Part 31 (2/2)

The occupants of the boats ht have saved his life, but he would let them know that he was still chief officer for all that

At last he stooped and gave his hand to soed froain, Miss Baring,” he said gruffly ”And you, Mrs

Soht you'd gone under, an' good folks are scarce enough as it is”

It was a wan and broken-spirited Isobel who her wretched state, her eyes quickly took in the orderly condition of the room

”I left my clothes strewed all over the floor,” she said, with a nervousness which Elsie attributed to the hardshi+ps she had undergone

”Why did you trouble to pack them away?”

Then Elsie told her of her hunt for the poudriere, and was so obviously unconcerned about any incident other than the adventures they had both experienced since they parted, that Isobel questioned her no further

A bath and a change of clothing worked h thin and weak for want of proper food, neither Isobel nor Mrs Somerville had suffered in health from the exposure and short fare involved by life on the island It was broad daylight ere they could be persuaded to retire to rest, there was sobetween Tollemache and Gray was full of racial subtleties

Tollerasp Gray's hand, felt it was incumbent on him to utter the first word

”Had a pretty rotten time of it, I expect?” said he

”Poisonous And you?”

”Oh, fair Beastly close squeak when you turned up”

Gray became more explicit when Courtenay met him in the chart-roolasses and a couple of bottles of chauards cast off from the shi+p,” he said, ”we scudded away in a sort of ocean mill-race which threatened to upset us at any ave up hope for a tied to stir up the Chileans, and we got them to steady her with the oars Some time before daybreak we ran into smooth water, and made out land on the port bow In a few minutes ere ashore on a pebbly beach, in a place alive with seals When the sun rose we found ere on a barren island, and, as more, that one of the shi+p's life-boats had been upset on a reef which we just h the men had scrambled into safety With the aid of our boat, and helped by fine weather, we raised the life-boat, and recovered sos The water-casks and tins of food were hauled up by a chap who could dive well We have been on that lump of rock until today, when I finally persuaded the others that unless we made for the land which we could see in the diive out

The trouble with the Chileans was that they were afraid of the natives hereabouts, and preferred to wait on the off chance of a shi+p showing up At last they saw that Malcolht, but we missed the full run of the tide, and were soht fell We pushed along cautiously, found the entrance to the cove we had ht failed, and were about to lay to until dae saw a rocket and heard the fog-horn That woke us up, you bet The Chileans pulled like h to discover that the shi+p was being attacked by Indians, I had a fearful job to get my heroes to butt in That fellow Gomez is a brick He orated like a politician, and finally they got a uess you were hustling about that tilass ine as he heard Boyle's step without He handed the glass to the chief when he entered

”Howfifty-three Indians an' six of the crew overboard

There's fourteen wounded natives an' five of our men in the doctor's hands Two Alaculofs died of funk when they set eyes on the nigger who turned up in the life-boat They thought--well, here's chin chin to everybody I'm thirsty”

CHAPTER XVI

CHRISTOBAL'S TEMPTATION

”By the hat of Monsieur de Poincilit?” said Courtenay ”I saw him come aboard with Malcolm, but he dived into the saloon, and has not reappeared Is he ill?”

Gray's lint in the to speak; ords came, they were cold and measured

”I haven't any use for that fellow,” he said ”I suppose the unpleasant story oes In the first place, Poincilit forgot that I understood Spanish, and I heard hi to the Chileans in the jolly-boat that if we took any more people on board we should be swamped It was he who put the notion in their heads to cast off while you were lowering Miss Baring's et that, as he was blue-white with fear, and some fellows are not responsible for their actions when their liver et his action on the island YesterdayI was just in ti off in the life-boat with all our provisions”

Courtenay's face hardened too