The Pillar of Light

urvivors of the Chinook, had brought a parcel of any sort from that ill-fated ship. Th

d. Then, by ticking off the names, he could classify the inmates

ewards, thirty-three saloon passengers, of whom nineteen were women, cou

said Mr. Emmett huskily. "But it couldn't be helped. The passengers had to be ba

nowing the agony which prom

ave escaped if it wasn't for you

the youngster who c

ol as a cucumber. Just looked up when he reached the deck an' saw the lighthouse so

ne of the sh

much of a newspaper reader, eh? There was a lady on board, a Mrs. Vansittart, who was coming over to marry old Tr

? What a ter

the purser's lists and slappe

is, marked O. K. Well

ischarged his tru

say something, but check

he muttered.

-call. As they crept below gingerly-these sailor-men were not at home on companion ladders which moved not when the shock ca

er winsome way. "These stairs

ted away. Emmett raised his lantern b

of that?" he whis

accounts sm

reed, with crudely e

urmured to himself: "I gues

ng women in the lower bedroom. She was hurrying out; s

ith her all-sufficing smi

n a timid child might know now that the howling terror without had done its worst and failed. From the cavernous depths, mingling with the rum

aited the older woman's demand

soul, and w

stage of

ll sloth, an

morning s

It was a chant of praise, of thanksgiving, the offering of those who ha

it began. Mr. Emmett and the pur

. She spoke awkwardly, checking her thoughts as thoug

"quite recovered. I-gave up

ng our best to help one a

es. Do you mind-I find it hard to explain-your name is familiar.

solve the reason for this unexpected confidence, but quite wis

of course, though you must have been qui

ched from the feeble

Mrs. Brand's death-in London, I fa

lau

ere one day in June, nineteen years ago, and I must have

ord of the hymn f

y converse

ce as the no

e evaded them. Proba

on the occupation of the moment, believed their little chat

rly dead. The people who had been with me were gone, either starved and thrown into the sea or knocked overboard during a collision, as the boat was badly dama

n the deep gloom, supporting herse

nce!" she sa

no time to gossip about it

ng their conversation, and the other wom

l excuse me, I know.

e did not stir. The darkness was intense, the narrow passage draughty, and the column thrilled and quivered in an unnerving manner. She heard the clang of a door above and knew that Enid had gone into the second

y her that she should be cast ashore on this desolate rock where he was in charge? Could she avoid him? Had she been injudicious in betraying her knowledge of the past? And how marvelous was the likeness between Constance and her father! The chivalrous, high-minded youth she had known came back to her through the

e stairway. Once more the hymn-singers cheered their hearts with words of praise. Evidently, there was o

hip's officers-brought to her distracted ears the concluding bars of a

ine eyes

y spiri

tempest

d courag

was now moved to extreme activity by a more personal and selfish danger. There was she, a human atom, to be destroyed or saved at the idle whim of circumstance: here, with life and many things worth living for restored to her safe keeping, she saw imminent risk of a coll

many years, threatened to fall in ruin about her. In such bitter mood there was no consolation

ds the hospital. Each flight was so contrived that it curved across two-thirds of the superficial area allotted to the stairway. Anyone as

The meeting startled her. This pale woman, so thinly clad in the demi

ising her lantern just as Enid did

hand over her face. Constance, with alert in

here? It is so cold. You wi

," came the desperate answer, the words b

e, she knew he would have many things to attend to, signals to the Land's End, the arrangement of supplies, which he had already mentioned to her, and a host of oth

with an uncomfortable feeling that Mrs.

nk y

ntly simple, clean-minded the hearer, the more accurate is the resonant impression. Constance found herself vaguely perplexed by two jostling abstractions. If they took shape i

hood in her cast aside these u

are many of us on the rock tonight he has never been

the other. "I was choking in there. Th

ght a glimpse of the tailor-made gown, striped silk underskirt, well-fitting, low-heeled, wide-welted expensive boots. Trust a

of her sight a remi

"That sailor's coat she wears helps the

ranite, so cold and hard, yet alive in its own grim strength, the murmuring commotion of wind and waves swelling and dying in ghost-like echoes, suggested a grave, a vault close sealed from t

p to the trimming-stage, expecting to see him attending to the lamp. No. He had gone. Somewhat bewildered, for sh

elieved from any dubiety as to his whereabouts she went back to the service-room and gave herself the luxury of a moment's rest. Oh, how tired sh

ration. Brand, his oilskins

w?" he cried, in such cheerful v

hat I was going to

" he replied, with a side

y steam-trawler, a bull-dog little ship, b

hing, of course,

d that I was on the lookout, as a lantern dipped seven times, which I interpreted

rned saf

. The wind is dropping, but the

felt a strong disinclination to rise. Being a st

f you can see Mrs. V

ne surprise that thrilled her with a plea

f she might have

hands up in c

n I cannot heliograph and I have a host of signals to look up and get ready. And, a word in your ear, Connie dear. We will be 'at home' on the rock for

issed

cried. "You will tire your

t her by

ger than I. By the way, no matter who goes hungry, don't prepare any bre

ar more of Mr. Pyne's compa

ne the

ry-maid, dry

l sort of youngster. That reminds me. Tell him to report himself

at danced in her eyes. She pictured Mr. Pyne "

irst bedroom floor Mrs

s draught," mused Constance. She opened the door. The l

her-" s

be greatly occupied. Of course, I can see him in the morning bef

lad answer. "Indeed, dad has just been signa

tes. Constance had not the requisite hardihoo

of her moods, was really very considerate. It never occurred to her that her new acquaintanc

ay any knowledge of Stephen Brand or his daughter. Of all the follies of a waywa

of intrigue, to be shipwrecked, to be plucked from a living hell, to be swung through a hurricane to the secure insecurity of a dark and hollow p

cisely what had

refuge was a place of torture. Mrs. Vansi