed infinitely tar far away she said im all right in daylight night was full of terrors and sleet and rain came on a howling hungry wind they were silent for a while and she felt his shoulders against her breast relax in weary stupor that counterfeited sleep her eyes were wide staring into blackness once she felt pat stir and mutter and she whispered all right pat sure maam fine she thought presently that she was the only one of them still awake she held angus closer brooding over him somewhere outside the shelter a rock slid and rolled down the slope below them the sounds growing less as it bounded toward the sea that sharpened all her senses something had set the rock rolling it must be romeo prowling near but she did not rouse angus till a little later she saw a darker shape in the darkness a dozen feet away then dreadful terror filled her and she spoke in ear angus she felt him wake romeos sneaking up on us see him there in front of you mcphail sat up he cried in sharp challenge that you romeo what do you want romeo without answering raced away scrambling up the slope they heard the rattle of rocks dislodged by his flying feet from the safety 1 70 9 01 I 1 let t I 1 be sensible man angus said of the ledge above where they lay he flung imprecations back at them yet even while he cursed them all he moved farther and farther away till the sound of his babbling rage grew faint and died robin said wretchedly poor man maybe he just wanted to get warm cant we take him in give him a chance to get out of the rain angus did not reply she thought of romeo running to and fro like an animal pitifully questing in the night for shelter cold crept into her and somewhere far below them she heard the growling of the hungry sea robin woke before the others in the morning it was daylight when she roused a gray hopeless dawn she would not wake them but while she lay cramped and stiff holding herself motionless so that angus might not be disturbed she heard far away across the island a cry she know knew it roust must be romeo and she shuddered thinking he was like a coyote howling from sheer loneliness thrust out of their small society into the naked emptiness of this rocky rain swept world she pitied him and wished they th ey might take him in to share their slight shelter and when angus woke at last she suggested this 1 I heard afeard him crying just a few minutes ago she said it was pretty terrible cant he be with us angus stood up stiff with cold ill have a look around he said ill talk to him he scaled the slope to the ledge above them and went out of their sight A moment later they heard beard him shout and shout again the sounds raced receding 19 robin though the was trying to find romeo calling to the man he was gone what seemed a ion long time and when he came back she saw in his eyes something like despair he squatted facing them and said quietly romeos gone A fisherman took him off robin felt her heart pound mr jenkins began to swear in a still vitriolic way angus explained when I 1 came up on the cairn I 1 could just see the boat a dory with a sail it was half a mile away toward shore just going aut of sight in the rain I 1 yelled but they hear me pat asked as though anxious to be sure A fisherman angus 9 us nodded pat frowned in a puzzled way now what would a fisherman be doing off here so early in th the e morning 11 angus suggested maybe they saw our monument last night and came off to see who was here robin looked at him then romeo would tell them he built the monument he so not think anything more about it when they see it still here so they wont come for us angus said hell tell them about 11 us mr jenkins spoke in a quizzical amusement you trust men too easily mcphail romeo wont tell them anything why should he I 1 beat him up miss dale there cut his cheek open he knows you dont like him any more and he wont want to see pat again romeos well out of it hell keep his mouth shut and go clear hell have to tell them how he got here hell say your boat bucked the ledge say you and pat we went nt down with her say he got ashore alone the rain began again in a little spiteful sprinkle that came hard and harder robin spoke then well have to make ourselves at home I 1 wont we she tried to laugh at least we wont have to carry rocks any more to build the cairn after a moment angus said ill try to catch some fish today find something to eat he distributed another morsel of chocolate to each one of them well make this last as long as we can he said mr jenkins refused his portion give it to miss dale he be directed im done anyway no use wasting it on me robin protested Pl please easel eat it mr jenkins you give up sure to find us soon he grinned at her looked at angus youre a sentimental lot taking me in taking care of me it if I 1 were in your place id dump me off the cliffs below here im glad to have your company for a day or two of course so I 1 hope you wont do it till im dead but I 1 wont vat eat your chocolate angus scanned the sky no sign ol of better weather he said pat fat weve got to have a fire as soon as we can ill go look for more firewood you try to dry our matches he had a box half full of the safety type and pat and mr jenkins had each a few put them on a dry rock pat maybe the air will dry them if we can have a fire tonight well all feel better he brought under shelter the few scraps of firewood they had already collected you can whittle off the outside of these sticks pat he suggested get at the dry wood inside shave enough kindling to start a fire if our matches ever dry but when he and robin left the shelter he decided to add a few boulders to the cairn just on the chance he told robin maybe they seen it from shore maybe romeo wont speak of it it was raining hard and the wind was icy cold he had made her wear the oilskin coat they worked side by side hunger was a cry of pain in her and she was cold and her hands were bruised and sore but she did what she could at noon angus decided the cairn would do it was eight or nine feet high wide at the base tapering to the top it if the weather clears they may see it he said now ill try to make us more comfortable lets see if pats all right they went down to the shelter together pat was cheerful but mr jenkins was as silent as a trapped animal robin thought him weaker pat had shavings ready but the matches were not dry angus told robin to stay here and rest awhile im going to bring seaweed to chink the cracks in the wall he explained pla ined ill fix it so the wind wont come through she was too tired to argue so she obeyed him he returned presently with a great armful of seaweed the stuff was wet but it did improve the rocky barrier across the closed end of the shelter pat and robin put it in place while angus brought more and more till there was enough to make a sort of mattress on which they could lie also he walled up part of the open end of this cranny under the ledge and before dark they had bad a compact refuge with walls and a roof to shut out rain and wind they ate the last of the chocolate that night the matches were still soggy so they did not try for a fire robin slept against pat with angus between her and the pitiless rain once in the night she heard mr jenkins making meaningless sounds either in his sleep or in a delirium in the morning she was a little lightheaded the world was become unreal she looked out through gray dawn light at shapes that moved and changed their form that were blurred and strange angus was still asleep and her arms tightened around him she wanted to protect him and to comfort him and shelter him a agnost all these adversities TO BE CONTINUED |