Part 34 (1/2)
”What do you think of it?” Christobal asked Tolle after the chief officer
”Rot!” said Tolle suicide”
”One must do that occasionally It's rotten, but it can't be helped”
Christobal threw out his hands in a despairing gesture ”I tried to stop him, but I failed,” he cried
”Courtenay is a harddown the coe He paced to and fro, deep in thought He scarce dared probe his own coam of noble fear and base expectation, that he could have cried aloud in his anguish Big drops of perspiration stood on his forehead when Courtenay cao,” said he hoarsely ”Do you know you are placing s are of your own contriving, then Why, ony I have written to Elsie, briefly explaining matters Here is the letter Give it to her, if I don't return And now, pull yourself together I want you to cheer her
Above all things, don't let her know I a ood-by I don't think I could stand that”
CHAPTER XVII
A MAN'S METHOD--AND A WOMAN'S
Isobel's drooping was of brief endurance Elsie and Mrs Somerville supported her to the stateroo her as one ht coirl was on the point of confiding in her friend, but the iht her to rest, and strove to calm her with predictions of the joyous days they would pass together when the stress and terror of their present life should be a tale that is told
Isobel, stupefied by soue connection with the entle compulsion, and endeavored to close her eyes All was quiet in the cabin, save for the sufferer's labored breathing, and an occasional sob, while her wondering nurse sless little phrases which have such ic influence on the distracted nerves of woman-kind There was hardly a sound on the shi+p, beyond an unexplained creaking of pulleys, which soon ceased
Mrs Soone, in response to Elsie's ether of hints and half phrases, the girl feared a painful disclosure as the outcolad it had been averted If there were hidden scandals in her friend's life in Chile, she prayed they uarded words He probably knew far more than he chose to tell of the ”summer hotel attachment” between Isobel and Ventana at which he had hinted But, even crediting that passing folly with a serious aspect, why should the daughter of the richest merchant in Valparaiso fall prostrate at the mere mention of the na? To state the fact was to refute it Elsie dish that Isobel's break-down arose from some other cause; perhaps the relaxed tension of existence on board the _Kansas_, after the hardshi+ps borne on the island, supplied a sih the open port she heard athe deck, and halt outside the door She half rose fro that Mrs So needed anything But the newcoed his mind, and turned back Then ca:
”One moment, M'sieu' de Poincilit A ith you”
The French Count! During the whirl of the previous night, and by reason of the abiding joy of her 's reverie, she had failed to miss the dapper Frenchman Once, indeed, she had mentioned hiht be ill, and keeping to his cabin Yet, here he was on deck, and possibly on the point of seeking an intervieith the lady to who the early days of the voyage Perhaps Mrs So fit, and he was about to make a friendly inquiry when the captain accosted him But Elsie's ears, tuned to fine precision where her lover's utterances were concerned, had caught the note of contemptuous command, and she was even more surprised by the Count's flurried answer in French:
”Another ti enough yet to venture on deck”
”Oh yes, you are, M'sieu' I want to give you the chance of your life
Mr Gray has told me of your behavior, and he charitably added that your cowardice and treachery overnable fear
Now, if you wish to atone for your conduct, here is an opportunity I a a boat ashore to try to save some of my men who are imprisoned there There is a fair risk in the venture The outcome may be death Will you volunteer to take an oar? That would ash your weather-marks”
”It is impossible I am too feeble I cannot row”
”Ah, you swine! Can it be possible that you are a Frenchman? What sort of countshi+p is it you boast of?”
”Sir, I aer on this shi+p--”
Courtenay's voice was raised a little
”Mr Boyle,” he said, ”give orders that if this skunk shows his nose inside the saloon again he is to be kicked out He can eat his meals in his staterooes”