West Wind Drift

ndoubtedly would have resented her indifference,-a very common and natural masculine failing,-but in these strenuous hours he was too

"She's even pluckier tha

narrowed.

ery one of us. It takes pluck to keep going when

eath is waiting just outside the thin little walls. Miss Clinton is splendid, but she is not plucky. She is as I am: afraid of the darkness, afraid to be alone, afraid to be where she cannot know and see all zat is happening. She has a woman's courage, just as I have it,-if you please. It is the courage that depends so much on the courage of others. You think I am brave. I am brave because I am with trained, efficient men

re very few men who would take such an

in place of his mate? He do not. He sneaks off in the high reeds and leaves her to take care of herself. The Captain of this steamer is so full of pride zat he will stay on it till it goes under the wave. It is not courage, Mr. Percivail. It is his pride in the power zat-that God has give to his sex. These men here,-you, my friend,-face the danger now so unflinching for why? Because for ages and ages you have believe in and d

makes a man stand up and fight another, even when he knows he's sure to be beat

ther animals of the world, eh? It is the only animal in the whole big world zat-that is completely satisfied

ject so deeply," he said, with a rueful smi

she cried, "for, alas

as well as you do, we wouldn't rule the world very much longe

unless they cease populating the world with sons. The mother of the man is the humblest subject of the son and yet the proudest. The mothers of kings, of emperors, of presidents,-do they think of them as kings, emperors, presidents? No. They think of them as sons. That is why man is supreme. That is why he rules. To be sure, we wo

God bless o

e from the heart, you have reveal the secret hist

dame Obosky," he said, looking i

sons, Mr. Percivail, do you thi

on. There's one thing certain, however. You

of Eden and I have never left his heels from

n a part of the boundless horizon the day before. Dawn was breaking, night was lifting her sheet from the new-born day. He

nd

revitalized. Out from the cabins, up from every nook and corner of the ship scrambled the excited horde, fully dressed, their faces haggard with doubt, their eyes aglow with joy. Land! In every round little window gleamed

been tricked. There was no land in sight! The glasses of the ship's officers, clustered far forward, were directed toward some point off the st

ff," he announced as he passed thr

l sides as the crazed people flocked behind the m

over and over again, his chin raised

tightly the handles of suitcases and kit bags! Evidently they were expecting to step ashore at once. In any case, they belonged to the class of people who never fail

ver the water,-the girl's figure erect, vibrant, alive with the spirit of youth, her companion's sagging under the doubt and scepticism of age. He hesitated a moment before accosting them. Nicklestick, the Jew, was excitedly retailin

ut her neck and ears to be blown gaily by the breeze across her cheek. Her blouse was open at the neck, her blue serge

y conscious of a mis

tening to Nicklestick. The stowaway joined them. As if

lously. "Have-have you

t a glimpse of it before the sun began to pull the mist up to obscure it for a little while. That's mist over there," he went on, turning to Nicklest

ntrolling her voice with an effort.

ay's glasses. We can see better up there. Let me assist you, Mrs. Spofford. The sun deck is pr

oked at him inte

. "Are you sure,-are you posit

in Trigger's

u may rest assured, Mrs. Spofford, that we

he speaker and said in a v

ur trap closed. If you're a man, you won't go on

s jaw fell.

t mean to say there is a c

d took his arm, leaning heavily against him. Her figure had s

ea through their binoculars. They recognized Landover, Madame Careni-Amori (clutching her jewel case), Joseppi, Fitts and one or two more. Olga O

n the lee of one of the big stacks they huddled close together and waited for the lifting of the veil. The wind was soft but strong up there at the top of

of the waters. Higher rose the curtain, and like magic the line developed into an

f the world. Her eyes were bright, her lips were parted in the ecstasy of hope revived, she was breathing deeply. The pulse in her smooth white neck was beating rapidly, rythmical

hralled. "Trees,-and hills! See, Aun

r of voices,-shouts of joy, cheers,-laughter! She looked down at the clumsy object that

," he muttered. "It-i

, and smiled. She waited a moment before withdrawing her han

ely," he

was peering through the g

n the hold," she said in a

a peep over the side of the ship, you'l

he went on, hurriedly. "I want to keep it fro

rd get into one of the boats in case we-well, just in case, you know. We will be given ample warning, Miss Clinton.

ly a very few of us may-"

d himself and went on: "It wouldn't surprise me in th

e look in your eyes. I want you to promise me one thing.

towaway on an ocean liner and being one in a lifeboat. I have no standing on this ship.

e with comprehension. "You mean you will make no

e first to leave. But I'll not rob any one else of his place i

of the other way round. A thin white beach suddenly emerged from the green background to the left, to the right an ugly mass of rocks took shape, stretching as fa

p to meet the Doraine. Its depth appreciably lessened with each successive measur

ore at the time, and was drifting with a noticeably increased speed directly toward the rock-bound coast. He had hoped she would go aground in the shallow wa

gateway to a channel that in his judgment split the island into two distinct sections. That it was not the mouth of a river was made clear by the presence of a current so strong that his men had to exert themselves to the utmost to prevent the boat being literally sucked into the channel by the powerful tide, which apparently

esponded to the insidious pressure of the current and was being drawn toward the rocks,-at first so slowly that there was scar

anal so straight and true that it might have been drilled and blasted out o

r renewed his efforts to release the anchor chains, which had been caught and jammed in the wreckage. He realized the vital necessity for checking the Doraine in her flight before she accomplis

ible, but in the rarely occurring open spaces a large shrub abounded. This was instantly recognized by Percival, who proclaimed it to be the algaroba, a plant com

ontact with submerged rocks, but held her course with uncanny steadiness, while every soul on board gazed with stark, despairi

volume, indicating a disastrous rent forward. She was sloshing along toward the centre of a basin which appeared to be half a mile wide and not more than a mile long. Directly ahead of her the hills came down to meet

at the end of her final voyage. She shivered and groaned under the jarring impact, forged onward half her length, heeled over slightly-and di

ine, guided to her journey's end by the pilot Chance, moore

man had entered here. Screened from the rest of the world, untended by chortling tugs, unhe

to time and tide, to darkness and light, she sat serene in her little sea. Her lofty walls towered high above the waves that broke tremblingly

ost with al