2-M
.THE liKK: OMAHA. SUN DA V, JANUARY 22. 1922.
1
. I By Henry C. Rowland W
gJ - ,- - , I '
kwtuw tl !.' tpri ta it whit r
an fcu way ! ini-rl ka urn-la, Vreni Tarlne, tw
-w torn rlliflf UMnrr, ln.nuc Ik lb U14 I'titoa
-. Im u traded b Ibrta. limliiiil !. wul
enratattatia fnmatwr. He lum Iba uuii uuhee upo
a, I I.Bf. and u l.aen aa r in a rw piluU4 by
Vtll totttmin. Mill reala that hrlna. Iwiwi at
Xli-aa im, stilliunair. and kaocea of tmddie
rU.T)m. haa tu,inl while cawlo M1M1 M
fcia aurprW, Mill la fnrlml warmly b I'orla Ja-rr,
aa kw nm (mm hit uppuwd iltauihed la nwry
Mar I'lHua, hi pwily ntm. Mn bM bea la die
Jaue alio bolh. but una I n.-U Jrrry mania hua aa
navuw. aa brauUf'd Kan.-r, hi wifa'a Malar, la
"eunmnr In (laK." Jean. and wall pruentHly
ataak la a haul ol wila. Nauru earu Sitia ailbar
kaa bam rimarim! or baa tki't villi hei hpraa-na,
Iha ahinrhuldie. M .11 de-laree aha lua bran aid
aneri Inr ranaom, hln la tarn) Iha fanttfnare at
Iha Puinry plw. kner whuaa him vrrr to the
aiaiM plat wiifa Itiry find a raaaid of VKW.ooo
kaa hara aflrfad Hlm reluro. Aerompanied
br Iha km rtuniuiahar and Nancy, Mall tuiia Iha
l"ulny la-e aad aara a launch ide out. " "ylne
la brine Ultra away." ba Ihuika. Bui Iha launco.
takae aa paapramr. n II relume and ihrae nam
load ila nnii ol wnodrn caeca inlo las limouatnaa.
"Wbuky ruiibir.l" try Mall and Xaarr duruaw
adlr. and tt fcooia, Kanf tana Iha Ihaory h
bouilrn'ra may ba bnkllnr kflrui raplira. and tsa
a trail a iupHd - bnlWrm' ahip" to a
BMrty uland, IM turn ba. k. murk la kautr'a dia
ruat. Nrai day I Ivy raid Uia Pulnry Pi a., but Xaa
lal. Tha lorrljiwra haa flrd, Xall ynm to Iba
I aland la trap tha boollfrera. Tirtna o( bit TujU
and tha drlTtnf rain, ha hunia op a cabin, bin aa ha ,
iwara II ha araa a lifhl. 1 ha boollrccrra and Hylrla.
ba Ihlnaa. linlimbcrinc Iha truaiy vitlncaiakar, ba
rnpa In a window and pm-a Inaida tha cabin, Tharw
ha ana KantT. who baa rafoand lo ba Irft behind.
Tba eamplcla fllUn up of Iba cabin matinc tola.
SEVENTH I.VSTAIJMKNT.
EXPECTED yon llttla nooner,"
"I
he wild. " Did you ret loet?"
Whaa-at aro you doing her?"
croaked Matt
"Making myself quite eomfortabla.
thuilta," said Niiney. "which seems to be
tnors than you can say."
"Ion crazy girl where'a Murphy t
"TI has taken the wagon home, according
. to orders. I had him art me and my few ef
fects ashore on the edge of tbe rocks."
" So Murphy's crasy, too."
Nancy looked a little puzzled. - " t dont
think I quite got you, Sherlock." said she.
"What has Murphy got to do with It. I've
been thinking that these bootleggers do them
rives rather well. I had understood that
this was Just a fisherman's shanty, but it
seems to have most of the comforts of a
home. There's a new pump over In the
corner, aad It sucks up nice fresh cistern
water. Now, Murphy could scarcely build
a cistern in the course of an afternoon, and
it hasn't rained enough to fill it" '
"1 sea that I've nosed off on the wrong
trail again," said Matt " Somebody has fixed
up this shack quite recently for some definite
' purpose, and it's got to be the bootleggers,1
because nobody else has been camping out
here, or if they .had they wouldn't go off
and leave things in such apple pie order.
But what stumps me Is that none of this
crowd that's been out here bunting for
Sylvia has reported it " . ...
. "The same idea struck me," said Nancy.
"Perhaps this inland Is so many miles off
shore that they figured it impossible for her
to drift so far."
"Well, they would be right," Matt ad
mitted. "As a matter of fact, she couldn't;
but ail the same somebody would be certain
to land here on the off chance and look it .
over, Just as when anything is lost some-"'
body, might look for it in some spot where
there did not seem to be any possibility of
its being found."
Nancy nodded. " Tou have your lucid in
tervals. Matt" said she. " To claim kin with
the relative occupants of your great mind,
I may say that the same Idea occurred to me.
Somebody must, certainly have landed here.
If only to comb the beach for Sylvia's corpse
or the canoe." . . . x . .
"And In that case." said Matt "curiosity
klone would have prompted a look into this
cabin, and then they must have wondered
who the devil had fixed it up and why." ,
"And where the devtl they were?" said
' Nancy. (',- ' ,
" It's all past me, Nancy," said he wearily,
"Just aa you are. I think you've done an
absurdly foolish thing, and you may or may
not forgive me for saying that I havent
much sympathy with this present day young
girl assurance. . I wish to heaven you were
out of this." ' , .
In the gray dawn Nancy was awakened
from a fitful sleep by hearing Matt moving
about on the other side of the partition. She
rose quickly, fastening the clothes which she
had not removed, lighted the lamp, and,
going to tbe pile of stores, got out a Jar of
ground coffee and another of sliced bacon
with some eggs. A comforting odor per
vadod the room when there came two smart
taps on the closed door of Matt's room,'.; ;
"Come in," said Nancy. ' ,.,1,'
Matt in boots and' khaki breeches and flan
nel shirt, his face' glowing and his thick
wavy hair neatly brushed, entered.
' Good morning," said he. " This is mighty
good of you, but you needn't have bothered."
,"Why the sack?" Nancy asked.
Ma'tt answered .this question by slipping
the extinguisher into it -They stepped out
into the swirling gusts of drizzle. Matt turn
ing to close the door behind him.,
" Holy mackerel," he gasped", y,
Nancy swung about, to See hisi eyes fixed
with horror upon an end, of , twelve . inch
spruce plank which had been tacked upon
the door.. This bore tho". rude inscription
which looked as if it might'haVe been' made .
by a finger dipped in a mixture of -grease ,
; . and lampblack, and read: f
' : SMALL-POX. .-.
vi.i-"S,,? j - KEEPODT., '. '
'' ' For -a mortie'rit Matt Btared at this forbid
"V ding legend. Then he laughed. Nancy gave
Vhlrn a startled, frightened look. '
"-' "Tou've got a curious sense of humor,"
Wamid'she. ;-'-. ' r
V'-Bunk! " said Matt " These boys wrote
to scare off any possible visitors,. or maybe
' It was tha bootleggers." '
. ."jAU the same, it might be -true," said
Nancy
"Well, In that case, the worst Is yet. to
eome."i said Matt "Ther next time we go
camping together well take a little vaccine
Tirus But it's a bit late now." "
Picking their way along the shore, thay
earoe presently to the little cove where Matt
had disembarked the night before, and here
almost immediately they struck a' warm
cent For above high water mark the
loose shingle and sand showed unmistakable
traces of having been disturbed. ' .
s . So now Matt's sudden excitement aroused
first Nancy's contempt for what-she was
pleased to consider his .romancer's failing for
being carried up in the air and dangled from
- the heights by a slender thread. '
p , n
m
.. , ' .
' - ' - ; : t
Matt dtalt Nancy's eutailant thm perfect mat of what iha ftrat had got, and Nancy, finding hericlf frte to go,
. fttt back a few pacta to Matt' M roar. By thia tima two othcrt had arrived on the scene.
" Tou see those tracks," and he pointed to
. a mixture of sand and gravel. '
a "Quite so," mimicked Nancy.
"Well, now, I'll walk beside them." He
did so. "Do your bright eyes' detect any
marked difference between my tracks and
these others?" he asked.
" A lighter tread," said Nancy, " aa though
. from the habit of pussyfooting and .from
which one would argue a stealthy character."
"Possibly," Matt admitted, "but even in
that case one hundred and seventy-five
pounds is bound to make its due impression,
and it is a little above the average. But if
you look closely you may observe that,
i whereas the imprint of my heel is fairly
distinct these .'others have gouged deeply
into the sand. 'And. there has been a scuffle
of the toe. Now, what would that seem to
indicate?" 'j;' "r- -
" That these campers whose hospitality we
are enjbying landed ! their stuff here and
carried it up the bank," said Nancy. ".
:" That is encouraging," said Matt, " but not
, convincing. .. Do you think that campers with
imagination enough to leave, a . smallpox .
warning on the door of their' cabin would.
4 land their heavy duffle here and Jackass it a
'half a mile when it would have been Just
as easy to land it 'on the rocks fifty yards
from the cabin?" . -t
"Other Jackasses have done It," Nancy
answered. "Wasn't your blanket roll and
sack? of supplies pretty hard to carry in the
dark'iast night? " s . - . ," ' ; '
" Yes," Matt admitted, "but I had no' W--4
tention of going to the cabin until some fairy
whispered in .my, ear.. that. -I might find' a '
-kindly welcome waiting for-me .there.. Be- .
sides' there was only one of me, and, there '
seems to be about half a dozen of . these
footprints in the -sands of hard times. And
, they are all gouged pretty deep. Now. let's "
try to rollow this trail." .'-'."'
"I think we have been baying ; on the
backtrack." :- ..".,''.
. , ".The back track from where? ". ' " '..
"From the freedom of the seas.- I believe '
that booze was landed here on the' ocean
side in quiet weather and packed across to.
the cove." , f-:" ' '
"What would "be" the sense of" that?" '
Nancy asked. ' ; ...
" Less chance of being spotted and arops
ing curiosity on the' pVart of small boats
ramming about between tbe island and the
shore. In that case the schooner may have
run out here not to hide her stuff bat to get -what
was left, since the place ashore was to
be abandoned."
"That sounds more reasonable," Nancy,
agreed. "Then let's go back to see if we
can find where it was hidden."
So back they went f nd made a careful
search of the roCks along the shore and '
gullies and thickets of blueberry and scrub
line, but without result. Matt sat down -upon -a
stone and lighted his pipe.
." We are no longer going about this thing
, logically," said he. "Instead of trying to
puzzle out the trail and determine the clever,
cunning maneuvers of the quarry we are
merely guessing like children playing hide
the penny and without the pianissimo or
. fortissimo to tell us whether we are hot or
'cold," ...'......''-
"It doesnt matter much," said Nancy, " be
cause I think they merely carried it across -the
island and took it aboard tbe boat."
," Still, if there is any yet hidden," ald
- Matt " I don't think that It would be ashore."
The way to get a line on anything of this sort
is to think what you would do yourself under
the same circumstances." i
" Well, what would you do? " Nancy de
manded. - . .: ,
"Sink it on bottom a little way out, then
lead a small line ashore and fasten it to a
' rock at low water mark," said Matt " Then
they could pick this up with a boat hook and
haul the stuff up aboard their boat If they
buoyed it somebody else would get inquisitive
; and haul it up."
; ' Nancy looked down at the water's edge.
1 " It must be dead low tide now," said she.
;" Lower than usual "from the look of the
weeds," said Matt " Let's take a snoop along
the shore. You go eaSt and I'll go west, and
keep your eyes out for a lead of small tarred
line fastened to a rock." ....... v
' '" But scarcely ' had Matt gone fifty yards
' when he heard Nancy hailing him in wild ex-
i cltement,, and he turned to see her backing
up .the - beach and tugging with all her
strength at such a length of tarred hemp as
' the lobster men used to buoy their pots or the
.. fishermen their nets. Matt hurried to her aid
with even greater exultation than a castaway
might have, on finding pirates' gold- For pi
rates gold is not much good when all is said
and done where there is no chance to spend
, it, but this does not, hold true of hidden
- spirits. . .' -
'. t When Matt arrived on the spot Nancy had
fetched up at., the end of her scope and
seemed securely anchored to some very solid
.object, out there at the . bottom of the cold,
green water.- Matt took a tuijn about his
,(waist,,'whea both heaved with might and
main. " , The rope was evidently new and
tough 'and strong,: but whatever was at the
. other end mocked their efforts to draw it any
closer. Matt loosed himself and sat down
with a groan. .
"I've had some tantalizing experiences,"
said be, "but this takes the prize. Either
the stuffs too heavy or jammed behind a
ledge, or anchored with a killick. We can't
do anything without a boat," '
They kept on along the shore, picking their
way over the big broken stones. The bank
was about twenty feet In height roughly
sheer and rocky, and as Matt had hoped, they
came presently to a spot where a great '
triangular mass of granite had fallen out to
leave a sort of wide mouthed cabin where a
dozen people might have found rough shelter
from the raim Being on the lee side of the
island, it was also free of wind and with a
floor of stone and sand.
"Not so bad for an outpost," said Matt.
" With a book of verses and a loaf of bread
and Jug of wine and thou beside me scold
ing in the wilderness, one might worry
through the day somehow."
' " I don't see what you can possibly hope
to gain," said Nancy. " What if they should
. come back here to pick up their contraband?
They would do so with a small boat and
probably not land at all. You can't capture
., a schooner and her crew with your silly
squirt, though I'll admit you may be quite
crazy enough to try."
" No," said Matt, " as I remarked last night,
there are limits to the scope of even such a
splendid engine of war on fire and firewater
smugglers. But I have got my field glasses
. and I could at least identify the schooner
with certainty, and maybe some of her peo
ple. In such a chase as this the prime neces
sity is to know Just what you happen to be
chasing."
Nancy did not, answer, though admitting
to herself the truth of this. It had now begun
' to rain very hard again, so they sought
shelter under the V-shaped roof of rock and
seated themselves on a ledge. Even then the
physical conditions were far from comforta
ble, and at the prospect of their passing
many hours under such Matt heaved a sigh.
Such outpost duty was nothing new for him
and infinitely better than a great deal of the
sort he had experienced, but there seemed no
sense nor reason for subjecting Nancy to it.
"I say," Matt protested, presently, "why
don't you go. back to the cabin and keep
warm and dry? There's no good in both4of
us roosting out here all day like two bedrag
gled chickens-under a coop."
"I thought you would soon begin to
' grumble," said Nancy. " You have a way of
jumping into a mess and then wriggling out
of it again. Go back to the cabin yourself.
I'm all right. Now that I'm here I mean to
see the business through."
"Very well," sighed Matt, hopelessly:
"then if you Insist, I'll make a couple of
trips to the cabin and bring our rugs and
some reading matter and the makings of a
little fire and some rations."
" So that if they should come they'll see
the smoke or smell it," Nancy said.
"No fear," Matt answered. "There'll be
time enough to chuck wet sand on It when
we sight them. But If we can't be comfy
we'll be as comfy as we can."
" Just as you like," said Nancy, Indifferent
ly. "But I really wouldn't be Justified in
leaving you here alone. If they should come,
which isn't likely in such weather, there's
no telling what silly idea might pop into
your head." She turned her shoulder to him
and stared out across the dreary waste of .
sullen sea and rain flung sky.
Matt rose wearily, slipped off his slung
fUaw and tho itlniuUhfT. M arfd
bau k ever iha half miht of aiUiiif moor fur
the rabm. raflcting aa he atrixla along on
singular, almoat phenotnanal otxunata
paraiali-nry whl' h t-ould Indue girl ft
.Nancy's ak y nature to maroon hrralf Ml
bleak littU Island with man wham
mael evidently ddewtJ nmrely for fmr Iret
ha mlM omethieg. Ila decided that aoeh
muUve was not suffli-lrnt to e plain It, and
that aha could not endure lha proa pact of bis
poaalhly acquiring tha f ranter share of merit
for achieving Sylvia's reaeue. It must be
JeaUouiy. Malt thought, and thrn another
reeiatin uggratnd talf. Nancy had harped
bo much on hi dralra to win the big reward
efferod that some such objret might be lurk
ing in nr own mind, now that there. md
n actual chano for tha aoctimplwhmont of
this.
Matt did not blame hr greatly. If such
were, Indeed, the rape. Hhe was unquestion
ably a high If sharp spirited girl, and he
thought It probable that for aoina tun ah
had been pecuniarily dependent first on the
Torts, thrn on the generosity of her staler
May. If ah could win her ahar of the
promised reward It seemed to Matt that ih
u quite entitled to It. Put bur prtd would
Inslat that thin be a Just claim and tha re
sult of her own efforts and risk, and not a
gratuitous concceelon nn his own part. He
did not queatlon the ethlcacy of her acrvpt
ing a reward for helping to restore her brat
friend to her family. Mr. GaU-a rould easily
afford It and desired nothing more than that
it should bo quickly earned, and Nancy had
no particular friendliness of sentiment for
Mr. Freddy Grlscom. Matt bad heard her
. admit aa much as this.
. It struck Matt also as particularly unfor
tunate that a girl as attractive as was Nancy
In a number of waya should be afflicted with
so shrewish a disposition. She was far
prettier than the average and, llko her sister,
possessed charms which should by right hav
been generous and sweet, but In the case of
Nancy hitter sweet She was also,, as Matt
had proved, possessed of uncommon courage,
and one to face undismayed crises of danger
at which most girls would have recoiled. He
' had also discovered that where her affections
were concerned, she had no lack of warm
heartedness. Undo Jerry had testified to
ber executive ability and efficient manage
ment of a household, for May, wholly occu
pied in the care of her husband, had detailed
Nancy for the duties of housekeeper.
It seemed therefore a great pity that a
young woman so fully endowed with desir
able traits should permit them to be dis
credited by the indulgence of a quick temper
and a sharp tongue and the persistent re
fusal to allow even the most polite tentative
.of friendship and chivalry on the part of the
young man with whom she happened to be .
associated under such peculiar circum
stances. Then Matt began to wonder if,
after all, he had shown himself as polite
and chivalrous as he might have done. He
reflected that he had not received her first
remarks with the patience that no doubt he
should have shown, and, turning this in his
mind, was obliged to admit that he had been
guilty of snapping back. Xancy might bt ,
a shrew, but there was record of shrew
having been tamed, though not by" such
measures as Matt had employed, the mere
. indulgence in biting repartee. , .
As he plowed along through the rain he
began to feel . stricken with remorse: It
would have been impossible for him to de
termine accurately his sentiment for. her,
but he was surprised to find a certain tender-
ness about it. She had been under a great
deal of strain over the uncertainty of
Sylvia's fate, and her nerves had been on
edge, and now as Matt thought of her sit
ting there alone in the depressing gloom of
that fissure in the rocks he became growing
ly conscious of a warmth and a sort of
curious tenderness. He decided at any rate
to make this last experience as little trying
as could be managed and not permit him
self to be tempted into any more cutting
remarks. In which it may be seen that he
was making some progress toward a higher
manliness. After all, he reflected, it was
precisely in such situations as were here
that a man was given opportunity to show '
his better qualities.
With these laudable resolutions Matt
reached the cabin, where he baled up their
rugs with some food in an old oilskin which
Was hanging on the wall, drew a bucket of
fresh water from the cistern, and thus laden .
made his way back to the cave. Nancy was
sitting crouched in the same mood of silent
contemplation as he had left her.
- " A little fire will help things," said Matt
cheerfully. " I'll go back now and get the
makings."
Nancy, nodded, for she was beginning to
feel the chill. Matt went back again to the .
cabin, where, not finding anything conven
ient in which to carry the wood, he contrived
with some pieces of cord to make a pack.
Then halfway back and laboring under his
considerable load. It occurred to him that
he had forgot to supply himself with the
reading matter. So he laid down his burden
and went back-to fetch It. There were stilt
some glowing coals on the hearth, and it
struck Matt tht'it would be a delicate at
tention to take back to Nancy his thermos
full of strong, hot tea. He set the water on
to boil, and as usual, when in a hurry, the
water took Its, time about it. . .
The operation finally accomplished, Matt
set out again, the thermos in the pocket of
his raincoat, and, coming to his stack , of
wood, be hoisted this upon his shoulders and
made, his way laboriously back to the cav
ern. And -then as he started to mount a
little slope from the top of which the cove
would come in view he fetched up with a
gasp.
For two masts poked up over the brow of
the mound, and just as his eyes fell on
them there reached Matt's ears a faint and
tremulous scream. . '
He threw down his burden, flung off his
raincoat for greater speed, andxset off for
the cavern at a pace which might have won
a marathon. It flashed across his startled
mind that here was history repeating Itself,
and that Just as Sylvia had intruded on the
operations of the bootleggers and been car
ried off by them, so now was Nancy In dan
ger of the same calamity. The boat must
have put in just after he had left, when
Nancy, rashly determined to score a beat
had attempted something of the sort that ;
she had accused him of being fool enough
to do, to hold parley with them and demand
what they had done with Sylvia. Or perhaps ,
they had landed to pick up the end of the .
line and, finding recent tracks in the sand
and shingle, had traced them to the cave. '
Matt made a record for the two or three
hundred yards, leapt over the edge of th
bank, fell over on the soft sand beneath.
nd M h armmMeiJ up beheld a aparucn '
which rue4 all of th fighting Instinct no
far IwneaUi hia calm and whlmairal ettrrtor.
A fishing dory "as grounded on th beni h
of th rove. Thar wna man Juat getting
out of bar and another starling to run up
th beach, evidently to th taalalanc of '.
a ratir of ruffians who wer dragging Nancy
In th direction of th boat, one holding her
by fl liter arm. And even at that dlatanr
of a hundred yard It was evident to Mall .
that they war having their hand full, for .
Nancy was a strong, athletic girl and tb
waa righting her beat.
Matt had plumped down from above within
a few pace of their shelter, and, although
roused to freniy at sight of what wt gJlng
on. h did not la hi head. II ruined
, Into th shallow cave, grabbed up hi haver
sack containing th extinguisher from wher
be had laid it down, and, snatching out th
Implement continued hi charge on tb ab
ductors. Three had dlarovered him a h
leapt from the top of tha bank, and now, de
ciding that they could not hope to get Nancy
to th boot before hi arrival on th scene,
or perhap from other motives, the two in
custody of Nancy stopped wher they were,
while their mates ran up fc reinforce them.
Matt did not slacken hi speed. In fact
a dlaintereated observer would have said
that he wjs going too fast to stop. He was
acting en the impulse to reach Nancy and
release her before the second pair hurrying
up In the oppoalto, direction .mid throw
out a line of Interference. And Matt realized
that for the moment tbe extinguisher could
not be brought Into requisition without dan-'
ger to Nancy, any mora than a'machlne gun
could bo employed to dlnperse a squad escort
ing prisoners. ' He threw It asldo and drov
an eager fist at the Jaw of one of Nancy'
captors.
So far so good. This enthusiasm of attack
on the part of one apparently unarmed man
on tour was not without a marked effect. '
To the bootlegger it may bavc smacked of
madnss, in which case they were right for
Matt waa very mad. He dealt Nancy's other '
' hanger-on the perfect mate of what the first
had got, and Nancy, finding herself free to
go, fell back a few pace to Matt's rear.
But by this time the other two had ar
rived on the scene, burly men of swarthy
aspect and known to Yankee fishing frater
nity aa "Geese." On of thtm was tugging
at his belt, and Matt, Judging the moment
ripe to bring up his artillery, leaped to the
. spot where he had thrown down the extin
guisher, whipped It up and directed his fir
on the reinforcements.
But the Immediate effect of this was disap
pointing, for, just as a machine gun ha
been known to Jam at a critical moment so
now something went very wrong with th
extinguisher. Sand, while an essential requi
site for fighting men, is yet the natural
enemy of guns of any sort, and Matt's wea
pon when flung down had landed on its muz
zle, which had got plugged. So that now,
instead of delivering its tire full-bore and
with precision, there squirted out two thin,
. random jets nearly at right angles. One of
these was lost in the swirls ot circumam- , .
blent mist, while the other by some curious ,v
freak of destiny sprayed Nancy, standing
at a five yard interval to Matt's left
. For some brief moments immediately fol-
lowing a busy, if not a good, time was had '
by all who had come to the party. The
guests from the schooner, v-ho had as yet
no knowledge of the character ot the liquid
refreshment Matt was so eager to serve,
rushed him in mass formation, while Matt
' suffering from the embarrassment of a hitch
in his arrangements for their reception, was
In no position to receive them. Like many
another who depends on some patent safety v
device that through no fault of Its inventor
happens to fail of operation at the crucial
moment, he continued the effort to apply it
instead of doing the next best thing.
In the present crisis this would appear
to have been Matt's severing himself from
his weapon as might any soldier have done
with a gun which was plugged and could no
longer .shoot, and to which the bayonet was
not fixed. He might have used the extin
guisher to fatal advantage as a club,, swing
ing it by its drawn out handle. But before
he could get . around to this the enemy
swarmed upon and over him. He struck out
once or twice with his fists, then went to the
sand as the nucleus of a sort of human push
ball smelling strongly ot garlic and salt fish,
incompletely cured. . The Portuguese fisher
men gripped at any part of him, which
offered hand bold, as though grappling with- ,
and tying up a bit of heavy, flapping can
. s In a squalf. They were sturdy sailor men
, and quickly, made a job of it, and Matt
gurgling with rage, found his wrists and
ankles lashed about, tbe focus of four pairs
of eyes which stared at him with the satis
faction of a triumphant party of sailor hunt- i
ers In quest of big game to be taken alive.
Matt was quite unhurt, except in his
state of mind, this badly torn. He stared
fiercely at his captors, then managed to. get
up on his feet. Looking about for Nancy, - .
he saw her standing a few yards away, bath- .
ing her eyes with a handkerchief dipped in
a puddle on a rock. She looked back at. him
with a furious face, then walked up to where
he was standing.
" There, you idiot! " she cried, half sob
bingly. " Now you see what your silliness '
has got us into! You've nearly blinded me,
and not so much as made one of these brutes
sneeze!" .' ' . '
Not finding any appropriate defense of (his
charge. Matt glared at his swarthy captors. ' -He
was too enraged at his humiliation to
speak immediately, also the violence of his
futile struggling coming at the finish of a
440 yard dash had left him with the lack of
-breath. But now as he glanced from one
to the other of them he was conscious of two ' '
. distinct impressions, the first that their faces,
though rough and determined, were not the -.
faces one might expect to find on outlaws,
but seemed those of honest, simple fisher folk
of European breed, and the second that as - :
their eyes met his they showed a curious eni-. -
barrassment. as though apologetic for the
rough handling to which they had fe!i
obliged to subject him. i -
"Well, what's your game?" Matt panted..
V What do you want to do now? " "
There was a moment of hesitation. Then
one., a short,-deep chested man of past mid
die. age and curly, grizzled hair, said with
a somewhat doubtful assumption of au
thority: - . . , ', . ..
, ."WVwanta you, young fella. And we ,'.
.wanta dav young lady you run away wit'." lit
stepped a pace closer and shook his finger .,
in Matt's face. " You go to jail for feefly .
da years. And we getta one bunder t'ousand
dollars! ' '.;
tfnntintird Next Sunday.)
(Copyright, liii, by Henry C. Rowland) ' '
v. '' J
