Part 38 (2/2)
”Guess you'd better toot 'Arthur' on the off chance,” said Gray
Al she remembered was the sound of her oild screaer shout, and the bark of a dog She had a blurred consciousness of a whole troupe of lad questions and joyous answers, of a delirious dog leaping on board and yelping staccato assurances that everything was all right in a most wonderful world
Then she found herself in Courtenay's arht:
”I owe my life to you, dear heart That is the wonder of it No need to tell me you ran away from the shi+p I know One kiss, Elsie; then full speed ahead for the _Kansas_ By the Lord, to think of it! You here! At the very gate of the Inferno! Well, one more kiss! Yes, it is I, none other, and fit as a fiddle Never got a scratch There, now; I really must see to the crew We must be ready for the turn of the tide”
CHAPTER XIX
WHEREIN THE KANSAS RESUMES HER VOYAGE
The events of the next hour were shadowy as the dawn to Elsie She knew that her lover placed men in each of the canoes, that the life-boat itself was crowded, and that it began the seaward journey after the others had started She followed his explanation that if one of the lighter craft got into difficulties at the Indian barrier, the big, heavy boat would be able to extricate it But she feared neither Indians nor sea Had Courtenay proposed to sail away into the Pacific she would have listened with placid approval She was by his side; that sufficed For the rest, they lived in the midst of adventures
What did it auntlet of one more ambuscade--or a dozen, if it caht into the e hoot disturbed the echoes Soed a couple of canoes froe; others had followed a coast path known only to them, while, if there atchers by the side of that mysterious river which flowed both ith the tide, they kept a silent vigil, awed by the force arrayed against theed into the estuary under the vigorous sweep of six ash blades, Elsie's wondering glance rested on the brown plu at Suarez istful, glistening eyes,his ht of sunrise, the bedaubed and skin-clothed Argentine was the most unlovely object that ever captivated woian ht the happy little sigh, half laugh, half sob, hich Elsie announced her discovery of the idyl in the canoe
”We owe a lot to that young person,” he said ”None of us could make out a word she uttered when firsther She loses what small amount of Spanish she can speak when she becoood fortune that so herself down the side of the cliff to warn us of our danger; otherwise she ht have been shot I suppose Suarez told you what to expect?”
”YouAlaculof yourself for all I can follohat you are saying,” murmured Elsie happily
”Then how did _you_ knohere to tie up? _We_ went too far We lost the boat that way, and un as well We had to jump for it, and it was only the boat's stout ti pot in the volcano The native girl said that no Indian-built craft ever came back”
”Excellent!” said Elsie ”When we reach the shi+p I shall write down everything you tell in to understand”
Whereupon, Courtenay took thought, and explained that the channel which flowed through that a cut in the cliff led to the crater of an extinct volcano, into which the sea poured twenty feet of water each tide An aled within, as the water entered by a side-long channel, and sent a whirlpool spinning with the hands of the clock until the enorainst thee on a wide, sulphur-coated ledge high above the vortex, and the presence of several skeletons showed that ainst pursuit Every Alaculof knew of this retreat, but few dared approach it, as the roar of the water far below appalled them
There was only one path; when the hunters closed that their prey was safe The alternative to capture was death by starvation The Chileans, and he hi of dried berries stolen by the girl when she first led the sailors thither
”Didn't you see how eager we all were to search the lockers?” he asked
”But the rascals had cleared every scrap when the boat fell into their hands again with the falling tide”
She nestled close to hi,” she whispered ”My h, indeed, I wasyou as dead But now I arasp what happened Did Joey find you?”
”Yes You can guessdown; I heard our sentries shouting, but paid no heed As a matter of fact, Elsie, I, too, had abandoned hope I could see no chance of escape Great Heaven! To think of your coo on Tell me all You shall hear my story afterwards”
”Well, I juht
I was just in ti way behind the dog, and I recognized his inal lot, naturally thought he was an Indian And you ought to have seen that blessed girl skipping around when she set eyes on hih to fix her up as his wife if the _Kansas_ gets off”