Lakeland Evening Telegram Newspaper, January 27, 1915, Page 2

The Trey A Novelized Version of the Motion Produced O’ Hearts Picture Drama of the Same Name by the Universal Film Co. " By LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE Author of “The Fortums Hunler,” * The Brass Bowl," ** The Black Bag,” ole. astrated with Photographs from the Pictare Preduction 1914, by Louis Joseph Vance ‘Copyright, 9 (Continued from Last Wednesday.) . —Bomeone aboard the schooner, with ' the voioe of a steator, bellowed a ter~ rified appeal: “Stop your engines! Shut off your | propeller! Stop your—" Thdn, like the wrath of God, the | steamship overwhelmed the lesser ship; its bow seemed to slice through 1 the schooner as a knife through cheese. And the two halves were fairly | driven under water by the frightful force of the blow. i Thunders deafening him, Alan was | hurled bodily through the air fully twenty feet. { ‘When he came up he struck out at ' random, blindly tormented by the vision of Rose caught in the suck of i CHAPTER XV. ‘The Masked Voice. For a matter of twelve hours the fog, leaden, dank, viscous, as inexor- able as the dominion of evil, had wrapped the world in an embrace as foul and noxious as the coils of some great, gray, slimy serpent. Through its sluggish folds the pon- derous, power-impelled lifeboat crept at a snail’s pace, its stem parting and rolling back from either flank a heavy- hearted sea of gray. In the bows a young woman rested in a state of semi-exhaustion, her eyes closed, he head pillowed on a cork- belt life-preserver, her sodden gar-. ments modeled closely to the slender body that was ever and again shaken from head to feet with the strength of a long, shuddering respiration. Seated on the nearest thwart, Alan Law, chin in hand, watched over the rest of this woman whom he loved with a grimly hopeless solicitude. He | was in. no happler case than she, so JAccompanied by the Exhibition of an Automatic Plstol. that gigantic wheel, ‘drawn under, crushed and mangled by the propeller of the vast black hulk whose flank was sliding past, like the face of a cliff, ten yards behind his shoulders. Aware of several dark objects dot- ting the surface within a radius of several yards, he swam for the near est; the head was a woman's, the face turned toward him, the face of Rose. He gasped wildly: “Keep cool! Don't strugglel Put one hand on my shoul- intimate experience with the ways of der and—" ‘What happened then was never quite clear to him; he only knew that he ‘was forced to fight for his very llh—l that the woman, as soon as he came within reach, flung herself upon him ' like some maddened animal, clutching * his throat, winding her limbs round his, dragging him down and down. Primitive instinct alone saved him. He remembered later, most vaguely, the culmination of that duel beneath the waters—remembered freeing an arm, drawing it back, delivering a ! dlow from his shoulder, with all his strength, finding himself free, strug- gling back to the air. ‘Then a boathook caught the back of his shirt and dragged him for some distance, until two strong hands caught him beneath the armpits and held his ! head above the water. He looked up witlessly into the face | far as physical comfort went—he was . In worse, since he might not rest. | Premonition of misfortune darkened his heart with {ts impenetrable shadow. In the stern Tom Barcus presided morosely over the steering gear; and Law was no more jealously heedful of his eweetheart than Barcus of the heavy-duty motor that chugged away 80 purposefully at its business of driv- ing the boat heaven-knew-where. Lacking at once a compass, all no- tion whatsoever of the sun’s bearings, !and any immediate hope of the fog | lifting or chance bringing them either ito land or to rescue by some larger 'nd less comfortless craft, Barcus steered mainly through force of habit —the ealt-water man’s instinctive feel- i!ng that no boat under way should ever in any conceivable circumstance be without a hand at the helm, It had seemed impossible that it could long escape repetition of the disaster, but somehow, it always did escape, and that by a wide margin; never once had it passed near enough to another vessel to see it, And now for more than an hour the silence had been uncannily constant, broken only by the rumble of the mo- tor, the muted lisp of water slipping down the side, the suck and gurgle ot the wake. Forebodings no less portentous than Law's crawled in the mind of Barcus. It was as likely as not that the life- boat was traveling straight out to sea. And gasoline tanks can and oftentimes do become as empty as an official weather prophet's promise of falr weather for a holiday. [ More than this, Mr. Barcus was a |eonfirmod skeptic in respect of ma- rine motors; on terme of long and of Barcus, and, still bewildered, strug- - gled feebly. " The other’s voice brought him back to his eenses. “Easy, old top! Take it easy! You're all right now—rest a minute, then help me get you aboard.” He obeyed, controlling his panic as best he might; and presently, with considerable assistance from Barcus, contrived to scramble in over the gun- ‘wales of a boat which proved to be the stolen lifeboat. Aside from Barcus and himeelf it held one other person only—the wom- an he loved, crumpled up and uncon- aclous in the bow. He strove to rise and go to her, to make sure that still she lived. Barcus restrained and quieted him. “There! BEasy, 1 say! She's all right—fainted—that's all! She and I took the water in practically the same @pot, and luck threw this blessed boat my way within half a dozen strokes. No trouble at all—in a manner of speaking!” “But the steamer—" “Why fret about her? At the pace she was making she couldn’t have stopped within half a mile. We'll be all right now—with power to fetch us to land.” “But the others—Judith!” Alan sat and leaned over _the gunwale searching an oily, leaden expanse spot- ted only with a few splinters and bits ot wreckage. “I left her out there— munconscious—she’ll drown, I tell you!™ “And I'll tell you something!” said Mr. Barcus severely. “You'll lie quiet and shut up or I'll dent your dome with shaft of an oar. Let her drown— a good job, I say! Don’t you know " Delivered Into the Hands of the i Enemy. !the demon of perversity that tenants 'them one and all, he knew that the present sweet-tempered performance of the exhibit under consideration was no earnest whatsoever of future good behavior, that when such a com- plicated contraption was concerned there was never any telllng . . . | 'In view of all of which considera- iuon- he presently threw open the bat- | tery switch. b ! And the aching void created in the ,silence by the cessation of that uni form drone was startling enough to | | rouse even Rose Trine from her state 1 of semi-somnolence, ¢ With a look of panic she sat up, | thrust damp hair back from her eyes, and nervously inquired: “What's the matter?” “Nothing,” Barcus told her. “I shut the engine off—that's all.” | Tempers were ehort in that hour, and Alan was annoyed to think that - the rest of his beloved should need- ' lessly have been disturbed. “What did you do that for?” he de manded sharply. “Because I jolly well wanted to,” Barcus returned in a tone as brusque. “Oh, you did—eh?" “Yes, 1 did—eh! 1 happen to be bossing this end of the boat and to bave sense emough to realirze there's able to calm his uneasiness—“just the same, we might—" “Yes; of course, we might,” Barcus snapped. “We might a whote lot. We wight, for instance, be heading for Spain, for all you or | know to the CHE EVENING TALBGRAM, LAK ELAND, FLA., JAN. 27, 1915, B ——— S —— e S———— e e And for several seconds longer the stillnees strangled their spirits in its ruthless grasp. | Then of a sudden a cry shrilled through the fog, 8o near at hand that it seemed scarcely more distant than over the side: “Aboy! Help! Ahoy there! Help!” So insistent, so urgent was its ac- cent that, coupled with the surprise, it brought the three as one to their feet, all a-tremble, their eyes seeking one another’s faces, then shifting un- easily away. “What can it be?” Rose whispered, aghast, shrinking into Alan's ready arm. “A woman,” Barcus put in harshly. “Judith;” the girl mogned. Alan shook himself together. possible!” he contended. go down . . ) “That doesn’t prove she didn’t come up,” Barcus commented acidly. “Ahoy! Motorboat aho-o-oy! Help!” “And that,” Barcus pursued sadly, “just proves she did come up—blame the luck! Alive she is, and kicking; stand clear. An able-bodied pair of lungs was back of that hail, my friend; and you needn’t tell me I don’t know the dulcet accents of that angelic con- tralto!” Without heeding him, Alan cupped | hands to mouth and sent an answer- | ing cry ringing through the murk: “Ahoy! Where are you? Where away?” “Here—on the reef—half-drowned— perishing with chill—" “How does my voice bear?” Alan called back. “What the dickens do you care?” Barcue interpolated suspiciuosly. “To port,” the response rang through the fog. “Starboard your helm an’ come in slowly!” “Right-o! Half a minute!” Alan re- plied reassuringly. “Like hell!” Mr. Barcus muttered in his throat as he jumped down into the engine pit and bent over the iy-wheel. Leaping on the forward thwart and balancing himself perilously near the gunwale, Alan strained his vision ‘v-lnly against the opacity of the fog. “Can’t make out anything,” he grumbled, looking back. “Start her up—but slow’s the word—and ’'ware reef!” “Nothing doing,” Barcus retorted curtly, “The motto is now ‘Full epeed astern!’ as you must know.” “O come! We can't leave a woman out there—in a fix like that!” “Im. “I saw her grunted malevolently, rocking the heavy flywheel with all his might; for ! the motor had turned suddenly stub- born, “Alan!” Rose pleaded, laying a hand upon his sleeve. “Think what it means! me—and it's my own sister. But you know how mad she is—wild with ha- tred and jealousy. If you take her into this boat, it's your life or hers!” “If we leave her out there,” Alan retorted, shaking his arm impatiently free, “it's her life on our heads!" At this juncture the motor took charge of the argument, ending it in summary fashion. With a smart ex- plosion in the cylinder, it started up unexpectedly, at one and the eame time almost dislocating the arm of Mr. Barcus and precipitating Alan overboard. It was not given him to know what was happening until he found himself I know it sounds heartless of | bet that she was picked up by the steamer that ran ue down, and pro- ceeded to make a prize of it—or try to. One thing’s certain—she must have found or stolen a boat from somebody; they couldn’t have made Norton’s reef by swimming—it's too varieties you want. Buckeye Nurseries cal is the popular text-book of citrus fruit copy of the book, send lo‘:l?z‘he today—free on application. Make Sure of Buckeye Trees Nest Yoar Put ina Reservation Order Right Now have . be & good f&::kl‘::&:. is no et‘-:et "6" he ind. more_than o deivery Juring Fal and growing in Florids. 1f you have no A - trees have l—‘.' 1015-1916. BUCKEYE NURSERIES, 1038 Citizens Bank Building, Tampa, Florida " from some vast place of blackness and A . her by the shoulder. i time that he had been absent—it had ' not been more than an hour—Mr, Bar« Yanked Him Off to His Celi. far That's the answer; they were <ed up, stole a boat, and piled it up on the reef.” “And there’s no hope—!" “Only of the fog relenting. If we could make the mainland and get help . & His accents died away into a discon- solate silence that was unbroken for upwards of an hour. | So slowly the current bore the life- boat toward the beach and so still the tide that Barcus never appreciated they were within touch of any land until the bows grounded with a elight jar and a grating sound. ‘With a cry of incredulity he leaped to his feet—“Land, by all that's lucky!”—and stooping, lent a hand to | the girl, aiding her to rize. “Can’t we? You watch!” Barcus Hardly had Rose had time to com- prehend what had happened, when Barcus wasg over the eide and wres- | tling with the bows, dragging the boat farther upon the shoals. i She was, however, more than one man could manage; and when her stem had bitten a little more deeply ! into the sands, Barcus gave over the attempt and, lifting Rose down, set her on dry land, then climbed back into the vessel, rummaged out her anchor and cable, and carried them ashore, planting the former well up towards the foot of the cliff. And as he rose from this last labor he was half blinded by the glare of the westering sun as it broke through the | fog. In less than five minutes the miracu- | lous commonplace was an acom- plished fact; the wind had rolled the fog back like a scroll and sent it spin- | ning far out to sea, while the shore on which the two had landed was in the water; he struggled to the eur- | geluged with sunlight, bright and face just in time to see the bows of | beautitully warm. the lifeboat back away and vanish into the mist, CHAPTER XVI. The Istand. Not more than twenty seconds could have elapsed before Barcus recovered from the shock of the motor’s treach- ery sufficiently to reverse the wheel, throttle down the carburetor and jump out of the engine-pit. But in that small space of time the lifeboat and Alan Law had parted com- pany as definitely as though one of them had been levitated bodily to the far side of the earth. It could not have been more than & minute after the accident before Barcus was guiding the boat over | what, going on his sense of location and judgment of distance, he could have sworn was the precise spot where Alan had disappeared, but with- out discovering a sign of him. And for the next twenty minutes he divided his attention between at- tempts to eoothe and reassure the half-distracted girl and efforts to educe a reply from Alan by stentorian halling—with- as little success in the one as in the other. “Alan!” he shrieked at the top of his lungs. “Alan! Give a hail to tell us you're safe!™ There was a little pause; he was racking his brains for some more mov- ing mode of appeal when the answer came in another voice—in the voice of Judith Trine, clear, musical, effer vescent with sardonic humor: “Be at peace, little one—bleat no more! Mr. Law is with us—and safe —oh, quite, quite safe!™ In dumb consternation Barcus sought the countenance of Rose. Her eyes, meeting his, were blank with despair. He shook his head helplessly and let his hands dangle idly between his knees. With no way on her, the lifeboat drifted with a current of unknown set fs § bare poseibility that the reef Iy 1 He showed a thoughtful and consid- erate countenance to the girl. “You're about all in?” She nodded confirmation of this, which was no more than eimple truth. “Where are we?” ehe'added. He made her party to his own per plexity. “You're not able to travel,” he pur sued. “Do you mind being left alone while I take a turn up the beach and have a look round? We can't be far from some sort of civilization; even it it's an island there are no desert isles along this coast. I'll find som: thing soon enough, no fear.” 3 By tacit consent both avoided men- tion of Alan, but each knew what i thought was uppermost in the other's mind. “There's a niche among the rocks up here,” Barcue indicated, “almost a cave. You'll be warm and dry enough, and secure from observation overhead. Maybe you can even snatch a few winks of sleep. . . . She negatived that suggestion with a weary smile; no sleep for her until sheer exhaustion overpowered her, or she knew of Alan's fate, And so, reiterating his promise to be gone no longer than absolutely might be needful, he left her there. CHAPTER XviI, This Mortal Tide. She was very certain she would never sleep before her anxiety was assuaged by word of Alan's fate; but ! she reckoned without her host of trials that had bred in her a fatigue anodynous even to her mental an- guish, For a time after Barcus had left her she lingered upon the sands, In the mouth of the shelter he had ee- lected for her, staring hungrily out on the shimmering sea that, now wholly divested of its shroud, smiled up to the heavens, whose sapphire face it mirrored, as fair and sweet of seem- heartless tragedy. Slowly it darkened as the sapphire i that had been altogether torn away i his hair, terror, to find Barcus kneeling over and gingerly but persistently lhnl(hlxl And then she sat up with a cry ot1 mystified compassion; for in the hrlel! i cus had most unquestionably been se-: verely used. | He had acquired a long cut over one ! eye, but shallow, upon which blood | had dried, together with a bruised and | swollen cheek that was badly ! scratched to boot. And what simple | articles of clothing remained to him, after his strenuous experiences of the last forty-eight kours, had been re- duced to even greater simplicity; his shirt, for example, now lacked a sleeve at the shoulder. “No!” he told her, as soon as he eaw her wits were awake once more— “don’t waste time pitying me. I'm all right—and so is Alan! That's the main thing for you to understand; hc's still alive and sound—" “But where is he? Take me to him!” she demanded, rising with a movement of such grace and vigor that it seemed hard to believe she had ever known an instant's weariness. “That's the rub,” Barcus confessed, ' squatting on the sands and knuckling “I dagsent take you to him. ' Judith might object. Besides, you can | see for yoursclf it isn’t salc to mingle ! with the inhabitants of this tight little island—and you can't get to i where Alan is without mingling con- . siderably. Sit down, and I'll tell you all about it, and we'll try to figure out what's best to be done. Maybe we ! can manage & rescue under cover of night.” H And when the girl had settled her- ! selt beside him he launched into a detailed report. “It's Katama leland, all right,” he ' announced, “but a change has come ; over the place since I visited it some years ago. Then it was a community of simple-hegrted villagers and fisher- | men; now, unless all signs fail, it's a | den of smugglers. I noticed a num- | ber of Chinese about; and that, taken : in connection with the fact that, when I ventured to introduce myself to the village ginmill and aek a few inno- cent questions, the entire population, | to a child, landed on me like a thou- | sand brick—the two circumstances made me think we'd stumbled on a settlement of earnest workers at the | gentle art of helping poor Chinamen evade the exclusion laws.” With a wry smile, he pursued: “As for me, I landed out back of the joint, | on the nape of my neck, and took the count, surrounded by a lot of unsym- i pathetic boxes and barrels that had seen better days. And when I came to and started to crawl unostentatiously away, I was just in time to witness the landing of your amiable sister, that gang of cutthroats she keeps on the pay roll, and Alanin company with as choice a crew of scoundrels as you'd care to see. I gathered from a few words that leaked out of the back door of the barroom, that it was as I had thought—Judith had stolen a boat from the ship that picked her up, and rammed it on Norton's reef; and after she gathered Alan in the schooner of these smugglers happened along, and she hailed it and struck a bargain with the captain and signed co-partnership articles, or something like that. Any- way, her lot and the islanders were soon as thick as thieves, and tanking up so sociably that I actually got a chance to whisper a word to Alan and tell him you were all right, and that he'd find us both down here on the beach, if luck served him with an es- cape. That wae all I got a chance to say, for Judith marched up just then and yanked him off to his cell. I mean to say, he's locked up now in a little ptone hut on the edge of the cliff, with the door guarded and the window over looking a sheer drop of thirty feet or 80 to the beach. When I'd seen that much I calculated it was about time for me to get quit of that neighbor- hood, before Mam’selle Judith nicked me with the evil eye.” “You don’t think she saw you?” the girl cried. “I dont think so,” Barcus allowed gravely; and then, lifting his gaze, he added as he rose in a bound: “I just know she did—that's all. In another instant he was-battling PSIDT DN, LA M. Herron Grocery Co’s Y CASH GROCERY ~ Q aa 17 EAST MAIN ST. A All New Goods Q CASH ON DELIVERY fll D. M. Castles, Mg-- PHONE 418 B OEDEREEEH The Lakeland Steam Laundr Is prepared to give you in laundry work, what experienced workmen and modern equipment will produce—SUPERIOR SERVICE. If youare not already o e of our customers, we invite you to become one avd enjoy this service. i Visitors are always welcome at our laundry—wgare glad to have our.custom- ers call and inspect our method of laun- dering. We have a large number of 12-inch rules for the school children, and will be pleased to give one to every child .whe will call at the Laundry office. — R. W. WEAVER, Prop.. FAUST The Photograpl;er PHOXE | IS NOW LOCATED UPSTAIRS THE RAYMONDO BUILD WHERE HE HAS A MODERN SPLENDIDLY EQUIPPED STUIJ AND IS PREPARED TO SERVE WHO DESIRE PHOTOGRA WITH WORK OF SUPERIOR C ACTER. HE WOULD BE PLEA! TO HAVE HIS PATRONS CALL SEE HIM AT HIS NEW LOCAT: AND WILL GUARANTEE STISF -TION ON ALL ORDERS WHICH HE IS FAVORED., The Faust Studio, - Raymondo E The inancial Crisi Ove We are now in shape to give you the benefit of our Low Expenses. Let us wire your House and save you money, Lower Insur- ance, Cleanliness and Convenience are the results. T. L. CARDWELL " Phone 3¢ With Lakeland Sheet Metal Work RIVALING THE SUN in fire and brillifiney is the tion of old mine dlamonds show cases. Come and daszling Deauty. There & diamond studded bracelets) many other articles < of adornment. 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