Part 31 (1/2)

He had all his preparations made, the lamp lit in advance, the compass in position, and we started at once; he at the bow-oar, where he had better control over the boat's nose; laht thickened into darkness--a choking, pasty darkness--and still we sped unfalteringly over that trackless waste, sitting and swinging in our little pool of stifled orange light To drown fatigue and suspense I conned over itive word I had overheard

'What are there seven of round here?' I called back to Davies once (thinking of A to G) 'Sorry,' I added, for no answer ca interval 'Now it's gone There it is again! Right aft!'

'That's Borku' A keen wind from the west struck our faces, and as swiftly as it had cohtyclean and pure the starry dolow, and beginning to redden in the east to the risingahead, and Davies could take his tired eyes froht

'daratitude for thisDavies in a dinghy was a match for a steamer; in a clear he lost his handicap

It was a quarter to seven 'An hour'll do it, if we buck up,' he pronounced, after taking a rough bearing with the two lights He pointed out a star to ain I applied to their labourpal?' said Davies

'What are there seven of hereabouts?'

'Islands, of course,' said Davies 'Is that the clue?'

'Maybe'

Then followed the ular of all our confabulations Two memories are better than one, and the sooner I carved the cipher into his memory as well as id economy of breath, I snapped out all my story, and answered his breathless questions It savedmesmerized by the star, and both of us fro at Chathauard?' he hissed

'What do youabout battleshi+ps,about the E about transports?'

'No'

'I believe--I was right--after all--so to do--with the channels--behind islands'

And so that outworn creed took a new lease of life; though for my part the words that clashed with it were those that had sunk the deepest

'Esens,' I protested; 'that town behind Bensersiel'

'Wassertiefe, Lotsen, Schleppboote,' spluttered Davies

'Kilometre--Eisenbahn,' from me, and so on

I should earn the just execration of the reader if I continued to report such a dialogue Suffice to say that we realized very soon that the substance of the plot was still a riddle On the other hand, there was fresh scent, abundance of it; and the question was already taking shape--e to follow it up or revert to last night's decision and strike eapons we had? It was a pressing question, too, the last of encies of this crowded day?--pressing for reasons I could not define, while convinced that we ht

Meanti Norderney; the See-Gat was crossed, and with the last of the flood tide fair beneath us, and the red light on the west pier burning ahead, we began insensibly to relax our efforts But I dared not rest, for I was at that point of exhaustion when ht astern,' I said, thickly 'Thite and red'

'Steah'