Part 39 (1/2)

”If--”

There was a world of belief in that one word Could any one doubt the ultimate hap of that thrice fortunate shi+p? Had not Mr Boyle said her captain was a lucky hed aloud in her joy, for the queer notion occurred to her that her grumpy friend would surely have soed skipper of the _Flower of the Ocean_ brig, ith to point the moral and adorn the tale of the _Kansas_ and her coh Courtenay did not allow ten seconds to pass without a glance at the char face by his side, he, nevertheless, had a sharp eye for events elsewhere He saw ss dancing from the foremast told him that Boyle had discovered them as soon as they were clear of the deep shadow of Guanaco Hill But there were anxious moments yet in store A fleet of canoes put off froht before they reached their fortress They had a long two miles to travel, and the Indians could attack them ere they covered half the distance

Gray and Tolleether in the fore part of the boat

When they had rip, and Gray's inquiry if his friend was OK had elicited the inforht of the sparkling bay had unlocked even the English his friend some of the adventures of the previous afternoon, when he viewed the black dots darting forth frorowled ”I never have seen such persistent rotters And this ti blare from the shi+p's siren thrilled their hearts, but the excitement became frantic when three short, sharp blasts followed, and every sailor knew that the chief officer had signalled: ”My engines are going full speed astern”

That was a pardonable exaggeration, but the _Kansas_ was certainlyThey could see the white foam churned up by her propeller

With one accord they cheered madly, and the oars, double-handed now, tore the life-boat onward at a pace which outstripped even the shallow canoes

Then the Indians did a wise thing They spared reater value to the world, by ceasing to paddle The unlooked-for interference of the great vessel was too much for them They merely stared and cackled in a black hull, and Boyle lowered the gangway in readiness to receive the captain, his bride elect, and a good half of the passengers and crew

Courtenay lost not an instant of favoring tide and fine weather When Boyle told hiines under easy steae three steps at a tiraph, he superintended the hoisting on board of the life-boat and two of the canoes, which he meant to carry away as trophies--be sure that Elsie's own special craft was one of the canoes of the wounded Indians in the fore cabin, and a few furnace bars attached to a rope anchored the them to shore later

At last, the captain of the _Kansas_ had the supre of the electric bell in the engine-rooraph lever successively to ”Stand By,” and ”Slow Ahead”

Gradually the shi+p crept north, gaining way as the engines increased their stroke and the full body of the ebb tidethe _Kansas_ to the west, just as the sun cleared the highest peak of the unknown h he hadthe lead constantly, he did not need their help Once clear of the reefs which he had seen when the vessel first ran into the inlet, he ht for the pillar rock, and rather raised the hair of the man at the wheel, not to mention most of the people on deck, by the nearness of his approach to that solitary buoy set in the ood it was to feel the steady thrust of the pistons, the long roll of the shi+p over the swell!

And then, when Elsie brought him his breakfast, and stood by his side as he watched the set of the tide with unwavering eyes, what a joy that was, to listen to her story of the night's wanderings, and to know that, with God's help, their Odyssey was nearing its end!

For every sailor is a fatalist, and in the unwritten code of the sea the law runs that once a shi+p has undergone her suprehway for that voyage, though she girdle the earth ere the dock gates open

But best of all was it to hear Elsie tell how Dr Christobal had handed her a bulky packet, in which she found Courtenay's words of farewell, together with those wonderful letters which fate had held back fro epistles froers on the _Florida_, but six of them were proposals froive their char of the man who had saved their lives It ith reference to so comment by Courtenay on theseescaped h spirits, a hi before noon the _Kansas_ cleared White Horse Island There was a ticklish hour while Courtenay and Boyle looked for the shoal When its long, low sandspit was revealed by the falling tide, the shi+p took thought of her agony there, and traversed those treacherous waters with due reverence Thenceforth, the run was due south until eight bells, when, for the second tiht, the captain set the course ”South-40-East”

A stiff breeze blowing fro up over the horizon, showed that the land of stor the phenomenal frivolity which had let it bask in sunshi+ne for an unbroken spell of ten days But the gale which whistled into Good Hope Inlet that night carried with it no disabled and blood-stained shi+p Mr

Malcolh the vessel had quitted port that day, served dinner pro watch--by which no allusion is intended to an anied to repletion--and wore a proper professional air of annoyance because everybody was late, owing to the interesting fact that the half-elistas Island had just been sighted

Elsie noted that Count Edouard de Poincilit came with the rest, and sat beside Isobel Courtenay put in an appearance later to partake of a hastyElsie's eye instantly, he , that is, of an unpleasant nature All good ladies will recognize such behavior as one of the points of a man likely to becoreat form, while Tollemache actually told a story When the captain sent Boyle down froe, Elsie ht search for a Devonshi+re village, which he could not find because so way round

”Huh, that's odd,” said Boyle ”Re that happened to a friend ofBrown his na The day his son an' heir was born, he dropped into a gin-mill to celebrate, an' his stump stuck in a rope mat He swore a bit, but he chanced to see on one of the half doors the na' 'Dash me,' says he,'

the Brown'--a bit of all right, eh? So he goes home an' tells the missus After the christenin', he took a pal or two round to the same bar to stand treat

That time the two halves of the door were closed, an' any ass could see that the letters stood for 'No Se was so sultry that his prop caught fire”

So all ith the _Kansas_

Crawling quietly into the Straits of Magellan at daybreak, the shi+p put forth her best efforts in the run through the narrows Passing Cape San Isidro, she signalled her name, and it was easy to see the coan when she approached Sandy Point A steam launch puffed off hastily froht the news that he had been sent specially frohly for the _Kansas_ He was about to return that day, to report his failure to discover any trace of the ave his At the end, Courtenay presented hiraph of Elsie's chart, to which many additions had been made by her under her lover's directions The position of the shoal, and of Pillar Rock, together with the set of the tidal current, were clearly shown, and it is probable that Good Hope Inlet, notwithstanding its dangerous approach, will be thoroughly surveyed one of these days Then, perhaps, more may be heard of those lues hurled at the _Kansas_

The cruiser hurried away, under forced draft, to report froo to Valparaiso, so she carried a sheaf of letters, and one passenger, Frascuelo Finding that he could not execute the needed repairs at Sandy Point, Courtenay decided to raphic co a shi+pwrecked crew on shore, awaiting transport to England He secured a full coineers, and the _Kansas_ reached the chief port of Uruguay without any difficulty