West Wind Drift

mpletely paralysed. The power to move at will was for ever lost, the force that had driven her resistlessly along the chosen path was still. The powerful propellers were idle, the huge stern-

friendly stranger out there in the mighty waste. No cry of distress, no call for help could go crackling into the boundless reaches. That was the pligh

est that they should realize, that they should understand, that they should know the truth, in order that they might adapt themselves to the conditions he was now compelled of necessity to

e it with the greatest possible care. Down in the holds, of course, was a vast store of consigned foodstuffs, but he had no authority to draw upon it and would not do so unless the ship's own stock was

at's why I'm asking you, one and all, to do a good day's work regularly, one way or another, from now until relief comes. We can't have any loafers or quitters on board this ship. That means everybody, rich and poor. You may think I'm putting a hardship on you, seeing as how you have paid for your passage and all that, but what I'm ordering you to do ain't a marker to what you'd be doing if you were out there in lifeboats, eight hundred miles

it might not be for weeks or even months, he cried out in worse English that he was ruined. He would have to violate his contract! No impressario would think of engaging him again! Hi

fact that Signor Joseppi was a very great personag

willing to take her regular turn at making up berths, I guess i

a word of it. He turned to the m

he say?" h

that he'd give two thousand any time to hear you

ing Mr. Mott with a beaming smile and as deep

or all of you. Should he say, 'Wash the dishes, Joseppi,' then will I wash the dishes. I, Joseppi, who never washed a dish in his life. Should he say, 'Cook the meals, Joseppi,' then will Joseppi, who never cooked a thing in his life, then will Jo

off together. "But supposing he asks you to sing

ied the Sig

hen, ent

ed his lips. His brows

ce is his own. Joseppi will do as he pleases with it. Let him but make the request, my friend,-and Joseppi will sing till he drops from exhaustion." Lowering his voice to a confidential undertone, he went on: "And that, my friend, is more than yo

in his listener, in Engli

ed blue serge tailor-suit and a tan-coloured sport hat pulled well down over her dark h

her greeting, planting himself in front of her. "I thought

cognized him and held out her hand. Her face w

t has been. Oh-and I am glad you came through safely, too. But

You'd think it was serious, the way they're bandaged. One of the sailors fixed them up for me las

a little,-"Katherine is gone. She leaped overboard. I-I saw her go. I shall never forget it,-never. Aunt Julia's maid. For, oh, so many years, Mr.

ed on this side only. Really nothi

she said with a shudder. "I am trying to

lk about it, Miss Clinton. It's corking

self. Where were yo

y friend, Mr. Gray,-the Chief Engineer, you know,-was down in the engine-room. That's how I got my hands burned. Not badly, I assure you, but-well, they may be a little scarred. You may not know it, but Mr. Gray and I came from the same place. Baltimore. He belonged to a fine old family there-and he'd been very kind to me. Poor fe

e is burned, too,-you must be suffering terribly. Wait! Now don't tell me

ittle chap over there with his head and hands covered with bandages,-and barely able to drag his feet after him? He's an American jockey. I don't know his name. He was blown twenty or thirty feet across the after-deck. Brou

tand it," she said. "My cousin was with the American Ambulance in France.

hes for weeks and months. A wound of any sort means a pleasant vacation. Still," he went on after a moment, a faint de

lood-shot eyes, infinite p

Mr. Percival, whenever it is nece

to your burden. You'll need all of your strength and courage to face the demands of the next few days. Those chaps have just begun to suffer. They're goin

e boat, Mr. Percival. We've got to make up our minds to that. We can't have the comforts and

ys," he ventured,

id simply. "Despite your modesty, I am quite certain who it was that carried

e away and many seconds

There is a chance that some ship may hear the report. The British have a few warships down here, you know. They would investigate if they got word of big guns

r the present. I must g

That's the principal job now, Miss

, full of the joy of living, with a stride that was free and swinging. He recalled her lovely, inquiring grey eyes as she stared at him on that ignominious afternoon, the parted red lips and

and walked slowly in the opposite

of pain and utter despair in his eyes. One of the Russian dancers, a rather pretty girl

comfortable, sir?" i

f here," growled Captain Trigger

head with it, sir," said Percival. "Sh

wait." Then, looking at his visitor's ban

rid of the worst of them. The officer in charge of the gun-crew agrees with me. They planted the big ones, the ones that were to destroy the ship, down in the hold, where there was less chance of discovery. The others, I am convinced, were much smaller. It would have been im

big ones." He scowled forlornly. "Dr. Cullen says I am in

or less of an expert on ex

hink I'll be up and about by tomorrow. If I were your age,

Trigger," said Percival, "I'd probably have sens

gger's mout

mned-" he began, and