The Omaha . Sunday Bee
EDITORIAL
AMUSEMENTS
OMAHA, SUNDAY MORNING, JULY 24, 1921.
1 D
TEN CENTS
VOL. 51 NO. 6.
AYING SAFE
By HENRY C. ROWLAND
PI
The Story of a Man, a Girl and
An Amazing Adventure That
Came on the Wings of the
Storm.
A VI NO nothing else to do, Claire Mae-
Hi
Norton went down to the station early,
then fretted about, calm outwardly, but
raging within until the gates opened and she
was permitted to take her seat in the sleeper.
Trafltc was heavy at the moment and, hav-
. ' .' 1 . 1 a , . .V. hnJ hAAn ohl.
to secure only an upper, which was well In the
middle of the car. This, If possible, added to
her fury, which was of a particularly upsetting
sort, being mingled with a really sincere grief
and a tremendous disappointment.
It is always grievous to find one's self left
out of an expected large inheritance, espe
cially where this has been verbally promised.
But when added to this there is an honest
mourning for the deceased because of past ties
of love and gratitude, the conflicting emotions
are disturbing in the extreme. The mind is
angry, the heart is hurt, pride Is humiliated, and
confidence in human nature crippled.
Claire had traveled two days and nights by
rail to reach the bedside of her dying godfather,
a millionaire and a past benefactor of many acts
of kindness and generosity. She had hoped to
arrive in time to minister comfort to his last
moments, but hud reached her destination too
late, and she had remained to hear the reading
' of the will. Expecting with Just cause to in-
herit richly, she had managed to secure the
proper mourning, including a veil which, as one
very close to the deceased, she had not raised.
And now she was glad that she had not done so.
Later the lawyers had explained the reason
of her omission as a legatee.
"When our late client learned of your en-
gagemenc 10 marry mr. tn o:uiim no v. no mn
ous," the dry little councilor had said. "It ap
pears that Mr. Van Schaik's father was not only
a business but a personal enemy, and a man
by whom he considered himself to have been
defrauded and villiflod. He swore that the son
should never profit by a penny of his, and he
therefore caused your name to be stricken im
mediately from the will."
"But I had just written to him to say that I
had broken the engagement," Claire protested,
in a choking voice. "I learned a few things
about Reggie Van Schaik which made all Idea
of marrying him revolting."
"Alas! my dear young lady," said the lawyer,
"your letter must be among those which ar
rived after the stroke. -Let me see." He sum
moned a clerk, who brought a heap of cor
respondence, and from this he selected and
handed to Claire the letter which, by its retard
ed delivery, had cost her perhaps a quarter of a
million dollars.
So here was Claire, a penniless girl, depend
ent on the bounty of a relative, her engagement
to marry a wealthy profligate broken, her ex
pectations shattered, and in her heart an aching
grief for a man who had proven her best friend,
now beyond reach of appeal, and all the result
of a horrible misunderstanding and an Inef
ficient postal service. i
Claire had taken the blow squarely on her
two feet; she had shed some tears, these of sor
row, quite free from all recrimination. And
now, facing the situation, she was obliged to ad
. . , 1 O .. 1 : 1 . n.na f., I
mit that her immediate future was not a bril
liant one.
Since death of her parents her home had
been made with a rather tyrannical widowed
aunt, whom she suspected of being by no means
averse to a second marriage, and Claire had
reason to believe that her entertainment was
largely due to her usefulness as a decoy. There
was nothing of the flapper to her. She had
'Just turned 25, was possessed of sense and
character, alluring of face and with a ripeness
of physical charms unusual for her age. More
over, she was steady of head, cultured, and she
fgarded social problems squarely.
''Facing the present one, her gray eyes grew
thoughtful, her firm little chin was set at
an angle of decision, and her cool little nose ap
rarea io raise useu a. nine, as u m ku-tou.
inpt for the mess that she had made of things
in the result of a swift infatuation for a liber
tine. But underneath was a burning rage, this di
rected not against her kindly godfather, but the
vultures who had profited by his bequests. She
was convinced that a swarm of these had
profited by her own fall; so that when presently
the porter conducted to the seat facing hers a
lean but squarely built young man, whom she
recognized instantly as having seen at the read
ing of the will, Claire's emotion was for the in
, i is 1.. T 0
stant nomiciaai.
She did rot remember the amount of the
legacy he had inherited, but that did not matter.
As she figured it, no doubt correctly enough, her
godfather, on striking out at the eleventh hour
the considerable fortune previously bequeathed
to her, had been left with a residue which he
had probably divided among a' number of people
having no special claim upon him. A moment
later she had reason to feel convinced of this.
The young man who was to occupy the lower
berth of the section appeared, encumbered with
t good deal of hand luggage, -which the red cap
had set down indiscriminately, and the Pull
man porter, observing this as he passed, pro
ceeded to stow these pieces in more orderly
fashion. A suitcase went under one seat, a sol
dier's seabag was stuffed under the other, while
a roll of steamer rugs with the corner of a
Navajo blanket protruding was hung from a
hook overhead. The porter then stooped to
pick up a small square black valise which the
j oung man had set down in such a manner as to
Incommode his feet But this Inconspicuous bit
of luggage did not come up. The porter had
reached for It negligently with one finger, and
the expression of his sable face was that of one
who might lay hold of the empty trunk left by
an" indigent boarder and finds it nailed to the
floor.
"Lan sakes!" said he, and tried again, this
time with success, hough at the cost of some
considerable effort, then stood staring with per
plexity at the fine steel chain which was at
tached at one end to the valise and at the other
to the wrist of the passenger.
"Never mind that, George," said the young
man, crisply. "Just a little white mule. We
have to ride close herd on it nowadays."
The porter gave an explosive negro laugh.
"Tasslr," said he, "but I never hefted no white
mule weigh lak that." A knowing look spread
over his face as he turned and went about his
duties.
Claire had missed no part of this. She could
easily guess that "white mule" was a terra for
the country's forbidden fruit, but she knew that
no spirits could so ballast the little valise, which
was not more than the size of two shoe boxes.
A solution of the problen. flashed across her
Quick mind. Here apparently was a fore-hand-
va young man, wno was itmiug uv ;ua.ui;t:B uii
the prompt custody of his inheritance. He had
evidently by some special favor received his
legacy in gold, and put it in the baby suitcase,
which he had secured to his person by a chain.
The roll of rugs suggested a -ea voyage in im
mediate prospective. She thought it probable
that he was leaving the country, and wondered
by what right he could expect to take with him
what must be a considerable fortune in gold.
ppp
WW fWtss JC-M$W'M
1 1 Ktr ' il''''
' We'd better tave our
The train presently pulled out of the station;
Claire's vis-a-vis picked up a technical magazine
of engineering, upon which he concentrated his
attention. This gave her an opportunity to
study him surreptitiously. " Under other circum
stances Claire would have found him distinctly
attractive. He was the type of man which
pleased her most; clean cut, clear of skin and
eye, and., with a set of features which bespoke
race. The left hand resting upon his knee was
strong and well shaped, the fingers straight and
rather widely spaced the hand of a craftsman
and on the little linger was a heavy gold seal
ring engraved with arms. He was extremely
well dressed in a grayish cheviot, very light but
of the finest wool, of an English cut which rath
er belittled the breadth of his shoulders, with a
shirt of pongee silk no longer to be found ir
America, heavy and resistant to maltrcati" ,nt
of the laundry, and his tie was of a snug woven
silk also of foreign fabric.
It was evident to Claire that his clothes were
not American, although their wearer was dis
tinctly so, as evidenced by his speech, which
might have been that of a New Yorker, possibly
a Bostonlan.
"Here," thought Claire, bitterly, "is a man
already well provided for, who is making off
with a good part of what should be my inheri
tance." She glanced at the end of his suitcase
under the seat and saw the label of a "Washing
ton hotel, also the remains of one of the French
line. This suggested that he might be in some
branch of government service, a naval officer,
perhaps, about to be ordered to European
waters.
Then as the train rumbled on she made an
other discovery. It was suffocatingly hot, with
a low barometer and a lurid, heavy sky which
predicted some sort of meteorological disturb
anceearthquake weather, as a Callfornian
might have said. Some of the men in the car
had taken oft their coats and were sitting in
shirtwaists.
A dining car steward announced the first
call for dinner. The young man opposite Claire
laid down his magazine and rose, when for the
first time he appeared to take an active interest
in her presence. His features relaxed in a
friendly expression and he spoke to her in the
pleasant inoffensive way of one accustomed not
only to travel and its exigencies but courteously
offering to render service to his fellow travelers.
"Perhaps you'd rather have the lower berth,"
said he. "It's rather awkward for a lady to
scramble up and down the ladder, and I am
quite accustomed to it."
"Thank you," said Claire, "if you're sure you
don't mind."
"Not in the least. The upper is really better
on a sultry night like this, more free air, and
I'm used to that, too." He glanced through
the window. "Looks as If wo were going to
catch a cyclone or cloudburst or something
Hope it doesn't blow the train off the track"
he glanced at his valise and smiled "Just when
I've got all my eggs In one basket. I believe I
saw you at the funeral of Mr. Lothrop."
"Yes," answered Claire, surprised that he
should have recognized her heavily veiled. "Mr.
Lothrop was my godfather."
His eyes flashed at her a look of sudden in
terest. He seated himself. "Then you must be
Miss MacNorton. Mr. Lothrop often talked to
ma about you. I am Stephen Goddard."
Claire's gray eyes hardened. Her godfather
had also spoken frequently to her of Stephen
Goddard, whom she knew to have been a sort
of protege for whose scientific education he had
paid.
"I owe him everything," said Stephen. "I
have delayed the sailing of a government vessel
to go to his funeral."
"Tour duty appears to have been well re
warded," said Claire.
lifeboat. Might want to abandon ehip it we ehotdd
Ho looked surprised. "I don't think I quite
get you."
Claire glanced significantly at his wrist to
which the light chain was attached. He caught
the trend of her mind and smiled, then frowned.
"If you'll pardon me for saying so, I was In
tensely surprised at not hearing your name
mentioned in the will."
"So was I," said Claire bitterly; "but that is
a matter which I prefer not to discuss."
She turnod to look out of the window with
the manner of one who desires a conversation
discontinued. Stephen appeared to hesitate for
a moment, then picked up his valise and walked
down the aisle toward the head of the train, In
different, to the curious eyes of such of the pas
sengers as happened to observe his manner of
safeguarding the small piece of luggage,
Claire continued to stare out at the dull,
monotonous country with eyes as hot and brood
ing and sullen as the lurid sky, now thickening
into a dark opacity as the daylight waned. It
was suffocating in the car, and such heavy air
as there was to breathe seemed charged with a
sort of poisonous depressant. The faces of the
passengers were humid, some congested, and
across the aisle a plethoric man was panting
for breath and started up fitfully from time to
time as he dozed. Claire wondered how she
was .going to be able to pass the night.
She was angry w'ith herself for having ac
cepted the offer of this complacent young
stranger whom she felt had profited at her cost.
"Playing safe," said Claire to herself, and her
full lip curled scornfully. "That's the way to
get what you want in this world. Play safe. If
I'd had the sense to play safe I'd be safe now
instead of a beggar and prospective outcast."
For it was borne in upon her mind that the
reception of her aunt and hostess was apt to
be affected by the knowledge of her disinheri
tance. It was one thing to entertain a prospec
tive heiress and another to dispense a grudging
hospitality to an indigent relative who had first
broken her engagement with a millionaire and
then found herself left portionless.
Blacker and blacker grew Claire's mood, un
til she found herself in a state of desperation.
She could see no light ahead. The discovery of
the character of her fiance, which led to the
breaking ot her engagement, had been catas
trophe enough, she thought, but assuaged to
some extent by the prospect of independence.
Now that this was withdrawn she felt herself a
derelict. There were a number of men who
greatly desired to marry her and, although not
one of these made any appeal to her as husband,
she began to reflect that it might be wise to se
lect the most desirable and do her duty as a
wife to the best of her ability.
"I'd better take my medicine and play safe,"
she told herself with a sort of bitter scorn. "I've
no talents, no business abljity, no coquetry nor
faculty for getting something for nothing. The
first thing I know I'll be developing into a hard,
acrimonious old maid. Better play safe like my
self-satisfied neighbor."
She sent the porter for a sandwich and a
glass of milk, then waited in another seat for
him to make up her berth. Inside it with the
curtains drawn she felt as though buried alive
in a misfit coffin not far removed from the in
fernal regions. Nervous depression added to the
intensity of her bodily discomfort. The perspi
ration ran from her In little rills, but without
the agreeable sense of depletion to be found in
a Turkish bath.
"I'll be a sodden mass by morning if I live
through this fearful night," said Claire to her
self. It was difficult to understand the reason
for such extra discomfort. The porter had as
sured the protesting passengers that all of the
ventilators were open, even to the screened
apertures of the windows. That of Claire was
happen to run aground.'
open but the air which filtered through it was
hot and oppressive.
As she lay there unable to sleep and reflect
ing on this final torture by the high gods or low
devils as the result of her Journey to the south
west in midsummer, she heard Stephen's voice
asking Jhe porter to bring the stops and a mo
ment later the curtain rustled as he crept into
his upper berth. For some reason the near
presenceof the successful heritor infuriated her
and she reflected that one might cheerfully sup
port the intense discomforts of the night with a
gold-filled valise secured to one's person by a
chain.
Presently she drifted into an unrestful sleep
but was awakened toward midnight by 'what
seemed to a crashing and battering of the car
and a fine spray upon her face.
She discovered then that the train appeared
to be caught up in a cyclone, while the roar up
on the roof of the car was as though it were
passing under a cataract. The porter was hur
riedly closing the windows and ventilators and
the train had slowed its speed.
"Now," thought Claire, "we shall quickly
suffocate and that will be an end to it." She al
most regretted when the porter requested per
mission to close her own and instead of the cool
ing spray there was the sodden smell of wet
bedding.
"Some cyclone, ma'am," said the negro. "I
reckon we done pitched Into a cloudburst."
Claire presently dropped oft again, but this
time her sleep was fraught with troubled
dreams. She thought that she was aboard a ship
which had broken down and was drifting to
ward a maelstrom. Then suddenly it reached
the brink of this and she felt it plunge down
into the vortex.
"All is over," thought Claire with a sort of
resigned relief, and at that moment there came
a most terrific sense of falling accompanied by a
rending, splitting sound and culminating in an
appalling crash.
She woke suddenly and flung up her hands.
They struck a hard, smooth surface which
slanted down across her and completely blocked
her exit from the berth. The car was keeled
over at a slight angle to the other side and the
air was filled with muffled shreiks and shouting
and the roar of waters. Terror-stricken, Claire
reached for her light, only to find it extinct.
She thrust up the curtain of her window but the
darkness without was impenetrable and there
seemed to be a flood pouring down the glass.
She was imprisoned, in a triangular space and
immediately guessed that the chains supporting
the upper berth had parted and that it had
fallen to leave an aperture of not more than six
inches on the aisle of the car. Through this
she shrieked wildly for help.
"One minute," shouted a vibrant voice. 'I'll
get you out."
The cries and screams seemed growing faint
er, and from a little distance came a smashing,
splintering sound. She heard the man beside
her roaring for help to raise the berth, which
had Jammed, but there was no response. Then
presently, as he struggled, It seemed to yield.
"Lie on your back and shove straight up
with your arms when I count three," he said.
Claire obeyed and they seemed to gain two or
three inches.
"It's Jammed against the partition," he pant
ed. "Don't be frightened. I'll get you out." v
She suddenly found herself alone. There
were no more sounds of human presence, nor
crushing fabrics, but a torrent of water seemed
cascading over the roof of the car as a river
flows over a dam, with swirling, sucking gurgles.
Then, to her horror, Claire felt a warm trickle
about her, and thrusting her arm through the
aperture felt the flood up to the very edge of
her berth.
In Jiose few terrible second3 she was able
to realize what had happened. There had been
a cloudburst and a low trestle crossing some
torrential river-bed, normally dry at that season,
had been washed out and given way. And here
she was imprisoned, probably the only one in
the car to be thus helpless, as otherwise there
must have been cries for help.
No doubt the torrent was continuing to rise,
in which case she must be drowned like a rat
in a trap unless speedily released.
"At any rate this solves my problem," she
thought, and at that moment there came the
sloshing of water In the aisle and a voice said
cheerfully, "Now I'll soon have you out of this.
Keep over against tho window side."
Followed a smashing and splintering, ap
parently the blows of a train ttx directed against
tho partition at her feet. But as these continued,
the flood rose higher about her until her body
was half submerged. The car seemed to settle
a little so that Claire's body was covered and
she was forced to raise her head to keep It clear.
And all of this in Stygian blackness.
' "Now, we'll see," said the vibrant voice
huskily. Claire's hands were against the lid of
her aqueous coffin, when she felt it suddenly lift.
"Slip out," Ranted a voice.
She squirmed through tho aperture and
found herself splashing about in two or three
feet of water.
"All right," said the voice, and a hand fum
bling about griped her by the shoulder and
helped her to her feet.
The car was at an agle of 45 degrees and,
like people aboarO a sailing vessel in a gale, they
managed to crawi and scramble to the plat
form. Crossing this they entered the car ahead
which was slanted a a lesser angle, while the
water in the aisle was not so deep. They made
their way the length of this,. Stephen in the
lead, and on reaching the forward platform he
paused with an exclamation of dismay.
"Good Lord! the rest of the train is gone."
1 "Into the river?" Claire said tremulously.
"I don't think so." He peered out into the
murk. "It's not very deep and we could see if
it had. We were moving very slowly when the
side of the trestle gave way. This car is on the
track. The passengers from ours must have
gone through to the car ahead of this when they
uncoupled the train and Went on."
The black water was swirling past, two feet
deep over the platform, while the rain was
crashing down in solid sheets. Then as they
stood there a shudder seemed to shake the car
and it lurched over at a greater angle.
"We've got to get out of this and quick,"
said Stephen. "The trestle is apt to go at any
moment, or our car might roll over and drag
this one after it. -We're shipwrecked in Ar
kansas. Wait a moment."
He plunged into the oblivion of the car and,
above the crash of the rain and the gurgling
sounds of .the torrent, Claire heard the clattering
and banging of loose planks. Lacking the re
sourcefulness of her rescuer, she could not
imagine what he hoped to find as material for a
raft in a sleeping car. But she was enlightened
when a few minutes later Stephent emerged and
propped In the doorway what sounded like a
heap of planks.
"These are the triangular partitions from be
tween the upper berths," he said breathlessly.
"They'll float us until we ground somewhere. It's
not as If we were a thousand miles at sea. I'll
get a couple more."
He accomplished this and taking five of the
partitions he laid them in the water one on top
of the other beside the downstream edge of ' a
platform, and as he did bo there came another
ominous shudder and the car careened slightly,
Stephen went down the steps and set his valise
on the improvised raft.
"Come on," said he to Claire. "Lie half
way across this thing and we'll cast oft. Hurry.
The car's apt to topple over at any minute."
Claire followed his instructions and a mo
ment later they were swirling away through the
inky murk, partly submerged but floated easily
by the wood partitions. The water was warm
as new milk and about as thick, though this was
not immediately discoverable. As the bed of the
stream was smooth there were no waves, but
occasionally they were caught in a whirlpool
and twisted from side to side.
"We ought to wash ashore pretty soon," said
Stephen, "that is if we don't get floated out into
the Arkansas. But even in that case we ought
to land somewhere in time for breakfast."
Claire began to laugh, not hysterically, but
from the absurdity of their situation; It seemed
a fitting end to her disastrous trip, to be floating
down through the pitchy darkness with nothing
left her but her life and a suit of silk pajamas,
very thin and torn. While opposite her was a
young man similarly clad and chained to a bag
of treasure which was rightfully hers and which
he had been at such pains to safeguard.
"What do you think now of playing safe?"
she asked.
"There's no such thing. I've hung on to it
so far, though," and he rapped the panel be
neath him with his knuckles.
"Well, I don't begrudge it to you, now. Tou
saved me from a very oozy death. What If you
hadn't been able to get me out?"
"Then I'd have Tfept you company. There's
no good In hating one's self for all one's life."
His hand was close to hers. Claire laid hers
on the back of it for a moment with a sudden
impulsive pressure. "Thank you," said she.
The pressure was returned and for several
moments they drifted on in silence, then Ste
phen said:
"Thls is the first time I've been comfort
ably cool since my morning tub, and that was
fairly lukewarm. Not getting chilled, are you?"
"Not a bit. It's very refreshing."
"The daylight can't be far off," said Ste
phen; "then we can make a landfall and lay a
course for somewhere."
The rain stopped suddenly as though some
body had turned off the faucet of the shower
and the silence struck upon them with a sort
of shock. There was no noise beyond the low
murmuring voice of the flood, a sort of deep,
musical diapason. Then presently the heavy
clouds seemed to roll at the edges and the bril
i liant summer stars shone down upon them from
a widening zone of fathomless sky. Dark high
banks loomed up on either side at a distance of
several hundred yards. But looking downstisam
was like looking straight out to open sea.
. "Just as I thought," said Stephen. "This Is
a big shallow torrential tributary of the Ar
kansas, and it can't be very far away." His
eyes pierced the gloom, now rapidly lightening,
and suddenly he gave a gasp of dismay.
"Good Lord! look at that. We're out in
the river."
For the clay banks on either side had
dwindled abruptly, then disappeared, and they
saw that they were swirling out upon a broad
expanse of water. A higher draft of air had
swept away the rain clouds and there was a
growing light which announced the dawn.
This brightened rapidly as the sky cleared,
and presently a brilliant crimson glow spread
itself across the firmament and edged the dis
tant volumes of dissipating vapor with glorious
color.
"Lovely morning," said Stephen. "What'a
that thing ahead?"
"A house," said Claire.
The day rushed in a good deal as a stags
is lightened in a morning scene. They found
themselves well out In a big muddy stream the
color of yellow paint In the reflected light from
the sky upon the turbid water.
The force of the torrent had propelled thm
nearly to mldriver and the low banks looked
to he a mile away on either side. Not far
ahead of them was a square wooden building
4
I
with a flat roof. This on a slant which brought
one side of it awash, possibly from the weight
of a stove inside, as its pipe projected.
"We had better trans-ship," said Stephen.
We've drifted out into the Arkansas not far
from where it empties into the Mississippi, and
if we have to go on to Vlekshurg we will be
more comfortable aboard a larger vessel. Let's
kick this boat of ours ahead."
He shifted himself around to the side of
Claire and they began to strike out with their
feet, driving their float at a fair progress which
promised soon to overhaul the house not far
ahead. There was slight danger of the parti
tions sliding apart, the buoyancy of those be
neath thrusting them up against the submerged
one on which their weight rested; also beratise
the apex of their triangle was between Claire
and Stephen.
"A twin-propcller craft," Stephen observed
"noneapsizablp. and nonsinkable."
"One ought to play safe with a big gold ship
ment," answered Claire.
"Klght-o. Especially when you happen to
be chained to It. Lucky for me we swapped
berths. I was half awake when we got let
down, so I grabbed the curtain rod and swung
there till I got a foothold. Providentially my
berth jammed or it might have crushed you."
Thanks to you, I'm still alive and kicking'
Claire answered.
And, thanks to the kicking, they were soon
able to exchange a precarious float for a mora
stable one. The floating house, which looked
like a big square box, had revolved In an eddy
so that its front was now presented obliquely to
them, about 10 feet of It being above the water,
while the rear was awash. Two upper story
windows were clear of the stream, and above
these was painted an Inscription in crude Ver
million letters, the n's and the s's reversed:
"Cotton Pickers Bank," and beneath, "Storage."
"Good thing for the cotton pickers they
haven't started to pick," Stephen observed.
'.'Let's kick this thing around to the back."
They accomplished this and found the rim
of the roof about a foot under water. Stephen
passed his valise aboard, scrambled up after
it, then turned and held out his hand to Claire,
who now for the first time realized with a
shock that she was scarcely clad at all. But
there was no help for it, and bolng a sensible
girl, she took the outstretched hand and a mo
ment later was standing, as Stephen expressed
it, "on the quarter deck," a superb, unshrink
ing figure in her thin, wet pajamas. Stephen
without glancing at Claire began to drag the
pieces of Pullman partition up onto the roof.
Their weight had caused the flimsy structure
to careen at an even greater angle.
"We'd better save our lifeboat," said hs,
"Might want to abandon ship If we should hap
pen to run aground. Besides, once the sun gets
up this tar paper is going to get awful hot"
He fitted the triangular pieces together near
the front of the roof, when Claire sank down
upon them with a sigh of fatigue, less from ex
haustion than the tremendous strain of the
last three hours. The day was coming: apace
and presently the sun rose and sent its crlmsor
horizontal beams across what much resembled
a sea of fluid mud. Sitting side by Bide with
their hands crossed in front of their knees, they
looked out across the desolate waste. Here and
there were farms along the banks of the river
and far ahead a jetty ran out into the stream.
Some motor boats were also visible moored to
tb shore, but no immediate succor was In
sight. There was also about them a treat mass
of floating debris, trees, and logs, and frag
ments of shacks, and not very far distant a
waterlogged skiff which Stephen eyed covetous
ly. But Claire observed that never once his
eyes rested upon herself, and this fact gave her
new esteem for him.
She reflected that she really was about as
much in his debt as it is possible for one person
to be in another's; that, resistant to the panin
of the other passengers who had fled forward
while there was still time, he had remained
terribly incumbered by the heavy -valise, not
only an inconvenience but a grave danger, to
fight for and accomplish her release. She be
lieved absolutely that he would have gone to
the bottom of the creek with the car sooner
than have abandoned her, had been in danger
of doing so at any moment with the coach at
a perilous pitch which needed but the slightest
setting of its support to roll over into the
stream. This knowledge sent a warm glow
through her and made her feel that she had
done him great injustice.
"It's going to be scorching, hot in about
an hour," he said, "but we are sure to be taken
off before we begin to crisp up. Besides we
can always keep wet. We could do with a bite
to eat, though." He rose, crossed the roof, and
returned with two flat stones from those ce
mented around the base of the stove pipe, then
reseated himself at her side.
"What now?" asked Claire.
"Watch and learn," he answered.
Stretching the chain across the corner ef
one stone, he began to strike it with the other,
about a foot from his wrist.
"Tou think of everything, don't you?" asked
Claire.
"Ah! but you see I'm' an Inventor!"
"But is that playing safe?" she asked,
amused.
"It would prove so if I should happen to fall
overboard. But my present object is to swim
over and get that skiff. Then we can split pad
dles off our raft and row ashore."
He contiued his hammering softly, so as not
to break the stone, which was wearing con
siderably from the process.
"I suppose you think," Stephen observed as
he tapped away, "that the contents of this valise
should by rights belong to you."
"Not now," Claire answered. "Any such
claim is more than settled."
He shot her a sidelong look, then glanced
quickly away, reddening slightly. "Then you
consider that there is no existing claim between
"I didn't say that. I said that what possible
claim that I might have on you was settled."
Tap! tap! tap! His head was bowed over
his task, and Claire, glancing at him in turn,
discovered that his shipwrecked condition added
to rather than diminished his attractiveness.
The water had curled his chestnut hair In plea
ing fashion and his skin was very clear and fln,
his eyes doubly fringed with long, black, curvin
lashes, and his profile of pure classio Grecian
type, but without the softness lent by the chisel
of Praxltiles. He had more Jaw and his chin
was square rather than rounded, while the Hps.
instead of being full, were straight and firm.
Then, watching his task, its method puazle
her, for instead of tapping continually en one
point of the chain he now spread It the length,
of the stone and proceeded to hammer his sea
ment flat.
"Why are you doing that?" trie asked
Watch and learn." he answered.
Satisfied presently with the result, he p!cfce
up the chain, of which the links were now hm.
mered so closely together that there was no
play between them, but remained stiff like a
Piece of wire. Taking this between his hands,
he began to bend It back and forth at the point
whlch he had first eroded. The result was si.
most immediate, as the chain, no longer able,
to articulate, broke at the eroded part.
"Easy enough when you happen to be an In
ventor," and glanced at Claire with a flashing
smile which brought the color to her face. But
this was not because of her deshabille. She w a
beginning to forget about that, or at least to dia
(Tan te race KUafc. Caiiuu Th..i
