Part 35 (1/2)
”Soone off in such a hurry?”
”Well, Miss Elsie, he figures that an open effort by daylight is the only way to rescue thenals, and they can hardly fail to sight the boat When he is close inshore they are sure to et the There are eight men in the boat, and, with eleven others to help, there shouldn't be es at a proper distance”
”How soon--will he--reach the landing-place?”
”Huh, mebbe an hour; an' another hour for the home trip He'll be aboard for tea”
Boyle uttered that concluding statement a trifle too airily Elsie, for the first time in her life, knehat itabout excitedly, and whining without cease She stooped and took him up in her arms
”Please, Joey, be quiet,” she ain to Mr Boyle, who sedulously avoided her eyes
”Did Captain Courtenay leave any e! Why, he will be away only a couple of hours”
The chief officer's tone was gruff, conveying the idea that woruffness did not hoodwink Elsie He had prepared his replies beforehand
”Surely you will tell me, Mr Boyle?” she pleaded wistfully
”Well, I happen to know there's a letter in the doctor's hands But that is to be given to you in case of accident alone Isn't that so, doctor? And there's no sign of any accident yet, thank goodness!”
Boyle sighed, like a ineered Christobal into the conversation
The Spaniard drew near He had heard all that had passed, and tried a new line
”I was rather hoping that you would not put that aard query,” he said,the very topic which offered so many thorns ”Of course, none of us, least of all Courtenay hiuises the difficulties which confront hiht the Alaculofs in two serious battles without learning their tenacity of purpose, and the mere fact that the men hidden in that cleft are couered But the last thing the Indians will expect is the appearance of a boat-load of armed men at this hour, and to take the eneeneralshi+p”
”When a tenaciously to one clear thought aed her dazed mind
”Oh, come, now! That is not the hopeless vieant you to take In writing to you, Courtenay was only providing against a h a sense of what is due to his position as captain of a shi+p like the _Kansas_, loaded with a valuable cargo and carrying so many lives Nor does Tollemache impress me as a would-be suicide Both men think they will succeed, and they had not any trouble in obtaining a boat's crew of Chileans So you see, there is a general belief in success, not failure”
She felt that the doctor was talking against tiive her that letter until there could be no doubt of the fate which had befallen the rescuers A mist came over her eyes, but she bit her lower lip fiercely, and the white teeth left their deep i squirmed uneasily in her arms, and endeavored to lick her face Joey's anxiety rivaled her own; had he, too, a pre her intently It was evident he feared the outcome of any sudden overthrow of her self-control
”I think,” he suggested, with a real sympathy in his voice, ”that it would be better if you went to the saloon, or your cabin Believe me, I shall come to you with every scrap of news Boyle will see all that happens and we shall know the best, or the worst, within an hour”
”If you would helpaway
He is tearing s Poor little fellow, he ainst his will, and his piteous protests no longer added to the girl's agony She clung to the after rail, and watched the boat, now a tiny dot hard to discern a tide Her intis of life aboard told her that Courtenay had chosen the last hour of flood for his effort, thus gaining the advantage of the ebb in the event of the life-boat's being pursued by canoes on the return journey By degrees, a tender little sprig of hope peeped up in her dulled consciousness The boat was very near the distant rocks, and there was neither sight nor sound of the Indians Could it be that they were afraid--altogether broken and deht? How quickly the acts of this drao, she and Christobal were actually participating in the defense of the shi+p's last stronghold; now, the broad decks resenable fort, while the as being carried into the enemy's territory Yet theas ever Life seely, by minutes
Suddenly she had a breathless desire to knohy Courtenay was so sure that the one were reallyquestions, was standing in the position he had occupied before Boyle dragged hi a telescope against the ensign staff, and keeping the lifeboat in a full field Gray, she noticed, was not looking towards Guanaco Hill, but swept all parts of the coastline constantly with his binoculars The Spaniard's field-glasses were slung around his neck He was not using theht More often than not, his glance rested on the eddy created by the swirl of the current past the shi+p's quarter With a species of divination, she guessed so her into a sort of fury To quell it, she ain
”Will you tell me nohat it was that Suarez found out?” she murmured
The doctor quickly appreciated her need of ht She wanted to appraise at their true value all things affecting that daring enterprise, bringing the evidence to the bar of her hopes, and nerving herself to hear the crudest testiuile the next half hour with his recital He suppressed no detail except his oillingness to take Courtenay's place in the boat Notwithstanding his slight affectations, he was a ment He sa that Courtenay could not have accepted his offer, nor was it likely that the men in the boat would follow any other leader than the captain He even se A super-sensitive honor led hiloriousness Herein Christobal did hireater one, as he was fated soon to learn
When Elsie heard of the duplicity practised by Suarez it was good to see the hot indignation which reddened her brow She realized that thethe captured sailors, whose unhappy fate had contributed, in no sht him to safety She instantly fastened on to the theory that the Indians paid their first nocturnal visit to the shi+p in the belief that the vessel would prove as easy a prey as the castaways, whereas Suarez must have fallen beneath their stones and rude hatchets if he had atteht With all a woentinedirectly responsible for Courtenay's hazard, nor would she listen to Christobal'scould have been done earlier, no matter how outspoken Suarez chose to be