Evening Republican, Volume 16, Number 34, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 8 February 1912 — The Pool of Flame [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

The Pool of Flame

By LOUIS JOSEPH VANCE

Illustrations by Ellsworth Youaf

Copyright 18U0, by Louis Joseph Vance CHAPTER XXII. By nine o’clock the Ranee lay with steam up, ready to weigh anchor. It is no praise to Dravos to state that his engines were in admirable condition. Such was their invariable state. For an assistant he impressed into service none other than Danny Mahone, to Danny’s Intense dismay. O’Rourke took upon himself the duties of first officer under Captain Quick. The Irishman cared little for the sea, knew less of a first officer’s duties; but it was patent that Quick could not stand every, watch, and O’Rourke was not to be daunted by any such slight matter as nautical inexperience. In the knowledge that they were safely off at laßt there was poignant relief to the wanderer, as he stood by Quick’s side, on the bridge, with midnight imminent and the ship still and peaceful. “I’ll stand the night watches,” the captain announced. “By morning we’ll be far enough out for you to take hold without spraining the art of seamanship. G’dnlght.” “Thsihk ye,” said O’Rourke. In fact, he had long been sensible that he was very drowsy; the night wind in his face had something: to do with that. “Good night,’’ he returned, and j»ent down the ladder to the deck. At its foot he paused, turning curiously; it seemed that surely there must be some serious trouble afoot in the crew. The Irishman could see in the glimmer of the forecastle lantern a confused blur of naked, shining, brown bodies and limbs, apparently Inextricably locked. A scream rang shrill and there followed the sound of a heavy fall. Overhead, on the bridge, Quick was roaring hlmßelf hoarse, without effect. The sounds of shuffling, of blows, harsh breathing, stifled cries, continued. A knot of the contestants swept, whirling, aft, toward the superstructure. Something shot singing through the air; the wind of it fanned O’Rourke's cheek. With an unconscious, surprised oath, O’Rourke stepped aside, his hand going toward his revolver. The missile struck a stanchion, glanced and fell clattering into the scuppers. Revolver in hand, he went forward to the rail overlooking the struggling rabble on the deck below. But they seemed Intent only on their private differences, and Quick’s roars were bringing them to their senses. Gradually the tumult subsided, the contestants separating and slinking forward to thqir quarters. “It may have been chance,” O’Rourke conceded a bit doubtfully. He swung about and moved aft slowly, examining the deck Intently. In a moment or two he-stopped and ricked up a long, thin-bladed knife, doubleedged and keen hs a razor. The ftoint was broken, having doubtless been snapped off at the moment of contact with the deck-house. O’Rourke turned it over soberly. “Faith, I don’t like to think it was intentional —but me head would have been split had it come two Inches to the left.” He returned to the bridge, calling Quick aside. “You're armed?" “Certainly—always armed when I’m dealing with these devils. Why?" O'Rourke showed him the knife. Quick laughed at his theory. “Nothing In it," he was pleased to believe. CHAPTER XXIII. The day came out of the East with a windy swagger; as Quick had foretold, a series of thunderstorms swept the sea before dawn, so that it, like the sky, seemed newly washed, clean and brilliant. O’Rourke relieved Quick at four bells of the morning watch and kept the deck for the remainder of the day, his meals being brought to him on the bridge. His duties were simple enough, requiring little more than a display oT the habit of authority which sat so well on his broad shoulders. It was no great trick to keep the crew in order: they went about their work peaceably enough and showed no signs of desiring to renew their disputations. Otherwise he had to keep an eye upon the helmsman and see that he held the Ranee to the course prescribed by Quick; and that was nothing difficult to a man of average intelligence. Naught but deep water lay between them and Bombay, so long as a direct course was shaped and maintained. As the sunlit watches wore out and nothing untoward took place, O’Rourke’s grim apprehensions dissipated into ‘shadows. He began to believe with Quick that the affair of the winged knife waa merely a hapchance accident, quite unpremeditated. Below decks, Dravos and Danny were standing watch-and-watch, with clockwork regularity, where the former's beloved engines were justifying his confidence' and pride ia them and clicking off their twenty knots withtiiiiirt-—, r.lfcmnMisn -U*'

Now "Danny happened to have “off” the first afternoon watch. O’Rourke from the bridge saw him come up the engine-room companion ladder, dive Into the mesfitoom for his dinner, and later emerge, picking his teeth and grinning self-complacency until his master could nave kicked him, had such a course been politic before the crew, or even consistent with the dignity of his office. "A word to say to ye, sor, if I may make so bold.” O’Rourke glanced at the helmsman, and having long since made up his mind that the man waa competent, left him in possession of the bridge for a space, and joined Danny below. “What is it?” Danny lowered his voice to a hoarse whisper. “Rape yer eye on thot black

divvle up there, sor, for the love ol Hiven, and don’t look surprised at anything—” O’Rourke moved a few paces aft, along the rail, to a point whenoe he could see the head and shoulders of the helmsman. “Well?" “ ’TIs nawthin’ I cud swear to, sor, but tis meself thot’s mortal leary av these naygurs—rapsplcts to ye-^and—-and —” “Come, come! Out with It, Danny.” “Sure, sor, ’tis tbe serang. Have yd chanced to nolice him, sor?” O’Rourke glanced down to the fore deck, where the personage In question' was standing at ease. “What of him?” he inquired, running his eye over tbe fellow's superb proportions. “’Tis nawthin’ I’d take me oath to, sor, but I’m thinkin’ he’s the man who boarded the Panjnab at Suez, sor And as for the naygur I run against on the s'loon deck, yer honor, he’s hii mortal twin.” “Ah,” commented O’Rourke. “Thanh you, Danny." i He continued to watch the serang until the latter, as if Influenced by the fixity of the Irishman’s regard, turned and stared directly into O’Rourke’s eyes. For a full minute he gave him look for look, dark eyes steadfast and unyielding above his fine aquiline hobo, then calmly turned his back, resuming his contemplation of the turbulent horizon. An Instant later Quick came up to relieve O'Rourke, and, eight bells sounding, Danny dived below to take Dravos’ place. O’Rourke, unpleasantly Impressed by the incident, still for bore to mention it to either of the ship’s owners; he retired to think it over, and spent a long hour consuming an indifferent cigar and studying the cracks In the bulkhead between hlarooanmd the cabin. Without profit, however. Lacking more substantial proof than Danny’s suspicions, he oould arrive at'no definite conclusion. The night passed without incident; the second day dawned the counterpart of its predecessor, and wore away quietly enough. It fell to O'Rourke to stand the first dog-watch, from four to six in the evening. Shortly after he ascended the bridge, it was his happiness to be Joined by Mrs. Prynne, who Improved the moment to express her gratlficar tton with the propitious tide lh her affairs. The King's courier was pleased to declare herself very well pleased Indeed, though she admitted, under jocular pressure, that she considered she was roughing it. ' Captain Quick's quarters were by no means palatial, and the bill of fare, while substantially composed, lacked something of variety; but that was all a part of the great and fascinating game she played —the game of secret service to His Majesty, Edward VII. Not that alone, but she was comforted by the assurance that her voyage would soon be over, her mission discharged, her responsibility a thing or tne past, one would oe glad to see Bombay. “One never knows, you know, Colonel O’Rourke," she said with a little gesture expressive of her allowance for the unforeseen. O’Rourke divined she had something on her mind which she hesitated to voice, though they were practically qlone; the mah at the wheel was s nonentity—bronze statue la a faded shirt, ragged turban and soiled cummerbund. “Then *llß yourself will be glad, 1 gather, to be rid of us, madam?" She smiled, deprecatory. “What would you?” she asked In French, with a significant glanoe up Into O'Rourke’s eyes. “It’s not precisely pleasant to be constantly apprehensive,” the woman oontlnued in the same tongue, "even when one has a Colonel O'Rourke to look to for protection.” “Ah, madams!" expostulated the wanderer. “But what makes ye so positive rd not tun tall and run away &SB4BLa§USBB£r

She gave "him a look that brimmed with mirth.' “A man who Is a coward,” she said alowly, “doesn't stand still and draw a revolver when a heavy knife is thrown at his head.” “Quick told ye, madam?" “No, I saw—heard the quarrelling on the forward deck and got to the companionway in time to see what happened. Had you not been so intent on your search for the knife, you would have seen me. Aa,it was, I slipped below again without attracting attention.” “But why?” “To get my revolver, monsieur le colonel.” " ’Twas naught but an accident —” “You do not believe that yourself, colonel dear; for my part, I—” “Well?” “Someone tried my door last night, after you’d retired.” “Ye are sure?" doubted O’Rourke, disturbed. “Quite. I was awake —thinking; I heard you come below and cloee your door at eight bells; long after there were footsteps—someone walking In his bare feet —in the saloon. Then the knob was turned, very gently. Fortunately, the door was bolted; someone put a shoulder to It, but it held fast. I caught up my revolver— Indeed and I am very reckless with It, air!—and opened the door myself. The saloon was quite empty.” "Ye shouldn't have risked that —” “I had to know, with so much at stake,” she said simply. O’Rourke endeavored to manufacture a plausible and reassuring explanation to the fact. ‘‘Quick, Danny, or Dravos, mistaking their rooms —” “It was none of .them. Captain Quick was on deck; I heard his voice almost simultaneously. surely I couldn’t mistake that.” She laughed. “Nor would your man or Mr. Dravos have been so stealthy, so instant to escape.” “But —but —" i “My theory, If you will have it, Is that mine enemy of the Panjnab is one of the crew of the Ranee, monsieur." Mrs. Prynne made this statement as qnletly as though she were commenting on the weather. But her belief chimed so exactly with his own that <t>’Rourke waa stricken witless and at a loss to frame a satisfactory refutation. He was silent for some moments, his lips a thin hard line, a crinkle of anxiety between his brows. “If ye’d only permitted me to attend to him —” he growled at length. "Ydu are right,” she admitted, “but —I am desolated —the mischiefs dono.” “Faith, yes!” he sighed dejectedly. His gaze roved the deck and fastened upon the serang. “It might be any one of them,” he considered aloud. “Any one. For Instance, though—the serang?” “Why d’ye suspect him more than another?” he demanded, startled. “Call it feminine intuition, if you like. The man looks capable of anything.” “Yes. But sure, there’s no telling at all." “No telling,” she concurred quietly. "We can but wait, watch, hope that I imagined the hand at my door.” “There might be something in that” “I am neither nervous nor an imaginative woman.” “At all events, I’ll go bail ’twill not happen a second time.” “How do you propose to prevent it?” “Sure, the simplest way in the WorhL A the saloon, madam.” “But no, monsieur; I can better afford to lose a little sleep than have you forfeit your rest. Besides, I have Cecile. ....’’ There ensued an argument without termination; he remained obdurate, she insistent. Only the appearance of Quick on the stroke of four bells forced them to shelve the subject. It was resumed at the dinner table and carried out In a light manner of banter for a time, dropped and forgotten, apparently by all but O’Rourke. (To be continued

He Continued to Watch the Serang.