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The Yacht Had Disappeared.
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H4SW.ROSSBR
I9IO BY TMe CENTURY CO
COPYRIGHT 1910 BY THE. SUCCESS CO
8
SYNOPSIS.
Cayley. accused of a crime of
drnlch he la not guilty , resigns from the
jinny In disgrace and his affection for
Ills friend , Lieut. Perry Hunter , turns to
hatred. Cayloy seeks solitude , where he
Jtarfects a flying machine. "Wlille soaring
< iver the Arctic regions , he picks up a
{ furiously shaped stick he had seen In the
4sassln'3 hand. Mounting again , he dls-
tiovers a yacht anchored In the bay. De-
ftcendlng near the steamer , he meets a
on an ice floe. He learns that the
name is Jeanne Fielding and that
yacht has come morth to seek signs
ol her father. Captain Fielding , an arctic
' * * plorer. A party from the yacht is ma-
I klftg" search ashore. After Cayley departs
Jftfcuno finds that he had dropped a cu-
ti nlly-haped stick. Captain Planck and
tlw surviving crew of his wrecked whaler
mS9 In hiding on tha coast A giant ruf
fian named Koscoe , had murdered Field
intf and his two companions , after the ex-
fflorer had revealed the location of an
enormous ledge of pure gold. Roscoe then
flook command of the party. It develops
lEhat the ruffian had committed the mur
der witnessed by Cayley. Roscoe plan : .
I o capture the yacht and escape with a
9lg load of gold. Jeanne tells Fanshaw ,
OWner of the yacht , about the visit of the
Sky-man and shows him the stick left by
Gayley. Fanshaw declares that It is an
J&kixio throwing-sttck , used to shoot
daeKs. Tora Fanshaw returns from the
rtarching 3 > arty with a sprained ankle.
3P rry Hunter ia found murdered and
'Cayley Is Accused of the crime but Jeanne
Relieves Jgjra innocent. A relief party geese
$ o find fAe searchers. Tom professes his
lave fo ? Jeanne. She rows ashore and
rtnters an abandoned hot , and there finds
Her father's diary , which discloses the ex-
Slorer's suspicion of Roscoe. The ruf-
an returns to the hut and sees Jeanne.
He is Intent on murder , when the sky-
Ittian swoops down and the ruffian flees.
'Jeanne ' gives Cayier her father's diary
read.
CHAPTER X. Continued.
The scene before his eyes was beau
tiful , with that stupendous beauty that
taaly the arctic can attain. The har
bor and beyond It , far out to sea
jclear to the horizon , was filled with
Jgreat plunging , churning masses of
lre ; , all drenched In color by the low-
"hanging arctic sun violet , rose , pure
golden-yellow and emerald-green , and
ft white whose Incandescence fairly
tabbed the eye. And as those
great moving masses ground together ,
they flung , high Into the air , broad
ifhimmering veils of rose-colored
apray.
Of the floe , which they had consid
ered stable as the land itself , there
way no longer any sign. There was
'nothing ' there , nothing at all to greet
their eyea. to seaward , but the savage
"beauty of the ice.
The yacht had disappeared.
CHAPTER XI.
The Aurora.
"I tell you sir , the thing Is beyond
Iranian possibility. There is no help
: * -no human help in the world. I
jwonld swear to that before God. But
I think you must know it as well as
I 4o. " Captain Warner , standing upon
rk ) Aurora's bridge , was the speaker.
. The two Fanshaws , father and son ,
jhtlr faces gray with despair , turned
pwy and looked over the great mass-
tp of loose , churning fleld-ice , which ,
the sea out to the utmost hori-
. confirmed the captain's words.
"How long " Tom Fanshaw began ,
possible chance I would take it ,
there Iff none cone in the world.
then he paused , moistened his lipd and
rubbed them roughly with his hand
"How long , " he repeated , "shall we
have to wait before it opens up ? "
"It won't open up again this sea
son not if I know anything about the
arctic , " said the captain.
"It will freeze , though , " Mr. Fan
shaw said , "freeze into a solid pack
that we could cross afoot. How long
shall we have to wait for that ? "
"It's hard to tell. Generally in this
latitude the pack is pretty solid by
the first of September. But that
warm current which caught Fielding's
ship , which caught the Walrus the
current which makes , every summer
apparently , that long gap of open wa
ter which enabled us to reach the
land that Fielding reached that cur
rent would keep loose field-ice floating
about for at least another month. "
Tom Fanshaw's eyes had almost the
light of madness in them. "But she
can't live a month ! " he cried. "She's
alone , unarmed ! She has no food ; no
shelter but those bare huts ! "
"The Walrus people doubtless left
some stores there , If she could find
them , " said Captain Warner. "But ,
still , what you say is perfectly true.
She can hardly bope to keep a live a
week. "
"Then , " said Tom , in dull , passion
ate rebellion "then , in some way or
other , we must go back to her. If you
won't go if you won't take the Au
rora back , I'll take one of the little
boats and go myself ! "
"If you want to commit suicide , "
said Captain Warner , "you could do it
less painfully with a revolver. The
small boat would not live 30 seconds
after we put her over the side. You
know that , if you are not mad. 4s
for the Aurora herself , .if she had not
been built the way she is , she would
have been crushed hours ago. And
if I were to lower the propeller and
start the engines , they would simply
twist the screw off of her before she
had gone a ship's length , and leave us
helpless in the event of our ever find
ing open water. We may never live
to find it , but there's a chance that we
will. There are more than 30 lives
that I am responsible for aboard this
yacht , and I mean to live up to that
responsibility. If we ever do find open
water , then I'll do whatever you say.
I will take you to Point Barrow and
the yacht can winter there. Then
when the pack is solid , if you can
find dogs and sledges , you can at
tempt the 'journey across the ice. I
don't believe it can be done. I don't
believe there is a chance in a hun
dred that any single member of the
party that set out would live to reach
that shore. That , however , is not my
affair.
"Or , if you wish , we can take the
yacht back to San Francisco , refit her
and come back next summer. I think
that with our knowledge of the cur
rents and where the open water is ,
we might get back to Fielding bay by
the first of July. Then we can find
whatever there is to find. "
His own voice faltered there , and
there were tears hi the deep weather-
beaten furrows of his cheeks. "God
knows , " he concluded , "if there were
not unless we could fly through the
air. "
It was only an hour since they had
ascertained , beyond the shadow of a
doubt , that Jeanne was not aboard the
Aurora. Until Tom had recovered
consciousness , the others had aater-
tained little doubt that she was safely
hidden somewhere aboufc the ship.
Cayleys warning , together with the
confession of the Portuguese , Miguel ,
had caused then ) to steal alongside
the Aurora as silently as possible. Not
a word had been spoken by any of tke
party , and the sound of the rising
wind had Downed the creak of their
oars. HaJf a dozen well-armed men
had stolen aboard over the bows to
reconnoiter.
Making out the unfamiliar figures
of the Walrus people on deck , and
knowing that they had a fight on their
hands , they had worked their way , un
observed , to a position amidships.
Here , under cover of a brisk revolver-
fire , they had made it possible for the
rest of their party to get aboard.
The Walrus people , several of whom
were below , came tumbling up on
deck at the sound of firing , and their
whole party entrenched itself in the
after-deck house. They had found
arms of various sorts aboard the Au
rora , and made a spirited resistance
before they were finally overpowered.
The Aurora's people , under the coolheaded -
headed command of Warner and the
elder Fanshaw , had proceeded in a
brisk , scientific , military style that
had spared them many serious casual
ties. There were a number of flesh
wounds when it was over , and one or
two of a more serious nature. None
of them had been killed.
The Walrus people , however , had
not surrendered until their plight was
wholly desperate. Only five of them
were left alive , and two of these were
mortally wounded when the struggle
ceased. '
The uninjured were heavily ironed
and locked up in the steerage. All
the wounded friends and foes alike
were turned over to the care of the
yacht's surgeon and a couple of volun
teer assistants from among the crew.
Altogether , it was two or three hours
after the Aurora's people had regained
undisputed possession of the yacht be
fore it was possible to form any defi
nite idea of what had happened. In
the excitement and the necessity of
everybody doing two or three things
at once , Tom Fanshaw and his serious
plight were not discovered , until he
himself , having partly regained con
sciousness , uttered a low moan for
help , which was heard by a chance
passerby.
The gale , which had been raging all
this while , had gone screaming by
unheeded , and it was not until dawn
that the horrified conquerors of the
yacht discovered that there was no
land in sight.
It was several hours after that , not ,
indeed , until the captain had worked
out their reckoning from an observa
tion , before they realized that they
were 100 miles away from their
anchorage of the previous evening ,
and that their return was hopeless.
Old Mr. Fanshaw gave his arm to
his son , helped him down from the
bridge and thence to the now deserted
smoking room , forward. Tom sub
mitted to be led blindly along , and did
not demur when his father halted be
side a big leather sofa and told him
to lie down upon it. Since that mo
mentary outburst of his upon the
bridge , the young man had been un
naturally calm. His muscles , as.he .
lay there now upon the sofa , seemed
relaxed ; his eyes were fixed , almost
dull.
Through a long silence his father
sat there watching him , but there was
no daAvn of a correspoading calmness
in his face. It had'aged whole years
over night.
"It's strange to me , " he said , "that
we ever recovered possession of this
yacht at all , let alone that we were
able to recover it without it costing
us the life of a single man. This gang
must have had a leader , and a clever
one. They way he maneuvered his-
men to keep them out of sight while
he drew away first one party and then
the other from the yacht was a piece
of masterly strategy. He worked it
out perfectly in every detail. He got
possession of the yacht without losing
a man , without even firing a shot that
might give the alarm. And even with
the warning we had and with the
help of the fog , I don't see how we
defeated a man like that. His success
must have gone to his head and made
him mad. "
"He was probably killed in the first
volley our people fired when they got
aboard , " said Tom dully. "He alone
could have accounted for half a dozen
of you , if he'd ever had a chance a
giant like that. "
"A giant ! "
"I think he must have been the
leader , " said Tom. "He was the first
man to come aboard , certainly. "
"But what makes you call him a
giant ? "
"Because he literally was. He
struck me down with just one blow ,
and as he raised his arm to striie I
saw that his shoulder-cap was above
the level of my eyes ; and I pass for a
tall man. "
His father abandoned the subject
abruptly , and for a while contrived to
talk of other things ; of tfte details of
the fight and how different members
of foe crew had borne themselves.
But his mind was filled with a new
terror , and as soon as he could feel
that his son was in condition to be
left alone , he left him , with a broken
word of excuse. He must either set
this new terror at rest , or know the
worst at once. There had been no
one , either among the survivors or the
slain of the Walrus party , who in any
way resembled the monster Tom had.
described.
An hour later he went back to the
bridge to talk again with Captain
Warner. He thought that they had
sounded the depth of despair that
former time when they had talked to
gether there , but in this last hour he
had sounded a new abyss beneath it
all. He knew now why the yacht had
been so easily taken. He knew all the
details of the devilish plan which had
so nearly succeeded. More than that ,
he knew the story of the man Roscoe
from the time when Captain Planck
had taken him aboard the Walrus ,
down to the hour last night when he
had sprung into his boat again and
pulled shoreward. Captain Planck
was dying , and old Mr. Fanshaw's
questions had enabled him to enjoy
the luxury of a full confession.
So they knew now , those two men
who stood there on the bridge , white-
lipped , talking over the horror of the
thing they knew that Jeanne was not
alone upon that terrible frozen shore.
The man Roscoe was there , too.
A sound on the deck below attracted
Mr. Fanshaw's attention. Tom , with
the aid of a heavy cane , was limping
precariously along the deck toward
the bridge ladder , and , to their amaze
ment , when he looked up at them ,
they saw that somehow , his face had
cleared. There was a grave look of
peace upon it.
"I've thought of something , " he
said , after he had climbed up beside
them "I've thought of something that
makes it seem possible to go on liv
ing , and even hoping. "
The two older men exchanged a
swift glance. He was not to know
about Roscoe. If he had found some
thing to hope for , no matter how il
lusory , he should be allowed to seep
it to hug it to his breast , in place of
the horrible , torturing vision of the
human monster which the other two
men saw.
"What is it you've thought of ,
Tom ? " his father asked unsteadily.
"It's it's Cayley. He's there with
her ; I'm sure he IB. " He turned
away a little from Captain Warner
and spoke directly to his father. "I
don't know how I know , but it's as if
I saw them there together. He has
fallen in love with her , I tliink. I'm
quite sure she has with him. I wanted
to kill him for that yesterday , but
now " his voice faltered there , but
the look in his eyes did not change
the light of a serene , .untroubled
hope. "He's there with her , " he went
on , "and with God's help he'll keep
her alive until we can get back with
the relief. "
He said no more , and he clutched
the rail tight in his gauntleted hands
and gazed out north , across the ice.
CHAPTER XII.
Cayley's Promice.
For this small mercy Cayley thanked
God. The girl did not understand.
She was rubbing those sleepy eyes of
hers and putting back , into place ,
stray locks of hair that were in the
way. "The floe must have gone to
pieces , " she said , "and they've drifted
off in the fog without knowing 'it. I
suppose there's no telling when they'll
be back ; very likely not for hours. "
He did not risk trying to answer
her. All his will power was directed
to keeping the real significance of the
yacht's disappearance from showing
in his face.
She had turned to him quite casual
ly for an answer , but not getting it ,
remained looking intently into his
eyes. "Mr. Cayley , " she asked pres
ently , "were you telling me last night
what you really thought was true , or
were you just encouraging me I
mean about those men who attacked
the yacht ? Are you afraid , after all ,
that our people are not in possession
of the Aurora , wherever she is ? "
"I told you the truth last night. I
can't imagine any possibility by which
the men who came here on the Wal
rus could get the Aurora away from
your people , except by stealth. "
"But if our people beat them off ,
why didn't they come ashore ? There
aren't any of them around , are there ? "
"Apparently not , " said Cayley.
"They may have all been killed before
they could get back to shore , or some
of them may have been captured. No ,
I really don't think you need worry
about them. "
She drew a long deep breath , flung
out her arms wide , and then stretched
them skyward. "What a day it is.
Was there ever such a day down there
in that warm green world that people
live in ? Oh , I don't wonder that you
love it I wish I could fly as you do.
But since I can't , for this one day you
t Jsr . . . Tg ' Kg ? i'iJagaaaS ' f.
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\iy
The Two Older Men Exchanged a Quick Glance.
must stay down here upon the earth
with me. "
Her mention of his wings gave him
his first faint perception of the line
the struggle would take. His mind
flashed for an instant into the posi
tion which her own would take when
she should know the truth. To her it
it would not seem that they were
castaways together. He was not ma
rooned here on * .his shore. His ship
was waiting to take him anywhere in
the world. He was as free as the
wind itself
"I believe living in the sky is what
makes you do that , " he heard her say
"makes you drift off into trances
that way , perfectly oblivious to the
fact that people are asking you ques
tions. "
He met her smiling eyes , and a
smile came , unbidden , into his own.
"You've forgiven me already , I see , "
he said. "What was the question
about ? "
"It was about breakfast. Have you
anything to eat in that bundle of
yours ? "
He shook his head , and she drew
down her lips in mock dismay.
"Is there anything to eat anywhere ? "
she questioned , sweeping her arm
round in a half circle , landward.
"Mustn't we go hunting for a walrus
or a snark or something ? "
Cayley had to turn away from her
as she said that. The remorseless
irony of the situation was getting be
yond human endurance. The splendor
of the day ; the girl's holiday humor ;
her laughing declaration that she
would not permit him to fly away ;
this last gay jest out of the pages of
"Alice in Wonderland" about hunting
for a walrus.
"God ! " he whispered as he turned
away "My God ! "
He had his revolver , and besides the
six cartridges which the cylinder con
tained , there were , perhaps , 30 in his
belt. For how many days , or weeks ,
would they avail to keep off starva
tion ?
But his face was composed again
when he turned back to her. "There
are two things that come before break
fast , " he said "fire and water. There
is a line of driftwood down the beach
to the westward , there at the foot of
the talus. When we get a .fire go
ing " he stopped himself short. "I
was going to say that we could melt
some ice for drinking water , but until
we have some sort of cooking utensil
to melt it in , it won't do much good.
There must be something of the sort
in the hut here. "
She shook her head. "They're
completely abandoned , " she told him.
'Our shore party searched them first
of all , and afterward Uncle Jerry and
I searched them through again. There
is nothing there at all , but some heaps
of rubbish. "
"I think I'll take a look myself , "
said he. "Rubbish is a relative term.
What seemed no better than that yes
terday afternoon while the yacht was
n the harbor may take on a different
meaning this morning. "
He disappeared througn the door
way , and two minutes later she saw
him coming back with a big battered-
looking biscuit tin.
"Unless this leaks too fast , " he said ,
'it will serve our purpose admirably. "
He observed , without reflecting
what the observation meant , that a
bountiful supply of fuel was lying in
great drifts along the lower slope of
Lhe talus. Jeanne accompanied him
upon his quest of it , and with small
loss of time and no trouble at all they
collected an armful. They laid their
fire upon a great flat stone in front of
the hut , for the outdoor day was too
fine to abandon for the dark and damp
in the Interior , and soon they had the
fire blazing cheerfully.
For a while they sat , side by side , \
upon his great sheepskin , warming
their fingers and watching the drip
of the melting ice in the biscuit tin.
But presently Cayley got to his feet.
"Breakfast ! " he said.
"Is there to be anything besides a
good big drink of water apiece ? I *
there isn't , I'd rather not think about
it until the yacht comes back. "
"Unless I'm mistaken , there's an
excellent breakfast waiting for us not
far from where we got the fire-wood. *
But I'll go and make sure before I
raise your expectations any higher. "
He walked away a half-dozen paces
without waiting for any reply ; then ,
thinking suddenly of something else ,
he came swiftly back again.
"Do you know anything about fire
arms ? " he asked. "If you're accus
tomed to shooting , I'll leave my re
volver with you. No , " he went on ,
I
answering the question which she had
not spoken "no , I don't foresee any
danger to you. It's just on general .
principles. "
" "
"I'm a" pretty good shot. But if
you're going on a hunting expedition
for our breakfast and there isn't any
foreseeable danger to me in being left
alone , it seems reasonable that you
should take the gun. "
He took the revolver from his belt ,
however , and held it out to her. "Our
breakfast doesn't have to be shot. And
as a concession to my feelings no ,
it's nothing more than that I'd rather
you took it. "
She did as he asked without further
demur , and he went away. When she
was left alone , the girl added fresh
sticks to the fire , and then , in default
of any more active occupation , took
up the red-bound book which lay be
side her and began once more to pe
ruse its pages. She had by no means
exhausted them. In her reading of
the night before , she had skipped the
pages of scientific description for
those parts of the journal which were
most purely personal. Even now the
whole pages of carefully tabulated
data concerning the winds , currents ,
temperature , and magnetic variations
got scant attention. In her present
mood the homeliest little adventure ,
the idlest diversion of a winter's day
meant more to her than all her fa
ther's discoveries put together. When
she saw Cayley coming back toward
her across the ice , she put the book
down half reluctantly.
Evidently his quest for breakfast
had ? \ot been in vain ; he had a big
blacli and white bird in his liand. "Do
you suppose it's fit to eat ? she
called out to him. "How in the world
did you manage to kill it without tse
revolver ? "
"Fit * o eat ! It's a duck. What's
more. It's an eider , which means that
her coat is worth saving. "
"But how did you contrive to kill
her ? "
"I didn't She killed herself. She
was flying too low last night , I sup
pose going down the gale , and In the
fog she went smack into the side of
the cliff and broke her neck. That was
a very destructive storm for the birds.
There must be 50 of them , of one kind
and another , lying dead there along
the top of the talus , at the foot of tbft
cliff. "
( TO BE CONTimiED. )
Prayer Unanswered.
It had been raining all day and If *
tte Mark , shut up In the hocure , wat
anxious to get out and play. Hl
mother , in another rooai , thought
that she heard him talking , and pr * >
ently Inquired to whom.
"I was talking to God , mamma , " th
child replied. "I asked Him to mak
It stop raining so I could go outdoors.
but I don't think He was very pliti
about It. He never l t on * hat H
heard mt a all ! "
