diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:48 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:39:48 -0700 |
| commit | 9de0acb3d11f907bc973aab52142abcffcb123cb (patch) | |
| tree | deaf4030033f30a2bbbb84542a29a5a5a0c29ab9 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-0.txt | 5818 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-h/12388-h.htm | 6333 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35656 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33047 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg | bin | 0 -> 22879 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32645 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 243497 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h/12388-h.htm | 6781 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg | bin | 0 -> 35656 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg | bin | 0 -> 33047 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg | bin | 0 -> 22879 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg | bin | 0 -> 32645 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388.txt | 6241 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/12388.zip | bin | 0 -> 115366 bytes |
17 files changed, 25189 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/12388-0.txt b/12388-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4b72c3c --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5818 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12388 *** + +[Illustration: "I am going to take you from the island!"] + + +The COURAGE of CAPTAIN PLUM + +BY +JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD +1912 + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY +FRANK E. SCHOONOVER + + + + + + +THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TWO OATHS + + +On an afternoon in the early summer of 1856 Captain Nathaniel Plum, +master and owner of the sloop _Typhoon_ was engaged in nothing more +important than the smoking of an enormous pipe. Clouds of strongly +odored smoke, tinted with the lights of the setting sun, had risen above +his head in unremitting volumes for the last half hour. There was +infinite contentment in his face, notwithstanding the fact that he had +been meditating on a subject that was not altogether pleasant. But +Captain Plum was, in a way, a philosopher, though one would not have +guessed this fact from his appearance. He was, in the first place, a +young man, not more than eight or nine and twenty, and his strong, +rather thin face, tanned by exposure to the sea, was just now lighted up +by eyes that shone with an unbounded good humor which any instant might +take the form of laughter. + +At the present time Captain Plum's vision was confined to one direction, +which carried his gaze out over Lake Michigan. Earlier in the day he had +been able to discern the hazy outline of the Michigan wilderness twenty +miles to the eastward. Straight ahead, shooting up rugged and sharp in +the red light of the day's end, were two islands. Between these, three +miles away, the sloop _Typhoon_ was strongly silhouetted in the fading +glow. Beyond the islands and the sloop there were no other objects for +Captain Plum's eyes to rest upon. So far as he could see there was no +other sail. At his back he was shut in by a dense growth of trees and +creeping vines, and unless a small boat edged close in around the end +of Beaver Island his place of concealment must remain undiscovered. At +least this seemed an assured fact to Captain Plum. + +In the security of his position he began to whistle softly as he beat +the bowl of his pipe on his boot-heel to empty it of ashes. Then he drew +a long-barreled revolver from under a coat that he had thrown aside and +examined it carefully to see that the powder and ball were in solid and +that none of the caps was missing. From the same place he brought forth +a belt, buckled it round his waist, shoved the revolver into its +holster, and dragging the coat to him, fished out a letter from an +inside pocket. It was a dirty, much worn letter. Perhaps he had read it +a score of times. He read it again now, and then, refilling his pipe, +settled back against the rock that formed a rest for his shoulders and +turned his eyes in the direction of the sloop. + +The last rim of the sun had fallen below the Michigan wilderness and in +the rapidly increasing gloom the sloop was becoming indistinguishable. +Captain Plum looked at his watch. He must still wait a little longer +before setting out upon the adventure that had brought him to this +isolated spot. He rested his head against the rock, and thought. He had +been thinking for hours. Back in the thicket he heard the prowling of +some small animal. There came the sleepy chirp of a bird and the +rustling of tired wings settling for the night. A strange stillness +hovered about him, and with it there came over him a loneliness that was +chilling, a loneliness that made him homesick. It was a new and +unpleasant sensation to Captain Plum. He could not remember just when he +had experienced it before; that is, if he dated the present from two +weeks ago to-night. It was then that the letter had been handed to him +in Chicago, and it had been a weight upon his soul and a prick to his +conscience ever since. Once or twice he had made up his mind to destroy +it, but each time he had repented at the last moment. In a sudden +revulsion at his weakness he pulled himself together, crumpled the +dirty missive into a ball, and flung it out upon the white rim of beach. + +At this action there came a quick movement in the dense wall of verdure +behind him. Noiselessly the tangle of vines separated and a head thrust +itself out in time to see the bit of paper fall short of the water's +edge. Then the head shot back as swiftly and as silently as a serpent's. +Perhaps Captain Plum heard the gloating chuckle that followed the +movement. If so he thought it only some night bird in the brush. + +"Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed with some return of his old cheer, "it's about +time we were starting!" He jumped to his feet and began brushing the +sand from his clothes. When he had done, he walked out upon the rim of +beach and stretched himself until his arm-bones cracked. + +Again the hidden head shot forth from its concealment. A sudden turn and +Captain Plum would certainly have been startled. For it was a weird +object, this spying head; its face dead-white against the dense green of +the verdure, with shocks of long white hair hanging down on each side, +framing between them a pair of eyes that gleamed from cavernous sockets, +like black glowing beads. There was unmistakable fear, a tense anxiety +in those glittering eyes as Captain Plum walked toward the paper, but +when he paused and stretched himself, the sole of his boot carelessly +trampling the discarded letter, the head disappeared again and there +came another satisfied bird-like chuckle from the gloom of the thicket. + +Captain Plum now put on his coat, buttoned it close to conceal the +weapons in his belt, and walked along the narrow water-run that crept +like a white ribbon between the lake and the island wilderness. No +sooner had he disappeared than the bushes and vines behind the rock were +torn asunder and a man wormed his way through them. For an instant he +paused, listening for returning footsteps, and then with startling +agility darted to the beach and seized the crumpled letter. + +The person who for the greater part of the afternoon had been spying +upon Captain Plum from the security of the thicket was to all +appearances a very small and a very old man, though there was something +about him that seemed to belie a first guess at his age. His face was +emaciated; his hair was white and hung in straggling masses on his +shoulders; his hooked nose bore apparently the infallible stamp of +extreme age. Yet there was a strange and uncanny strength and quickness +in his movements. There was no stoop to his shoulders. His head was set +squarely. His eyes were as keen as steel. It would have been impossible +to have told whether he was fifty or seventy. Eagerly he smoothed out +the abused missive and evidently succeeded even in the failing light, in +deciphering much of it, for the glimmer of a smile flashed over his thin +features as he thrust the paper into his pocket. + +Without a moment's hesitation he set out on the trail of Captain Plum. A +quarter of a mile down the path he overtook the object of his pursuit. + +"Ah, how do you do, sir?" he greeted as the younger man turned about +upon hearing his approach. "A mighty fast pace you're setting for an old +man, sir!" He broke into a laugh that was not altogether unpleasant, and +boldly held out a hand. "We've been expecting you, but--not in this way. +I hope there's nothing wrong?" + +Captain Plum had accepted the proffered hand. Its coldness and the +singular appearance of the old man who had come like an apparition +chilled him. In a moment, however, it occurred to him that he was a +victim of mistaken identity. As far as he knew there was no one on +Beaver Island who was expecting him. To the best of his knowledge he was +a fool for being there. His crew aboard the sloop had agreed upon that +point with extreme vehemence and, to a man, had attempted to dissuade +him from the mad project upon which he was launching himself among the +Mormons in their island stronghold. All this came to him while the +little old man was looking up into his face, chuckling, and shaking his +hand as if he were one of the most important and most greatly to be +desired personages in the world. + +"Hope there's nothing wrong, Cap'n?" he repeated. + +"Right as a trivet here, Dad," replied the young man, dropping the cold +hand that still persisted in clinging to his own. "But I guess you've +got the wrong party. Who's expecting me?" + +The old man's face wrinkled itself in a grimace and one gleaming eye +opened and closed in an understanding wink. + +"Ho, ho, ho!--of course you're not expected. Anyway, you're not +_expected_ to be expected! Cautious--a born general--mighty clever thing +to do. Strang should appreciate it." The old man gave vent to his own +approbation in a series of inimitable chuckles. "Is that your sloop out +there?" he inquired interestedly. + +Something in the strangeness of the situation began to interest Captain +Plum. He had planned a little adventure of his own, but here was one +that promised to develop into something more exciting. He nodded his +head. + +"That's her." + +"Splendid cargo," went on the old man. "Splendid cargo, eh?" + +"Pretty fair." + +"Powder in good shape, eh?" + +"Dry as tinder." + +"And balls--lots of balls, and a few guns, eh?" + +"Yes, we _have_ a few guns," said Captain Plum. The old man noted the +emphasis, but the darkness that had fast settled about them hid the +added meaning that passed in a curious look over the other's face. + +"Odd way to come in, though--very odd!" continued the old man, gurgling +and shaking as if the thought of it occasioned him great merriment. +"Very cautious. Level business head. Want to know that things are on +the square, eh?" + +"That's it!" exclaimed Captain Plum, catching at the proffered straw. +Inwardly he was wondering when his feet would touch bottom. Thus far he +had succeeded in getting but a single grip on the situation. Somebody +was expected at Beaver Island with powder and balls and guns. Well, he +had a certain quantity of these materials aboard his sloop, and if he +could make an agreeable bargain-- + +The old man interrupted the plan that was slowly forming itself in +Captain Plum's puzzled brain. + +"It's the price, eh?" He laughed shrewdly. "You want to see the color of +the gold before you land the goods. I'll show it to you. I'll pay you +the whole sum to-night. Then you'll take the stuff where I tell you to. +Eh? Isn't that so?" He darted ahead of Captain Plum with a quick alert +movement. "Will you please follow me, sir?" + +For an instant Captain Plum's impulse was to hold back. In that instant +it suddenly occurred to him that he was lending himself to a rank +imposition. At the same time he was filled with a desire to go deeper +into the adventure, and his blood thrilled with the thought of what it +might hold for him. + +"Are you coming, sir?" + +The little old man had stopped a dozen paces away and turned +expectantly. + +"I tell you again that you've got the wrong man, Dad!" + +"Will you follow me, sir?" + +"Well, if you'll have it so--damned if I won't!" cried Captain Plum. He +felt that he had relieved his conscience, anyway. If things should +develop badly for him during the next few hours no one could say that he +had lied. So he followed light-heartedly after the old man, his eyes and +ears alert, and his right hand, by force of habit, reaching under his +coat to the butt of his pistol. His guide said not another word until +they had traveled for half an hour along a twisting path and stood at +last on the bald summit of a knoll from which they could look down upon +a number of lights twinkling dimly a quarter of a mile away. One of +these lights gleamed above all the others, like a beacon set among +fireflies. + +"That's St. James," said the old man. His voice had changed. It was low +and soft, as though he feared to speak above a whisper. + +"St. James!" + +The young man at his side gazed down silently upon the scattered lights, +his heart throbbing in a sudden tumult of excitement. He had set out +that day with the idea of resting his eyes on St. James. In its silent +mystery the town now lay at his feet. + +"And that light--" spoke the old man. He pointed a trembling arm toward +the glare that shone more powerfully than the others. "That light marks +the sacred home of the king!" His voice had again changed. A metallic +hardness came into it, his words were vibrant with a strange excitement +which he strove hard to conceal. It was still light enough for Captain +Plum to see that the old man's black, beady eyes were startlingly alive +with newly aroused emotion. + +"You mean--" + +"Strang!" + +He started rapidly down the knoll and there floated back to Captain Plum +the soft notes of his meaningless chuckle. A dozen rods farther on his +mysterious guide turned into a by-path which led them to another knoll, +capped by a good-sized building made of logs. There sounded the grating +of a key in a lock, the shooting of a bolt, and a door opened to admit +them. + +"You will pardon me if I don't light up," apologized the old man as he +led the way in. "A candle will be sufficient. You know there must be +privacy in these matters--always. Eh? Isn't that so?" + +Captain Plum followed without reply. He guessed that the cabin was made +up of one large room, and that at the present time, at least, it +possessed no other occupant than the singular creature who had guided +him to it. + +"It is just as well, on this particular night, that no light is seen at +the window," continued the old man as he rummaged about a table for a +match and a candle. "I have a little corner back here that a candle will +brighten up nicely and no one in the world will know it. Ho, ho, +ho!--how nice it is to have a quiet little corner sometimes! Eh, Captain +Plum?" + +At the sound of his name Captain Plum started as though an unexpected +hand had suddenly been laid upon him. So he _was_ expected, after all, +and his name was known! For a moment his surprise robbed him of the +power of speech. The little old man had lighted his candle, and, +grinning back over his shoulder, passed through a narrow cut in the +wall that could hardly be called a door and planted his light on a table +that stood in the center of a small room, or closet, not more than five +feet square. Then he coolly pulled Captain Plum's old letter from his +pocket and smoothed it out in the dim light. + +"Be seated, Captain Plum; right over there--opposite me. So!" + +He continued for a moment to smooth out the creases in the letter and +then proceeded to read it with as much assurance as though its owner +were a thousand miles away instead of within arm's reach of him. Captain +Plum was dumfounded. He felt the hot blood rushing to his face and his +first impulse was to recover the crumpled paper and demand something +more than an explanation. In the next instant it occurred to him that +this action would probably spoil whatever possibilities his night's +adventure might have for him. So he held his peace. The old man was so +intent in his perusal of the letter that the end of his hooked nose +almost scraped the table. He went over the dim, partly obliterated words +line by line, chuckling now and then, and apparently utterly oblivious +of the other's presence. When he had come to the end he looked up, his +eyes glittering with unbounded satisfaction, carefully folded the +letter, and handed it to Captain Plum. + +"That's the best introduction in the world, Captain Plum--the very best! +Ho, ho!--it couldn't be better. I'm glad I found it." He chuckled +gleefully, and rested his ogreish head in the palms of his skeleton-like +hands, his elbows on the table. "So you're going back home--soon?" + +"I haven't made up my mind yet, Dad," responded Captain Plum, pulling +out his pipe and tobacco. "You've read the letter pretty carefully, I +guess. What would you do?" + +"Vermont?" questioned the old man shortly. + +"That's it." + +"Well, I'd go, and very soon, Captain Plum, _very_ soon, indeed. Yes, +I'd hurry!" The old man jumped up with the quickness of a cat. So sudden +was his movement that it startled Captain Plum, and he dropped his +tobacco pouch. By the time he had recovered this article his strange +companion was back in his seat again holding a leather bag in his hand. +Quickly he untied the knot at its top and poured a torrent of glittering +gold pieces out upon the table. + +"Business--business and gold," he gurgled happily, rubbing his thin +hands and twisting his fingers until they cracked. "A pretty sight, eh, +Captain Plum? Now, to our account! A hundred carbines, eh? And a +thousand of powder and a ton of balls. Or is it in lead? It doesn't make +any difference--not a bit. It's three thousand, that's the account, eh?" +He fell to counting rapidly. + +For a full minute Captain Plum remained in stupefied bewilderment, +silenced by the sudden and unexpected turn his adventure had taken. +Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as they clinked the gold +pieces. What was the mysterious plot into which he had allowed himself +to be drawn? Why were a hundred guns and a ton and a half of powder and +balls wanted by the Mormons of Beaver Island? Instinctively he reached +out and closed his hand over the counting fingers of the old man. Their +eyes met. And there was a shrewd, half-understanding gleam in the black +orbs that fixed Captain Plum in an unflinching challenge. For a little +space there was silence. It was Captain Plum who broke it. + +"Dad, I'm going to tell you for the third and last time that you've made +a mistake. I've got eight of the best rifles in America aboard my sloop +out there. But there's a man for every gun. And I've got something +hidden away underdeck that would blow up St. James in half an hour. And +there is powder and ball for the whole outfit. But that's all. I'll sell +you what I've got--for a good price. Beyond that you've got the wrong +man!" + +He settled back and blew a volume of smoke from his pipe. For another +half minute the old man continued to look at him, his eyes twinkling, +and then he fell to counting again. + +Captain Plum was not given over to the habit of cursing. But now he +jumped to his feet with an oath that jarred the table. The old man +chuckled. The gold pieces clinked between his fingers. Coolly he shoved +two glittering piles alongside the candle-stick, tumbled the rest back +into the leather bag, deliberately tied the end, and smiled up into the +face of the exasperated captain. + +"To be sure you're not the man," he said, nodding his head until his +elf-locks danced around his face. "Of course you're not the man. I know +it--ho, ho! you can wager that I know it! A little ruse of mine, Captain +Plum. Pardonable--excusable, eh? I wanted to know if you were a liar. I +wanted to see if you were honest." + +[Illustration: Captain Plum] + +With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum sank back into the chair. His +jaw dropped and his pipe was held fireless in his hand. + +"The devil you say!" + +"Oh, certainly, certainly, if you wish it," chuckled the little man, in +high humor. "I would have visited your sloop to-day, Captain Plum, if +you hadn't come ashore so opportunely this morning. Ho, ho, ho! a good +joke, eh? A mighty good joke!" + +Captain Plum regained his composure by relighting his pipe. He heard the +chink of gold pieces and when he looked again the two piles of money +were close to the edge of his side of the table. + +"That's for you, Captain Plum. There's just a thousand dollars in those +two piles." There was tense earnestness now in the old man's face and +voice. "I've imposed on you," he continued, speaking as one who had +suddenly thrown off a disguise. "If it had been any other man it would +have been the same. I want help. I want an honest man. I want a man whom +I can trust. I will give you a thousand dollars if you will take a +package back to your vessel with you and will promise to deliver it as +quickly as you can." + +"I'll do it!" cried Captain Plum. He jumped to his feet and held out his +hand. But the old man slipped from his chair and darted swiftly out into +the blackness of the adjoining room. As he came back Captain Plum could +hear his insane chuckling. + +"Business--business--business--" he gurgled. "Eh, Captain Plum? Did you +ever take an oath?" He tossed a book on the table. It was the Bible. + +Captain Plum understood. He reached for the book and held it under his +left hand. His right he lifted above his head, while a smile played +about his lips. + +"I suppose you want to place me under oath to deliver that package," he +said. + +The old man nodded. His eyes gleamed with a feverish glare. A sudden +hectic flush had gathered in his death-like cheeks. He trembled. His +voice rose barely above a whisper. + +"Repeat," he commanded. "I, Captain Nathaniel Plum, do solemnly swear +before God--" + +A thrilling inspiration shot into Captain Plum's brain. + +"Hold!" he cried. He lowered his hand. With something that was almost a +snarl the old man sprang back, his hands clenched. "I will take this +oath upon one other consideration," continued Captain Plum. "I came to +Beaver Island to see something of the life and something of the people +of St. James. If you, in turn, will swear to show me as much as you can +to-night I will take the oath." + +The old man was beside the table again in an instant. + +"I will show it to you--all--all--" he exclaimed excitedly. "I will show +it to you--yes, and swear to it upon the body of Christ!" + +Captain Plum lifted his hand again and word by word repeated the oath. +When it was done the other took his place. + +"Your name?" asked Captain Plum. + +A change scarcely perceptible swept over the old man's face. + +"Obadiah Price." + +"But you are a Mormon. You have the Bible there?" + +Again the old man disappeared into the adjoining room. When he returned +he placed two books side by side and stood them on edge so that he might +clasp both between his bony fingers. One was the Bible, the other the +Book of the Mormons. In a cracked, excited voice he repeated the +strenuous oath improvised by Captain Plum. + +"Now," said Captain Plum, distributing the gold pieces among his +pockets, "I'll take that package." + +This time the old man was gone for several minutes. When he returned he +placed a small package tightly bound and sealed into his companion's +hand. + +"More precious than your life, more priceless than gold," he whispered +tensely, "yet worthless to all but the one to whom it is to be +delivered." + +There were no marks on the package. + +"And who is that?" asked Captain Plum. + +The old man came so close that his breath fell hot upon the young man's +cheek. He lifted a hand as though to ward sound from the very walls that +closed them in. + +"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE SEVEN WIVES + + +Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than the old +man straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, his gaze +penetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain Plum, his head +inclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a tension of +expectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped the butt of his pistol +and faced the narrow entrance through which they had come. In the moment +of absolute silence that followed there came to him, faintly, a sound, +unintelligible at first, but growing in volume until he knew that it was +the last echo of a tolling bell. There was no movement, no sound of +breath or whisper from the old man at his back. But when it came again, +floating to him as if from a vast distance, he turned quickly to find +Obadiah Price with his face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above his +head and his lips moving as if in prayer. His eyes burned with a dull +glow as though he had been suddenly thrown into a trance. He seemed not +to breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement of +his lips. With the third toll of the distant bell he spoke, and to +Captain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came from +another being. + +"Our Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon Thy chosen people the three +blessings of the universe--peace, prosperity and plenty, and upon +Strang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of Thy power!" + +Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious message +and when the last echoes had died away the old man's arms dropped beside +him and he turned again to Captain Plum. + +"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America," he +repeated, as though there had been no interruption since his companion's +question. "The package is to be delivered to him. Now you must excuse +me. An important matter calls me out for a short time. But I will be +back soon--oh, yes, very soon. And you will wait for me. You will wait +for me here, and then I will take you to St. James." + +He was gone in a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last that +Captain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for an instant +in the darkness of the next room, and after that the soft patter of his +feet and the strange chuckle in his throat traveled to the outer door +and died away as he passed out into the night. Nathaniel Plum was not a +man to be easily startled, but there was something so unusual about the +proceedings in which he was as yet playing a blind part that he forgot +to smoke, which was saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? His +eyes scanned the little room and an exclamation of astonishment fell +from his lips when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold, +lying where his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this was +madness or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilled +him. It was wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. Were +hidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give their owner to +understand that he was not a thief. He rose from his chair and moved +toward the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed it back again so that +the gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went to the narrow aperture and +blocked it with his body and listened until he knew that if there had +been human life in the room he would have heard it. + +The outer door was open and through it there came to him the soft breath +of the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild flowers. It struck +him that it would be pleasanter waiting outside than in, and it would +undoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah Price. In front of the cabin +he found the stump of a log and seating himself on it where the clear +light of the stars fell full upon him he once more began his +interrupted smoke. It seemed to him that he had waited a long time when +he heard the sound of footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person was +half running. Hardly had he located the direction of the sound when a +figure appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin. +A dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly about, +as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a greeting +whistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little throat note, +which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, and the figure ran almost +into his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made a mistake drew Captain +Plum a pace backward. For scarcely more than five seconds he found +himself staring into the white terrified face of a girl. Eyes wide and +glowing with sudden fright met his own. Instinctively he lifted his hand +to his hat, but before he could speak the girl sprang back with a low +cry and ran swiftly down the path that led into the gloom of the woods. + + +For several minutes Captain Plum stood as if the sudden apparition had +petrified him. He listened long after the sound of retreating footsteps +had died away. There remained behind a faint sweet odor of lilac which +stirred his soul and set his blood tingling. It was a beautiful face +that he had seen. He was sure of that and yet he could have given no +good verbal proof of it. Only the eyes and the odor of lilac remained +with him and after a little the lilac drifted away. Then he went back to +the log and sat down. He smiled as he thought of the joke that he had +unwittingly played on Obadiah. From his knowledge of the Beaver Island +Mormons he was satisfied that the old man who displayed gold in such +reckless profusion was anything but a bachelor. In all probability this +was one of his wives and the cabin behind him, he concluded, was for +some reason isolated from the harem. "Evidently that little Saintess is +not a flirt," he concluded, "or she would have given me time to speak to +her." + +The continued absence of Obadiah Price began to fill Captain Plum with +impatience. After an hour's wait he reentered the cabin and made his way +to the little room, where the candle was still burning dimly. To his +astonishment he beheld the old man sitting beside the table. His thin +face was propped between his hands and his eyes were closed as if he was +asleep. They shot open instantly on Captain Plum's appearance. + +"I've been waiting for you, Nat," he cried, straightening himself with +spring-like quickness. "Waiting for you a long time, Nat!" He rubbed his +hands and chuckled at his own familiarity. "I saw you out there enjoying +yourself. What did you think of her, Nat?" He winked with such audacious +glee that, despite his own astonishment, Captain Plum burst into a +laugh. Obadiah Price held up a warning hand. "Tut, tut, not so loud!" he +admonished. His face was a map of wrinkles. His little black eyes shone +with silent laughter. There was no doubt but that he was immensely +pleased over something. "Tell me, Nat--why did you come to St. James?" + +He leaned forward over the table, his odd white head almost resting on +it, and twiddled his thumbs with wonderful rapidity. "Eh, Nat?" he +urged. "Why did you come?" + +"Because it was too hot and uninteresting lying out there in a calm, +Dad," replied the master of the _Typhoon_. "We've been roasting for +thirty-six hours without a breath to fill our sails. I came over to see +what you people are like. Any harm done?" + +"Not a bit, not a bit--yet," chuckled the old man. "And what's your +business, Nat?" + +"Sailing--mostly." + +"Ho, ho, ho! of course, I might have known it! Sailing--_mostly_. Why, +certainly you sail! And why do you carry a pistol on one side of you and +a knife on the other, Nat?" + +"Troublous times, Dad. Some of the fisher-folk along the Northern End +aren't very scrupulous. They took a cargo of canned stuffs from me a +year back." + +"And what use do you make of the four-pounder that's wrapped up in +tarpaulin under your deck, Nat? And what in the world are you going to +do with five barrels of gunpowder?" + +"How in blazes--" began Captain Plum. + +"O, to be sure, to be sure--they're for the fisher-folk," interrupted +Obadiah Price. "Blow 'em up, eh, Nat? And you seem to be a young man of +education, Nat. How did you happen to make a mistake in your count? +Haven't you twelve men aboard your sloop instead of eight, Nat? Aren't +there twelve, instead of eight? Eh, Nat?" + +"The devil take you!" cried Captain Plum, leaping suddenly to his feet, +his face flaming red. "Yes, I have got twelve men and I've got a gun in +tarpaulin and I've got five barrels of gunpowder! But how in the name of +Kingdom-Come did you find it out?" + +Obadiah Price came around the end of the table and stood so close to +Captain Plum that a person ten feet away could not have heard him when +he spoke. + +"I know more than that, Nat," he whispered. "Listen! A little while +ago--say two weeks back--you were becalmed off the head of Beaver +Island, and one dark night you were boarded by two boat-loads of men who +made you and your crew prisoners, robbed you of everything you had,--and +the next day you went back to Chicago. Eh?" + +Nathaniel stood speechless. + +"And you made up your mind the pirates were Mormons, enlisted some of +your friends, armed your ship--and you're back here to make us settle. +Isn't it so, Nat?" + +The little old man was rubbing his hands eagerly, excitedly. + +"You tried to get the revenue cutter _Michigan_ to come down with you, +but they wouldn't--ho, ho, they wouldn't! One of our friends in Chicago +sent quick word ahead of you to tell me all about it, and--Strang, the +king, doesn't know!" + +He spoke the last words in intense earnestness. + +Then, suddenly, he held out his hand. + +"Young man, will you shake hands with me? Will you shake hands?--and +then we will go to St. James!" + +Captain Plum thrust out a hand and the old man gripped it. The thin +fingers tightened like cold clamps of steel. For a moment the face of +Obadiah Price underwent a strange change. The hardness and glitter went +out of his eyes and in place there came a questioning, almost an +appealing, look. His tense mouth relaxed. It was as if he was on the +point of surrendering to some emotion which he was struggling to stifle. +And Nathaniel, meeting those eyes, felt that somewhere within him had +been struck a strange chord of sympathy, something that made this little +old man more than a half-mad stranger to him, and involuntarily the +grip of his fingers tightened around those of his companion. + +"Now we will go to St. James, Captain Plum!" + +He attempted to withdraw his hand but Captain Plum held to it. + +"Not yet!" he exclaimed. "There are two or three things which your +friend didn't tell you, Obadiah Price!" + +Nathaniel's eyes glittered dangerously. + +"When I left ship this morning I gave explicit orders to Casey, my +mate." + +He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinching eyes. + +"I said something like this: 'Casey, I'm going to see Strang before I +come back. If he's willing to settle for five thousand, we'll call it +off. And if he isn't--why, we'll stand out there a mile and blow St. +James into hell! And if I don't come back by to-morrow at sundown, +Casey, you take command and blow it to hell without me!' So, Obadiah +Price, if there's treachery--" + +The old man clutched at his hands with insane fierceness. + +"There will be no treachery, Nat, I swear to God there will be no +treachery! Come, we will go--" + +Still Captain Plum hesitated. + +"Who are you? Whom am I to follow?" + +"A member of our holy Council of Twelve, Nat, and lord high treasurer of +His Majesty, King Strang!" + +Before Captain Plum could recover from the surprise of this whispered +announcement the little old man had freed himself and was pattering +swiftly through the darkness of the next room. The master of the +_Typhoon_ followed close behind him. Outside the councilor hesitated for +a moment, as if debating which route to take, and then with a prodigious +wink at Captain Plum and a throatful of his inimitable chuckles, chose +the path down which his startled visitor of a short time before had +fled. For fifteen minutes this path led between thick black walls of +forest verdure. Obadiah Price kept always a few paces ahead of his +companion and spoke not a word. At the end of perhaps half a mile the +path entered into a large clearing on the farther side of which +Nathaniel caught the glimmer of a light. They passed close to this +light, which came from the window of a large square house built of logs, +and Captain Plum became suddenly conscious that the air was filled with +the redolent perfume of lilac. With half a dozen quick strides he +overtook the councilor and caught him by the arm. + +"I smell lilac!" he exclaimed. + +"Certainly, so do I," replied Obadiah Price. "We have very fine lilacs +on the island." + +"And I smelled lilac back there," continued Nathaniel, still holding to +the old man's arm, and pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "I smelled +'em back there, when--" + +"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the councilor softly. "I don't doubt it, Nat, I +don't doubt it. She is very fond of lilacs. She wears the flowers very +often." + +He pulled himself away and Captain Plum could hear his queer chuckling +for some time after. Soon they entered the gloom of the woods again and +a little later came out into another clearing and Nathaniel knew that it +was St. James that lay at his feet. The lights of a few fishing boats +were twinkling in the harbor, but for the most part the town was dark. +Here and there a window shone like a spot of phosphorescent yellow in +the dismal gloom and the great beacon still burned steadily over the +home of the prophet. + +"Ah, it is not time," whispered Obadiah. "It is still too early." He +drew his companion out of the path which they had followed and sat +himself down on a hummock a dozen yards away from it, inviting Nathaniel +by a pull of the sleeve to do the same. There were three of these +hummocks, side by side, and Captain Plum chose the one nearest the old +man and waited for him to speak. But the councilor did not open his +lips. Doubled over until his chin rested almost upon the sharp points of +his knees, he gazed steadily at the beacon, and as he looked it +shuddered and grew dark, like a firefly that suddenly closes its wings. +With a quick spring the councilor straightened himself and turned to the +master of the _Typhoon_. + +"You have a good nose, Nat," he said, "but your ears are not so good. +Sh-h-h-h!" He lifted a hand warningly and nodded sidewise toward the +path. Captain Plum listened. He heard low voices and then +footsteps--voices that were approaching rapidly, and were those of +women, and footsteps that were almost running. The old man caught him by +the arm and as the sounds came nearer his grip tightened. + +"Don't frighten them, Nat. Get down!" + +He crouched until he was only a part of the shadows of the ground and +following his example Nathaniel slipped between two of the knolls. A +few yards away the sound of the voices ceased and there was a hesitancy +in the soft tread of the approaching steps. Slowly, and now in awesome +silence, two figures came down the path and when they reached a point +opposite the hummocks Nathaniel could see that they turned their faces +toward them and that for a brief space there was something of terror in +the gleam he caught of their eyes. In a moment they had passed. Then he +heard them running. + +"They saw us!" Captain Plum exclaimed. + +Obadiah hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands with great glee. "What a +temptation, Nat!" he whispered. "What a temptation to frighten them out +of their wits! No, they didn't see us, Nat--they didn't see us. The +girls are always frightened when they pass these graves. Some day--" + +"Graves!" almost shouted the master of the _Typhoon_. "Graves--and we +sitting on 'em!" + +"That's all right, Nat--that's all right. They're my graves, so we're +welcome to sit on them. I often come here and sit for hours at a time. +They like to have me, especially little Jean--the middle one. Perhaps +I'll tell you about Jean before you go away." + +If Captain Plum had been watching him he would have seen that soft +mysterious light again shining in the old councilor's eyes. But now +Nathaniel stood erect, his nostrils sniffing the air, catching once more +the sweet scent of lilac. He hurried out into the opening, with the old +man close behind him, and peered down into the starlit gloom into which +the two girls had disappeared. The lovely face that had appeared to him +for an instant at Obadiah's cabin began to haunt him. He was sure now +that his sudden appearance had not been the only cause of its terror, +and he felt that he should have called out to her or followed until he +had overtaken her. He could easily have excused his boldness, even if +the councilor had been watching him from the cabin door. He was certain +that she had passed very near to him again and that the fright which +Obadiah had attempted to explain was not because of the graves. He swung +about upon his companion, determined to ask for an explanation. The +latter seemed to divine his thought. + +"Don't let a little scent of lilac disturb you so, young man," he said +with singular coldness. "It may cause you great unpleasantness." He went +ahead and Nathaniel followed him, assured that the old man's words and +the way in which he had spoken them no longer left a doubt as to the +identity of his night visitor. She was one of the councilor's wives, so +he thought, and his own interest in her was beginning to have an +irritating effect. In other words Obadiah was becoming jealous. + +For some time there was silence between the two. Obadiah Price now +walked with extreme slowness and along paths which seemed to bring him +no nearer to the town below. Nathaniel could see that he was absorbed in +thoughts of his own, and held his peace. Was it possible that he had +spoiled his chances with the councilor because of a pretty face and a +bunch of lilacs? The thought tickled Captain Plum despite the delicacy +of his situation and he broke into an involuntary laugh. The laugh +brought Obadiah to a halt as suddenly as though some one had thrust a +bayonet against his breast. + +"Nat, you've got good red blood in you," he cried, whirling about. "D'ye +suppose you can hate as well as love?" + +"Lord deliver us!" exclaimed the astonished Captain Plum. +"Hate--love--what the--" + +"Yes, _hate_," repeated the old man with fierce emphasis, so close that +his breath struck Nathaniel's face. "You can love a pretty face--and you +can _hate_. I know you can. If you couldn't I would send you back to +your sloop with the package to-night. But as it is I am going to relieve +you of your oath. Yes, Nat, I give you back your oath--for a time." + +Nathaniel stepped a pace back and put his hands on his pockets as if to +protect the gold there. + +"You mean that you want to call off our bargain?" he asked. + +The councilor rubbed his hands until the friction of them sent a shiver +up Nathaniel's back. "Not that, Nat--O, no, not that! The bargain is +good. The gold is yours. You must deliver the package. But you need not +do it immediately. Understand? I am lonely back there in my shack. I +want company. You must stay with me a week. Eh? Lilacs and pretty faces, +Nat! Ho, ho!--You will stay a week, won't you, Nat?" + +He spoke so rapidly and his face underwent so many changes, now +betraying the keenest excitement, now wrinkled in an ogreish, bantering +grin, now almost pleading in its earnestness, that Nathaniel knew not +what to make of him. He looked into the beady eyes, sparkling with +passion, and the cat-like glitter of them set his blood tingling. What +strange adventure was this old man dragging him into? What were the +motives, the reasoning, the plot that lay behind this mysterious +creature's apparent faith in him? He tried to answer these things in the +passing of a moment before he replied. The councilor saw his hesitancy +and smiled. + +"I will show you many things of interest, Nat," he said. "I will show +you just one to-night. Then you will make up your mind, eh? You need not +tell me until then." + +He took the lead again and this time struck straight down for the town. +They passed a number of houses built of logs and Nathaniel caught narrow +gleams of light from between close-drawn curtains. In one of these +houses he heard the crying of children, and with a return of his grisly +humor Obadiah Price prodded him in the ribs and said, + +"Good old Israel Laeng lives there--two wives, one old, one +young--eleven children. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to him!" And from +a second he heard the sound of an organ, and from still a third there +came the laughter and chatter of several feminine voices, and again +Obadiah reached out and prodded Nathaniel in the ribs. There was one +great, gloomy, long-built place which they passed, without a ray of +light to give it life, and the councilor said, "Three widows there, +Nat,--fight like cats and dogs. Poor Job killed himself." They avoided +the more thickly populated part of the settlement and encountered few +people, which seemed to please the councilor. Once they overtook and +passed a group of women clad in short skirts and loose waists and with +their hair hanging in braids down their backs. For a third time Obadiah +nudged Captain Plum. + +"It is the king's pleasure that all women wear skirts that come just +below the knees," he whispered. "Some of them won't do it and he's +wondering how to punish them. To-morrow there's going to be two public +whippings. One of the victims is a man who said that if he was a woman +he'd die before he put on knee skirts. After he's whipped he is going +to be made to wear 'em. By Urim and Thummin, isn't that choice, Nat?" + +He shivered with quiet laughter and dived into a great block of darkness +where there seemed to be no houses, keeping close beside Nathaniel. Soon +they came to the edge of a grove and deep among the trees Captain Plum +caught a glimpse of a lighted window. Obadiah Price now began to exhibit +unusual caution. He approached the light slowly, pausing every few steps +to peer guardedly about him, and when they had come very near to the +window he pulled his companion behind a thick clump of shrubbery. +Nathaniel could hear the old man's subdued chuckle and he bent his head +to catch what he was about to whisper to him. + +"You must make no noise, Nat," he warned. "This is the castle of our +priest, king and prophet--James Jesse Strang. I am going to show you +what you have never seen before and what you will never look upon again. +I have sworn upon the Two Books and I will keep my oath. And then--you +will answer the question I asked you back there." + +He crept out into the darkness of the trees and Nathaniel followed, his +heart throbbing with excitement, every sense alert, and one hand resting +on the butt of his pistol. He felt that he was nearing the climax of his +day's adventure and now, in the last moment of it, his old caution +reasserted itself. He knew that he was among a dangerous people, men +who, according to the laws of his country, were criminals in more ways +than one. He had seen much of their work along the coasts and he had +heard of more of it. He knew that this gloom and sullen quiet of St. +James hid cut-throats and pirates and thieves. Still there was nothing +ahead to alarm him. The old man dodged the gleams of the lighted window +and slunk around to the end of the great house. Here, several feet above +his head, was another window, small and veiled with the foliage wall. +With the assurance of one who had been there before the councilor +mounted some object under the window, lifted himself until his chin was +on a level with the glass, and peered within. He was there but an +instant and then fell back, chuckling and rubbing his hands. + +"Come, Nat!" + +He stood a little to one side and bowed with mock politeness. For a +moment Captain Plum hesitated. Under ordinary circumstances this spying +through a window would have been repugnant to him. But at present +something seemed to tell him that it was not to satisfy his curiosity +alone that Obadiah Price had given him this opportunity. Would a look +through that little window explain some of the mysteries of the night? + +There came a low whisper in his ear. + +"Do you smell lilac, Nat? Eh?" + +The councilor was grinning at him. There was a suggestive gleam in his +eyes. He rubbed his hands almost fiercely. + +In another instant Captain Plum had stepped upon the object beneath the +window and parted the leaves. Breathlessly he looked in. A strange scene +met his eyes. He was looking into a vast room, illuminated by a huge +hanging lamp suspended almost on a level with his head. Under this lamp +there was a long table and at the table sat seven women and one man. The +man was at the end nearest the window and all that Nat could see was the +back of his head and shoulders. But the women were in full view, three +on each side of the table and one at the far end. He guessed the man to +be Strang; but he stared at the women and as his eyes traveled back to +the one facing him at the end of the table he could scarcely repress the +exclamation of surprise that rose to his lips. It was the girl whom he +had encountered at the councilor's cabin. She was leaning forward as if +in an agony of suspense, her eyes on the king, her lips parted, her +hands clutching at a great book which lay open before her. Her cheeks +were flushed with excitement. And even as he looked Captain Plum saw +her head fall suddenly forward upon the table, encircled by her arms. +The heavy braid of her hair, partly undone, glistened like red gold in +the lamplight. Her slender body was convulsed with sobs. The woman +nearest her reached over and laid a caressing hand on the bowed head, +but drew it quickly away as if at a sharp command. + +In his eagerness Nathaniel thrust his face through the foliage until his +nose touched the glass. When the girl lifted her head she straightened +back in her chair--and saw him. There came a sudden white fear in her +face, a parting of the lips as if she were on the point of crying out, +and then, before the others had seen, she looked again at Strang. She +had discovered him and yet she had not revealed her discovery! Nathaniel +could have shouted for joy. She had seen him, had recognized him! And +because she had not cried out she wanted him! He drew his pistol from +its holster and waited. If she signaled for him, if she called him, he +would burst the window. The girl was talking now and as she talked she +lifted her eyes. Nathaniel pressed his face close against the window, +and smiled. That would let her know he was a friend. She seemed to +answer him with a little nod and he fancied that her eyes glowed with a +mute appeal for his assistance. But only for an instant, and then they +turned again to the king. Not until that moment did Nathaniel notice +upon her bosom a bunch of crumpled lilacs. + +From below the iron grip of the councilor dragged him down. + +"That's enough," he whispered. "That's enough--for to-night." He saw the +pistol in Nathaniel's hand and gave a sudden breathless cry. + +"Nat--Nat--" + +He caught Captain Plum's free hand in his. + +"Tell me this, Obadiah Price," whispered the master of the _Typhoon_, +"who is she?" + +The councilor stood on tiptoe to answer. + +"They are the six wives of Strang, Nat!" + +"But the other?" demanded Nathaniel. "The other--" + +"O, to be sure, to be sure," chuckled Obadiah. "The girl of the lilacs, +eh? Why, she's the seventh wife, Nat--that's all, the seventh wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WARNING + + +So quickly that Obadiah Price might not have counted ten before it had +come and gone the significance of his new situation flashed upon Captain +Plum as he stood under the king's window. His plans had changed since +leaving ship but now he realized that they had become hopelessly +involved. He had intended that Obadiah should show him where Strang was +to be found, and that later, when ostensibly returning to his vessel, he +would visit the prophet in his home. Whatever the interview brought +forth he would still be in a position to deliver the councilor's +package. Even an hour's bombardment of St. James would not interfere +with the fulfilment of his oath. But those few minutes at the king's +window had been fatal to the scheme he had built. The girl had seen +him. She had not betrayed his presence. She had called to him with her +eyes--he would have staked his life on that. What did it all mean? He +turned to Obadiah. The old man was grimacing and twisting his hands +nervously. He seemed half afraid, cringing, as if fearing a blow. The +sight of him set Nathaniel's blood afire. His white face seemed to +verify the terrible thought that had leaped into his brain. Suddenly he +heard a faint cry--a woman's voice--and in an instant he was back at the +window. The girl had risen to her feet and stood facing him. This time, +as her eyes met his own, he saw in them a flashing warning, and he +obeyed it as if she had spoken to him. As he dropped silently back to +the ground the councilor came close to his side. + +"That's enough for to-night, Nat," he whispered. + +He made as if to slip away but Nathaniel detained him with an emphatic +hand. + +"Not yet, Dad! I'd like to have a word with--this--" + +"With Strang's wife," chuckled Obadiah. "Ho, ho, ho, Nat, you're a +rascal!" The old man's face was mapped with wrinkles, his eyes glowed +with joyous approbation. "You shall, Nat, you shall! You love a pretty +face, eh? You shall meet Mrs. Strang, Nat, and you shall make love to +her if you wish. I swear that, too. But not to-night, Nat--not +to-night." + +He stood a pace away and rubbed his hands. + +"There will be no chance to-night, Nat--but to-morrow night, or the +next. O, I promise you shall meet her, and make love to her, Nat! Ho, if +Strang knew, if Strang _only_ knew!" + +There was something so fiendishly gloating in the councilor's attitude, +in his face, in the hot glow of his eyes, that for a moment Nathaniel's +involuntary liking for the little old man before him turned to +abhorrence. The passion, the triumph of the man, convinced him where +words had failed. The girl was Strang's wife. His last doubt was +dispelled. And because she was Strang's wife Obadiah hated the Mormon +prophet. The councilor had spoken with fateful assurance--that he should +meet her, that he should make love to her. It was an assurance that made +him shudder. As he followed in silence up out of the gloom of the town +he strove, but in vain, to find whether sin had lurked in the sweet face +that had appealed to him in its misery--whether there had been a flash +of something besides terror, besides prayerful entreaty, in the lovely +eyes that had met his own. Obadiah spoke no word to break in on his +thoughts. Now and then the old man's insane chucklings floated softly to +Nathaniel's ears, and when at last they came to the cabin in the forest +he broke into a low laugh that echoed weirdly in the great black room +which they entered. He lighted another candle and approached a ladder +which led through a trap in the ceiling. Without a word he mounted this +ladder, and Nathaniel followed him, finding himself a moment later in a +small low room furnished with a bed. The councilor placed his candle on +a table close beside it and rubbed his hands until it seemed they must +burn. + +"You will stay--eh, Nat?" he cried, bobbing his head. "Yes, you will +stay, and you will give me back the package for a day or two." He +retreated to the trap and slid down it as quickly as a rat. "Pleasant +dreams to you, Nat, and--O, wait a minute!" Captain Plum could hear him +pattering quickly over the floor below. In a moment he was back, +thrusting his white grimacing face through the trap and tossed something +upon the bed. "She left them last night, Nat. Pleasant dreams, pleasant +dreams," and he was gone. + +Nathaniel turned to the bed and picked up a faded bunch of lilacs. Then +he sat down, loaded his pipe, and smoked until he could hardly see the +walls of his little room. From the moment of his landing on the island +he turned the events of the day over in his mind. Yet when he arrived at +the end of them he was no less mystified than when he began. Who was +Obadiah Price? Who was the girl that fate had so mysteriously associated +with his movements thus far? What was the plot in which he had +accidentally become involved? With tireless tenacity he hung to these +questions for hours. That there was a plot of some kind he had not the +least doubt. The councilor's strange actions, the oath, the package, and +above all the scene in the king's house convinced him of that. And he +was sure that Obadiah's night visitor--the girl with the lilacs--was +playing a vital part in it. + +He plucked at the withered flowers which the old man had thrown him. He +could detect their sweet scent above the pungent fumes of tobacco and as +Obadiah's triumphant chuckle recurred to him, the gloating joy in his +eyes, the passionate tremble of his voice, a grim smile passed over his +face. The mystery was easy of solution--if he was willing to reason +along certain lines. But he was not willing. He had formed his own +picture of Strang's wife and it pleased him to keep it. At moments he +half conceded himself a fool, but that did not trouble him. The longer +he smoked the more his old confidence and his old recklessness returned +to him. He had enjoyed his adventure. The next day he would end it. He +would go openly into St. James and have done his business with Strang. +Then he would return to his ship. What had he, Captain Plum, to do with +Strang's wife? + +But even after he had determined on these things his brain refused to +rest. He paced back and forth across the narrow room, thinking of the +man whom he was to meet to-morrow--of Strang, the one-time schoolmaster +and temperance lecturer who had made himself a king, who for seven years +had defied the state and nation, and who had made of his island +stronghold a hot-bed of polygamy, of licentiousness, of dissolute power. +His blood grew hot as he thought again of the beautiful girl who had +appealed to him. Obadiah had said that she was the king's wife. Still-- + +Thoughts flashed into his head which for a time made him forget his +mission on the island. In spite of his resolution to keep to his own +scheme he found himself, after a little, thinking only of the Mormon +king, and the lovely face he had seen through the castle window. He knew +much about the man with whom he was to deal to-morrow. He knew that he +had been a rival of Brigham Young and that when the exodus of the +Mormons to the deserts of the west came he had led his own followers +into the North, and that each July, amid barbaric festivities, he was +recrowned with a circlet of gold. But the girl! If she was the king's +wife why had her eyes called to him for help? + +The question crowded Nathaniel's brain with a hundred thrilling +pictures. With a shudder he thought of the terrible power the Mormon +king held not only over his own people but over the Gentiles of the +mainlands as well. With these mainlanders, he regarded Beaver Island as +a nest of pirates and murderers. He knew of the depredations of Strang +and his people among the fishermen and settlers, of the piratical +expeditions of his armed boats, of the dreaded raids of his sheriffs, +and of the crimes that made the women of the shores tremble and turn +white at the mere mention of his name. + +Was it possible that this girl-- + +Captain Plum did not let himself finish the thought. With a powerful +effort he brought himself back to his own business on the island, smoked +another pipe, and undressed. He went to bed with the withered lilacs on +the table close beside him. He fell asleep with their scent in his +nostrils. When he awoke they were gone. He started up in astonishment +when he saw what had taken their place. Obadiah had visited him while he +slept. The table was spread with a white cloth and upon it was his +breakfast, a pot of coffee still steaming, and the whole of a cold baked +fowl. Near-by, upon a chair, was a basin of water, soap and a towel. +Nathaniel rolled from his bed with a healthy laugh of pleasure. The +councilor was at least a courteous host, and his liking for the curious +old man promptly increased. There was a sheet of paper on his plate upon +which Obadiah had scribbled the following words: + +"My dear Nat:--Make yourself at home. I will be away to-day but will see +you again to-night. Don't be surprised if somebody makes you a visit." + +The "somebody" was heavily underscored and Nathaniel's pulse quickened +and a sudden flush of excitement surged into his face as he read the +meaning of it. The "somebody" was Strang's wife. There could be no other +interpretation. He went to the trap and called down for Obadiah but +there was no answer. The councilor had already gone. Quickly eating his +breakfast the master of the _Typhoon_ climbed down the ladder into the +room below. The remains of the councilor's breakfast were on a table +near the door, and the door was open. Through it came a glory of +sunshine and the fresh breath of the forest laden with the perfume of +wild flowers and balsam. A thousand birds seemed caroling and twittering +in the sunlit solitude about the cabin. Beyond this there was no other +sound or sign of life. For many minutes Nathaniel stood in the open, his +eyes on the path along which he knew that Strang's wife would come--if +she came at all. Suddenly he began to examine the ground where the girl +had stood the previous night. The dainty imprints of her feet were +plainly discernible in the soft earth. Then he went to the path--and +with a laugh so loud that it startled the birds into silence he set off +with long strides in the direction of St. James. From the footprints in +that path it was quite evident that Strang's wife was a frequent visitor +at Obadiah's. + +At the edge of the forest, from where he could see the log house +situated across the opening, Nathaniel paused. He had made up his mind +that the girl whom he had seen through the king's window was in some way +associated with it. Obadiah had hinted as much and she had come from +there on her way to Strang's. But as the prophet's wives lived in his +castle at St. James this surely could not be her home. More than ever he +was puzzled. As he looked he saw a figure suddenly appear from among the +mass of lilac bushes that almost concealed the cabin. An involuntary +exclamation of satisfaction escaped him and he drew back deeper among +the trees. It was the councilor who had shown himself. For a few moments +the old man stood gazing in the direction of St. James as if watching +for the approach of other persons. Then he dodged cautiously along the +edge of the bushes, keeping half within their cover, and moved swiftly +in the opposite direction toward the center of the island. Nathaniel's +blood leaped with a desire to follow. The night before he had guessed +that Obadiah with his gold and his smoldering passion was not a man to +isolate himself in the heart of the forest. Here--across the open--was +evidence of another side of his life. In that great square-built +domicile of logs, screened so perfectly by flowering lilac, lived +Obadiah's wives. Captain Plum laughed aloud and beat the bowl of his +pipe on the tree beside him. And the _girl_ lived there--or came from +there to the woodland cabin so frequently that her feet had beaten a +well-worn path. Had the councilor lied to him? Was the girl he had seen +through the King's window one of the seven wives of Strang--or was she +the wife of Obadiah Price? + +The thought was one that thrilled him. If the girl was the councilor's +wife what was the motive of Obadiah's falsehood? And if she was Strang's +wife why had her feet--and hers alone with the exception of the old +man's--worn this path from the lilac smothered house to the cabin in the +woods? The captain of the _Typhoon_ regretted now that he had given such +explicit orders to Casey. Otherwise he would have followed the figure +that was already disappearing into the forest on the opposite side of +the clearing. But now he must see Strang. There might be delay, +necessary delay, and if it so happened that his own blundering curiosity +kept him on the island until sundown--well, he smiled as he thought of +what Casey would do. + +Refilling his pipe and leaving a trail of smoke behind him he set out +boldly for St. James. When he came to the three graves he stopped, +remembering that Obadiah had said they were his graves. A sort of grim +horror began to stir at his soul as he gazed on the grass-grown +mounds--proofs that the old councilor would inherit a place in the +Mormon Heaven having obeyed the injunctions of his prophet on earth. +Nathaniel now understood the meaning of his words of the night before. +This was the family burying ground of the old councilor. + +He walked on, trying in vain to concentrate his mind solely upon the +business that was ahead of him. A few days before he would have counted +this walk to St. James one of the events of his life. Now it had lost +its fascination. Despite his efforts to destroy the vision of the +beautiful face that had looked at him through the king's window its +memory still haunted him. The eyes, soft with appeal; the red mouth, +quivering, and with lips parted as if about to speak to him; the bowed +head with its tumbled glory of hair--all had burned themselves upon his +soul in a picture too deep to be eradicated. If St. James was +interesting now it was because that face was a part of it, because the +secret of its life, of the misery that it had confessed to him, was +hidden somewhere down there among its scattered log homes. + +Slowly he made his way down the slope in the direction of Strang's +castle, the tower of which, surmounted by its great beacon, glistened in +the morning sun. He would find Strang there. And there would be one +chance in a thousand of seeing the girl--if Obadiah had spoken the +truth. As he passed down he met men and boys coming up the slope and +others moving along at the bottom of it, all going toward the interior +of the island. They had shovels or rakes or hoes upon their shoulders +and he guessed that the Mormon fields were in that direction; others +bore axes; and now and then wagons, many of them drawn by oxen, left the +town over the road that ran near the shore of the lake. Those whom he +met stared at him curiously, much interested evidently in the appearance +of a stranger. Nathaniel paid but small heed to them. As he entered the +grove through which the councilor had guided him the night before his +eagerness became almost excitement. He approached the great log house +swiftly but cautiously, keeping as much from view as possible. As he +came under the window through which he had looked upon the king and his +wives his heart leaped with anticipation, with hope that was strangely +mingled with fear. For only a moment he paused to listen, and +notwithstanding the seriousness of his position he could not repress a +smile as there came to his ears the crying of children and the high +angry voice of a woman. He passed around to the front of the house. The +door of Strang's castle was wide open and unguarded. No one had seen his +approach; no one accosted him as he mounted the low steps; there was no +one in the room into which he gazed a moment later. It was the great +hall into which he had spied a few hours previous. There was the long +table with the big book on it, the lamp whose light had bathed the +girl's head in a halo of glory, the very chair in which he had found her +sitting! He was conscious of a throbbing in his breast, a longing to +call out--if he only knew her name. + +In the room there were four closed doors and it was from beyond these +that there came to him the wailing of children. A fifth door was open +and through it he saw a cradle gently rocking. Here at last was visible +life, or motion at least, and he knocked loudly. Very gradually the +cradle ceased its movement. Then it stopped, and a woman came out into +the larger room. In a moment Nathaniel recognized her as the one who had +placed a caressing hand upon the bowed head of the sobbing girl the +night before. Her face was of pathetic beauty. Its whiteness was +startling. Her eyes shone with an unhealthy luster, and her dark hair, +falling in heavy curls over her shoulder, added to the wonderful pallor +of her cheeks. + +Nathaniel bowed. "I beg your pardon, madam; I came to see Mr. Strang," +he said. + +"You will find the king at his office," she replied. + +The woman's voice was low, but so sweet that it was like music to the +ear. As she spoke she came nearer and a faint flush appeared in the +transparency of her cheek. + +"Why do you wish to see the king?" she asked. + +Was there a tremble of fear in her voice? Even as he looked Nathaniel +saw the flush deepen in her cheeks and her eyes light with nervous +eagerness. + +"I am sent by Obadiah Price," he hazarded. + +A flash of relief shot into the woman's face. + +"The king is at his office," she repeated. "His office is near the +temple." + +Nathaniel retired with another bow. + +"By thunder, Strang, old boy, you've certainly got an eye for beauty!" +he laughed as he hurried through the grove. + +"And Obadiah Price must be somebody, after all!" + +The Mormon temple was the largest structure in St. James, a huge square +building of hewn logs, and Nathaniel did not need to make inquiry to +find it. On one side was a two-story building with an outside stairway +leading to the upper floor, and a painted sign announced that on this +second floor was situated the office of James Jesse Strang, priest, king +and prophet of the Mormons. It was still very early and the general +merchandise store below was not open. Congratulating himself on this +fact, and with the fingers of his right hand reaching instinctively for +his pistol butt, Captain Plum mounted the stair. When half way up he +heard voices. As he reached the landing at the top he caught the quick +swish of a skirt. Another step and he was in the open door. He was not +soon enough to see the person who had just disappeared through an +opposite door but he knew that it was a woman. Directly in front of him +as if she had been expecting his arrival was a young girl, and no sooner +had he put a foot over the threshold than she hurried toward him, the +most acute anxiety and fear written in her face. + +"You are Captain Plum?" she asked breathlessly. + +Nathaniel stopped in astonishment. + +"Yes, I'm--" + +"Then you must hurry--hurry!" cried the girl excitedly. "You have not a +moment to lose! Go back to your ship before it is too late! She says +they will kill you--" + +"Who says so?" thundered Captain Plum. He sprang to the girl's side and +caught her by the arm. "Who says that I will be killed? Tell me--who +gave you this warning for me?" + +"I--I--tell you so!" stammered the young girl. "I--I--heard the +king--they will kill you--" Her lips trembled. Nathaniel saw that her +eyes were already red from crying. "You will go?" she pleaded. + +Nathaniel had taken her hand and now he held it tightly in his own. His +head was thrown back, his eyes were upon the door across the room. When +he looked again into the girlish face there was flashing joyous defiance +in his eyes, and in his voice there was confession of the truth that had +suddenly come to overwhelm whatever law of self preservation he might +have held unto himself. + +"No, my dear, I am not going back to my ship," he spoke softly. "Not +unless she who is in that room comes out and bids me go herself!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WHIPPING + + +Scarce had the words fallen from his lips when there sounded a slow, +heavy step on the stair outside. The young girl snatched her hand free +and caught Nathaniel by the wrist. + +"It is the king!" she whispered excitedly. "It is the king! Quick--you +still have time! You must go--you must go--" + +She strove to pull him across the room. + +"There--through that door!" she urged. + +The slowly ascending steps were half way up the stairs. Nathaniel +hesitated. He knew that a moment before there had passed through that +door one who carried with her the odor of lilac and his heart leaped to +its own conclusion who that person was. He had heard the rustle of the +girl's skirt. He had seen the last inch of the door close as Strang's +wife pulled it after her. And now he was implored to follow! He sprang +forward as the heavy steps neared the landing. His hand was upon the +latch--when he paused. Then he turned and bent his head close down to +the girl. + +"No, I won't do it, my dear," he whispered. "Just now it might make +trouble for--her." + +He lifted his eyes and saw a man looking at him from the doorway. He +needed no further proof to assure him that this was Strang the king of +the Mormons, for the Beaver Island prophet was painted well in that +region which knew the grip and terror of his power. He was a massive +man, with the slow slumbering strength of a beast. He was not much under +fifty; but his thick beard, reddish and crinkling, his shaggy hair, and +the full-fed ruddiness of his face, with its foundation of heavy jaw, +gave him a more youthful appearance. There was in his eyes, set deep and +so light that they shone like pale blue glass, the staring assurance +that is frequently born of power. In his hand he carried a huge +metal-knobbed stick. + +In an instant Nathaniel had recovered himself. He advanced a step, +bowing coolly. + +"I am Captain Plum, of the sloop _Typhoon_," he said. "I called at your +home a short time ago and was directed to your office. As a stranger on +the island I did not know that you had an office or I would have come +here first." + +"Ah!" + +The king drew his right foot back half a pace and bowed so low that +Nathaniel saw only the crown of his hat. When he raised his head the +aggressive stare had gone out of his eyes and a welcoming smile lighted +up his face as he advanced with extended hand. + +"I am glad to see you, Captain Plum." + +His voice was deep and rich, filled with that wonderful vibratory power +which seems to strike and attune the hidden chords of one's soul. The +man's appearance had not prepossessed Nathaniel, but at the sound of his +voice he recognized that which had made him the prophet of men. As the +warm hand of the king clasped his own Captain Plum knew that he was in +the presence of a master of human destinies, a man whose ponderous +red-visaged body was simply the crude instrument through which spoke the +marvelous spirit that had enslaved thousands to him, that had enthralled +a state legislature and that had hypnotized a federal jury into giving +him back his freedom when evidence smothered him in crime. He felt +himself sinking in the presence of this man and struggled fiercely to +regain himself. He withdrew his hand and straightened himself like a +soldier. + +"I have come to you with a grievance, Mr. Strang," he began. "A +grievance which I feel sure you will do your best to right. Perhaps you +are aware that some little time ago--about two weeks back--your people +boarded my ship in force and robbed me of several thousand dollars' +worth of merchandise." + +Strang had drawn a step back. + +"Aware of it!" he exclaimed in a voice that shook the room. "Aware of +it!" The red of his face turned purple and he clenched his free hand in +sudden passion. "Aware of it!" He repeated the words, this time so +gently that Nathaniel could scarcely hear them, and tapped his heavy +stick upon the floor. "No, Captain Plum, I was not aware of it. If I +_had_ been--" He shrugged his thick shoulders. The movement, and a +sudden gleam of his teeth through his beard, were expressive enough for +Nathaniel to understand. + +Then the king smiled. + +"Are you sure--are you _quite_ sure, Captain Plum, that it was my people +who attacked your ship? If so, of course you must have some proof?" + +"We were very near to Beaver Island and many miles from the mainland," +said Nathaniel. "It could only have been your people." + +"Ah!" + +Strang led the way to a table at the farther end of the room and +motioned Nathaniel to a seat opposite him. + +"We are a much persecuted people, Captain Plum, very much persecuted +indeed." His wonderful voice trembled with a subdued pathos. "We have +answered for many sins that have never been ours, Captain Plum, and +among them are robbery, piracy and even murder. The people along the +coasts are deadly enemies to us--who would be their friends; they commit +crimes in our name and we do not retaliate. It was not my people who +waylaid your vessel. They were fishermen, probably, who came from the +Michigan shore and awaited their opportunity off Beaver Island. But I +shall investigate this; believe me, I shall investigate this fully, +Captain Plum!" + +Nathaniel felt something like a great choking fist shoot up into his +throat. It was not a sensation of fear but of humiliation--the +humiliation of defeat, the knowledge of his own weakness in the hands of +this man who had so quickly and so surely blocked his claim. His quick +brain saw the futility of argument. He possessed no absolute proof and +he had thought that he needed none. Strang saw the flash of doubt in his +face, the hesitancy in his answer; he divined the working of the other's +brain and in his soft voice, purring with friendship, he followed up his +triumph. + +"I sympathize with you," he spoke gently, "and my sympathy and word +shall help you. We do not welcome strangers among us, for strangers have +usually proved themselves our enemies and have done us wrong. But to you +I give the freedom of our kingdom. Search where you will, at what hours +you will, and when you have found a single proof that your stolen +property is among my people--when you have seen a face that you +recognize as one of the robbers, return to me and I shall make +restitution and punish the evil-doers." + +So intensely he spoke, so filled with reason and truth were his words, +that Nathaniel thrust out his hand in token of acceptance of the king's +terms. And as Strang gripped that hand Captain Plum saw the young girl's +face over the prophet's shoulder--a face, white as death in its terror, +that told him all he had heard was a lie. + +"And when you have done with my people," continued the king, "you will +go among that other race, along the mainland, where men have thrown off +the restraints of society to give loose reign to lust and avarice; where +the Indian is brutified that his wife may be intoxicated by compulsion +and prostituted by violence before his eyes; where the forest cabins and +the streets of towns are filled with half-breeds; where there stalk +wretches with withered and tearless eyes, who are in nowise troubled by +recollection of robbery, rape and murder. And _there_ you will find whom +you are looking for!" + +Strang had risen to his feet. His eyes blazed with the fire of smothered +hatred and passion and his great voice rolled through his beard, +tremulous with excitement, but still deep and rich, like the booming of +some melodious instrument. He flung aside his hat as he paced back and +forth; his shaggy hair fell upon his shoulders; huge veins stood out +upon his forehead--and Nathaniel sat mute as he watched this lion of a +man whose great throat quivered with the power that might have stirred a +nation--that might have made him president instead of king. He waited +for the thunder of that throat and his nerves keyed themselves to meet +its bursting passion. But when Strang spoke again it was in a voice as +soft and as gentle as a woman's. + +"Those are the men who have vilified us, Captain Plum; who have covered +us with crimes that we have never committed; who have driven our people +into groups that they may be free from depredation; who watch like +vultures to despoil our women; wild wifeless men, Captain Plum, who have +left families and character behind them and who have sought the +wilderness to escape the penalties of law and order. It is they who +would destroy us. Go among my own people first, Captain Plum, and find +your lost property if you can; and if you can not discover it where in +seven years not one child has been born out of wedlock, seek among the +Lamanites--and my sheriffs shall follow where you place the crime!" + +He had stretched out his arms like one whose plea was of life and death; +his face shone with earnestness; his low words throbbed as if his heart +were borne upon them for the inspection of its truth and honor. He was +Strang the tragedian, the orator, the conqueror of a legislature, a +governor, a dozen juries--and of human souls. And as he stood silent for +a moment in this attitude Nathaniel rose to his feet, subservient, and +believing as others had believed in the fitness of this man. But as his +eyes traveled a dozen paces beyond, he saw the young girl gesturing to +him in that same terror, and holding up for him to see a slip of paper +upon which she had written. And when she had caught his eyes she +crumpled the paper into a shapeless ball and tossed it just over the +landing to the ground below the stair. + +"I thank you for the privileges of the island which you have offered +me," said Nathaniel, putting on his hat, "and I shall certainly take +advantage of your kindness for a few hours, as I want very much to +witness one of your ceremonies which I understand is to take place +to-day. Then, if I have discovered nothing, I shall return to my ship." + +"Ah, you wish to see the whipping?" The king smiled his approval. "That +is one way we have of punishing slight misdemeanors in our kingdom, +Captain Plum. It is an illustration of our intolerance of evil-doers." +He turned suddenly toward the girl. "Winnsome, my dear, have you copied +the paper I was at work on? I wish to show it to Captain Plum." + +He walked slowly toward her and for the first time since her warning +Nathaniel had an opportunity of observing the girl without fear of +being perceived by the prophet. She was very young, hardly more than a +child he would have guessed at first; and yet at a second and more +careful glance he knew that she could not be under fifteen--perhaps +sixteen. Her whole attire was one to add to her childish appearance. Her +hair, which was rather short, fell in lustrous dark curls about her face +and upon her neck. She wore a fitted coat-like blouse, and knee skirts +which disclosed a pretty pair of legs and ankles. As Strang was +returning with the paper which she handed to him the girl turned her +face to Captain Plum. Her mouth was formed into a round red O and she +pointed anxiously to where she had thrown the note. The king's eyes were +on his paper and Nathaniel nodded to assure her that he understood. + +"I am like a gardener who compels every passing neighbor to go into his +back yard and admire his first sprouts," laughed the prophet jovially. +"In other words, I do a little writing, and I take a kind of childish +joy in making other people read it. But I see this is not in proper +shape, so you have escaped. It is a brief history of Beaver Island +written at the request of the Smithsonian Institute, which has already +published an article of mine. If you happen to be on the island +to-morrow and should you return to this office I shall certainly have +you read it if I have to call all of my sheriffs into service!" + +He laughed with such open good-humor that Nathaniel found himself +smiling despite the varied unpleasant sensations within him. "Do you +write much?" he asked. + +"I get out a daily paper," said the king rather proudly, "and of course, +as prophet, I am the translator of what word may be handed down to us +from Heaven for the direction and commandment of my people. I hold the +secret of the Urim and Thummin, which was first delivered by angels into +the hands of Joseph, and with it have revealed the word of God as it +appears in a book which I have written. Ah--I had forgotten this!" From +among a mass of papers and books on the table he drew forth a +blue-covered pamphlet and passed it to his companion. "I have only a few +copies left but you may have this one, Captain Plum. It will surely +interest you. In it I have set forth the troubles existing between my +own people and the cyprian-rotted criminals that infest Mackinac and the +mainland and have described our struggle for chastity and honor against +these human vultures. It was published two years ago. But conditions are +different to-day. Now--now I am king, and the oppressors in the filth of +their crime have become the oppressed!" + +The last words boomed from him in a slogan of triumph and as if in +echoing mockery there came from the open door the chuckling, mirthless +laugh of Obadiah Price. + +"Yea--yea--even into the land of the Lamanites are you king!" + +At the sound of his voice Strang turned toward him and the sonorous +triumph that rumbled in his throat faded to a low greeting. And +Nathaniel saw that the little old councilor's eyes glittered boldly as +they met the prophet's and that in their glance was neither fear nor +servitude but rather a light as of master meeting master. The two +advanced and clasped hands and a few low words passed between them while +Nathaniel went to the door. + +"I will go with you, Captain Nathaniel Plum," called Obadiah. "I will go +with you and show you the town." + +"The councilor will be your friend," added Strang. "To-day he carries +with him that authority from the king." + +He bowed and Nathaniel passed through the door. Looking back he caught a +last warning flash from the girl's eyes. As he hurried down the stair he +heard the councilor pause for an instant upon the landing and taking +advantage of this opportunity he picked up the bit of crumpled paper, +and read these lines: + +"Hurry to your ship. In another hour men will be watching for an +opportunity to kill you. You will never leave the island alive--_unless +you go now_. The girl you saw through the window sends you this +warning." + +He thrust the paper into his coat pocket as Obadiah came up behind him. + +"Ho, ho, Nat, my boy, I have come fast to catch you--I have come fast!" +he whispered. He caught his companion by the arm and Nathaniel felt his +hand trembling violently. "Come this way, Nat--beyond the temple. I have +things to say to you." His voice was strangely unnatural and when +Captain Plum looked down into his face the look in the bead-like eyes +startled him. "Nat, you must hurry away with the package!" + +"So I understand--if I save my skin. Obadiah Price, I have a notion to +kill you!" + +They had passed beyond the huge edifice of logs, and as he stopped, +hidden from the view of the king's office, Nathaniel caught the +councilor's arm in a grip that crushed to the bone. + +"I have a notion to kill you!" he repeated. + +The old man stood unflinching. Not a muscle of his face quivered as the +captain's fingers sank into his flesh. + +"At the first sign of treachery, at the first sign of danger to myself, +I shall shoot you dead!" he finished. + +"You may, Nat, you may. From this moment until you leave the island I +shall be at your side and no harm shall come to you. But if there +should, Nat, or if there should come a moment when you believe that I am +your enemy--shoot me!" There was sincerity in his voice that carried +conviction to Nathaniel's heart and he released his hold upon the +councilor's arm. Regardless of the mystery that surrounded him he +believed in Obadiah. But there rose in his breast a mad desire to choke +this old man into telling him the truth, to force him to reveal the +secrets of this strange plot into which he had been drawn and of which +he knew as little as when he first set foot in Strang's kingdom. Yet he +realized even as the desire formed itself in his brain that such an +effort would be useless. + +"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I was +your friend," continued Obadiah. "She would have come to you, but +now--it is impossible. You know. You have been warned?" + +Nathaniel drew Winnsome's note from his pocket and read it aloud. +Obadiah smiled gleefully when he noticed how carefully he kept the +handwriting from his eyes. + +"Ah, Nat, you are a noble fellow!" he cried, rubbing his hands in his +old tireless way. "You would not betray pretty little Winn, eh? And who +do you suppose told Winnsome to give you this note?" + +"Strang's wife." + +"Yea, even so. And it was she who set my old legs a-running for you, my +boy. Come, let us move!" + +The little councilor was his old self again, chuckling and grimacing and +rubbing his hands, and his eyes danced as he spoke of the girl. + +"Casey is not a cautious man," he gurgled with a sudden upward leer. +"Casey is a fool!" + +"Casey!" almost shouted Captain Plum. "What the devil do you mean?" + +"Ho, ho, ho--haven't you guessed the truth yet, Nat? While you and I +were getting acquainted last night a couple of fishermen from the +mainland dropped alongside your sloop. They had been robbed by the +Mormon pirates! They cursed Strang. They swore vengeance. And your +cautious Casey cursed with 'em, and fed 'em, and drank with 'em--and he +would have had them stay until morning only they were anxious to hurry +with their report to Strang. Understand, Nat? Eh? Do you understand?" + +"What did Casey tell them?" gasped Nathaniel. + +Obadiah hunched his shoulders. + +"Enough to warrant a bullet through your head, Nat. Cheerful, isn't it? +But we'll fool them, Nat, we'll fool them! You shall board your ship and +hurry away with the package, and then you shall make love to Strang's +wife--_for she will go with you!_" + +He stopped to enjoy the amazement that was written in every lineament of +the other's face. The red blood surged into Nathaniel's neck and +deepened on his bronze cheeks. Slowly the reaction came. When he spoke +there was an uneasy gleam in his eyes and his voice was as hard as +steel. + +"She will go with me, Councilor! And why?" + +Obadiah had laughed softly as he watched the change. Suddenly he jerked +himself erect. + +"Sh-h-h!" he whispered. "Keep cool, Nat! Don't show any excitement or +fear. Here comes the man who is to kill you!" + +He made no move save with his eyes. + +"He is coming to speak with me and to get a good look at you," he added +in excited haste. "Appear friendly. Agree with what I say. He is the +chief of sheriffs, the king's murderer--Arbor Croche!" + +He turned as if he had just seen the approaching figure. And he +whispered softly, "Winnsome's father!" + +Arbor Croche! Nathaniel gave an involuntary shudder as he turned with +Obadiah. Croche, chief of sheriffs, scourge of the mainland--the Attila +of the Mormon kingdom, whose very name caused the women of the shores to +turn white and on whose head the men had secretly set a price in gold! +Without knowing it his hand went under his coat. Obadiah saw the +movement and as he advanced to meet the officer of the king he jerked +the arm back fiercely. Half a dozen paces away the chief of sheriffs +paused and bowed low. But the councilor stood erect, as he had stood +before the king, smiling and nodding his head. + +"Ah, Croche," he greeted, "good morning!" + +"Good morning, Councilor!" + +"Sheriff, I would have you meet Captain Nathaniel Plum, master of the +sloop _Typhoon_. Captain Plum this is His Majesty's officer, Arbor +Croche!" + +The two men advanced and shook hands. Nathaniel stood half a head above +the sheriff, who, like his master, the king, was short and of massive +build, though a much younger man. He was a dark lowering hulk of a +creature, with black eyes, black hair, and a hand-clasp that showed him +possessed of great strength. + +"You are a stranger, Captain Plum?" + +The councilor replied quickly. + +"He has never been at St. James before, sheriff. I have invited him to +stay over to see the whipping. By the way--" he shot a suggestive look +at the Officer. "By the way, Croche, I want you to see him safely aboard +his sloop to-night. His ship is at the lower end of the island, and if +you will detail a couple of men just before dusk--an escort, you know--" + +Nathaniel felt a curious thrill creep up his spine at the satisfaction +which betrayed itself in the officer's black face. + +"It will give me great pleasure, Councilor," he interrupted. "I shall +escort you myself if you will allow me, Captain Plum!" + +"Thank you," said Nathaniel. + +"Captain Plum is to remain with me throughout the day," added Obadiah. +"Come at seven--to my place. Ah, I see that people are assembling near +the jail!" + +"We have changed our plans somewhat, Councilor." The officer turned to +Nathaniel. "You will see the whipping within half an hour, Captain +Plum." He turned away with another bow to the councilor and hastened in +the direction of Strang's office. + +"So that is the gentleman who thinks he is going to put a bullet through +me!" exclaimed Nathaniel when the officer had gone beyond hearing. He +laughed, and there was a kind of wild expectant joy in his voice. +"Obadiah, can you not make arrangements for him to go with me alone?" + +"He will not go with you at all, Nat," gloated the old man. "Ho, ho, we +are playing at his own game--treachery. When he calls at my place you +will be aboard ship." + +"But I should like to have a talk with him--alone, and in the woods. +God--I know a man at Grand Traverse Bay whose wife and daughter--" + +"Sh-h-h-h!" interrupted the councilor. "Would you kill little Winnsome's +father?" + +"Her father? That animal! That murderer! Is it true?" + +"But you should have seen her mother, Nat, you should have seen her +mother!" The old man twisted his hands, like a miser ravished by the +sight of gold. "She was beautiful--as beautiful as a wild flower, and +she killed herself three years ago to save the birth of another child +into this hell. Little Winn is like her mother, Nat." + +"And she lives with him?" + +"Er, yes--and guarded, oh, so carefully guarded by Strang, Nat! Yes, I +guess that some day she will be a queen." + +"Great God!" cried the young man. "And you--you live in this cesspool of +sin and still believe in a Heaven?" + +"Yes, I believe in a Heaven. And my reward there shall be great. Ho, ho, +I am taking no middle road, Nat!" + +They had passed in a semicircle beyond the temple and now approached a +squat building constructed of logs, which Obadiah had pointed out as the +jail. A glance satisfied Nathaniel that it was so situated that an +admirable view of the proceedings could be obtained from the rear of the +structure in which Strang had his office. Several score of people had +already assembled about the prison and stood chatting with that tense +interest and anticipation with which the mob always awaits public +infliction of the law's penalties. A third of them were women. As +Nathaniel had previously noted, the feminine part of the Mormon +population wore their hair either in braids down their backs or in thick +curls flowing over their shoulders and with the exception of three or +four were attired in skirts that just concealed their knees. Obadiah +halted his companion close to a group of half a dozen of these women and +nudged him slyly. + +"Pretty sight, eh, Nat?" he chuckled. "Ah, the king has a wonderful eye +for beauty, Nat--wonderful eye! He orders that no skirt shall fall below +the female knee. Ho, ho, if he dared, if he _quite_ dared, Nat!" + +He nudged Nathaniel again with such enthusiasm that the latter jumped as +though a knife had been thrust between his ribs. + +"By George, I admire his taste!" he laughed. The women caught him +staring at them, and one, who was the youngest and prettiest of the lot, +smiled invitingly. + +"Tush--the Jezebel!" snapped Obadiah, catching the look. "That's her +child playing just beyond." + +The young woman tossed her head and her white teeth gleamed in a laugh, +as though she had overheard the old councilor's words. + +"See her twist her hair," he snarled venomously as the young woman, +still boldly eying Nathaniel, played with the luxuriant curls that +glistened in the sun upon her breast. "Ezra Wilton is so fond of her +that he will take no other wife. Ugh, Strang is a fool!" + +Nathaniel turned away from the smiling eyes with a shrug. + +"Why?" + +"To tell our women that it helps to save their souls to wear short +skirts and let their hair hang down. For every soul of a woman that it +saves it sends two men on the road to hell!" + +So intense was the old man's displeasure and so ludicrous the twisting +contortions of his face that Nathaniel could hardly restrain himself +from bursting into a roar of laughter. Obadiah perceived his inclination +and with an angry bob of his head led the way through to the inner edge +of the waiting circle of men. Within this circle, in a small open space, +was a short post with straps attached to an arm nailed across it, and +leaning upon this post in an attitude of one who possesses a most +distinguished office was a young man with a three thonged whip in his +hand. An ominous silence pervaded the circle, with the exception of the +hushed whispering of a number of women who had forced themselves into +the line of spectators, bent upon witnessing the sight of blood as well +as hearing the sound of lashes. Nathaniel noticed that most of the women +hung in frightened curiosity beyond the men. + +"That is MacDougall with the lash--official whipper and caretaker of the +slave hounds," explained Obadiah in a whisper. + +Nathaniel gave a start of horror. + +"Slave hounds!" he breathed. + +The councilor grinned and twisted his hands, in enjoyment of his +companion's surprise. + +"We have the finest pack of bloodhounds north of Louisiana," he +continued, so low that only Nathaniel could hear. "See! Isn't the earth +worn smooth and hard about that post?" + +Nathaniel looked and his blood grew hot. + +"I have seen such things in the South," he said. "But not--for white +men!" + +The councilor caught him by the arm. + +"They are coming!" + +In the direction of the jail the crowd was separating. Men crushed back +on each side, forming a narrow aisle, even the whispering of the women +ceased. A moment later three men appeared in the opening between the +spectators. One of these, who walked between the other two, was stripped +to the waist. About each of his naked wrists was tied a leather thong +and these thongs were held by the man's guards. The prisoner's face was +livid; his hands were red with blood that dripped from his lacerated +wrists; his eyes glared malignantly and his heaving chest showed that +he had not been brought from the log prison without a struggle. + +"Ah, it's Wittle first!" breathed the councilor. "It's he who said his +wife should not wear short skirts." + +At the edge of the circle the prisoner hesitated and the muscles in his +arms and chest grew rigid. Those of the crowd nearest to him drew back. +Then a sudden change swept over the man's features and he walked quickly +to the stake and kneeled before it. The thongs about his wrists were +tied to the straps of the cross-piece and the whipper took his position. +As the first lash fell, a cry burst from the lips of the victim. When +the whip descended again he was silent. A curious sensation of sickness +crept over Nathaniel as he saw the red gashes thicken on the white +flesh. Five times--six times--seven times the whip rose and fell and he +could see the blood starting. In horror he turned his eyes away. Behind +him a man grinned at the whiteness of his face and the involuntary +trembling of his lips. Again and again he heard the lash fall upon the +naked back. From near him there came the sobbing moan of a woman. A +subdued movement, a sound as of murmuring wordless voices swept through +the throng. A steady glitter filled the eyes of the man who had laughed +at him--and he turned again to the stake. The man's back was dripping +blood. Great red seams lay upon his shoulders and a single lash had cut +his bowed neck. Another stroke, more fierce than the others, and +MacDougall turned away from the figure at the post, breathing hard. The +guards unfastened the victim's wrist-thongs and the man staggered to his +feet. As he swayed down through the path that opened for him his crimson +back shone in the sun. + +"Great God!" gasped Nathaniel. + +He turned to Obadiah and was startled by the appearance of the old man. +The councilor's face was ghastly. His mouth twitched and his body +trembled. Nathaniel took his arm sympathetically. + +"Hadn't we better go, Dad?" he whispered. + +"No--no--no--not yet, Nat. It's--it's--Neil now and I must see how the +boy--stands it!" + +It was but a short time before the guards returned. This time their +prisoner walked free and erect. The thongs dangled from his wrists and +he was a pace ahead of the two men who accompanied him. He was a young +man. Nathaniel judged his age at twenty-five. He was a striking contrast +to the man who had suffered first at the post. His face instead of +betraying the former's pallor was flushed with excitement; his head was +held high; not a sign of fear or hesitation shone in his eyes. As he +glanced quickly around the circle of faces the flush grew deeper in his +cheeks. He nodded and smiled at MacDougall and in that nod and smile +there was a meaning that sent a shiver to the whip-master's heart. Then +his eyes fell upon Obadiah and Nathaniel. He saw the councilor's hand +resting upon the young captain's arm and a flash of understanding passed +over his face. For an instant the eyes of the two young men met. The man +at the post took half a step forward. His lips moved as if he was on the +point of speaking, the defiant smile went out of his face, the flush +faded in his cheeks. Then he turned quickly and held out his hands to +the guards. + +As the young man kneeled before the post Nathaniel heard a smothered sob +at his side which he knew came from Obadiah. + +"Come, Dad," he said softly. "I can't stand this. Let's get away!" + +He shoved the councilor back. The lash whistled through the air behind +him. As it fell there came a piercing cry. It was a woman's voice, and +with a snarl like that of a tortured animal the old man struck down +Nathaniel's arm and clawed his way back to the edge of the line. On the +opposite side there was a surging in the crowd and as MacDougall raised +his whip a woman burst through. + +"My God!" cried Nathaniel, "it's--" + +He left the rest of the words unspoken. His veins leaped with fire. A +single sweep of his powerful arms and he had forced himself through the +innermost line of spectators. Within a dozen feet of him stood Strang's +wife, her beautiful hair disheveled, her face deadly white, her bosom +heaving as if she had been running. In a moment her eyes had taken in +the situation--the man at the stake, the upraised lash--and Nathaniel. +With a sobbing, breathless cry, she flung herself in front of MacDougall +and threw her arms around the kneeling man, her hair covering him in a +glistening veil. For an instant her eyes were raised to Nathaniel and he +saw in them that same agonized appeal that had called to him through the +king's window. The striking muscles of his arms tightened like steel. +One of the guards sprang forward and caught the girl roughly by the arm +and attempted to drag her away. In his excitement he pulled her head +back and her hair trailed in the dirt. The sight was maddening. From +Nathaniel's throat there came a fierce cry and in a single leap he had +cleared the distance to the guard and had driven his fist against the +officer's head with the sickening force of a sledge-hammer. The man fell +without a groan. In another flash he had drawn his knife and severed the +thongs that held the man at the stake. For a moment his face was very +near the girl's and he saw her lips form the glad cry which he did not +wait to hear. + +He turned like an enraged beast toward the circle of dumfounded +spectators and launched himself at the second guard. From behind him +there sounded a shout and he caught the gleam of naked shoulders as the +man who had been at the stake rushed to his side. Together they tore +through the narrow rim of the crowd, striking at the faces which +appeared before them, their terrific blows driving men right and left. + +"This way, Neil!" shouted Nathaniel. "This way--to the ship!" + +They raced up the slope that led from the town to the forest. Even the +king's officer, palsied by the suddenness of the attack, had not +followed. From a screened window in the king's building two men had +witnessed the exciting scene near the jail. One of these men was Strang. +The other was Arbor Croche. At another window a few feet away, hidden +from their eyes by a high desk and masses of papers and books, Winnsome +Croche was crumpled up on the floor hardly daring to breathe through +fear of betraying her presence. From these windows they had seen the +girl run from behind the jail; they had watched her struggle through the +line of spectators, saw Nathaniel leap forward--saw the quick blow, the +gleaming knife, and the escape. So suddenly had it all occurred that not +a sound escaped the two astonished men. But as Nathaniel and Neil burst +through the crowd and sped toward the forest Strang's great voice +boomed forth like the rumble of a gun. + +"Arbor Croche, overtake those men--and kill them!" + +With a wild curse the chief of sheriffs dashed down the stairway and as +she heard him go the terror of Winnsome's heart seemed to turn her blood +cold. She knew what that command meant. She knew that her father would +obey it. As the daughter of the chief of sheriffs more than one burning +secret was hidden in her breast, more than one of those frightful +daggers that had pricked at the soul of her mother until they had +murdered her. And the chief of them all was this: that to Arbor Croche +the words of Strang were the words of God and that if the prophet said +kill, he would kill. For a full minute she crouched in her concealment, +stunned by the horror that had so quickly taken the place of the joy +with which she had witnessed the escape. She heard Strang leave the +window, heard his heavy steps in the outer room, heard the door close, +and knew that he, too, was gone. She sprang to her feet and ran to the +window at which the two men had stood. The chief of sheriffs was already +at the jail. The crowd had begun to disperse. Men were swarming like +ants up the long slope reaching to the forest. Three or four of the +leaders were running and she knew that they were hot in pursuit of the +fugitives. Others were following more slowly and among these she saw +that there were women. As she looked there came a sound from the stair. +She recognized the step. She recognized the voice that called her name a +moment later and with a despairing cry she turned with outstretched arms +to greet the girl for whom Nathaniel had interrupted the king's +whipping. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MYSTERY + + +Hardly had Nathaniel fought his way through the thin crowd of startled +spectators about the whipping-post before the enormity of his offense in +interrupting the king's justice dawned upon him. He was not sorry that +he had responded to the mute appeal of the girl who had entered so +strangely into his life. He rejoiced at the spirit that had moved him to +action, that had fired his blood and put the strength of a giant in his +arms; and his nerves tingled with an unreasoning joy that he had leaped +all barriers which in cooler moments would have restrained him, and +which fixed in his excited brain only the memory of the beautiful face +that had sought his own in those crucial moments of its suffering. The +girl had turned to him and to him alone among all those men. He had +heard her voice, he had felt the soft sweep of her hair as he severed +the prisoner's thongs, he had caught the flash of her eyes and the +movement of her lips as he dashed himself into the crowd. And as he sped +swiftly up the slope he considered himself amply repaid for all that he +had done. His blood was stirred as if by the fire of sharp wines; he was +still in a tension of fighting excitement. Yet no sooner had he fought +himself clear of the mob than his better judgment leaped into the +ascendency. If danger had been lurking for him before it was doubly +threatening now and he was sufficiently possessed of the common spirit +of self-preservation to exult at the speed with which he was enabled to +leave pursuit behind. A single glance over his shoulder assured him that +the man whom he had saved from the prophet's wrath was close at his +heels. His first impulse was to direct his flight toward Obadiah's +cabin; his second to follow the path that led to his ship. At this hour +some of his men would surely be awaiting him in a small boat and once +aboard the _Typhoon_ he could continue his campaign against the Mormon +king with better chances of success than as a lone fugitive on the +island. Besides, he knew what Casey would do at sundown. + +At the top of the slope he stopped and waited for the other to come up +to him. + +"I've got a ship off there," he called, pointing inland. "Take a short +cut for the point at the head of the island. There's a boat waiting for +us!" + +Neil came up panting. He was breathing so hard that for a moment he +found it impossible to speak but in his eyes there was a look that told +his unbounded gratitude. They were clear, fearless eyes, with the blue +glint of steel in them and, as he held out his hands to Nathaniel, they +were luminous with the joy of his deliverance. + +"Thank you, Captain Plum!" + +He spoke his companion's name with the assurance of one who had known +it for a long time. "If they loose the dogs there will be no time for +the ship," he added, with a suggestive hunch of his naked shoulders. +"Follow me!" + +There was no alarm in his voice and Nathaniel caught the flashing gleam +of white teeth as Neil smiled grimly back at him, running in the lead. +From the man's eyes the master of the _Typhoon_ had sized up his +companion as a fighter. The smile--daring, confident, and yet signaling +their danger--assured him that he was right, and he followed close +behind without question. A dozen rods up the path Neil turned into a +dense thicket of briars and underbrush and for ten minutes they plunged +through the pathless jungle. Now and then Nathaniel saw the three red +stripes of the whipper's lash upon the bare shoulders of the man ahead +and to these every step seemed to add new wounds made by the thorns. As +they came out upon an old roadway the captain stripped off his coat and +Neil thrust himself into it as they ran. + +Even in these first minutes of their flight Nathaniel was thrilled by +another thought than that of the peril behind them. Whom had he saved? +Who was this clear-eyed young fellow for whom the girl had so openly +sacrificed herself at the whipping-post, about whom she had thrown her +arms and covered with the protection of her glorious hair? With his joy +at having served her there was mingled a chilling doubt as these +questions formed themselves in his mind. Obadiah's vague suggestions, +the scene in the king's room, the night visits of the girl to the +councilor's cabin--and last of all this incident at the jail flashed +upon him now with another meaning, with a significance that slowly +cooled the enthusiasm in his veins. He was sure that he was near the +solution of the mysterious events in which he had become involved, and +yet this knowledge brought with it something of apprehension, something +which made him anticipate and yet dread the moment when the fugitive +ahead would stop in his flight, and he might ask him those questions +which would at least relieve him of his burden of doubt. They had +traveled a mile through forest unbroken by path or road when Neil halted +on the edge of a little stream that ran into a swamp. Pointing into the +tangled fen with a confident smile he plunged to his waist in the water +and waded slowly through the slough into the gloom of the densest alder. +A few minutes later he turned in to the shore and the soft bog gave +place to firm ground. Before Nathaniel had cleared the stream he saw his +companion drop to his knees beside a fallen log and when he came up to +him he was unwrapping a piece of canvas from about a gun. With a warning +gesture he rose to his feet and for twenty seconds the men stood and +listened. No sound came to them but the chirp of a startled squirrel and +the barking of a dog in the direction of St. James. + +"They haven't turned out the dogs yet," said Neil, holding a hand +against his heaving chest. "If they do they can't reach us through that +slough." He leaned his rifle against the log and again thrusting an arm +into the place where it had been concealed drew forth a small box. + +"Powder and ball--and grub!" he laughed. "You see I am a sort of +revolutionist and have my hiding-places. To-morrow--I will be a martyr." +He spoke as quietly as though his words but carried a careless jest. + +"A martyr?" laughed Nathaniel, looking down into the smiling, sweating +face. + +"Yes, to-morrow I shall kill Strang." + +There was no excitement in Neil's voice as he stood erect. The smile did +not leave his lips. But in his eyes there shone that which neither words +nor smiling lips revealed, a reckless, blazing fury hidden deep in +them--so deep that Nathaniel stared to assure himself what it was. The +other saw the doubt in his face. + +"To-morrow I shall kill Strang," he repeated. "I shall kill him with +this gun from under the window of his house through which you saw +Marion." + +"Marion!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "Marion--" He leaned forward eagerly, +questioning. "Tell me--" + +"My sister, Captain Plum!" + +It seemed to Nathaniel that every fiber in his body was stretched to the +breaking point. He reached out, dazed by what he had heard and with both +hands seized Neil's arm. + +"Your sister--who came to you at the whipping-post?" + +"That was Marion." + +"And--Strang's wife?" + +"No!" cried Neil. "No--not his wife!" He drew back from Nathaniel's +touch as if the question had stabbed him to the heart. The passion that +had slumbered in his eyes burst into savage flame and his face became +suddenly terrible to look upon. There was hatred there such as Nathaniel +had never seen; a ferocious, pitiless hatred that sent a shuddering +thrill through him as he stood before it. After a moment the clenched +fist that had risen above Neil's head dropped to his side. Half +apologetically he held out his hand to his companion. + +"Captain Plum, we've got a lot to thank you for, Marion and I," he said, +a tremble of the passing emotion in his voice. "Obadiah told Marion that +help might come to us through you and Marion brought the word to me at +the jail late last night--after she had seen you at the window. The old +councilor kept his word! You have saved her!" + +"Saved her!" gasped Nathaniel. "From what? How?" A hundred questions +seemed leaping from his heart to his lips. + +"From Strang. Good God, don't you understand? I tell you that I am going +to kill Strang!" + +Neil stood as though appalled by his companion's incomprehension. "I am +going to kill Strang, I tell you!" he cried again, the fire burning +deeper through the sweat of his cheeks. + +Nathaniel's bewilderment still shone in his face. + +"She is not Strang's wife," he spoke softly, as if to himself. "And she +is not--" His face flushed as he nearly spoke the words. "Obadiah lied!" +He looked squarely into Neil's eyes. "No, I don't understand you. The +councilor said that she--that Marion was Strang's wife. He told me +nothing more than that, nothing of her trouble, nothing about you. Until +this moment I have been completely mystified. Only her eyes led me to +do--what I did at the jail." + +Neil gazed at him in astonishment. + +"Obadiah told--you--nothing?" he asked incredulously. + +"Not a word about you or Marion except that Marion was the king's +seventh wife. But he hinted at many things and kept me on the trail, +always expecting, always watching, and yet every hour was one of +mystery. I am in the darkest of it at this instant. What does it all +mean? Why are you going to kill Strang? Why--" + +Neil interrupted him with a cry so poignant in its wretchedness that +the last question died upon his lips. + +"I thought that the councilor had told you all," he said. "I thought you +knew." The disappointment in his voice was almost despair. "Then--it was +only accidentally--you helped us?" + +"Only accidentally that I helped _you_--yes! But Marion--" Nathaniel +crushed Neil's hand in both his own and his eyes betrayed more than he +would have said. "I've got an armed ship and a dozen men out there and +if I can help Marion by blowing up St. James--I'll do it!" + +For a time only the tense breathing of the two broke the silence of +their lips. They looked into each other's face, Nathaniel with all the +eagerness of the passion with which Marion had stirred his soul, Neil +half doubting, as if he were trying to find in this man's eyes the +friendship which he had not questioned a few minutes before. + +"Obadiah told you nothing?" he asked again, as if still unbelieving. + +"Nothing." + +"And you have not seen Marion--to talk with her?" + +"No." + +Nathaniel had dropped his companion's hand, and now Neil walked to the +log and sat down with his face turned in the direction from which their +pursuers must come if they entered the swamp. + +Suddenly the memory of Obadiah's note shot into Nathaniel's head, the +councilor's admonition, his allusion to a visitor. With this memory +there recurred to him Obadiah's words at the temple, "If you had +remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I was your friend. +She would have come to you, but now--it is impossible." For the first +time the truth began to dawn upon him. He went and sat down beside Neil. + +"I am beginning to understand--a little," he said. "Obadiah had planned +that I should meet Marion, but I was a fool and spoiled his scheme. If I +had done as he told me I should have seen her this morning." + +In a few words he reviewed the events of the preceding evening and of +that morning--of his coming to the island, his meeting with Obadiah, and +of the singular way in which he had become interested in Marion. He +omitted the oaths but told of Winnsome's warning and of his interview +with the Mormon king. When he spoke of the girl as he had seen her +through the king's window, and of her appealing face turned to him at +the jail, his voice trembled with an excitement that deepened the flush +in Neil's cheeks. + +"Captain Plum, I thank God that you like Marion," he said simply. "After +I kill Strang will you help her?" + +"Yes." + +"You are willing to risk--" + +"My life--my men--my ship!" + +Nathaniel spoke like one to whom there had been suddenly opened the +portals to a great joy. He sprang to his feet and stood before Neil, his +whole being throbbing with the emotions which had been awakened within +him. + +"Good God, why don't you tell me what her peril is?" he cried, no longer +restraining himself. "Why are you going to kill Strang? Has he--has +he--" His face flamed with the question which he dared not finish. + +"No--not that!" interrupted Neil. "He has never laid a hand on Marion. +She hates him as she hates the snakes in this swamp. And yet--next +Sunday she is to become his seventh wife!" + +Nathaniel started as if he had been threatened by a blow. + +"You mean--he is forcing her into his harem?" he asked. + +"No, he can not do that!" exclaimed Neil, the hatred bursting out anew +in his face. "He can not force her into marrying him, and yet--" He +flung his arms above his head in sudden passionate despair. "As there +is a God in Heaven I would give ten years of my life for the secret of +the prophet's power over Marion!" he groaned. "Three months ago her +hatred of him was terrible. She loathed the sight of him. I have seen +her shiver at the sound of his voice. When he asked her to become his +wife she refused him in words that I had believed no person in the +kingdom would dared to have used. Then--less than a month ago--the +change came, and one day she told me that she had made up her mind to +become Strang's wife. From that day her heart was broken. I was +dumfounded. I raged and cursed and even threatened. Once I accused her +of a shameful thing and though I implored her forgiveness a thousand +times I know that she weeps over my brutal words still. But nothing +could change her. On my knees I have pleaded with her, and once she +flung her arms round my shoulders and said, 'Neil, I can not tell you +why I am marrying Strang. But I must.' I went to Strang and demanded an +explanation; I told him that my sister hated him, that the sight of his +face and the sound of his voice filled her with abhorrence, but he only +laughed at me and asked why I objected to becoming the brother-in-law of +a prophet. Day by day I have seen Marion's soul dying within her. Some +terrible secret is gnawing at her heart, robbing her of the very life +which a few weeks ago made her the most beautiful thing on this island; +some dreadful influence is shadowing her every step, and as the day +draws near when she is to join the king's harem I see in her eyes at +times a look that frightens me. There is only one salvation. To-morrow I +shall kill Strang!" + +"And then?" + +Neil shrugged his shoulders. + +"I will shoot him through the abdomen so that he will live to tell his +wives who did the deed. After that I will try to make my escape to the +mainland." + +"And Marion--" + +"Will not marry Strang! Isn't that plain?" + +"You have guessed nothing--no cause for the prophet's power over your +sister?" asked Nathaniel. + +"Absolutely nothing. And yet that influence is such that at times the +thought of it freezes the blood in my veins. It is so great that Strang +did not hesitate to throw me into jail on the pretext that I had +threatened his life. Marion implored him to spare me the disgrace of a +public whipping and he replied by reading to her the commandments of the +kingdom. That was last night--when you saw her through the window. +Strang is madly infatuated with her beauty and yet he dares to go to any +length without fear of losing her. She has become his slave. She is as +completely in his power as though bound in iron chains. And the most +terrible thing about it all is that she has constantly urged me to leave +the island--to go, and never return. Great God, what does it all mean? I +love her more than anything else on earth, we have been inseparable +since the day she was old enough to toddle alone--and yet she would have +me leave her! No power on earth can reveal the secret that is torturing +her. No power can make Strang divulge it." + +"And Obadiah Price!" cried Nathaniel, sudden excitement flashing in his +eyes. "Does he not know?" + +"I believe that he does!" replied Neil, pacing back and forth in his +agitation. "Captain Plum, if there is a man on this island who loves +Marion with all of a father's devotion it is Obadiah Price, and yet he +swears that he knows nothing of the terrible influence which has so +suddenly enslaved her to the prophet! He suggests that it may be +mesmerism, but I--" He interrupted himself with a harsh, mirthless +laugh. "Mesmerism be damned! It's not that!" + +"Your sister--is--a Mormon," ventured Nathaniel, remembering what the +prophet had said to him that morning. "Could it be her faith?--a +message revealed through Strang from--" + +Neil stopped him almost fiercely. + +"Marion is not a Mormon!" he said. "She hates Mormonism as she hates +Strang. I have tried to get her to leave the island with me but she +insists on staying because of the old folk. They are very old, Captain +Plum, and they believe in the prophet and his Heaven as you and I +believe in that blue sky up there. The day before I was arrested I +begged my sister to flee to the mainland with me but she refused with +the words that she had said to me a hundred times before--'Neil, I must +marry the prophet!' Don't you see there is nothing to do--but to kill +Strang?" + +Nathaniel thrust his hand into a pocket of the coat he had loaned to +Neil and drew forth his pipe and tobacco pouch. As he loaded the pipe he +looked squarely into the other's eyes and smiled. + +"Neil," he said softly. "Do you know that you would have made an awful +fool of yourself if I hadn't hove in sight just when I did?" + +He lighted his pipe with exasperating coolness, still smiling over its +bowl. + +"You are not going to kill Strang to-morrow," he added, throwing away +the match and placing both hands on Neil's shoulders. His eyes were +laughing with the joy that shone in them. "Neil, I am ashamed of you! +You have worried a devilish lot over a very simple matter. See here--" +He blew a cloud of smoke over the other's head. "I've learned to demand +some sort of pay for my services since I landed on this island. Will you +promise to be--a sort of brother--to me--if I steal Marion and sail away +with her to-night?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MARION + + +At Nathaniel's astonishing words Neil stood as though struck suddenly +dumb. + +"Don't you see what a very simple case it is?" he continued, enjoying +the other's surprised silence. "You plan to kill Strang to keep Marion +from marrying him. Well, I will hunt up Marion, put her in a bag if +necessary, and carry her to my ship. Isn't that better and safer and +just as sure as murder?" + +The excitement had gone out of Neil's face. The flush slowly faded from +his cheeks and in his eyes there gleamed something besides the +malevolence of a few moments before. As Nathaniel stepped back from him +half laughing and puffing clouds of smoke from his pipe Marion's brother +thrust his hands into his pockets with an exclamation that forcefully +expressed his appreciation of Captain Plum's scheme. + +"I never thought of that," he added, after a moment. "By Heaven, it will +be easy--" + +"So easy that I tell you again I am ashamed of you for not having +thought of it!" cried Nathaniel. "The first thing is to get safely +aboard my ship." + +"We can do that within an hour." + +"And to-night--where will we find Marion?" + +"At home," said Neil. "We live near Obadiah. You must have seen the +house as you came out into the clearing this morning from the forest." + +Nathaniel smiled as he thought of his suspicions of the old councilor. + +"It couldn't be better situated for our work," he said. "Does the forest +run down to the lake on Obadiah's side of the island?" + +"Clear to the beach." + +Neil's face betrayed a sudden flash of doubt. + +"I believe that our place has been watched for some time," he explained. +"I am sure that it is especially guarded at night and that no person +leaves or enters it without the knowledge of Strang. I am certain that +Marion is aware of this surveillance although she professes to be wholly +ignorant of it. It may cause us trouble." + +"Can you reach the house without being observed?" + +"After midnight--yes." + +"Then there is no cause for alarm," declared Nathaniel. "If necessary I +can bring ten men into the edge of the woods. Two can approach the house +as quietly as one and I will go with you. Once there you can tell Marion +that your life depends on her accompanying you to Obadiah's. I believe +she will go. If she won't--" He stretched out his arms as if in +anticipation of the burden they might hold. "If she won't--I'll help you +carry her!" + +"And meanwhile," said Neil, "Arbor Croche's men--" + +"Will be as dead as herring floaters if they show up!" he cried, leaping +two feet off the ground in his enthusiasm. "I've got twelve of the +damnedest fighters aboard my ship that ever lived and ten of them will +be in the edge of the woods!" + +Neil's eyes were shining with something that made Nathaniel turn his own +to the loading of his pipe. + +"Captain Plum, I hope I will be able to repay you for this," he said. +There was a trembling break in his voice and for a moment Nathaniel did +not look up. His own heart was near bursting with the new life that +throbbed within it. When he raised his eyes to his companion's face +again there was a light in them that spoke almost as plainly as words. + +"You haven't accepted my price, yet, Neil," he replied quietly. "I asked +you if you'd--be--a sort of brother--" + +Neil sprang to his side with a fervor that knocked the pipe out of his +hand. + +"I swear that! And if Marion doesn't--" + +Suddenly he jerked himself into a listening attitude. + +"Hark!" + +For a moment the two ceased to breathe. The sound had come to them both, +low, distant. After it there fell a brief hush. Then again, as they +stared questioningly into each other's eyes, it rolled faintly into the +swamp--the deep, far baying of a hound. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Neil, drawing back with a deep breath. "I thought they +would do it!" + +"The bloodhounds!" + +Horror, not fear, sent an involuntary shiver through Nathaniel. + +"They can't reach us!" assured Neil. There was the glitter of triumph in +his eyes. "This was to have been my way of escape after I killed Strang. +A quarter of a mile deeper in the swamp I have a canoe." He picked up +the gun and box and began forcing his way through the dense alder along +the edge of the stream. "I'd like to stay and murder those dogs," he +called back, "but it wouldn't be policy." + +For a time the crashing of their bodies through the dense growth of the +swamp drowned all other sound. Five minutes later Neil stopped on the +edge of a wide bog. The hounds were giving fierce tongue in the forest +on their left and their nearness sent Nathaniel's hand to his pistol. +Neil saw the movement and laughed. + +"Don't like the sound, eh?" he said. "We get used to it on Beaver +Island. They're just about at the place where they tore little Jim +Schredder to pieces a few weeks back. Schredder tried to kill one of the +elders for stealing his wife while he was away on a night's fishing +trip." + +He plunged to his knees in the bog. + +"They caught him just before he reached the swamp," he flung back over +his shoulder. "Two minutes more and he would have been safe." + +Nathaniel, sinking to his knees in the mire, forged up beside him. + +"Lord!" he exclaimed, as a breath of air brought a sudden burst of +blood-curdling cries to them. "If they'd loosed them on us sooner--" + +He shivered at the terrible grimace Neil turned on him. + +"Had they slipped the leashes when we escaped, we would have been with +poor Schredder now, Captain Plum. By the way--" he stopped a moment to +wipe the water and mud from his face, "--three days after they covered +Schredder's bones with muck out there, the elder took Schredder's wife! +She was too pretty for a fisherman." He started on, but halted suddenly +with uplifted hand. No longer could they hear the baying of the dogs. +"They've struck the creek!" said Neil. "Listen!" + +After an interval of silence there came a long mournful howl. + +"Treed--treed or in the water, that's what the howling means. How +Croche and his devils are hustling now!" + +A curse was mingled with Neil's breath as he forced his way through the +bog. Twenty rods farther on they came to a slime covered bit of water on +which was floating a dugout canoe. Immense relief replaced the anxiety +in Nathaniel's face as he climbed into it. At that moment he was willing +to fight a hundred men for Marion's sake, but snakes and bogs and +bloodhounds were entirely outside his pale of argument and he exhibited +no hesitation in betraying this fact to his companion. For a quarter of +a mile Neil forced the dugout through water viscid with slime and rotted +substance before the clearer channel of the creek was reached. As they +progressed the stream constantly became deeper and more navigable until +it finally began to show signs of a current and a little later, under +the powerful impetus of Neil's paddle, the canoe shot from between the +dense shores into the open lake. A mile away Nathaniel discerned the +point of forest beyond which the _Typhoon_ was hidden. He pointed out +the location of the ship to his companion. + +"You are sure there is a small boat waiting for you on the point?" asked +Neil. + +"Yes, since early morning." + +Neil was absorbed in thought for some time as he drove the canoe through +the tall rice grass that grew thick along the edge of the shore. + +"How would it be if I landed you on the point and met you to-night at +Obadiah's?" he asked suddenly. "It is probable that after we get Marion +aboard your ship I will not return to the island again, and it is quite +necessary that I run down the coast for a couple of miles--for--" He did +not finish his reason, but added: "I can make the whole distance in this +rice so there is no danger of being seen. Or you might lie off the point +yonder and I would join you early this evening." + +"That would be a better plan if we must separate," said Nathaniel, whose +voice betrayed the reluctance with which he assented to the project. He +had guessed shrewdly at Neil's motive. "Is it possible that we may have +another young lady passenger?" he asked banteringly. + +There was no answering humor to this in Neil's eyes. + +"I wish we might!" he said quietly. + +"We can!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "My ship--" + +"It is impossible. I am speaking of Winnsome. Arbor Croche's house is in +the heart of the town and guarded by dogs. I doubt if she would go, +anyway. She has always been like a little sister to Marion and me and +she has come to believe--something--as we do. I hate to leave her." + +"Obadiah told me about her mother," ventured Nathaniel. "He said that +some day Winnsome will be a queen." + +"I knew her mother," replied Neil, as though he had not heard +Nathaniel's last words. He looked frankly into the other's face. "I +worshipped her!" + +"Oh-h-h!" + +"From a distance," he hastened. "She was as pure as Winnsome is now. +Little Winn looks like her. Some day she will be as beautiful." + +"She is beautiful now." + +"But she is a mere child. Why, it seems only a year ago that I was +toting her about on my shoulders! And--by George, that was a year before +her mother died! She is sixteen now." + +Nathaniel laughed softly. + +"To-morrow she will be making love, Neil, and before you know it she +will be married and have a family of her own. I tell you she is a +woman--and if you are not a fool you will take her away with Marion." + +With a powerful stroke of his paddle Neil brought the canoe in to the +shore. + +"There!" he whispered. "You have only to cross this point to reach your +boat." He stretched out his long arm and in the silence the two shook +hands. "If you should happen to think of a way--that we might get +Winnsome--" he added, coloring. + +The sudden grip of his companion's fingers made him flinch. + +"We must!" said Nathaniel. + +He climbed ashore and watched Neil until he had disappeared in the wild +rice. Then he turned into the woods. He looked at his watch and saw that +it was only two o'clock. He was conscious of no fatigue; he was not +conscious of hunger. To him the whole world had suddenly opened with +glorious promise and in the still depths of the forest he felt like +singing out his rejoicing. He had never stopped to ask himself what +might be the end of this passion that had overwhelmed him; he lived only +in the present, in the knowledge that Marion was not a wife, and that it +was he whom fate had chosen for her deliverance. He reasoned nothing +beyond the sweet eyes that had called upon him, that had burned their +gratitude, their hope and their despair upon his soul; nothing beyond +the thought that she would soon be free from the mysterious influence of +the Mormon king and that for days and nights after that she would be on +the same ship with him. He had emptied the pockets of the coat he had +given Neil and now he brought forth the old letter which Obadiah had +rescued from the sands. He read it over again as he sat for a few +moments in the cool of the forest and there was no trouble in his face +now. It was from a girl. He had known that girl, years ago, as Neil knew +Winnsome; in years of wandering he had almost forgotten her--until this +letter came. It had brought many memories back to him with shocking +clearness. The old folk were still in the little home under the hill; +they received his letters; they received the money he sent them each +month--but they wanted _him_. The girl wrote with merciless candor. He +had been away four years and it was time for him to return. She told +him why. She wrote what they, in their loving fear of inflicting pain, +would never have dared to say. At the end, in a postscript, she had +asked for his congratulations on her approaching marriage. + +To Nathaniel this letter had been a torment. He saw the truth as he had +never seen it before--that his place was back there in Vermont, with his +father and mother; and that there was something unpleasant in thinking +of the girl as belonging to another. But now matters had changed. The +letter was a hope and inspiration to him and he smoothed it out with +tender care. What a refuge that little home among the Vermont hills +would make for Marion! He trembled at the thought and his heart sang +with the promise of it as he went his way again through the thick growth +of the woods. + +It was half an hour before he came out upon the beach. Eagerly he +scanned the sea. The _Typhoon_ was nowhere in sight and for an instant +the gladness that had been in his heart gave place to a chilling fear. +But the direction of the wind reassured him. Casey had probably moved +beyond the jutting promontory, that swung in the form of a cart wheel +from the base of the point, that he might have sea room in case of +something worse than a stiff breeze. But where was the small boat? With +every step adding to his anxiety Nathaniel hurried along the narrow rim +of beach. He went to the very tip of the point which reached out like +the white forefinger of, a lady's hand into the sea; he passed the spot +where he had lain concealed the preceding day; his breath came faster +and faster; he ran, and called softly, and at last halted in the arch of +the cart wheel with the fear full-flaming in his breast. Over all those +miles of sea there was no sign of the sloop. From end to end of the +point there was no boat. What did it mean? Breathlessly he tore his way +through the strip of forest on the promontory until all Lake Michigan +to the south lay before his eyes. The _Typhoon_ was gone! Was it +possible that Casey had abandoned hope of Nathaniel's return and was +already lying off St. James with shotted gun? The thought sent a shiver +of despair through him. He passed to the opposite side of the point and +followed it foot by foot, but there was no sign of life, no distant +flash of white that might have been the canvas of the sloop _Typhoon_. + +There was only one thing for him to do--wait. So he went to his +hiding-place of the day before and watched the sea with staring eyes. An +hour passed and his still aching vision saw no sign of sail; two +hours--and the sun was falling in a blinding glare over the Wisconsin +wilderness. At last he sprang to his feet with a hopeless cry and stood +for a few moments undecided. Should he wait until night with the hope of +attracting the attention of Neil and joining him in his canoe or should +he hasten in the direction of St. James? In the darkness he might miss +Neil, unless he kept up a constant shouting, which would probably bring +the Mormons down upon him; if he went to St. James there was a +possibility of reaching Casey. He still had faith in Obadiah and he was +sure that the old man would help him to reach his ship; he might even +assist him in his scheme of getting Marion from the island. + +He would go to the councilor's. Having once decided, Nathaniel turned in +the direction of the town, avoiding the use of the path which he and +Obadiah had taken, but following in the forest near enough to use it as +a guide. He was confident that Arbor Croche and his sheriffs were +confining their man-hunt to the swamp, but in spite of this belief he +exercised extreme caution, stopping to listen now and then, with one +hand always near his pistol. A quiet gloom filled the forest and by the +tree-tops he marked the going down of the sun. Nathaniel's ears ached +with their strain of listening for the rumbling roar that would tell of +Casey's attack on St. James. + +Suddenly he heard a crackling in the underbrush ahead of him, a sound +that came not from the strain of listening for the rumbling roar and in +a moment he had dodged into the concealment of the huge roots of an +overturned tree, drawn pistol in hand. Whatever object was approaching +came slowly, as if hesitating at each step--a cautious, stealthy +advance, it struck Nathaniel, and he cocked his weapon. Directly in +front of him, half a stone's throw away, was a dense growth of hazel and +he could see the tops of the slender bushes swaying. Twice this movement +ceased and the second time there came a crashing of brush and a faint +cry. For many minutes after that there was absolute silence. Was it the +cry of an animal that he had heard--or of a man? In either case the +creature who made it had fallen in the thicket and was lying there as +still as if dead. For a quarter of an hour Nathaniel waited and +listened. He could no longer have seen the movement of bushes in the +gathering night-gloom of the forest but his ears were strained to catch +the slightest sound from the direction of the mysterious thing that lay +within less than a dozen rods of him. Slowly he drew himself out from +the shelter of the roots and advanced step by step. Half way to the +thicket a stick cracked loudly under his foot and as the sound startled +the dead quiet of the forest with pistol-shot clearness there came +another cry from the dense hazel, a cry which was neither that of man +nor animal but of a woman; and with an answering shout Nathaniel sprang +forward to meet there in the edge of the thicket the white face and +outstretched arms of Marion. The girl was swaying on her feet. In her +face there was a pallor that even in his instant's glance sent a chill +of horror through the man and as she staggered toward him, half falling, +her lips weakly forming his name Nathaniel leaped to her and caught her +close in his arms. In that moment something seemed to burst within him +and flood his veins with fire. Closer he held the girl, and heavier he +knew that she was becoming in his arms. Her head was upon his breast, +his face was crushed in her hair, he felt her throbbing and breathing +against him and his lips quivered with the words that were bursting for +freedom in his soul. But first there came the girl's own whispered +breath--"Neil--where is Neil?" + +"He is gone--gone from the island!" + +She had become a dead weight now and so he knelt on the ground with her, +her head still upon his breast, her eyes closed, her arms fallen to her +side. And as Nathaniel looked into the face from which all life seemed +to have fled he forgot everything but the joy of this moment--forgot all +in life but this woman against his breast. He kissed her soft mouth and +the closed eyes until the eyes themselves opened again and gazed at him +in a startled, half understanding way, until he drew his head far back +with the shame of what he had dared to do flaming in his face. + +And as for another moment he held her thus, feeling the quivering life +returning in her, there came to him through that vast forest stillness +the distant deep-toned thunder of a great gun. + +"That's Casey!" he whispered close down to the girl's face. His voice +was almost sobbing in its happiness. "That's Casey--firing on St. +James!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE + + +For perhaps twenty seconds after the last echoes of the gun had rolled +through the forest the girl lay passive in Nathaniel's arms, so close +that he could feel her heart beating against his own and her breath +sweeping his face. Then there came a pressure against his breast, a +gentle resistance of Marion's half conscious form, and when she had +awakened from her partial swoon he was holding her in the crook of his +arm. It had all passed quickly, the girl had rested against him only so +long as he might have held half a dozen breaths and yet there had been +all of a lifetime in it for Nathaniel Plum, a cycle of joy that he knew +would remain with him for ever. But there was something bitter-sweet in +the thought that she was conscious of what he had done, something of +humiliation as well as gladness, and still not enough of the first to +make him regret that he had kissed her, that he had kissed her mouth and +her eyes. He loved her, and he was glad that in those passing moments he +had betrayed himself. For the first time he noticed that her face was +scratched and that the sleeves of her thin waist were torn to shreds; +and as she drew away from him, steadying herself with a hand on his arm, +his lips were parched of words, and yet he leaned to her eagerly, +everything that he would have said burning in the love of his eyes. +Still irresolute in her faintness the girl smiled at him, and in that +smile there was gentle accusation, the sweetness of forgiveness, and +measureless gratitude, and it was yet light enough for him to see that +with these there had come also a flush into her cheeks and a dazzling +glow into her eyes. + +"Neil has escaped!" she breathed. "And you--" + +"I was going back to you, Marion!" He spoke the words hardly above a +whisper. The beautiful eyes so close to him drew his secret from him +before he had thought. "I am going to take you from the island!" + +With his words there came again that sound of a great gun rolling from +the direction of St. James. With a frightened cry the girl staggered to +her feet, and as she stood swaying unsteadily, her arms half reached to +him, Nathaniel saw only mortal dread in the whiteness of her face. + +"Why didn't you go? Why didn't you go with Neil?" she moaned. Her breath +was coming in sobbing excitement. "Your ship is--at--St. James!" + +"Yes, my ship is at St. James, Marion!" His voice was tremulous with +triumph, with gladness, with a tenderness which he could not control. He +put an arm half round her waist to support her trembling form and to his +joy she did not move away from him. His hand was buried in the richness +of her loose hair. He bent until his lips touched her silken tresses. +"Neil has told me everything--about you," he added softly. "My ship is +bombarding St. James, and I am going to take you from the island!" + +Not until then did Marion free herself from his arm and then so gently +that when she stood facing him he felt no reproof. No longer did shame +send a flush into his face. He had spoken his love, though not in words, +and he knew that the girl understood him. It did not occur to him in +these moments that he had known this girl for only a few hours, that +until now a word had never passed between them. He was conscious only +that he had loved her from the time he saw her through the king's +window, that he had risked his life for her, and that she knew why he +had leaped into the arena at the whipping-post. + +The words she spoke now came like a dash of cold water in his face. + +"Your ship is not bombarding St. James, Captain Plum!" she exclaimed. +Darkness hid the terror in her face but he could hear the tremble of it +in her voice. "The _Typhoon_ has been captured by the Mormons and those +guns are--guns of triumph--and not--" She caught her breath in a +convulsive sob. "I want you to go--I want you to go--with Neil!" she +pleaded. + +"So Casey is taken!" + +He spoke slowly, as if he had not heard her last words. For a moment he +stood silent, and as silently the girl stood and watched him. She +guessed the despair that was raging in his heart but when he spoke to +her she could detect none of it in his voice. + +"Casey is a fool," he said, unconsciously repeating Obadiah's words. +"Marion, will you come with me? Will you leave the island--and join your +brother?" + +The hope that had risen in his heart was crushed as Marion drew farther +away from him. + +"You must go alone," she replied. With a powerful effort she steadied +her voice. "Tell Neil that he has been condemned to death. Tell him +that--if he loves me--he will not return to the island." + +"And I?" + +From her distance she saw his arms stretched like shadows toward her. + +"And you--" + +Her voice was low, so low that he could hardly hear the words she spoke, +but its sweetness thrilled him. + +"And you--if you love me--will do this thing for me. Go to Neil. Save +his life for me!" + +She had come to him through the gloom, and in the luster of the eyes +that were turned up to him Nathaniel saw again the power that swayed his +soul. + +"You will go?" + +"I will save your brother--if I can!" + +"You can--you can--" she breathed. In an ecstasy of gratitude she seized +one of his hands in both her own. "You can save him!" + +"For you--I will try." + +"For me--" + +She was so close that he could feel the throbbing of her bosom. Suddenly +he lifted his free hand and brushed back the thick hair from her brow +and turned her face until what dim light there still remained of the day +glowed in the beauty of her eyes. "I will keep him from the island if I +can," he said, looking deep into them, "and as there is a God in Heaven +I swear that you--" + +"What?" she urged, as he hesitated. + +"That you shall not marry Strang!" he finished. + +A cry welled up in the girl's throat. Was it of gladness? Was it of +hope? She sprang back a pace from Nathaniel and with clenched hands +waited breathlessly, as if she expected him to say more. + +"No--no--you can not save me from Strang! Now--you must go!" + +She retreated slowly in the direction of the path. In an instant +Nathaniel was at her side. + +"I am going to see you safely back in St. James," he declared. "Then I +will go to your brother." + +She barred his way defiantly. + +"You can not go!" + +"Why?" + +"Because--" He caught the frightened flutter of her voice again. +"Because--they will kill you!" + +The low laugh that he breathed in her hair was more of joy than fear. + +"I am glad you care--Marion." He spoke her name with faltering +tenderness, and led her out into the path. + +"You must go," she still persisted. + +"With you--yes," he answered. + +She surrendered to the determination in his voice and they moved slowly +along the path, listening for any sound that might come from ahead of +them. Nathaniel had already formed his plan of action. From Marion's +words and the voice in which she had uttered them he knew that it would +be useless for him as it had been for Neil to urge her to flee from the +island. There remained but one thing for him to do, so he fell back upon +the scheme which he had proposed to Marion's brother. He realized now +that he might be compelled to play the game single-handed unless he +could secure assistance from Obadiah. His ship and men were in the hands +of the Mormons; Neil, in his search for the captured vessel, stood a +large chance, of missing him that night, and in that event Marion's fate +would depend on him alone. If he could locate a small boat on the beach +back of Obadiah's; if he could in some way lure Marion to it--He gave an +involuntary shudder at the thought of using force upon the girl at his +side, at the thought of her terror of those first few moments, her +struggles, her broken confidence. She believed in him now. She believed +that he loved her. She trusted him. The warm soft pressure of her hand +as it clung to his arm in the blackening gloom of the forest was +evidence of that trust. She looked into his face anxiously, inquiringly +when they stopped to listen, like a child who was sure of a stronger +spirit at her side. She held her breath when he held his, she listened +when he listened, her feet fell with velvet stillness when he stepped +with caution. Her confidence in him was like a beautiful dream to +Nathaniel and he trembled when he pictured the destruction of it. After +a little he reached over and as if by accident touched the hand that was +lying on his arm; he dared more after a moment, and drew the warm little +fingers into his great strong palm and held them there, his soul +thrilled by their gentle submissiveness. And then in another breath +there came to still his joy a thought of the terrible power that chained +this girl to the Mormon king. He longed to speak words of encouragement +to her, to instil hope in her bosom, to ask her to confide in him the +secret of the shadow which hung over her, but the memory of what Neil +had said to him held his lips closed. + +They had walked in silence for many minutes when the girl stopped. + +"It is not very far now," she whispered. "You must go!" + +"Only a little farther," he begged. + +She surrendered again, hesitatingly, and they went on, more slowly than +before, until they came to where the path met the footway that led to +Obadiah's. + +"Now--now you _must_ go," whispered Marion again. + +In this last moment Nathaniel crushed her hand against his breast, his +body throbbing with a wild tumult, and a half of what he had meant not +to say fell passionately from his lips. + +"Forgive me for--that--back there--Marion," he whispered. "It was +because I love you--love you--" He freed her hand and stood back, +choking the words that would have revealed his secret. He lied now for +the love of this girl. "Neil is out there waiting for me in a small +boat," he continued, pointing beyond Obadiah's to the lake. "I will see +him soon, and then I will return to Obadiah's to tell you if he has left +for the mainland. Will you promise to meet me there--to-night?" + +"I will promise." + +"At midnight--" + +"Yes, at twelve o'clock." + +This time it was Marion who came to him. Her eyes shone like stars. + +"And if you make Neil go to the mainland," she said softly, "when I meet +you I will--will tell you--something." + +The last word came in a breathless sob. As she slipped into the path +that led to St. James she paused for a moment and called back, in a low +voice, "Tell Neil that he must go for Winnsome's sake. Tell him that her +fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine--tell him that Winnsome loves +him, and that she will escape and come to him on the mainland. Tell him +to go--go!" + +She turned again, and Nathaniel stood like a statue, hardly breathing, +until the sound of her feet had died away. Then he walked swiftly up +the foot-path that led to Obadiah's. He forgot his own danger in the +excitement that pulsated with every fiber of his being, forgot his old +caution and the fears that gave birth to it--forgot everything in those +moments but Marion and his own great happiness. Neil's absence meant +nothing to him now. He had held Marion in his arms, he had told her of +his love, and though she had accepted it with gentle unresponsiveness he +was thrilled by the memory of that last look in her eyes, which had +spoken faith, confidence, and perhaps even more. What was that +_something_ she would tell him if he got Neil safely away? It was to be +a reward for his own loyalty--he knew that, by the half fearing tremble +of her voice, the sobbing catch of her breath, the strange glow in her +eyes. With her brother away would she confide in him? Would she tell him +the secret of her slavedom to Strang? Nathaniel was conscious of no +madness in the wild hope that filled him; nothing seemed impossible to +him now. Marion would meet him at midnight. She would go with him to the +boat, and then--ah, he had solved the problem! He would use no force. He +would tell her that Neil was in his canoe half a mile out from the shore +and that he had promised to leave the island for good if she would go +out to bid him good-by. And once there, a half a mile or a mile away, he +would tell her that he had lied to her; and he would give her his heart +to trample upon to prove the love that had made him do this thing, and +then he would row her to the mainland. + +It was the sight of Obadiah's cabin that brought his caution back. He +came upon it so suddenly that an exclamation of surprise fell unguarded +from his lips. There was no light to betray life within. He tried the +door and found it locked. He peered in at the windows, listened, and +knocked, and at last concealed himself near the path, confident that the +little old councilor was still at St. James. For an hour he waited. From +the rear of Obadiah's home a narrow footway led toward the lake and +Nathaniel followed it, now as warily as an animal in search of prey. For +half a mile it took him through the forest and ended at the white sands +of the beach. In neither direction could Nathaniel see a light, and +keeping close in the shadows of the trees he made his way slowly toward +St. James. He had gone but a short distance when he saw a house directly +ahead of him, a single gleam of light from a small window telling him +that it was inhabited and that its tenants were at home. He circled down +close to the water looking for a boat. His heart leaped with sudden +exultation when he saw a small skiff drawn upon the beach and his joy +was doubled at finding the oars still in the locks. It took him but a +moment to shove the light craft into the sea and a minute later he was +rowing swiftly away from the land. + +Nathaniel was certain that by this time Neil had abandoned his search +for the captured _Typhoon_ and was probably paddling in the direction +of St. James. With the hope of intercepting him he pulled an eighth of a +mile from the shore and rowed slowly toward the head of the island. +There was no moon, but countless stars glowed in a clear sky and upon +the open lake Nathaniel could see for a considerable distance about him. +For another hour he rowed back and forth and then beached his boat +within a dozen rods of the path that came down from Obadiah's. + +It was ten o'clock. Two more hours! He had tried to suppress his +excitement, his apprehensions, his eagerness, but now as he went back +into the darkness of the forest they burst out anew. What if Marion +should not keep the tryst? He thought of the spies whom Neil had said +guarded the girl's home--and of Obadiah. Could he trust the old +councilor? Should he confide his plot to him and ask his assistance? As +the minutes passed and these thoughts recurred again and again in his +brain he could not keep the nervousness from growing within him. He was +sure now that he would have to fight his battle without Neil. He saw +the necessity of coolness, of judgment, and he began to demand these +things of himself, struggling sternly against those symptoms of weakness +which had replaced his confidence of a short time before. Gradually he +fought himself back into his old faith. He would save Marion--without +Neil, without Obadiah. If Marion did not come to him by midnight it +would be because of the guards against whom Neil had warned him, and he +would go to her. In some way he would get her to the boat, even if he +had to fight his way through Arbor Croche's men. + +With this return of confidence Nathaniel's thoughts reverted to his +present greatest need, which was food. Since early morning he had eaten +nothing and he began to feel the physical want in a craving that was +becoming acutely uncomfortable. If Obadiah had not returned to his home +he made up his mind that he would find entrance to the cabin and help +himself. A sudden turn in the path which he was following, however, +revealed one of the councilor's windows aglow with light, and as he +pressed quietly around the end of the building the sound of a low voice +came to him through the open door. Cautiously he approached and peered +in. A large oil lamp, the light of which he had seen in the window, was +burning on a table in the big room but the voice came from the little +closet into which Obadiah had taken him the preceding night. For several +minutes he crouched and listened. He heard the chuckling laugh of the +old councilor--and then an incoherent raving that set his blood +tingling. There is a horror in the sound of madness, a horror that +creeps to the very pit of one's soul, that sends shivering dread from +every nerve center, that causes one who is alone with it to sweat with a +nameless fear. It was the voice of madness that came from that little +room. Before it Nathaniel quailed as if a clammy hand had reached out +from the darkness and gripped him by the throat. He drew back shivering +in every limb, and the voice followed him, shrieking now in a sudden +burst of insane mirth and dying away a moment later in a hollow cackling +laugh that seemed to curdle the blood in his veins. Mad! Obadiah Price +was mad! Step by step Nathaniel fell back from the door. He felt himself +trembling from head to foot. His heart thumped within his breast like +the beating of a hammer. For an instant there was silence--a silence in +which strange dread held him breathless while he watched the glow in the +door and listened. And after that quiet there came suddenly a cry that +ended in the exultant chattering of a name. + +At the sound of that name Nathaniel sprang forward again. It was +Marion's name and he strained his ears to catch the words that might +follow it. As he listened, his head thrust half in at the door, +Obadiah's voice became lower and lower, until at last it ceased +entirely. Not a step, not a deep breath, not the movement of a hand +disturbed the stillness of the little room. By inches Nathaniel drew +himself inside the door. His heavy boot caught in a sliver on the step +but the rending of wood brought no response. It was the quiet of death +that pervaded the cabin, it was a strange, growing fear of death that +entered Nathaniel as he now hurried across the room and peered through +the narrow aperture. The old councilor was half stretched upon the +table, his arms reaching out, his long, thin fingers gripping its edges, +his face buried under his shoulders. It looked as if death had come +suddenly to him during some terrible convulsion, but after a moment +Nathaniel saw that he was breathing. He went over and placed a hand on +the old man's twisted back. + +"Hello, Obadiah! Hello--hello!" he called cheerfully. + +A shudder ran through the councilor's frame, as if the voice had +startled him, his arms and body stiffened and slowly he lifted his head. +Nathaniel tried to stifle the cry on his lips, tried to smile--to +speak, but the terrible face that stared up into his own held him +silent, motionless. He had heard the voice of madness, now he looked +upon madness in the eyes that glared at him. In them was no sign of +recognition, no passing flash of sanity. The white face was lined with +purplish veins, the mouth was distorted and the lips bleeding. +Involuntarily he stepped back to the end of the table. + +At his movement the councilor stretched out his arms with a sobbing +moan. + +"Nat--Nat--don't--go--" + +He fell again upon his face, clutching the table in a sudden convulsion. +In the next room Nathaniel had noticed a pail of water and he brought +this and wet the old man's head. For a long time Obadiah did not move, +and when he did it was to reach out with a groping hand to find +Nathaniel. A change had come into his face when he lifted it again, the +mad fire had partly burned itself out of his eyes, the old chuckling +laugh came from between his lips. + +"A little weakness, Nat--a little weakness," he gasped faintly. "I have +it now and then. Excitement--great excitement--" He straightened himself +for a moment and stood, swaying free from the table, then collapsed into +a chair his head dropping upon his breast. + +Without arousing him from the stupor into which he had fallen, Nathaniel +again concealed himself in the shadows outside the cabin where he could +better guard himself against the possible approach of Mormon visitors. +But he did not remain long. He struck a match and saw that it was nearly +eleven and a sudden resolution turned him back to the cabin door. He +believed that Obadiah would not easily arouse himself from the strange +stupor into which he had fallen. Meanwhile he would find food and then +conceal himself near the path to intercept Marion. + +As he mounted the step he heard for the second time since landing upon +the island the solemn tolling of the great bell at St. James, and as he +paused for an instant to listen, peal upon peal followed the first until +its brazen thunder rolled in one long booming echo through the forests +of the Mormon kingdom. There came a shrill cry at his back and he +whirled about to see the councilor standing in the center of the big +room, his arms outstretched, his face lifted as it had been raised in +prayer at the tolling of that same bell the night before--but this time +it was not prayer that fell from his lips. + +"Nat, ye have returned in the hour of vengeance! The hand of God is +descending upon the Mormon kingdom!" + +His words came in a gasping, but triumphant cry. + +"And to-morrow--to-morrow--" He stepped forward, his voice crooning a +wild joy, "To-morrow--I--shall--be--king!" + +As he spoke the cabin trembled, a tremor passed under them, and the +tolling of the bell was lost in a sudden tumult that came like the +bursting crash of low thunder. + +"What is it?" cried Nathaniel. He leaped into the room and caught +Obadiah by the arm. "What is it?" + +"The hand of God!" whispered the old man again. "Nat--Nat--" It was his +old self that stood grimacing and twisting his hands before Nathaniel +now. "Nat--a thousand armed men are off the coast! The Lamanites of the +mainland are descending upon the Mormon kingdom as the hosts of Israel +upon Canaan! Strang is doomed--doomed--doomed--and to-morrow I shall be +king!" His voice rose in a wailing shriek. He darted to the door and his +cackling laugh rang with the old madness as he pointed into the north +where a lurid glow had mounted high into the sky. + +"The signal fire--the bell!" he gurgled chokingly. "They are calling the +Mormons to arms--but it is too late--too late! Ho, ho, it is too late, +Nat--too late!" He staggered back, gripping his throat, and fell upon +the floor. "Too late--too late," he moaned, groveling weakly, as if +struggling for breath. "Too late--Nat--Marion--" + +A shiver passed through his body and he lay quite still. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS + + +In an instant Nathaniel was upon his knees beside the prostrate form of +the old councilor. + +Obadiah's eyes were open, but unseeing; his face was blanched to the +whiteness of paper; an almost imperceptible movement of his chest showed +that he still breathed. Nathaniel lifted one of the limp hands and its +clammy chill struck horror to his heart. Tenderly he lifted the old man +and carried him to the cot at the end of the room. He loosened his +clothes, tore off the low collar about his throat, and felt with his +hand to measure the faint beating of life in the councilor's breast. For +a few moments it seemed to grow fainter and fainter, and a choking lump +rose in his throat as he watched the pallor of death fixing itself on +the councilor's shriveled face. What strange chord of sympathy was it +that bound him to this old man? Was it the same mysterious influence +that had attracted Marion to him? He dropped upon his knees and called +the girl's name softly but it awakened no response in the sightless +eyes, no tremor in the parted, unquivering lips. Very slowly as the +minutes passed there came a reaction. The pulsations of the weakened +heart became a little stronger, he could catch faintly the sound of +breath coming from between the old man's lips. + +With a gasp of relief Nathaniel rose to his feet. Through the door he +saw the red glare growing in the northern sky and heard the great bell +at St. James ring a wilder and more excited alarm. For a few moments he +stood in silent, listening inaction, his nerves tingling with a strange +sensation of impending peril. Obadiah's madness, the mysterious +trembling of the earth beneath his feet, the volcano of fire, the +clanging of the bell and the councilor's insane rejoicing had all come +so suddenly that he was dazed. What great calamity, what fearful +vengeance, was about to come upon the Mormon kingdom? Was it possible +that the fishermen and settlers of the mainland had risen, as Obadiah +had said, and were already at hand to destroy Strang and his people? The +thought spurred him to the door. The blood rushed like fire through his +veins. What would it mean to Marion--to Neil? + +In his excitement he started down the path that led to the lilac hidden +home beyond the forest. Then he thought again of Obadiah and his last +choking utterance of Marion's name. He had tried to speak of her, even +with that death-like rattling of the breath in his throat; and the +memory of the old councilor's frantic struggle for words brought +Nathaniel quickly back to the cabin. He bent over Obadiah's shriveled +form and spoke the girl's name again and again in his ears. There came +no response, no quiver of life to show that the old man was conscious +of his presence. As he worked over him, bathing his face and chest in +cool water, the feeling became strong in him that he was fighting death +in this gloomy room for Marion's sake. It was like the whispering of an +invisible spirit in his ears--something more than presentiment, +something that made his own heart grow faint when death seemed winning +in the struggle. His watchfulness was acute, intense, desperate. When, +after a time, he straightened himself again, rewarded by Obadiah's more +regular breathing, the sweat stood in beads upon his face. He knew that +he had triumphed. Obadiah would live, and Marion-- + +He placed his mouth close to the councilor's ear. + +"Tell me about Marion," he said again. "Marion--Marion--Marion--" + +He waited, stilling his own breath to catch the sound of a whisper. None +came. As he bent over him he saw through the open door that the red +glare of fire had faded to a burnt out glow in the sky. In the deep +silence the sullen beating of the bell seemed nearer, and he could hear +the excited barking of dogs in St. James. Slowly the hope that Obadiah +might speak to him died away and he returned to the door. It still +lacked an hour of midnight, when Marion, had promised to come to him. He +was wildly impatient and to his impatience was added the fear that had +filled him as he hovered over Obadiah, a nameless, intangible +fear--something which he could not have analyzed and which clutched at +his heart and urged him to follow the path that led to Marion's. For a +time he resisted the impulse. What if she should come by another path +while he was gone? He waited nervously in the edge of the forest, +watching, and listening for footsteps. Each minute seemed like an hour +marked into seconds by the solemn steady tolling of the bell, and after +a little he found himself unconsciously measuring time by counting the +strokes. Then he went out into the path. He followed it, step by step, +until he could no longer see the light in the cabin; his pulse beat a +little faster; he stared ahead into the deep gloom between the walls of +forest--and quickened his pace. If Marion was coming to him he would +meet her. If she was not coming-- + +In his old fearless way he promptly made up his mind. He would go boldly +to the cabin and tell her that Neil was waiting. He felt sure that the +alarm sounding from St. James had drawn away the guards and that there +would be nothing to interfere with his plan. If she had already left the +cabin he would return quickly to Obadiah's. In his eagerness he began to +run. Once a sound stopped him--the distant beating of galloping hoofs. +He heard the shout of a man, a reply farther away, the quick, excited +yelping of a dog. His blood danced as he thought of the gathering of the +Mormon fighters, the men and boys racing down the black trails from the +inland forests, the excitement in St. James. As he ran on again he +thought of Arbor Croche mustering the panting, vengeful defenders; of +Strang, his great voice booming encouragement and promise, above the +brazen thunder of the bell; he saw in fancy the frightened huddling +groups of women and children and beyond and above all the coming of the +"vengeance of God"--a hundred beats, a thousand men--and there went out +from his soul if not from his lips a great cry of joy. At the edge of +the forest he stopped for a moment. Over beyond the clearing a light +burned dimly through the lilacs. The sweet odor of the flowers came to +him gently, persuasively, and nerved him into the open. He passed across +the open space swiftly and plunged into a tangle of bushes close to the +lighted window. + +He heard a man's voice within, and then a woman's. Was it Marion? +Cautiously Nathaniel crept close to the log wall of the cabin. He +reached out, and hesitated. Should he look--as he had done at the king's +window? The man's voice came to him again, harsh and angry, and this +time it was not a woman's words that he heard but a woman's sobbing cry. +He parted the bushes and a glare of light fell on his face. The lamp was +on a table and beside the table there sat a woman, her white head turned +from him, her face buried in her hands. She was an old woman and he knew +that it was Marion's mother. He could not see the man. + +Where was Marion? He wormed himself back out of the bushes and walked +quickly around the house. There was no other light, no other sign of +life except in that one room. With sudden resolution he stepped to the +door and knocked loudly. + +For a full half minute there was silence, and he knocked again. He heard +the approach of a shuffling step, the thump, thump, thump of a cane, and +the door swung back. It was the man who opened it, a tall giant of an +old man, doubled as if with rheumatism, and close behind him was the +frightened face of the woman. An involuntary shudder passed through +Nathaniel as he looked at them. They were old--so old that the man's +shrivelled hands were like those of a skeleton; his giant frame seemed +about to totter into ruin, his eyes were sunken until his face gave the +horror of a death mask. Was it possible that these people were the +father and mother of Marion--and of Neil? As he stepped to the threshold +they timidly drew back from him. In a single glance Nathaniel swept the +room and what he saw thrilled him, for everywhere were signs of Marion; +in the pictures on the walls, the snowy curtains, the cushions in the +window-seat--and the huge vase of lilacs on the mantle. + +"I am a messenger of the king," he said, advancing and closing the door +behind him. "I want to speak with Marion." + +"Strang--the king!" cried the old man, clutching the knob of his cane +with both hands. "She has gone!" + +"Gone!" exclaimed Nathaniel. For an instant his heart bounded with +delight. Marion was on her way to the tryst! He sprang back to the +door. "When? When did she go?" + +The woman had come forward, her hands trembling, her lips quivering. +Something in the terror of her face sent the hot blood from Nathaniel's +cheeks. + +"They sent for her an hour ago," she said. "The king sent Obadiah Price +for her! O, my God!" she shrieked suddenly, clutching at her breast, +"Tell me--what are they doing with Marion--" + +"Shut up!" snarled the old man. "That is Strang's business. She has gone +to Strang." With an effort he straightened himself until his towering +form rose half a head above Nathaniel. "She has gone to the king," he +repeated. "Tell Strang that she will wive him to-night, as she has +promised!" + +In spite of his effort to control himself a terrible cry burst from +Nathaniel's lips. He flung open the door and stood for an instant with +his white face turned back. + +"She went to the castle--an hour ago?" he cried. + +"Yes, to the castle--with Obadiah Price--" The last words followed him +as he sped out into the night. As swiftly as a wolf he raced across the +clearing to the trail that led down to St. James. Something seemed to +have burst in his brain; something that was not blood, but fire, seemed +to burn in his veins--a mad desire to reach Strang, to grip him by the +throat, to mete out to him the vengeance of a fiend instead of that of a +man. He was too late to save Marion! His brain reeled with the thought. +Too late--too late--too late. He panted the words. They came with every +gasp for breath. Too late! Too late! His heart pumped like an engine as +he strained to keep up his speed. He passed a man and a boy hurrying +with their rifles to St. James and made no answer to their shout; a +galloping horse forged ahead of him and he tried to keep up with it; and +then, at the top of the long hill that sloped down to the stronghold of +the Mormon kingdom something seemed to sweep his legs from under him, +and he fell panting on the ground. For a few moments he lay there +looking down upon the city. The great bell at the temple was now silent. +He saw huge fires burning for a mile along the coast, hundreds of lights +were twinkling in the harbor, there came up to him softly, subdued by +distance, the sound of commotion and excitement far below. + +His eyes rested on the beacon above the prophet's home, burning like a +ball of fire over the black canopy of tree-tops. Marion was there! He +rose to his feet again and went on, reason and judgment returning to +him--telling him that he was about to play against odds; that his work +was to be one of strength and generalship and not of madness. As he +picked his way more slowly and cautiously down the slope a new hope +flashed upon him. Was it possible that the discovery of the approach of +the mainlanders had served to save Marion? In the excitement that +followed the calling of the Mormons to arms and the preparations for the +defense would Strang, the master of the kingdom, the bulwark of his +people, waste priceless time in carrying out the purpose for which he +had sent for Marion? Hardly did hope burn anew in his breast when there +came another thought to quench it. Why had the king sent for Marion on +this particular night and at this late hour? Why, unless at the approach +of his enemies he had feared that he might lose his beautiful victim, +and in his overmastering passion had called her to him even as his +people assembled in defense of his kingdom. + +There was desperate coolness in Nathaniel's approach now. Whatever had +happened he would do what Neil had threatened to do--kill Strang. And +whatever had happened he would take Marion away with him if it was only +her dead body that he carried in his arms. To do these things he needed +strength. He advanced more slowly and drew deeper and deeper drafts of +air into his exhausted lungs. At the edge of the grove surrounding the +castle he paused to listen. For the first time it occurred to Nathaniel +that the prophet might have assembled some of his fighters to the +defense of his harem, which he knew would be one of the first places to +feel the vengeance of the outraged men of the mainland. But he heard no +voices ahead of him. There were no fires to betray the approach of the +enemy. Not even the barking of a dog gave warning of his stealthy +advance. Soon he could make out a light in the king's house. A few steps +more and he saw that the door was open, as it had been on his first +visit to the castle. He dodged swiftly from bush to bush, darted under +the window through which he had seen Marion, leaped lightly up the broad +steps and sprang into the great room, his pistol cocked in his hand. + +The room was empty. He listened, but not a sound came to his ears except +the rustling of a curtain in the breeze. The huge lamp over the table +was burning dimly. The five doors leading from the room were tightly +closed. Nathaniel held his breath, tried to still the tumultuous +pounding of his heart as he waited for a sound of life--a step beyond +those doors, a woman's voice, a child's cry. But none came. The +stillness of desertion hovered about him. He went to one of the five +doors. It was not locked. He opened it silently, with the caution of a +thief, and there loomed before him a chaos of gloom. + +"Hello!" he called gently. "Hello--Hello--" + +There was no answer. He struck a match and advanced step by step, +holding the yellow bit of flame above his head. It disclosed the narrow +walls of a hall and an open door leading into another room. The match +sputtered and went out and he lighted another. On a little table just +outside the door was a half burned candle and he replaced his match with +this. Then he went in. + +At a glance he knew that he had entered a woman's room, redolent with +the perfume of flowers. On one side was a bed and close beside it a +cradle with a child's toys scattered about it. The tumbled coverlets +showed that both had been recently used. About the room were thrown +articles of wearing apparel; a trunk had been dragged from a closet and +was half packed; everywhere was the disorder of hurried flight. For a +few moments the depth of his despair held Nathaniel motionless. The +castle was deserted--Marion was gone! He ran back into the great room, +no longer trying to still the sound of his footsteps, and opened a +second door. The same silence greeted him, the same disorder, the same +evidence that the wives and children of the Mormon king had fled. He +went into a third room--and then a fourth. + +For an instant he paused at the threshold of this fourth chamber. A +light was burning in the room at the end of the hall. The door was +closed with the exception of an inch or two. + +"Marion!" he called softly, and listened intently. + +He went on when there was no reply, and pushed open the door. + +A candle was burning on a stand in front of a mirror. The room was as +empty as the others. But there was no disorder here. The bed was unused, +the garments in the open closet had not been disarranged. On the floor +beside the bed was a pair of shoes and as Nathaniel saw them his heart +seemed to leap to his throat and stifled the cry that was on his lips. +He took one of them in his hand, his whole being throbbing with +excitement. It was Marion's shoe--encrusted with mud and torn as he had +seen it in the forest. With her name falling from his lips in a pleading +cry he now searched the room and on the stand in front of the mirror he +found a lilac colored ribbon, soiled and crumpled. It was Marion's +ribbon--the one he had seen last in her hair, and he crushed it to his +lips as he ran back into the great room, calling out her name again and +again in the torture of helplessness that now possessed him. + +Mechanically, rather than with reason, he went to the fifth and last +door. His candle had become extinguished in his haste and after he had +opened the door he stopped at the threshold of the black hall to light +it again. There was a moment's pause as he searched his pockets for a +match, a silence in which he listened as he searched, and suddenly as he +was about to strike the sulphur tipped splint there came to his ears a +sound that held him chained to the spot. It was the sobbing of a woman; +or was it a child? In a moment he knew that it was a woman; and then the +sobbing ceased. + +There was nothing but darkness ahead of him; no ray of light shone under +the door; the chamber itself was in utter gloom. As quietly as possible +he relighted his candle. A glance assured him that this hall was +different from the others; it was deeper, and there were two doors at +the end of it instead of one. Through which of these doors had come the +sound of sobbing he had heard? + +He approached and listened. Each moment added to his excitement, his +fears, his hopes, but at last he opened the door on the left. The room +was empty; there was the same disorder as before; the same signs of +hurried flight. It was the room on the right! His heart almost stopped +its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, lifted it, and pushed +the door in. Kneeling beside the bed he saw a woman. She had turned +toward the light and in the dim illumination of the room Nathaniel +recognized the beautiful face he had seen at the king's castle the +preceding day--the face of the woman who had sent him to find the +prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on Marion's head as he had +looked through the window. There was no fear in her eyes as she saw +Nathaniel. Something more terrible than that shone in their glorious +depths as she rose to her feet and stood before him, her face lined with +grief, her mouth twitching in agony. She stood with clenched hands, her +bosom rising and falling in the passion of the storm within her; and she +sobbed even as Nathaniel paused there, unmanned in this sudden presence +of a distress greater than his own; sobbed in a choking, tearless way, +waiting for him to speak. + +"Forgive me," he spoke gently. "I have come--for--Marion." He felt that +he had no reason to lie to this woman. His face betrayed his own anguish +as he came nearer to her. "I want Marion," he repeated. "My God, won't +you tell me--?" + +She struggled to calm herself as he spoke the girl's name. + +"Marion is not here," she said. She crushed his hands against her bosom +and a softer look came into her eyes; her voice was low and sweet, as it +had been the morning he asked for Strang. As she saw the despair +deepening in the man's face a great pity swept over her and she +stretched out her arms to him with an aching cry, "Marion is +gone--gone--gone," she moaned, "and you must go, too! O, I know you love +her--she told me that you loved her, as I love Strang, my king! We have +both lost--lost--and you must go--as--I--shall--go!" She turned away +from him with a cry so heart-breaking in its pain that Nathaniel felt +himself trembling to the soul. In another instant she had faced him +again, fighting back a strange calm into her face. + +"I love Marion," she breathed softly. "I would help you--I would help +her--if I could." For a moment her pale beautiful face was filled with a +light that might have shone from the face of an angel, "Don't you +understand?" she continued, scarcely above a whisper. "I have been +Strang's one great love--his life--until Marion came into his heart. I +have lost--you have lost--but mine is the more bitter because Marion +loves you, and Strang--" + +With a cry Nathaniel sprang to her side. The candle fell from his hand, +sputtered on the floor, and left them in darkness. + +"Marion loves me! You say that Marion loves me?" + +The woman's voice came to him in a whisper filled with the sweetness of +sympathy. + +"She said so to-night--in this room. She told me that she loved you as +she never thought that she could love a man in this world. O, my God, is +that not a balm for your heart, if it is broken? And Strang--my +Strang--has forgotten his love for me!" + +Nathaniel reached out his arms. They found the woman and for a time he +held her hands in his, while a great silence fell upon them. He could +hear the sobbing of her breath and as her fingers tightened about his +own his heart seemed bursting with its hatred of this man who called +himself a prophet of God; a hatred that burned furiously even as his +being throbbed with the wild joy of the words he had just heard. + +"Where is Marion?" he pleaded. + +"I don't know," replied the woman. "They took her away alone. The +others have gone to the temple." + +"Do you think she is at the temple?" he inquired insistently. + +"No. One of the others came back a little while ago. She said that +Marion was not there." + +"Where is Strang?" + +This time he felt the woman tremble. + +"Strang--" + +She drew her hands away from him. There was a strange quiver in her +voice. + +"Yes--where is Strang?" + +There came no reply. + +"Tell me--where is he?" + +"I don't know." + +"Is he at the temple?" + +"I don't know." + +He could hear her stifled breath; he could almost feel her trembling, an +arm's reach out there in the darkness. What a woman was this whose +heart the Mormon king had broken for a new love! + +"Listen," he said gently. "I am going to find Marion. I am going to take +her away. To-morrow you shall have Strang again--if he is alive!" + +There was no answer and he moved slowly back to the door. He closed it +after him as he entered the hall. Once in the big room he paused for a +moment under the hanging lamp to examine his pistol and then went +outside. The grove in which the castle stood was absolutely deserted. So +far as he could see not even a guard watched over the property of the +king. Nathaniel had become too accustomed to the surprises of Beaver +Island to wonder at this. He could see by the lights flaring along the +harbor that the castle was in an isolated position and easy of attack. +From what Strang's wife had told him and the evidences of panic in the +chambers of the harem he believed that the Mormon king had abandoned the +castle to its fate and that the approaching conflict would center about +the temple. + +Was Marion at the temple? If so he realized that she was beyond his +reach. But the woman had said that she was not there. Where could she +have gone? Why had not Strang taken her with his wives? In a flash +Nathaniel thought of Arbor Croche and Obadiah--the two men who always +knew what the king was doing. If he could find the sheriff alone--if he +could only nurse Obadiah back into sane life again! He thrust his pistol +into its holster. There was but one thing for him to do and that was to +return to the old councilor. It would be madness for him to go down to +St. James. He had lost--Strang had won. But his love for Marion was +undying. If he found her Strang's wife it would make no difference to +him. It would all be evened up when he killed the king. For Marion loved +him--loved him-- + +He turned his face toward Obadiah's, his heart singing the glad words +which the woman had spoken to him back there in the sixth chamber. + +And as he was about to take the first step in that long race back to the +mad councilor's he heard behind him the approach of quick feet. He +crouched behind a clump of bushes and waited. A shadowy form was +hurrying through the grove. It passed close to him, mounted the castle +steps, and in the doorway turned and looked back for an instant in the +direction of St. James. + +Nathaniel's lips quivered; the pounding of his heart half choked him; a +shriek of mad, terrible joy was ready to leap from his lips. + +There in the dim glow of the great lamp stood Strang, the Mormon king. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE HAND OF FATE + + +Like a panther Nathaniel crouched and watched the man on the steps. His +muscles jerked, his hands were clenched; each instant he seemed about to +spring. But he held himself back until Strang had passed through the +door. Then he slipped along the log wall of the castle, hugging the +shadows, fearing that the king might reappear and see him in time to +close the door. What an opportunity fate had made for him! His fingers +itched to get at Strang's thick bull-like throat. He felt no fear, no +hesitation about the outcome of the struggle with this giant prophet of +God. He did not plan to shoot, for a shot would destroy the secret of +Marion's fate. He would choke the truth from Strang; rob him of life +slowly, gasp by gasp, until in the horror of death the king would reveal +her hiding-place--would tell what he had done with her. + +Then he would kill him! + +There was the strength of tempered steel in his arms; his body, slender +as an athlete's, quivered to hurl itself into action. Up the steps he +crept so cautiously that he made no sound. In the intensity of his +purpose Nathaniel looked only ahead of him--to the door. He did not see +that another figure was stealing through the gloom behind him as +cautiously, as quietly as himself. He passed through the door and stood +erect. Strang had not seen him. He had not heard him. He was standing +with his huge back toward him, facing the hall that led to the sixth +chamber--and the woman. Nathaniel drew his pistol. He would not shoot, +but Strang might be made to tell the truth with death leveling itself at +his heart. He groped behind him, found the door, and slammed it shut. +There would be no retreat for the king! + +And the man who turned toward him at the slamming of that door, turned +slowly, coolly, and gazed into the black muzzle of his pistol looked, +indeed, every inch of him a king. The muscles of his face betrayed no +surprise, no fear. His splendid nerve was unshaken, his eyes unfaltering +as they rose above the pistol to the face behind it. For fifteen seconds +there was a strange terrible silence as the eyes of the two men met. In +that quarter of a minute Nathaniel knew that he had not guessed rightly. +Strang was not afraid. He would not tell him where Marion was. The +insuperable courage of this man maddened Captain Plum and unconsciously +his finger fell upon the trigger of his pistol. He almost shrieked the +words that he meant to speak calmly: + +"Where is Marion?" + +"She is safe, Captain Plum. She is where the friends who are invading us +from the mainland will have no chance of finding her." + +Strang spoke as quietly as though in his own office beside the temple. +Suddenly he raised his voice. + +"She is safe, Captain Plum--safe!" + +His eyes wavered, and traveled beyond. As accurately as a striking +serpent Nathaniel measured that glance. It had gone to the door. He +heard a movement, felt a draft of air, and in an instant he whirled +about with his pistol pointed to the door. In another instant he had +fired and the huge form of Arbor Croche toppled headlong into the room. +A roar like that of a beast came from behind him and before he could +turn again Strang was upon him. In that moment he felt that all was +lost. Under the weight of the Mormon king he was crushed to the floor; +his pistol slipped from his grasp; two great hands choked a despairing +cry from his throat. He saw the prophet's face over him, distorted with +passion, his huge neck bulging, his eyes flaming like angry garnets. He +struggled to free his pinioned arms, to wrench off the death grip at his +throat, but his efforts were like those of a child against a giant. In a +last terrible attempt he drew up his knees inch by inch under the +weight of his enemy; it was his only chance--his only hope. Even as he +felt the fingers about his throat sinking like hot iron into his flesh +and the breath slipping from his body he remembered this murderous +knee-punch of the rough fighters of the inland seas and with all the +life that remained in him he sent it crushing into the abdomen of the +Mormon king. It was a moment before he knew that it had been successful, +before the film cleared from his eyes and he saw Strang groveling at his +feet; another moment and he had hurled himself on the prophet. His fist +shot out like a hammer against Strang's jaw. Again and again he struck +until the great shaggy head fell back limp. Then his fingers twined +themselves like the links of a chain about the purplish throat and he +choked until Strang's eyes opened wide and lifeless and his convulsions +ceased. He would have held on until there was no doubt of the end, had +not the king's wife--the woman whose misery he had shared that +night--suddenly flung herself with a piercing cry, between him and the +blackened face, clutching at his hands with all her fragile strength. + +[Illustration: His fingers twined about the purplish throat.] + +"My God, you are killing him--killing him!" she moaned. + +Her eyes blazed as she tore at his fingers. + +"You are killing him--killing him!" she shrieked. "He has not destroyed +Marion! You said you would take her and leave him--for me--" She struck +her head against his breast, tearing the flesh of his wrists with her +nails. + +Nathaniel loosened his grip and staggered to his feet. + +"For you!" he panted. "If you had only come--a little sooner--" He +stumbled to his pistol and picked it up. "I am afraid he is--dead!" + +He did not look back. + +Arbor Croche barred the door. He had not moved since he had fallen. His +head was twisted so that his face was turned to the glow of the lamp +and Nathaniel shuddered as he saw where his shot had struck. He had +apparently died with that last cry on his lips. + +There was no longer a fear of the Mormons in Nathaniel. He believed the +king and Arbor Croche dead, and that in the gloom and excitement of the +night he could go among the people of St. James undiscovered. A great +load was lifted from his soul, for if he had not been in time to save +Marion he had at least delivered her after a short bondage. He had now +only to find Marion and she would go with him, for she loved him--and +Strang was no more. + +He hurried through the grove toward the temple. Even before he had come +near to it he could see that a great crowd had congregated there. The +street which he passed was deserted. No lights shone in the houses. Even +the dogs were gone. For the first time he understood what it meant. The +whole town had fled to that huge log stronghold for protection. +Buildings and trees shut out his view seaward but he could see the +flare of great fires mounting into the sky and he knew that those who +were not at the temple were guarding the shore. + +Suddenly he almost fell over a figure in his path. It was an old woman +mumbling and sobbing incoherently as she stumbled weakly in the +direction of the temple. Like an inspiration the thought came to him +that here was his opportunity of gaining admittance to that multitude of +women and children. He seized the old woman by the arm and spoke words +of courage to her as he half carried her on her way. A few minutes more +and a blaze of light burst upon them and the great square in which the +temple was situated lay open before them. Half a hundred yards ahead a +fire was burning; oil and pine sent their lurid flame high up into the +night, and in the thick gloom behind it, intensified by the blinding +glare, Nathaniel saw the shadows of men. He caught the old woman in his +arms and went on boldly. He passed close to a thin line of waiting men, +saw the faint glint of firelight on their rifles, and staggering past +them unchallenged with his weight he stopped for a moment to look back. +The effect was startling. Beyond the three great fires that blazed +around the temple the clearing was bathed in a sea of light; in its +concealment of giant trees the temple was buried in gloom. From the +gloom a hundred cool men might slaughter five times their number +charging across that illumined death-square! + +Nathaniel could not repress a shudder as he looked. Screened behind each +of the three fires was a cannon. He figured that there were more than a +hundred rifles in that silent cordon of men. What was there on the +opposite side of the temple? + +He turned with the old woman and joined the throng that was seething +about the temple doors. There were women, children and old men, crushing +and crowding, fighting with panic-stricken fierceness for admittance to +the thick log walls. Through the doors there came the low thunder of +countless voices pierced by the shrill cries of little children. Foot by +foot Nathaniel fought his way up the steps. At the top were drawn a +dozen men forming barriers with their rifles. One of them shoved him +back. + +"Not you!" he shouted. "This is for the women!" + +Nathaniel fell back, filled with horror. A glance had shown him the vast +dimly lighted interior of the temple packed to suffocation. What sins +had this people wrought that it thus feared the vengeance of the men +from the mainland! He felt the sweat break out upon his face as he +thought of Marion being in that mob, tired and fainting with her +terrible day's experience--perhaps dying under the panic-stricken feet +of those stronger than herself. He hoped now for that which at first had +filled him with despair--that Strang had hidden Marion away from the +terror and suffocation of this multitude that fought for its breath +within the temple. Freeing himself of the crowd he ran to the farther +side of the building. A fourth fire blazed in his face. But on this side +there was no cannon; scarcely a score of men were guarding the rear of +the temple. + +For a full minute he stood concealed in the gloom. He realized now that +it would be useless to return to Obadiah. The old councilor could +probably have told him all that he had discovered for himself; that +Marion had gone to the castle--that Strang intended to make her his +bride that night. But did Obadiah know that the castle had been +abandoned? Did he know that the king's wives had sought refuge in the +temple, and did he know where Marion was hidden? Nathaniel could assure +himself but one answer; Obadiah, struck down by his strange madness, was +more ignorant than he himself of what had occurred at St. James. + +While he paused a heavy noise arose that quickened his heart-beats and +sent the blood through his veins in wild excitement. From far down by +the shore there came the roar of a cannon. It was closely followed by a +second and a third, and hardly was the night shaken by their thunder +than a mighty cheering of men swept up from the fire-rimmed coast. The +battle had begun! Nathaniel leaped out into the glow of the great +blazing fire beyond the temple; he heard a warning shout as he darted +past the men; for an instant he saw their white faces staring at him +from the firelight--heard a second shout, which he knew was a +command--and was gone. Half a dozen rifles cracked behind him and a yell +of joyful defiance burst from his throat as the bullets hissed over his +head. The battle had begun! Another hour and the Mormon kingdom would be +at the mercy of the avenging host from the mainland--and Marion would be +his own for ever! He heard again the deep rumble of a heavy gun and from +its sullen detonation he knew that it was fired from a ship at sea. A +nearer crash of returning fire turned him into a deserted street down +which he ran wildly, on past the last houses of the town, until he came +to the foot of a hill up which he climbed more slowly, panting like a +winded animal. + +From its top he could look down upon the scene of battle. To the +eastward stretched the harbor line with its rim of fires. A glance +showed him that the fight was not to center about these. They had served +their purpose, had forced the mainlanders to seek a landing farther down +the coast. The light of dawn had already begun to disperse the thick +gloom of night and an eighth of a mile below Nathaniel the Mormon forces +were creeping slowly along the shore. The pale ghostly mistiness of the +sea hung like a curtain between him and what was beyond, and even as he +strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the avenging fleet a vivid light +leaped out of the white distance, followed by the thunder of a cannon. +He saw the head of the Mormon line falter. In an instant it had been +thrown into confusion. A second shot from the sea--a storm of cheering +voices from out of that white chaos of mist--and the Mormons fell back +from the shore in a panic-stricken, fleeing mob. Were those frightened +cowards the fierce fighters of whom he had heard so much? Were they the +men who had made themselves masters of a kingdom in the land of their +enemies--whose mere name carried terror for a hundred miles along the +coast? He was stupefied, bewildered. He made no effort to conceal +himself as they approached the hill, but drew his pistol, ready to fire +down upon them as they came. Suddenly there was a change. So quickly +that he could scarcely believe his eyes the flying Mormons had +disappeared. Not a man was visible upon that narrow plain between the +hill and the sea. Like a huge covey of quail they had dropped to the +ground, their rifles lost in that ghostly gloom through which the voices +of the mainlanders came in fierce cries of triumph. It was magnificent! +Even as the crushing truth of what it all meant came to him, the +fighting blood in his veins leaped at the sight of it--the pretended +effect of the shots from sea, the sham confusion, the disorderly +flight, the wonderful quickness and precision with which the rabble of +armed men had thrown itself into ambush! + +Would the mainlanders rush into the trap? Had some keen eye seen those +shadowy forms dropping through the mist? Each instant the ghostly pall +that shut out vision seaward seemed drifting away. Nathaniel's staring +eyes saw a vague shape appear in it, an indistinct dirt-gray blotch, and +he knew that it was a boat. Another followed, and then another; he heard +the sound of oars, the grinding of keels upon the sand, and where the +Mormons had been a few moments before the beach was now alive with +mainlanders. In the growing light he could make out the king's men below +him, inanimate spots in the middle of the narrow plain. Helpless he +stood clutching his pistol, the horror in him growing with each breath. +Could he give no warning? Could he do nothing--nothing--At least he +could join in the fight! He ran down the hill, swinging to the left of +the Mormons. Half way, and he stopped as a thundering cheer swept up +from the shore. The mainlanders had started toward the hill! Without +rank, without order--shouting their triumph as they came they were +rushing blindly into the arms of the ambush! A shriek of warning left +Nathaniel's lips. It was drowned in a crash of rifle fire. Volley after +volley burst from that shadowy stretch of plain. Before the furious fire +the van of the mainlanders crumpled into ruin. Like chaff before a wind +those behind were swept back. Apparently they were flying without +waiting to fire a shot! Nathaniel dashed down into the plain. Ahead of +him the Mormons were charging in a solid line, and in another moment the +shore had become a mass of fighting men. Far to the left he saw a group +of the mainlanders running along the beach toward the conflict. If he +could only intercept them--and bring them into the rear! Like the wind +he sped to cut them off, shouting and firing his pistol. + +He won by a hundred yards and stood panting as they came toward him. +Dawn had dispelled the mist-gloom and as the mainlanders drew nearer he +discerned in their lead a figure that brought a cry of joy from his +lips. + +"Neil!" he shouted. "Neil--" + +He turned as Marion's brother darted to his side. + +"This way--from behind!" + +The two led the way, side by side, followed by a dozen men. A glance +told Nathaniel that nothing much less than a miracle could turn the tide +of battle. Half of the mainlanders were fighting in the water. Others +were struggling desperately to get away in the boats. Foot by foot the +Mormons were crushing them back, their battle cries now turned into +demoniac yells of victory. Into the rear of the struggling mass, firing +as they ran, charged the handful of men behind Captain Plum and Neil. +For a little space the king's men gave way before them and with wild +cheers the powerful fishermen from the coast fought their way toward +their comrades. Many of them were armed with long knives; some had +pistols; others used their empty rifles as clubs. A dozen more men and +they would have split like a wedge through the Mormon mass. Above the +din of battle Nathaniel's voice rose in thundering shouts to the men in +the sea, and close beside him he heard Neil shrieking out a name between +his blows. Like demons they fought straight ahead, slashing with their +knives. The Mormon line was thinning. The mainlanders had turned and +were fighting their way back, gaining foot by foot what they had lost. +Suddenly there came a terrific cheer from the plain and the hope that +had flamed in Nathaniel's breast died out as he heard it. He knew what +it meant--that the Mormons at St. James had come to reinforce their +comrades. He fought now to reach the boats, calling to Neil, whom he +could no longer see. Even in that moment he thought of Marion. His only +chance was to escape with the others, his only hope of wresting her from +the kingdom lay in his own freedom. He had waited too long. A crushing +blow fell upon him from behind and with a last cry to Neil he sank under +the trampling feet. Indistinctly there came to him the surging shock of +the fresh body of Mormons. The din about him became fainter and fainter +as though he was being carried rapidly away from it; shouting voices +came to him in whispers, and deadened sounds, like the quick tapping of +a finger on his forehead, were all that he heard of the steady rifle +fire that pursued the defeated mainlanders in their flight. + +After a little he began struggling back into consciousness. There was a +splitting pain somewhere in his head and he tried to reach his hand to +it. + +"You won't have to carry him," he heard a voice say. "Give him a little +water and he'll walk." + +He felt the dash of the water in his face and it put new life into him. +Somebody had raised him to a sitting posture and was supporting him +there while a second person bound a cloth about his head. He opened his +eyes and the light of day shot into them like a stinging, burning charge +of needle-points, and he closed them again with a sharp cry of pain. +That second's glance had shown him that it was a woman who was binding +his head. He had not seen her face. Beyond her he had caught a half +formed vision of many people and the glistening edge of the sea, and as +he lay with closed eyes the murmur of voices came to him. The support at +his back was taken away, slowly, as if the person who held him feared +that he would fall. Nathaniel stiffened himself to show his returning +strength and opened his eyes again. This time the pain was not so great. +A few yards away he saw a group of people and among them were women; +still farther away, so far that his brain grew dizzy as he looked, there +was a black moving crowd. He was among the wounded. The Mormon women +were here. Down there along the shore--among the dead--had assembled the +population of St. James. + +A strange sickness overpowered him and he sank back against his +supporter. A cool hand passed over his face. It was a soothing, gentle +touch--the hand of the woman. He felt the sweep of soft hair against his +cheek--a breath whispering in his ear. + +"You will be better soon." + +His heart stood still. + +"You will be better--" + +Against his rough cheek there fell the soft pressure of a woman's lips. + +Nathaniel pulled himself erect, every drop of blood in him striving for +the mastery of his body, his vision, his strength. He tried to turn, but +strong arms seized him from behind. A man's voice spoke to him, a man's +strength held him. In an agony of appeal Marion's name burst from his +lips. + +"Sh-h-!" warned the voice behind him. "Are you crazy?" + +The arms relaxed their hold and Nathaniel dragged himself to his knees. +The woman was gone. As far as he could see there were people--scores of +them, hundreds of them--multiplied into thousands and millions as he +looked, until there was only a black cloud about him. He staggered to +his feet and a strong hand kept him from falling while his brain slowly +cleared. The millions and thousands and hundreds of people dissolved +themselves into the day until only a handful was left where he had seen +multitudes. He turned his face weakly to the man beside him. + +"Where did she go?" he asked. + +It was a boyish face into which his pleading eyes gazed, a face white +with the strain of battle, reddened a little on one cheek with a smear +of blood, and there was a startled, frightened look in it that did not +come of the strife that had passed. + +"Who? What are you talking about?" + +"The woman," whispered Nathaniel. "The woman--Marion--who kissed--me--" + +The young fellow's hand gripped his arm in a sudden fierce clutch. + +"You've been dreaming!" he exclaimed in a threatening voice. "Shut up!" +He spoke the words loudly. Then quickly dropping his voice to a whisper +he added, "For God's sake don't betray her! They saw her with +us--everybody knows that it was the king's wife with you!" + +The king's wife! Nathaniel was too weak to analyze the words beyond the +fact that they carried the dread truth of his fears deep into his soul. +Who would have come to him but Marion? Who else would have kissed him? +It was her voice that had whispered in his ear--the thrill of her hand +that had passed over his face. And this man had said that she was the +wife of the king! He heard the voices of other men near him but did not +understand what they were saying. He knew that after a moment there was +a man on each side of him holding him by the arms, and mechanically he +moved his legs, knowing that they wanted him to walk. They did not guess +how weak he was--how he struggled to keep from becoming too great a +weight on their hands. Once or twice they stopped in their agonizing +climb up the hill. On its top the cool sea air swept into Nathaniel's +face and it was like water to a parched throat. + +After a time--it seemed a day of terrible work and pain to him--they +came to the streets of the town, and in a half conscious sort of way he +cursed at the rabble trailing at their heels. They passed close to the +temple, dirt and blood and a burning torment shutting the vision of it +from his eyes, and beyond this there was another crowd. An aisle opened +for them, as it had opened for others ahead of them. In front of the +jail they stopped. Nathaniel's head hung heavily upon his breast and he +made no effort to raise it. All ambition and desire had left him, all +desire but one, and that was to drop upon the ground and lie there for +endless, restful years. What consciousness was left in him was ebbing +swiftly; he saw black, fathomless night about him and the earth seemed +slipping from under his feet. + +A voice dragged him back into life--a voice that boomed in his ears like +rolling thunder and set every fiber in him quivering with emotion. He +drew himself erect with the involuntary strength of one mastering the +last spasm of death and as they dragged him through the door he saw +there within an arm's reach of him the great, living face of Strang, +gloating at him as if from out of a mist--red eyed, white fanged, filled +with the vengefulness of a beast. + +The great voice rumbled in his ears again. + +"Take that man to the dungeon!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH + + +The voice--the condemning words--followed Nathaniel as he staggered on +between his two guards; it haunted him still as the cold chill of the +rotting dungeon walls struck in his face; it remained with him as he +stood swaying alone in the thick gloom--the voice rumbling in his ears, +the words beating against his brain until the shock of them sickened +him, until he stretched out his arms and there fell from him such a cry +as had never tortured his lips before. + +Strang was alive! He had left the spark of life in him, and the woman +who loved him had fanned it back into full flame. + +Strang was alive! And Marion--Marion was his wife! + +The voice of the king taunted him from the black chaos that hid the +dungeon walls. The words struck at him, filling his head with shooting +pain, and he tottered back and sank to the ground to get away from them. +They followed, and that vengeful leer of the king was behind them, +urging them on, until they beat his face into the sticky earth, and +smothered him into what he thought was death. + +There came rest after that, a long silent rest. When Nathaniel slowly +climbed up out of the ebon shadows again the first consciousness that +came to him was that the word-demons had stopped their beating against +his brain and that he no longer heard the voice of the king. His relief +was so great that he breathed a restful sigh. Something touched him +then. Great God! were they coming back? Were they still +there--waiting--waiting-- + +It was a wonderfully familiar voice that spoke to him. + +"Hello there, Nat! Want a drink?" + +He gulped eagerly at the cool liquid that touched his lips. + +"Neil," he whispered. + +"It's me, Nat. They chucked me in with you. Hell's hole, isn't it?" + +Nathaniel sat up, Neil's strong arm at his back. There was a light in +the room now and he could see his companion's face, smiling at him +encouragingly. The sight of it was like an elixir to him. He drank again +and new life coursed through him. + +"Yes--hell of a hole!" he repeated drowsily. "Sorry for you--Neil--" and +he seemed to sleep again. + +Neil laughed as he wiped his companion's face with a wet cloth. + +"I'm used to it, Nat. Been here before," he said. "Can you get up? +There's a bench over here--not long enough to stretch you out on or I +would have made you a bed of it, but it's better than this mud to sit +on." + +He put his arms about Nathaniel and helped him to his feet. For a few +moments the wounded man stood without moving. + +"I'm not very bad, I guess," he said, taking a slow step. "Where is the +seat, Neil? I'm going to walk to it. What sort of a bump have I got on +the head?" + +"Nothing much," assured Neil. "Suspicious, though," he grinned +cheerfully. "Looks as though you were running and somebody came up and +tapped you from behind!" + +Nathaniel's strength returned to him quickly. The pain had gone from his +head and his eyes no longer hurt him. In the dim candle-light he could +distinguish the four walls of the dungeon, glistening with the water and +mold that reeked from between their rotting logs. The floor was of wet, +sticky earth which clung to his boots, and the air that he breathed +filled his nostrils and throat with the uncomfortable thickness of a +night fog at sea. Through it the candle burned in a misty halo. Near the +candle, which stood on a shelf-like table against one of the walls, was +a big dish which caught Nathaniel's eyes. + +"What's that?" he asked pointing toward it. + +"Grub," replied Neil. "Hungry?" + +He went to the table and got the plate of food. There were chunks of +boiled meat, unbuttered bread, and cold potatoes. For several minutes +they ate in silence. Now that Nathaniel was himself again Neil could no +longer keep up his forced spirits. Both realized that they had played +their game and that it had ended in defeat. And each believed that it +was in his individual power to alleviate to some extent the other's +misery. To Neil what was ahead of them held no mystery. A few hours more +and then--death. It was only the form in which it would come that +troubled him, that made him think. Usually the victims of this dungeon +cell were shot. Sometimes they were hanged. But why tell Nathaniel? So +he ate his meat and bread without words, waiting for the other to speak, +as the other waited for him. And Nathaniel, on his part, kept to himself +the secret of Marion's fate. After they had done with the meat and the +bread and the cold potatoes he pulled out his beloved pipe and filled it +with the last scraps of his tobacco, and as the fumes of it clouded +round his head, soothing him in its old friendship, he told of his fight +with Strang and his killing of Arbor Croche. + +"I'm glad for Winnsome's sake," said Neil, after a moment. "Oh, if you'd +only killed Strang!" + +Nathaniel thought of what Marion had said to him in the forest. + +"Neil," he said quietly, "do you know that Winnsome loves you--not as +the little girl whom you toted about on your shoulders--but as a woman? +Do you know that?" In the other's silence he added, "When I last saw +Marion she sent this message to you--'Tell Neil that he must go, for +Winnsome's sake. Tell him that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as +mine--tell him that Winnsome loves him and that she will escape and come +to him on the mainland.'" Like words of fire they had burned themselves +in his brain and as Nathaniel repeated them he thought of that other +broken heart that had sobbed out its anguish to him in the castle +chamber. "Neil, a man can die easier when he knows that a woman loves +him!" + +He had risen to his feet and was walking back and forth through the +thick gloom. + +"I'm glad!" Neil's voice came to him softly, as though he scarcely dared +to speak the words aloud. After a moment he added, "Have you got a +pencil, Nat? I would like to leave a little note for Winnsome." + +Nathaniel found both pencil and paper in one of his pockets and Neil +dropped upon his knees in the mud beside the table. Ten minutes later he +turned to Nathaniel and a great change had come into his face. + +"She always seemed like such a little child to me that I never +dared--to--tell her," he faltered. "I've done it in this." + +"How will you get the note to her?" + +"I know the jailer. Perhaps when he comes to bring us our dinner I can +persuade him to send it to her." + +Nathaniel thrust his hands into his pockets. His fingers dug into +Obadiah's gold. + +"Would this help?" he asked. + +He brought out a shimmering handful of it and counted the pieces upon +the table. + +"Two hundred dollars--if he will deliver that note," he said. + +Neil stared at him in amazement. + +"If he won't take it for that--I've got more. I'll go a thousand!" + +Neil stood silent, wondering if his companion was mad. Nathaniel saw the +look in his face and his own flushed with sudden excitement. + +"Don't you understand?" he cried. "That note means Heaven or hell for +Winnsome--it means life--her whole future! And you know what this cell +means for us," he said more calmly. "It means that we're at the end of +our rope, that the game is up, that neither of us will ever see Marion +or Winnsome again. That note is the last word in life from us--from you. +It's a dying prayer. Tell Winnsome your love, tell her that it is your +last wish that she go out into the big, free world--away from this +hell-hole, away from Strang, away from the Mormons, and live as other +women live! And commanded by your love--she will go!" + +"I've told her that!" breathed Neil. + +"I knew you would!" + +Nathaniel threw another handful of gold on the table. + +"Five hundred!" he exclaimed. "It's cheap enough for a woman's soul!" + +He motioned for Neil to put the money in his pocket. The pain was coming +back into his head, he grew dizzy, and hastened to the bench. Neil came +and sat beside him. + +"So you think it's the end?" he asked. He was glad that his companion +had guessed the truth. + +"Don't you?" + +"Yes." + +There was a minute's dark silence. The ticking of Nathaniel's watch +sounded like the tapping of a stick. + +"What will happen?" + +"I don't know. But whatever it may be it will come to us soon. Usually +it happens at night." + +"There is no hope?" + +"Absolutely none. The whole mainland is at the mercy of Strang. He fears +no retribution now, no punishment for his crimes, no hand stronger than +his own. He will not even give us the pretense of a hearing. I am a +traitor, a revolutionist--you have attempted the life of the king. We +are both condemned--both doomed." + +Neil spoke calmly and his companion strove to master the terrible pain +at his heart as he thought of Marion. If Neil could go to the end like a +martyr he would at least make an attempt to do as much. Yet he could not +help from saying: + +"What will become of Marion?" + +He felt the tremor that passed through his companion's body. + +"I have implored Winnsome to do all that she can to get her away," +replied Neil. "If Marion won't go--" He clenched his hands with a +moaning curse and sprang to his feet, again pacing back and forth +through the gloomy dungeon. "If she won't go I swear that Strang's +triumph will be short!" he cried suddenly. "I can not guess the terrible +power that the king possesses over her, but I know that once his wife +she will not endure it long. The moment she becomes that, her bondage is +broken. I know it. I have seen it in her eyes. She will kill herself!" + +Nathaniel rose slowly from the bench and came to his side. + +"She won't do that!" he groaned. "My God--she won't do that!" + +Neil's face was blanched to the whiteness of paper. + +"She will," he repeated quietly. "Her terrible pact with Strang will +have been fulfilled. And I--I am glad--glad--" + +He raised his arms to the dripping blackness of the dungeon ceiling, his +voice shaking with a cold, stifled anguish. Nathaniel drew back from +that tall, straight figure, step by step, as though to hide beyond the +flickering candle glow the betrayal that had come into his face, the +blazing fire that seemed burning out his eyes. If what Neil had said was +true-- + +Something choked him as he dropped alone upon the bench. + +If it was true--Marion was dead! + +He dropped his head in his hands and sat for a long time in silence, +listening to Neil as he walked tirelessly over the muddy earth. Not +until there came a rattling of the chain at the cell door and a creaking +of the rusty hinges did he lift his face. It was the jailer with a huge +armful of straw. He saw Neil approach him after he had thrown it down. +Their low voices came to him in an indistinct murmur. After a little he +caught the sound of the chinking gold pieces. + +Neil came and sat down beside him as the heavy door closed upon them +again. + +"He took it," he whispered exultantly. "He will deliver it this morning. +If possible he will bring us an answer. I kept out a hundred and told +him that a reply would be worth that to him." + +Nathaniel did not speak, and after a moment's silence Neil continued. + +"The jury is assembling. We will know our fate very soon." + +He rose to his feet, his words quivering with nervous excitement, and +Nathaniel heard him kicking about in the straw. In another breath his +voice hissed through the gloom in a sharp, startled command: + +"Good God, Nat, come here!" + +Something in the strange fierceness of Neil's words startled Nathaniel, +like the thrilling twinges of an electric shock. He darted across the +cell and found Marion's brother with his shoulder against the door. + +"It's open!" he whispered. "The door--is--open!" + +The hinges creaked under his weight. A current of air struck them in the +face. Another instant and they stood in the corridor, listening, +crushing back the breath in their lungs, not daring to speak. Only the +drip of water came to their ears. Gently Neil drew his companion back +into the cell. + +"There's a chance--one chance in ten thousand!" he whispered. "At the +end of this corridor there is a door--the jailer's door. If that's not +locked, we can make a run for it! I'd rather die fighting--than here!" + +He slipped out again, pressing Nathaniel back. + +"Wait for me!" + +Nathaniel heard him stealing slowly through the blackness. A minute +later he returned. + +"Locked!" he exclaimed. + +In the opposite direction a ray of light caught Nathaniel's eye. + +"Where does that light come from?" he asked. + +"Through a hole about as big as your two hands. It was made for a stove +pipe. If we were up there we could see into the jury room." + +They moved quietly down the corridor until they stood under the +aperture, which was four or five feet above their heads. Through it they +could hear the sound of voices but could not distinguish the words that +were being spoken. + +"The jury," explained Neil. "They're in a devil of a hurry! I wonder +why?" + +Nathaniel could feel his companion shrug himself in the darkness. + +"Lord--for my revolver!" he whispered excitedly. "One shot through that +hole would be worth a thousand notes to the girls!" He caught Marion's +brother by the arm as a voice louder than the others came to them. + +"Strang!" + +"Yes--the--king!" affirmed Neil laying an expostulating hand on him. +"Hush!" + +"I would like to see--" + +Even in these last hours of failure and defeat the fire of adventure +flamed up in Nathaniel's blood. He felt his nerves leaping again to +action, his arms grew tense with new ambition--almost he forgot that +death had him cornered and was already preparing to strike him down. +Another thought replaced all fear of this. A few feet beyond that log +wall were gathered the men whose bloodthirsty deeds had written for them +one of the reddest pages in history--men who had burned their souls out +in the destruction of human lives, whose passions and loves and hatreds +carried with them life and death; men who had bathed themselves in blood +and lived in blood until the people of the mainland called them "the +leeches." + +"The Mormon jury!" Nathaniel spoke the words scarcely above his breath. + +"I'd like to take a look through that hole, Neil," he added. + +"Easy enough--if you keep quiet. Here!" He doubled himself against the +wall. "Climb up on my shoulders." + +No sooner had Nathaniel's face come to a level with the hole than a soft +cry of astonishment escaped him. Neil whispered hoarsely but he did not +reply. He was looking into a room twice as large as the dungeon cell and +lighted by narrow windows whose lower panes were on a level with the +ground outside. At the farther end of the room, in full view, was a +platform raised several feet from the main floor. On this platform were +seated ten men, immovable as statues, every face gazing straight ahead. +Directly in front of them, on the lower floor, stood the Mormon king, +and at his side, partly held in the embrace of one of his arms was +Winnsome! + +Strang's voice came to him in a low, solemn monotone, its rumbling +depth drowning the words he was speaking, and as Nathaniel saw him lift +his arm from about the girl's shoulders and place his great hand upon +her head he dug his own fingers fiercely into the rotting logs and an +imprecation burned in his breath. He did not need to hear what the king +was saying. It was a pantomime in which every gesture was +understandable. But even Neil, huddled against the wall, heard the last +words of the prophet as they thundered forth in sudden passion. + +"Winnsome Croche demands the death of her father's murderer!" + +Nathaniel felt his companion's shoulders sinking under his weight and he +leaped quickly to the floor. + +"Winnsome is there!" he panted desperately. "Do you want to see her?" + +Neil hesitated. + +"No. Your boots gouge my shoulder. Take them off." + +The scene had changed when Nathaniel took his position again. The jury +had left its platform and was filing through a small door. Winnsome and +the king were along. + +The girl had turned from him. She was deathly pale and yet she was +wondrously beautiful, so beautiful that Nathaniel's breath came in quick +dread as the king approached her. He could see the triumph in his eyes, +a terrible eagerness in his face. He seized Winnsome's hand and spoke to +her in a soft, low voice, so low that it came to Nathaniel only in a +murmur. Then, in a moment, he began stroking the shimmering glory of her +hair, caressing the silken curls between his fingers until the blood +seemed as if it must burst, like hot sweat from Nathaniel's face. +Suddenly Winnsome drew back from him, the pallor gone from her face, her +eyes blazing like angry stars. She had retreated but a step when the +prophet sprang to her and caught her in his arms, straining her to him +until the scream on her lips was choked to a gasping cry. In answer to +that cry a yell of rage hurled itself from Nathaniel's throat. + +"Stop, you hell-hound!" he cried threateningly. "Stop!" + +He shrieked the words again and again, maddened beyond control, and the +Mormon king, whose self-possession was more that of devil than man, +still held the struggling girl in his arms as he turned his head toward +the voice and saw Nathaniel's long arm and knotted fist threatening him +through the hole in the wall. Then Neil's name in a piercing scream +resounded through the dungeon corridor and in response to it the man +under Nathaniel straightened himself so quickly that his companion fell +back to the floor. + +"Great God! what is the matter, Nat? Quick! let me up!" + +Nathaniel staggered to his feet, the breath half gone out of his body, +and in another instant Neil was at the opening. The great room into +which he looked was empty. + +"What was it?" he cried, leaping down. "What were they doing with +Winnsome?" + +"It was the king," said Nathaniel, struggling to master himself. "The +king put his arms around Winnsome and--she struck him!" + +"That was all?" + +"He kissed her as she fought--and I yelled." + +"She struck him!" Neil cried. "God bless little Winnsome, Nat! and--God +bless her!" + +Neil's breath came fast as he caught the other's hand. + +"I'd give my life if I could help you--and Marion!" + +"We'll give them together," said Nathaniel coolly, turning down the +corridor. "Here's our chance. They'll come through that door to relock +us in our cell. Shall we die fighting?" + +He was groping about in the mud of the floor for some object. + +"If we had a couple of stones--" + +"It would be madness--worse than madness!" interposed Neil, steadying +himself. "There will be a dozen rifles at that door when they open it. +We must return to the cell. It is worth dying a harder death to hear +from Marion and Winnsome. And we will hear from them before night!" + +They retreated into the dungeon. A few minutes later the door opened +cautiously at the head of the corridor. A light blazed through the +blackness and after an interval of silence the jailer made his +appearance in front of the cell, a pistol in his hand. + +"Don't be afraid, Jeekum," said Neil reassuringly. "You forgot the door +and we've been having a little fun with the jury. That's all!" + +The nervous whiteness left Jeekum's face at this cheerful report and he +was about to close the door when Nathaniel exhibited a handful of gold +pieces in the candle-light and frantically beckoned the man to come in. +The jailer's eyes glittered understandingly and with a backward glance +down the lighted corridor he thrust his head and shoulders inside. + +"Five hundred dollars for that note!" he whispered. "Five hundred beside +the four you've got!" + +"Jeekum's a fool!" said Neil, as the door closed on them. "I feel sorry +for him." + +"Why?" + +"Because he is accepting the money. Don't you suppose that you have been +searched? Of course you have--probably before I came, while you were +half dead on the floor. Somebody knows that you have the gold." + +"Why hasn't it been taken?" + +For a full minute Neil made no answer. And his answer, when it did come, +first of all was a laugh. + +"By George, that's good!" he cried exultingly. "Of course you were +searched--and by Jeekum! He knows, but he hasn't made a report of it to +Strang because he believes that in some way he will get hold of the +money. He is taking a big risk--but he's winning! I wonder what his +first scheme was?" + +"Thought I'd bury it, perhaps," vouchsafed Nathaniel, throwing himself +upon the straw. "There's room for two here, Neil." + +A long silence fell between them. The action during the last few minutes +had been too great an effort for Nathaniel and his wound troubled him +again. As the pain and his terrible thoughts of Marion's fate returned +to him he regretted that they had not ended it all in one last fight at +the door. There, at least, they might have died like men instead of +waiting to be shot down like dogs, their hands bound behind them, their +breasts naked to the Mormon rifles. He did not fear death. In more than +one game he had played against its hand, more often for love of the +sport than not, but there was a horror in being penned up and tortured +by it. He had come to look upon it as a fair enemy, filled of course +with subterfuge and treachery, which were the laws of the game; but he +had never dreamed of it as anything but merciful in its quickness. It +was as if his adversary had broken an inviolable pact with him and he +sweated and tossed on his bed of straw while Neil sat cool and silent on +the bench against the dungeon wall. Sheer exhaustion brought him relief, +and after a time he fell asleep. + +He was awakened by Neil. The white face of Marion's brother was over him +when he opened his eyes and he was shaking him roughly by the shoulder. + +"Wake up, Nat!" he cried. "For Heaven's sake--wake up!" + +He drew back as Nathaniel sleepily roused himself. + +"I couldn't help it, Nat," he apologized, laughing nervously. "You've +lain there like a dead man for hours. My head is splitting with this +damned silence. Come--smoke up! I got some tobacco from our jailer and +he loaned me his pipe." + +Nathaniel jumped to his feet. A fresh candle was burning on the table +and in its light he saw that a startling change had come into Neil's +face during the hours he had slept. It looked to him thinner and whiter, +its lines had deepened, and the young man's eyes were filled with gloomy +dejection. + +"Why didn't you awaken me sooner?" he exclaimed. "I deserve a good +drubbing for leaving you alone here!" He saw fresh food on the table. +"It's late--" he began. + +"That is our dinner and supper," interrupted Neil. He held his watch +close to the candle. "Half past eight!" + +"And no word--from--" + +"No." + +The two men looked deeply into each other's eyes. + +"Jeekum delivered my note to her at noon when he was relieved," said +Neil. "He did not carry it personally but swears that he saw her receive +it. He sent her word that he would call at a certain place for a reply +when he was relieved again at five. There was no reply for him--not a +word from Winnsome." + +Their silence was painful. It was Nathaniel who spoke first, +hesitatingly, as though afraid to say what was passing in his mind. + +"I killed Winnsome's father, Neil," he said, "and Winnsome has demanded +my death. I know that I am condemned to die. But you--" His eyes flashed +sudden fire. "How do you know that my fate is to be yours? I begin to +see the truth. Winnsome has not answered your note because she knows +that you are to live and that she will see you soon. Between Winnsome +and--Marion you will be saved!" + +Neil had taken a piece of meat and was eating it as though he had not +heard his companion's words. + +"Help yourself, Nat. It's our last opportunity." + +"You don't believe--" + +"No. Lord, man, do you suppose that Strang is going to let me live to +kill him?" + +Somebody was fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door. + +The two men stared as it opened slowly and Jeekum appeared. The jailer +was highly excited. + +"I've got word--but no note!" he whispered hoarsely. "Quick! Is it +worth--" + +"Yes! Yes!" + +Nathaniel dug the gold pieces out of his pockets and dropped them into +the jailer's outstretched hand. + +"I've had my boy watching Winnsome Croche's house," continued the +sheriff, white with the knowledge of the risk he was taking. "An hour +ago Winnsome came out of the house and went into the woods. My boy +followed. She ran to the lake, got into a skiff, and rowed straight out +to sea. She is following your instructions!" + +In his excitement he betrayed himself. He had read the note. + +There came a sound up the corridor, the opening of a door, the echo of +voices, and Jeekum leaped back. Nathaniel's foot held the cell door +from closing. + +"Where is Marion?" he cried softly, his heart standing still with dread. +"Great God--what about Marion?" + +For an instant the sheriff's ghastly face was pressed against the +opening. + +"Marion has not been seen since morning. The king's officers are +searching for her." + +The door slammed, the chains clanked loudly, and above the sound of +Jeekum's departure Neil's voice rose in a muffled cry of joy. + +"They are gone! They are leaving the island!" + +Nathaniel stood like one turned into stone. His heart grew cold within +him. When he spoke his words were passionless echoes of what had been. + +"You are sure that Marion would kill herself as soon as she became the +wife of Strang?" he asked. + +"Yes--before his vile hands touched more than the dress she wore!" +shouted Neil. + +"Then Marion is dead," replied Nathaniel, as coldly as though he were +talking to the walls about him. "For last night Marion was forced into +the harem of the king." + +As he revealed the secret whose torture he meant to keep imprisoned in +his own breast he dropped upon the pallet of straw and buried his face +between his arms, cursing himself that he had weakened in these last +hours of their comradeship. + +He dared not look to see the effect of his words on Neil. His companion +uttered no sound. Instead there was a silence that was terrifying. + +At the end of it Neil spoke in a voice so strangely calm that Nathaniel +sat up and stared at him through the gloom. + +"I believe they are coming after us, Nat. Listen!" + +The tread of many feet came to them faintly from beyond the corridor +wall. + +Nathaniel had risen. They drew close together, and their hands clasped. + +"Whatever it may be," whispered Neil, "may God have mercy on our souls!" + +"Amen!" breathed Captain Plum. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"THE STRAIGHT DEATH" + + +Hands were fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door. + +It opened and Jeekum's ashen face shone in the candle-light. For a +moment his frightened eyes rested on the two men still standing in their +last embrace of friendship. A word of betrayal from them and he knew +that his own doom was sealed. + +He came in, followed by four men. One of them was MacDougall, the king's +whipper. In the corridor were other faces, like ghostly shadows in the +darkness. Only MacDougall's face was uncovered. The others were hidden +behind white masks. The men uttered no sound but ranged themselves like +specters in front of the door, their cocked rifles swung into the crooks +of their arms. There was a triumphant leer on MacDougall's lips as he +and the jailer approached. As the whipper bound Neil's hands behind his +back he hissed in his ear. + +"This will be a better job than the whipping, damn you!" + +Neil laughed. + +"Hear that, Nat?" he asked, loud enough for all in the cell to hear. +"MacDougall says this will be a better job than the whipping. He +remembers how I thrashed him once when he said something to Marion one +day." + +Neil was as cool as though acting his part in a play. His face was +flushed, his eyes gleamed fearlessly defiant. And Nathaniel, looking +upon the courage of this man, from under whose feet had been swept all +hope of life, felt a twinge of shame at his own nervousness. MacDougall +grew black with passion at the taunting reminder of his humiliation and +tightened the thongs about Neil's wrists until they cut into the flesh. + +"That's enough, you coward!" exclaimed + +Nathaniel, as he saw the blood start. "Here--take this!" + +Like lightning he struck out and his fist fell with crushing force +against the side of the man's head. MacDougall toppled back with a +hollow groan, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. Nathaniel turned +coolly to the four rifles leveled at his breast. + +"A pretty puppet to do the king's commands!" he cried. "If there's a man +among you let him finish the work!" + +Jeekum had fallen upon his knees beside the whipper. + +"Great God!" he shrieked. "You've killed, him! You've stove in the side +of his head!" + +There was a sudden commotion in the corridor. A terrible voice boomed +forth in a roar. + +"Let me in!" + +Strang stood in the door. He gave a single glance at the man gasping and +bleeding in the mud. Then he looked at Nathaniel. The eyes of the two +men met unflinching. There was no hatred now in the prophet's face. + +"Captain Plum, I would give a tenth of my kingdom for a brother like +you!" he said calmly. "Here--I will finish the work." He went boldly to +the task, and as he tied Nathaniel's arms behind him he added, "The +vicissitudes of war, Captain Plum. You are a man--and can appreciate +what they sometimes mean!" + +A few minutes later, gagged and bound, the prisoners fell behind two of +the armed guards and at a command from the king, given in a low tone to +Jeekum, marched through the corridor and up the short flight of steps +that led out of the jail. To Nathaniel's astonishment there was no light +to guide them. Candles and lights had been extinguished. What words he +heard were spoken in whispers. In the deep shadow of the prison wall a +third guard joined the two ahead and like automatons they strode through +the gloom with slow, measured step, their rifles held with soldierly +precision. Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder and saw three other white +masked faces a dozen feet away. The king had remained behind. + +He shuddered and looked at Neil. His companion's appearance was almost +startling. He seemed half a head taller than himself, yet he knew that +he was shorter by an inch or two; his shoulders were thrown back, his +chin held high, he kept step with the guards ahead. He was marching to +his death as coolly as though on parade. + +Nathaniel's heart beat excitedly as they came to where the scrub of the +forest met the plain. They were taking the path that led to Marion's! +Again he looked at Neil. There was no change in the fearless attitude of +Marion's brother, no lowering of his head, no faltering in his step. +They passed the graves and entered the opening in the forest where lay +Marion's home, and as once more the sweet odor of lilac came to him, +awakening within his soul all those things that he had tried to stifle +that he might meet death like a man, he felt himself weakening, until +only the cloth about his mouth restrained the moaning cry that forced +itself to his lips. If he had possessed a life to give he would have +sacrificed it gladly then for a word with the Mormon king, a last prayer +that death might be meted to him here, where eternity would come to him +with his glazing eyes fixed to the end upon the home of his beloved, and +where the sweetness of the flower that had become a part of Marion +herself might soothe the pain of his final moment on earth. + +His heart leaped with hope as a sharp voice from the rear commanded a +halt. It was Jeekum. He came up out of the darkness from behind the rear +guard, his face still unmasked, and for a few moments was in whispered +consultation with the guards ahead. Had Strang, in the virulence of that +hatred which he concealed so well, conceived of this spot to give added +torment to death? It was the poetry of vengeance! For the first time +Neil turned toward his companion. Each read what the other had guessed. +Neil, who was nearest to the whispering four, turned suddenly toward +them and listened. When he looked at Nathaniel again it was with a slow +negative shake of his head. + +Jeekum returned quickly and placed himself between them, seizing each by +an arm, and the forward guards, pivoting to the left, set off at their +steady pace across the clearing. As they entered the denser gloom of the +forest on the farther side Nathaniel felt the jailer's fingers tighten +about his arm, then relax--and tighten again. A gentle pressure held him +back and the guards in front gained half a dozen feet. In a low voice +Jeekum called for those behind to fall a few paces to the rear. + +Then came again the mysterious working of the man's fingers on +Nathaniel's arm. + +Was Jeekum signaling to him? + +He could see Neil's white face still turned stoically to the front. +Evidently nothing had occurred to arouse his suspicions. If the +maneuvering of Jeekum's fingers meant anything it was intended for him +alone. Action had been the manna of his life. The possibility of new +adventure, even in the face of death, thrilled him. He waited, +breathless--and the strange pressure came again, so hard that it hurt +his flesh. + +There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The king's sheriff wanted to +speak to him. + +And he was afraid of the eyes and ears behind. + +The fingers were cautioning him to be ready--when the opportunity came. + +The path widened and through the thin tree-tops above their heads the +starlight filtered down upon them. The leading guards were twenty feet +away. How far behind were the others? + +A moment more and they plunged into deep night again. The figures ahead +were mere shadows. Again the fingers dug into Nathaniel's arm, and +pressing close to the sheriff he bent down his head. + +A low, quick whisper fell in his ear. + +"Don't give up hope! Marion--Winnsome--" + +The sheriff jerked himself erect without finishing. Hurried footsteps +had come close to their heels. The rear guards were so near that they +could have touched them with their guns. Had some spot of lesser gloom +ahead betrayed the prisoner's bowed head and Jeekum's white face turned +to it? There was a steady pressure on Nathaniel's arm now, a warning, +frightened pressure, and the hand that made it trembled. Jeekum feared +the worst--but his fear was not greater than the chill of disappointment +that came to smother the excited beating of Nathaniel's heart. What had +the jailer meant to say? What did he know about Marion and Winnsome, and +why had he given birth to new hope in the same breath that he mentioned +their names? + +His words carried at least one conviction. Marion was alive despite her +brother's somber prophesies. If she had killed herself the sheriff would +not have coupled her name with Winnsome's in the way he had. + +Nathaniel's nerves were breaking with suspense. He stifled his breath to +listen, to catch the faintest whisper that might come to him from the +white faced man at his side. Each passing moment of silence added to his +desperation. He squeezed the sheriff's hand with his arm, but there was +no responding signal; in a patch of thick gloom that almost concealed +the figures ahead he pressed near to him and lowered his head again--and +Jeekum pushed him back fiercely, with a low curse. + +They emerged from the forest and the clear starlight shone down upon +them. A little distance off lay the lake in shimmering stillness. +Nathaniel looked boldly at the sheriff now, and as his glance passed +beyond him he was amazed at the change that had come over Neil. The +young man's head was bowed heavily upon his breast, his shoulders were +hunched forward, and he walked with a listless, uneven step. Was it +possible that his magnificent courage had at last given way? + +A hundred steps farther they came to the beach and Nathaniel saw a boat +at the water's edge with a single figure guarding it. Straight to this +Jeekum led his prisoners. For the first time he spoke to them aloud. + +"One in front, the other in back," he said. + +For an instant Nathaniel found himself close beside Neil and he prodded +him sharply with his knee. His companion did not lift his head. He made +no sign, gave no last flashing comradeship with his eyes, but climbed +into the bow of the boat and sat down with his chin still on his chest, +like a man lost in stupor. + +Nathaniel followed him, scarcely believing his eyes, and sat himself in +the stern, leaning comfortably against the knees of the man who took the +tiller. He felt a curious thrill pass through him when he discovered a +moment later that this man was Jeekum. Two men seized the oars +amidships. A fourth, with his rifle across his knees sat facing Neil. + +For the first time Nathaniel found himself wondering what this voyage +meant. Were they to be rowed far down the shore to some secret fastness +where no other ears would hear the sound of the avenging rifles, and +where, a few inches under the forest mold, their bodies would never be +discovered? Each stroke of the oars added to the remoteness of this +possibility. The boat was heading straight out to sea. Perhaps they were +to meet a less terrible death by drowning, an end which, though +altogether unpleasant, held something comforting in it for Captain Plum. +Two hours passed without pause in the steady labor of the men at the +oars. In those hours not a word was spoken. The two men amidships held +no communication. The guard in the bow moved a little now and then only +to relieve his cramped limbs. Neil was absolutely motionless, as though +he had ceased to breathe. Jeekum uttered not a whisper. + +It was his whisper that Nathaniel waited for, the signaling clutch of +his fingers, the sound of his breath close to his ears. Again and again +he pressed himself against the sheriff's knees. He knew that he was +understood, and yet there came no answer. At last he looked up, and +Jeekum's face was far above him, staring straight and unseeing into the +darkness ahead. His last spark of hope went out. + +After a time a dark rim loomed slowly up out of the sea. It was land, +half a mile or so away. Nathaniel sat up with fresh interest, and as +they drew nearer Jeekum rose to his feet and gazed long and steadily in +both directions along the coast. When he returned to his seat the boat's +course was changed. A few minutes later the bow grated upon sand. Still +voiceless as specters the guards leaped ashore and Neil roused himself +to follow them, climbing over the gunwale like a sick man. Nathaniel was +close at his heels. With a growing sense of horror he saw two ghostly +stakes thrusting themselves out of the beach a dozen paces away. He +looked beyond them. As far as he could see there was sand--nothing but +sand, as white as paper, scintillating in a billion flashing +needle-points in the starlight. Instinctively he guessed what the stakes +were for, and walked toward them with the blood turning cold in his +veins. Neil was before him and stopped at the first stake, making no +effort to lift his eyes as Nathaniel strode past him. At the second, a +dozen feet beyond, Nathaniel's two guards halted, and placed him with +his back to the post. Two minutes later, bound hand and foot to the +stake, he shifted his head so that he could look at his companion. + +Neil was similarly fastened, with his face turned partly toward him. +There was no change in his attitude. His head hung weakly upon his +chest, as if he had fainted. + +What did it mean? + +Suddenly every nerve in Nathaniel's body leaped into excited action. + +The guards were entering their boat! The last man was shoving it +off--they were rowing away! His throbbing muscles seemed ready to burst +their bonds. The boat became indistinct in the starry gloom--a mere +shadow--and faded in the distance. The sound of oars became fainter and +fainter. Then, after a little, there was wafted back to him from far out +in the lake a man's voice--the wild snatch of a song. The Mormons were +gone! They were not to be shot! They were not-- + +A voice spoke to him, startling him so that he would have cried out if +it had not been for the cloth that gagged him. It was Neil, speaking +coolly, laughingly. + +"How are you, Nat?" + +Nathaniel's staring eyes revealed his astonishment. He could see Neil +laughing at him as though it was an unusually humorous joke in which +they were playing a part. + +"Lord, but this is a funny mess!" he chuckled. "Here am I, able and +willing to talk--and there you are, as dumb as a mummy, and looking for +all the world as if you'd seen a ghost! What's the matter? Aren't you +glad we're not going to be shot?" + +Nathaniel nodded. + +The other's voice became suddenly sober. + +"This is worse than the other, Nat. It's what we call the 'Straight +Death.' Unless something turns up between now and to-morrow morning, or +a little later, we'll be as dead as though they had filled us with +bullets. Our only hope rests in the fact that I can use my lungs. That's +why I didn't let them know when my gag became loose. I had the devil's +own time keeping it from falling with my chin; pretty near broke my neck +doing it. A little later, when we're sure Jeekum and his men are out of +hearing, I'll begin calling for help. Perhaps some fisherman or +hunter--" + +He stopped, and a chill ran up Nathaniel's back as he listened to a +weird howl that came from far behind them. It was a blood-curdling +sound and his face turned a more ghastly pallor as he gazed inquiringly +at Neil. His companion saw the terrible question in his face. + +"Wolves," he said. "They're away back in the forest. They won't come +down to us." For a moment he was silent, his eyes turned to the sea. +Then he added, "Do you notice anything queer about the way you're bound +to that stake, Nat?" + +There was a thrilling emphasis in Nathaniel's answer. He nodded his head +affirmatively, again and again. + +"Your hands are tied to the post very loosely, with a slack of say six +inches," continued Neil with an appalling precision. "There is a rawhide +thong about your neck, wet, and so tight that it chafes your skin when +you move your head. But the very uncomfortable thing just at this moment +is the way your feet are fastened. Isn't that so? Your legs are drawn +back, so that you are half resting on your toes, and I'm pretty sure +your knees are aching right now. Eh? Well, it won't be very long before +your legs will give way under you and the slack about your wrists will +keep you from helping yourself. Do you know what will happen then?" + +He paused and Nathaniel stared at him, partly understanding, yet giving +no sign. + +"You will hang upon the thong about your neck until you choke to death," +finished Neil. "That's the 'Straight Death.' If the end doesn't come by +morning the sun will finish the job. It will dry out the wet rawhide +until it grips your throat like a hand. Poetically we call it the hand +of Strang. Pleasant, isn't it?" + +The grim definiteness with which he described the manner of their end +added to those sensations which had already become acutely discomforting +to Nathaniel. Had he possessed the use of his voice when the Mormons +were leaving he would have called upon them to return and lengthen the +thongs about his ankles by an inch or two. Now, with almost brutal +frankness, Neil had explained to him the meaning of his strange +posture. His knees began to ache. An occasional sharp pain shot up from +them to his hips, and the thong about his neck, which at first he had +used as a support for his chin, began to irritate him. At times he found +himself resting upon it so heavily that it shortened his breath, and he +was compelled to straighten himself, putting his whole weight on his +twisted feet. It seemed an hour before Neil broke the terrible silence +again. Perhaps it was ten minutes. + +"I'm going to begin," he said. "Listen. If you hear an answer nod your +head." + +He drew a deep breath, turned his face as far as he could toward the +shore, and shouted. + +"Help--help--help!" + +Again and again the thrilling words burst from his throat, and as their +echoes floated back to them from the forest, like a thousand mocking +voices, Nathaniel grew hot with the sweat of horror. If he could only +have added his own voice to those cries, shrieked out the words with +Neil--joined even unavailingly in this last fight for life, it would not +have been so bad. But he was helpless. He watched the desperation grow +in his companion's face as there came no response save the taunting +echoes; even in the light of the stars he saw that face darken with its +effort, the eyes fill with a mad light, and the throat strain against +its choking thong. Gradually Neil's voice became weaker. When he stopped +to rest and listen his panting breath came to Nathaniel like the hissing +of steam. Soon the echoes failed to come back from the forest, and +Nathaniel fought like a crazed man to free himself, jerking at the +thongs that held him until his wrists were bleeding and the rawhide +about his neck choked him. + +"No use!" he heard Neil say. "Better take it easy for a while, Nat!" + +Marion's brother had turned toward him, his head thrown back against the +stake, his face lifted to the sky. Nathaniel raised his own head, and +found that he could breath easier. For a long time his companion did not +break the silence. Mentally he began counting off the seconds. It was +past midnight--probably one o'clock. Dawn came at half past two, the sun +rose an hour later. Three hours to live! Nathaniel lowered his head, and +the rawhide tightened perceptibly at the movement. Neil was watching +him. His face shone as white as the starlit sand. His mouth was partly +open. + +"I'm devilish sorry--for you--Nat--" he said. + +His words came with painful slowness. There was a grating huskiness in +his voice. + +"This damned rawhide--is pinching--my Adam's apple--" + +He smiled. His white teeth gleamed, his eyes laughed, and with a heart +bursting with grief Nathaniel looked away from him. He had seen courage, +but never like this, and deep down in his soul he prayed--prayed that +death might come to him first, so that he might not have to look upon +the agonies of this other, whose end would be ghastly in its fearless +resignation. His own suffering had become excruciating. Sharp pains +darted like red-hot needles through his limbs, his back tortured him, +and his head ached as though a knife had cloven the base of his skull. +Still--he could breathe. By pressing his head against the post it was +not difficult for him to fill his lungs with air. But the strength of +his limbs was leaving him. He no longer felt any sensation in his +cramped feet. His knees were numb. He measured the paralysis of death +creeping up his legs inch by inch, driving the sharp pains before it, +until suddenly his weight tottered under him and he hung heavily upon +the thong about his throat. For a full half minute he ceased to breathe, +and a feeling of ineffable relief swept over him, for during those few +seconds his body was at rest. He found that by a backward contortion he +could bring himself erect again, and that for a few minutes after each +respite it was not so difficult for him to stand. + +After a third effort he turned again toward Neil. A groan of horror rose +to his imprisoned lips. His companion's face was full upon him, ghastly +white; his eyes were wide and staring, like balls of shimmering glass in +the starlight, and his throat was straining at the fatal rawhide! +Nathaniel heard no sound, saw no stir of life in the inanimate figure. + +A moaning, wordless cry broke through the cloth that gagged him. + +At the sound of that cry, faint, terrifying, with all the horror that +might fill a human soul in its inarticulate note, a shudder of life +passed into Neil's body. Weakly he flung himself back, stood poised for +an instant against the stake, then fell again upon the deadly thong. +Twice--three times he made the effort, and failed. And to Nathaniel, +staring wild eyed and silent now, the spectacle was one that seemed to +blast the very soul within him and send his blood in rushing torrents of +fire to his sickened brain. Neil was dying! A fourth time he struggled +back. A fifth--and he held his ground. Even in that passing instant +something like a flash of his buoyant smile flickered in his face and +there came to Nathaniel's ears like a throttled whisper--his name. + +"Nat--" + +And no more. + +The head fell forward again. And Nathaniel, turning his face away, saw +something come up out of the shimmering sea, like a shadow before his +blistering eyes, and as his own limbs went out from under him and he +felt the strangling death at his throat there came from that shadow a +cry that seemed to snap his very heartstrings--a piercing cry and (even +in his half consciousness he recognized it) a woman's cry! He flung +himself back, and for a moment he saw Neil struggling, the last spark of +life in him stirred by that same cry; and then across the white sand two +figures flew madly toward them and even as the hot film in his eyes grew +thicker he knew that one of them was Marion, and that the other was +Winnsome Croche. + +His heart seemed to stop beating. He strove to pull himself together, +but his head fell forward. Faintly, as on a battlefield, voices came to +him, and when with a superhuman effort he straightened himself for an +instant he saw that Neil was no longer at the stake but was stretched on +the sand, and of the two figures beside him one suddenly sprang to her +feet and ran to him. And then Marion's terror-filled face was close to +his own, and Marion's lips were moaning his name, and Marion's hands +were slashing at the thongs that bound him. When with a great sigh of +joy he crumpled down upon the earth he knew that he was slipping off +into oblivion with Marion's arms about his neck, and with her lips +pressing to his the sweet elixir of her love. + +Darkness enshrouded him but a few moments, when a dash of cool water +brought him back into light. He felt himself lowered upon the sand and +after a breath or two he twisted himself on his elbow and saw that +Neil's white face was held on Winnsome's breast and that Marion was +running up from the shore with more water. For a space she knelt beside +her brother, and then she hurried to him. Joy shone in her face. She +fell upon her knees and drew his head in the hollow of her arm, crooning +mad senseless words to him, and bathing his face with water, her eyes +shining down upon him gloriously. Nathaniel reached up and touched her +face, and she bowed her head until her hair smothered him in sweet +gloom, and kissed him. He drew her lips to his own, and then she lowered +him gently and stood up in the starlight, looking first at Neil and next +down at him; and then she turned quickly back to the sea. + +From down near the shore she called back some word, and with a shrill +cry Winnsome followed her. Nathaniel struggled to his elbow, to his +knees--staggered to his feet. He saw the boat drifting out into the +night, and Winnsome standing alone at the water-edge, her sobbing cries +of entreaty, of terror, following it unanswered. He tottered down toward +her, gaining new strength at each step, but when he reached her the boat +was no longer to be seen and Winnsome's face was whiter than the sands +under her feet. + +"She is gone--gone--" she moaned, stretching out her arms to him. "She +is going--back to Strang!" + +And then, from far out in the white glory of the night, there came back +to him the voice of the girl he loved. + +"Good-by--Good-by--" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE + + +"Gone!" moaned Winnsome again. "She has gone--back--to--Strang!" + +Neil was crawling to them like a wounded animal across the sand. + +She started toward him but Nathaniel stopped her. + +"She is the king's--wife--" + +His throat was swollen so that he could hardly speak. + +"No. They are to be married to-night. Oh, I thought she was going to +stay!" She tore herself away from him to go to Neil, who had fallen upon +his face exhausted, a dozen yards away. + +In the wet sand, where the incoming waves lapped his hands and feet, +Nathaniel sank down, his eyes staring out into the shimmering distance +where Marion had gone. His brain was in a daze, and he wondered if he +had been stricken by some strange madness--if this all was but some +passing phantasm that would soon leave him again to his misery and his +despair. But the dash of the cold water against him cleared away his +doubt. Marion had come to him. She had saved him from death. And now she +was gone. + +And she was not the king's wife! + +He staggered to his feet again and plunged into the lake until the water +reached to his waist, calling her name, entreating her in weak, half +choked cries to come back to him. The water soaked through to his hot, +numb body, restoring his reason and strength, and he buried his face in +it and drank like one who had been near to dying of thirst. Then he +returned to Neil. Winnsome was holding his head in her arms. + +He dropped upon his knees beside them and saw that life was returning +full and strong in Neil's face. + +"You will be able to walk in a few minutes," he said. "You and Winnsome +must leave here. We are on the mainland and if you follow the shore +northward you will come to the settlements. I am going back for Marion." + +Neil made an effort to follow him as he rose to his feet. + +"Nat--Nat--wait--" + +Winnsome held him back, frightened, tightening her arms about him. + +"You must go with Winnsome," urged Nathaniel, seizing the hand that Neil +stretched up to him. "You must take her to the first settlement up the +coast. I will come back to you with Marion." + +He spoke confidently, as a man who sees his way open clearly before him, +and yet as he turned, half running, to the low black shadow of the +distant forest he knew that he was beginning a blind fight against fate. +If he could find a hunter's cabin, a fisherman's shanty--a boat! + +Barely had he disappeared when a voice called to him. It was Winnsome. +The girl ran up to him holding something in her hand. It was a pistol. +"You may need it!" she exclaimed. "We brought two!" + +Nathaniel reached out hesitatingly, but not to take the weapon. Gently, +as though his touch was about to fall upon some fragile flower, he drew +the girl to him, took her beautiful face between his two strong hands +and gazed steadily and silently for a moment into her eyes. + +"God bless you, little Winnsome!" he whispered. "I hope that someday you +will--forgive me." + +The girl understood him. + +"If I have anything to forgive--you are forgiven." + +The pistol dropped upon the sand, her hands stole to his shoulders. + +"I want you to take something to Marion for me," she whispered softly. +"This!" + +And she kissed him. + +Her eyes shone upon him like a benediction. + +"You have given me a new life, you have given me--Neil! My prayers are +with you." + +And kissing him again, she slipped away from under his hands before he +could speak. + +And Nathaniel, following her with his eyes until he could no longer see +her, picked up the pistol and set off again toward the forest, the touch +of her lips and the prayers of this girl whose father he had slain +filling him with something that was more than strength, more than hope. +Life had been given to him again, strong, fighting life, and with it and +Winnsome's words there returned his old confidence, his old daring. +There was everything for him to win now. His doubts and his fears had +been swept away. Marion was not dead, she was not the king's wife--and +it was not of another that he had accepted proof of her love for him, +for he had felt the pressure of her arms about his neck and the warmth +of her lips upon his face. He had until night--and the dawn was just +beginning to break. Ten or fifteen miles to the north there were +settlements, and between there were scores of settlers' homes and +fishermen's shanties. Surely within an hour or two he would find a boat. + +He turned where the edge of the forest came down to meet the white +water-run of the sea, and set off at a slow, steady trot into the north. +If he could reach a boat soon he might overtake Marion in mid-lake. The +thought thrilled him, and urged him to greater speed. As the stars faded +away in the dawn he saw the dark barrier of the forest drifting away, +and later, when the light broke more clearly, there stretched out ahead +of him mile upon mile of desert dunes. As far as he could see there was +no hope of life. He slowed his steps now, for he would need to preserve +his strength. Yet he experienced no fear, no loss of confidence. Each +moment added to his faith in himself. Before noon he would be on his +way to the Mormon kingdom, by nightfall he would be upon its shores. +After that-- + +He examined the pistol that Winnsome had given him. There were five +shots in it and he smiled joyously as he saw that it had been loaded by +an experienced hand. It would be easy enough for him to find Strang. He +would not consider the woman--his wife. The king's wife! Like a flash +there occurred to him the incident of the battlefield. Was it this +woman--the woman who had begged him to spare the life of the prophet, +who had knelt beside him, and whispered in his ear, and kissed him? Had +that been her reward for the sacrifice she believed he had made for her +in the castle chamber? The thought of this woman, whose beauty and love +breathed the sweet purity of a flower and whose faith to her king and +master was still unbroken even in her hour of repudiation fell upon him +heavily. For there was no choice, no shadow of alternative. There was +but one way for him to break the bondage of the girl he loved. + +For hours he trod steadily through the sand. The sun rose above him, hot +and blistering, and the dunes still stretched out ahead of him, like +winnows and hills and mountains of glittering glass. Gradually the +desert became narrower. Far ahead he could see where the forest came +down to the shore and his heart grew lighter. Half an hour later he +entered the margin of trees. Almost immediately he found signs of life. +A tree had been felled and cut into wood. A short distance beyond he +came suddenly upon a narrow path, beaten hard by the passing of feet, +and leading toward the lake. He had meant to rest under the shade of +these trees but now he forgot his fatigue. For a moment he hesitated. +Far back in the forest he heard the barking of a dog--but he turned in +the opposite direction. If there was a boat the path would take him to +it. Through a break in the trees he caught the green sweep of marsh rice +and his heart beat excitedly with hope. Where there was rice there were +wild-fowl, and surely where there were wild-fowl, there would be a punt +or a canoe! In his eagerness he ran, and where the path ended, the flags +and rice beaten into the mud and water, he stopped with an exultant cry. +At his feet was a canoe. It was wet, as though just drawn out of the +water, and a freshly used paddle was lying across the bow. Pausing but +to take a quick and cautious glance about him he shoved the frail craft +into the lake and with a few quiet strokes buried himself in the rice +grass. When he emerged from it he was half a mile from the shore. + +For a long time he sat motionless, looking out over the shimmering sea. +Far to the south and west he could make out the dim outline of Beaver +Island, while over the trail he had come, mile upon mile, lay the +glistening dunes. Somewhere between the white desert sand and that +distant coast of the Mormon kingdom Marion was making her way back to +bondage. Nathaniel had given up all hope of overtaking her now. Long +before he could intercept her she would have reached the island. When he +started again he paddled slowly, and laid out for himself the plan that +he was to follow. There must be no mistake this time, no error in +judgment, no rashness in his daring. He would lie in hiding until dusk, +and then under cover of darkness he would hunt down Strang and kill him. +After that he would fly to his canoe and escape. A little later, perhaps +that very night if fate played the game well for him, he would return +for Marion. And yet, as he went over and over his scheme, whipping +himself into caution--into cool deliberation--there burned in his blood +a fire that once or twice made him set his teeth hard, a fire that +defied extinction, that smoldered only to await the breath that would +fan it into a fierce blaze. It was the fire that had urged him into the +rescue at the whipping-post, that had sent him single-handed to invade +the king's castle, that had hurled him into the hopeless battle upon the +shore. He swore at himself softly, laughingly, as he paddled steadily +toward Beaver Island. + +The sun mounted straight and hot over his head; he paddled more slowly, +and rested more frequently, as it descended into the west, but it still +lacked two hours of sinking behind the island forest when the white +water-run of the shore came within his vision. He had meant to hold off +the coast until the approach of evening but changed his mind and landed, +concealing his canoe in a spot which he marked well, for he knew it +would soon be useful to him again. Deep shadows were already gathering +in the forest and through these Nathaniel made his way slowly in the +direction of St. James. Between him and the town lay Marion's home and +the path that led to Obadiah's. Once more the spirit of impatience, of +action, stirred within him. Would Marion go first to her home? +Involuntarily he changed his course so that it would bring him to the +clearing. He assured himself that it would do no harm, that he still +would take no chances. + +He came out in the strip of dense forest between the clearing and St. +James, worming his way cautiously through the underbrush until he could +look out into the opening. A single glance and he drew back in +astonishment. He looked again, and his face turned suddenly white, and +an almost inaudible cry fell from his lips. There was no longer a cabin +in the clearing! Where it had been there was gathered a crowd of men and +boys. Above their heads he saw a thin film of smoke and he knew what had +happened. Marion's home had burned! But what was the crowd doing? It +hung close in about the smoldering ruins as if every person in it were +striving to reach a common center. Surely a mere fire would not gather +and hold a throng like this. + +Nathaniel rose to his feet and thrust his head and shoulders from his +hiding-place. He heard a loud shout near him and drew back quickly as a +boy rushed madly across the opening toward the crowd, crying out at the +top of his voice. He had come out of the path that led to St. James. No +sooner had he reached the group about the burned cabin than there came a +change that added to Nathaniel's bewilderment. He heard loud voices, the +excited shouting of men and the shrill cries of boys, and the crowd +suddenly began to move, thinning itself out until it was racing in a +black stream toward the Mormon city. In his excitement Nathaniel hurried +toward the path. From the concealment of a clump of bushes he watched +the people as they rushed past him a dozen paces away. Behind all the +others there came a figure that drew a sharp cry from him as he leaped +from his hiding-place. It was Obadiah Price. + +"Obadiah!" he called. "Obadiah Price!" + +The old man turned. His face was livid. He was chattering to himself, +and he chattered still as he ran up to Nathaniel. He betrayed no +surprise at seeing him, and yet there was the insane grip of steel in +the two hands that clutched fiercely at Nathaniel's. + +"You have come in time, Nat!" he panted joyfully. "You have come in +time! Hurry--hurry--hurry--" + +He ran back into the clearing, with Nathaniel close at his side, and +pointed to the smoking ruins of the cabin among the lilacs. + +"They were killed last night!" he cried shrilly. "Somebody murdered +them--and burned them with the house! They are dead--dead!" + +"Who?" shouted Nathaniel. + +Obadiah had stopped and was rubbing and twisting his hands in his old, +mad way. + +"The old folks. Ho, ho, the old folks, of course! They are +dead--dead--dead--" + +He fairly shrieked the words. Then, for a moment, he stood tightly +clutching his thin hands over his chest in a powerful effort to control +himself. + +"They are dead!" he repeated. + +He spoke more calmly, and yet there was something so terrible in his +eyes, something so harshly vibrant of elation in the quivering passion +of his voice that Nathaniel felt himself filled with a strange horror. +He caught him by the arm, shaking him as he would have shaken a child. + +"Where is Marion?" he asked. "Tell me, Obadiah--where is Marion?" + +The councilor seemed not to have heard him. A singular change came into +his face and his eyes traveled beyond Nathaniel. Following his glance +the young man saw that three men had appeared from the scorched +shrubbery about the burned house and were hurrying toward them. Without +shifting his eyes Obadiah spoke to him quickly. + +"Those are king's sheriffs, Nat," he said. "They know me. In a moment +they will recognize you. The United States warship _Michigan_ has just +arrived in the harbor to arrest Strang. If you can reach the cabin and +hold it for an hour you will be saved. Quick--you must run--" + +"Where is Marion?" + +"At the cabin! She is at--" + +Nathaniel waited to hear no more, but sped toward the breach in the +forest that marked the beginning of the path to Obadiah's. The shouts of +the king's men came to him unheeded. At the edge of the woods he glanced +back and saw that they had overtaken the councilor. As he ran he drew +his pistol and in his wild joy he flung back a shout of defiance to the +men who were pursuing him. Marion was at the cabin--and a government +ship had come to put an end to the reign of the Mormon king! He shouted +Marion's name as he came in sight of the cabin; he cried it aloud as he +bounded up the low steps. + +"Marion--Marion--" + +In front of the door that led to the tiny chamber in which he had taken +Obadiah's gold he saw a figure. For a moment he was blinded by his +sudden dash from the light of day into the gloom of the cabin, and he +saw only that a figure was standing there, as still as death. His +pistol dropped to the floor. He stretched out his arms, and his voice +sobbed in its entreaty as he whispered the girl's name. In response to +that whisper came a low, glad cry, and Marion lay trembling on his +breast. + +"I have come back for you!" he breathed. + +He felt her heart beating against him. He pressed her closer, and her +arms slipped about his neck. + +"I have come back for you!" + +He was almost crying, like a boy, in his happiness. + +"I love you, I love you--" + +He felt the warm touch of her lips. + +"You will go with me?" + +"If you want me," she whispered. "If you want me--after you know--what I +am--" + +She shuddered against his breast, and he raised her face between his two +hands and kissed her until she drew away from him, crying softly. + +[Illustration: Marion] + +"You must wait--you must wait!" + +He saw now in her face an agony that appalled him. He would have gone to +her again, but there came loud voices from the forest, and recovering +his pistol he sprang to the door. Half a hundred paces away were Obadiah +and the king's sheriffs. They had stopped and the councilor was +expostulating excitedly with the men, evidently trying to keep them from +the cabin. Suddenly one of the three broke past him and ran swiftly +toward the open door, and with a shriek of warning to Nathaniel the old +councilor drew a pistol and fired point blank in the sheriff's back. In +another instant the two men behind had fired and Obadiah fell forward +upon his face. + +With a yell of rage Nathaniel leaped from the door. He heard Marion cry +out his name, but his fighting blood was stirred and he did not stop. +Obadiah had given up his life for him, for Marion, and he was mad with a +desire to wreak vengeance upon the murderers. The first man lay where he +had fallen, with Obadiah's bullet through his back. The other two fired +again as Nathaniel rushed down upon them. He heard the zip of one of the +balls, which came so close that it stung his cheek. + +"Take that!" he cried. + +He fired, still running--once, twice, three times and one of the two men +crumpled down as though a powerful blow had broken his legs under him. + +The other turned into the path and ran. Nathaniel caught a glimpse of a +frightened, boyish face, and something of mercy prompted him to hold the +shot he was about to send through his lungs. + +"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop!" + +He aimed at the fugitive's legs and fired. + +"Stop!" + +The boyish sheriff was lengthening the distance between them and +Nathaniel halted to make sure of his last ball. He was about to shoot +when there came a sharp command from down the path and a file of men +burst into view, running at double-quick. He saw the flash of a saber, +the gleam of brass buttons, the blue glare of the setting sun on leveled +carbines, and he stopped, shoulder to shoulder with the man he had been +pursuing. For a moment he stared as the man with the naked saber +approached. Then he sprang toward him with a joyful cry of recognition. + +"My God, Sherly--Sherly--" + +He stood with his arms stretched out, his naked chest heaving. + +"Sherly--Lieutenant Sherly--don't you know me?" + +The lieutenant had dropped the point of his saber. He advanced a step, +his face filled with astonishment. + +"Plum!" he cried incredulously. "Is it you?" + +For the moment Nathaniel could only wring the other's hand. He tried to +speak but his breath choked him. + +"I told you in Chicago that I was going to blow up this damned +island--if you wouldn't do it for me--", he gasped at last. "I've had--a +hell of a time--" + +"You look it!" laughed the lieutenant. "We got our orders the second day +after you left to 'Arrest Strang, and break up the Mormon kingdom!' +We've got Strang aboard the _Michigan_. But he's dead." + +"Dead!" + +"He was shot in the back by one of his own men as we were bringing him +up the gang-way. The fellow who killed him has given himself up, and +says that he did it because Strang had him publicly whipped day before +yesterday. I'm up here hunting for a man named Obadiah Price. Do you +know--" + +Nathaniel interrupted him excitedly. + +"What do you want with Obadiah Price?" + +"The president of the United States wants him. That's all I know. Where +is he?" + +"Back there--dead or very badly wounded! We've just had a fight with the +king's men--" + +The lieutenant broke in with a sharp command to his men. + +"Quick, lead us to him. Captain Plum! If he's not dead--" + +He started off at a half run beside Nathaniel. + +"Lord, it's a pretty mess if he is!" he added breathlessly. Without +pausing he called back over his shoulder, "Regan, fall out and return to +the ship. Tell the captain that Obadiah Price is badly wounded and that +we want the surgeon on the run!" + +A turn in the path brought them to the opening where the fight had +occurred. Marion was on her knees beside the old councilor. + +Nathaniel hurried ahead of the lieutenant and his men. The girl glanced +up at him and his heart filled with dread at the terror in her eyes. + +"Is he dead?" + +"No--but--" Her voice trembled with tears. + +Nathaniel did not let her finish. Gently he raised her to her feet as +the lieutenant came up. + +"You must go to the cabin, sweetheart," he whispered. + +Even in this moment of excitement and death his great love drove all +else from his eyes, and the blood surged into Marion's pale cheeks as +she tremblingly gave him her hand. He led her to the door, and held her +for a moment in his arms. + +"Strang is dead," he said softly. In a few words he told her what had +happened and turned back to the door, leaving her speechless. + +"If he is dying--you will tell me--" she called after him. + +"Yes, yes, I will tell you." + +He ran back into the opening. + +The lieutenant had doubled his coat under Obadiah's head and his face +was pale as he looked up at Nathaniel. The latter saw in his eyes what +his lips kept silent. The officer held something in his hand. It was the +mysterious package which Captain Plum had taken his oath to deliver to +the president of the United States. + +"I don't dare move until the surgeon comes," said the lieutenant. "He +wants to speak to you. I believe, if he has anything to say you had +better hear it now." + +His last words were in a whisper so low that Nathaniel scarcely heard +them. As the lieutenant rose to his feet, he whispered again. + +"He is dying!" + +Obadiah's eyes opened as Nathaniel knelt beside him and from between his +thin lips there came faintly the old, gurgling chuckle. + +"Nat!" he breathed. His thin hand sought his companion's and clung to it +tightly. "We have won. The vengeance of God--has come!" + +In these last moments all madness had left the eyes of Obadiah Price. + +"I want to tell you--" he whispered, and Nathaniel bent low. "I have +given him the package. It is evidence I have gathered--all these +years--to destroy the Mormon kingdom." + +He tried to turn his head. + +"Marion--" he whispered wistfully. + +"She will come," said Nathaniel. "I will call her." + +"No--not yet." + +Obadiah's fingers tightened about Captain Plum's. + +"I want to tell--you." + +For a few moments he seemed struggling to command all his strength. + +"A good many years ago," he said, as if speaking to himself, "I loved a +girl--like Marion, and she loved me--as Marion loves you. Her people +were Mormons, and they went to Kirtland--and I followed them. We planned +to escape and go east, for my Jean was good and beautiful, and hated the +Mormons as I hated them. But they caught us and--thought--they--killed--" + +The old man's lips twitched and a convulsive shudder shook his body. + +"When everything came back to me I was older--much older," he went on. +"My hair was white. I was like an old man. My people had found me and +they told me that I had been mad for three years, Nat--mad--mad--mad! +and that a great surgeon had operated on my head, where they struck +me--and brought me back to reason. Nat--Nat--" He strained to raise +himself, gasping excitedly. "God, I was like you then, Nat! I went back +to fight for my Jean. She was gone. Nobody knew me, for I was an old +man. I hunted from settlement to settlement. In my madness I became a +Mormon, for vengeance--in hope of finding her. I was rich, and I became +powerful. I was made an elder because of my gold. Then I found--" + +A moan trembled on the old man's lips. + +"--they had forced her to marry--the son of a Mormon--" + +He stopped, and for a moment his eyes seemed filling with the glazed +shadows of death. He roused himself almost fiercely. + +"But he loved my Jean, Nat--he loved her as I loved her--and he was a +good man!", he whispered shrilly. "Quick--quick--I must tell you--they +had tried to escape from Missouri and the Danites killed him,--and +Joseph Smith wanted Jean and at the last moment she killed herself to +save her honor as Marion was going to do, and she left two children--" + +He coughed and blood flecked his lips. + +"She left--Marion and Neil!" + +He sank back, ashen white and still, and with a cry Nathaniel turned to +the lieutenant. The officer ran forward with a flask in his hand. + +"Give him this!" + +The touch of liquor to Obadiah's lips revived him. He whispered weakly. + +"The children, Nat--I tried to find them--and years after--I did--in +Nauvoo. The man and woman who had killed the father in their own house +had taken them and were raising them as their own. I went mad! +Vengeance--vengeance--I lived for it, year after year. I wanted the +children--but if I took them all would be lost. I followed them, +watched them, loved them--and they loved me. I would wait--wait--until +my vengeance would fall like the hand of God, and then I would free +them, and tell them how beautiful their mother was. When Joseph Smith +was killed and the split came the old folks followed Strang--and I--I +too--" + +He rested a moment, breathing heavily. + +"I brought my Jean with me and buried her up there on the hill--the +middle grave, Nat, the middle grave--Marion's mother." + +Nathaniel pressed the liquor to the old man's lips again. + +"My vengeance was at hand--I was almost ready--when Strang learned a +part of the secret," he continued with an effort. "He found the old +people were murderers. When Marion would not become his wife he told her +what they had done. He showed her the evidence! He threatened them with +death unless Marion became his wife. His sheriffs watched them night +and day. He named the hour of their doom--unless Marion yielded to him. +And to save them, her supposed parents--to keep the terrible knowledge of +their crime from Neil--Marion--was--going--to--sacrifice--herself--when--" + +Again he stopped. His breath was coming more faintly. + +"I understand," whispered Nathaniel. "I understand--" + +Obadiah's dimming eyes gazed at him steadily. + +"I thought my vengeance would come--in time--to save her, Nat. But--it +failed. I knew of one other way and when all seemed lost--I took it. I +killed the old people--the murderers of her father--of my Jean! I knew +that would destroy Strang's power--" + +In a sudden spasm of strength he lifted his head. His voice came in a +hoarse, excited whisper. + +"You won't tell Marion--you won't tell Marion that I killed them--" + +"No--never." + +Obadiah fell back with a relieved sigh. After a moment he added. + +"In a chest in the cabin there is a letter for Marion. It tells her +about her mother--and the gold there--is for her--and Neil--" + +His eyes closed. A shudder passed through his form. + +"Marion--" he breathed. "Marion!" + +Nathaniel rose to his feet and ran to the cabin door. + +"Marion!" he called. + +Blinding tears shut out the vision of the girl from his eyes. He +pointed, looking from her, and she, knowing what he meant, sped past him +to the old councilor. + +In the great low room in which Obadiah Price had spent so many years +planning his vengeance Captain Plum waited. + +After a time, the girl came back. + +There was great pain in her voice as she stretched out her arms to him +blindly, sobbing his name. + +"Gone--gone--they're all gone now--but Neil!" + +Nathaniel held out his arms. + +"Only Neil,"--he cried, "only Neil--Marion--?" + +"And you--you--you--" + +Her arms were around his neck, he held her throbbing against his breast. + +"And you--" + +She raised her face, glorious in its love. + +"If you want me--still." + +And he whispered: + +"For ever and for ever!" + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courage of Captain Plum +by James Oliver Curwood + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12388 *** diff --git a/12388-h/12388-h.htm b/12388-h/12388-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5e6c376 --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-h/12388-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6333 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=UTF-8"> +<meta content="pg2html (binary version 0.15)" name="generator"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Courage of Captain Plum, +by James Oliver Curwood</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body { margin-left: 4.5%; margin-right: 4.5%; } + p { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .poem { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left; } + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + .poem p { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; } + .poem p.i2 { margin-left: 1em; } + .poem p.i4 { margin-left: 2em; } + .poem p.i6 { margin-left: 3em; } + .poem p.i8 { margin-left: 4em; } + .poem p.i10 { margin-left: 5em; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + .toch { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 0.8em;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> +<div>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12388 ***</div> + +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> + +<center><img src="images/ccpfrontis.jpg" alt= +"'I Am Going to Take You from the Island!'"></center> + +<!--IMAGE END--> +<h1>The COURAGE of CAPTAIN PLUM</h1> + +<center><b>BY JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD</b></center> + +<center>1912</center> + +<center>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRANK E. SCHOONOVER</center> + +<hr> +<p class="toch"><b>Contents</b></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0001">CHAPTER I</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0002">CHAPTER II</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0003">CHAPTER III</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0005">CHAPTER V</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0010">CHAPTER X</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII</a></p> + +<hr> +<p class="toch"><b>List of Illustrations</b></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0001">"I Am Going to Take You from +the Island!"</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0002">Captain Plum</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0003">His Fingers Twined About the +Purplish Throat.</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0004">Marion</a></p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM</h2> + +<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<center>THE TWO OATHS</center> + +<p>On an afternoon in the early summer of 1856 Captain Nathaniel +Plum, master and owner of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i> was engaged in +nothing more important than the smoking of an enormous pipe. Clouds +of strongly odored smoke, tinted with the lights of the setting +sun, had risen above his head in unremitting volumes for the last +half hour. There was infinite contentment in his face, +notwithstanding the fact that he had been meditating on a subject +that was not altogether pleasant. But Captain Plum was, in a way, a +philosopher, though one would not have guessed this fact from his +appearance. He was, in the first place, a young man, not more than +eight or nine and twenty, and his strong, rather thin face, tanned +by exposure to the sea, was just now lighted up by eyes that shone +with an unbounded good humor which any instant might take the form +of laughter.</p> + +<p>At the present time Captain Plum's vision was confined to one +direction, which carried his gaze out over Lake Michigan. Earlier +in the day he had been able to discern the hazy outline of the +Michigan wilderness twenty miles to the eastward. Straight ahead, +shooting up rugged and sharp in the red light of the day's end, +were two islands. Between these, three miles away, the sloop +<i>Typhoon</i> was strongly silhouetted in the fading glow. Beyond +the islands and the sloop there were no other objects for Captain +Plum's eyes to rest upon. So far as he could see there was no other +sail. At his back he was shut in by a dense growth of trees and +creeping vines, and unless a small boat edged close in around the +end of Beaver Island his place of concealment must remain +undiscovered. At least this seemed an assured fact to Captain +Plum.</p> + +<p>In the security of his position he began to whistle softly as he +beat the bowl of his pipe on his boot-heel to empty it of ashes. +Then he drew a long-barreled revolver from under a coat that he had +thrown aside and examined it carefully to see that the powder and +ball were in solid and that none of the caps was missing. From the +same place he brought forth a belt, buckled it round his waist, +shoved the revolver into its holster, and dragging the coat to him, +fished out a letter from an inside pocket. It was a dirty, much +worn letter. Perhaps he had read it a score of times. He read it +again now, and then, refilling his pipe, settled back against the +rock that formed a rest for his shoulders and turned his eyes in +the direction of the sloop.</p> + +<p>The last rim of the sun had fallen below the Michigan wilderness +and in the rapidly increasing gloom the sloop was becoming +indistinguishable. Captain Plum looked at his watch. He must still +wait a little longer before setting out upon the adventure that had +brought him to this isolated spot. He rested his head against the +rock, and thought. He had been thinking for hours. Back in the +thicket he heard the prowling of some small animal. There came the +sleepy chirp of a bird and the rustling of tired wings settling for +the night. A strange stillness hovered about him, and with it there +came over him a loneliness that was chilling, a loneliness that +made him homesick. It was a new and unpleasant sensation to Captain +Plum. He could not remember just when he had experienced it before; +that is, if he dated the present from two weeks ago to-night. It +was then that the letter had been handed to him in Chicago, and it +had been a weight upon his soul and a prick to his conscience ever +since. Once or twice he had made up his mind to destroy it, but +each time he had repented at the last moment. In a sudden revulsion +at his weakness he pulled himself together, crumpled the dirty +missive into a ball, and flung it out upon the white rim of +beach.</p> + +<p>At this action there came a quick movement in the dense wall of +verdure behind him. Noiselessly the tangle of vines separated and a +head thrust itself out in time to see the bit of paper fall short +of the water's edge. Then the head shot back as swiftly and as +silently as a serpent's. Perhaps Captain Plum heard the gloating +chuckle that followed the movement. If so he thought it only some +night bird in the brush.</p> + +<p>"Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed with some return of his old cheer, +"it's about time we were starting!" He jumped to his feet and began +brushing the sand from his clothes. When he had done, he walked out +upon the rim of beach and stretched himself until his arm-bones +cracked.</p> + +<p>Again the hidden head shot forth from its concealment. A sudden +turn and Captain Plum would certainly have been startled. For it +was a weird object, this spying head; its face dead-white against +the dense green of the verdure, with shocks of long white hair +hanging down on each side, framing between them a pair of eyes that +gleamed from cavernous sockets, like black glowing beads. There was +unmistakable fear, a tense anxiety in those glittering eyes as +Captain Plum walked toward the paper, but when he paused and +stretched himself, the sole of his boot carelessly trampling the +discarded letter, the head disappeared again and there came another +satisfied bird-like chuckle from the gloom of the thicket.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum now put on his coat, buttoned it close to conceal +the weapons in his belt, and walked along the narrow water-run that +crept like a white ribbon between the lake and the island +wilderness. No sooner had he disappeared than the bushes and vines +behind the rock were torn asunder and a man wormed his way through +them. For an instant he paused, listening for returning footsteps, +and then with startling agility darted to the beach and seized the +crumpled letter.</p> + +<p>The person who for the greater part of the afternoon had been +spying upon Captain Plum from the security of the thicket was to +all appearances a very small and a very old man, though there was +something about him that seemed to belie a first guess at his age. +His face was emaciated; his hair was white and hung in straggling +masses on his shoulders; his hooked nose bore apparently the +infallible stamp of extreme age. Yet there was a strange and +uncanny strength and quickness in his movements. There was no stoop +to his shoulders. His head was set squarely. His eyes were as keen +as steel. It would have been impossible to have told whether he was +fifty or seventy. Eagerly he smoothed out the abused missive and +evidently succeeded even in the failing light, in deciphering much +of it, for the glimmer of a smile flashed over his thin features as +he thrust the paper into his pocket.</p> + +<p>Without a moment's hesitation he set out on the trail of Captain +Plum. A quarter of a mile down the path he overtook the object of +his pursuit.</p> + +<p>"Ah, how do you do, sir?" he greeted as the younger man turned +about upon hearing his approach. "A mighty fast pace you're setting +for an old man, sir!" He broke into a laugh that was not altogether +unpleasant, and boldly held out a hand. "We've been expecting you, +but—not in this way. I hope there's nothing wrong?"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum had accepted the proffered hand. Its coldness and +the singular appearance of the old man who had come like an +apparition chilled him. In a moment, however, it occurred to him +that he was a victim of mistaken identity. As far as he knew there +was no one on Beaver Island who was expecting him. To the best of +his knowledge he was a fool for being there. His crew aboard the +sloop had agreed upon that point with extreme vehemence and, to a +man, had attempted to dissuade him from the mad project upon which +he was launching himself among the Mormons in their island +stronghold. All this came to him while the little old man was +looking up into his face, chuckling, and shaking his hand as if he +were one of the most important and most greatly to be desired +personages in the world.</p> + +<p>"Hope there's nothing wrong, Cap'n?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"Right as a trivet here, Dad," replied the young man, dropping +the cold hand that still persisted in clinging to his own. "But I +guess you've got the wrong party. Who's expecting me?"</p> + +<p>The old man's face wrinkled itself in a grimace and one gleaming +eye opened and closed in an understanding wink.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho!—of course you're not expected. Anyway, you're +not <i>expected</i> to be expected! Cautious—a born +general—mighty clever thing to do. Strang should appreciate +it." The old man gave vent to his own approbation in a series of +inimitable chuckles. "Is that your sloop out there?" he inquired +interestedly.</p> + +<p>Something in the strangeness of the situation began to interest +Captain Plum. He had planned a little adventure of his own, but +here was one that promised to develop into something more exciting. +He nodded his head.</p> + +<p>"That's her."</p> + +<p>"Splendid cargo," went on the old man. "Splendid cargo, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty fair."</p> + +<p>"Powder in good shape, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Dry as tinder."</p> + +<p>"And balls—lots of balls, and a few guns, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we <i>have</i> a few guns," said Captain Plum. The old man +noted the emphasis, but the darkness that had fast settled about +them hid the added meaning that passed in a curious look over the +other's face.</p> + +<p>"Odd way to come in, though—very odd!" continued the old +man, gurgling and shaking as if the thought of it occasioned him +great merriment. "Very cautious. Level business head. Want to know +that things are on the square, eh?"</p> + +<p>"That's it!" exclaimed Captain Plum, catching at the proffered +straw. Inwardly he was wondering when his feet would touch bottom. +Thus far he had succeeded in getting but a single grip on the +situation. Somebody was expected at Beaver Island with powder and +balls and guns. Well, he had a certain quantity of these materials +aboard his sloop, and if he could make an agreeable +bargain—</p> + +<p>The old man interrupted the plan that was slowly forming itself +in Captain Plum's puzzled brain.</p> + +<p>"It's the price, eh?" He laughed shrewdly. "You want to see the +color of the gold before you land the goods. I'll show it to you. +I'll pay you the whole sum to-night. Then you'll take the stuff +where I tell you to. Eh? Isn't that so?" He darted ahead of Captain +Plum with a quick alert movement. "Will you please follow me, +sir?"</p> + +<p>For an instant Captain Plum's impulse was to hold back. In that +instant it suddenly occurred to him that he was lending himself to +a rank imposition. At the same time he was filled with a desire to +go deeper into the adventure, and his blood thrilled with the +thought of what it might hold for him.</p> + +<p>"Are you coming, sir?"</p> + +<p>The little old man had stopped a dozen paces away and turned +expectantly.</p> + +<p>"I tell you again that you've got the wrong man, Dad!"</p> + +<p>"Will you follow me, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you'll have it so—damned if I won't!" cried +Captain Plum. He felt that he had relieved his conscience, anyway. +If things should develop badly for him during the next few hours no +one could say that he had lied. So he followed light-heartedly +after the old man, his eyes and ears alert, and his right hand, by +force of habit, reaching under his coat to the butt of his pistol. +His guide said not another word until they had traveled for half an +hour along a twisting path and stood at last on the bald summit of +a knoll from which they could look down upon a number of lights +twinkling dimly a quarter of a mile away. One of these lights +gleamed above all the others, like a beacon set among +fireflies.</p> + +<p>"That's St. James," said the old man. His voice had changed. It +was low and soft, as though he feared to speak above a whisper.</p> + +<p>"St. James!"</p> + +<p>The young man at his side gazed down silently upon the scattered +lights, his heart throbbing in a sudden tumult of excitement. He +had set out that day with the idea of resting his eyes on St. +James. In its silent mystery the town now lay at his feet.</p> + +<p>"And that light—" spoke the old man. He pointed a +trembling arm toward the glare that shone more powerfully than the +others. "That light marks the sacred home of the king!" His voice +had again changed. A metallic hardness came into it, his words were +vibrant with a strange excitement which he strove hard to conceal. +It was still light enough for Captain Plum to see that the old +man's black, beady eyes were startlingly alive with newly aroused +emotion.</p> + +<p>"You mean—"</p> + +<p>"Strang!"</p> + +<p>He started rapidly down the knoll and there floated back to +Captain Plum the soft notes of his meaningless chuckle. A dozen +rods farther on his mysterious guide turned into a by-path which +led them to another knoll, capped by a good-sized building made of +logs. There sounded the grating of a key in a lock, the shooting of +a bolt, and a door opened to admit them.</p> + +<p>"You will pardon me if I don't light up," apologized the old man +as he led the way in. "A candle will be sufficient. You know there +must be privacy in these matters—always. Eh? Isn't that +so?"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum followed without reply. He guessed that the cabin +was made up of one large room, and that at the present time, at +least, it possessed no other occupant than the singular creature +who had guided him to it.</p> + +<p>"It is just as well, on this particular night, that no light is +seen at the window," continued the old man as he rummaged about a +table for a match and a candle. "I have a little corner back here +that a candle will brighten up nicely and no one in the world will +know it. Ho, ho, ho!—how nice it is to have a quiet little +corner sometimes! Eh, Captain Plum?"</p> + +<p>At the sound of his name Captain Plum started as though an +unexpected hand had suddenly been laid upon him. So he <i>was</i> +expected, after all, and his name was known! For a moment his +surprise robbed him of the power of speech. The little old man had +lighted his candle, and, grinning back over his shoulder, passed +through a narrow cut in the wall that could hardly be called a door +and planted his light on a table that stood in the center of a +small room, or closet, not more than five feet square. Then he +coolly pulled Captain Plum's old letter from his pocket and +smoothed it out in the dim light.</p> + +<p>"Be seated, Captain Plum; right over there—opposite me. +So!"</p> + +<p>He continued for a moment to smooth out the creases in the +letter and then proceeded to read it with as much assurance as +though its owner were a thousand miles away instead of within arm's +reach of him. Captain Plum was dumfounded. He felt the hot blood +rushing to his face and his first impulse was to recover the +crumpled paper and demand something more than an explanation. In +the next instant it occurred to him that this action would probably +spoil whatever possibilities his night's adventure might have for +him. So he held his peace. The old man was so intent in his perusal +of the letter that the end of his hooked nose almost scraped the +table. He went over the dim, partly obliterated words line by line, +chuckling now and then, and apparently utterly oblivious of the +other's presence. When he had come to the end he looked up, his +eyes glittering with unbounded satisfaction, carefully folded the +letter, and handed it to Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"That's the best introduction in the world, Captain +Plum—the very best! Ho, ho!—it couldn't be better. I'm +glad I found it." He chuckled gleefully, and rested his ogreish +head in the palms of his skeleton-like hands, his elbows on the +table. "So you're going back home—soon?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't made up my mind yet, Dad," responded Captain Plum, +pulling out his pipe and tobacco. "You've read the letter pretty +carefully, I guess. What would you do?"</p> + +<p>"Vermont?" questioned the old man shortly.</p> + +<p>"That's it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd go, and very soon, Captain Plum, <i>very</i> soon, +indeed. Yes, I'd hurry!" The old man jumped up with the quickness +of a cat. So sudden was his movement that it startled Captain Plum, +and he dropped his tobacco pouch. By the time he had recovered this +article his strange companion was back in his seat again holding a +leather bag in his hand. Quickly he untied the knot at its top and +poured a torrent of glittering gold pieces out upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Business—business and gold," he gurgled happily, rubbing +his thin hands and twisting his fingers until they cracked. "A +pretty sight, eh, Captain Plum? Now, to our account! A hundred +carbines, eh? And a thousand of powder and a ton of balls. Or is it +in lead? It doesn't make any difference—not a bit. It's three +thousand, that's the account, eh?" He fell to counting rapidly.</p> + +<p>For a full minute Captain Plum remained in stupefied +bewilderment, silenced by the sudden and unexpected turn his +adventure had taken. Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as +they clinked the gold pieces. What was the mysterious plot into +which he had allowed himself to be drawn? Why were a hundred guns +and a ton and a half of powder and balls wanted by the Mormons of +Beaver Island? Instinctively he reached out and closed his hand +over the counting fingers of the old man. Their eyes met. And there +was a shrewd, half-understanding gleam in the black orbs that fixed +Captain Plum in an unflinching challenge. For a little space there +was silence. It was Captain Plum who broke it.</p> + +<p>"Dad, I'm going to tell you for the third and last time that +you've made a mistake. I've got eight of the best rifles in America +aboard my sloop out there. But there's a man for every gun. And +I've got something hidden away underdeck that would blow up St. +James in half an hour. And there is powder and ball for the whole +outfit. But that's all. I'll sell you what I've got—for a +good price. Beyond that you've got the wrong man!"</p> + +<p>He settled back and blew a volume of smoke from his pipe. For +another half minute the old man continued to look at him, his eyes +twinkling, and then he fell to counting again.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum was not given over to the habit of cursing. But now +he jumped to his feet with an oath that jarred the table. The old +man chuckled. The gold pieces clinked between his fingers. Coolly +he shoved two glittering piles alongside the candle-stick, tumbled +the rest back into the leather bag, deliberately tied the end, and +smiled up into the face of the exasperated captain.</p> + +<p>"To be sure you're not the man," he said, nodding his head until +his elf-locks danced around his face. "Of course you're not the +man. I know it—ho, ho! you can wager that I know it! A little +ruse of mine, Captain Plum. Pardonable—excusable, eh? I +wanted to know if you were a liar. I wanted to see if you were +honest."</p> + +<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp020.jpg" +alt="Captain Plum" align="left"> <!--IMAGE END--> +<p>With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum sank back into the +chair. His jaw dropped and his pipe was held fireless in his +hand.</p> + +<p>"The devil you say!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly, certainly, if you wish it," chuckled the little +man, in high humor. "I would have visited your sloop to-day, +Captain Plum, if you hadn't come ashore so opportunely this +morning. Ho, ho, ho! a good joke, eh? A mighty good joke!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum regained his composure by relighting his pipe. He +heard the chink of gold pieces and when he looked again the two +piles of money were close to the edge of his side of the table.</p> + +<p>"That's for you, Captain Plum. There's just a thousand dollars +in those two piles." There was tense earnestness now in the old +man's face and voice. "I've imposed on you," he continued, speaking +as one who had suddenly thrown off a disguise. "If it had been any +other man it would have been the same. I want help. I want an +honest man. I want a man whom I can trust. I will give you a +thousand dollars if you will take a package back to your vessel +with you and will promise to deliver it as quickly as you can."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it!" cried Captain Plum. He jumped to his feet and held +out his hand. But the old man slipped from his chair and darted +swiftly out into the blackness of the adjoining room. As he came +back Captain Plum could hear his insane chuckling.</p> + +<p>"Business—business—business—" he gurgled. "Eh, +Captain Plum? Did you ever take an oath?" He tossed a book on the +table. It was the Bible.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum understood. He reached for the book and held it +under his left hand. His right he lifted above his head, while a +smile played about his lips.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you want to place me under oath to deliver that +package," he said.</p> + +<p>The old man nodded. His eyes gleamed with a feverish glare. A +sudden hectic flush had gathered in his death-like cheeks. He +trembled. His voice rose barely above a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Repeat," he commanded. "I, Captain Nathaniel Plum, do solemnly +swear before God—"</p> + +<p>A thrilling inspiration shot into Captain Plum's brain.</p> + +<p>"Hold!" he cried. He lowered his hand. With something that was +almost a snarl the old man sprang back, his hands clenched. "I will +take this oath upon one other consideration," continued Captain +Plum. "I came to Beaver Island to see something of the life and +something of the people of St. James. If you, in turn, will swear +to show me as much as you can to-night I will take the oath."</p> + +<p>The old man was beside the table again in an instant.</p> + +<p>"I will show it to you—all—all—" he exclaimed +excitedly. "I will show it to you—yes, and swear to it upon +the body of Christ!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum lifted his hand again and word by word repeated the +oath. When it was done the other took his place.</p> + +<p>"Your name?" asked Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>A change scarcely perceptible swept over the old man's face.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah Price."</p> + +<p>"But you are a Mormon. You have the Bible there?"</p> + +<p>Again the old man disappeared into the adjoining room. When he +returned he placed two books side by side and stood them on edge so +that he might clasp both between his bony fingers. One was the +Bible, the other the Book of the Mormons. In a cracked, excited +voice he repeated the strenuous oath improvised by Captain +Plum.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Captain Plum, distributing the gold pieces among his +pockets, "I'll take that package."</p> + +<p>This time the old man was gone for several minutes. When he +returned he placed a small package tightly bound and sealed into +his companion's hand.</p> + +<p>"More precious than your life, more priceless than gold," he +whispered tensely, "yet worthless to all but the one to whom it is +to be delivered."</p> + +<p>There were no marks on the package.</p> + +<p>"And who is that?" asked Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>The old man came so close that his breath fell hot upon the +young man's cheek. He lifted a hand as though to ward sound from +the very walls that closed them in.</p> + +<p>"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of +America!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<center>THE SEVEN WIVES</center> + +<p>Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than +the old man straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, +his gaze penetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain +Plum, his head inclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a +tension of expectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped the butt +of his pistol and faced the narrow entrance through which they had +come. In the moment of absolute silence that followed there came to +him, faintly, a sound, unintelligible at first, but growing in +volume until he knew that it was the last echo of a tolling bell. +There was no movement, no sound of breath or whisper from the old +man at his back. But when it came again, floating to him as if from +a vast distance, he turned quickly to find Obadiah Price with his +face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above his head and his lips +moving as if in prayer. His eyes burned with a dull glow as though +he had been suddenly thrown into a trance. He seemed not to +breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement of +his lips. With the third toll of the distant bell he spoke, and to +Captain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came +from another being.</p> + +<p>"Our Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon Thy chosen people the +three blessings of the universe—peace, prosperity and plenty, +and upon Strang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of Thy +power!"</p> + +<p>Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious +message and when the last echoes had died away the old man's arms +dropped beside him and he turned again to Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America," he +repeated, as though there had been no interruption since his +companion's question. "The package is to be delivered to him. Now +you must excuse me. An important matter calls me out for a short +time. But I will be back soon—oh, yes, very soon. And you +will wait for me. You will wait for me here, and then I will take +you to St. James."</p> + +<p>He was gone in a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last +that Captain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for +an instant in the darkness of the next room, and after that the +soft patter of his feet and the strange chuckle in his throat +traveled to the outer door and died away as he passed out into the +night. Nathaniel Plum was not a man to be easily startled, but +there was something so unusual about the proceedings in which he +was as yet playing a blind part that he forgot to smoke, which was +saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? His eyes scanned the +little room and an exclamation of astonishment fell from his lips +when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold, lying where +his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this was madness +or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilled +him. It was wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. +Were hidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give +their owner to understand that he was not a thief. He rose from his +chair and moved toward the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed +it back again so that the gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went +to the narrow aperture and blocked it with his body and listened +until he knew that if there had been human life in the room he +would have heard it.</p> + +<p>The outer door was open and through it there came to him the +soft breath of the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild +flowers. It struck him that it would be pleasanter waiting outside +than in, and it would undoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah +Price. In front of the cabin he found the stump of a log and +seating himself on it where the clear light of the stars fell full +upon him he once more began his interrupted smoke. It seemed to him +that he had waited a long time when he heard the sound of +footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person was half running. +Hardly had he located the direction of the sound when a figure +appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin. A +dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly +about, as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a +greeting whistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little +throat note, which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, and the +figure ran almost into his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made +a mistake drew Captain Plum a pace backward. For scarcely more than +five seconds he found himself staring into the white terrified face +of a girl. Eyes wide and glowing with sudden fright met his own. +Instinctively he lifted his hand to his hat, but before he could +speak the girl sprang back with a low cry and ran swiftly down the +path that led into the gloom of the woods.</p> + +<p>For several minutes Captain Plum stood as if the sudden +apparition had petrified him. He listened long after the sound of +retreating footsteps had died away. There remained behind a faint +sweet odor of lilac which stirred his soul and set his blood +tingling. It was a beautiful face that he had seen. He was sure of +that and yet he could have given no good verbal proof of it. Only +the eyes and the odor of lilac remained with him and after a little +the lilac drifted away. Then he went back to the log and sat down. +He smiled as he thought of the joke that he had unwittingly played +on Obadiah. From his knowledge of the Beaver Island Mormons he was +satisfied that the old man who displayed gold in such reckless +profusion was anything but a bachelor. In all probability this was +one of his wives and the cabin behind him, he concluded, was for +some reason isolated from the harem. "Evidently that little +Saintess is not a flirt," he concluded, "or she would have given me +time to speak to her."</p> + +<p>The continued absence of Obadiah Price began to fill Captain +Plum with impatience. After an hour's wait he reentered the cabin +and made his way to the little room, where the candle was still +burning dimly. To his astonishment he beheld the old man sitting +beside the table. His thin face was propped between his hands and +his eyes were closed as if he was asleep. They shot open instantly +on Captain Plum's appearance.</p> + +<p>"I've been waiting for you, Nat," he cried, straightening +himself with spring-like quickness. "Waiting for you a long time, +Nat!" He rubbed his hands and chuckled at his own familiarity. "I +saw you out there enjoying yourself. What did you think of her, +Nat?" He winked with such audacious glee that, despite his own +astonishment, Captain Plum burst into a laugh. Obadiah Price held +up a warning hand. "Tut, tut, not so loud!" he admonished. His face +was a map of wrinkles. His little black eyes shone with silent +laughter. There was no doubt but that he was immensely pleased over +something. "Tell me, Nat—why did you come to St. James?"</p> + +<p>He leaned forward over the table, his odd white head almost +resting on it, and twiddled his thumbs with wonderful rapidity. +"Eh, Nat?" he urged. "Why did you come?"</p> + +<p>"Because it was too hot and uninteresting lying out there in a +calm, Dad," replied the master of the <i>Typhoon</i>. "We've been +roasting for thirty-six hours without a breath to fill our sails. I +came over to see what you people are like. Any harm done?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, not a bit—yet," chuckled the old man. "And +what's your business, Nat?"</p> + +<p>"Sailing—mostly."</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho! of course, I might have known it! +Sailing—<i>mostly</i>. Why, certainly you sail! And why do +you carry a pistol on one side of you and a knife on the other, +Nat?"</p> + +<p>"Troublous times, Dad. Some of the fisher-folk along the +Northern End aren't very scrupulous. They took a cargo of canned +stuffs from me a year back."</p> + +<p>"And what use do you make of the four-pounder that's wrapped up +in tarpaulin under your deck, Nat? And what in the world are you +going to do with five barrels of gunpowder?"</p> + +<p>"How in blazes—" began Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"O, to be sure, to be sure—they're for the fisher-folk," +interrupted Obadiah Price. "Blow 'em up, eh, Nat? And you seem to +be a young man of education, Nat. How did you happen to make a +mistake in your count? Haven't you twelve men aboard your sloop +instead of eight, Nat? Aren't there twelve, instead of eight? Eh, +Nat?"</p> + +<p>"The devil take you!" cried Captain Plum, leaping suddenly to +his feet, his face flaming red. "Yes, I have got twelve men and +I've got a gun in tarpaulin and I've got five barrels of gunpowder! +But how in the name of Kingdom-Come did you find it out?"</p> + +<p>Obadiah Price came around the end of the table and stood so +close to Captain Plum that a person ten feet away could not have +heard him when he spoke.</p> + +<p>"I know more than that, Nat," he whispered. "Listen! A little +while ago—say two weeks back—you were becalmed off the +head of Beaver Island, and one dark night you were boarded by two +boat-loads of men who made you and your crew prisoners, robbed you +of everything you had,—and the next day you went back to +Chicago. Eh?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stood speechless.</p> + +<p>"And you made up your mind the pirates were Mormons, enlisted +some of your friends, armed your ship—and you're back here to +make us settle. Isn't it so, Nat?"</p> + +<p>The little old man was rubbing his hands eagerly, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"You tried to get the revenue cutter <i>Michigan</i> to come +down with you, but they wouldn't—ho, ho, they wouldn't! One +of our friends in Chicago sent quick word ahead of you to tell me +all about it, and—Strang, the king, doesn't know!"</p> + +<p>He spoke the last words in intense earnestness.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, he held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Young man, will you shake hands with me? Will you shake +hands?—and then we will go to St. James!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum thrust out a hand and the old man gripped it. The +thin fingers tightened like cold clamps of steel. For a moment the +face of Obadiah Price underwent a strange change. The hardness and +glitter went out of his eyes and in place there came a questioning, +almost an appealing, look. His tense mouth relaxed. It was as if he +was on the point of surrendering to some emotion which he was +struggling to stifle. And Nathaniel, meeting those eyes, felt that +somewhere within him had been struck a strange chord of sympathy, +something that made this little old man more than a half-mad +stranger to him, and involuntarily the grip of his fingers +tightened around those of his companion.</p> + +<p>"Now we will go to St. James, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>He attempted to withdraw his hand but Captain Plum held to +it.</p> + +<p>"Not yet!" he exclaimed. "There are two or three things which +your friend didn't tell you, Obadiah Price!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's eyes glittered dangerously.</p> + +<p>"When I left ship this morning I gave explicit orders to Casey, +my mate."</p> + +<p>He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinching eyes.</p> + +<p>"I said something like this: 'Casey, I'm going to see Strang +before I come back. If he's willing to settle for five thousand, +we'll call it off. And if he isn't—why, we'll stand out there +a mile and blow St. James into hell! And if I don't come back by +to-morrow at sundown, Casey, you take command and blow it to hell +without me!' So, Obadiah Price, if there's treachery—"</p> + +<p>The old man clutched at his hands with insane fierceness.</p> + +<p>"There will be no treachery, Nat, I swear to God there will be +no treachery! Come, we will go—"</p> + +<p>Still Captain Plum hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Who are you? Whom am I to follow?"</p> + +<p>"A member of our holy Council of Twelve, Nat, and lord high +treasurer of His Majesty, King Strang!"</p> + +<p>Before Captain Plum could recover from the surprise of this +whispered announcement the little old man had freed himself and was +pattering swiftly through the darkness of the next room. The master +of the <i>Typhoon</i> followed close behind him. Outside the +councilor hesitated for a moment, as if debating which route to +take, and then with a prodigious wink at Captain Plum and a +throatful of his inimitable chuckles, chose the path down which his +startled visitor of a short time before had fled. For fifteen +minutes this path led between thick black walls of forest verdure. +Obadiah Price kept always a few paces ahead of his companion and +spoke not a word. At the end of perhaps half a mile the path +entered into a large clearing on the farther side of which +Nathaniel caught the glimmer of a light. They passed close to this +light, which came from the window of a large square house built of +logs, and Captain Plum became suddenly conscious that the air was +filled with the redolent perfume of lilac. With half a dozen quick +strides he overtook the councilor and caught him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"I smell lilac!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, so do I," replied Obadiah Price. "We have very fine +lilacs on the island."</p> + +<p>"And I smelled lilac back there," continued Nathaniel, still +holding to the old man's arm, and pointing a thumb over his +shoulder. "I smelled 'em back there, when—"</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the councilor softly. "I don't doubt it, +Nat, I don't doubt it. She is very fond of lilacs. She wears the +flowers very often."</p> + +<p>He pulled himself away and Captain Plum could hear his queer +chuckling for some time after. Soon they entered the gloom of the +woods again and a little later came out into another clearing and +Nathaniel knew that it was St. James that lay at his feet. The +lights of a few fishing boats were twinkling in the harbor, but for +the most part the town was dark. Here and there a window shone like +a spot of phosphorescent yellow in the dismal gloom and the great +beacon still burned steadily over the home of the prophet.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it is not time," whispered Obadiah. "It is still too +early." He drew his companion out of the path which they had +followed and sat himself down on a hummock a dozen yards away from +it, inviting Nathaniel by a pull of the sleeve to do the same. +There were three of these hummocks, side by side, and Captain Plum +chose the one nearest the old man and waited for him to speak. But +the councilor did not open his lips. Doubled over until his chin +rested almost upon the sharp points of his knees, he gazed steadily +at the beacon, and as he looked it shuddered and grew dark, like a +firefly that suddenly closes its wings. With a quick spring the +councilor straightened himself and turned to the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i>.</p> + +<p>"You have a good nose, Nat," he said, "but your ears are not so +good. Sh-h-h-h!" He lifted a hand warningly and nodded sidewise +toward the path. Captain Plum listened. He heard low voices and +then footsteps—voices that were approaching rapidly, and were +those of women, and footsteps that were almost running. The old man +caught him by the arm and as the sounds came nearer his grip +tightened.</p> + +<p>"Don't frighten them, Nat. Get down!"</p> + +<p>He crouched until he was only a part of the shadows of the +ground and following his example Nathaniel slipped between two of +the knolls. A few yards away the sound of the voices ceased and +there was a hesitancy in the soft tread of the approaching steps. +Slowly, and now in awesome silence, two figures came down the path +and when they reached a point opposite the hummocks Nathaniel could +see that they turned their faces toward them and that for a brief +space there was something of terror in the gleam he caught of their +eyes. In a moment they had passed. Then he heard them running.</p> + +<p>"They saw us!" Captain Plum exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Obadiah hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands with great glee. +"What a temptation, Nat!" he whispered. "What a temptation to +frighten them out of their wits! No, they didn't see us, +Nat—they didn't see us. The girls are always frightened when +they pass these graves. Some day—"</p> + +<p>"Graves!" almost shouted the master of the <i>Typhoon</i>. +"Graves—and we sitting on 'em!"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Nat—that's all right. They're my +graves, so we're welcome to sit on them. I often come here and sit +for hours at a time. They like to have me, especially little +Jean—the middle one. Perhaps I'll tell you about Jean before +you go away."</p> + +<p>If Captain Plum had been watching him he would have seen that +soft mysterious light again shining in the old councilor's eyes. +But now Nathaniel stood erect, his nostrils sniffing the air, +catching once more the sweet scent of lilac. He hurried out into +the opening, with the old man close behind him, and peered down +into the starlit gloom into which the two girls had disappeared. +The lovely face that had appeared to him for an instant at +Obadiah's cabin began to haunt him. He was sure now that his sudden +appearance had not been the only cause of its terror, and he felt +that he should have called out to her or followed until he had +overtaken her. He could easily have excused his boldness, even if +the councilor had been watching him from the cabin door. He was +certain that she had passed very near to him again and that the +fright which Obadiah had attempted to explain was not because of +the graves. He swung about upon his companion, determined to ask +for an explanation. The latter seemed to divine his thought.</p> + +<p>"Don't let a little scent of lilac disturb you so, young man," +he said with singular coldness. "It may cause you great +unpleasantness." He went ahead and Nathaniel followed him, assured +that the old man's words and the way in which he had spoken them no +longer left a doubt as to the identity of his night visitor. She +was one of the councilor's wives, so he thought, and his own +interest in her was beginning to have an irritating effect. In +other words Obadiah was becoming jealous.</p> + +<p>For some time there was silence between the two. Obadiah Price +now walked with extreme slowness and along paths which seemed to +bring him no nearer to the town below. Nathaniel could see that he +was absorbed in thoughts of his own, and held his peace. Was it +possible that he had spoiled his chances with the councilor because +of a pretty face and a bunch of lilacs? The thought tickled Captain +Plum despite the delicacy of his situation and he broke into an +involuntary laugh. The laugh brought Obadiah to a halt as suddenly +as though some one had thrust a bayonet against his breast.</p> + +<p>"Nat, you've got good red blood in you," he cried, whirling +about. "D'ye suppose you can hate as well as love?"</p> + +<p>"Lord deliver us!" exclaimed the astonished Captain Plum. +"Hate—love—what the—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>hate</i>," repeated the old man with fierce emphasis, +so close that his breath struck Nathaniel's face. "You can love a +pretty face—and you can <i>hate</i>. I know you can. If you +couldn't I would send you back to your sloop with the package +to-night. But as it is I am going to relieve you of your oath. Yes, +Nat, I give you back your oath—for a time."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stepped a pace back and put his hands on his pockets +as if to protect the gold there.</p> + +<p>"You mean that you want to call off our bargain?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The councilor rubbed his hands until the friction of them sent a +shiver up Nathaniel's back. "Not that, Nat—O, no, not that! +The bargain is good. The gold is yours. You must deliver the +package. But you need not do it immediately. Understand? I am +lonely back there in my shack. I want company. You must stay with +me a week. Eh? Lilacs and pretty faces, Nat! Ho, ho!—You will +stay a week, won't you, Nat?"</p> + +<p>He spoke so rapidly and his face underwent so many changes, now +betraying the keenest excitement, now wrinkled in an ogreish, +bantering grin, now almost pleading in its earnestness, that +Nathaniel knew not what to make of him. He looked into the beady +eyes, sparkling with passion, and the cat-like glitter of them set +his blood tingling. What strange adventure was this old man +dragging him into? What were the motives, the reasoning, the plot +that lay behind this mysterious creature's apparent faith in him? +He tried to answer these things in the passing of a moment before +he replied. The councilor saw his hesitancy and smiled.</p> + +<p>"I will show you many things of interest, Nat," he said. "I will +show you just one to-night. Then you will make up your mind, eh? +You need not tell me until then."</p> + +<p>He took the lead again and this time struck straight down for +the town. They passed a number of houses built of logs and +Nathaniel caught narrow gleams of light from between close-drawn +curtains. In one of these houses he heard the crying of children, +and with a return of his grisly humor Obadiah Price prodded him in +the ribs and said,</p> + +<p>"Good old Israel Laeng lives there—two wives, one old, one +young—eleven children. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to him!" +And from a second he heard the sound of an organ, and from still a +third there came the laughter and chatter of several feminine +voices, and again Obadiah reached out and prodded Nathaniel in the +ribs. There was one great, gloomy, long-built place which they +passed, without a ray of light to give it life, and the councilor +said, "Three widows there, Nat,—fight like cats and dogs. +Poor Job killed himself." They avoided the more thickly populated +part of the settlement and encountered few people, which seemed to +please the councilor. Once they overtook and passed a group of +women clad in short skirts and loose waists and with their hair +hanging in braids down their backs. For a third time Obadiah nudged +Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"It is the king's pleasure that all women wear skirts that come +just below the knees," he whispered. "Some of them won't do it and +he's wondering how to punish them. To-morrow there's going to be +two public whippings. One of the victims is a man who said that if +he was a woman he'd die before he put on knee skirts. After he's +whipped he is going to be made to wear 'em. By Urim and Thummin, +isn't that choice, Nat?"</p> + +<p>He shivered with quiet laughter and dived into a great block of +darkness where there seemed to be no houses, keeping close beside +Nathaniel. Soon they came to the edge of a grove and deep among the +trees Captain Plum caught a glimpse of a lighted window. Obadiah +Price now began to exhibit unusual caution. He approached the light +slowly, pausing every few steps to peer guardedly about him, and +when they had come very near to the window he pulled his companion +behind a thick clump of shrubbery. Nathaniel could hear the old +man's subdued chuckle and he bent his head to catch what he was +about to whisper to him.</p> + +<p>"You must make no noise, Nat," he warned. "This is the castle of +our priest, king and prophet—James Jesse Strang. I am going +to show you what you have never seen before and what you will never +look upon again. I have sworn upon the Two Books and I will keep my +oath. And then—you will answer the question I asked you back +there."</p> + +<p>He crept out into the darkness of the trees and Nathaniel +followed, his heart throbbing with excitement, every sense alert, +and one hand resting on the butt of his pistol. He felt that he was +nearing the climax of his day's adventure and now, in the last +moment of it, his old caution reasserted itself. He knew that he +was among a dangerous people, men who, according to the laws of his +country, were criminals in more ways than one. He had seen much of +their work along the coasts and he had heard of more of it. He knew +that this gloom and sullen quiet of St. James hid cut-throats and +pirates and thieves. Still there was nothing ahead to alarm him. +The old man dodged the gleams of the lighted window and slunk +around to the end of the great house. Here, several feet above his +head, was another window, small and veiled with the foliage wall. +With the assurance of one who had been there before the councilor +mounted some object under the window, lifted himself until his chin +was on a level with the glass, and peered within. He was there but +an instant and then fell back, chuckling and rubbing his hands.</p> + +<p>"Come, Nat!"</p> + +<p>He stood a little to one side and bowed with mock politeness. +For a moment Captain Plum hesitated. Under ordinary circumstances +this spying through a window would have been repugnant to him. But +at present something seemed to tell him that it was not to satisfy +his curiosity alone that Obadiah Price had given him this +opportunity. Would a look through that little window explain some +of the mysteries of the night?</p> + +<p>There came a low whisper in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Do you smell lilac, Nat? Eh?"</p> + +<p>The councilor was grinning at him. There was a suggestive gleam +in his eyes. He rubbed his hands almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>In another instant Captain Plum had stepped upon the object +beneath the window and parted the leaves. Breathlessly he looked +in. A strange scene met his eyes. He was looking into a vast room, +illuminated by a huge hanging lamp suspended almost on a level with +his head. Under this lamp there was a long table and at the table +sat seven women and one man. The man was at the end nearest the +window and all that Nat could see was the back of his head and +shoulders. But the women were in full view, three on each side of +the table and one at the far end. He guessed the man to be Strang; +but he stared at the women and as his eyes traveled back to the one +facing him at the end of the table he could scarcely repress the +exclamation of surprise that rose to his lips. It was the girl whom +he had encountered at the councilor's cabin. She was leaning +forward as if in an agony of suspense, her eyes on the king, her +lips parted, her hands clutching at a great book which lay open +before her. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement. And even as he +looked Captain Plum saw her head fall suddenly forward upon the +table, encircled by her arms. The heavy braid of her hair, partly +undone, glistened like red gold in the lamplight. Her slender body +was convulsed with sobs. The woman nearest her reached over and +laid a caressing hand on the bowed head, but drew it quickly away +as if at a sharp command.</p> + +<p>In his eagerness Nathaniel thrust his face through the foliage +until his nose touched the glass. When the girl lifted her head she +straightened back in her chair—and saw him. There came a +sudden white fear in her face, a parting of the lips as if she were +on the point of crying out, and then, before the others had seen, +she looked again at Strang. She had discovered him and yet she had +not revealed her discovery! Nathaniel could have shouted for joy. +She had seen him, had recognized him! And because she had not cried +out she wanted him! He drew his pistol from its holster and waited. +If she signaled for him, if she called him, he would burst the +window. The girl was talking now and as she talked she lifted her +eyes. Nathaniel pressed his face close against the window, and +smiled. That would let her know he was a friend. She seemed to +answer him with a little nod and he fancied that her eyes glowed +with a mute appeal for his assistance. But only for an instant, and +then they turned again to the king. Not until that moment did +Nathaniel notice upon her bosom a bunch of crumpled lilacs.</p> + +<p>From below the iron grip of the councilor dragged him down.</p> + +<p>"That's enough," he whispered. "That's enough—for +to-night." He saw the pistol in Nathaniel's hand and gave a sudden +breathless cry.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—"</p> + +<p>He caught Captain Plum's free hand in his.</p> + +<p>"Tell me this, Obadiah Price," whispered the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i>, "who is she?"</p> + +<p>The councilor stood on tiptoe to answer.</p> + +<p>"They are the six wives of Strang, Nat!"</p> + +<p>"But the other?" demanded Nathaniel. "The other—"</p> + +<p>"O, to be sure, to be sure," chuckled Obadiah. "The girl of the +lilacs, eh? Why, she's the seventh wife, Nat—that's all, the +seventh wife!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<center>THE WARNING</center> + +<p>So quickly that Obadiah Price might not have counted ten before +it had come and gone the significance of his new situation flashed +upon Captain Plum as he stood under the king's window. His plans +had changed since leaving ship but now he realized that they had +become hopelessly involved. He had intended that Obadiah should +show him where Strang was to be found, and that later, when +ostensibly returning to his vessel, he would visit the prophet in +his home. Whatever the interview brought forth he would still be in +a position to deliver the councilor's package. Even an hour's +bombardment of St. James would not interfere with the fulfilment of +his oath. But those few minutes at the king's window had been fatal +to the scheme he had built. The girl had seen him. She had not +betrayed his presence. She had called to him with her eyes—he +would have staked his life on that. What did it all mean? He turned +to Obadiah. The old man was grimacing and twisting his hands +nervously. He seemed half afraid, cringing, as if fearing a blow. +The sight of him set Nathaniel's blood afire. His white face seemed +to verify the terrible thought that had leaped into his brain. +Suddenly he heard a faint cry—a woman's voice—and in an +instant he was back at the window. The girl had risen to her feet +and stood facing him. This time, as her eyes met his own, he saw in +them a flashing warning, and he obeyed it as if she had spoken to +him. As he dropped silently back to the ground the councilor came +close to his side.</p> + +<p>"That's enough for to-night, Nat," he whispered.</p> + +<p>He made as if to slip away but Nathaniel detained him with an +emphatic hand.</p> + +<p>"Not yet, Dad! I'd like to have a word +with—this—"</p> + +<p>"With Strang's wife," chuckled Obadiah. "Ho, ho, ho, Nat, you're +a rascal!" The old man's face was mapped with wrinkles, his eyes +glowed with joyous approbation. "You shall, Nat, you shall! You +love a pretty face, eh? You shall meet Mrs. Strang, Nat, and you +shall make love to her if you wish. I swear that, too. But not +to-night, Nat—not to-night."</p> + +<p>He stood a pace away and rubbed his hands.</p> + +<p>"There will be no chance to-night, Nat—but to-morrow +night, or the next. O, I promise you shall meet her, and make love +to her, Nat! Ho, if Strang knew, if Strang <i>only</i> knew!"</p> + +<p>There was something so fiendishly gloating in the councilor's +attitude, in his face, in the hot glow of his eyes, that for a +moment Nathaniel's involuntary liking for the little old man before +him turned to abhorrence. The passion, the triumph of the man, +convinced him where words had failed. The girl was Strang's wife. +His last doubt was dispelled. And because she was Strang's wife +Obadiah hated the Mormon prophet. The councilor had spoken with +fateful assurance—that he should meet her, that he should +make love to her. It was an assurance that made him shudder. As he +followed in silence up out of the gloom of the town he strove, but +in vain, to find whether sin had lurked in the sweet face that had +appealed to him in its misery—whether there had been a flash +of something besides terror, besides prayerful entreaty, in the +lovely eyes that had met his own. Obadiah spoke no word to break in +on his thoughts. Now and then the old man's insane chucklings +floated softly to Nathaniel's ears, and when at last they came to +the cabin in the forest he broke into a low laugh that echoed +weirdly in the great black room which they entered. He lighted +another candle and approached a ladder which led through a trap in +the ceiling. Without a word he mounted this ladder, and Nathaniel +followed him, finding himself a moment later in a small low room +furnished with a bed. The councilor placed his candle on a table +close beside it and rubbed his hands until it seemed they must +burn.</p> + +<p>"You will stay—eh, Nat?" he cried, bobbing his head. "Yes, +you will stay, and you will give me back the package for a day or +two." He retreated to the trap and slid down it as quickly as a +rat. "Pleasant dreams to you, Nat, and—O, wait a minute!" +Captain Plum could hear him pattering quickly over the floor below. +In a moment he was back, thrusting his white grimacing face through +the trap and tossed something upon the bed. "She left them last +night, Nat. Pleasant dreams, pleasant dreams," and he was gone.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel turned to the bed and picked up a faded bunch of +lilacs. Then he sat down, loaded his pipe, and smoked until he +could hardly see the walls of his little room. From the moment of +his landing on the island he turned the events of the day over in +his mind. Yet when he arrived at the end of them he was no less +mystified than when he began. Who was Obadiah Price? Who was the +girl that fate had so mysteriously associated with his movements +thus far? What was the plot in which he had accidentally become +involved? With tireless tenacity he hung to these questions for +hours. That there was a plot of some kind he had not the least +doubt. The councilor's strange actions, the oath, the package, and +above all the scene in the king's house convinced him of that. And +he was sure that Obadiah's night visitor—the girl with the +lilacs—was playing a vital part in it.</p> + +<p>He plucked at the withered flowers which the old man had thrown +him. He could detect their sweet scent above the pungent fumes of +tobacco and as Obadiah's triumphant chuckle recurred to him, the +gloating joy in his eyes, the passionate tremble of his voice, a +grim smile passed over his face. The mystery was easy of +solution—if he was willing to reason along certain lines. But +he was not willing. He had formed his own picture of Strang's wife +and it pleased him to keep it. At moments he half conceded himself +a fool, but that did not trouble him. The longer he smoked the more +his old confidence and his old recklessness returned to him. He had +enjoyed his adventure. The next day he would end it. He would go +openly into St. James and have done his business with Strang. Then +he would return to his ship. What had he, Captain Plum, to do with +Strang's wife?</p> + +<p>But even after he had determined on these things his brain +refused to rest. He paced back and forth across the narrow room, +thinking of the man whom he was to meet to-morrow—of Strang, +the one-time schoolmaster and temperance lecturer who had made +himself a king, who for seven years had defied the state and +nation, and who had made of his island stronghold a hot-bed of +polygamy, of licentiousness, of dissolute power. His blood grew hot +as he thought again of the beautiful girl who had appealed to him. +Obadiah had said that she was the king's wife. Still—</p> + +<p>Thoughts flashed into his head which for a time made him forget +his mission on the island. In spite of his resolution to keep to +his own scheme he found himself, after a little, thinking only of +the Mormon king, and the lovely face he had seen through the castle +window. He knew much about the man with whom he was to deal +to-morrow. He knew that he had been a rival of Brigham Young and +that when the exodus of the Mormons to the deserts of the west came +he had led his own followers into the North, and that each July, +amid barbaric festivities, he was recrowned with a circlet of gold. +But the girl! If she was the king's wife why had her eyes called to +him for help?</p> + +<p>The question crowded Nathaniel's brain with a hundred thrilling +pictures. With a shudder he thought of the terrible power the +Mormon king held not only over his own people but over the Gentiles +of the mainlands as well. With these mainlanders, he regarded +Beaver Island as a nest of pirates and murderers. He knew of the +depredations of Strang and his people among the fishermen and +settlers, of the piratical expeditions of his armed boats, of the +dreaded raids of his sheriffs, and of the crimes that made the +women of the shores tremble and turn white at the mere mention of +his name.</p> + +<p>Was it possible that this girl—</p> + +<p>Captain Plum did not let himself finish the thought. With a +powerful effort he brought himself back to his own business on the +island, smoked another pipe, and undressed. He went to bed with the +withered lilacs on the table close beside him. He fell asleep with +their scent in his nostrils. When he awoke they were gone. He +started up in astonishment when he saw what had taken their place. +Obadiah had visited him while he slept. The table was spread with a +white cloth and upon it was his breakfast, a pot of coffee still +steaming, and the whole of a cold baked fowl. Near-by, upon a +chair, was a basin of water, soap and a towel. Nathaniel rolled +from his bed with a healthy laugh of pleasure. The councilor was at +least a courteous host, and his liking for the curious old man +promptly increased. There was a sheet of paper on his plate upon +which Obadiah had scribbled the following words:</p> + +<p>"My dear Nat:—Make yourself at home. I will be away to-day +but will see you again to-night. Don't be surprised if somebody +makes you a visit."</p> + +<p>The "somebody" was heavily underscored and Nathaniel's pulse +quickened and a sudden flush of excitement surged into his face as +he read the meaning of it. The "somebody" was Strang's wife. There +could be no other interpretation. He went to the trap and called +down for Obadiah but there was no answer. The councilor had already +gone. Quickly eating his breakfast the master of the <i>Typhoon</i> +climbed down the ladder into the room below. The remains of the +councilor's breakfast were on a table near the door, and the door +was open. Through it came a glory of sunshine and the fresh breath +of the forest laden with the perfume of wild flowers and balsam. A +thousand birds seemed caroling and twittering in the sunlit +solitude about the cabin. Beyond this there was no other sound or +sign of life. For many minutes Nathaniel stood in the open, his +eyes on the path along which he knew that Strang's wife would +come—if she came at all. Suddenly he began to examine the +ground where the girl had stood the previous night. The dainty +imprints of her feet were plainly discernible in the soft earth. +Then he went to the path—and with a laugh so loud that it +startled the birds into silence he set off with long strides in the +direction of St. James. From the footprints in that path it was +quite evident that Strang's wife was a frequent visitor at +Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>At the edge of the forest, from where he could see the log house +situated across the opening, Nathaniel paused. He had made up his +mind that the girl whom he had seen through the king's window was +in some way associated with it. Obadiah had hinted as much and she +had come from there on her way to Strang's. But as the prophet's +wives lived in his castle at St. James this surely could not be her +home. More than ever he was puzzled. As he looked he saw a figure +suddenly appear from among the mass of lilac bushes that almost +concealed the cabin. An involuntary exclamation of satisfaction +escaped him and he drew back deeper among the trees. It was the +councilor who had shown himself. For a few moments the old man +stood gazing in the direction of St. James as if watching for the +approach of other persons. Then he dodged cautiously along the edge +of the bushes, keeping half within their cover, and moved swiftly +in the opposite direction toward the center of the island. +Nathaniel's blood leaped with a desire to follow. The night before +he had guessed that Obadiah with his gold and his smoldering +passion was not a man to isolate himself in the heart of the +forest. Here—across the open—was evidence of another +side of his life. In that great square-built domicile of logs, +screened so perfectly by flowering lilac, lived Obadiah's wives. +Captain Plum laughed aloud and beat the bowl of his pipe on the +tree beside him. And the <i>girl</i> lived there—or came from +there to the woodland cabin so frequently that her feet had beaten +a well-worn path. Had the councilor lied to him? Was the girl he +had seen through the King's window one of the seven wives of +Strang—or was she the wife of Obadiah Price?</p> + +<p>The thought was one that thrilled him. If the girl was the +councilor's wife what was the motive of Obadiah's falsehood? And if +she was Strang's wife why had her feet—and hers alone with +the exception of the old man's—worn this path from the lilac +smothered house to the cabin in the woods? The captain of the +<i>Typhoon</i> regretted now that he had given such explicit orders +to Casey. Otherwise he would have followed the figure that was +already disappearing into the forest on the opposite side of the +clearing. But now he must see Strang. There might be delay, +necessary delay, and if it so happened that his own blundering +curiosity kept him on the island until sundown—well, he +smiled as he thought of what Casey would do.</p> + +<p>Refilling his pipe and leaving a trail of smoke behind him he +set out boldly for St. James. When he came to the three graves he +stopped, remembering that Obadiah had said they were his graves. A +sort of grim horror began to stir at his soul as he gazed on the +grass-grown mounds—proofs that the old councilor would +inherit a place in the Mormon Heaven having obeyed the injunctions +of his prophet on earth. Nathaniel now understood the meaning of +his words of the night before. This was the family burying ground +of the old councilor.</p> + +<p>He walked on, trying in vain to concentrate his mind solely upon +the business that was ahead of him. A few days before he would have +counted this walk to St. James one of the events of his life. Now +it had lost its fascination. Despite his efforts to destroy the +vision of the beautiful face that had looked at him through the +king's window its memory still haunted him. The eyes, soft with +appeal; the red mouth, quivering, and with lips parted as if about +to speak to him; the bowed head with its tumbled glory of +hair—all had burned themselves upon his soul in a picture too +deep to be eradicated. If St. James was interesting now it was +because that face was a part of it, because the secret of its life, +of the misery that it had confessed to him, was hidden somewhere +down there among its scattered log homes.</p> + +<p>Slowly he made his way down the slope in the direction of +Strang's castle, the tower of which, surmounted by its great +beacon, glistened in the morning sun. He would find Strang there. +And there would be one chance in a thousand of seeing the +girl—if Obadiah had spoken the truth. As he passed down he +met men and boys coming up the slope and others moving along at the +bottom of it, all going toward the interior of the island. They had +shovels or rakes or hoes upon their shoulders and he guessed that +the Mormon fields were in that direction; others bore axes; and now +and then wagons, many of them drawn by oxen, left the town over the +road that ran near the shore of the lake. Those whom he met stared +at him curiously, much interested evidently in the appearance of a +stranger. Nathaniel paid but small heed to them. As he entered the +grove through which the councilor had guided him the night before +his eagerness became almost excitement. He approached the great log +house swiftly but cautiously, keeping as much from view as +possible. As he came under the window through which he had looked +upon the king and his wives his heart leaped with anticipation, +with hope that was strangely mingled with fear. For only a moment +he paused to listen, and notwithstanding the seriousness of his +position he could not repress a smile as there came to his ears the +crying of children and the high angry voice of a woman. He passed +around to the front of the house. The door of Strang's castle was +wide open and unguarded. No one had seen his approach; no one +accosted him as he mounted the low steps; there was no one in the +room into which he gazed a moment later. It was the great hall into +which he had spied a few hours previous. There was the long table +with the big book on it, the lamp whose light had bathed the girl's +head in a halo of glory, the very chair in which he had found her +sitting! He was conscious of a throbbing in his breast, a longing +to call out—if he only knew her name.</p> + +<p>In the room there were four closed doors and it was from beyond +these that there came to him the wailing of children. A fifth door +was open and through it he saw a cradle gently rocking. Here at +last was visible life, or motion at least, and he knocked loudly. +Very gradually the cradle ceased its movement. Then it stopped, and +a woman came out into the larger room. In a moment Nathaniel +recognized her as the one who had placed a caressing hand upon the +bowed head of the sobbing girl the night before. Her face was of +pathetic beauty. Its whiteness was startling. Her eyes shone with +an unhealthy luster, and her dark hair, falling in heavy curls over +her shoulder, added to the wonderful pallor of her cheeks.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel bowed. "I beg your pardon, madam; I came to see Mr. +Strang," he said.</p> + +<p>"You will find the king at his office," she replied.</p> + +<p>The woman's voice was low, but so sweet that it was like music +to the ear. As she spoke she came nearer and a faint flush appeared +in the transparency of her cheek.</p> + +<p>"Why do you wish to see the king?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Was there a tremble of fear in her voice? Even as he looked +Nathaniel saw the flush deepen in her cheeks and her eyes light +with nervous eagerness.</p> + +<p>"I am sent by Obadiah Price," he hazarded.</p> + +<p>A flash of relief shot into the woman's face.</p> + +<p>"The king is at his office," she repeated. "His office is near +the temple."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel retired with another bow.</p> + +<p>"By thunder, Strang, old boy, you've certainly got an eye for +beauty!" he laughed as he hurried through the grove.</p> + +<p>"And Obadiah Price must be somebody, after all!"</p> + +<p>The Mormon temple was the largest structure in St. James, a huge +square building of hewn logs, and Nathaniel did not need to make +inquiry to find it. On one side was a two-story building with an +outside stairway leading to the upper floor, and a painted sign +announced that on this second floor was situated the office of +James Jesse Strang, priest, king and prophet of the Mormons. It was +still very early and the general merchandise store below was not +open. Congratulating himself on this fact, and with the fingers of +his right hand reaching instinctively for his pistol butt, Captain +Plum mounted the stair. When half way up he heard voices. As he +reached the landing at the top he caught the quick swish of a +skirt. Another step and he was in the open door. He was not soon +enough to see the person who had just disappeared through an +opposite door but he knew that it was a woman. Directly in front of +him as if she had been expecting his arrival was a young girl, and +no sooner had he put a foot over the threshold than she hurried +toward him, the most acute anxiety and fear written in her +face.</p> + +<p>"You are Captain Plum?" she asked breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stopped in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm—"</p> + +<p>"Then you must hurry—hurry!" cried the girl excitedly. +"You have not a moment to lose! Go back to your ship before it is +too late! She says they will kill you—"</p> + +<p>"Who says so?" thundered Captain Plum. He sprang to the girl's +side and caught her by the arm. "Who says that I will be killed? +Tell me—who gave you this warning for me?"</p> + +<p>"I—I—tell you so!" stammered the young girl. +"I—I—heard the king—they will kill you—" +Her lips trembled. Nathaniel saw that her eyes were already red +from crying. "You will go?" she pleaded.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had taken her hand and now he held it tightly in his +own. His head was thrown back, his eyes were upon the door across +the room. When he looked again into the girlish face there was +flashing joyous defiance in his eyes, and in his voice there was +confession of the truth that had suddenly come to overwhelm +whatever law of self preservation he might have held unto +himself.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, I am not going back to my ship," he spoke softly. +"Not unless she who is in that room comes out and bids me go +herself!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<center>THE WHIPPING</center> + +<p>Scarce had the words fallen from his lips when there sounded a +slow, heavy step on the stair outside. The young girl snatched her +hand free and caught Nathaniel by the wrist.</p> + +<p>"It is the king!" she whispered excitedly. "It is the king! +Quick—you still have time! You must go—you must +go—"</p> + +<p>She strove to pull him across the room.</p> + +<p>"There—through that door!" she urged.</p> + +<p>The slowly ascending steps were half way up the stairs. +Nathaniel hesitated. He knew that a moment before there had passed +through that door one who carried with her the odor of lilac and +his heart leaped to its own conclusion who that person was. He had +heard the rustle of the girl's skirt. He had seen the last inch of +the door close as Strang's wife pulled it after her. And now he was +implored to follow! He sprang forward as the heavy steps neared the +landing. His hand was upon the latch—when he paused. Then he +turned and bent his head close down to the girl.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't do it, my dear," he whispered. "Just now it might +make trouble for—her."</p> + +<p>He lifted his eyes and saw a man looking at him from the +doorway. He needed no further proof to assure him that this was +Strang the king of the Mormons, for the Beaver Island prophet was +painted well in that region which knew the grip and terror of his +power. He was a massive man, with the slow slumbering strength of a +beast. He was not much under fifty; but his thick beard, reddish +and crinkling, his shaggy hair, and the full-fed ruddiness of his +face, with its foundation of heavy jaw, gave him a more youthful +appearance. There was in his eyes, set deep and so light that they +shone like pale blue glass, the staring assurance that is +frequently born of power. In his hand he carried a huge +metal-knobbed stick.</p> + +<p>In an instant Nathaniel had recovered himself. He advanced a +step, bowing coolly.</p> + +<p>"I am Captain Plum, of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>," he said. "I +called at your home a short time ago and was directed to your +office. As a stranger on the island I did not know that you had an +office or I would have come here first."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>The king drew his right foot back half a pace and bowed so low +that Nathaniel saw only the crown of his hat. When he raised his +head the aggressive stare had gone out of his eyes and a welcoming +smile lighted up his face as he advanced with extended hand.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you, Captain Plum."</p> + +<p>His voice was deep and rich, filled with that wonderful +vibratory power which seems to strike and attune the hidden chords +of one's soul. The man's appearance had not prepossessed Nathaniel, +but at the sound of his voice he recognized that which had made him +the prophet of men. As the warm hand of the king clasped his own +Captain Plum knew that he was in the presence of a master of human +destinies, a man whose ponderous red-visaged body was simply the +crude instrument through which spoke the marvelous spirit that had +enslaved thousands to him, that had enthralled a state legislature +and that had hypnotized a federal jury into giving him back his +freedom when evidence smothered him in crime. He felt himself +sinking in the presence of this man and struggled fiercely to +regain himself. He withdrew his hand and straightened himself like +a soldier.</p> + +<p>"I have come to you with a grievance, Mr. Strang," he began. "A +grievance which I feel sure you will do your best to right. Perhaps +you are aware that some little time ago—about two weeks +back—your people boarded my ship in force and robbed me of +several thousand dollars' worth of merchandise."</p> + +<p>Strang had drawn a step back.</p> + +<p>"Aware of it!" he exclaimed in a voice that shook the room. +"Aware of it!" The red of his face turned purple and he clenched +his free hand in sudden passion. "Aware of it!" He repeated the +words, this time so gently that Nathaniel could scarcely hear them, +and tapped his heavy stick upon the floor. "No, Captain Plum, I was +not aware of it. If I <i>had</i> been—" He shrugged his thick +shoulders. The movement, and a sudden gleam of his teeth through +his beard, were expressive enough for Nathaniel to understand.</p> + +<p>Then the king smiled.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure—are you <i>quite</i> sure, Captain Plum, +that it was my people who attacked your ship? If so, of course you +must have some proof?"</p> + +<p>"We were very near to Beaver Island and many miles from the +mainland," said Nathaniel. "It could only have been your +people."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>Strang led the way to a table at the farther end of the room and +motioned Nathaniel to a seat opposite him.</p> + +<p>"We are a much persecuted people, Captain Plum, very much +persecuted indeed." His wonderful voice trembled with a subdued +pathos. "We have answered for many sins that have never been ours, +Captain Plum, and among them are robbery, piracy and even murder. +The people along the coasts are deadly enemies to us—who +would be their friends; they commit crimes in our name and we do +not retaliate. It was not my people who waylaid your vessel. They +were fishermen, probably, who came from the Michigan shore and +awaited their opportunity off Beaver Island. But I shall +investigate this; believe me, I shall investigate this fully, +Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt something like a great choking fist shoot up into +his throat. It was not a sensation of fear but of +humiliation—the humiliation of defeat, the knowledge of his +own weakness in the hands of this man who had so quickly and so +surely blocked his claim. His quick brain saw the futility of +argument. He possessed no absolute proof and he had thought that he +needed none. Strang saw the flash of doubt in his face, the +hesitancy in his answer; he divined the working of the other's +brain and in his soft voice, purring with friendship, he followed +up his triumph.</p> + +<p>"I sympathize with you," he spoke gently, "and my sympathy and +word shall help you. We do not welcome strangers among us, for +strangers have usually proved themselves our enemies and have done +us wrong. But to you I give the freedom of our kingdom. Search +where you will, at what hours you will, and when you have found a +single proof that your stolen property is among my +people—when you have seen a face that you recognize as one of +the robbers, return to me and I shall make restitution and punish +the evil-doers."</p> + +<p>So intensely he spoke, so filled with reason and truth were his +words, that Nathaniel thrust out his hand in token of acceptance of +the king's terms. And as Strang gripped that hand Captain Plum saw +the young girl's face over the prophet's shoulder—a face, +white as death in its terror, that told him all he had heard was a +lie.</p> + +<p>"And when you have done with my people," continued the king, +"you will go among that other race, along the mainland, where men +have thrown off the restraints of society to give loose reign to +lust and avarice; where the Indian is brutified that his wife may +be intoxicated by compulsion and prostituted by violence before his +eyes; where the forest cabins and the streets of towns are filled +with half-breeds; where there stalk wretches with withered and +tearless eyes, who are in nowise troubled by recollection of +robbery, rape and murder. And <i>there</i> you will find whom you +are looking for!"</p> + +<p>Strang had risen to his feet. His eyes blazed with the fire of +smothered hatred and passion and his great voice rolled through his +beard, tremulous with excitement, but still deep and rich, like the +booming of some melodious instrument. He flung aside his hat as he +paced back and forth; his shaggy hair fell upon his shoulders; huge +veins stood out upon his forehead—and Nathaniel sat mute as +he watched this lion of a man whose great throat quivered with the +power that might have stirred a nation—that might have made +him president instead of king. He waited for the thunder of that +throat and his nerves keyed themselves to meet its bursting +passion. But when Strang spoke again it was in a voice as soft and +as gentle as a woman's.</p> + +<p>"Those are the men who have vilified us, Captain Plum; who have +covered us with crimes that we have never committed; who have +driven our people into groups that they may be free from +depredation; who watch like vultures to despoil our women; wild +wifeless men, Captain Plum, who have left families and character +behind them and who have sought the wilderness to escape the +penalties of law and order. It is they who would destroy us. Go +among my own people first, Captain Plum, and find your lost +property if you can; and if you can not discover it where in seven +years not one child has been born out of wedlock, seek among the +Lamanites—and my sheriffs shall follow where you place the +crime!"</p> + +<p>He had stretched out his arms like one whose plea was of life +and death; his face shone with earnestness; his low words throbbed +as if his heart were borne upon them for the inspection of its +truth and honor. He was Strang the tragedian, the orator, the +conqueror of a legislature, a governor, a dozen juries—and of +human souls. And as he stood silent for a moment in this attitude +Nathaniel rose to his feet, subservient, and believing as others +had believed in the fitness of this man. But as his eyes traveled a +dozen paces beyond, he saw the young girl gesturing to him in that +same terror, and holding up for him to see a slip of paper upon +which she had written. And when she had caught his eyes she +crumpled the paper into a shapeless ball and tossed it just over +the landing to the ground below the stair.</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the privileges of the island which you have +offered me," said Nathaniel, putting on his hat, "and I shall +certainly take advantage of your kindness for a few hours, as I +want very much to witness one of your ceremonies which I understand +is to take place to-day. Then, if I have discovered nothing, I +shall return to my ship."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you wish to see the whipping?" The king smiled his +approval. "That is one way we have of punishing slight misdemeanors +in our kingdom, Captain Plum. It is an illustration of our +intolerance of evil-doers." He turned suddenly toward the girl. +"Winnsome, my dear, have you copied the paper I was at work on? I +wish to show it to Captain Plum."</p> + +<p>He walked slowly toward her and for the first time since her +warning Nathaniel had an opportunity of observing the girl without +fear of being perceived by the prophet. She was very young, hardly +more than a child he would have guessed at first; and yet at a +second and more careful glance he knew that she could not be under +fifteen—perhaps sixteen. Her whole attire was one to add to +her childish appearance. Her hair, which was rather short, fell in +lustrous dark curls about her face and upon her neck. She wore a +fitted coat-like blouse, and knee skirts which disclosed a pretty +pair of legs and ankles. As Strang was returning with the paper +which she handed to him the girl turned her face to Captain Plum. +Her mouth was formed into a round red O and she pointed anxiously +to where she had thrown the note. The king's eyes were on his paper +and Nathaniel nodded to assure her that he understood.</p> + +<p>"I am like a gardener who compels every passing neighbor to go +into his back yard and admire his first sprouts," laughed the +prophet jovially. "In other words, I do a little writing, and I +take a kind of childish joy in making other people read it. But I +see this is not in proper shape, so you have escaped. It is a brief +history of Beaver Island written at the request of the Smithsonian +Institute, which has already published an article of mine. If you +happen to be on the island to-morrow and should you return to this +office I shall certainly have you read it if I have to call all of +my sheriffs into service!"</p> + +<p>He laughed with such open good-humor that Nathaniel found +himself smiling despite the varied unpleasant sensations within +him. "Do you write much?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I get out a daily paper," said the king rather proudly, "and of +course, as prophet, I am the translator of what word may be handed +down to us from Heaven for the direction and commandment of my +people. I hold the secret of the Urim and Thummin, which was first +delivered by angels into the hands of Joseph, and with it have +revealed the word of God as it appears in a book which I have +written. Ah—I had forgotten this!" From among a mass of +papers and books on the table he drew forth a blue-covered pamphlet +and passed it to his companion. "I have only a few copies left but +you may have this one, Captain Plum. It will surely interest you. +In it I have set forth the troubles existing between my own people +and the cyprian-rotted criminals that infest Mackinac and the +mainland and have described our struggle for chastity and honor +against these human vultures. It was published two years ago. But +conditions are different to-day. Now—now I am king, and the +oppressors in the filth of their crime have become the +oppressed!"</p> + +<p>The last words boomed from him in a slogan of triumph and as if +in echoing mockery there came from the open door the chuckling, +mirthless laugh of Obadiah Price.</p> + +<p>"Yea—yea—even into the land of the Lamanites are you +king!"</p> + +<p>At the sound of his voice Strang turned toward him and the +sonorous triumph that rumbled in his throat faded to a low +greeting. And Nathaniel saw that the little old councilor's eyes +glittered boldly as they met the prophet's and that in their glance +was neither fear nor servitude but rather a light as of master +meeting master. The two advanced and clasped hands and a few low +words passed between them while Nathaniel went to the door.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you, Captain Nathaniel Plum," called Obadiah. "I +will go with you and show you the town."</p> + +<p>"The councilor will be your friend," added Strang. "To-day he +carries with him that authority from the king."</p> + +<p>He bowed and Nathaniel passed through the door. Looking back he +caught a last warning flash from the girl's eyes. As he hurried +down the stair he heard the councilor pause for an instant upon the +landing and taking advantage of this opportunity he picked up the +bit of crumpled paper, and read these lines:</p> + +<p>"Hurry to your ship. In another hour men will be watching for an +opportunity to kill you. You will never leave the island +alive—<i>unless you go now</i>. The girl you saw through the +window sends you this warning."</p> + +<p>He thrust the paper into his coat pocket as Obadiah came up +behind him.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, Nat, my boy, I have come fast to catch you—I have +come fast!" he whispered. He caught his companion by the arm and +Nathaniel felt his hand trembling violently. "Come this way, +Nat—beyond the temple. I have things to say to you." His +voice was strangely unnatural and when Captain Plum looked down +into his face the look in the bead-like eyes startled him. "Nat, +you must hurry away with the package!"</p> + +<p>"So I understand—if I save my skin. Obadiah Price, I have +a notion to kill you!"</p> + +<p>They had passed beyond the huge edifice of logs, and as he +stopped, hidden from the view of the king's office, Nathaniel +caught the councilor's arm in a grip that crushed to the bone.</p> + +<p>"I have a notion to kill you!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>The old man stood unflinching. Not a muscle of his face quivered +as the captain's fingers sank into his flesh.</p> + +<p>"At the first sign of treachery, at the first sign of danger to +myself, I shall shoot you dead!" he finished.</p> + +<p>"You may, Nat, you may. From this moment until you leave the +island I shall be at your side and no harm shall come to you. But +if there should, Nat, or if there should come a moment when you +believe that I am your enemy—shoot me!" There was sincerity +in his voice that carried conviction to Nathaniel's heart and he +released his hold upon the councilor's arm. Regardless of the +mystery that surrounded him he believed in Obadiah. But there rose +in his breast a mad desire to choke this old man into telling him +the truth, to force him to reveal the secrets of this strange plot +into which he had been drawn and of which he knew as little as when +he first set foot in Strang's kingdom. Yet he realized even as the +desire formed itself in his brain that such an effort would be +useless.</p> + +<p>"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known +that I was your friend," continued Obadiah. "She would have come to +you, but now—it is impossible. You know. You have been +warned?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel drew Winnsome's note from his pocket and read it +aloud. Obadiah smiled gleefully when he noticed how carefully he +kept the handwriting from his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Nat, you are a noble fellow!" he cried, rubbing his hands +in his old tireless way. "You would not betray pretty little Winn, +eh? And who do you suppose told Winnsome to give you this +note?"</p> + +<p>"Strang's wife."</p> + +<p>"Yea, even so. And it was she who set my old legs a-running for +you, my boy. Come, let us move!"</p> + +<p>The little councilor was his old self again, chuckling and +grimacing and rubbing his hands, and his eyes danced as he spoke of +the girl.</p> + +<p>"Casey is not a cautious man," he gurgled with a sudden upward +leer. "Casey is a fool!"</p> + +<p>"Casey!" almost shouted Captain Plum. "What the devil do you +mean?"</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho—haven't you guessed the truth yet, Nat? While +you and I were getting acquainted last night a couple of fishermen +from the mainland dropped alongside your sloop. They had been +robbed by the Mormon pirates! They cursed Strang. They swore +vengeance. And your cautious Casey cursed with 'em, and fed 'em, +and drank with 'em—and he would have had them stay until +morning only they were anxious to hurry with their report to +Strang. Understand, Nat? Eh? Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"What did Casey tell them?" gasped Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>Obadiah hunched his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Enough to warrant a bullet through your head, Nat. Cheerful, +isn't it? But we'll fool them, Nat, we'll fool them! You shall +board your ship and hurry away with the package, and then you shall +make love to Strang's wife—<i>for she will go with +you!</i>"</p> + +<p>He stopped to enjoy the amazement that was written in every +lineament of the other's face. The red blood surged into +Nathaniel's neck and deepened on his bronze cheeks. Slowly the +reaction came. When he spoke there was an uneasy gleam in his eyes +and his voice was as hard as steel.</p> + +<p>"She will go with me, Councilor! And why?"</p> + +<p>Obadiah had laughed softly as he watched the change. Suddenly he +jerked himself erect.</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-h!" he whispered. "Keep cool, Nat! Don't show any +excitement or fear. Here comes the man who is to kill you!"</p> + +<p>He made no move save with his eyes.</p> + +<p>"He is coming to speak with me and to get a good look at you," +he added in excited haste. "Appear friendly. Agree with what I say. +He is the chief of sheriffs, the king's murderer—Arbor +Croche!"</p> + +<p>He turned as if he had just seen the approaching figure. And he +whispered softly, "Winnsome's father!"</p> + +<p>Arbor Croche! Nathaniel gave an involuntary shudder as he turned +with Obadiah. Croche, chief of sheriffs, scourge of the +mainland—the Attila of the Mormon kingdom, whose very name +caused the women of the shores to turn white and on whose head the +men had secretly set a price in gold! Without knowing it his hand +went under his coat. Obadiah saw the movement and as he advanced to +meet the officer of the king he jerked the arm back fiercely. Half +a dozen paces away the chief of sheriffs paused and bowed low. But +the councilor stood erect, as he had stood before the king, smiling +and nodding his head.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Croche," he greeted, "good morning!"</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Councilor!"</p> + +<p>"Sheriff, I would have you meet Captain Nathaniel Plum, master +of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>. Captain Plum this is His Majesty's +officer, Arbor Croche!"</p> + +<p>The two men advanced and shook hands. Nathaniel stood half a +head above the sheriff, who, like his master, the king, was short +and of massive build, though a much younger man. He was a dark +lowering hulk of a creature, with black eyes, black hair, and a +hand-clasp that showed him possessed of great strength.</p> + +<p>"You are a stranger, Captain Plum?"</p> + +<p>The councilor replied quickly.</p> + +<p>"He has never been at St. James before, sheriff. I have invited +him to stay over to see the whipping. By the way—" he shot a +suggestive look at the Officer. "By the way, Croche, I want you to +see him safely aboard his sloop to-night. His ship is at the lower +end of the island, and if you will detail a couple of men just +before dusk—an escort, you know—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt a curious thrill creep up his spine at the +satisfaction which betrayed itself in the officer's black face.</p> + +<p>"It will give me great pleasure, Councilor," he interrupted. "I +shall escort you myself if you will allow me, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum is to remain with me throughout the day," added +Obadiah. "Come at seven—to my place. Ah, I see that people +are assembling near the jail!"</p> + +<p>"We have changed our plans somewhat, Councilor." The officer +turned to Nathaniel. "You will see the whipping within half an +hour, Captain Plum." He turned away with another bow to the +councilor and hastened in the direction of Strang's office.</p> + +<p>"So that is the gentleman who thinks he is going to put a bullet +through me!" exclaimed Nathaniel when the officer had gone beyond +hearing. He laughed, and there was a kind of wild expectant joy in +his voice. "Obadiah, can you not make arrangements for him to go +with me alone?"</p> + +<p>"He will not go with you at all, Nat," gloated the old man. "Ho, +ho, we are playing at his own game—treachery. When he calls +at my place you will be aboard ship."</p> + +<p>"But I should like to have a talk with him—alone, and in +the woods. God—I know a man at Grand Traverse Bay whose wife +and daughter—"</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-h-h!" interrupted the councilor. "Would you kill little +Winnsome's father?"</p> + +<p>"Her father? That animal! That murderer! Is it true?"</p> + +<p>"But you should have seen her mother, Nat, you should have seen +her mother!" The old man twisted his hands, like a miser ravished +by the sight of gold. "She was beautiful—as beautiful as a +wild flower, and she killed herself three years ago to save the +birth of another child into this hell. Little Winn is like her +mother, Nat."</p> + +<p>"And she lives with him?"</p> + +<p>"Er, yes—and guarded, oh, so carefully guarded by Strang, +Nat! Yes, I guess that some day she will be a queen."</p> + +<p>"Great God!" cried the young man. "And you—you live in +this cesspool of sin and still believe in a Heaven?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe in a Heaven. And my reward there shall be great. +Ho, ho, I am taking no middle road, Nat!"</p> + +<p>They had passed in a semicircle beyond the temple and now +approached a squat building constructed of logs, which Obadiah had +pointed out as the jail. A glance satisfied Nathaniel that it was +so situated that an admirable view of the proceedings could be +obtained from the rear of the structure in which Strang had his +office. Several score of people had already assembled about the +prison and stood chatting with that tense interest and anticipation +with which the mob always awaits public infliction of the law's +penalties. A third of them were women. As Nathaniel had previously +noted, the feminine part of the Mormon population wore their hair +either in braids down their backs or in thick curls flowing over +their shoulders and with the exception of three or four were +attired in skirts that just concealed their knees. Obadiah halted +his companion close to a group of half a dozen of these women and +nudged him slyly.</p> + +<p>"Pretty sight, eh, Nat?" he chuckled. "Ah, the king has a +wonderful eye for beauty, Nat—wonderful eye! He orders that +no skirt shall fall below the female knee. Ho, ho, if he dared, if +he <i>quite</i> dared, Nat!"</p> + +<p>He nudged Nathaniel again with such enthusiasm that the latter +jumped as though a knife had been thrust between his ribs.</p> + +<p>"By George, I admire his taste!" he laughed. The women caught +him staring at them, and one, who was the youngest and prettiest of +the lot, smiled invitingly.</p> + +<p>"Tush—the Jezebel!" snapped Obadiah, catching the look. +"That's her child playing just beyond."</p> + +<p>The young woman tossed her head and her white teeth gleamed in a +laugh, as though she had overheard the old councilor's words.</p> + +<p>"See her twist her hair," he snarled venomously as the young +woman, still boldly eying Nathaniel, played with the luxuriant +curls that glistened in the sun upon her breast. "Ezra Wilton is so +fond of her that he will take no other wife. Ugh, Strang is a +fool!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel turned away from the smiling eyes with a shrug.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"To tell our women that it helps to save their souls to wear +short skirts and let their hair hang down. For every soul of a +woman that it saves it sends two men on the road to hell!"</p> + +<p>So intense was the old man's displeasure and so ludicrous the +twisting contortions of his face that Nathaniel could hardly +restrain himself from bursting into a roar of laughter. Obadiah +perceived his inclination and with an angry bob of his head led the +way through to the inner edge of the waiting circle of men. Within +this circle, in a small open space, was a short post with straps +attached to an arm nailed across it, and leaning upon this post in +an attitude of one who possesses a most distinguished office was a +young man with a three thonged whip in his hand. An ominous silence +pervaded the circle, with the exception of the hushed whispering of +a number of women who had forced themselves into the line of +spectators, bent upon witnessing the sight of blood as well as +hearing the sound of lashes. Nathaniel noticed that most of the +women hung in frightened curiosity beyond the men.</p> + +<p>"That is MacDougall with the lash—official whipper and +caretaker of the slave hounds," explained Obadiah in a whisper.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel gave a start of horror.</p> + +<p>"Slave hounds!" he breathed.</p> + +<p>The councilor grinned and twisted his hands, in enjoyment of his +companion's surprise.</p> + +<p>"We have the finest pack of bloodhounds north of Louisiana," he +continued, so low that only Nathaniel could hear. "See! Isn't the +earth worn smooth and hard about that post?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel looked and his blood grew hot.</p> + +<p>"I have seen such things in the South," he said. "But +not—for white men!"</p> + +<p>The councilor caught him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"They are coming!"</p> + +<p>In the direction of the jail the crowd was separating. Men +crushed back on each side, forming a narrow aisle, even the +whispering of the women ceased. A moment later three men appeared +in the opening between the spectators. One of these, who walked +between the other two, was stripped to the waist. About each of his +naked wrists was tied a leather thong and these thongs were held by +the man's guards. The prisoner's face was livid; his hands were red +with blood that dripped from his lacerated wrists; his eyes glared +malignantly and his heaving chest showed that he had not been +brought from the log prison without a struggle.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's Wittle first!" breathed the councilor. "It's he who +said his wife should not wear short skirts."</p> + +<p>At the edge of the circle the prisoner hesitated and the muscles +in his arms and chest grew rigid. Those of the crowd nearest to him +drew back. Then a sudden change swept over the man's features and +he walked quickly to the stake and kneeled before it. The thongs +about his wrists were tied to the straps of the cross-piece and the +whipper took his position. As the first lash fell, a cry burst from +the lips of the victim. When the whip descended again he was +silent. A curious sensation of sickness crept over Nathaniel as he +saw the red gashes thicken on the white flesh. Five times—six +times—seven times the whip rose and fell and he could see the +blood starting. In horror he turned his eyes away. Behind him a man +grinned at the whiteness of his face and the involuntary trembling +of his lips. Again and again he heard the lash fall upon the naked +back. From near him there came the sobbing moan of a woman. A +subdued movement, a sound as of murmuring wordless voices swept +through the throng. A steady glitter filled the eyes of the man who +had laughed at him—and he turned again to the stake. The +man's back was dripping blood. Great red seams lay upon his +shoulders and a single lash had cut his bowed neck. Another stroke, +more fierce than the others, and MacDougall turned away from the +figure at the post, breathing hard. The guards unfastened the +victim's wrist-thongs and the man staggered to his feet. As he +swayed down through the path that opened for him his crimson back +shone in the sun.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" gasped Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>He turned to Obadiah and was startled by the appearance of the +old man. The councilor's face was ghastly. His mouth twitched and +his body trembled. Nathaniel took his arm sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Hadn't we better go, Dad?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"No—no—no—not yet, Nat. +It's—it's—Neil now and I must see how the +boy—stands it!"</p> + +<p>It was but a short time before the guards returned. This time +their prisoner walked free and erect. The thongs dangled from his +wrists and he was a pace ahead of the two men who accompanied him. +He was a young man. Nathaniel judged his age at twenty-five. He was +a striking contrast to the man who had suffered first at the post. +His face instead of betraying the former's pallor was flushed with +excitement; his head was held high; not a sign of fear or +hesitation shone in his eyes. As he glanced quickly around the +circle of faces the flush grew deeper in his cheeks. He nodded and +smiled at MacDougall and in that nod and smile there was a meaning +that sent a shiver to the whip-master's heart. Then his eyes fell +upon Obadiah and Nathaniel. He saw the councilor's hand resting +upon the young captain's arm and a flash of understanding passed +over his face. For an instant the eyes of the two young men met. +The man at the post took half a step forward. His lips moved as if +he was on the point of speaking, the defiant smile went out of his +face, the flush faded in his cheeks. Then he turned quickly and +held out his hands to the guards.</p> + +<p>As the young man kneeled before the post Nathaniel heard a +smothered sob at his side which he knew came from Obadiah.</p> + +<p>"Come, Dad," he said softly. "I can't stand this. Let's get +away!"</p> + +<p>He shoved the councilor back. The lash whistled through the air +behind him. As it fell there came a piercing cry. It was a woman's +voice, and with a snarl like that of a tortured animal the old man +struck down Nathaniel's arm and clawed his way back to the edge of +the line. On the opposite side there was a surging in the crowd and +as MacDougall raised his whip a woman burst through.</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried Nathaniel, "it's—"</p> + +<p>He left the rest of the words unspoken. His veins leaped with +fire. A single sweep of his powerful arms and he had forced himself +through the innermost line of spectators. Within a dozen feet of +him stood Strang's wife, her beautiful hair disheveled, her face +deadly white, her bosom heaving as if she had been running. In a +moment her eyes had taken in the situation—the man at the +stake, the upraised lash—and Nathaniel. With a sobbing, +breathless cry, she flung herself in front of MacDougall and threw +her arms around the kneeling man, her hair covering him in a +glistening veil. For an instant her eyes were raised to Nathaniel +and he saw in them that same agonized appeal that had called to him +through the king's window. The striking muscles of his arms +tightened like steel. One of the guards sprang forward and caught +the girl roughly by the arm and attempted to drag her away. In his +excitement he pulled her head back and her hair trailed in the +dirt. The sight was maddening. From Nathaniel's throat there came a +fierce cry and in a single leap he had cleared the distance to the +guard and had driven his fist against the officer's head with the +sickening force of a sledge-hammer. The man fell without a groan. +In another flash he had drawn his knife and severed the thongs that +held the man at the stake. For a moment his face was very near the +girl's and he saw her lips form the glad cry which he did not wait +to hear.</p> + +<p>He turned like an enraged beast toward the circle of dumfounded +spectators and launched himself at the second guard. From behind +him there sounded a shout and he caught the gleam of naked +shoulders as the man who had been at the stake rushed to his side. +Together they tore through the narrow rim of the crowd, striking at +the faces which appeared before them, their terrific blows driving +men right and left.</p> + +<p>"This way, Neil!" shouted Nathaniel. "This way—to the +ship!"</p> + +<p>They raced up the slope that led from the town to the forest. +Even the king's officer, palsied by the suddenness of the attack, +had not followed. From a screened window in the king's building two +men had witnessed the exciting scene near the jail. One of these +men was Strang. The other was Arbor Croche. At another window a few +feet away, hidden from their eyes by a high desk and masses of +papers and books, Winnsome Croche was crumpled up on the floor +hardly daring to breathe through fear of betraying her presence. +From these windows they had seen the girl run from behind the jail; +they had watched her struggle through the line of spectators, saw +Nathaniel leap forward—saw the quick blow, the gleaming +knife, and the escape. So suddenly had it all occurred that not a +sound escaped the two astonished men. But as Nathaniel and Neil +burst through the crowd and sped toward the forest Strang's great +voice boomed forth like the rumble of a gun.</p> + +<p>"Arbor Croche, overtake those men—and kill them!"</p> + +<p>With a wild curse the chief of sheriffs dashed down the stairway +and as she heard him go the terror of Winnsome's heart seemed to +turn her blood cold. She knew what that command meant. She knew +that her father would obey it. As the daughter of the chief of +sheriffs more than one burning secret was hidden in her breast, +more than one of those frightful daggers that had pricked at the +soul of her mother until they had murdered her. And the chief of +them all was this: that to Arbor Croche the words of Strang were +the words of God and that if the prophet said kill, he would kill. +For a full minute she crouched in her concealment, stunned by the +horror that had so quickly taken the place of the joy with which +she had witnessed the escape. She heard Strang leave the window, +heard his heavy steps in the outer room, heard the door close, and +knew that he, too, was gone. She sprang to her feet and ran to the +window at which the two men had stood. The chief of sheriffs was +already at the jail. The crowd had begun to disperse. Men were +swarming like ants up the long slope reaching to the forest. Three +or four of the leaders were running and she knew that they were hot +in pursuit of the fugitives. Others were following more slowly and +among these she saw that there were women. As she looked there came +a sound from the stair. She recognized the step. She recognized the +voice that called her name a moment later and with a despairing cry +she turned with outstretched arms to greet the girl for whom +Nathaniel had interrupted the king's whipping.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<center>THE MYSTERY</center> + +<p>Hardly had Nathaniel fought his way through the thin crowd of +startled spectators about the whipping-post before the enormity of +his offense in interrupting the king's justice dawned upon him. He +was not sorry that he had responded to the mute appeal of the girl +who had entered so strangely into his life. He rejoiced at the +spirit that had moved him to action, that had fired his blood and +put the strength of a giant in his arms; and his nerves tingled +with an unreasoning joy that he had leaped all barriers which in +cooler moments would have restrained him, and which fixed in his +excited brain only the memory of the beautiful face that had sought +his own in those crucial moments of its suffering. The girl had +turned to him and to him alone among all those men. He had heard +her voice, he had felt the soft sweep of her hair as he severed the +prisoner's thongs, he had caught the flash of her eyes and the +movement of her lips as he dashed himself into the crowd. And as he +sped swiftly up the slope he considered himself amply repaid for +all that he had done. His blood was stirred as if by the fire of +sharp wines; he was still in a tension of fighting excitement. Yet +no sooner had he fought himself clear of the mob than his better +judgment leaped into the ascendency. If danger had been lurking for +him before it was doubly threatening now and he was sufficiently +possessed of the common spirit of self-preservation to exult at the +speed with which he was enabled to leave pursuit behind. A single +glance over his shoulder assured him that the man whom he had saved +from the prophet's wrath was close at his heels. His first impulse +was to direct his flight toward Obadiah's cabin; his second to +follow the path that led to his ship. At this hour some of his men +would surely be awaiting him in a small boat and once aboard the +<i>Typhoon</i> he could continue his campaign against the Mormon +king with better chances of success than as a lone fugitive on the +island. Besides, he knew what Casey would do at sundown.</p> + +<p>At the top of the slope he stopped and waited for the other to +come up to him.</p> + +<p>"I've got a ship off there," he called, pointing inland. "Take a +short cut for the point at the head of the island. There's a boat +waiting for us!"</p> + +<p>Neil came up panting. He was breathing so hard that for a moment +he found it impossible to speak but in his eyes there was a look +that told his unbounded gratitude. They were clear, fearless eyes, +with the blue glint of steel in them and, as he held out his hands +to Nathaniel, they were luminous with the joy of his +deliverance.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>He spoke his companion's name with the assurance of one who had +known it for a long time. "If they loose the dogs there will be no +time for the ship," he added, with a suggestive hunch of his naked +shoulders. "Follow me!"</p> + +<p>There was no alarm in his voice and Nathaniel caught the +flashing gleam of white teeth as Neil smiled grimly back at him, +running in the lead. From the man's eyes the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i> had sized up his companion as a fighter. The +smile—daring, confident, and yet signaling their +danger—assured him that he was right, and he followed close +behind without question. A dozen rods up the path Neil turned into +a dense thicket of briars and underbrush and for ten minutes they +plunged through the pathless jungle. Now and then Nathaniel saw the +three red stripes of the whipper's lash upon the bare shoulders of +the man ahead and to these every step seemed to add new wounds made +by the thorns. As they came out upon an old roadway the captain +stripped off his coat and Neil thrust himself into it as they +ran.</p> + +<p>Even in these first minutes of their flight Nathaniel was +thrilled by another thought than that of the peril behind them. +Whom had he saved? Who was this clear-eyed young fellow for whom +the girl had so openly sacrificed herself at the whipping-post, +about whom she had thrown her arms and covered with the protection +of her glorious hair? With his joy at having served her there was +mingled a chilling doubt as these questions formed themselves in +his mind. Obadiah's vague suggestions, the scene in the king's +room, the night visits of the girl to the councilor's +cabin—and last of all this incident at the jail flashed upon +him now with another meaning, with a significance that slowly +cooled the enthusiasm in his veins. He was sure that he was near +the solution of the mysterious events in which he had become +involved, and yet this knowledge brought with it something of +apprehension, something which made him anticipate and yet dread the +moment when the fugitive ahead would stop in his flight, and he +might ask him those questions which would at least relieve him of +his burden of doubt. They had traveled a mile through forest +unbroken by path or road when Neil halted on the edge of a little +stream that ran into a swamp. Pointing into the tangled fen with a +confident smile he plunged to his waist in the water and waded +slowly through the slough into the gloom of the densest alder. A +few minutes later he turned in to the shore and the soft bog gave +place to firm ground. Before Nathaniel had cleared the stream he +saw his companion drop to his knees beside a fallen log and when he +came up to him he was unwrapping a piece of canvas from about a +gun. With a warning gesture he rose to his feet and for twenty +seconds the men stood and listened. No sound came to them but the +chirp of a startled squirrel and the barking of a dog in the +direction of St. James.</p> + +<p>"They haven't turned out the dogs yet," said Neil, holding a +hand against his heaving chest. "If they do they can't reach us +through that slough." He leaned his rifle against the log and again +thrusting an arm into the place where it had been concealed drew +forth a small box.</p> + +<p>"Powder and ball—and grub!" he laughed. "You see I am a +sort of revolutionist and have my hiding-places. To-morrow—I +will be a martyr." He spoke as quietly as though his words but +carried a careless jest.</p> + +<p>"A martyr?" laughed Nathaniel, looking down into the smiling, +sweating face.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-morrow I shall kill Strang."</p> + +<p>There was no excitement in Neil's voice as he stood erect. The +smile did not leave his lips. But in his eyes there shone that +which neither words nor smiling lips revealed, a reckless, blazing +fury hidden deep in them—so deep that Nathaniel stared to +assure himself what it was. The other saw the doubt in his +face.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow I shall kill Strang," he repeated. "I shall kill him +with this gun from under the window of his house through which you +saw Marion."</p> + +<p>"Marion!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "Marion—" He leaned forward +eagerly, questioning. "Tell me—"</p> + +<p>"My sister, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to Nathaniel that every fiber in his body was +stretched to the breaking point. He reached out, dazed by what he +had heard and with both hands seized Neil's arm.</p> + +<p>"Your sister—who came to you at the whipping-post?"</p> + +<p>"That was Marion."</p> + +<p>"And—Strang's wife?"</p> + +<p>"No!" cried Neil. "No—not his wife!" He drew back from +Nathaniel's touch as if the question had stabbed him to the heart. +The passion that had slumbered in his eyes burst into savage flame +and his face became suddenly terrible to look upon. There was +hatred there such as Nathaniel had never seen; a ferocious, +pitiless hatred that sent a shuddering thrill through him as he +stood before it. After a moment the clenched fist that had risen +above Neil's head dropped to his side. Half apologetically he held +out his hand to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, we've got a lot to thank you for, Marion and I," +he said, a tremble of the passing emotion in his voice. "Obadiah +told Marion that help might come to us through you and Marion +brought the word to me at the jail late last night—after she +had seen you at the window. The old councilor kept his word! You +have saved her!"</p> + +<p>"Saved her!" gasped Nathaniel. "From what? How?" A hundred +questions seemed leaping from his heart to his lips.</p> + +<p>"From Strang. Good God, don't you understand? I tell you that I +am going to kill Strang!"</p> + +<p>Neil stood as though appalled by his companion's +incomprehension. "I am going to kill Strang, I tell you!" he cried +again, the fire burning deeper through the sweat of his cheeks.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's bewilderment still shone in his face.</p> + +<p>"She is not Strang's wife," he spoke softly, as if to himself. +"And she is not—" His face flushed as he nearly spoke the +words. "Obadiah lied!" He looked squarely into Neil's eyes. "No, I +don't understand you. The councilor said that she—that Marion +was Strang's wife. He told me nothing more than that, nothing of +her trouble, nothing about you. Until this moment I have been +completely mystified. Only her eyes led me to do—what I did +at the jail."</p> + +<p>Neil gazed at him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told—you—nothing?" he asked +incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Not a word about you or Marion except that Marion was the +king's seventh wife. But he hinted at many things and kept me on +the trail, always expecting, always watching, and yet every hour +was one of mystery. I am in the darkest of it at this instant. What +does it all mean? Why are you going to kill Strang? Why—"</p> + +<p>Neil interrupted him with a cry so poignant in its wretchedness +that the last question died upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"I thought that the councilor had told you all," he said. "I +thought you knew." The disappointment in his voice was almost +despair. "Then—it was only accidentally—you helped +us?"</p> + +<p>"Only accidentally that I helped <i>you</i>—yes! But +Marion—" Nathaniel crushed Neil's hand in both his own and +his eyes betrayed more than he would have said. "I've got an armed +ship and a dozen men out there and if I can help Marion by blowing +up St. James—I'll do it!"</p> + +<p>For a time only the tense breathing of the two broke the silence +of their lips. They looked into each other's face, Nathaniel with +all the eagerness of the passion with which Marion had stirred his +soul, Neil half doubting, as if he were trying to find in this +man's eyes the friendship which he had not questioned a few minutes +before.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told you nothing?" he asked again, as if still +unbelieving.</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"And you have not seen Marion—to talk with her?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had dropped his companion's hand, and now Neil walked +to the log and sat down with his face turned in the direction from +which their pursuers must come if they entered the swamp.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the memory of Obadiah's note shot into Nathaniel's +head, the councilor's admonition, his allusion to a visitor. With +this memory there recurred to him Obadiah's words at the temple, +"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I +was your friend. She would have come to you, but now—it is +impossible." For the first time the truth began to dawn upon him. +He went and sat down beside Neil.</p> + +<p>"I am beginning to understand—a little," he said. "Obadiah +had planned that I should meet Marion, but I was a fool and spoiled +his scheme. If I had done as he told me I should have seen her this +morning."</p> + +<p>In a few words he reviewed the events of the preceding evening +and of that morning—of his coming to the island, his meeting +with Obadiah, and of the singular way in which he had become +interested in Marion. He omitted the oaths but told of Winnsome's +warning and of his interview with the Mormon king. When he spoke of +the girl as he had seen her through the king's window, and of her +appealing face turned to him at the jail, his voice trembled with +an excitement that deepened the flush in Neil's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I thank God that you like Marion," he said +simply. "After I kill Strang will you help her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You are willing to risk—"</p> + +<p>"My life—my men—my ship!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel spoke like one to whom there had been suddenly opened +the portals to a great joy. He sprang to his feet and stood before +Neil, his whole being throbbing with the emotions which had been +awakened within him.</p> + +<p>"Good God, why don't you tell me what her peril is?" he cried, +no longer restraining himself. "Why are you going to kill Strang? +Has he—has he—" His face flamed with the question which +he dared not finish.</p> + +<p>"No—not that!" interrupted Neil. "He has never laid a hand +on Marion. She hates him as she hates the snakes in this swamp. And +yet—next Sunday she is to become his seventh wife!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel started as if he had been threatened by a blow.</p> + +<p>"You mean—he is forcing her into his harem?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, he can not do that!" exclaimed Neil, the hatred bursting +out anew in his face. "He can not force her into marrying him, and +yet—" He flung his arms above his head in sudden passionate +despair. "As there is a God in Heaven I would give ten years of my +life for the secret of the prophet's power over Marion!" he +groaned. "Three months ago her hatred of him was terrible. She +loathed the sight of him. I have seen her shiver at the sound of +his voice. When he asked her to become his wife she refused him in +words that I had believed no person in the kingdom would dared to +have used. Then—less than a month ago—the change came, +and one day she told me that she had made up her mind to become +Strang's wife. From that day her heart was broken. I was +dumfounded. I raged and cursed and even threatened. Once I accused +her of a shameful thing and though I implored her forgiveness a +thousand times I know that she weeps over my brutal words still. +But nothing could change her. On my knees I have pleaded with her, +and once she flung her arms round my shoulders and said, 'Neil, I +can not tell you why I am marrying Strang. But I must.' I went to +Strang and demanded an explanation; I told him that my sister hated +him, that the sight of his face and the sound of his voice filled +her with abhorrence, but he only laughed at me and asked why I +objected to becoming the brother-in-law of a prophet. Day by day I +have seen Marion's soul dying within her. Some terrible secret is +gnawing at her heart, robbing her of the very life which a few +weeks ago made her the most beautiful thing on this island; some +dreadful influence is shadowing her every step, and as the day +draws near when she is to join the king's harem I see in her eyes +at times a look that frightens me. There is only one salvation. +To-morrow I shall kill Strang!"</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>Neil shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I will shoot him through the abdomen so that he will live to +tell his wives who did the deed. After that I will try to make my +escape to the mainland."</p> + +<p>"And Marion—"</p> + +<p>"Will not marry Strang! Isn't that plain?"</p> + +<p>"You have guessed nothing—no cause for the prophet's power +over your sister?" asked Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely nothing. And yet that influence is such that at +times the thought of it freezes the blood in my veins. It is so +great that Strang did not hesitate to throw me into jail on the +pretext that I had threatened his life. Marion implored him to +spare me the disgrace of a public whipping and he replied by +reading to her the commandments of the kingdom. That was last +night—when you saw her through the window. Strang is madly +infatuated with her beauty and yet he dares to go to any length +without fear of losing her. She has become his slave. She is as +completely in his power as though bound in iron chains. And the +most terrible thing about it all is that she has constantly urged +me to leave the island—to go, and never return. Great God, +what does it all mean? I love her more than anything else on earth, +we have been inseparable since the day she was old enough to toddle +alone—and yet she would have me leave her! No power on earth +can reveal the secret that is torturing her. No power can make +Strang divulge it."</p> + +<p>"And Obadiah Price!" cried Nathaniel, sudden excitement flashing +in his eyes. "Does he not know?"</p> + +<p>"I believe that he does!" replied Neil, pacing back and forth in +his agitation. "Captain Plum, if there is a man on this island who +loves Marion with all of a father's devotion it is Obadiah Price, +and yet he swears that he knows nothing of the terrible influence +which has so suddenly enslaved her to the prophet! He suggests that +it may be mesmerism, but I—" He interrupted himself with a +harsh, mirthless laugh. "Mesmerism be damned! It's not that!"</p> + +<p>"Your sister—is—a Mormon," ventured Nathaniel, +remembering what the prophet had said to him that morning. "Could +it be her faith?—a message revealed through Strang +from—"</p> + +<p>Neil stopped him almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Marion is not a Mormon!" he said. "She hates Mormonism as she +hates Strang. I have tried to get her to leave the island with me +but she insists on staying because of the old folk. They are very +old, Captain Plum, and they believe in the prophet and his Heaven +as you and I believe in that blue sky up there. The day before I +was arrested I begged my sister to flee to the mainland with me but +she refused with the words that she had said to me a hundred times +before—'Neil, I must marry the prophet!' Don't you see there +is nothing to do—but to kill Strang?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thrust his hand into a pocket of the coat he had +loaned to Neil and drew forth his pipe and tobacco pouch. As he +loaded the pipe he looked squarely into the other's eyes and +smiled.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he said softly. "Do you know that you would have made an +awful fool of yourself if I hadn't hove in sight just when I +did?"</p> + +<p>He lighted his pipe with exasperating coolness, still smiling +over its bowl.</p> + +<p>"You are not going to kill Strang to-morrow," he added, throwing +away the match and placing both hands on Neil's shoulders. His eyes +were laughing with the joy that shone in them. "Neil, I am ashamed +of you! You have worried a devilish lot over a very simple matter. +See here—" He blew a cloud of smoke over the other's head. +"I've learned to demand some sort of pay for my services since I +landed on this island. Will you promise to be—a sort of +brother—to me—if I steal Marion and sail away with her +to-night?"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<center>MARION</center> + +<p>At Nathaniel's astonishing words Neil stood as though struck +suddenly dumb.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see what a very simple case it is?" he continued, +enjoying the other's surprised silence. "You plan to kill Strang to +keep Marion from marrying him. Well, I will hunt up Marion, put her +in a bag if necessary, and carry her to my ship. Isn't that better +and safer and just as sure as murder?"</p> + +<p>The excitement had gone out of Neil's face. The flush slowly +faded from his cheeks and in his eyes there gleamed something +besides the malevolence of a few moments before. As Nathaniel +stepped back from him half laughing and puffing clouds of smoke +from his pipe Marion's brother thrust his hands into his pockets +with an exclamation that forcefully expressed his appreciation of +Captain Plum's scheme.</p> + +<p>"I never thought of that," he added, after a moment. "By Heaven, +it will be easy—"</p> + +<p>"So easy that I tell you again I am ashamed of you for not +having thought of it!" cried Nathaniel. "The first thing is to get +safely aboard my ship."</p> + +<p>"We can do that within an hour."</p> + +<p>"And to-night—where will we find Marion?"</p> + +<p>"At home," said Neil. "We live near Obadiah. You must have seen +the house as you came out into the clearing this morning from the +forest."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel smiled as he thought of his suspicions of the old +councilor.</p> + +<p>"It couldn't be better situated for our work," he said. "Does +the forest run down to the lake on Obadiah's side of the +island?"</p> + +<p>"Clear to the beach."</p> + +<p>Neil's face betrayed a sudden flash of doubt.</p> + +<p>"I believe that our place has been watched for some time," he +explained. "I am sure that it is especially guarded at night and +that no person leaves or enters it without the knowledge of Strang. +I am certain that Marion is aware of this surveillance although she +professes to be wholly ignorant of it. It may cause us +trouble."</p> + +<p>"Can you reach the house without being observed?"</p> + +<p>"After midnight—yes."</p> + +<p>"Then there is no cause for alarm," declared Nathaniel. "If +necessary I can bring ten men into the edge of the woods. Two can +approach the house as quietly as one and I will go with you. Once +there you can tell Marion that your life depends on her +accompanying you to Obadiah's. I believe she will go. If she +won't—" He stretched out his arms as if in anticipation of +the burden they might hold. "If she won't—I'll help you carry +her!"</p> + +<p>"And meanwhile," said Neil, "Arbor Croche's men—"</p> + +<p>"Will be as dead as herring floaters if they show up!" he cried, +leaping two feet off the ground in his enthusiasm. "I've got twelve +of the damnedest fighters aboard my ship that ever lived and ten of +them will be in the edge of the woods!"</p> + +<p>Neil's eyes were shining with something that made Nathaniel turn +his own to the loading of his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I hope I will be able to repay you for this," he +said. There was a trembling break in his voice and for a moment +Nathaniel did not look up. His own heart was near bursting with the +new life that throbbed within it. When he raised his eyes to his +companion's face again there was a light in them that spoke almost +as plainly as words.</p> + +<p>"You haven't accepted my price, yet, Neil," he replied quietly. +"I asked you if you'd—be—a sort of brother—"</p> + +<p>Neil sprang to his side with a fervor that knocked the pipe out +of his hand.</p> + +<p>"I swear that! And if Marion doesn't—"</p> + +<p>Suddenly he jerked himself into a listening attitude.</p> + +<p>"Hark!"</p> + +<p>For a moment the two ceased to breathe. The sound had come to +them both, low, distant. After it there fell a brief hush. Then +again, as they stared questioningly into each other's eyes, it +rolled faintly into the swamp—the deep, far baying of a +hound.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed Neil, drawing back with a deep breath. "I +thought they would do it!"</p> + +<p>"The bloodhounds!"</p> + +<p>Horror, not fear, sent an involuntary shiver through +Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"They can't reach us!" assured Neil. There was the glitter of +triumph in his eyes. "This was to have been my way of escape after +I killed Strang. A quarter of a mile deeper in the swamp I have a +canoe." He picked up the gun and box and began forcing his way +through the dense alder along the edge of the stream. "I'd like to +stay and murder those dogs," he called back, "but it wouldn't be +policy."</p> + +<p>For a time the crashing of their bodies through the dense growth +of the swamp drowned all other sound. Five minutes later Neil +stopped on the edge of a wide bog. The hounds were giving fierce +tongue in the forest on their left and their nearness sent +Nathaniel's hand to his pistol. Neil saw the movement and +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Don't like the sound, eh?" he said. "We get used to it on +Beaver Island. They're just about at the place where they tore +little Jim Schredder to pieces a few weeks back. Schredder tried to +kill one of the elders for stealing his wife while he was away on a +night's fishing trip."</p> + +<p>He plunged to his knees in the bog.</p> + +<p>"They caught him just before he reached the swamp," he flung +back over his shoulder. "Two minutes more and he would have been +safe."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel, sinking to his knees in the mire, forged up beside +him.</p> + +<p>"Lord!" he exclaimed, as a breath of air brought a sudden burst +of blood-curdling cries to them. "If they'd loosed them on us +sooner—"</p> + +<p>He shivered at the terrible grimace Neil turned on him.</p> + +<p>"Had they slipped the leashes when we escaped, we would have +been with poor Schredder now, Captain Plum. By the way—" he +stopped a moment to wipe the water and mud from his face, +"—three days after they covered Schredder's bones with muck +out there, the elder took Schredder's wife! She was too pretty for +a fisherman." He started on, but halted suddenly with uplifted +hand. No longer could they hear the baying of the dogs. "They've +struck the creek!" said Neil. "Listen!"</p> + +<p>After an interval of silence there came a long mournful +howl.</p> + +<p>"Treed—treed or in the water, that's what the howling +means. How Croche and his devils are hustling now!"</p> + +<p>A curse was mingled with Neil's breath as he forced his way +through the bog. Twenty rods farther on they came to a slime +covered bit of water on which was floating a dugout canoe. Immense +relief replaced the anxiety in Nathaniel's face as he climbed into +it. At that moment he was willing to fight a hundred men for +Marion's sake, but snakes and bogs and bloodhounds were entirely +outside his pale of argument and he exhibited no hesitation in +betraying this fact to his companion. For a quarter of a mile Neil +forced the dugout through water viscid with slime and rotted +substance before the clearer channel of the creek was reached. As +they progressed the stream constantly became deeper and more +navigable until it finally began to show signs of a current and a +little later, under the powerful impetus of Neil's paddle, the +canoe shot from between the dense shores into the open lake. A mile +away Nathaniel discerned the point of forest beyond which the +<i>Typhoon</i> was hidden. He pointed out the location of the ship +to his companion.</p> + +<p>"You are sure there is a small boat waiting for you on the +point?" asked Neil.</p> + +<p>"Yes, since early morning."</p> + +<p>Neil was absorbed in thought for some time as he drove the canoe +through the tall rice grass that grew thick along the edge of the +shore.</p> + +<p>"How would it be if I landed you on the point and met you +to-night at Obadiah's?" he asked suddenly. "It is probable that +after we get Marion aboard your ship I will not return to the +island again, and it is quite necessary that I run down the coast +for a couple of miles—for—" He did not finish his +reason, but added: "I can make the whole distance in this rice so +there is no danger of being seen. Or you might lie off the point +yonder and I would join you early this evening."</p> + +<p>"That would be a better plan if we must separate," said +Nathaniel, whose voice betrayed the reluctance with which he +assented to the project. He had guessed shrewdly at Neil's motive. +"Is it possible that we may have another young lady passenger?" he +asked banteringly.</p> + +<p>There was no answering humor to this in Neil's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wish we might!" he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"We can!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "My ship—"</p> + +<p>"It is impossible. I am speaking of Winnsome. Arbor Croche's +house is in the heart of the town and guarded by dogs. I doubt if +she would go, anyway. She has always been like a little sister to +Marion and me and she has come to believe—something—as +we do. I hate to leave her."</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told me about her mother," ventured Nathaniel. "He said +that some day Winnsome will be a queen."</p> + +<p>"I knew her mother," replied Neil, as though he had not heard +Nathaniel's last words. He looked frankly into the other's face. "I +worshipped her!"</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h!"</p> + +<p>"From a distance," he hastened. "She was as pure as Winnsome is +now. Little Winn looks like her. Some day she will be as +beautiful."</p> + +<p>"She is beautiful now."</p> + +<p>"But she is a mere child. Why, it seems only a year ago that I +was toting her about on my shoulders! And—by George, that was +a year before her mother died! She is sixteen now."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel laughed softly.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow she will be making love, Neil, and before you know it +she will be married and have a family of her own. I tell you she is +a woman—and if you are not a fool you will take her away with +Marion."</p> + +<p>With a powerful stroke of his paddle Neil brought the canoe in +to the shore.</p> + +<p>"There!" he whispered. "You have only to cross this point to +reach your boat." He stretched out his long arm and in the silence +the two shook hands. "If you should happen to think of a +way—that we might get Winnsome—" he added, +coloring.</p> + +<p>The sudden grip of his companion's fingers made him flinch.</p> + +<p>"We must!" said Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>He climbed ashore and watched Neil until he had disappeared in +the wild rice. Then he turned into the woods. He looked at his +watch and saw that it was only two o'clock. He was conscious of no +fatigue; he was not conscious of hunger. To him the whole world had +suddenly opened with glorious promise and in the still depths of +the forest he felt like singing out his rejoicing. He had never +stopped to ask himself what might be the end of this passion that +had overwhelmed him; he lived only in the present, in the knowledge +that Marion was not a wife, and that it was he whom fate had chosen +for her deliverance. He reasoned nothing beyond the sweet eyes that +had called upon him, that had burned their gratitude, their hope +and their despair upon his soul; nothing beyond the thought that +she would soon be free from the mysterious influence of the Mormon +king and that for days and nights after that she would be on the +same ship with him. He had emptied the pockets of the coat he had +given Neil and now he brought forth the old letter which Obadiah +had rescued from the sands. He read it over again as he sat for a +few moments in the cool of the forest and there was no trouble in +his face now. It was from a girl. He had known that girl, years +ago, as Neil knew Winnsome; in years of wandering he had almost +forgotten her—until this letter came. It had brought many +memories back to him with shocking clearness. The old folk were +still in the little home under the hill; they received his letters; +they received the money he sent them each month—but they +wanted <i>him</i>. The girl wrote with merciless candor. He had +been away four years and it was time for him to return. She told +him why. She wrote what they, in their loving fear of inflicting +pain, would never have dared to say. At the end, in a postscript, +she had asked for his congratulations on her approaching +marriage.</p> + +<p>To Nathaniel this letter had been a torment. He saw the truth as +he had never seen it before—that his place was back there in +Vermont, with his father and mother; and that there was something +unpleasant in thinking of the girl as belonging to another. But now +matters had changed. The letter was a hope and inspiration to him +and he smoothed it out with tender care. What a refuge that little +home among the Vermont hills would make for Marion! He trembled at +the thought and his heart sang with the promise of it as he went +his way again through the thick growth of the woods.</p> + +<p>It was half an hour before he came out upon the beach. Eagerly +he scanned the sea. The <i>Typhoon</i> was nowhere in sight and for +an instant the gladness that had been in his heart gave place to a +chilling fear. But the direction of the wind reassured him. Casey +had probably moved beyond the jutting promontory, that swung in the +form of a cart wheel from the base of the point, that he might have +sea room in case of something worse than a stiff breeze. But where +was the small boat? With every step adding to his anxiety Nathaniel +hurried along the narrow rim of beach. He went to the very tip of +the point which reached out like the white forefinger of, a lady's +hand into the sea; he passed the spot where he had lain concealed +the preceding day; his breath came faster and faster; he ran, and +called softly, and at last halted in the arch of the cart wheel +with the fear full-flaming in his breast. Over all those miles of +sea there was no sign of the sloop. From end to end of the point +there was no boat. What did it mean? Breathlessly he tore his way +through the strip of forest on the promontory until all Lake +Michigan to the south lay before his eyes. The <i>Typhoon</i> was +gone! Was it possible that Casey had abandoned hope of Nathaniel's +return and was already lying off St. James with shotted gun? The +thought sent a shiver of despair through him. He passed to the +opposite side of the point and followed it foot by foot, but there +was no sign of life, no distant flash of white that might have been +the canvas of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>.</p> + +<p>There was only one thing for him to do—wait. So he went to +his hiding-place of the day before and watched the sea with staring +eyes. An hour passed and his still aching vision saw no sign of +sail; two hours—and the sun was falling in a blinding glare +over the Wisconsin wilderness. At last he sprang to his feet with a +hopeless cry and stood for a few moments undecided. Should he wait +until night with the hope of attracting the attention of Neil and +joining him in his canoe or should he hasten in the direction of +St. James? In the darkness he might miss Neil, unless he kept up a +constant shouting, which would probably bring the Mormons down upon +him; if he went to St. James there was a possibility of reaching +Casey. He still had faith in Obadiah and he was sure that the old +man would help him to reach his ship; he might even assist him in +his scheme of getting Marion from the island.</p> + +<p>He would go to the councilor's. Having once decided, Nathaniel +turned in the direction of the town, avoiding the use of the path +which he and Obadiah had taken, but following in the forest near +enough to use it as a guide. He was confident that Arbor Croche and +his sheriffs were confining their man-hunt to the swamp, but in +spite of this belief he exercised extreme caution, stopping to +listen now and then, with one hand always near his pistol. A quiet +gloom filled the forest and by the tree-tops he marked the going +down of the sun. Nathaniel's ears ached with their strain of +listening for the rumbling roar that would tell of Casey's attack +on St. James.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard a crackling in the underbrush ahead of him, a +sound that came not from the strain of listening for the rumbling +roar and in a moment he had dodged into the concealment of the huge +roots of an overturned tree, drawn pistol in hand. Whatever object +was approaching came slowly, as if hesitating at each step—a +cautious, stealthy advance, it struck Nathaniel, and he cocked his +weapon. Directly in front of him, half a stone's throw away, was a +dense growth of hazel and he could see the tops of the slender +bushes swaying. Twice this movement ceased and the second time +there came a crashing of brush and a faint cry. For many minutes +after that there was absolute silence. Was it the cry of an animal +that he had heard—or of a man? In either case the creature +who made it had fallen in the thicket and was lying there as still +as if dead. For a quarter of an hour Nathaniel waited and listened. +He could no longer have seen the movement of bushes in the +gathering night-gloom of the forest but his ears were strained to +catch the slightest sound from the direction of the mysterious +thing that lay within less than a dozen rods of him. Slowly he drew +himself out from the shelter of the roots and advanced step by +step. Half way to the thicket a stick cracked loudly under his foot +and as the sound startled the dead quiet of the forest with +pistol-shot clearness there came another cry from the dense hazel, +a cry which was neither that of man nor animal but of a woman; and +with an answering shout Nathaniel sprang forward to meet there in +the edge of the thicket the white face and outstretched arms of +Marion. The girl was swaying on her feet. In her face there was a +pallor that even in his instant's glance sent a chill of horror +through the man and as she staggered toward him, half falling, her +lips weakly forming his name Nathaniel leaped to her and caught her +close in his arms. In that moment something seemed to burst within +him and flood his veins with fire. Closer he held the girl, and +heavier he knew that she was becoming in his arms. Her head was +upon his breast, his face was crushed in her hair, he felt her +throbbing and breathing against him and his lips quivered with the +words that were bursting for freedom in his soul. But first there +came the girl's own whispered breath—"Neil—where is +Neil?"</p> + +<p>"He is gone—gone from the island!"</p> + +<p>She had become a dead weight now and so he knelt on the ground +with her, her head still upon his breast, her eyes closed, her arms +fallen to her side. And as Nathaniel looked into the face from +which all life seemed to have fled he forgot everything but the joy +of this moment—forgot all in life but this woman against his +breast. He kissed her soft mouth and the closed eyes until the eyes +themselves opened again and gazed at him in a startled, half +understanding way, until he drew his head far back with the shame +of what he had dared to do flaming in his face.</p> + +<p>And as for another moment he held her thus, feeling the +quivering life returning in her, there came to him through that +vast forest stillness the distant deep-toned thunder of a great +gun.</p> + +<p>"That's Casey!" he whispered close down to the girl's face. His +voice was almost sobbing in its happiness. "That's +Casey—firing on St. James!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<center>THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE</center> + +<p>For perhaps twenty seconds after the last echoes of the gun had +rolled through the forest the girl lay passive in Nathaniel's arms, +so close that he could feel her heart beating against his own and +her breath sweeping his face. Then there came a pressure against +his breast, a gentle resistance of Marion's half conscious form, +and when she had awakened from her partial swoon he was holding her +in the crook of his arm. It had all passed quickly, the girl had +rested against him only so long as he might have held half a dozen +breaths and yet there had been all of a lifetime in it for +Nathaniel Plum, a cycle of joy that he knew would remain with him +for ever. But there was something bitter-sweet in the thought that +she was conscious of what he had done, something of humiliation as +well as gladness, and still not enough of the first to make him +regret that he had kissed her, that he had kissed her mouth and her +eyes. He loved her, and he was glad that in those passing moments +he had betrayed himself. For the first time he noticed that her +face was scratched and that the sleeves of her thin waist were torn +to shreds; and as she drew away from him, steadying herself with a +hand on his arm, his lips were parched of words, and yet he leaned +to her eagerly, everything that he would have said burning in the +love of his eyes. Still irresolute in her faintness the girl smiled +at him, and in that smile there was gentle accusation, the +sweetness of forgiveness, and measureless gratitude, and it was yet +light enough for him to see that with these there had come also a +flush into her cheeks and a dazzling glow into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Neil has escaped!" she breathed. "And you—"</p> + +<p>"I was going back to you, Marion!" He spoke the words hardly +above a whisper. The beautiful eyes so close to him drew his secret +from him before he had thought. "I am going to take you from the +island!"</p> + +<p>With his words there came again that sound of a great gun +rolling from the direction of St. James. With a frightened cry the +girl staggered to her feet, and as she stood swaying unsteadily, +her arms half reached to him, Nathaniel saw only mortal dread in +the whiteness of her face.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you go? Why didn't you go with Neil?" she moaned. +Her breath was coming in sobbing excitement. "Your ship +is—at—St. James!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my ship is at St. James, Marion!" His voice was tremulous +with triumph, with gladness, with a tenderness which he could not +control. He put an arm half round her waist to support her +trembling form and to his joy she did not move away from him. His +hand was buried in the richness of her loose hair. He bent until +his lips touched her silken tresses. "Neil has told me +everything—about you," he added softly. "My ship is +bombarding St. James, and I am going to take you from the +island!"</p> + +<p>Not until then did Marion free herself from his arm and then so +gently that when she stood facing him he felt no reproof. No longer +did shame send a flush into his face. He had spoken his love, +though not in words, and he knew that the girl understood him. It +did not occur to him in these moments that he had known this girl +for only a few hours, that until now a word had never passed +between them. He was conscious only that he had loved her from the +time he saw her through the king's window, that he had risked his +life for her, and that she knew why he had leaped into the arena at +the whipping-post.</p> + +<p>The words she spoke now came like a dash of cold water in his +face.</p> + +<p>"Your ship is not bombarding St. James, Captain Plum!" she +exclaimed. Darkness hid the terror in her face but he could hear +the tremble of it in her voice. "The <i>Typhoon</i> has been +captured by the Mormons and those guns are—guns of +triumph—and not—" She caught her breath in a convulsive +sob. "I want you to go—I want you to go—with Neil!" she +pleaded.</p> + +<p>"So Casey is taken!"</p> + +<p>He spoke slowly, as if he had not heard her last words. For a +moment he stood silent, and as silently the girl stood and watched +him. She guessed the despair that was raging in his heart but when +he spoke to her she could detect none of it in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Casey is a fool," he said, unconsciously repeating Obadiah's +words. "Marion, will you come with me? Will you leave the +island—and join your brother?"</p> + +<p>The hope that had risen in his heart was crushed as Marion drew +farther away from him.</p> + +<p>"You must go alone," she replied. With a powerful effort she +steadied her voice. "Tell Neil that he has been condemned to death. +Tell him that—if he loves me—he will not return to the +island."</p> + +<p>"And I?"</p> + +<p>From her distance she saw his arms stretched like shadows toward +her.</p> + +<p>"And you—"</p> + +<p>Her voice was low, so low that he could hardly hear the words +she spoke, but its sweetness thrilled him.</p> + +<p>"And you—if you love me—will do this thing for me. +Go to Neil. Save his life for me!"</p> + +<p>She had come to him through the gloom, and in the luster of the +eyes that were turned up to him Nathaniel saw again the power that +swayed his soul.</p> + +<p>"You will go?"</p> + +<p>"I will save your brother—if I can!"</p> + +<p>"You can—you can—" she breathed. In an ecstasy of +gratitude she seized one of his hands in both her own. "You can +save him!"</p> + +<p>"For you—I will try."</p> + +<p>"For me—"</p> + +<p>She was so close that he could feel the throbbing of her bosom. +Suddenly he lifted his free hand and brushed back the thick hair +from her brow and turned her face until what dim light there still +remained of the day glowed in the beauty of her eyes. "I will keep +him from the island if I can," he said, looking deep into them, +"and as there is a God in Heaven I swear that you—"</p> + +<p>"What?" she urged, as he hesitated.</p> + +<p>"That you shall not marry Strang!" he finished.</p> + +<p>A cry welled up in the girl's throat. Was it of gladness? Was it +of hope? She sprang back a pace from Nathaniel and with clenched +hands waited breathlessly, as if she expected him to say more.</p> + +<p>"No—no—you can not save me from Strang! +Now—you must go!"</p> + +<p>She retreated slowly in the direction of the path. In an instant +Nathaniel was at her side.</p> + +<p>"I am going to see you safely back in St. James," he declared. +"Then I will go to your brother."</p> + +<p>She barred his way defiantly.</p> + +<p>"You can not go!"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because—" He caught the frightened flutter of her voice +again. "Because—they will kill you!"</p> + +<p>The low laugh that he breathed in her hair was more of joy than +fear.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you care—Marion." He spoke her name with +faltering tenderness, and led her out into the path.</p> + +<p>"You must go," she still persisted.</p> + +<p>"With you—yes," he answered.</p> + +<p>She surrendered to the determination in his voice and they moved +slowly along the path, listening for any sound that might come from +ahead of them. Nathaniel had already formed his plan of action. +From Marion's words and the voice in which she had uttered them he +knew that it would be useless for him as it had been for Neil to +urge her to flee from the island. There remained but one thing for +him to do, so he fell back upon the scheme which he had proposed to +Marion's brother. He realized now that he might be compelled to +play the game single-handed unless he could secure assistance from +Obadiah. His ship and men were in the hands of the Mormons; Neil, +in his search for the captured vessel, stood a large chance, of +missing him that night, and in that event Marion's fate would +depend on him alone. If he could locate a small boat on the beach +back of Obadiah's; if he could in some way lure Marion to +it—He gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of using +force upon the girl at his side, at the thought of her terror of +those first few moments, her struggles, her broken confidence. She +believed in him now. She believed that he loved her. She trusted +him. The warm soft pressure of her hand as it clung to his arm in +the blackening gloom of the forest was evidence of that trust. She +looked into his face anxiously, inquiringly when they stopped to +listen, like a child who was sure of a stronger spirit at her side. +She held her breath when he held his, she listened when he +listened, her feet fell with velvet stillness when he stepped with +caution. Her confidence in him was like a beautiful dream to +Nathaniel and he trembled when he pictured the destruction of it. +After a little he reached over and as if by accident touched the +hand that was lying on his arm; he dared more after a moment, and +drew the warm little fingers into his great strong palm and held +them there, his soul thrilled by their gentle submissiveness. And +then in another breath there came to still his joy a thought of the +terrible power that chained this girl to the Mormon king. He longed +to speak words of encouragement to her, to instil hope in her +bosom, to ask her to confide in him the secret of the shadow which +hung over her, but the memory of what Neil had said to him held his +lips closed.</p> + +<p>They had walked in silence for many minutes when the girl +stopped.</p> + +<p>"It is not very far now," she whispered. "You must go!"</p> + +<p>"Only a little farther," he begged.</p> + +<p>She surrendered again, hesitatingly, and they went on, more +slowly than before, until they came to where the path met the +footway that led to Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>"Now—now you <i>must</i> go," whispered Marion again.</p> + +<p>In this last moment Nathaniel crushed her hand against his +breast, his body throbbing with a wild tumult, and a half of what +he had meant not to say fell passionately from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me for—that—back there—Marion," he +whispered. "It was because I love you—love you—" He +freed her hand and stood back, choking the words that would have +revealed his secret. He lied now for the love of this girl. "Neil +is out there waiting for me in a small boat," he continued, +pointing beyond Obadiah's to the lake. "I will see him soon, and +then I will return to Obadiah's to tell you if he has left for the +mainland. Will you promise to meet me there—to-night?"</p> + +<p>"I will promise."</p> + +<p>"At midnight—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, at twelve o'clock."</p> + +<p>This time it was Marion who came to him. Her eyes shone like +stars.</p> + +<p>"And if you make Neil go to the mainland," she said softly, +"when I meet you I will—will tell you—something."</p> + +<p>The last word came in a breathless sob. As she slipped into the +path that led to St. James she paused for a moment and called back, +in a low voice, "Tell Neil that he must go for Winnsome's sake. +Tell him that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine—tell +him that Winnsome loves him, and that she will escape and come to +him on the mainland. Tell him to go—go!"</p> + +<p>She turned again, and Nathaniel stood like a statue, hardly +breathing, until the sound of her feet had died away. Then he +walked swiftly up the foot-path that led to Obadiah's. He forgot +his own danger in the excitement that pulsated with every fiber of +his being, forgot his old caution and the fears that gave birth to +it—forgot everything in those moments but Marion and his own +great happiness. Neil's absence meant nothing to him now. He had +held Marion in his arms, he had told her of his love, and though +she had accepted it with gentle unresponsiveness he was thrilled by +the memory of that last look in her eyes, which had spoken faith, +confidence, and perhaps even more. What was that <i>something</i> +she would tell him if he got Neil safely away? It was to be a +reward for his own loyalty—he knew that, by the half fearing +tremble of her voice, the sobbing catch of her breath, the strange +glow in her eyes. With her brother away would she confide in him? +Would she tell him the secret of her slavedom to Strang? Nathaniel +was conscious of no madness in the wild hope that filled him; +nothing seemed impossible to him now. Marion would meet him at +midnight. She would go with him to the boat, and then—ah, he +had solved the problem! He would use no force. He would tell her +that Neil was in his canoe half a mile out from the shore and that +he had promised to leave the island for good if she would go out to +bid him good-by. And once there, a half a mile or a mile away, he +would tell her that he had lied to her; and he would give her his +heart to trample upon to prove the love that had made him do this +thing, and then he would row her to the mainland.</p> + +<p>It was the sight of Obadiah's cabin that brought his caution +back. He came upon it so suddenly that an exclamation of surprise +fell unguarded from his lips. There was no light to betray life +within. He tried the door and found it locked. He peered in at the +windows, listened, and knocked, and at last concealed himself near +the path, confident that the little old councilor was still at St. +James. For an hour he waited. From the rear of Obadiah's home a +narrow footway led toward the lake and Nathaniel followed it, now +as warily as an animal in search of prey. For half a mile it took +him through the forest and ended at the white sands of the beach. +In neither direction could Nathaniel see a light, and keeping close +in the shadows of the trees he made his way slowly toward St. +James. He had gone but a short distance when he saw a house +directly ahead of him, a single gleam of light from a small window +telling him that it was inhabited and that its tenants were at +home. He circled down close to the water looking for a boat. His +heart leaped with sudden exultation when he saw a small skiff drawn +upon the beach and his joy was doubled at finding the oars still in +the locks. It took him but a moment to shove the light craft into +the sea and a minute later he was rowing swiftly away from the +land.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel was certain that by this time Neil had abandoned his +search for the captured <i>Typhoon</i> and was probably paddling in +the direction of St. James. With the hope of intercepting him he +pulled an eighth of a mile from the shore and rowed slowly toward +the head of the island. There was no moon, but countless stars +glowed in a clear sky and upon the open lake Nathaniel could see +for a considerable distance about him. For another hour he rowed +back and forth and then beached his boat within a dozen rods of the +path that came down from Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>It was ten o'clock. Two more hours! He had tried to suppress his +excitement, his apprehensions, his eagerness, but now as he went +back into the darkness of the forest they burst out anew. What if +Marion should not keep the tryst? He thought of the spies whom Neil +had said guarded the girl's home—and of Obadiah. Could he +trust the old councilor? Should he confide his plot to him and ask +his assistance? As the minutes passed and these thoughts recurred +again and again in his brain he could not keep the nervousness from +growing within him. He was sure now that he would have to fight his +battle without Neil. He saw the necessity of coolness, of judgment, +and he began to demand these things of himself, struggling sternly +against those symptoms of weakness which had replaced his +confidence of a short time before. Gradually he fought himself back +into his old faith. He would save Marion—without Neil, +without Obadiah. If Marion did not come to him by midnight it would +be because of the guards against whom Neil had warned him, and he +would go to her. In some way he would get her to the boat, even if +he had to fight his way through Arbor Croche's men.</p> + +<p>With this return of confidence Nathaniel's thoughts reverted to +his present greatest need, which was food. Since early morning he +had eaten nothing and he began to feel the physical want in a +craving that was becoming acutely uncomfortable. If Obadiah had not +returned to his home he made up his mind that he would find +entrance to the cabin and help himself. A sudden turn in the path +which he was following, however, revealed one of the councilor's +windows aglow with light, and as he pressed quietly around the end +of the building the sound of a low voice came to him through the +open door. Cautiously he approached and peered in. A large oil +lamp, the light of which he had seen in the window, was burning on +a table in the big room but the voice came from the little closet +into which Obadiah had taken him the preceding night. For several +minutes he crouched and listened. He heard the chuckling laugh of +the old councilor—and then an incoherent raving that set his +blood tingling. There is a horror in the sound of madness, a horror +that creeps to the very pit of one's soul, that sends shivering +dread from every nerve center, that causes one who is alone with it +to sweat with a nameless fear. It was the voice of madness that +came from that little room. Before it Nathaniel quailed as if a +clammy hand had reached out from the darkness and gripped him by +the throat. He drew back shivering in every limb, and the voice +followed him, shrieking now in a sudden burst of insane mirth and +dying away a moment later in a hollow cackling laugh that seemed to +curdle the blood in his veins. Mad! Obadiah Price was mad! Step by +step Nathaniel fell back from the door. He felt himself trembling +from head to foot. His heart thumped within his breast like the +beating of a hammer. For an instant there was silence—a +silence in which strange dread held him breathless while he watched +the glow in the door and listened. And after that quiet there came +suddenly a cry that ended in the exultant chattering of a name.</p> + +<p>At the sound of that name Nathaniel sprang forward again. It was +Marion's name and he strained his ears to catch the words that +might follow it. As he listened, his head thrust half in at the +door, Obadiah's voice became lower and lower, until at last it +ceased entirely. Not a step, not a deep breath, not the movement of +a hand disturbed the stillness of the little room. By inches +Nathaniel drew himself inside the door. His heavy boot caught in a +sliver on the step but the rending of wood brought no response. It +was the quiet of death that pervaded the cabin, it was a strange, +growing fear of death that entered Nathaniel as he now hurried +across the room and peered through the narrow aperture. The old +councilor was half stretched upon the table, his arms reaching out, +his long, thin fingers gripping its edges, his face buried under +his shoulders. It looked as if death had come suddenly to him +during some terrible convulsion, but after a moment Nathaniel saw +that he was breathing. He went over and placed a hand on the old +man's twisted back.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Obadiah! Hello—hello!" he called cheerfully.</p> + +<p>A shudder ran through the councilor's frame, as if the voice had +startled him, his arms and body stiffened and slowly he lifted his +head. Nathaniel tried to stifle the cry on his lips, tried to +smile—to speak, but the terrible face that stared up into his +own held him silent, motionless. He had heard the voice of madness, +now he looked upon madness in the eyes that glared at him. In them +was no sign of recognition, no passing flash of sanity. The white +face was lined with purplish veins, the mouth was distorted and the +lips bleeding. Involuntarily he stepped back to the end of the +table.</p> + +<p>At his movement the councilor stretched out his arms with a +sobbing moan.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—don't—go—"</p> + +<p>He fell again upon his face, clutching the table in a sudden +convulsion. In the next room Nathaniel had noticed a pail of water +and he brought this and wet the old man's head. For a long time +Obadiah did not move, and when he did it was to reach out with a +groping hand to find Nathaniel. A change had come into his face +when he lifted it again, the mad fire had partly burned itself out +of his eyes, the old chuckling laugh came from between his +lips.</p> + +<p>"A little weakness, Nat—a little weakness," he gasped +faintly. "I have it now and then. Excitement—great +excitement—" He straightened himself for a moment and stood, +swaying free from the table, then collapsed into a chair his head +dropping upon his breast.</p> + +<p>Without arousing him from the stupor into which he had fallen, +Nathaniel again concealed himself in the shadows outside the cabin +where he could better guard himself against the possible approach +of Mormon visitors. But he did not remain long. He struck a match +and saw that it was nearly eleven and a sudden resolution turned +him back to the cabin door. He believed that Obadiah would not +easily arouse himself from the strange stupor into which he had +fallen. Meanwhile he would find food and then conceal himself near +the path to intercept Marion.</p> + +<p>As he mounted the step he heard for the second time since +landing upon the island the solemn tolling of the great bell at St. +James, and as he paused for an instant to listen, peal upon peal +followed the first until its brazen thunder rolled in one long +booming echo through the forests of the Mormon kingdom. There came +a shrill cry at his back and he whirled about to see the councilor +standing in the center of the big room, his arms outstretched, his +face lifted as it had been raised in prayer at the tolling of that +same bell the night before—but this time it was not prayer +that fell from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Nat, ye have returned in the hour of vengeance! The hand of God +is descending upon the Mormon kingdom!"</p> + +<p>His words came in a gasping, but triumphant cry.</p> + +<p>"And to-morrow—to-morrow—" He stepped forward, his +voice crooning a wild joy, +"To-morrow—I—shall—be—king!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke the cabin trembled, a tremor passed under them, and +the tolling of the bell was lost in a sudden tumult that came like +the bursting crash of low thunder.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried Nathaniel. He leaped into the room and +caught Obadiah by the arm. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"The hand of God!" whispered the old man again. +"Nat—Nat—" It was his old self that stood grimacing and +twisting his hands before Nathaniel now. "Nat—a thousand +armed men are off the coast! The Lamanites of the mainland are +descending upon the Mormon kingdom as the hosts of Israel upon +Canaan! Strang is doomed—doomed—doomed—and +to-morrow I shall be king!" His voice rose in a wailing shriek. He +darted to the door and his cackling laugh rang with the old madness +as he pointed into the north where a lurid glow had mounted high +into the sky.</p> + +<p>"The signal fire—the bell!" he gurgled chokingly. "They +are calling the Mormons to arms—but it is too late—too +late! Ho, ho, it is too late, Nat—too late!" He staggered +back, gripping his throat, and fell upon the floor. "Too +late—too late," he moaned, groveling weakly, as if struggling +for breath. "Too late—Nat—Marion—"</p> + +<p>A shiver passed through his body and he lay quite still.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<center>THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS</center> + +<p>In an instant Nathaniel was upon his knees beside the prostrate +form of the old councilor.</p> + +<p>Obadiah's eyes were open, but unseeing; his face was blanched to +the whiteness of paper; an almost imperceptible movement of his +chest showed that he still breathed. Nathaniel lifted one of the +limp hands and its clammy chill struck horror to his heart. +Tenderly he lifted the old man and carried him to the cot at the +end of the room. He loosened his clothes, tore off the low collar +about his throat, and felt with his hand to measure the faint +beating of life in the councilor's breast. For a few moments it +seemed to grow fainter and fainter, and a choking lump rose in his +throat as he watched the pallor of death fixing itself on the +councilor's shriveled face. What strange chord of sympathy was it +that bound him to this old man? Was it the same mysterious +influence that had attracted Marion to him? He dropped upon his +knees and called the girl's name softly but it awakened no response +in the sightless eyes, no tremor in the parted, unquivering lips. +Very slowly as the minutes passed there came a reaction. The +pulsations of the weakened heart became a little stronger, he could +catch faintly the sound of breath coming from between the old man's +lips.</p> + +<p>With a gasp of relief Nathaniel rose to his feet. Through the +door he saw the red glare growing in the northern sky and heard the +great bell at St. James ring a wilder and more excited alarm. For a +few moments he stood in silent, listening inaction, his nerves +tingling with a strange sensation of impending peril. Obadiah's +madness, the mysterious trembling of the earth beneath his feet, +the volcano of fire, the clanging of the bell and the councilor's +insane rejoicing had all come so suddenly that he was dazed. What +great calamity, what fearful vengeance, was about to come upon the +Mormon kingdom? Was it possible that the fishermen and settlers of +the mainland had risen, as Obadiah had said, and were already at +hand to destroy Strang and his people? The thought spurred him to +the door. The blood rushed like fire through his veins. What would +it mean to Marion—to Neil?</p> + +<p>In his excitement he started down the path that led to the lilac +hidden home beyond the forest. Then he thought again of Obadiah and +his last choking utterance of Marion's name. He had tried to speak +of her, even with that death-like rattling of the breath in his +throat; and the memory of the old councilor's frantic struggle for +words brought Nathaniel quickly back to the cabin. He bent over +Obadiah's shriveled form and spoke the girl's name again and again +in his ears. There came no response, no quiver of life to show that +the old man was conscious of his presence. As he worked over him, +bathing his face and chest in cool water, the feeling became strong +in him that he was fighting death in this gloomy room for Marion's +sake. It was like the whispering of an invisible spirit in his +ears—something more than presentiment, something that made +his own heart grow faint when death seemed winning in the struggle. +His watchfulness was acute, intense, desperate. When, after a time, +he straightened himself again, rewarded by Obadiah's more regular +breathing, the sweat stood in beads upon his face. He knew that he +had triumphed. Obadiah would live, and Marion—</p> + +<p>He placed his mouth close to the councilor's ear.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about Marion," he said again. +"Marion—Marion—Marion—"</p> + +<p>He waited, stilling his own breath to catch the sound of a +whisper. None came. As he bent over him he saw through the open +door that the red glare of fire had faded to a burnt out glow in +the sky. In the deep silence the sullen beating of the bell seemed +nearer, and he could hear the excited barking of dogs in St. James. +Slowly the hope that Obadiah might speak to him died away and he +returned to the door. It still lacked an hour of midnight, when +Marion, had promised to come to him. He was wildly impatient and to +his impatience was added the fear that had filled him as he hovered +over Obadiah, a nameless, intangible fear—something which he +could not have analyzed and which clutched at his heart and urged +him to follow the path that led to Marion's. For a time he resisted +the impulse. What if she should come by another path while he was +gone? He waited nervously in the edge of the forest, watching, and +listening for footsteps. Each minute seemed like an hour marked +into seconds by the solemn steady tolling of the bell, and after a +little he found himself unconsciously measuring time by counting +the strokes. Then he went out into the path. He followed it, step +by step, until he could no longer see the light in the cabin; his +pulse beat a little faster; he stared ahead into the deep gloom +between the walls of forest—and quickened his pace. If Marion +was coming to him he would meet her. If she was not +coming—</p> + +<p>In his old fearless way he promptly made up his mind. He would +go boldly to the cabin and tell her that Neil was waiting. He felt +sure that the alarm sounding from St. James had drawn away the +guards and that there would be nothing to interfere with his plan. +If she had already left the cabin he would return quickly to +Obadiah's. In his eagerness he began to run. Once a sound stopped +him—the distant beating of galloping hoofs. He heard the +shout of a man, a reply farther away, the quick, excited yelping of +a dog. His blood danced as he thought of the gathering of the +Mormon fighters, the men and boys racing down the black trails from +the inland forests, the excitement in St. James. As he ran on again +he thought of Arbor Croche mustering the panting, vengeful +defenders; of Strang, his great voice booming encouragement and +promise, above the brazen thunder of the bell; he saw in fancy the +frightened huddling groups of women and children and beyond and +above all the coming of the "vengeance of God"—a hundred +beats, a thousand men—and there went out from his soul if not +from his lips a great cry of joy. At the edge of the forest he +stopped for a moment. Over beyond the clearing a light burned dimly +through the lilacs. The sweet odor of the flowers came to him +gently, persuasively, and nerved him into the open. He passed +across the open space swiftly and plunged into a tangle of bushes +close to the lighted window.</p> + +<p>He heard a man's voice within, and then a woman's. Was it +Marion? Cautiously Nathaniel crept close to the log wall of the +cabin. He reached out, and hesitated. Should he look—as he +had done at the king's window? The man's voice came to him again, +harsh and angry, and this time it was not a woman's words that he +heard but a woman's sobbing cry. He parted the bushes and a glare +of light fell on his face. The lamp was on a table and beside the +table there sat a woman, her white head turned from him, her face +buried in her hands. She was an old woman and he knew that it was +Marion's mother. He could not see the man.</p> + +<p>Where was Marion? He wormed himself back out of the bushes and +walked quickly around the house. There was no other light, no other +sign of life except in that one room. With sudden resolution he +stepped to the door and knocked loudly.</p> + +<p>For a full half minute there was silence, and he knocked again. +He heard the approach of a shuffling step, the thump, thump, thump +of a cane, and the door swung back. It was the man who opened it, a +tall giant of an old man, doubled as if with rheumatism, and close +behind him was the frightened face of the woman. An involuntary +shudder passed through Nathaniel as he looked at them. They were +old—so old that the man's shrivelled hands were like those of +a skeleton; his giant frame seemed about to totter into ruin, his +eyes were sunken until his face gave the horror of a death mask. +Was it possible that these people were the father and mother of +Marion—and of Neil? As he stepped to the threshold they +timidly drew back from him. In a single glance Nathaniel swept the +room and what he saw thrilled him, for everywhere were signs of +Marion; in the pictures on the walls, the snowy curtains, the +cushions in the window-seat—and the huge vase of lilacs on +the mantle.</p> + +<p>"I am a messenger of the king," he said, advancing and closing +the door behind him. "I want to speak with Marion."</p> + +<p>"Strang—the king!" cried the old man, clutching the knob +of his cane with both hands. "She has gone!"</p> + +<p>"Gone!" exclaimed Nathaniel. For an instant his heart bounded +with delight. Marion was on her way to the tryst! He sprang back to +the door. "When? When did she go?"</p> + +<p>The woman had come forward, her hands trembling, her lips +quivering. Something in the terror of her face sent the hot blood +from Nathaniel's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"They sent for her an hour ago," she said. "The king sent +Obadiah Price for her! O, my God!" she shrieked suddenly, clutching +at her breast, "Tell me—what are they doing with +Marion—"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" snarled the old man. "That is Strang's business. She +has gone to Strang." With an effort he straightened himself until +his towering form rose half a head above Nathaniel. "She has gone +to the king," he repeated. "Tell Strang that she will wive him +to-night, as she has promised!"</p> + +<p>In spite of his effort to control himself a terrible cry burst +from Nathaniel's lips. He flung open the door and stood for an +instant with his white face turned back.</p> + +<p>"She went to the castle—an hour ago?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to the castle—with Obadiah Price—" The last +words followed him as he sped out into the night. As swiftly as a +wolf he raced across the clearing to the trail that led down to St. +James. Something seemed to have burst in his brain; something that +was not blood, but fire, seemed to burn in his veins—a mad +desire to reach Strang, to grip him by the throat, to mete out to +him the vengeance of a fiend instead of that of a man. He was too +late to save Marion! His brain reeled with the thought. Too +late—too late—too late. He panted the words. They came +with every gasp for breath. Too late! Too late! His heart pumped +like an engine as he strained to keep up his speed. He passed a man +and a boy hurrying with their rifles to St. James and made no +answer to their shout; a galloping horse forged ahead of him and he +tried to keep up with it; and then, at the top of the long hill +that sloped down to the stronghold of the Mormon kingdom something +seemed to sweep his legs from under him, and he fell panting on the +ground. For a few moments he lay there looking down upon the city. +The great bell at the temple was now silent. He saw huge fires +burning for a mile along the coast, hundreds of lights were +twinkling in the harbor, there came up to him softly, subdued by +distance, the sound of commotion and excitement far below.</p> + +<p>His eyes rested on the beacon above the prophet's home, burning +like a ball of fire over the black canopy of tree-tops. Marion was +there! He rose to his feet again and went on, reason and judgment +returning to him—telling him that he was about to play +against odds; that his work was to be one of strength and +generalship and not of madness. As he picked his way more slowly +and cautiously down the slope a new hope flashed upon him. Was it +possible that the discovery of the approach of the mainlanders had +served to save Marion? In the excitement that followed the calling +of the Mormons to arms and the preparations for the defense would +Strang, the master of the kingdom, the bulwark of his people, waste +priceless time in carrying out the purpose for which he had sent +for Marion? Hardly did hope burn anew in his breast when there came +another thought to quench it. Why had the king sent for Marion on +this particular night and at this late hour? Why, unless at the +approach of his enemies he had feared that he might lose his +beautiful victim, and in his overmastering passion had called her +to him even as his people assembled in defense of his kingdom.</p> + +<p>There was desperate coolness in Nathaniel's approach now. +Whatever had happened he would do what Neil had threatened to +do—kill Strang. And whatever had happened he would take +Marion away with him if it was only her dead body that he carried +in his arms. To do these things he needed strength. He advanced +more slowly and drew deeper and deeper drafts of air into his +exhausted lungs. At the edge of the grove surrounding the castle he +paused to listen. For the first time it occurred to Nathaniel that +the prophet might have assembled some of his fighters to the +defense of his harem, which he knew would be one of the first +places to feel the vengeance of the outraged men of the mainland. +But he heard no voices ahead of him. There were no fires to betray +the approach of the enemy. Not even the barking of a dog gave +warning of his stealthy advance. Soon he could make out a light in +the king's house. A few steps more and he saw that the door was +open, as it had been on his first visit to the castle. He dodged +swiftly from bush to bush, darted under the window through which he +had seen Marion, leaped lightly up the broad steps and sprang into +the great room, his pistol cocked in his hand.</p> + +<p>The room was empty. He listened, but not a sound came to his +ears except the rustling of a curtain in the breeze. The huge lamp +over the table was burning dimly. The five doors leading from the +room were tightly closed. Nathaniel held his breath, tried to still +the tumultuous pounding of his heart as he waited for a sound of +life—a step beyond those doors, a woman's voice, a child's +cry. But none came. The stillness of desertion hovered about him. +He went to one of the five doors. It was not locked. He opened it +silently, with the caution of a thief, and there loomed before him +a chaos of gloom.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he called gently. "Hello—Hello—"</p> + +<p>There was no answer. He struck a match and advanced step by +step, holding the yellow bit of flame above his head. It disclosed +the narrow walls of a hall and an open door leading into another +room. The match sputtered and went out and he lighted another. On a +little table just outside the door was a half burned candle and he +replaced his match with this. Then he went in.</p> + +<p>At a glance he knew that he had entered a woman's room, redolent +with the perfume of flowers. On one side was a bed and close beside +it a cradle with a child's toys scattered about it. The tumbled +coverlets showed that both had been recently used. About the room +were thrown articles of wearing apparel; a trunk had been dragged +from a closet and was half packed; everywhere was the disorder of +hurried flight. For a few moments the depth of his despair held +Nathaniel motionless. The castle was deserted—Marion was +gone! He ran back into the great room, no longer trying to still +the sound of his footsteps, and opened a second door. The same +silence greeted him, the same disorder, the same evidence that the +wives and children of the Mormon king had fled. He went into a +third room—and then a fourth.</p> + +<p>For an instant he paused at the threshold of this fourth +chamber. A light was burning in the room at the end of the hall. +The door was closed with the exception of an inch or two.</p> + +<p>"Marion!" he called softly, and listened intently.</p> + +<p>He went on when there was no reply, and pushed open the +door.</p> + +<p>A candle was burning on a stand in front of a mirror. The room +was as empty as the others. But there was no disorder here. The bed +was unused, the garments in the open closet had not been +disarranged. On the floor beside the bed was a pair of shoes and as +Nathaniel saw them his heart seemed to leap to his throat and +stifled the cry that was on his lips. He took one of them in his +hand, his whole being throbbing with excitement. It was Marion's +shoe—encrusted with mud and torn as he had seen it in the +forest. With her name falling from his lips in a pleading cry he +now searched the room and on the stand in front of the mirror he +found a lilac colored ribbon, soiled and crumpled. It was Marion's +ribbon—the one he had seen last in her hair, and he crushed +it to his lips as he ran back into the great room, calling out her +name again and again in the torture of helplessness that now +possessed him.</p> + +<p>Mechanically, rather than with reason, he went to the fifth and +last door. His candle had become extinguished in his haste and +after he had opened the door he stopped at the threshold of the +black hall to light it again. There was a moment's pause as he +searched his pockets for a match, a silence in which he listened as +he searched, and suddenly as he was about to strike the sulphur +tipped splint there came to his ears a sound that held him chained +to the spot. It was the sobbing of a woman; or was it a child? In a +moment he knew that it was a woman; and then the sobbing +ceased.</p> + +<p>There was nothing but darkness ahead of him; no ray of light +shone under the door; the chamber itself was in utter gloom. As +quietly as possible he relighted his candle. A glance assured him +that this hall was different from the others; it was deeper, and +there were two doors at the end of it instead of one. Through which +of these doors had come the sound of sobbing he had heard?</p> + +<p>He approached and listened. Each moment added to his excitement, +his fears, his hopes, but at last he opened the door on the left. +The room was empty; there was the same disorder as before; the same +signs of hurried flight. It was the room on the right! His heart +almost stopped its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, +lifted it, and pushed the door in. Kneeling beside the bed he saw a +woman. She had turned toward the light and in the dim illumination +of the room Nathaniel recognized the beautiful face he had seen at +the king's castle the preceding day—the face of the woman who +had sent him to find the prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on +Marion's head as he had looked through the window. There was no +fear in her eyes as she saw Nathaniel. Something more terrible than +that shone in their glorious depths as she rose to her feet and +stood before him, her face lined with grief, her mouth twitching in +agony. She stood with clenched hands, her bosom rising and falling +in the passion of the storm within her; and she sobbed even as +Nathaniel paused there, unmanned in this sudden presence of a +distress greater than his own; sobbed in a choking, tearless way, +waiting for him to speak.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," he spoke gently. "I have +come—for—Marion." He felt that he had no reason to lie +to this woman. His face betrayed his own anguish as he came nearer +to her. "I want Marion," he repeated. "My God, won't you tell +me—?"</p> + +<p>She struggled to calm herself as he spoke the girl's name.</p> + +<p>"Marion is not here," she said. She crushed his hands against +her bosom and a softer look came into her eyes; her voice was low +and sweet, as it had been the morning he asked for Strang. As she +saw the despair deepening in the man's face a great pity swept over +her and she stretched out her arms to him with an aching cry, +"Marion is gone—gone—gone," she moaned, "and you must +go, too! O, I know you love her—she told me that you loved +her, as I love Strang, my king! We have both +lost—lost—and you must +go—as—I—shall—go!" She turned away from him +with a cry so heart-breaking in its pain that Nathaniel felt +himself trembling to the soul. In another instant she had faced him +again, fighting back a strange calm into her face.</p> + +<p>"I love Marion," she breathed softly. "I would help you—I +would help her—if I could." For a moment her pale beautiful +face was filled with a light that might have shone from the face of +an angel, "Don't you understand?" she continued, scarcely above a +whisper. "I have been Strang's one great love—his +life—until Marion came into his heart. I have lost—you +have lost—but mine is the more bitter because Marion loves +you, and Strang—"</p> + +<p>With a cry Nathaniel sprang to her side. The candle fell from +his hand, sputtered on the floor, and left them in darkness.</p> + +<p>"Marion loves me! You say that Marion loves me?"</p> + +<p>The woman's voice came to him in a whisper filled with the +sweetness of sympathy.</p> + +<p>"She said so to-night—in this room. She told me that she +loved you as she never thought that she could love a man in this +world. O, my God, is that not a balm for your heart, if it is +broken? And Strang—my Strang—has forgotten his love for +me!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel reached out his arms. They found the woman and for a +time he held her hands in his, while a great silence fell upon +them. He could hear the sobbing of her breath and as her fingers +tightened about his own his heart seemed bursting with its hatred +of this man who called himself a prophet of God; a hatred that +burned furiously even as his being throbbed with the wild joy of +the words he had just heard.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he pleaded.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied the woman. "They took her away alone. +The others have gone to the temple."</p> + +<p>"Do you think she is at the temple?" he inquired +insistently.</p> + +<p>"No. One of the others came back a little while ago. She said +that Marion was not there."</p> + +<p>"Where is Strang?"</p> + +<p>This time he felt the woman tremble.</p> + +<p>"Strang—"</p> + +<p>She drew her hands away from him. There was a strange quiver in +her voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes—where is Strang?"</p> + +<p>There came no reply.</p> + +<p>"Tell me—where is he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Is he at the temple?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>He could hear her stifled breath; he could almost feel her +trembling, an arm's reach out there in the darkness. What a woman +was this whose heart the Mormon king had broken for a new love!</p> + +<p>"Listen," he said gently. "I am going to find Marion. I am going +to take her away. To-morrow you shall have Strang again—if he +is alive!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer and he moved slowly back to the door. He +closed it after him as he entered the hall. Once in the big room he +paused for a moment under the hanging lamp to examine his pistol +and then went outside. The grove in which the castle stood was +absolutely deserted. So far as he could see not even a guard +watched over the property of the king. Nathaniel had become too +accustomed to the surprises of Beaver Island to wonder at this. He +could see by the lights flaring along the harbor that the castle +was in an isolated position and easy of attack. From what Strang's +wife had told him and the evidences of panic in the chambers of the +harem he believed that the Mormon king had abandoned the castle to +its fate and that the approaching conflict would center about the +temple.</p> + +<p>Was Marion at the temple? If so he realized that she was beyond +his reach. But the woman had said that she was not there. Where +could she have gone? Why had not Strang taken her with his wives? +In a flash Nathaniel thought of Arbor Croche and Obadiah—the +two men who always knew what the king was doing. If he could find +the sheriff alone—if he could only nurse Obadiah back into +sane life again! He thrust his pistol into its holster. There was +but one thing for him to do and that was to return to the old +councilor. It would be madness for him to go down to St. James. He +had lost—Strang had won. But his love for Marion was undying. +If he found her Strang's wife it would make no difference to him. +It would all be evened up when he killed the king. For Marion loved +him—loved him—</p> + +<p>He turned his face toward Obadiah's, his heart singing the glad +words which the woman had spoken to him back there in the sixth +chamber.</p> + +<p>And as he was about to take the first step in that long race +back to the mad councilor's he heard behind him the approach of +quick feet. He crouched behind a clump of bushes and waited. A +shadowy form was hurrying through the grove. It passed close to +him, mounted the castle steps, and in the doorway turned and looked +back for an instant in the direction of St. James.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's lips quivered; the pounding of his heart half choked +him; a shriek of mad, terrible joy was ready to leap from his +lips.</p> + +<p>There in the dim glow of the great lamp stood Strang, the Mormon +king.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<center>THE HAND OF FATE</center> + +<p>Like a panther Nathaniel crouched and watched the man on the +steps. His muscles jerked, his hands were clenched; each instant he +seemed about to spring. But he held himself back until Strang had +passed through the door. Then he slipped along the log wall of the +castle, hugging the shadows, fearing that the king might reappear +and see him in time to close the door. What an opportunity fate had +made for him! His fingers itched to get at Strang's thick bull-like +throat. He felt no fear, no hesitation about the outcome of the +struggle with this giant prophet of God. He did not plan to shoot, +for a shot would destroy the secret of Marion's fate. He would +choke the truth from Strang; rob him of life slowly, gasp by gasp, +until in the horror of death the king would reveal her +hiding-place—would tell what he had done with her.</p> + +<p>Then he would kill him!</p> + +<p>There was the strength of tempered steel in his arms; his body, +slender as an athlete's, quivered to hurl itself into action. Up +the steps he crept so cautiously that he made no sound. In the +intensity of his purpose Nathaniel looked only ahead of +him—to the door. He did not see that another figure was +stealing through the gloom behind him as cautiously, as quietly as +himself. He passed through the door and stood erect. Strang had not +seen him. He had not heard him. He was standing with his huge back +toward him, facing the hall that led to the sixth chamber—and +the woman. Nathaniel drew his pistol. He would not shoot, but +Strang might be made to tell the truth with death leveling itself +at his heart. He groped behind him, found the door, and slammed it +shut. There would be no retreat for the king!</p> + +<p>And the man who turned toward him at the slamming of that door, +turned slowly, coolly, and gazed into the black muzzle of his +pistol looked, indeed, every inch of him a king. The muscles of his +face betrayed no surprise, no fear. His splendid nerve was +unshaken, his eyes unfaltering as they rose above the pistol to the +face behind it. For fifteen seconds there was a strange terrible +silence as the eyes of the two men met. In that quarter of a minute +Nathaniel knew that he had not guessed rightly. Strang was not +afraid. He would not tell him where Marion was. The insuperable +courage of this man maddened Captain Plum and unconsciously his +finger fell upon the trigger of his pistol. He almost shrieked the +words that he meant to speak calmly:</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?"</p> + +<p>"She is safe, Captain Plum. She is where the friends who are +invading us from the mainland will have no chance of finding +her."</p> + +<p>Strang spoke as quietly as though in his own office beside the +temple. Suddenly he raised his voice.</p> + +<p>"She is safe, Captain Plum—safe!"</p> + +<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp210.jpg" +alt="His Fingers Twined About the Purplish Throat." align="right"> +<!--IMAGE END--> + + +<p>His eyes wavered, and traveled beyond. As accurately as a +striking serpent Nathaniel measured that glance. It had gone to the +door. He heard a movement, felt a draft of air, and in an instant +he whirled about with his pistol pointed to the door. In another +instant he had fired and the huge form of Arbor Croche toppled +headlong into the room. A roar like that of a beast came from +behind him and before he could turn again Strang was upon him. In +that moment he felt that all was lost. Under the weight of the +Mormon king he was crushed to the floor; his pistol slipped from +his grasp; two great hands choked a despairing cry from his throat. +He saw the prophet's face over him, distorted with passion, his +huge neck bulging, his eyes flaming like angry garnets. He +struggled to free his pinioned arms, to wrench off the death grip +at his throat, but his efforts were like those of a child against a +giant. In a last terrible attempt he drew up his knees inch by inch +under the weight of his enemy; it was his only chance—his +only hope. Even as he felt the fingers about his throat sinking +like hot iron into his flesh and the breath slipping from his body +he remembered this murderous knee-punch of the rough fighters of +the inland seas and with all the life that remained in him he sent +it crushing into the abdomen of the Mormon king. It was a moment +before he knew that it had been successful, before the film cleared +from his eyes and he saw Strang groveling at his feet; another +moment and he had hurled himself on the prophet. His fist shot out +like a hammer against Strang's jaw. Again and again he struck until +the great shaggy head fell back limp. Then his fingers twined +themselves like the links of a chain about the purplish throat and +he choked until Strang's eyes opened wide and lifeless and his +convulsions ceased. He would have held on until there was no doubt +of the end, had not the king's wife—the woman whose misery he +had shared that night—suddenly flung herself with a piercing +cry, between him and the blackened face, clutching at his hands +with all her fragile strength.</p> + +<p>"My God, you are killing him—killing him!" she moaned.</p> + +<p>Her eyes blazed as she tore at his fingers.</p> + +<p>"You are killing him—killing him!" she shrieked. "He has +not destroyed Marion! You said you would take her and leave +him—for me—" She struck her head against his breast, +tearing the flesh of his wrists with her nails.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel loosened his grip and staggered to his feet.</p> + +<p>"For you!" he panted. "If you had only come—a little +sooner—" He stumbled to his pistol and picked it up. "I am +afraid he is—dead!"</p> + +<p>He did not look back.</p> + +<p>Arbor Croche barred the door. He had not moved since he had +fallen. His head was twisted so that his face was turned to the +glow of the lamp and Nathaniel shuddered as he saw where his shot +had struck. He had apparently died with that last cry on his +lips.</p> + +<p>There was no longer a fear of the Mormons in Nathaniel. He +believed the king and Arbor Croche dead, and that in the gloom and +excitement of the night he could go among the people of St. James +undiscovered. A great load was lifted from his soul, for if he had +not been in time to save Marion he had at least delivered her after +a short bondage. He had now only to find Marion and she would go +with him, for she loved him—and Strang was no more.</p> + +<p>He hurried through the grove toward the temple. Even before he +had come near to it he could see that a great crowd had congregated +there. The street which he passed was deserted. No lights shone in +the houses. Even the dogs were gone. For the first time he +understood what it meant. The whole town had fled to that huge log +stronghold for protection. Buildings and trees shut out his view +seaward but he could see the flare of great fires mounting into the +sky and he knew that those who were not at the temple were guarding +the shore.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he almost fell over a figure in his path. It was an old +woman mumbling and sobbing incoherently as she stumbled weakly in +the direction of the temple. Like an inspiration the thought came +to him that here was his opportunity of gaining admittance to that +multitude of women and children. He seized the old woman by the arm +and spoke words of courage to her as he half carried her on her +way. A few minutes more and a blaze of light burst upon them and +the great square in which the temple was situated lay open before +them. Half a hundred yards ahead a fire was burning; oil and pine +sent their lurid flame high up into the night, and in the thick +gloom behind it, intensified by the blinding glare, Nathaniel saw +the shadows of men. He caught the old woman in his arms and went on +boldly. He passed close to a thin line of waiting men, saw the +faint glint of firelight on their rifles, and staggering past them +unchallenged with his weight he stopped for a moment to look back. +The effect was startling. Beyond the three great fires that blazed +around the temple the clearing was bathed in a sea of light; in its +concealment of giant trees the temple was buried in gloom. From the +gloom a hundred cool men might slaughter five times their number +charging across that illumined death-square!</p> + +<p>Nathaniel could not repress a shudder as he looked. Screened +behind each of the three fires was a cannon. He figured that there +were more than a hundred rifles in that silent cordon of men. What +was there on the opposite side of the temple?</p> + +<p>He turned with the old woman and joined the throng that was +seething about the temple doors. There were women, children and old +men, crushing and crowding, fighting with panic-stricken fierceness +for admittance to the thick log walls. Through the doors there came +the low thunder of countless voices pierced by the shrill cries of +little children. Foot by foot Nathaniel fought his way up the +steps. At the top were drawn a dozen men forming barriers with +their rifles. One of them shoved him back.</p> + +<p>"Not you!" he shouted. "This is for the women!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel fell back, filled with horror. A glance had shown him +the vast dimly lighted interior of the temple packed to +suffocation. What sins had this people wrought that it thus feared +the vengeance of the men from the mainland! He felt the sweat break +out upon his face as he thought of Marion being in that mob, tired +and fainting with her terrible day's experience—perhaps dying +under the panic-stricken feet of those stronger than herself. He +hoped now for that which at first had filled him with +despair—that Strang had hidden Marion away from the terror +and suffocation of this multitude that fought for its breath within +the temple. Freeing himself of the crowd he ran to the farther side +of the building. A fourth fire blazed in his face. But on this side +there was no cannon; scarcely a score of men were guarding the rear +of the temple.</p> + +<p>For a full minute he stood concealed in the gloom. He realized +now that it would be useless to return to Obadiah. The old +councilor could probably have told him all that he had discovered +for himself; that Marion had gone to the castle—that Strang +intended to make her his bride that night. But did Obadiah know +that the castle had been abandoned? Did he know that the king's +wives had sought refuge in the temple, and did he know where Marion +was hidden? Nathaniel could assure himself but one answer; Obadiah, +struck down by his strange madness, was more ignorant than he +himself of what had occurred at St. James.</p> + +<p>While he paused a heavy noise arose that quickened his +heart-beats and sent the blood through his veins in wild +excitement. From far down by the shore there came the roar of a +cannon. It was closely followed by a second and a third, and hardly +was the night shaken by their thunder than a mighty cheering of men +swept up from the fire-rimmed coast. The battle had begun! +Nathaniel leaped out into the glow of the great blazing fire beyond +the temple; he heard a warning shout as he darted past the men; for +an instant he saw their white faces staring at him from the +firelight—heard a second shout, which he knew was a +command—and was gone. Half a dozen rifles cracked behind him +and a yell of joyful defiance burst from his throat as the bullets +hissed over his head. The battle had begun! Another hour and the +Mormon kingdom would be at the mercy of the avenging host from the +mainland—and Marion would be his own for ever! He heard again +the deep rumble of a heavy gun and from its sullen detonation he +knew that it was fired from a ship at sea. A nearer crash of +returning fire turned him into a deserted street down which he ran +wildly, on past the last houses of the town, until he came to the +foot of a hill up which he climbed more slowly, panting like a +winded animal.</p> + +<p>From its top he could look down upon the scene of battle. To the +eastward stretched the harbor line with its rim of fires. A glance +showed him that the fight was not to center about these. They had +served their purpose, had forced the mainlanders to seek a landing +farther down the coast. The light of dawn had already begun to +disperse the thick gloom of night and an eighth of a mile below +Nathaniel the Mormon forces were creeping slowly along the shore. +The pale ghostly mistiness of the sea hung like a curtain between +him and what was beyond, and even as he strained his eyes to catch +a glimpse of the avenging fleet a vivid light leaped out of the +white distance, followed by the thunder of a cannon. He saw the +head of the Mormon line falter. In an instant it had been thrown +into confusion. A second shot from the sea—a storm of +cheering voices from out of that white chaos of mist—and the +Mormons fell back from the shore in a panic-stricken, fleeing mob. +Were those frightened cowards the fierce fighters of whom he had +heard so much? Were they the men who had made themselves masters of +a kingdom in the land of their enemies—whose mere name +carried terror for a hundred miles along the coast? He was +stupefied, bewildered. He made no effort to conceal himself as they +approached the hill, but drew his pistol, ready to fire down upon +them as they came. Suddenly there was a change. So quickly that he +could scarcely believe his eyes the flying Mormons had disappeared. +Not a man was visible upon that narrow plain between the hill and +the sea. Like a huge covey of quail they had dropped to the ground, +their rifles lost in that ghostly gloom through which the voices of +the mainlanders came in fierce cries of triumph. It was +magnificent! Even as the crushing truth of what it all meant came +to him, the fighting blood in his veins leaped at the sight of +it—the pretended effect of the shots from sea, the sham +confusion, the disorderly flight, the wonderful quickness and +precision with which the rabble of armed men had thrown itself into +ambush!</p> + +<p>Would the mainlanders rush into the trap? Had some keen eye seen +those shadowy forms dropping through the mist? Each instant the +ghostly pall that shut out vision seaward seemed drifting away. +Nathaniel's staring eyes saw a vague shape appear in it, an +indistinct dirt-gray blotch, and he knew that it was a boat. +Another followed, and then another; he heard the sound of oars, the +grinding of keels upon the sand, and where the Mormons had been a +few moments before the beach was now alive with mainlanders. In the +growing light he could make out the king's men below him, inanimate +spots in the middle of the narrow plain. Helpless he stood +clutching his pistol, the horror in him growing with each breath. +Could he give no warning? Could he do +nothing—nothing—At least he could join in the fight! He +ran down the hill, swinging to the left of the Mormons. Half way, +and he stopped as a thundering cheer swept up from the shore. The +mainlanders had started toward the hill! Without rank, without +order—shouting their triumph as they came they were rushing +blindly into the arms of the ambush! A shriek of warning left +Nathaniel's lips. It was drowned in a crash of rifle fire. Volley +after volley burst from that shadowy stretch of plain. Before the +furious fire the van of the mainlanders crumpled into ruin. Like +chaff before a wind those behind were swept back. Apparently they +were flying without waiting to fire a shot! Nathaniel dashed down +into the plain. Ahead of him the Mormons were charging in a solid +line, and in another moment the shore had become a mass of fighting +men. Far to the left he saw a group of the mainlanders running +along the beach toward the conflict. If he could only intercept +them—and bring them into the rear! Like the wind he sped to +cut them off, shouting and firing his pistol.</p> + +<p>He won by a hundred yards and stood panting as they came toward +him. Dawn had dispelled the mist-gloom and as the mainlanders drew +nearer he discerned in their lead a figure that brought a cry of +joy from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Neil!" he shouted. "Neil—"</p> + +<p>He turned as Marion's brother darted to his side.</p> + +<p>"This way—from behind!"</p> + +<p>The two led the way, side by side, followed by a dozen men. A +glance told Nathaniel that nothing much less than a miracle could +turn the tide of battle. Half of the mainlanders were fighting in +the water. Others were struggling desperately to get away in the +boats. Foot by foot the Mormons were crushing them back, their +battle cries now turned into demoniac yells of victory. Into the +rear of the struggling mass, firing as they ran, charged the +handful of men behind Captain Plum and Neil. For a little space the +king's men gave way before them and with wild cheers the powerful +fishermen from the coast fought their way toward their comrades. +Many of them were armed with long knives; some had pistols; others +used their empty rifles as clubs. A dozen more men and they would +have split like a wedge through the Mormon mass. Above the din of +battle Nathaniel's voice rose in thundering shouts to the men in +the sea, and close beside him he heard Neil shrieking out a name +between his blows. Like demons they fought straight ahead, slashing +with their knives. The Mormon line was thinning. The mainlanders +had turned and were fighting their way back, gaining foot by foot +what they had lost. Suddenly there came a terrific cheer from the +plain and the hope that had flamed in Nathaniel's breast died out +as he heard it. He knew what it meant—that the Mormons at St. +James had come to reinforce their comrades. He fought now to reach +the boats, calling to Neil, whom he could no longer see. Even in +that moment he thought of Marion. His only chance was to escape +with the others, his only hope of wresting her from the kingdom lay +in his own freedom. He had waited too long. A crushing blow fell +upon him from behind and with a last cry to Neil he sank under the +trampling feet. Indistinctly there came to him the surging shock of +the fresh body of Mormons. The din about him became fainter and +fainter as though he was being carried rapidly away from it; +shouting voices came to him in whispers, and deadened sounds, like +the quick tapping of a finger on his forehead, were all that he +heard of the steady rifle fire that pursued the defeated +mainlanders in their flight.</p> + +<p>After a little he began struggling back into consciousness. +There was a splitting pain somewhere in his head and he tried to +reach his hand to it.</p> + +<p>"You won't have to carry him," he heard a voice say. "Give him a +little water and he'll walk."</p> + +<p>He felt the dash of the water in his face and it put new life +into him. Somebody had raised him to a sitting posture and was +supporting him there while a second person bound a cloth about his +head. He opened his eyes and the light of day shot into them like a +stinging, burning charge of needle-points, and he closed them again +with a sharp cry of pain. That second's glance had shown him that +it was a woman who was binding his head. He had not seen her face. +Beyond her he had caught a half formed vision of many people and +the glistening edge of the sea, and as he lay with closed eyes the +murmur of voices came to him. The support at his back was taken +away, slowly, as if the person who held him feared that he would +fall. Nathaniel stiffened himself to show his returning strength +and opened his eyes again. This time the pain was not so great. A +few yards away he saw a group of people and among them were women; +still farther away, so far that his brain grew dizzy as he looked, +there was a black moving crowd. He was among the wounded. The +Mormon women were here. Down there along the shore—among the +dead—had assembled the population of St. James.</p> + +<p>A strange sickness overpowered him and he sank back against his +supporter. A cool hand passed over his face. It was a soothing, +gentle touch—the hand of the woman. He felt the sweep of soft +hair against his cheek—a breath whispering in his ear.</p> + +<p>"You will be better soon."</p> + +<p>His heart stood still.</p> + +<p>"You will be better—"</p> + +<p>Against his rough cheek there fell the soft pressure of a +woman's lips.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel pulled himself erect, every drop of blood in him +striving for the mastery of his body, his vision, his strength. He +tried to turn, but strong arms seized him from behind. A man's +voice spoke to him, a man's strength held him. In an agony of +appeal Marion's name burst from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-!" warned the voice behind him. "Are you crazy?"</p> + +<p>The arms relaxed their hold and Nathaniel dragged himself to his +knees. The woman was gone. As far as he could see there were +people—scores of them, hundreds of them—multiplied into +thousands and millions as he looked, until there was only a black +cloud about him. He staggered to his feet and a strong hand kept +him from falling while his brain slowly cleared. The millions and +thousands and hundreds of people dissolved themselves into the day +until only a handful was left where he had seen multitudes. He +turned his face weakly to the man beside him.</p> + +<p>"Where did she go?" he asked.</p> + +<p>It was a boyish face into which his pleading eyes gazed, a face +white with the strain of battle, reddened a little on one cheek +with a smear of blood, and there was a startled, frightened look in +it that did not come of the strife that had passed.</p> + +<p>"Who? What are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"The woman," whispered Nathaniel. "The +woman—Marion—who kissed—me—"</p> + +<p>The young fellow's hand gripped his arm in a sudden fierce +clutch.</p> + +<p>"You've been dreaming!" he exclaimed in a threatening voice. +"Shut up!" He spoke the words loudly. Then quickly dropping his +voice to a whisper he added, "For God's sake don't betray her! They +saw her with us—everybody knows that it was the king's wife +with you!"</p> + +<p>The king's wife! Nathaniel was too weak to analyze the words +beyond the fact that they carried the dread truth of his fears deep +into his soul. Who would have come to him but Marion? Who else +would have kissed him? It was her voice that had whispered in his +ear—the thrill of her hand that had passed over his face. And +this man had said that she was the wife of the king! He heard the +voices of other men near him but did not understand what they were +saying. He knew that after a moment there was a man on each side of +him holding him by the arms, and mechanically he moved his legs, +knowing that they wanted him to walk. They did not guess how weak +he was—how he struggled to keep from becoming too great a +weight on their hands. Once or twice they stopped in their +agonizing climb up the hill. On its top the cool sea air swept into +Nathaniel's face and it was like water to a parched throat.</p> + +<p>After a time—it seemed a day of terrible work and pain to +him—they came to the streets of the town, and in a half +conscious sort of way he cursed at the rabble trailing at their +heels. They passed close to the temple, dirt and blood and a +burning torment shutting the vision of it from his eyes, and beyond +this there was another crowd. An aisle opened for them, as it had +opened for others ahead of them. In front of the jail they stopped. +Nathaniel's head hung heavily upon his breast and he made no effort +to raise it. All ambition and desire had left him, all desire but +one, and that was to drop upon the ground and lie there for +endless, restful years. What consciousness was left in him was +ebbing swiftly; he saw black, fathomless night about him and the +earth seemed slipping from under his feet.</p> + +<p>A voice dragged him back into life—a voice that boomed in +his ears like rolling thunder and set every fiber in him quivering +with emotion. He drew himself erect with the involuntary strength +of one mastering the last spasm of death and as they dragged him +through the door he saw there within an arm's reach of him the +great, living face of Strang, gloating at him as if from out of a +mist—red eyed, white fanged, filled with the vengefulness of +a beast.</p> + +<p>The great voice rumbled in his ears again.</p> + +<p>"Take that man to the dungeon!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<center>WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH</center> + +<p>The voice—the condemning words—followed Nathaniel as +he staggered on between his two guards; it haunted him still as the +cold chill of the rotting dungeon walls struck in his face; it +remained with him as he stood swaying alone in the thick +gloom—the voice rumbling in his ears, the words beating +against his brain until the shock of them sickened him, until he +stretched out his arms and there fell from him such a cry as had +never tortured his lips before.</p> + +<p>Strang was alive! He had left the spark of life in him, and the +woman who loved him had fanned it back into full flame.</p> + +<p>Strang was alive! And Marion—Marion was his wife!</p> + +<p>The voice of the king taunted him from the black chaos that hid +the dungeon walls. The words struck at him, filling his head with +shooting pain, and he tottered back and sank to the ground to get +away from them. They followed, and that vengeful leer of the king +was behind them, urging them on, until they beat his face into the +sticky earth, and smothered him into what he thought was death.</p> + +<p>There came rest after that, a long silent rest. When Nathaniel +slowly climbed up out of the ebon shadows again the first +consciousness that came to him was that the word-demons had stopped +their beating against his brain and that he no longer heard the +voice of the king. His relief was so great that he breathed a +restful sigh. Something touched him then. Great God! were they +coming back? Were they still +there—waiting—waiting—</p> + +<p>It was a wonderfully familiar voice that spoke to him.</p> + +<p>"Hello there, Nat! Want a drink?"</p> + +<p>He gulped eagerly at the cool liquid that touched his lips.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"It's me, Nat. They chucked me in with you. Hell's hole, isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel sat up, Neil's strong arm at his back. There was a +light in the room now and he could see his companion's face, +smiling at him encouragingly. The sight of it was like an elixir to +him. He drank again and new life coursed through him.</p> + +<p>"Yes—hell of a hole!" he repeated drowsily. "Sorry for +you—Neil—" and he seemed to sleep again.</p> + +<p>Neil laughed as he wiped his companion's face with a wet +cloth.</p> + +<p>"I'm used to it, Nat. Been here before," he said. "Can you get +up? There's a bench over here—not long enough to stretch you +out on or I would have made you a bed of it, but it's better than +this mud to sit on."</p> + +<p>He put his arms about Nathaniel and helped him to his feet. For +a few moments the wounded man stood without moving.</p> + +<p>"I'm not very bad, I guess," he said, taking a slow step. "Where +is the seat, Neil? I'm going to walk to it. What sort of a bump +have I got on the head?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," assured Neil. "Suspicious, though," he grinned +cheerfully. "Looks as though you were running and somebody came up +and tapped you from behind!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's strength returned to him quickly. The pain had gone +from his head and his eyes no longer hurt him. In the dim +candle-light he could distinguish the four walls of the dungeon, +glistening with the water and mold that reeked from between their +rotting logs. The floor was of wet, sticky earth which clung to his +boots, and the air that he breathed filled his nostrils and throat +with the uncomfortable thickness of a night fog at sea. Through it +the candle burned in a misty halo. Near the candle, which stood on +a shelf-like table against one of the walls, was a big dish which +caught Nathaniel's eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" he asked pointing toward it.</p> + +<p>"Grub," replied Neil. "Hungry?"</p> + +<p>He went to the table and got the plate of food. There were +chunks of boiled meat, unbuttered bread, and cold potatoes. For +several minutes they ate in silence. Now that Nathaniel was himself +again Neil could no longer keep up his forced spirits. Both +realized that they had played their game and that it had ended in +defeat. And each believed that it was in his individual power to +alleviate to some extent the other's misery. To Neil what was ahead +of them held no mystery. A few hours more and then—death. It +was only the form in which it would come that troubled him, that +made him think. Usually the victims of this dungeon cell were shot. +Sometimes they were hanged. But why tell Nathaniel? So he ate his +meat and bread without words, waiting for the other to speak, as +the other waited for him. And Nathaniel, on his part, kept to +himself the secret of Marion's fate. After they had done with the +meat and the bread and the cold potatoes he pulled out his beloved +pipe and filled it with the last scraps of his tobacco, and as the +fumes of it clouded round his head, soothing him in its old +friendship, he told of his fight with Strang and his killing of +Arbor Croche.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad for Winnsome's sake," said Neil, after a moment. "Oh, +if you'd only killed Strang!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thought of what Marion had said to him in the +forest.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he said quietly, "do you know that Winnsome loves +you—not as the little girl whom you toted about on your +shoulders—but as a woman? Do you know that?" In the other's +silence he added, "When I last saw Marion she sent this message to +you—'Tell Neil that he must go, for Winnsome's sake. Tell him +that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine—tell him that +Winnsome loves him and that she will escape and come to him on the +mainland.'" Like words of fire they had burned themselves in his +brain and as Nathaniel repeated them he thought of that other +broken heart that had sobbed out its anguish to him in the castle +chamber. "Neil, a man can die easier when he knows that a woman +loves him!"</p> + +<p>He had risen to his feet and was walking back and forth through +the thick gloom.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad!" Neil's voice came to him softly, as though he +scarcely dared to speak the words aloud. After a moment he added, +"Have you got a pencil, Nat? I would like to leave a little note +for Winnsome."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel found both pencil and paper in one of his pockets and +Neil dropped upon his knees in the mud beside the table. Ten +minutes later he turned to Nathaniel and a great change had come +into his face.</p> + +<p>"She always seemed like such a little child to me that I never +dared—to—tell her," he faltered. "I've done it in +this."</p> + +<p>"How will you get the note to her?"</p> + +<p>"I know the jailer. Perhaps when he comes to bring us our dinner +I can persuade him to send it to her."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thrust his hands into his pockets. His fingers dug +into Obadiah's gold.</p> + +<p>"Would this help?" he asked.</p> + +<p>He brought out a shimmering handful of it and counted the pieces +upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Two hundred dollars—if he will deliver that note," he +said.</p> + +<p>Neil stared at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>"If he won't take it for that—I've got more. I'll go a +thousand!"</p> + +<p>Neil stood silent, wondering if his companion was mad. Nathaniel +saw the look in his face and his own flushed with sudden +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Don't you understand?" he cried. "That note means Heaven or +hell for Winnsome—it means life—her whole future! And +you know what this cell means for us," he said more calmly. "It +means that we're at the end of our rope, that the game is up, that +neither of us will ever see Marion or Winnsome again. That note is +the last word in life from us—from you. It's a dying prayer. +Tell Winnsome your love, tell her that it is your last wish that +she go out into the big, free world—away from this hell-hole, +away from Strang, away from the Mormons, and live as other women +live! And commanded by your love—she will go!"</p> + +<p>"I've told her that!" breathed Neil.</p> + +<p>"I knew you would!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel threw another handful of gold on the table.</p> + +<p>"Five hundred!" he exclaimed. "It's cheap enough for a woman's +soul!"</p> + +<p>He motioned for Neil to put the money in his pocket. The pain +was coming back into his head, he grew dizzy, and hastened to the +bench. Neil came and sat beside him.</p> + +<p>"So you think it's the end?" he asked. He was glad that his +companion had guessed the truth.</p> + +<p>"Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>There was a minute's dark silence. The ticking of Nathaniel's +watch sounded like the tapping of a stick.</p> + +<p>"What will happen?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But whatever it may be it will come to us soon. +Usually it happens at night."</p> + +<p>"There is no hope?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely none. The whole mainland is at the mercy of Strang. +He fears no retribution now, no punishment for his crimes, no hand +stronger than his own. He will not even give us the pretense of a +hearing. I am a traitor, a revolutionist—you have attempted +the life of the king. We are both condemned—both doomed."</p> + +<p>Neil spoke calmly and his companion strove to master the +terrible pain at his heart as he thought of Marion. If Neil could +go to the end like a martyr he would at least make an attempt to do +as much. Yet he could not help from saying:</p> + +<p>"What will become of Marion?"</p> + +<p>He felt the tremor that passed through his companion's body.</p> + +<p>"I have implored Winnsome to do all that she can to get her +away," replied Neil. "If Marion won't go—" He clenched his +hands with a moaning curse and sprang to his feet, again pacing +back and forth through the gloomy dungeon. "If she won't go I swear +that Strang's triumph will be short!" he cried suddenly. "I can not +guess the terrible power that the king possesses over her, but I +know that once his wife she will not endure it long. The moment she +becomes that, her bondage is broken. I know it. I have seen it in +her eyes. She will kill herself!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose slowly from the bench and came to his side.</p> + +<p>"She won't do that!" he groaned. "My God—she won't do +that!"</p> + +<p>Neil's face was blanched to the whiteness of paper.</p> + +<p>"She will," he repeated quietly. "Her terrible pact with Strang +will have been fulfilled. And I—I am +glad—glad—"</p> + +<p>He raised his arms to the dripping blackness of the dungeon +ceiling, his voice shaking with a cold, stifled anguish. Nathaniel +drew back from that tall, straight figure, step by step, as though +to hide beyond the flickering candle glow the betrayal that had +come into his face, the blazing fire that seemed burning out his +eyes. If what Neil had said was true—</p> + +<p>Something choked him as he dropped alone upon the bench.</p> + +<p>If it was true—Marion was dead!</p> + +<p>He dropped his head in his hands and sat for a long time in +silence, listening to Neil as he walked tirelessly over the muddy +earth. Not until there came a rattling of the chain at the cell +door and a creaking of the rusty hinges did he lift his face. It +was the jailer with a huge armful of straw. He saw Neil approach +him after he had thrown it down. Their low voices came to him in an +indistinct murmur. After a little he caught the sound of the +chinking gold pieces.</p> + +<p>Neil came and sat down beside him as the heavy door closed upon +them again.</p> + +<p>"He took it," he whispered exultantly. "He will deliver it this +morning. If possible he will bring us an answer. I kept out a +hundred and told him that a reply would be worth that to him."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel did not speak, and after a moment's silence Neil +continued.</p> + +<p>"The jury is assembling. We will know our fate very soon."</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet, his words quivering with nervous +excitement, and Nathaniel heard him kicking about in the straw. In +another breath his voice hissed through the gloom in a sharp, +startled command:</p> + +<p>"Good God, Nat, come here!"</p> + +<p>Something in the strange fierceness of Neil's words startled +Nathaniel, like the thrilling twinges of an electric shock. He +darted across the cell and found Marion's brother with his shoulder +against the door.</p> + +<p>"It's open!" he whispered. "The door—is—open!"</p> + +<p>The hinges creaked under his weight. A current of air struck +them in the face. Another instant and they stood in the corridor, +listening, crushing back the breath in their lungs, not daring to +speak. Only the drip of water came to their ears. Gently Neil drew +his companion back into the cell.</p> + +<p>"There's a chance—one chance in ten thousand!" he +whispered. "At the end of this corridor there is a door—the +jailer's door. If that's not locked, we can make a run for it! I'd +rather die fighting—than here!"</p> + +<p>He slipped out again, pressing Nathaniel back.</p> + +<p>"Wait for me!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel heard him stealing slowly through the blackness. A +minute later he returned.</p> + +<p>"Locked!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>In the opposite direction a ray of light caught Nathaniel's +eye.</p> + +<p>"Where does that light come from?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Through a hole about as big as your two hands. It was made for +a stove pipe. If we were up there we could see into the jury +room."</p> + +<p>They moved quietly down the corridor until they stood under the +aperture, which was four or five feet above their heads. Through it +they could hear the sound of voices but could not distinguish the +words that were being spoken.</p> + +<p>"The jury," explained Neil. "They're in a devil of a hurry! I +wonder why?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel could feel his companion shrug himself in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>"Lord—for my revolver!" he whispered excitedly. "One shot +through that hole would be worth a thousand notes to the girls!" He +caught Marion's brother by the arm as a voice louder than the +others came to them.</p> + +<p>"Strang!"</p> + +<p>"Yes—the—king!" affirmed Neil laying an +expostulating hand on him. "Hush!"</p> + +<p>"I would like to see—"</p> + +<p>Even in these last hours of failure and defeat the fire of +adventure flamed up in Nathaniel's blood. He felt his nerves +leaping again to action, his arms grew tense with new +ambition—almost he forgot that death had him cornered and was +already preparing to strike him down. Another thought replaced all +fear of this. A few feet beyond that log wall were gathered the men +whose bloodthirsty deeds had written for them one of the reddest +pages in history—men who had burned their souls out in the +destruction of human lives, whose passions and loves and hatreds +carried with them life and death; men who had bathed themselves in +blood and lived in blood until the people of the mainland called +them "the leeches."</p> + +<p>"The Mormon jury!" Nathaniel spoke the words scarcely above his +breath.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to take a look through that hole, Neil," he added.</p> + +<p>"Easy enough—if you keep quiet. Here!" He doubled himself +against the wall. "Climb up on my shoulders."</p> + +<p>No sooner had Nathaniel's face come to a level with the hole +than a soft cry of astonishment escaped him. Neil whispered +hoarsely but he did not reply. He was looking into a room twice as +large as the dungeon cell and lighted by narrow windows whose lower +panes were on a level with the ground outside. At the farther end +of the room, in full view, was a platform raised several feet from +the main floor. On this platform were seated ten men, immovable as +statues, every face gazing straight ahead. Directly in front of +them, on the lower floor, stood the Mormon king, and at his side, +partly held in the embrace of one of his arms was Winnsome!</p> + +<p>Strang's voice came to him in a low, solemn monotone, its +rumbling depth drowning the words he was speaking, and as Nathaniel +saw him lift his arm from about the girl's shoulders and place his +great hand upon her head he dug his own fingers fiercely into the +rotting logs and an imprecation burned in his breath. He did not +need to hear what the king was saying. It was a pantomime in which +every gesture was understandable. But even Neil, huddled against +the wall, heard the last words of the prophet as they thundered +forth in sudden passion.</p> + +<p>"Winnsome Croche demands the death of her father's +murderer!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt his companion's shoulders sinking under his +weight and he leaped quickly to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Winnsome is there!" he panted desperately. "Do you want to see +her?"</p> + +<p>Neil hesitated.</p> + +<p>"No. Your boots gouge my shoulder. Take them off."</p> + +<p>The scene had changed when Nathaniel took his position again. +The jury had left its platform and was filing through a small door. +Winnsome and the king were along.</p> + +<p>The girl had turned from him. She was deathly pale and yet she +was wondrously beautiful, so beautiful that Nathaniel's breath came +in quick dread as the king approached her. He could see the triumph +in his eyes, a terrible eagerness in his face. He seized Winnsome's +hand and spoke to her in a soft, low voice, so low that it came to +Nathaniel only in a murmur. Then, in a moment, he began stroking +the shimmering glory of her hair, caressing the silken curls +between his fingers until the blood seemed as if it must burst, +like hot sweat from Nathaniel's face. Suddenly Winnsome drew back +from him, the pallor gone from her face, her eyes blazing like +angry stars. She had retreated but a step when the prophet sprang +to her and caught her in his arms, straining her to him until the +scream on her lips was choked to a gasping cry. In answer to that +cry a yell of rage hurled itself from Nathaniel's throat.</p> + +<p>"Stop, you hell-hound!" he cried threateningly. "Stop!"</p> + +<p>He shrieked the words again and again, maddened beyond control, +and the Mormon king, whose self-possession was more that of devil +than man, still held the struggling girl in his arms as he turned +his head toward the voice and saw Nathaniel's long arm and knotted +fist threatening him through the hole in the wall. Then Neil's name +in a piercing scream resounded through the dungeon corridor and in +response to it the man under Nathaniel straightened himself so +quickly that his companion fell back to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Great God! what is the matter, Nat? Quick! let me up!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel staggered to his feet, the breath half gone out of his +body, and in another instant Neil was at the opening. The great +room into which he looked was empty.</p> + +<p>"What was it?" he cried, leaping down. "What were they doing +with Winnsome?"</p> + +<p>"It was the king," said Nathaniel, struggling to master himself. +"The king put his arms around Winnsome and—she struck +him!"</p> + +<p>"That was all?"</p> + +<p>"He kissed her as she fought—and I yelled."</p> + +<p>"She struck him!" Neil cried. "God bless little Winnsome, Nat! +and—God bless her!"</p> + +<p>Neil's breath came fast as he caught the other's hand.</p> + +<p>"I'd give my life if I could help you—and Marion!"</p> + +<p>"We'll give them together," said Nathaniel coolly, turning down +the corridor. "Here's our chance. They'll come through that door to +relock us in our cell. Shall we die fighting?"</p> + +<p>He was groping about in the mud of the floor for some +object.</p> + +<p>"If we had a couple of stones—"</p> + +<p>"It would be madness—worse than madness!" interposed Neil, +steadying himself. "There will be a dozen rifles at that door when +they open it. We must return to the cell. It is worth dying a +harder death to hear from Marion and Winnsome. And we will hear +from them before night!"</p> + +<p>They retreated into the dungeon. A few minutes later the door +opened cautiously at the head of the corridor. A light blazed +through the blackness and after an interval of silence the jailer +made his appearance in front of the cell, a pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Jeekum," said Neil reassuringly. "You forgot +the door and we've been having a little fun with the jury. That's +all!"</p> + +<p>The nervous whiteness left Jeekum's face at this cheerful report +and he was about to close the door when Nathaniel exhibited a +handful of gold pieces in the candle-light and frantically beckoned +the man to come in. The jailer's eyes glittered understandingly and +with a backward glance down the lighted corridor he thrust his head +and shoulders inside.</p> + +<p>"Five hundred dollars for that note!" he whispered. "Five +hundred beside the four you've got!"</p> + +<p>"Jeekum's a fool!" said Neil, as the door closed on them. "I +feel sorry for him."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because he is accepting the money. Don't you suppose that you +have been searched? Of course you have—probably before I +came, while you were half dead on the floor. Somebody knows that +you have the gold."</p> + +<p>"Why hasn't it been taken?"</p> + +<p>For a full minute Neil made no answer. And his answer, when it +did come, first of all was a laugh.</p> + +<p>"By George, that's good!" he cried exultingly. "Of course you +were searched—and by Jeekum! He knows, but he hasn't made a +report of it to Strang because he believes that in some way he will +get hold of the money. He is taking a big risk—but he's +winning! I wonder what his first scheme was?"</p> + +<p>"Thought I'd bury it, perhaps," vouchsafed Nathaniel, throwing +himself upon the straw. "There's room for two here, Neil."</p> + +<p>A long silence fell between them. The action during the last few +minutes had been too great an effort for Nathaniel and his wound +troubled him again. As the pain and his terrible thoughts of +Marion's fate returned to him he regretted that they had not ended +it all in one last fight at the door. There, at least, they might +have died like men instead of waiting to be shot down like dogs, +their hands bound behind them, their breasts naked to the Mormon +rifles. He did not fear death. In more than one game he had played +against its hand, more often for love of the sport than not, but +there was a horror in being penned up and tortured by it. He had +come to look upon it as a fair enemy, filled of course with +subterfuge and treachery, which were the laws of the game; but he +had never dreamed of it as anything but merciful in its quickness. +It was as if his adversary had broken an inviolable pact with him +and he sweated and tossed on his bed of straw while Neil sat cool +and silent on the bench against the dungeon wall. Sheer exhaustion +brought him relief, and after a time he fell asleep.</p> + +<p>He was awakened by Neil. The white face of Marion's brother was +over him when he opened his eyes and he was shaking him roughly by +the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Wake up, Nat!" he cried. "For Heaven's sake—wake up!"</p> + +<p>He drew back as Nathaniel sleepily roused himself.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it, Nat," he apologized, laughing nervously. +"You've lain there like a dead man for hours. My head is splitting +with this damned silence. Come—smoke up! I got some tobacco +from our jailer and he loaned me his pipe."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel jumped to his feet. A fresh candle was burning on the +table and in its light he saw that a startling change had come into +Neil's face during the hours he had slept. It looked to him thinner +and whiter, its lines had deepened, and the young man's eyes were +filled with gloomy dejection.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you awaken me sooner?" he exclaimed. "I deserve a +good drubbing for leaving you alone here!" He saw fresh food on the +table. "It's late—" he began.</p> + +<p>"That is our dinner and supper," interrupted Neil. He held his +watch close to the candle. "Half past eight!"</p> + +<p>"And no word—from—"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>The two men looked deeply into each other's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Jeekum delivered my note to her at noon when he was relieved," +said Neil. "He did not carry it personally but swears that he saw +her receive it. He sent her word that he would call at a certain +place for a reply when he was relieved again at five. There was no +reply for him—not a word from Winnsome."</p> + +<p>Their silence was painful. It was Nathaniel who spoke first, +hesitatingly, as though afraid to say what was passing in his +mind.</p> + +<p>"I killed Winnsome's father, Neil," he said, "and Winnsome has +demanded my death. I know that I am condemned to die. But +you—" His eyes flashed sudden fire. "How do you know that my +fate is to be yours? I begin to see the truth. Winnsome has not +answered your note because she knows that you are to live and that +she will see you soon. Between Winnsome and—Marion you will +be saved!"</p> + +<p>Neil had taken a piece of meat and was eating it as though he +had not heard his companion's words.</p> + +<p>"Help yourself, Nat. It's our last opportunity."</p> + +<p>"You don't believe—"</p> + +<p>"No. Lord, man, do you suppose that Strang is going to let me +live to kill him?"</p> + +<p>Somebody was fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door.</p> + +<p>The two men stared as it opened slowly and Jeekum appeared. The +jailer was highly excited.</p> + +<p>"I've got word—but no note!" he whispered hoarsely. +"Quick! Is it worth—"</p> + +<p>"Yes! Yes!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel dug the gold pieces out of his pockets and dropped +them into the jailer's outstretched hand.</p> + +<p>"I've had my boy watching Winnsome Croche's house," continued +the sheriff, white with the knowledge of the risk he was taking. +"An hour ago Winnsome came out of the house and went into the +woods. My boy followed. She ran to the lake, got into a skiff, and +rowed straight out to sea. She is following your instructions!"</p> + +<p>In his excitement he betrayed himself. He had read the note.</p> + +<p>There came a sound up the corridor, the opening of a door, the +echo of voices, and Jeekum leaped back. Nathaniel's foot held the +cell door from closing.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he cried softly, his heart standing still +with dread. "Great God—what about Marion?"</p> + +<p>For an instant the sheriff's ghastly face was pressed against +the opening.</p> + +<p>"Marion has not been seen since morning. The king's officers are +searching for her."</p> + +<p>The door slammed, the chains clanked loudly, and above the sound +of Jeekum's departure Neil's voice rose in a muffled cry of +joy.</p> + +<p>"They are gone! They are leaving the island!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stood like one turned into stone. His heart grew cold +within him. When he spoke his words were passionless echoes of what +had been.</p> + +<p>"You are sure that Marion would kill herself as soon as she +became the wife of Strang?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes—before his vile hands touched more than the dress she +wore!" shouted Neil.</p> + +<p>"Then Marion is dead," replied Nathaniel, as coldly as though he +were talking to the walls about him. "For last night Marion was +forced into the harem of the king."</p> + +<p>As he revealed the secret whose torture he meant to keep +imprisoned in his own breast he dropped upon the pallet of straw +and buried his face between his arms, cursing himself that he had +weakened in these last hours of their comradeship.</p> + +<p>He dared not look to see the effect of his words on Neil. His +companion uttered no sound. Instead there was a silence that was +terrifying.</p> + +<p>At the end of it Neil spoke in a voice so strangely calm that +Nathaniel sat up and stared at him through the gloom.</p> + +<p>"I believe they are coming after us, Nat. Listen!"</p> + +<p>The tread of many feet came to them faintly from beyond the +corridor wall.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had risen. They drew close together, and their hands +clasped.</p> + +<p>"Whatever it may be," whispered Neil, "may God have mercy on our +souls!"</p> + +<p>"Amen!" breathed Captain Plum.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<center>"THE STRAIGHT DEATH"</center> + +<p>Hands were fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door.</p> + +<p>It opened and Jeekum's ashen face shone in the candle-light. For +a moment his frightened eyes rested on the two men still standing +in their last embrace of friendship. A word of betrayal from them +and he knew that his own doom was sealed.</p> + +<p>He came in, followed by four men. One of them was MacDougall, +the king's whipper. In the corridor were other faces, like ghostly +shadows in the darkness. Only MacDougall's face was uncovered. The +others were hidden behind white masks. The men uttered no sound but +ranged themselves like specters in front of the door, their cocked +rifles swung into the crooks of their arms. There was a triumphant +leer on MacDougall's lips as he and the jailer approached. As the +whipper bound Neil's hands behind his back he hissed in his +ear.</p> + +<p>"This will be a better job than the whipping, damn you!"</p> + +<p>Neil laughed.</p> + +<p>"Hear that, Nat?" he asked, loud enough for all in the cell to +hear. "MacDougall says this will be a better job than the whipping. +He remembers how I thrashed him once when he said something to +Marion one day."</p> + +<p>Neil was as cool as though acting his part in a play. His face +was flushed, his eyes gleamed fearlessly defiant. And Nathaniel, +looking upon the courage of this man, from under whose feet had +been swept all hope of life, felt a twinge of shame at his own +nervousness. MacDougall grew black with passion at the taunting +reminder of his humiliation and tightened the thongs about Neil's +wrists until they cut into the flesh.</p> + +<p>"That's enough, you coward!" exclaimed</p> + +<p>Nathaniel, as he saw the blood start. "Here—take +this!"</p> + +<p>Like lightning he struck out and his fist fell with crushing +force against the side of the man's head. MacDougall toppled back +with a hollow groan, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. +Nathaniel turned coolly to the four rifles leveled at his +breast.</p> + +<p>"A pretty puppet to do the king's commands!" he cried. "If +there's a man among you let him finish the work!"</p> + +<p>Jeekum had fallen upon his knees beside the whipper.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" he shrieked. "You've killed, him! You've stove in +the side of his head!"</p> + +<p>There was a sudden commotion in the corridor. A terrible voice +boomed forth in a roar.</p> + +<p>"Let me in!"</p> + +<p>Strang stood in the door. He gave a single glance at the man +gasping and bleeding in the mud. Then he looked at Nathaniel. The +eyes of the two men met unflinching. There was no hatred now in the +prophet's face.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I would give a tenth of my kingdom for a brother +like you!" he said calmly. "Here—I will finish the work." He +went boldly to the task, and as he tied Nathaniel's arms behind him +he added, "The vicissitudes of war, Captain Plum. You are a +man—and can appreciate what they sometimes mean!"</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, gagged and bound, the prisoners fell behind +two of the armed guards and at a command from the king, given in a +low tone to Jeekum, marched through the corridor and up the short +flight of steps that led out of the jail. To Nathaniel's +astonishment there was no light to guide them. Candles and lights +had been extinguished. What words he heard were spoken in whispers. +In the deep shadow of the prison wall a third guard joined the two +ahead and like automatons they strode through the gloom with slow, +measured step, their rifles held with soldierly precision. +Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder and saw three other white +masked faces a dozen feet away. The king had remained behind.</p> + +<p>He shuddered and looked at Neil. His companion's appearance was +almost startling. He seemed half a head taller than himself, yet he +knew that he was shorter by an inch or two; his shoulders were +thrown back, his chin held high, he kept step with the guards +ahead. He was marching to his death as coolly as though on +parade.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's heart beat excitedly as they came to where the scrub +of the forest met the plain. They were taking the path that led to +Marion's! Again he looked at Neil. There was no change in the +fearless attitude of Marion's brother, no lowering of his head, no +faltering in his step. They passed the graves and entered the +opening in the forest where lay Marion's home, and as once more the +sweet odor of lilac came to him, awakening within his soul all +those things that he had tried to stifle that he might meet death +like a man, he felt himself weakening, until only the cloth about +his mouth restrained the moaning cry that forced itself to his +lips. If he had possessed a life to give he would have sacrificed +it gladly then for a word with the Mormon king, a last prayer that +death might be meted to him here, where eternity would come to him +with his glazing eyes fixed to the end upon the home of his +beloved, and where the sweetness of the flower that had become a +part of Marion herself might soothe the pain of his final moment on +earth.</p> + +<p>His heart leaped with hope as a sharp voice from the rear +commanded a halt. It was Jeekum. He came up out of the darkness +from behind the rear guard, his face still unmasked, and for a few +moments was in whispered consultation with the guards ahead. Had +Strang, in the virulence of that hatred which he concealed so well, +conceived of this spot to give added torment to death? It was the +poetry of vengeance! For the first time Neil turned toward his +companion. Each read what the other had guessed. Neil, who was +nearest to the whispering four, turned suddenly toward them and +listened. When he looked at Nathaniel again it was with a slow +negative shake of his head.</p> + +<p>Jeekum returned quickly and placed himself between them, seizing +each by an arm, and the forward guards, pivoting to the left, set +off at their steady pace across the clearing. As they entered the +denser gloom of the forest on the farther side Nathaniel felt the +jailer's fingers tighten about his arm, then relax—and +tighten again. A gentle pressure held him back and the guards in +front gained half a dozen feet. In a low voice Jeekum called for +those behind to fall a few paces to the rear.</p> + +<p>Then came again the mysterious working of the man's fingers on +Nathaniel's arm.</p> + +<p>Was Jeekum signaling to him?</p> + +<p>He could see Neil's white face still turned stoically to the +front. Evidently nothing had occurred to arouse his suspicions. If +the maneuvering of Jeekum's fingers meant anything it was intended +for him alone. Action had been the manna of his life. The +possibility of new adventure, even in the face of death, thrilled +him. He waited, breathless—and the strange pressure came +again, so hard that it hurt his flesh.</p> + +<p>There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The king's sheriff +wanted to speak to him.</p> + +<p>And he was afraid of the eyes and ears behind.</p> + +<p>The fingers were cautioning him to be ready—when the +opportunity came.</p> + +<p>The path widened and through the thin tree-tops above their +heads the starlight filtered down upon them. The leading guards +were twenty feet away. How far behind were the others?</p> + +<p>A moment more and they plunged into deep night again. The +figures ahead were mere shadows. Again the fingers dug into +Nathaniel's arm, and pressing close to the sheriff he bent down his +head.</p> + +<p>A low, quick whisper fell in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Don't give up hope! Marion—Winnsome—"</p> + +<p>The sheriff jerked himself erect without finishing. Hurried +footsteps had come close to their heels. The rear guards were so +near that they could have touched them with their guns. Had some +spot of lesser gloom ahead betrayed the prisoner's bowed head and +Jeekum's white face turned to it? There was a steady pressure on +Nathaniel's arm now, a warning, frightened pressure, and the hand +that made it trembled. Jeekum feared the worst—but his fear +was not greater than the chill of disappointment that came to +smother the excited beating of Nathaniel's heart. What had the +jailer meant to say? What did he know about Marion and Winnsome, +and why had he given birth to new hope in the same breath that he +mentioned their names?</p> + +<p>His words carried at least one conviction. Marion was alive +despite her brother's somber prophesies. If she had killed herself +the sheriff would not have coupled her name with Winnsome's in the +way he had.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's nerves were breaking with suspense. He stifled his +breath to listen, to catch the faintest whisper that might come to +him from the white faced man at his side. Each passing moment of +silence added to his desperation. He squeezed the sheriff's hand +with his arm, but there was no responding signal; in a patch of +thick gloom that almost concealed the figures ahead he pressed near +to him and lowered his head again—and Jeekum pushed him back +fiercely, with a low curse.</p> + +<p>They emerged from the forest and the clear starlight shone down +upon them. A little distance off lay the lake in shimmering +stillness. Nathaniel looked boldly at the sheriff now, and as his +glance passed beyond him he was amazed at the change that had come +over Neil. The young man's head was bowed heavily upon his breast, +his shoulders were hunched forward, and he walked with a listless, +uneven step. Was it possible that his magnificent courage had at +last given way?</p> + +<p>A hundred steps farther they came to the beach and Nathaniel saw +a boat at the water's edge with a single figure guarding it. +Straight to this Jeekum led his prisoners. For the first time he +spoke to them aloud.</p> + +<p>"One in front, the other in back," he said.</p> + +<p>For an instant Nathaniel found himself close beside Neil and he +prodded him sharply with his knee. His companion did not lift his +head. He made no sign, gave no last flashing comradeship with his +eyes, but climbed into the bow of the boat and sat down with his +chin still on his chest, like a man lost in stupor.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel followed him, scarcely believing his eyes, and sat +himself in the stern, leaning comfortably against the knees of the +man who took the tiller. He felt a curious thrill pass through him +when he discovered a moment later that this man was Jeekum. Two men +seized the oars amidships. A fourth, with his rifle across his +knees sat facing Neil.</p> + +<p>For the first time Nathaniel found himself wondering what this +voyage meant. Were they to be rowed far down the shore to some +secret fastness where no other ears would hear the sound of the +avenging rifles, and where, a few inches under the forest mold, +their bodies would never be discovered? Each stroke of the oars +added to the remoteness of this possibility. The boat was heading +straight out to sea. Perhaps they were to meet a less terrible +death by drowning, an end which, though altogether unpleasant, held +something comforting in it for Captain Plum. Two hours passed +without pause in the steady labor of the men at the oars. In those +hours not a word was spoken. The two men amidships held no +communication. The guard in the bow moved a little now and then +only to relieve his cramped limbs. Neil was absolutely motionless, +as though he had ceased to breathe. Jeekum uttered not a +whisper.</p> + +<p>It was his whisper that Nathaniel waited for, the signaling +clutch of his fingers, the sound of his breath close to his ears. +Again and again he pressed himself against the sheriff's knees. He +knew that he was understood, and yet there came no answer. At last +he looked up, and Jeekum's face was far above him, staring straight +and unseeing into the darkness ahead. His last spark of hope went +out.</p> + +<p>After a time a dark rim loomed slowly up out of the sea. It was +land, half a mile or so away. Nathaniel sat up with fresh interest, +and as they drew nearer Jeekum rose to his feet and gazed long and +steadily in both directions along the coast. When he returned to +his seat the boat's course was changed. A few minutes later the bow +grated upon sand. Still voiceless as specters the guards leaped +ashore and Neil roused himself to follow them, climbing over the +gunwale like a sick man. Nathaniel was close at his heels. With a +growing sense of horror he saw two ghostly stakes thrusting +themselves out of the beach a dozen paces away. He looked beyond +them. As far as he could see there was sand—nothing but sand, +as white as paper, scintillating in a billion flashing +needle-points in the starlight. Instinctively he guessed what the +stakes were for, and walked toward them with the blood turning cold +in his veins. Neil was before him and stopped at the first stake, +making no effort to lift his eyes as Nathaniel strode past him. At +the second, a dozen feet beyond, Nathaniel's two guards halted, and +placed him with his back to the post. Two minutes later, bound hand +and foot to the stake, he shifted his head so that he could look at +his companion.</p> + +<p>Neil was similarly fastened, with his face turned partly toward +him. There was no change in his attitude. His head hung weakly upon +his chest, as if he had fainted.</p> + +<p>What did it mean?</p> + +<p>Suddenly every nerve in Nathaniel's body leaped into excited +action.</p> + +<p>The guards were entering their boat! The last man was shoving it +off—they were rowing away! His throbbing muscles seemed ready +to burst their bonds. The boat became indistinct in the starry +gloom—a mere shadow—and faded in the distance. The +sound of oars became fainter and fainter. Then, after a little, +there was wafted back to him from far out in the lake a man's +voice—the wild snatch of a song. The Mormons were gone! They +were not to be shot! They were not—</p> + +<p>A voice spoke to him, startling him so that he would have cried +out if it had not been for the cloth that gagged him. It was Neil, +speaking coolly, laughingly.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Nat?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's staring eyes revealed his astonishment. He could see +Neil laughing at him as though it was an unusually humorous joke in +which they were playing a part.</p> + +<p>"Lord, but this is a funny mess!" he chuckled. "Here am I, able +and willing to talk—and there you are, as dumb as a mummy, +and looking for all the world as if you'd seen a ghost! What's the +matter? Aren't you glad we're not going to be shot?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel nodded.</p> + +<p>The other's voice became suddenly sober.</p> + +<p>"This is worse than the other, Nat. It's what we call the +'Straight Death.' Unless something turns up between now and +to-morrow morning, or a little later, we'll be as dead as though +they had filled us with bullets. Our only hope rests in the fact +that I can use my lungs. That's why I didn't let them know when my +gag became loose. I had the devil's own time keeping it from +falling with my chin; pretty near broke my neck doing it. A little +later, when we're sure Jeekum and his men are out of hearing, I'll +begin calling for help. Perhaps some fisherman or +hunter—"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and a chill ran up Nathaniel's back as he listened +to a weird howl that came from far behind them. It was a +blood-curdling sound and his face turned a more ghastly pallor as +he gazed inquiringly at Neil. His companion saw the terrible +question in his face.</p> + +<p>"Wolves," he said. "They're away back in the forest. They won't +come down to us." For a moment he was silent, his eyes turned to +the sea. Then he added, "Do you notice anything queer about the way +you're bound to that stake, Nat?"</p> + +<p>There was a thrilling emphasis in Nathaniel's answer. He nodded +his head affirmatively, again and again.</p> + +<p>"Your hands are tied to the post very loosely, with a slack of +say six inches," continued Neil with an appalling precision. "There +is a rawhide thong about your neck, wet, and so tight that it +chafes your skin when you move your head. But the very +uncomfortable thing just at this moment is the way your feet are +fastened. Isn't that so? Your legs are drawn back, so that you are +half resting on your toes, and I'm pretty sure your knees are +aching right now. Eh? Well, it won't be very long before your legs +will give way under you and the slack about your wrists will keep +you from helping yourself. Do you know what will happen then?"</p> + +<p>He paused and Nathaniel stared at him, partly understanding, yet +giving no sign.</p> + +<p>"You will hang upon the thong about your neck until you choke to +death," finished Neil. "That's the 'Straight Death.' If the end +doesn't come by morning the sun will finish the job. It will dry +out the wet rawhide until it grips your throat like a hand. +Poetically we call it the hand of Strang. Pleasant, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>The grim definiteness with which he described the manner of +their end added to those sensations which had already become +acutely discomforting to Nathaniel. Had he possessed the use of his +voice when the Mormons were leaving he would have called upon them +to return and lengthen the thongs about his ankles by an inch or +two. Now, with almost brutal frankness, Neil had explained to him +the meaning of his strange posture. His knees began to ache. An +occasional sharp pain shot up from them to his hips, and the thong +about his neck, which at first he had used as a support for his +chin, began to irritate him. At times he found himself resting upon +it so heavily that it shortened his breath, and he was compelled to +straighten himself, putting his whole weight on his twisted feet. +It seemed an hour before Neil broke the terrible silence again. +Perhaps it was ten minutes.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to begin," he said. "Listen. If you hear an answer +nod your head."</p> + +<p>He drew a deep breath, turned his face as far as he could toward +the shore, and shouted.</p> + +<p>"Help—help—help!"</p> + +<p>Again and again the thrilling words burst from his throat, and +as their echoes floated back to them from the forest, like a +thousand mocking voices, Nathaniel grew hot with the sweat of +horror. If he could only have added his own voice to those cries, +shrieked out the words with Neil—joined even unavailingly in +this last fight for life, it would not have been so bad. But he was +helpless. He watched the desperation grow in his companion's face +as there came no response save the taunting echoes; even in the +light of the stars he saw that face darken with its effort, the +eyes fill with a mad light, and the throat strain against its +choking thong. Gradually Neil's voice became weaker. When he +stopped to rest and listen his panting breath came to Nathaniel +like the hissing of steam. Soon the echoes failed to come back from +the forest, and Nathaniel fought like a crazed man to free himself, +jerking at the thongs that held him until his wrists were bleeding +and the rawhide about his neck choked him.</p> + +<p>"No use!" he heard Neil say. "Better take it easy for a while, +Nat!"</p> + +<p>Marion's brother had turned toward him, his head thrown back +against the stake, his face lifted to the sky. Nathaniel raised his +own head, and found that he could breath easier. For a long time +his companion did not break the silence. Mentally he began counting +off the seconds. It was past midnight—probably one o'clock. +Dawn came at half past two, the sun rose an hour later. Three hours +to live! Nathaniel lowered his head, and the rawhide tightened +perceptibly at the movement. Neil was watching him. His face shone +as white as the starlit sand. His mouth was partly open.</p> + +<p>"I'm devilish sorry—for you—Nat—" he said.</p> + +<p>His words came with painful slowness. There was a grating +huskiness in his voice.</p> + +<p>"This damned rawhide—is pinching—my Adam's +apple—"</p> + +<p>He smiled. His white teeth gleamed, his eyes laughed, and with a +heart bursting with grief Nathaniel looked away from him. He had +seen courage, but never like this, and deep down in his soul he +prayed—prayed that death might come to him first, so that he +might not have to look upon the agonies of this other, whose end +would be ghastly in its fearless resignation. His own suffering had +become excruciating. Sharp pains darted like red-hot needles +through his limbs, his back tortured him, and his head ached as +though a knife had cloven the base of his skull. Still—he +could breathe. By pressing his head against the post it was not +difficult for him to fill his lungs with air. But the strength of +his limbs was leaving him. He no longer felt any sensation in his +cramped feet. His knees were numb. He measured the paralysis of +death creeping up his legs inch by inch, driving the sharp pains +before it, until suddenly his weight tottered under him and he hung +heavily upon the thong about his throat. For a full half minute he +ceased to breathe, and a feeling of ineffable relief swept over +him, for during those few seconds his body was at rest. He found +that by a backward contortion he could bring himself erect again, +and that for a few minutes after each respite it was not so +difficult for him to stand.</p> + +<p>After a third effort he turned again toward Neil. A groan of +horror rose to his imprisoned lips. His companion's face was full +upon him, ghastly white; his eyes were wide and staring, like balls +of shimmering glass in the starlight, and his throat was straining +at the fatal rawhide! Nathaniel heard no sound, saw no stir of life +in the inanimate figure.</p> + +<p>A moaning, wordless cry broke through the cloth that gagged +him.</p> + +<p>At the sound of that cry, faint, terrifying, with all the horror +that might fill a human soul in its inarticulate note, a shudder of +life passed into Neil's body. Weakly he flung himself back, stood +poised for an instant against the stake, then fell again upon the +deadly thong. Twice—three times he made the effort, and +failed. And to Nathaniel, staring wild eyed and silent now, the +spectacle was one that seemed to blast the very soul within him and +send his blood in rushing torrents of fire to his sickened brain. +Neil was dying! A fourth time he struggled back. A fifth—and +he held his ground. Even in that passing instant something like a +flash of his buoyant smile flickered in his face and there came to +Nathaniel's ears like a throttled whisper—his name.</p> + +<p>"Nat—"</p> + +<p>And no more.</p> + +<p>The head fell forward again. And Nathaniel, turning his face +away, saw something come up out of the shimmering sea, like a +shadow before his blistering eyes, and as his own limbs went out +from under him and he felt the strangling death at his throat there +came from that shadow a cry that seemed to snap his very +heartstrings—a piercing cry and (even in his half +consciousness he recognized it) a woman's cry! He flung himself +back, and for a moment he saw Neil struggling, the last spark of +life in him stirred by that same cry; and then across the white +sand two figures flew madly toward them and even as the hot film in +his eyes grew thicker he knew that one of them was Marion, and that +the other was Winnsome Croche.</p> + +<p>His heart seemed to stop beating. He strove to pull himself +together, but his head fell forward. Faintly, as on a battlefield, +voices came to him, and when with a superhuman effort he +straightened himself for an instant he saw that Neil was no longer +at the stake but was stretched on the sand, and of the two figures +beside him one suddenly sprang to her feet and ran to him. And then +Marion's terror-filled face was close to his own, and Marion's lips +were moaning his name, and Marion's hands were slashing at the +thongs that bound him. When with a great sigh of joy he crumpled +down upon the earth he knew that he was slipping off into oblivion +with Marion's arms about his neck, and with her lips pressing to +his the sweet elixir of her love.</p> + +<p>Darkness enshrouded him but a few moments, when a dash of cool +water brought him back into light. He felt himself lowered upon the +sand and after a breath or two he twisted himself on his elbow and +saw that Neil's white face was held on Winnsome's breast and that +Marion was running up from the shore with more water. For a space +she knelt beside her brother, and then she hurried to him. Joy +shone in her face. She fell upon her knees and drew his head in the +hollow of her arm, crooning mad senseless words to him, and bathing +his face with water, her eyes shining down upon him gloriously. +Nathaniel reached up and touched her face, and she bowed her head +until her hair smothered him in sweet gloom, and kissed him. He +drew her lips to his own, and then she lowered him gently and stood +up in the starlight, looking first at Neil and next down at him; +and then she turned quickly back to the sea.</p> + +<p>From down near the shore she called back some word, and with a +shrill cry Winnsome followed her. Nathaniel struggled to his elbow, +to his knees—staggered to his feet. He saw the boat drifting +out into the night, and Winnsome standing alone at the water-edge, +her sobbing cries of entreaty, of terror, following it unanswered. +He tottered down toward her, gaining new strength at each step, but +when he reached her the boat was no longer to be seen and +Winnsome's face was whiter than the sands under her feet.</p> + +<p>"She is gone—gone—" she moaned, stretching out her +arms to him. "She is going—back to Strang!"</p> + +<p>And then, from far out in the white glory of the night, there +came back to him the voice of the girl he loved.</p> + +<p>"Good-by—Good-by—"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<center>MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE</center> + +<p>"Gone!" moaned Winnsome again. "She has +gone—back—to—Strang!"</p> + +<p>Neil was crawling to them like a wounded animal across the +sand.</p> + +<p>She started toward him but Nathaniel stopped her.</p> + +<p>"She is the king's—wife—"</p> + +<p>His throat was swollen so that he could hardly speak.</p> + +<p>"No. They are to be married to-night. Oh, I thought she was +going to stay!" She tore herself away from him to go to Neil, who +had fallen upon his face exhausted, a dozen yards away.</p> + +<p>In the wet sand, where the incoming waves lapped his hands and +feet, Nathaniel sank down, his eyes staring out into the shimmering +distance where Marion had gone. His brain was in a daze, and he +wondered if he had been stricken by some strange madness—if +this all was but some passing phantasm that would soon leave him +again to his misery and his despair. But the dash of the cold water +against him cleared away his doubt. Marion had come to him. She had +saved him from death. And now she was gone.</p> + +<p>And she was not the king's wife!</p> + +<p>He staggered to his feet again and plunged into the lake until +the water reached to his waist, calling her name, entreating her in +weak, half choked cries to come back to him. The water soaked +through to his hot, numb body, restoring his reason and strength, +and he buried his face in it and drank like one who had been near +to dying of thirst. Then he returned to Neil. Winnsome was holding +his head in her arms.</p> + +<p>He dropped upon his knees beside them and saw that life was +returning full and strong in Neil's face.</p> + +<p>"You will be able to walk in a few minutes," he said. "You and +Winnsome must leave here. We are on the mainland and if you follow +the shore northward you will come to the settlements. I am going +back for Marion."</p> + +<p>Neil made an effort to follow him as he rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—wait—"</p> + +<p>Winnsome held him back, frightened, tightening her arms about +him.</p> + +<p>"You must go with Winnsome," urged Nathaniel, seizing the hand +that Neil stretched up to him. "You must take her to the first +settlement up the coast. I will come back to you with Marion."</p> + +<p>He spoke confidently, as a man who sees his way open clearly +before him, and yet as he turned, half running, to the low black +shadow of the distant forest he knew that he was beginning a blind +fight against fate. If he could find a hunter's cabin, a +fisherman's shanty—a boat!</p> + +<p>Barely had he disappeared when a voice called to him. It was +Winnsome. The girl ran up to him holding something in her hand. It +was a pistol. "You may need it!" she exclaimed. "We brought +two!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel reached out hesitatingly, but not to take the weapon. +Gently, as though his touch was about to fall upon some fragile +flower, he drew the girl to him, took her beautiful face between +his two strong hands and gazed steadily and silently for a moment +into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"God bless you, little Winnsome!" he whispered. "I hope that +someday you will—forgive me."</p> + +<p>The girl understood him.</p> + +<p>"If I have anything to forgive—you are forgiven."</p> + +<p>The pistol dropped upon the sand, her hands stole to his +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I want you to take something to Marion for me," she whispered +softly. "This!"</p> + +<p>And she kissed him.</p> + +<p>Her eyes shone upon him like a benediction.</p> + +<p>"You have given me a new life, you have given me—Neil! My +prayers are with you."</p> + +<p>And kissing him again, she slipped away from under his hands +before he could speak.</p> + +<p>And Nathaniel, following her with his eyes until he could no +longer see her, picked up the pistol and set off again toward the +forest, the touch of her lips and the prayers of this girl whose +father he had slain filling him with something that was more than +strength, more than hope. Life had been given to him again, strong, +fighting life, and with it and Winnsome's words there returned his +old confidence, his old daring. There was everything for him to win +now. His doubts and his fears had been swept away. Marion was not +dead, she was not the king's wife—and it was not of another +that he had accepted proof of her love for him, for he had felt the +pressure of her arms about his neck and the warmth of her lips upon +his face. He had until night—and the dawn was just beginning +to break. Ten or fifteen miles to the north there were settlements, +and between there were scores of settlers' homes and fishermen's +shanties. Surely within an hour or two he would find a boat.</p> + +<p>He turned where the edge of the forest came down to meet the +white water-run of the sea, and set off at a slow, steady trot into +the north. If he could reach a boat soon he might overtake Marion +in mid-lake. The thought thrilled him, and urged him to greater +speed. As the stars faded away in the dawn he saw the dark barrier +of the forest drifting away, and later, when the light broke more +clearly, there stretched out ahead of him mile upon mile of desert +dunes. As far as he could see there was no hope of life. He slowed +his steps now, for he would need to preserve his strength. Yet he +experienced no fear, no loss of confidence. Each moment added to +his faith in himself. Before noon he would be on his way to the +Mormon kingdom, by nightfall he would be upon its shores. After +that—</p> + +<p>He examined the pistol that Winnsome had given him. There were +five shots in it and he smiled joyously as he saw that it had been +loaded by an experienced hand. It would be easy enough for him to +find Strang. He would not consider the woman—his wife. The +king's wife! Like a flash there occurred to him the incident of the +battlefield. Was it this woman—the woman who had begged him +to spare the life of the prophet, who had knelt beside him, and +whispered in his ear, and kissed him? Had that been her reward for +the sacrifice she believed he had made for her in the castle +chamber? The thought of this woman, whose beauty and love breathed +the sweet purity of a flower and whose faith to her king and master +was still unbroken even in her hour of repudiation fell upon him +heavily. For there was no choice, no shadow of alternative. There +was but one way for him to break the bondage of the girl he +loved.</p> + +<p>For hours he trod steadily through the sand. The sun rose above +him, hot and blistering, and the dunes still stretched out ahead of +him, like winnows and hills and mountains of glittering glass. +Gradually the desert became narrower. Far ahead he could see where +the forest came down to the shore and his heart grew lighter. Half +an hour later he entered the margin of trees. Almost immediately he +found signs of life. A tree had been felled and cut into wood. A +short distance beyond he came suddenly upon a narrow path, beaten +hard by the passing of feet, and leading toward the lake. He had +meant to rest under the shade of these trees but now he forgot his +fatigue. For a moment he hesitated. Far back in the forest he heard +the barking of a dog—but he turned in the opposite direction. +If there was a boat the path would take him to it. Through a break +in the trees he caught the green sweep of marsh rice and his heart +beat excitedly with hope. Where there was rice there were +wild-fowl, and surely where there were wild-fowl, there would be a +punt or a canoe! In his eagerness he ran, and where the path ended, +the flags and rice beaten into the mud and water, he stopped with +an exultant cry. At his feet was a canoe. It was wet, as though +just drawn out of the water, and a freshly used paddle was lying +across the bow. Pausing but to take a quick and cautious glance +about him he shoved the frail craft into the lake and with a few +quiet strokes buried himself in the rice grass. When he emerged +from it he was half a mile from the shore.</p> + +<p>For a long time he sat motionless, looking out over the +shimmering sea. Far to the south and west he could make out the dim +outline of Beaver Island, while over the trail he had come, mile +upon mile, lay the glistening dunes. Somewhere between the white +desert sand and that distant coast of the Mormon kingdom Marion was +making her way back to bondage. Nathaniel had given up all hope of +overtaking her now. Long before he could intercept her she would +have reached the island. When he started again he paddled slowly, +and laid out for himself the plan that he was to follow. There must +be no mistake this time, no error in judgment, no rashness in his +daring. He would lie in hiding until dusk, and then under cover of +darkness he would hunt down Strang and kill him. After that he +would fly to his canoe and escape. A little later, perhaps that +very night if fate played the game well for him, he would return +for Marion. And yet, as he went over and over his scheme, whipping +himself into caution—into cool deliberation—there +burned in his blood a fire that once or twice made him set his +teeth hard, a fire that defied extinction, that smoldered only to +await the breath that would fan it into a fierce blaze. It was the +fire that had urged him into the rescue at the whipping-post, that +had sent him single-handed to invade the king's castle, that had +hurled him into the hopeless battle upon the shore. He swore at +himself softly, laughingly, as he paddled steadily toward Beaver +Island.</p> + +<p>The sun mounted straight and hot over his head; he paddled more +slowly, and rested more frequently, as it descended into the west, +but it still lacked two hours of sinking behind the island forest +when the white water-run of the shore came within his vision. He +had meant to hold off the coast until the approach of evening but +changed his mind and landed, concealing his canoe in a spot which +he marked well, for he knew it would soon be useful to him again. +Deep shadows were already gathering in the forest and through these +Nathaniel made his way slowly in the direction of St. James. +Between him and the town lay Marion's home and the path that led to +Obadiah's. Once more the spirit of impatience, of action, stirred +within him. Would Marion go first to her home? Involuntarily he +changed his course so that it would bring him to the clearing. He +assured himself that it would do no harm, that he still would take +no chances.</p> + +<p>He came out in the strip of dense forest between the clearing +and St. James, worming his way cautiously through the underbrush +until he could look out into the opening. A single glance and he +drew back in astonishment. He looked again, and his face turned +suddenly white, and an almost inaudible cry fell from his lips. +There was no longer a cabin in the clearing! Where it had been +there was gathered a crowd of men and boys. Above their heads he +saw a thin film of smoke and he knew what had happened. Marion's +home had burned! But what was the crowd doing? It hung close in +about the smoldering ruins as if every person in it were striving +to reach a common center. Surely a mere fire would not gather and +hold a throng like this.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose to his feet and thrust his head and shoulders +from his hiding-place. He heard a loud shout near him and drew back +quickly as a boy rushed madly across the opening toward the crowd, +crying out at the top of his voice. He had come out of the path +that led to St. James. No sooner had he reached the group about the +burned cabin than there came a change that added to Nathaniel's +bewilderment. He heard loud voices, the excited shouting of men and +the shrill cries of boys, and the crowd suddenly began to move, +thinning itself out until it was racing in a black stream toward +the Mormon city. In his excitement Nathaniel hurried toward the +path. From the concealment of a clump of bushes he watched the +people as they rushed past him a dozen paces away. Behind all the +others there came a figure that drew a sharp cry from him as he +leaped from his hiding-place. It was Obadiah Price.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah!" he called. "Obadiah Price!"</p> + +<p>The old man turned. His face was livid. He was chattering to +himself, and he chattered still as he ran up to Nathaniel. He +betrayed no surprise at seeing him, and yet there was the insane +grip of steel in the two hands that clutched fiercely at +Nathaniel's.</p> + +<p>"You have come in time, Nat!" he panted joyfully. "You have come +in time! Hurry—hurry—hurry—"</p> + +<p>He ran back into the clearing, with Nathaniel close at his side, +and pointed to the smoking ruins of the cabin among the lilacs.</p> + +<p>"They were killed last night!" he cried shrilly. "Somebody +murdered them—and burned them with the house! They are +dead—dead!"</p> + +<p>"Who?" shouted Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>Obadiah had stopped and was rubbing and twisting his hands in +his old, mad way.</p> + +<p>"The old folks. Ho, ho, the old folks, of course! They are +dead—dead—dead—"</p> + +<p>He fairly shrieked the words. Then, for a moment, he stood +tightly clutching his thin hands over his chest in a powerful +effort to control himself.</p> + +<p>"They are dead!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>He spoke more calmly, and yet there was something so terrible in +his eyes, something so harshly vibrant of elation in the quivering +passion of his voice that Nathaniel felt himself filled with a +strange horror. He caught him by the arm, shaking him as he would +have shaken a child.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he asked. "Tell me, Obadiah—where is +Marion?"</p> + +<p>The councilor seemed not to have heard him. A singular change +came into his face and his eyes traveled beyond Nathaniel. +Following his glance the young man saw that three men had appeared +from the scorched shrubbery about the burned house and were +hurrying toward them. Without shifting his eyes Obadiah spoke to +him quickly.</p> + +<p>"Those are king's sheriffs, Nat," he said. "They know me. In a +moment they will recognize you. The United States warship +<i>Michigan</i> has just arrived in the harbor to arrest Strang. If +you can reach the cabin and hold it for an hour you will be saved. +Quick—you must run—"</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?"</p> + +<p>"At the cabin! She is at—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel waited to hear no more, but sped toward the breach in +the forest that marked the beginning of the path to Obadiah's. The +shouts of the king's men came to him unheeded. At the edge of the +woods he glanced back and saw that they had overtaken the +councilor. As he ran he drew his pistol and in his wild joy he +flung back a shout of defiance to the men who were pursuing him. +Marion was at the cabin—and a government ship had come to put +an end to the reign of the Mormon king! He shouted Marion's name as +he came in sight of the cabin; he cried it aloud as he bounded up +the low steps.</p> + +<p>"Marion—Marion—"</p> + +<p>In front of the door that led to the tiny chamber in which he +had taken Obadiah's gold he saw a figure. For a moment he was +blinded by his sudden dash from the light of day into the gloom of +the cabin, and he saw only that a figure was standing there, as +still as death. His pistol dropped to the floor. He stretched out +his arms, and his voice sobbed in its entreaty as he whispered the +girl's name. In response to that whisper came a low, glad cry, and +Marion lay trembling on his breast.</p> + +<p>"I have come back for you!" he breathed.</p> + +<p>He felt her heart beating against him. He pressed her closer, +and her arms slipped about his neck.</p> + +<p>"I have come back for you!"</p> + +<p>He was almost crying, like a boy, in his happiness.</p> + +<p>"I love you, I love you—"</p> + +<p>He felt the warm touch of her lips.</p> + +<p>"You will go with me?"</p> + +<p>"If you want me," she whispered. "If you want me—after you +know—what I am—"</p> + +<p>She shuddered against his breast, and he raised her face between +his two hands and kissed her until she drew away from him, crying +softly.</p> + +<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp306.jpg" +alt="Marion" align="left"> <!--IMAGE END--> +<p>"You must wait—you must wait!"</p> + +<p>He saw now in her face an agony that appalled him. He would have +gone to her again, but there came loud voices from the forest, and +recovering his pistol he sprang to the door. Half a hundred paces +away were Obadiah and the king's sheriffs. They had stopped and the +councilor was expostulating excitedly with the men, evidently +trying to keep them from the cabin. Suddenly one of the three broke +past him and ran swiftly toward the open door, and with a shriek of +warning to Nathaniel the old councilor drew a pistol and fired +point blank in the sheriff's back. In another instant the two men +behind had fired and Obadiah fell forward upon his face.</p> + +<p>With a yell of rage Nathaniel leaped from the door. He heard +Marion cry out his name, but his fighting blood was stirred and he +did not stop. Obadiah had given up his life for him, for Marion, +and he was mad with a desire to wreak vengeance upon the murderers. +The first man lay where he had fallen, with Obadiah's bullet +through his back. The other two fired again as Nathaniel rushed +down upon them. He heard the zip of one of the balls, which came so +close that it stung his cheek.</p> + +<p>"Take that!" he cried.</p> + +<p>He fired, still running—once, twice, three times and one +of the two men crumpled down as though a powerful blow had broken +his legs under him.</p> + +<p>The other turned into the path and ran. Nathaniel caught a +glimpse of a frightened, boyish face, and something of mercy +prompted him to hold the shot he was about to send through his +lungs.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop!"</p> + +<p>He aimed at the fugitive's legs and fired.</p> + +<p>"Stop!"</p> + +<p>The boyish sheriff was lengthening the distance between them and +Nathaniel halted to make sure of his last ball. He was about to +shoot when there came a sharp command from down the path and a file +of men burst into view, running at double-quick. He saw the flash +of a saber, the gleam of brass buttons, the blue glare of the +setting sun on leveled carbines, and he stopped, shoulder to +shoulder with the man he had been pursuing. For a moment he stared +as the man with the naked saber approached. Then he sprang toward +him with a joyful cry of recognition.</p> + +<p>"My God, Sherly—Sherly—"</p> + +<p>He stood with his arms stretched out, his naked chest +heaving.</p> + +<p>"Sherly—Lieutenant Sherly—don't you know me?"</p> + +<p>The lieutenant had dropped the point of his saber. He advanced a +step, his face filled with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Plum!" he cried incredulously. "Is it you?"</p> + +<p>For the moment Nathaniel could only wring the other's hand. He +tried to speak but his breath choked him.</p> + +<p>"I told you in Chicago that I was going to blow up this damned +island—if you wouldn't do it for me—", he gasped at +last. "I've had—a hell of a time—"</p> + +<p>"You look it!" laughed the lieutenant. "We got our orders the +second day after you left to 'Arrest Strang, and break up the +Mormon kingdom!' We've got Strang aboard the <i>Michigan</i>. But +he's dead."</p> + +<p>"Dead!"</p> + +<p>"He was shot in the back by one of his own men as we were +bringing him up the gang-way. The fellow who killed him has given +himself up, and says that he did it because Strang had him publicly +whipped day before yesterday. I'm up here hunting for a man named +Obadiah Price. Do you know—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel interrupted him excitedly.</p> + +<p>"What do you want with Obadiah Price?"</p> + +<p>"The president of the United States wants him. That's all I +know. Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"Back there—dead or very badly wounded! We've just had a +fight with the king's men—"</p> + +<p>The lieutenant broke in with a sharp command to his men.</p> + +<p>"Quick, lead us to him. Captain Plum! If he's not +dead—"</p> + +<p>He started off at a half run beside Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Lord, it's a pretty mess if he is!" he added breathlessly. +Without pausing he called back over his shoulder, "Regan, fall out +and return to the ship. Tell the captain that Obadiah Price is +badly wounded and that we want the surgeon on the run!"</p> + +<p>A turn in the path brought them to the opening where the fight +had occurred. Marion was on her knees beside the old councilor.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel hurried ahead of the lieutenant and his men. The girl +glanced up at him and his heart filled with dread at the terror in +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?"</p> + +<p>"No—but—" Her voice trembled with tears.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel did not let her finish. Gently he raised her to her +feet as the lieutenant came up.</p> + +<p>"You must go to the cabin, sweetheart," he whispered.</p> + +<p>Even in this moment of excitement and death his great love drove +all else from his eyes, and the blood surged into Marion's pale +cheeks as she tremblingly gave him her hand. He led her to the +door, and held her for a moment in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Strang is dead," he said softly. In a few words he told her +what had happened and turned back to the door, leaving her +speechless.</p> + +<p>"If he is dying—you will tell me—" she called after +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I will tell you."</p> + +<p>He ran back into the opening.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant had doubled his coat under Obadiah's head and his +face was pale as he looked up at Nathaniel. The latter saw in his +eyes what his lips kept silent. The officer held something in his +hand. It was the mysterious package which Captain Plum had taken +his oath to deliver to the president of the United States.</p> + +<p>"I don't dare move until the surgeon comes," said the +lieutenant. "He wants to speak to you. I believe, if he has +anything to say you had better hear it now."</p> + +<p>His last words were in a whisper so low that Nathaniel scarcely +heard them. As the lieutenant rose to his feet, he whispered +again.</p> + +<p>"He is dying!"</p> + +<p>Obadiah's eyes opened as Nathaniel knelt beside him and from +between his thin lips there came faintly the old, gurgling +chuckle.</p> + +<p>"Nat!" he breathed. His thin hand sought his companion's and +clung to it tightly. "We have won. The vengeance of God—has +come!"</p> + +<p>In these last moments all madness had left the eyes of Obadiah +Price.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell you—" he whispered, and Nathaniel bent +low. "I have given him the package. It is evidence I have +gathered—all these years—to destroy the Mormon +kingdom."</p> + +<p>He tried to turn his head.</p> + +<p>"Marion—" he whispered wistfully.</p> + +<p>"She will come," said Nathaniel. "I will call her."</p> + +<p>"No—not yet."</p> + +<p>Obadiah's fingers tightened about Captain Plum's.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell—you."</p> + +<p>For a few moments he seemed struggling to command all his +strength.</p> + +<p>"A good many years ago," he said, as if speaking to himself, "I +loved a girl—like Marion, and she loved me—as Marion +loves you. Her people were Mormons, and they went to +Kirtland—and I followed them. We planned to escape and go +east, for my Jean was good and beautiful, and hated the Mormons as +I hated them. But they caught us +and—thought—they—killed—"</p> + +<p>The old man's lips twitched and a convulsive shudder shook his +body.</p> + +<p>"When everything came back to me I was older—much older," +he went on. "My hair was white. I was like an old man. My people +had found me and they told me that I had been mad for three years, +Nat—mad—mad—mad! and that a great surgeon had +operated on my head, where they struck me—and brought me back +to reason. Nat—Nat—" He strained to raise himself, +gasping excitedly. "God, I was like you then, Nat! I went back to +fight for my Jean. She was gone. Nobody knew me, for I was an old +man. I hunted from settlement to settlement. In my madness I became +a Mormon, for vengeance—in hope of finding her. I was rich, +and I became powerful. I was made an elder because of my gold. Then +I found—"</p> + +<p>A moan trembled on the old man's lips.</p> + +<p>"—they had forced her to marry—the son of a +Mormon—"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and for a moment his eyes seemed filling with the +glazed shadows of death. He roused himself almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>"But he loved my Jean, Nat—he loved her as I loved +her—and he was a good man!", he whispered shrilly. +"Quick—quick—I must tell you—they had tried to +escape from Missouri and the Danites killed him,—and Joseph +Smith wanted Jean and at the last moment she killed herself to save +her honor as Marion was going to do, and she left two +children—"</p> + +<p>He coughed and blood flecked his lips.</p> + +<p>"She left—Marion and Neil!"</p> + +<p>He sank back, ashen white and still, and with a cry Nathaniel +turned to the lieutenant. The officer ran forward with a flask in +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Give him this!"</p> + +<p>The touch of liquor to Obadiah's lips revived him. He whispered +weakly.</p> + +<p>"The children, Nat—I tried to find them—and years +after—I did—in Nauvoo. The man and woman who had killed +the father in their own house had taken them and were raising them +as their own. I went mad! Vengeance—vengeance—I lived +for it, year after year. I wanted the children—but if I took +them all would be lost. I followed them, watched them, loved +them—and they loved me. I would wait—wait—until +my vengeance would fall like the hand of God, and then I would free +them, and tell them how beautiful their mother was. When Joseph +Smith was killed and the split came the old folks followed +Strang—and I—I too—"</p> + +<p>He rested a moment, breathing heavily.</p> + +<p>"I brought my Jean with me and buried her up there on the +hill—the middle grave, Nat, the middle grave—Marion's +mother."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel pressed the liquor to the old man's lips again.</p> + +<p>"My vengeance was at hand—I was almost ready—when +Strang learned a part of the secret," he continued with an effort. +"He found the old people were murderers. When Marion would not +become his wife he told her what they had done. He showed her the +evidence! He threatened them with death unless Marion became his +wife. His sheriffs watched them night and day. He named the hour of +their doom—unless Marion yielded to him. And to save them, +her supposed parents—to keep the terrible knowledge of their +crime from +Neil—Marion—was—going—to—sacrifice—herself—when—"</p> + +<p>Again he stopped. His breath was coming more faintly.</p> + +<p>"I understand," whispered Nathaniel. "I understand—"</p> + +<p>Obadiah's dimming eyes gazed at him steadily.</p> + +<p>"I thought my vengeance would come—in time—to save +her, Nat. But—it failed. I knew of one other way and when all +seemed lost—I took it. I killed the old people—the +murderers of her father—of my Jean! I knew that would destroy +Strang's power—"</p> + +<p>In a sudden spasm of strength he lifted his head. His voice came +in a hoarse, excited whisper.</p> + +<p>"You won't tell Marion—you won't tell Marion that I killed +them—"</p> + +<p>"No—never."</p> + +<p>Obadiah fell back with a relieved sigh. After a moment he +added.</p> + +<p>"In a chest in the cabin there is a letter for Marion. It tells +her about her mother—and the gold there—is for +her—and Neil—"</p> + +<p>His eyes closed. A shudder passed through his form.</p> + +<p>"Marion—" he breathed. "Marion!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose to his feet and ran to the cabin door.</p> + +<p>"Marion!" he called.</p> + +<p>Blinding tears shut out the vision of the girl from his eyes. He +pointed, looking from her, and she, knowing what he meant, sped +past him to the old councilor.</p> + +<p>In the great low room in which Obadiah Price had spent so many +years planning his vengeance Captain Plum waited.</p> + +<p>After a time, the girl came back.</p> + +<p>There was great pain in her voice as she stretched out her arms +to him blindly, sobbing his name.</p> + +<p>"Gone—gone—they're all gone now—but Neil!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel held out his arms.</p> + +<p>"Only Neil,"—he cried, "only +Neil—Marion—?"</p> + +<p>"And you—you—you—"</p> + +<p>Her arms were around his neck, he held her throbbing against his +breast.</p> + +<p>"And you—"</p> + +<p>She raised her face, glorious in its love.</p> + +<p>"If you want me—still."</p> + +<p>And he whispered:</p> + +<p>"For ever and for ever!"</p> + +<center>THE END</center> + +<div>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 12388 ***</div> +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg b/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3dfc8c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg diff --git a/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg b/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..28dbaf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg diff --git a/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg b/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7ae1ff --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg diff --git a/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg b/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee8c38e --- /dev/null +++ b/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e08d9d8 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #12388 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12388) diff --git a/old/12388-h.zip b/old/12388-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..73a945d --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h.zip diff --git a/old/12388-h/12388-h.htm b/old/12388-h/12388-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5730519 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h/12388-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6781 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta name="generator" content="HTML Tidy, see www.w3.org"> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content= +"text/html; charset=us-ascii"> +<meta content="pg2html (binary version 0.15)" name="generator"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Courage of Captain Plum, +by James Oliver Curwood</title> +<style type="text/css"> + <!-- + body { margin-left: 4.5%; margin-right: 4.5%; } + p { text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: .75em; + font-size: 100%; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { text-align: center; } + hr { width: 50%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .poem { margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; margin-bottom: 1em; text-align: left; } + .poem .stanza { margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em; } + .poem p { margin: 0; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em; } + .poem p.i2 { margin-left: 1em; } + .poem p.i4 { margin-left: 2em; } + .poem p.i6 { margin-left: 3em; } + .poem p.i8 { margin-left: 4em; } + .poem p.i10 { margin-left: 5em; } + .toc { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 80%; margin-bottom: 0em;} + .toch { margin-left: 15%; font-size: 100%; font-weight: bold; margin-bottom: 0em;} + CENTER { padding: 0.8em;} + // --> +</style> +</head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Courage of Captain Plum, by James Oliver Curwood + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Courage of Captain Plum + +Author: James Oliver Curwood + +Release Date: May 20, 2004 [EBook #12388] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Kara Passmore, Leah Moser and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +</pre> + +<a name="image-0001"><!--IMG--></a> + +<center><img src="images/ccpfrontis.jpg" alt= +"'I Am Going to Take You from the Island!'"></center> + +<!--IMAGE END--> +<h1>The COURAGE of CAPTAIN PLUM</h1> + +<center><b>BY JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD</b></center> + +<center>1912</center> + +<center>WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY FRANK E. SCHOONOVER</center> + +<hr> +<p class="toch"><b>Contents</b></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0001">CHAPTER I</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0002">CHAPTER II</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0003">CHAPTER III</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0004">CHAPTER IV</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0005">CHAPTER V</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0006">CHAPTER VI</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0007">CHAPTER VII</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0008">CHAPTER VIII</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0009">CHAPTER IX</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0010">CHAPTER X</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0011">CHAPTER XI</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#2HCH0012">CHAPTER XII</a></p> + +<hr> +<p class="toch"><b>List of Illustrations</b></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0001">"I Am Going to Take You from +the Island!"</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0002">Captain Plum</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0003">His Fingers Twined About the +Purplish Throat.</a></p> + +<p class="toc"><a href="#image-0004">Marion</a></p> + +<hr> +<h2>THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM</h2> + +<a name="2HCH0001"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<center>THE TWO OATHS</center> + +<p>On an afternoon in the early summer of 1856 Captain Nathaniel +Plum, master and owner of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i> was engaged in +nothing more important than the smoking of an enormous pipe. Clouds +of strongly odored smoke, tinted with the lights of the setting +sun, had risen above his head in unremitting volumes for the last +half hour. There was infinite contentment in his face, +notwithstanding the fact that he had been meditating on a subject +that was not altogether pleasant. But Captain Plum was, in a way, a +philosopher, though one would not have guessed this fact from his +appearance. He was, in the first place, a young man, not more than +eight or nine and twenty, and his strong, rather thin face, tanned +by exposure to the sea, was just now lighted up by eyes that shone +with an unbounded good humor which any instant might take the form +of laughter.</p> + +<p>At the present time Captain Plum's vision was confined to one +direction, which carried his gaze out over Lake Michigan. Earlier +in the day he had been able to discern the hazy outline of the +Michigan wilderness twenty miles to the eastward. Straight ahead, +shooting up rugged and sharp in the red light of the day's end, +were two islands. Between these, three miles away, the sloop +<i>Typhoon</i> was strongly silhouetted in the fading glow. Beyond +the islands and the sloop there were no other objects for Captain +Plum's eyes to rest upon. So far as he could see there was no other +sail. At his back he was shut in by a dense growth of trees and +creeping vines, and unless a small boat edged close in around the +end of Beaver Island his place of concealment must remain +undiscovered. At least this seemed an assured fact to Captain +Plum.</p> + +<p>In the security of his position he began to whistle softly as he +beat the bowl of his pipe on his boot-heel to empty it of ashes. +Then he drew a long-barreled revolver from under a coat that he had +thrown aside and examined it carefully to see that the powder and +ball were in solid and that none of the caps was missing. From the +same place he brought forth a belt, buckled it round his waist, +shoved the revolver into its holster, and dragging the coat to him, +fished out a letter from an inside pocket. It was a dirty, much +worn letter. Perhaps he had read it a score of times. He read it +again now, and then, refilling his pipe, settled back against the +rock that formed a rest for his shoulders and turned his eyes in +the direction of the sloop.</p> + +<p>The last rim of the sun had fallen below the Michigan wilderness +and in the rapidly increasing gloom the sloop was becoming +indistinguishable. Captain Plum looked at his watch. He must still +wait a little longer before setting out upon the adventure that had +brought him to this isolated spot. He rested his head against the +rock, and thought. He had been thinking for hours. Back in the +thicket he heard the prowling of some small animal. There came the +sleepy chirp of a bird and the rustling of tired wings settling for +the night. A strange stillness hovered about him, and with it there +came over him a loneliness that was chilling, a loneliness that +made him homesick. It was a new and unpleasant sensation to Captain +Plum. He could not remember just when he had experienced it before; +that is, if he dated the present from two weeks ago to-night. It +was then that the letter had been handed to him in Chicago, and it +had been a weight upon his soul and a prick to his conscience ever +since. Once or twice he had made up his mind to destroy it, but +each time he had repented at the last moment. In a sudden revulsion +at his weakness he pulled himself together, crumpled the dirty +missive into a ball, and flung it out upon the white rim of +beach.</p> + +<p>At this action there came a quick movement in the dense wall of +verdure behind him. Noiselessly the tangle of vines separated and a +head thrust itself out in time to see the bit of paper fall short +of the water's edge. Then the head shot back as swiftly and as +silently as a serpent's. Perhaps Captain Plum heard the gloating +chuckle that followed the movement. If so he thought it only some +night bird in the brush.</p> + +<p>"Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed with some return of his old cheer, +"it's about time we were starting!" He jumped to his feet and began +brushing the sand from his clothes. When he had done, he walked out +upon the rim of beach and stretched himself until his arm-bones +cracked.</p> + +<p>Again the hidden head shot forth from its concealment. A sudden +turn and Captain Plum would certainly have been startled. For it +was a weird object, this spying head; its face dead-white against +the dense green of the verdure, with shocks of long white hair +hanging down on each side, framing between them a pair of eyes that +gleamed from cavernous sockets, like black glowing beads. There was +unmistakable fear, a tense anxiety in those glittering eyes as +Captain Plum walked toward the paper, but when he paused and +stretched himself, the sole of his boot carelessly trampling the +discarded letter, the head disappeared again and there came another +satisfied bird-like chuckle from the gloom of the thicket.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum now put on his coat, buttoned it close to conceal +the weapons in his belt, and walked along the narrow water-run that +crept like a white ribbon between the lake and the island +wilderness. No sooner had he disappeared than the bushes and vines +behind the rock were torn asunder and a man wormed his way through +them. For an instant he paused, listening for returning footsteps, +and then with startling agility darted to the beach and seized the +crumpled letter.</p> + +<p>The person who for the greater part of the afternoon had been +spying upon Captain Plum from the security of the thicket was to +all appearances a very small and a very old man, though there was +something about him that seemed to belie a first guess at his age. +His face was emaciated; his hair was white and hung in straggling +masses on his shoulders; his hooked nose bore apparently the +infallible stamp of extreme age. Yet there was a strange and +uncanny strength and quickness in his movements. There was no stoop +to his shoulders. His head was set squarely. His eyes were as keen +as steel. It would have been impossible to have told whether he was +fifty or seventy. Eagerly he smoothed out the abused missive and +evidently succeeded even in the failing light, in deciphering much +of it, for the glimmer of a smile flashed over his thin features as +he thrust the paper into his pocket.</p> + +<p>Without a moment's hesitation he set out on the trail of Captain +Plum. A quarter of a mile down the path he overtook the object of +his pursuit.</p> + +<p>"Ah, how do you do, sir?" he greeted as the younger man turned +about upon hearing his approach. "A mighty fast pace you're setting +for an old man, sir!" He broke into a laugh that was not altogether +unpleasant, and boldly held out a hand. "We've been expecting you, +but—not in this way. I hope there's nothing wrong?"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum had accepted the proffered hand. Its coldness and +the singular appearance of the old man who had come like an +apparition chilled him. In a moment, however, it occurred to him +that he was a victim of mistaken identity. As far as he knew there +was no one on Beaver Island who was expecting him. To the best of +his knowledge he was a fool for being there. His crew aboard the +sloop had agreed upon that point with extreme vehemence and, to a +man, had attempted to dissuade him from the mad project upon which +he was launching himself among the Mormons in their island +stronghold. All this came to him while the little old man was +looking up into his face, chuckling, and shaking his hand as if he +were one of the most important and most greatly to be desired +personages in the world.</p> + +<p>"Hope there's nothing wrong, Cap'n?" he repeated.</p> + +<p>"Right as a trivet here, Dad," replied the young man, dropping +the cold hand that still persisted in clinging to his own. "But I +guess you've got the wrong party. Who's expecting me?"</p> + +<p>The old man's face wrinkled itself in a grimace and one gleaming +eye opened and closed in an understanding wink.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho!—of course you're not expected. Anyway, you're +not <i>expected</i> to be expected! Cautious—a born +general—mighty clever thing to do. Strang should appreciate +it." The old man gave vent to his own approbation in a series of +inimitable chuckles. "Is that your sloop out there?" he inquired +interestedly.</p> + +<p>Something in the strangeness of the situation began to interest +Captain Plum. He had planned a little adventure of his own, but +here was one that promised to develop into something more exciting. +He nodded his head.</p> + +<p>"That's her."</p> + +<p>"Splendid cargo," went on the old man. "Splendid cargo, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Pretty fair."</p> + +<p>"Powder in good shape, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Dry as tinder."</p> + +<p>"And balls—lots of balls, and a few guns, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, we <i>have</i> a few guns," said Captain Plum. The old man +noted the emphasis, but the darkness that had fast settled about +them hid the added meaning that passed in a curious look over the +other's face.</p> + +<p>"Odd way to come in, though—very odd!" continued the old +man, gurgling and shaking as if the thought of it occasioned him +great merriment. "Very cautious. Level business head. Want to know +that things are on the square, eh?"</p> + +<p>"That's it!" exclaimed Captain Plum, catching at the proffered +straw. Inwardly he was wondering when his feet would touch bottom. +Thus far he had succeeded in getting but a single grip on the +situation. Somebody was expected at Beaver Island with powder and +balls and guns. Well, he had a certain quantity of these materials +aboard his sloop, and if he could make an agreeable +bargain—</p> + +<p>The old man interrupted the plan that was slowly forming itself +in Captain Plum's puzzled brain.</p> + +<p>"It's the price, eh?" He laughed shrewdly. "You want to see the +color of the gold before you land the goods. I'll show it to you. +I'll pay you the whole sum to-night. Then you'll take the stuff +where I tell you to. Eh? Isn't that so?" He darted ahead of Captain +Plum with a quick alert movement. "Will you please follow me, +sir?"</p> + +<p>For an instant Captain Plum's impulse was to hold back. In that +instant it suddenly occurred to him that he was lending himself to +a rank imposition. At the same time he was filled with a desire to +go deeper into the adventure, and his blood thrilled with the +thought of what it might hold for him.</p> + +<p>"Are you coming, sir?"</p> + +<p>The little old man had stopped a dozen paces away and turned +expectantly.</p> + +<p>"I tell you again that you've got the wrong man, Dad!"</p> + +<p>"Will you follow me, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Well, if you'll have it so—damned if I won't!" cried +Captain Plum. He felt that he had relieved his conscience, anyway. +If things should develop badly for him during the next few hours no +one could say that he had lied. So he followed light-heartedly +after the old man, his eyes and ears alert, and his right hand, by +force of habit, reaching under his coat to the butt of his pistol. +His guide said not another word until they had traveled for half an +hour along a twisting path and stood at last on the bald summit of +a knoll from which they could look down upon a number of lights +twinkling dimly a quarter of a mile away. One of these lights +gleamed above all the others, like a beacon set among +fireflies.</p> + +<p>"That's St. James," said the old man. His voice had changed. It +was low and soft, as though he feared to speak above a whisper.</p> + +<p>"St. James!"</p> + +<p>The young man at his side gazed down silently upon the scattered +lights, his heart throbbing in a sudden tumult of excitement. He +had set out that day with the idea of resting his eyes on St. +James. In its silent mystery the town now lay at his feet.</p> + +<p>"And that light—" spoke the old man. He pointed a +trembling arm toward the glare that shone more powerfully than the +others. "That light marks the sacred home of the king!" His voice +had again changed. A metallic hardness came into it, his words were +vibrant with a strange excitement which he strove hard to conceal. +It was still light enough for Captain Plum to see that the old +man's black, beady eyes were startlingly alive with newly aroused +emotion.</p> + +<p>"You mean—"</p> + +<p>"Strang!"</p> + +<p>He started rapidly down the knoll and there floated back to +Captain Plum the soft notes of his meaningless chuckle. A dozen +rods farther on his mysterious guide turned into a by-path which +led them to another knoll, capped by a good-sized building made of +logs. There sounded the grating of a key in a lock, the shooting of +a bolt, and a door opened to admit them.</p> + +<p>"You will pardon me if I don't light up," apologized the old man +as he led the way in. "A candle will be sufficient. You know there +must be privacy in these matters—always. Eh? Isn't that +so?"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum followed without reply. He guessed that the cabin +was made up of one large room, and that at the present time, at +least, it possessed no other occupant than the singular creature +who had guided him to it.</p> + +<p>"It is just as well, on this particular night, that no light is +seen at the window," continued the old man as he rummaged about a +table for a match and a candle. "I have a little corner back here +that a candle will brighten up nicely and no one in the world will +know it. Ho, ho, ho!—how nice it is to have a quiet little +corner sometimes! Eh, Captain Plum?"</p> + +<p>At the sound of his name Captain Plum started as though an +unexpected hand had suddenly been laid upon him. So he <i>was</i> +expected, after all, and his name was known! For a moment his +surprise robbed him of the power of speech. The little old man had +lighted his candle, and, grinning back over his shoulder, passed +through a narrow cut in the wall that could hardly be called a door +and planted his light on a table that stood in the center of a +small room, or closet, not more than five feet square. Then he +coolly pulled Captain Plum's old letter from his pocket and +smoothed it out in the dim light.</p> + +<p>"Be seated, Captain Plum; right over there—opposite me. +So!"</p> + +<p>He continued for a moment to smooth out the creases in the +letter and then proceeded to read it with as much assurance as +though its owner were a thousand miles away instead of within arm's +reach of him. Captain Plum was dumfounded. He felt the hot blood +rushing to his face and his first impulse was to recover the +crumpled paper and demand something more than an explanation. In +the next instant it occurred to him that this action would probably +spoil whatever possibilities his night's adventure might have for +him. So he held his peace. The old man was so intent in his perusal +of the letter that the end of his hooked nose almost scraped the +table. He went over the dim, partly obliterated words line by line, +chuckling now and then, and apparently utterly oblivious of the +other's presence. When he had come to the end he looked up, his +eyes glittering with unbounded satisfaction, carefully folded the +letter, and handed it to Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"That's the best introduction in the world, Captain +Plum—the very best! Ho, ho!—it couldn't be better. I'm +glad I found it." He chuckled gleefully, and rested his ogreish +head in the palms of his skeleton-like hands, his elbows on the +table. "So you're going back home—soon?"</p> + +<p>"I haven't made up my mind yet, Dad," responded Captain Plum, +pulling out his pipe and tobacco. "You've read the letter pretty +carefully, I guess. What would you do?"</p> + +<p>"Vermont?" questioned the old man shortly.</p> + +<p>"That's it."</p> + +<p>"Well, I'd go, and very soon, Captain Plum, <i>very</i> soon, +indeed. Yes, I'd hurry!" The old man jumped up with the quickness +of a cat. So sudden was his movement that it startled Captain Plum, +and he dropped his tobacco pouch. By the time he had recovered this +article his strange companion was back in his seat again holding a +leather bag in his hand. Quickly he untied the knot at its top and +poured a torrent of glittering gold pieces out upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Business—business and gold," he gurgled happily, rubbing +his thin hands and twisting his fingers until they cracked. "A +pretty sight, eh, Captain Plum? Now, to our account! A hundred +carbines, eh? And a thousand of powder and a ton of balls. Or is it +in lead? It doesn't make any difference—not a bit. It's three +thousand, that's the account, eh?" He fell to counting rapidly.</p> + +<p>For a full minute Captain Plum remained in stupefied +bewilderment, silenced by the sudden and unexpected turn his +adventure had taken. Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as +they clinked the gold pieces. What was the mysterious plot into +which he had allowed himself to be drawn? Why were a hundred guns +and a ton and a half of powder and balls wanted by the Mormons of +Beaver Island? Instinctively he reached out and closed his hand +over the counting fingers of the old man. Their eyes met. And there +was a shrewd, half-understanding gleam in the black orbs that fixed +Captain Plum in an unflinching challenge. For a little space there +was silence. It was Captain Plum who broke it.</p> + +<p>"Dad, I'm going to tell you for the third and last time that +you've made a mistake. I've got eight of the best rifles in America +aboard my sloop out there. But there's a man for every gun. And +I've got something hidden away underdeck that would blow up St. +James in half an hour. And there is powder and ball for the whole +outfit. But that's all. I'll sell you what I've got—for a +good price. Beyond that you've got the wrong man!"</p> + +<p>He settled back and blew a volume of smoke from his pipe. For +another half minute the old man continued to look at him, his eyes +twinkling, and then he fell to counting again.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum was not given over to the habit of cursing. But now +he jumped to his feet with an oath that jarred the table. The old +man chuckled. The gold pieces clinked between his fingers. Coolly +he shoved two glittering piles alongside the candle-stick, tumbled +the rest back into the leather bag, deliberately tied the end, and +smiled up into the face of the exasperated captain.</p> + +<p>"To be sure you're not the man," he said, nodding his head until +his elf-locks danced around his face. "Of course you're not the +man. I know it—ho, ho! you can wager that I know it! A little +ruse of mine, Captain Plum. Pardonable—excusable, eh? I +wanted to know if you were a liar. I wanted to see if you were +honest."</p> + +<a name="image-0002"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp020.jpg" +alt="Captain Plum" align="left"> <!--IMAGE END--> +<p>With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum sank back into the +chair. His jaw dropped and his pipe was held fireless in his +hand.</p> + +<p>"The devil you say!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly, certainly, if you wish it," chuckled the little +man, in high humor. "I would have visited your sloop to-day, +Captain Plum, if you hadn't come ashore so opportunely this +morning. Ho, ho, ho! a good joke, eh? A mighty good joke!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum regained his composure by relighting his pipe. He +heard the chink of gold pieces and when he looked again the two +piles of money were close to the edge of his side of the table.</p> + +<p>"That's for you, Captain Plum. There's just a thousand dollars +in those two piles." There was tense earnestness now in the old +man's face and voice. "I've imposed on you," he continued, speaking +as one who had suddenly thrown off a disguise. "If it had been any +other man it would have been the same. I want help. I want an +honest man. I want a man whom I can trust. I will give you a +thousand dollars if you will take a package back to your vessel +with you and will promise to deliver it as quickly as you can."</p> + +<p>"I'll do it!" cried Captain Plum. He jumped to his feet and held +out his hand. But the old man slipped from his chair and darted +swiftly out into the blackness of the adjoining room. As he came +back Captain Plum could hear his insane chuckling.</p> + +<p>"Business—business—business—" he gurgled. "Eh, +Captain Plum? Did you ever take an oath?" He tossed a book on the +table. It was the Bible.</p> + +<p>Captain Plum understood. He reached for the book and held it +under his left hand. His right he lifted above his head, while a +smile played about his lips.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you want to place me under oath to deliver that +package," he said.</p> + +<p>The old man nodded. His eyes gleamed with a feverish glare. A +sudden hectic flush had gathered in his death-like cheeks. He +trembled. His voice rose barely above a whisper.</p> + +<p>"Repeat," he commanded. "I, Captain Nathaniel Plum, do solemnly +swear before God—"</p> + +<p>A thrilling inspiration shot into Captain Plum's brain.</p> + +<p>"Hold!" he cried. He lowered his hand. With something that was +almost a snarl the old man sprang back, his hands clenched. "I will +take this oath upon one other consideration," continued Captain +Plum. "I came to Beaver Island to see something of the life and +something of the people of St. James. If you, in turn, will swear +to show me as much as you can to-night I will take the oath."</p> + +<p>The old man was beside the table again in an instant.</p> + +<p>"I will show it to you—all—all—" he exclaimed +excitedly. "I will show it to you—yes, and swear to it upon +the body of Christ!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum lifted his hand again and word by word repeated the +oath. When it was done the other took his place.</p> + +<p>"Your name?" asked Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>A change scarcely perceptible swept over the old man's face.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah Price."</p> + +<p>"But you are a Mormon. You have the Bible there?"</p> + +<p>Again the old man disappeared into the adjoining room. When he +returned he placed two books side by side and stood them on edge so +that he might clasp both between his bony fingers. One was the +Bible, the other the Book of the Mormons. In a cracked, excited +voice he repeated the strenuous oath improvised by Captain +Plum.</p> + +<p>"Now," said Captain Plum, distributing the gold pieces among his +pockets, "I'll take that package."</p> + +<p>This time the old man was gone for several minutes. When he +returned he placed a small package tightly bound and sealed into +his companion's hand.</p> + +<p>"More precious than your life, more priceless than gold," he +whispered tensely, "yet worthless to all but the one to whom it is +to be delivered."</p> + +<p>There were no marks on the package.</p> + +<p>"And who is that?" asked Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>The old man came so close that his breath fell hot upon the +young man's cheek. He lifted a hand as though to ward sound from +the very walls that closed them in.</p> + +<p>"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of +America!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0002"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<center>THE SEVEN WIVES</center> + +<p>Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than +the old man straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, +his gaze penetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain +Plum, his head inclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a +tension of expectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped the butt +of his pistol and faced the narrow entrance through which they had +come. In the moment of absolute silence that followed there came to +him, faintly, a sound, unintelligible at first, but growing in +volume until he knew that it was the last echo of a tolling bell. +There was no movement, no sound of breath or whisper from the old +man at his back. But when it came again, floating to him as if from +a vast distance, he turned quickly to find Obadiah Price with his +face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above his head and his lips +moving as if in prayer. His eyes burned with a dull glow as though +he had been suddenly thrown into a trance. He seemed not to +breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement of +his lips. With the third toll of the distant bell he spoke, and to +Captain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came +from another being.</p> + +<p>"Our Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon Thy chosen people the +three blessings of the universe—peace, prosperity and plenty, +and upon Strang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of Thy +power!"</p> + +<p>Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious +message and when the last echoes had died away the old man's arms +dropped beside him and he turned again to Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America," he +repeated, as though there had been no interruption since his +companion's question. "The package is to be delivered to him. Now +you must excuse me. An important matter calls me out for a short +time. But I will be back soon—oh, yes, very soon. And you +will wait for me. You will wait for me here, and then I will take +you to St. James."</p> + +<p>He was gone in a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last +that Captain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for +an instant in the darkness of the next room, and after that the +soft patter of his feet and the strange chuckle in his throat +traveled to the outer door and died away as he passed out into the +night. Nathaniel Plum was not a man to be easily startled, but +there was something so unusual about the proceedings in which he +was as yet playing a blind part that he forgot to smoke, which was +saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? His eyes scanned the +little room and an exclamation of astonishment fell from his lips +when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold, lying where +his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this was madness +or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilled +him. It was wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. +Were hidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give +their owner to understand that he was not a thief. He rose from his +chair and moved toward the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed +it back again so that the gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went +to the narrow aperture and blocked it with his body and listened +until he knew that if there had been human life in the room he +would have heard it.</p> + +<p>The outer door was open and through it there came to him the +soft breath of the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild +flowers. It struck him that it would be pleasanter waiting outside +than in, and it would undoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah +Price. In front of the cabin he found the stump of a log and +seating himself on it where the clear light of the stars fell full +upon him he once more began his interrupted smoke. It seemed to him +that he had waited a long time when he heard the sound of +footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person was half running. +Hardly had he located the direction of the sound when a figure +appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin. A +dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly +about, as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a +greeting whistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little +throat note, which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, and the +figure ran almost into his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made +a mistake drew Captain Plum a pace backward. For scarcely more than +five seconds he found himself staring into the white terrified face +of a girl. Eyes wide and glowing with sudden fright met his own. +Instinctively he lifted his hand to his hat, but before he could +speak the girl sprang back with a low cry and ran swiftly down the +path that led into the gloom of the woods.</p> + +<p>For several minutes Captain Plum stood as if the sudden +apparition had petrified him. He listened long after the sound of +retreating footsteps had died away. There remained behind a faint +sweet odor of lilac which stirred his soul and set his blood +tingling. It was a beautiful face that he had seen. He was sure of +that and yet he could have given no good verbal proof of it. Only +the eyes and the odor of lilac remained with him and after a little +the lilac drifted away. Then he went back to the log and sat down. +He smiled as he thought of the joke that he had unwittingly played +on Obadiah. From his knowledge of the Beaver Island Mormons he was +satisfied that the old man who displayed gold in such reckless +profusion was anything but a bachelor. In all probability this was +one of his wives and the cabin behind him, he concluded, was for +some reason isolated from the harem. "Evidently that little +Saintess is not a flirt," he concluded, "or she would have given me +time to speak to her."</p> + +<p>The continued absence of Obadiah Price began to fill Captain +Plum with impatience. After an hour's wait he reentered the cabin +and made his way to the little room, where the candle was still +burning dimly. To his astonishment he beheld the old man sitting +beside the table. His thin face was propped between his hands and +his eyes were closed as if he was asleep. They shot open instantly +on Captain Plum's appearance.</p> + +<p>"I've been waiting for you, Nat," he cried, straightening +himself with spring-like quickness. "Waiting for you a long time, +Nat!" He rubbed his hands and chuckled at his own familiarity. "I +saw you out there enjoying yourself. What did you think of her, +Nat?" He winked with such audacious glee that, despite his own +astonishment, Captain Plum burst into a laugh. Obadiah Price held +up a warning hand. "Tut, tut, not so loud!" he admonished. His face +was a map of wrinkles. His little black eyes shone with silent +laughter. There was no doubt but that he was immensely pleased over +something. "Tell me, Nat—why did you come to St. James?"</p> + +<p>He leaned forward over the table, his odd white head almost +resting on it, and twiddled his thumbs with wonderful rapidity. +"Eh, Nat?" he urged. "Why did you come?"</p> + +<p>"Because it was too hot and uninteresting lying out there in a +calm, Dad," replied the master of the <i>Typhoon</i>. "We've been +roasting for thirty-six hours without a breath to fill our sails. I +came over to see what you people are like. Any harm done?"</p> + +<p>"Not a bit, not a bit—yet," chuckled the old man. "And +what's your business, Nat?"</p> + +<p>"Sailing—mostly."</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho! of course, I might have known it! +Sailing—<i>mostly</i>. Why, certainly you sail! And why do +you carry a pistol on one side of you and a knife on the other, +Nat?"</p> + +<p>"Troublous times, Dad. Some of the fisher-folk along the +Northern End aren't very scrupulous. They took a cargo of canned +stuffs from me a year back."</p> + +<p>"And what use do you make of the four-pounder that's wrapped up +in tarpaulin under your deck, Nat? And what in the world are you +going to do with five barrels of gunpowder?"</p> + +<p>"How in blazes—" began Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"O, to be sure, to be sure—they're for the fisher-folk," +interrupted Obadiah Price. "Blow 'em up, eh, Nat? And you seem to +be a young man of education, Nat. How did you happen to make a +mistake in your count? Haven't you twelve men aboard your sloop +instead of eight, Nat? Aren't there twelve, instead of eight? Eh, +Nat?"</p> + +<p>"The devil take you!" cried Captain Plum, leaping suddenly to +his feet, his face flaming red. "Yes, I have got twelve men and +I've got a gun in tarpaulin and I've got five barrels of gunpowder! +But how in the name of Kingdom-Come did you find it out?"</p> + +<p>Obadiah Price came around the end of the table and stood so +close to Captain Plum that a person ten feet away could not have +heard him when he spoke.</p> + +<p>"I know more than that, Nat," he whispered. "Listen! A little +while ago—say two weeks back—you were becalmed off the +head of Beaver Island, and one dark night you were boarded by two +boat-loads of men who made you and your crew prisoners, robbed you +of everything you had,—and the next day you went back to +Chicago. Eh?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stood speechless.</p> + +<p>"And you made up your mind the pirates were Mormons, enlisted +some of your friends, armed your ship—and you're back here to +make us settle. Isn't it so, Nat?"</p> + +<p>The little old man was rubbing his hands eagerly, excitedly.</p> + +<p>"You tried to get the revenue cutter <i>Michigan</i> to come +down with you, but they wouldn't—ho, ho, they wouldn't! One +of our friends in Chicago sent quick word ahead of you to tell me +all about it, and—Strang, the king, doesn't know!"</p> + +<p>He spoke the last words in intense earnestness.</p> + +<p>Then, suddenly, he held out his hand.</p> + +<p>"Young man, will you shake hands with me? Will you shake +hands?—and then we will go to St. James!"</p> + +<p>Captain Plum thrust out a hand and the old man gripped it. The +thin fingers tightened like cold clamps of steel. For a moment the +face of Obadiah Price underwent a strange change. The hardness and +glitter went out of his eyes and in place there came a questioning, +almost an appealing, look. His tense mouth relaxed. It was as if he +was on the point of surrendering to some emotion which he was +struggling to stifle. And Nathaniel, meeting those eyes, felt that +somewhere within him had been struck a strange chord of sympathy, +something that made this little old man more than a half-mad +stranger to him, and involuntarily the grip of his fingers +tightened around those of his companion.</p> + +<p>"Now we will go to St. James, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>He attempted to withdraw his hand but Captain Plum held to +it.</p> + +<p>"Not yet!" he exclaimed. "There are two or three things which +your friend didn't tell you, Obadiah Price!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's eyes glittered dangerously.</p> + +<p>"When I left ship this morning I gave explicit orders to Casey, +my mate."</p> + +<p>He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinching eyes.</p> + +<p>"I said something like this: 'Casey, I'm going to see Strang +before I come back. If he's willing to settle for five thousand, +we'll call it off. And if he isn't—why, we'll stand out there +a mile and blow St. James into hell! And if I don't come back by +to-morrow at sundown, Casey, you take command and blow it to hell +without me!' So, Obadiah Price, if there's treachery—"</p> + +<p>The old man clutched at his hands with insane fierceness.</p> + +<p>"There will be no treachery, Nat, I swear to God there will be +no treachery! Come, we will go—"</p> + +<p>Still Captain Plum hesitated.</p> + +<p>"Who are you? Whom am I to follow?"</p> + +<p>"A member of our holy Council of Twelve, Nat, and lord high +treasurer of His Majesty, King Strang!"</p> + +<p>Before Captain Plum could recover from the surprise of this +whispered announcement the little old man had freed himself and was +pattering swiftly through the darkness of the next room. The master +of the <i>Typhoon</i> followed close behind him. Outside the +councilor hesitated for a moment, as if debating which route to +take, and then with a prodigious wink at Captain Plum and a +throatful of his inimitable chuckles, chose the path down which his +startled visitor of a short time before had fled. For fifteen +minutes this path led between thick black walls of forest verdure. +Obadiah Price kept always a few paces ahead of his companion and +spoke not a word. At the end of perhaps half a mile the path +entered into a large clearing on the farther side of which +Nathaniel caught the glimmer of a light. They passed close to this +light, which came from the window of a large square house built of +logs, and Captain Plum became suddenly conscious that the air was +filled with the redolent perfume of lilac. With half a dozen quick +strides he overtook the councilor and caught him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"I smell lilac!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>"Certainly, so do I," replied Obadiah Price. "We have very fine +lilacs on the island."</p> + +<p>"And I smelled lilac back there," continued Nathaniel, still +holding to the old man's arm, and pointing a thumb over his +shoulder. "I smelled 'em back there, when—"</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the councilor softly. "I don't doubt it, +Nat, I don't doubt it. She is very fond of lilacs. She wears the +flowers very often."</p> + +<p>He pulled himself away and Captain Plum could hear his queer +chuckling for some time after. Soon they entered the gloom of the +woods again and a little later came out into another clearing and +Nathaniel knew that it was St. James that lay at his feet. The +lights of a few fishing boats were twinkling in the harbor, but for +the most part the town was dark. Here and there a window shone like +a spot of phosphorescent yellow in the dismal gloom and the great +beacon still burned steadily over the home of the prophet.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it is not time," whispered Obadiah. "It is still too +early." He drew his companion out of the path which they had +followed and sat himself down on a hummock a dozen yards away from +it, inviting Nathaniel by a pull of the sleeve to do the same. +There were three of these hummocks, side by side, and Captain Plum +chose the one nearest the old man and waited for him to speak. But +the councilor did not open his lips. Doubled over until his chin +rested almost upon the sharp points of his knees, he gazed steadily +at the beacon, and as he looked it shuddered and grew dark, like a +firefly that suddenly closes its wings. With a quick spring the +councilor straightened himself and turned to the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i>.</p> + +<p>"You have a good nose, Nat," he said, "but your ears are not so +good. Sh-h-h-h!" He lifted a hand warningly and nodded sidewise +toward the path. Captain Plum listened. He heard low voices and +then footsteps—voices that were approaching rapidly, and were +those of women, and footsteps that were almost running. The old man +caught him by the arm and as the sounds came nearer his grip +tightened.</p> + +<p>"Don't frighten them, Nat. Get down!"</p> + +<p>He crouched until he was only a part of the shadows of the +ground and following his example Nathaniel slipped between two of +the knolls. A few yards away the sound of the voices ceased and +there was a hesitancy in the soft tread of the approaching steps. +Slowly, and now in awesome silence, two figures came down the path +and when they reached a point opposite the hummocks Nathaniel could +see that they turned their faces toward them and that for a brief +space there was something of terror in the gleam he caught of their +eyes. In a moment they had passed. Then he heard them running.</p> + +<p>"They saw us!" Captain Plum exclaimed.</p> + +<p>Obadiah hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands with great glee. +"What a temptation, Nat!" he whispered. "What a temptation to +frighten them out of their wits! No, they didn't see us, +Nat—they didn't see us. The girls are always frightened when +they pass these graves. Some day—"</p> + +<p>"Graves!" almost shouted the master of the <i>Typhoon</i>. +"Graves—and we sitting on 'em!"</p> + +<p>"That's all right, Nat—that's all right. They're my +graves, so we're welcome to sit on them. I often come here and sit +for hours at a time. They like to have me, especially little +Jean—the middle one. Perhaps I'll tell you about Jean before +you go away."</p> + +<p>If Captain Plum had been watching him he would have seen that +soft mysterious light again shining in the old councilor's eyes. +But now Nathaniel stood erect, his nostrils sniffing the air, +catching once more the sweet scent of lilac. He hurried out into +the opening, with the old man close behind him, and peered down +into the starlit gloom into which the two girls had disappeared. +The lovely face that had appeared to him for an instant at +Obadiah's cabin began to haunt him. He was sure now that his sudden +appearance had not been the only cause of its terror, and he felt +that he should have called out to her or followed until he had +overtaken her. He could easily have excused his boldness, even if +the councilor had been watching him from the cabin door. He was +certain that she had passed very near to him again and that the +fright which Obadiah had attempted to explain was not because of +the graves. He swung about upon his companion, determined to ask +for an explanation. The latter seemed to divine his thought.</p> + +<p>"Don't let a little scent of lilac disturb you so, young man," +he said with singular coldness. "It may cause you great +unpleasantness." He went ahead and Nathaniel followed him, assured +that the old man's words and the way in which he had spoken them no +longer left a doubt as to the identity of his night visitor. She +was one of the councilor's wives, so he thought, and his own +interest in her was beginning to have an irritating effect. In +other words Obadiah was becoming jealous.</p> + +<p>For some time there was silence between the two. Obadiah Price +now walked with extreme slowness and along paths which seemed to +bring him no nearer to the town below. Nathaniel could see that he +was absorbed in thoughts of his own, and held his peace. Was it +possible that he had spoiled his chances with the councilor because +of a pretty face and a bunch of lilacs? The thought tickled Captain +Plum despite the delicacy of his situation and he broke into an +involuntary laugh. The laugh brought Obadiah to a halt as suddenly +as though some one had thrust a bayonet against his breast.</p> + +<p>"Nat, you've got good red blood in you," he cried, whirling +about. "D'ye suppose you can hate as well as love?"</p> + +<p>"Lord deliver us!" exclaimed the astonished Captain Plum. +"Hate—love—what the—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, <i>hate</i>," repeated the old man with fierce emphasis, +so close that his breath struck Nathaniel's face. "You can love a +pretty face—and you can <i>hate</i>. I know you can. If you +couldn't I would send you back to your sloop with the package +to-night. But as it is I am going to relieve you of your oath. Yes, +Nat, I give you back your oath—for a time."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stepped a pace back and put his hands on his pockets +as if to protect the gold there.</p> + +<p>"You mean that you want to call off our bargain?" he asked.</p> + +<p>The councilor rubbed his hands until the friction of them sent a +shiver up Nathaniel's back. "Not that, Nat—O, no, not that! +The bargain is good. The gold is yours. You must deliver the +package. But you need not do it immediately. Understand? I am +lonely back there in my shack. I want company. You must stay with +me a week. Eh? Lilacs and pretty faces, Nat! Ho, ho!—You will +stay a week, won't you, Nat?"</p> + +<p>He spoke so rapidly and his face underwent so many changes, now +betraying the keenest excitement, now wrinkled in an ogreish, +bantering grin, now almost pleading in its earnestness, that +Nathaniel knew not what to make of him. He looked into the beady +eyes, sparkling with passion, and the cat-like glitter of them set +his blood tingling. What strange adventure was this old man +dragging him into? What were the motives, the reasoning, the plot +that lay behind this mysterious creature's apparent faith in him? +He tried to answer these things in the passing of a moment before +he replied. The councilor saw his hesitancy and smiled.</p> + +<p>"I will show you many things of interest, Nat," he said. "I will +show you just one to-night. Then you will make up your mind, eh? +You need not tell me until then."</p> + +<p>He took the lead again and this time struck straight down for +the town. They passed a number of houses built of logs and +Nathaniel caught narrow gleams of light from between close-drawn +curtains. In one of these houses he heard the crying of children, +and with a return of his grisly humor Obadiah Price prodded him in +the ribs and said,</p> + +<p>"Good old Israel Laeng lives there—two wives, one old, one +young—eleven children. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to him!" +And from a second he heard the sound of an organ, and from still a +third there came the laughter and chatter of several feminine +voices, and again Obadiah reached out and prodded Nathaniel in the +ribs. There was one great, gloomy, long-built place which they +passed, without a ray of light to give it life, and the councilor +said, "Three widows there, Nat,—fight like cats and dogs. +Poor Job killed himself." They avoided the more thickly populated +part of the settlement and encountered few people, which seemed to +please the councilor. Once they overtook and passed a group of +women clad in short skirts and loose waists and with their hair +hanging in braids down their backs. For a third time Obadiah nudged +Captain Plum.</p> + +<p>"It is the king's pleasure that all women wear skirts that come +just below the knees," he whispered. "Some of them won't do it and +he's wondering how to punish them. To-morrow there's going to be +two public whippings. One of the victims is a man who said that if +he was a woman he'd die before he put on knee skirts. After he's +whipped he is going to be made to wear 'em. By Urim and Thummin, +isn't that choice, Nat?"</p> + +<p>He shivered with quiet laughter and dived into a great block of +darkness where there seemed to be no houses, keeping close beside +Nathaniel. Soon they came to the edge of a grove and deep among the +trees Captain Plum caught a glimpse of a lighted window. Obadiah +Price now began to exhibit unusual caution. He approached the light +slowly, pausing every few steps to peer guardedly about him, and +when they had come very near to the window he pulled his companion +behind a thick clump of shrubbery. Nathaniel could hear the old +man's subdued chuckle and he bent his head to catch what he was +about to whisper to him.</p> + +<p>"You must make no noise, Nat," he warned. "This is the castle of +our priest, king and prophet—James Jesse Strang. I am going +to show you what you have never seen before and what you will never +look upon again. I have sworn upon the Two Books and I will keep my +oath. And then—you will answer the question I asked you back +there."</p> + +<p>He crept out into the darkness of the trees and Nathaniel +followed, his heart throbbing with excitement, every sense alert, +and one hand resting on the butt of his pistol. He felt that he was +nearing the climax of his day's adventure and now, in the last +moment of it, his old caution reasserted itself. He knew that he +was among a dangerous people, men who, according to the laws of his +country, were criminals in more ways than one. He had seen much of +their work along the coasts and he had heard of more of it. He knew +that this gloom and sullen quiet of St. James hid cut-throats and +pirates and thieves. Still there was nothing ahead to alarm him. +The old man dodged the gleams of the lighted window and slunk +around to the end of the great house. Here, several feet above his +head, was another window, small and veiled with the foliage wall. +With the assurance of one who had been there before the councilor +mounted some object under the window, lifted himself until his chin +was on a level with the glass, and peered within. He was there but +an instant and then fell back, chuckling and rubbing his hands.</p> + +<p>"Come, Nat!"</p> + +<p>He stood a little to one side and bowed with mock politeness. +For a moment Captain Plum hesitated. Under ordinary circumstances +this spying through a window would have been repugnant to him. But +at present something seemed to tell him that it was not to satisfy +his curiosity alone that Obadiah Price had given him this +opportunity. Would a look through that little window explain some +of the mysteries of the night?</p> + +<p>There came a low whisper in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Do you smell lilac, Nat? Eh?"</p> + +<p>The councilor was grinning at him. There was a suggestive gleam +in his eyes. He rubbed his hands almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>In another instant Captain Plum had stepped upon the object +beneath the window and parted the leaves. Breathlessly he looked +in. A strange scene met his eyes. He was looking into a vast room, +illuminated by a huge hanging lamp suspended almost on a level with +his head. Under this lamp there was a long table and at the table +sat seven women and one man. The man was at the end nearest the +window and all that Nat could see was the back of his head and +shoulders. But the women were in full view, three on each side of +the table and one at the far end. He guessed the man to be Strang; +but he stared at the women and as his eyes traveled back to the one +facing him at the end of the table he could scarcely repress the +exclamation of surprise that rose to his lips. It was the girl whom +he had encountered at the councilor's cabin. She was leaning +forward as if in an agony of suspense, her eyes on the king, her +lips parted, her hands clutching at a great book which lay open +before her. Her cheeks were flushed with excitement. And even as he +looked Captain Plum saw her head fall suddenly forward upon the +table, encircled by her arms. The heavy braid of her hair, partly +undone, glistened like red gold in the lamplight. Her slender body +was convulsed with sobs. The woman nearest her reached over and +laid a caressing hand on the bowed head, but drew it quickly away +as if at a sharp command.</p> + +<p>In his eagerness Nathaniel thrust his face through the foliage +until his nose touched the glass. When the girl lifted her head she +straightened back in her chair—and saw him. There came a +sudden white fear in her face, a parting of the lips as if she were +on the point of crying out, and then, before the others had seen, +she looked again at Strang. She had discovered him and yet she had +not revealed her discovery! Nathaniel could have shouted for joy. +She had seen him, had recognized him! And because she had not cried +out she wanted him! He drew his pistol from its holster and waited. +If she signaled for him, if she called him, he would burst the +window. The girl was talking now and as she talked she lifted her +eyes. Nathaniel pressed his face close against the window, and +smiled. That would let her know he was a friend. She seemed to +answer him with a little nod and he fancied that her eyes glowed +with a mute appeal for his assistance. But only for an instant, and +then they turned again to the king. Not until that moment did +Nathaniel notice upon her bosom a bunch of crumpled lilacs.</p> + +<p>From below the iron grip of the councilor dragged him down.</p> + +<p>"That's enough," he whispered. "That's enough—for +to-night." He saw the pistol in Nathaniel's hand and gave a sudden +breathless cry.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—"</p> + +<p>He caught Captain Plum's free hand in his.</p> + +<p>"Tell me this, Obadiah Price," whispered the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i>, "who is she?"</p> + +<p>The councilor stood on tiptoe to answer.</p> + +<p>"They are the six wives of Strang, Nat!"</p> + +<p>"But the other?" demanded Nathaniel. "The other—"</p> + +<p>"O, to be sure, to be sure," chuckled Obadiah. "The girl of the +lilacs, eh? Why, she's the seventh wife, Nat—that's all, the +seventh wife!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0003"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<center>THE WARNING</center> + +<p>So quickly that Obadiah Price might not have counted ten before +it had come and gone the significance of his new situation flashed +upon Captain Plum as he stood under the king's window. His plans +had changed since leaving ship but now he realized that they had +become hopelessly involved. He had intended that Obadiah should +show him where Strang was to be found, and that later, when +ostensibly returning to his vessel, he would visit the prophet in +his home. Whatever the interview brought forth he would still be in +a position to deliver the councilor's package. Even an hour's +bombardment of St. James would not interfere with the fulfilment of +his oath. But those few minutes at the king's window had been fatal +to the scheme he had built. The girl had seen him. She had not +betrayed his presence. She had called to him with her eyes—he +would have staked his life on that. What did it all mean? He turned +to Obadiah. The old man was grimacing and twisting his hands +nervously. He seemed half afraid, cringing, as if fearing a blow. +The sight of him set Nathaniel's blood afire. His white face seemed +to verify the terrible thought that had leaped into his brain. +Suddenly he heard a faint cry—a woman's voice—and in an +instant he was back at the window. The girl had risen to her feet +and stood facing him. This time, as her eyes met his own, he saw in +them a flashing warning, and he obeyed it as if she had spoken to +him. As he dropped silently back to the ground the councilor came +close to his side.</p> + +<p>"That's enough for to-night, Nat," he whispered.</p> + +<p>He made as if to slip away but Nathaniel detained him with an +emphatic hand.</p> + +<p>"Not yet, Dad! I'd like to have a word +with—this—"</p> + +<p>"With Strang's wife," chuckled Obadiah. "Ho, ho, ho, Nat, you're +a rascal!" The old man's face was mapped with wrinkles, his eyes +glowed with joyous approbation. "You shall, Nat, you shall! You +love a pretty face, eh? You shall meet Mrs. Strang, Nat, and you +shall make love to her if you wish. I swear that, too. But not +to-night, Nat—not to-night."</p> + +<p>He stood a pace away and rubbed his hands.</p> + +<p>"There will be no chance to-night, Nat—but to-morrow +night, or the next. O, I promise you shall meet her, and make love +to her, Nat! Ho, if Strang knew, if Strang <i>only</i> knew!"</p> + +<p>There was something so fiendishly gloating in the councilor's +attitude, in his face, in the hot glow of his eyes, that for a +moment Nathaniel's involuntary liking for the little old man before +him turned to abhorrence. The passion, the triumph of the man, +convinced him where words had failed. The girl was Strang's wife. +His last doubt was dispelled. And because she was Strang's wife +Obadiah hated the Mormon prophet. The councilor had spoken with +fateful assurance—that he should meet her, that he should +make love to her. It was an assurance that made him shudder. As he +followed in silence up out of the gloom of the town he strove, but +in vain, to find whether sin had lurked in the sweet face that had +appealed to him in its misery—whether there had been a flash +of something besides terror, besides prayerful entreaty, in the +lovely eyes that had met his own. Obadiah spoke no word to break in +on his thoughts. Now and then the old man's insane chucklings +floated softly to Nathaniel's ears, and when at last they came to +the cabin in the forest he broke into a low laugh that echoed +weirdly in the great black room which they entered. He lighted +another candle and approached a ladder which led through a trap in +the ceiling. Without a word he mounted this ladder, and Nathaniel +followed him, finding himself a moment later in a small low room +furnished with a bed. The councilor placed his candle on a table +close beside it and rubbed his hands until it seemed they must +burn.</p> + +<p>"You will stay—eh, Nat?" he cried, bobbing his head. "Yes, +you will stay, and you will give me back the package for a day or +two." He retreated to the trap and slid down it as quickly as a +rat. "Pleasant dreams to you, Nat, and—O, wait a minute!" +Captain Plum could hear him pattering quickly over the floor below. +In a moment he was back, thrusting his white grimacing face through +the trap and tossed something upon the bed. "She left them last +night, Nat. Pleasant dreams, pleasant dreams," and he was gone.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel turned to the bed and picked up a faded bunch of +lilacs. Then he sat down, loaded his pipe, and smoked until he +could hardly see the walls of his little room. From the moment of +his landing on the island he turned the events of the day over in +his mind. Yet when he arrived at the end of them he was no less +mystified than when he began. Who was Obadiah Price? Who was the +girl that fate had so mysteriously associated with his movements +thus far? What was the plot in which he had accidentally become +involved? With tireless tenacity he hung to these questions for +hours. That there was a plot of some kind he had not the least +doubt. The councilor's strange actions, the oath, the package, and +above all the scene in the king's house convinced him of that. And +he was sure that Obadiah's night visitor—the girl with the +lilacs—was playing a vital part in it.</p> + +<p>He plucked at the withered flowers which the old man had thrown +him. He could detect their sweet scent above the pungent fumes of +tobacco and as Obadiah's triumphant chuckle recurred to him, the +gloating joy in his eyes, the passionate tremble of his voice, a +grim smile passed over his face. The mystery was easy of +solution—if he was willing to reason along certain lines. But +he was not willing. He had formed his own picture of Strang's wife +and it pleased him to keep it. At moments he half conceded himself +a fool, but that did not trouble him. The longer he smoked the more +his old confidence and his old recklessness returned to him. He had +enjoyed his adventure. The next day he would end it. He would go +openly into St. James and have done his business with Strang. Then +he would return to his ship. What had he, Captain Plum, to do with +Strang's wife?</p> + +<p>But even after he had determined on these things his brain +refused to rest. He paced back and forth across the narrow room, +thinking of the man whom he was to meet to-morrow—of Strang, +the one-time schoolmaster and temperance lecturer who had made +himself a king, who for seven years had defied the state and +nation, and who had made of his island stronghold a hot-bed of +polygamy, of licentiousness, of dissolute power. His blood grew hot +as he thought again of the beautiful girl who had appealed to him. +Obadiah had said that she was the king's wife. Still—</p> + +<p>Thoughts flashed into his head which for a time made him forget +his mission on the island. In spite of his resolution to keep to +his own scheme he found himself, after a little, thinking only of +the Mormon king, and the lovely face he had seen through the castle +window. He knew much about the man with whom he was to deal +to-morrow. He knew that he had been a rival of Brigham Young and +that when the exodus of the Mormons to the deserts of the west came +he had led his own followers into the North, and that each July, +amid barbaric festivities, he was recrowned with a circlet of gold. +But the girl! If she was the king's wife why had her eyes called to +him for help?</p> + +<p>The question crowded Nathaniel's brain with a hundred thrilling +pictures. With a shudder he thought of the terrible power the +Mormon king held not only over his own people but over the Gentiles +of the mainlands as well. With these mainlanders, he regarded +Beaver Island as a nest of pirates and murderers. He knew of the +depredations of Strang and his people among the fishermen and +settlers, of the piratical expeditions of his armed boats, of the +dreaded raids of his sheriffs, and of the crimes that made the +women of the shores tremble and turn white at the mere mention of +his name.</p> + +<p>Was it possible that this girl—</p> + +<p>Captain Plum did not let himself finish the thought. With a +powerful effort he brought himself back to his own business on the +island, smoked another pipe, and undressed. He went to bed with the +withered lilacs on the table close beside him. He fell asleep with +their scent in his nostrils. When he awoke they were gone. He +started up in astonishment when he saw what had taken their place. +Obadiah had visited him while he slept. The table was spread with a +white cloth and upon it was his breakfast, a pot of coffee still +steaming, and the whole of a cold baked fowl. Near-by, upon a +chair, was a basin of water, soap and a towel. Nathaniel rolled +from his bed with a healthy laugh of pleasure. The councilor was at +least a courteous host, and his liking for the curious old man +promptly increased. There was a sheet of paper on his plate upon +which Obadiah had scribbled the following words:</p> + +<p>"My dear Nat:—Make yourself at home. I will be away to-day +but will see you again to-night. Don't be surprised if somebody +makes you a visit."</p> + +<p>The "somebody" was heavily underscored and Nathaniel's pulse +quickened and a sudden flush of excitement surged into his face as +he read the meaning of it. The "somebody" was Strang's wife. There +could be no other interpretation. He went to the trap and called +down for Obadiah but there was no answer. The councilor had already +gone. Quickly eating his breakfast the master of the <i>Typhoon</i> +climbed down the ladder into the room below. The remains of the +councilor's breakfast were on a table near the door, and the door +was open. Through it came a glory of sunshine and the fresh breath +of the forest laden with the perfume of wild flowers and balsam. A +thousand birds seemed caroling and twittering in the sunlit +solitude about the cabin. Beyond this there was no other sound or +sign of life. For many minutes Nathaniel stood in the open, his +eyes on the path along which he knew that Strang's wife would +come—if she came at all. Suddenly he began to examine the +ground where the girl had stood the previous night. The dainty +imprints of her feet were plainly discernible in the soft earth. +Then he went to the path—and with a laugh so loud that it +startled the birds into silence he set off with long strides in the +direction of St. James. From the footprints in that path it was +quite evident that Strang's wife was a frequent visitor at +Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>At the edge of the forest, from where he could see the log house +situated across the opening, Nathaniel paused. He had made up his +mind that the girl whom he had seen through the king's window was +in some way associated with it. Obadiah had hinted as much and she +had come from there on her way to Strang's. But as the prophet's +wives lived in his castle at St. James this surely could not be her +home. More than ever he was puzzled. As he looked he saw a figure +suddenly appear from among the mass of lilac bushes that almost +concealed the cabin. An involuntary exclamation of satisfaction +escaped him and he drew back deeper among the trees. It was the +councilor who had shown himself. For a few moments the old man +stood gazing in the direction of St. James as if watching for the +approach of other persons. Then he dodged cautiously along the edge +of the bushes, keeping half within their cover, and moved swiftly +in the opposite direction toward the center of the island. +Nathaniel's blood leaped with a desire to follow. The night before +he had guessed that Obadiah with his gold and his smoldering +passion was not a man to isolate himself in the heart of the +forest. Here—across the open—was evidence of another +side of his life. In that great square-built domicile of logs, +screened so perfectly by flowering lilac, lived Obadiah's wives. +Captain Plum laughed aloud and beat the bowl of his pipe on the +tree beside him. And the <i>girl</i> lived there—or came from +there to the woodland cabin so frequently that her feet had beaten +a well-worn path. Had the councilor lied to him? Was the girl he +had seen through the King's window one of the seven wives of +Strang—or was she the wife of Obadiah Price?</p> + +<p>The thought was one that thrilled him. If the girl was the +councilor's wife what was the motive of Obadiah's falsehood? And if +she was Strang's wife why had her feet—and hers alone with +the exception of the old man's—worn this path from the lilac +smothered house to the cabin in the woods? The captain of the +<i>Typhoon</i> regretted now that he had given such explicit orders +to Casey. Otherwise he would have followed the figure that was +already disappearing into the forest on the opposite side of the +clearing. But now he must see Strang. There might be delay, +necessary delay, and if it so happened that his own blundering +curiosity kept him on the island until sundown—well, he +smiled as he thought of what Casey would do.</p> + +<p>Refilling his pipe and leaving a trail of smoke behind him he +set out boldly for St. James. When he came to the three graves he +stopped, remembering that Obadiah had said they were his graves. A +sort of grim horror began to stir at his soul as he gazed on the +grass-grown mounds—proofs that the old councilor would +inherit a place in the Mormon Heaven having obeyed the injunctions +of his prophet on earth. Nathaniel now understood the meaning of +his words of the night before. This was the family burying ground +of the old councilor.</p> + +<p>He walked on, trying in vain to concentrate his mind solely upon +the business that was ahead of him. A few days before he would have +counted this walk to St. James one of the events of his life. Now +it had lost its fascination. Despite his efforts to destroy the +vision of the beautiful face that had looked at him through the +king's window its memory still haunted him. The eyes, soft with +appeal; the red mouth, quivering, and with lips parted as if about +to speak to him; the bowed head with its tumbled glory of +hair—all had burned themselves upon his soul in a picture too +deep to be eradicated. If St. James was interesting now it was +because that face was a part of it, because the secret of its life, +of the misery that it had confessed to him, was hidden somewhere +down there among its scattered log homes.</p> + +<p>Slowly he made his way down the slope in the direction of +Strang's castle, the tower of which, surmounted by its great +beacon, glistened in the morning sun. He would find Strang there. +And there would be one chance in a thousand of seeing the +girl—if Obadiah had spoken the truth. As he passed down he +met men and boys coming up the slope and others moving along at the +bottom of it, all going toward the interior of the island. They had +shovels or rakes or hoes upon their shoulders and he guessed that +the Mormon fields were in that direction; others bore axes; and now +and then wagons, many of them drawn by oxen, left the town over the +road that ran near the shore of the lake. Those whom he met stared +at him curiously, much interested evidently in the appearance of a +stranger. Nathaniel paid but small heed to them. As he entered the +grove through which the councilor had guided him the night before +his eagerness became almost excitement. He approached the great log +house swiftly but cautiously, keeping as much from view as +possible. As he came under the window through which he had looked +upon the king and his wives his heart leaped with anticipation, +with hope that was strangely mingled with fear. For only a moment +he paused to listen, and notwithstanding the seriousness of his +position he could not repress a smile as there came to his ears the +crying of children and the high angry voice of a woman. He passed +around to the front of the house. The door of Strang's castle was +wide open and unguarded. No one had seen his approach; no one +accosted him as he mounted the low steps; there was no one in the +room into which he gazed a moment later. It was the great hall into +which he had spied a few hours previous. There was the long table +with the big book on it, the lamp whose light had bathed the girl's +head in a halo of glory, the very chair in which he had found her +sitting! He was conscious of a throbbing in his breast, a longing +to call out—if he only knew her name.</p> + +<p>In the room there were four closed doors and it was from beyond +these that there came to him the wailing of children. A fifth door +was open and through it he saw a cradle gently rocking. Here at +last was visible life, or motion at least, and he knocked loudly. +Very gradually the cradle ceased its movement. Then it stopped, and +a woman came out into the larger room. In a moment Nathaniel +recognized her as the one who had placed a caressing hand upon the +bowed head of the sobbing girl the night before. Her face was of +pathetic beauty. Its whiteness was startling. Her eyes shone with +an unhealthy luster, and her dark hair, falling in heavy curls over +her shoulder, added to the wonderful pallor of her cheeks.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel bowed. "I beg your pardon, madam; I came to see Mr. +Strang," he said.</p> + +<p>"You will find the king at his office," she replied.</p> + +<p>The woman's voice was low, but so sweet that it was like music +to the ear. As she spoke she came nearer and a faint flush appeared +in the transparency of her cheek.</p> + +<p>"Why do you wish to see the king?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Was there a tremble of fear in her voice? Even as he looked +Nathaniel saw the flush deepen in her cheeks and her eyes light +with nervous eagerness.</p> + +<p>"I am sent by Obadiah Price," he hazarded.</p> + +<p>A flash of relief shot into the woman's face.</p> + +<p>"The king is at his office," she repeated. "His office is near +the temple."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel retired with another bow.</p> + +<p>"By thunder, Strang, old boy, you've certainly got an eye for +beauty!" he laughed as he hurried through the grove.</p> + +<p>"And Obadiah Price must be somebody, after all!"</p> + +<p>The Mormon temple was the largest structure in St. James, a huge +square building of hewn logs, and Nathaniel did not need to make +inquiry to find it. On one side was a two-story building with an +outside stairway leading to the upper floor, and a painted sign +announced that on this second floor was situated the office of +James Jesse Strang, priest, king and prophet of the Mormons. It was +still very early and the general merchandise store below was not +open. Congratulating himself on this fact, and with the fingers of +his right hand reaching instinctively for his pistol butt, Captain +Plum mounted the stair. When half way up he heard voices. As he +reached the landing at the top he caught the quick swish of a +skirt. Another step and he was in the open door. He was not soon +enough to see the person who had just disappeared through an +opposite door but he knew that it was a woman. Directly in front of +him as if she had been expecting his arrival was a young girl, and +no sooner had he put a foot over the threshold than she hurried +toward him, the most acute anxiety and fear written in her +face.</p> + +<p>"You are Captain Plum?" she asked breathlessly.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stopped in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I'm—"</p> + +<p>"Then you must hurry—hurry!" cried the girl excitedly. +"You have not a moment to lose! Go back to your ship before it is +too late! She says they will kill you—"</p> + +<p>"Who says so?" thundered Captain Plum. He sprang to the girl's +side and caught her by the arm. "Who says that I will be killed? +Tell me—who gave you this warning for me?"</p> + +<p>"I—I—tell you so!" stammered the young girl. +"I—I—heard the king—they will kill you—" +Her lips trembled. Nathaniel saw that her eyes were already red +from crying. "You will go?" she pleaded.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had taken her hand and now he held it tightly in his +own. His head was thrown back, his eyes were upon the door across +the room. When he looked again into the girlish face there was +flashing joyous defiance in his eyes, and in his voice there was +confession of the truth that had suddenly come to overwhelm +whatever law of self preservation he might have held unto +himself.</p> + +<p>"No, my dear, I am not going back to my ship," he spoke softly. +"Not unless she who is in that room comes out and bids me go +herself!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0004"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<center>THE WHIPPING</center> + +<p>Scarce had the words fallen from his lips when there sounded a +slow, heavy step on the stair outside. The young girl snatched her +hand free and caught Nathaniel by the wrist.</p> + +<p>"It is the king!" she whispered excitedly. "It is the king! +Quick—you still have time! You must go—you must +go—"</p> + +<p>She strove to pull him across the room.</p> + +<p>"There—through that door!" she urged.</p> + +<p>The slowly ascending steps were half way up the stairs. +Nathaniel hesitated. He knew that a moment before there had passed +through that door one who carried with her the odor of lilac and +his heart leaped to its own conclusion who that person was. He had +heard the rustle of the girl's skirt. He had seen the last inch of +the door close as Strang's wife pulled it after her. And now he was +implored to follow! He sprang forward as the heavy steps neared the +landing. His hand was upon the latch—when he paused. Then he +turned and bent his head close down to the girl.</p> + +<p>"No, I won't do it, my dear," he whispered. "Just now it might +make trouble for—her."</p> + +<p>He lifted his eyes and saw a man looking at him from the +doorway. He needed no further proof to assure him that this was +Strang the king of the Mormons, for the Beaver Island prophet was +painted well in that region which knew the grip and terror of his +power. He was a massive man, with the slow slumbering strength of a +beast. He was not much under fifty; but his thick beard, reddish +and crinkling, his shaggy hair, and the full-fed ruddiness of his +face, with its foundation of heavy jaw, gave him a more youthful +appearance. There was in his eyes, set deep and so light that they +shone like pale blue glass, the staring assurance that is +frequently born of power. In his hand he carried a huge +metal-knobbed stick.</p> + +<p>In an instant Nathaniel had recovered himself. He advanced a +step, bowing coolly.</p> + +<p>"I am Captain Plum, of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>," he said. "I +called at your home a short time ago and was directed to your +office. As a stranger on the island I did not know that you had an +office or I would have come here first."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>The king drew his right foot back half a pace and bowed so low +that Nathaniel saw only the crown of his hat. When he raised his +head the aggressive stare had gone out of his eyes and a welcoming +smile lighted up his face as he advanced with extended hand.</p> + +<p>"I am glad to see you, Captain Plum."</p> + +<p>His voice was deep and rich, filled with that wonderful +vibratory power which seems to strike and attune the hidden chords +of one's soul. The man's appearance had not prepossessed Nathaniel, +but at the sound of his voice he recognized that which had made him +the prophet of men. As the warm hand of the king clasped his own +Captain Plum knew that he was in the presence of a master of human +destinies, a man whose ponderous red-visaged body was simply the +crude instrument through which spoke the marvelous spirit that had +enslaved thousands to him, that had enthralled a state legislature +and that had hypnotized a federal jury into giving him back his +freedom when evidence smothered him in crime. He felt himself +sinking in the presence of this man and struggled fiercely to +regain himself. He withdrew his hand and straightened himself like +a soldier.</p> + +<p>"I have come to you with a grievance, Mr. Strang," he began. "A +grievance which I feel sure you will do your best to right. Perhaps +you are aware that some little time ago—about two weeks +back—your people boarded my ship in force and robbed me of +several thousand dollars' worth of merchandise."</p> + +<p>Strang had drawn a step back.</p> + +<p>"Aware of it!" he exclaimed in a voice that shook the room. +"Aware of it!" The red of his face turned purple and he clenched +his free hand in sudden passion. "Aware of it!" He repeated the +words, this time so gently that Nathaniel could scarcely hear them, +and tapped his heavy stick upon the floor. "No, Captain Plum, I was +not aware of it. If I <i>had</i> been—" He shrugged his thick +shoulders. The movement, and a sudden gleam of his teeth through +his beard, were expressive enough for Nathaniel to understand.</p> + +<p>Then the king smiled.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure—are you <i>quite</i> sure, Captain Plum, +that it was my people who attacked your ship? If so, of course you +must have some proof?"</p> + +<p>"We were very near to Beaver Island and many miles from the +mainland," said Nathaniel. "It could only have been your +people."</p> + +<p>"Ah!"</p> + +<p>Strang led the way to a table at the farther end of the room and +motioned Nathaniel to a seat opposite him.</p> + +<p>"We are a much persecuted people, Captain Plum, very much +persecuted indeed." His wonderful voice trembled with a subdued +pathos. "We have answered for many sins that have never been ours, +Captain Plum, and among them are robbery, piracy and even murder. +The people along the coasts are deadly enemies to us—who +would be their friends; they commit crimes in our name and we do +not retaliate. It was not my people who waylaid your vessel. They +were fishermen, probably, who came from the Michigan shore and +awaited their opportunity off Beaver Island. But I shall +investigate this; believe me, I shall investigate this fully, +Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt something like a great choking fist shoot up into +his throat. It was not a sensation of fear but of +humiliation—the humiliation of defeat, the knowledge of his +own weakness in the hands of this man who had so quickly and so +surely blocked his claim. His quick brain saw the futility of +argument. He possessed no absolute proof and he had thought that he +needed none. Strang saw the flash of doubt in his face, the +hesitancy in his answer; he divined the working of the other's +brain and in his soft voice, purring with friendship, he followed +up his triumph.</p> + +<p>"I sympathize with you," he spoke gently, "and my sympathy and +word shall help you. We do not welcome strangers among us, for +strangers have usually proved themselves our enemies and have done +us wrong. But to you I give the freedom of our kingdom. Search +where you will, at what hours you will, and when you have found a +single proof that your stolen property is among my +people—when you have seen a face that you recognize as one of +the robbers, return to me and I shall make restitution and punish +the evil-doers."</p> + +<p>So intensely he spoke, so filled with reason and truth were his +words, that Nathaniel thrust out his hand in token of acceptance of +the king's terms. And as Strang gripped that hand Captain Plum saw +the young girl's face over the prophet's shoulder—a face, +white as death in its terror, that told him all he had heard was a +lie.</p> + +<p>"And when you have done with my people," continued the king, +"you will go among that other race, along the mainland, where men +have thrown off the restraints of society to give loose reign to +lust and avarice; where the Indian is brutified that his wife may +be intoxicated by compulsion and prostituted by violence before his +eyes; where the forest cabins and the streets of towns are filled +with half-breeds; where there stalk wretches with withered and +tearless eyes, who are in nowise troubled by recollection of +robbery, rape and murder. And <i>there</i> you will find whom you +are looking for!"</p> + +<p>Strang had risen to his feet. His eyes blazed with the fire of +smothered hatred and passion and his great voice rolled through his +beard, tremulous with excitement, but still deep and rich, like the +booming of some melodious instrument. He flung aside his hat as he +paced back and forth; his shaggy hair fell upon his shoulders; huge +veins stood out upon his forehead—and Nathaniel sat mute as +he watched this lion of a man whose great throat quivered with the +power that might have stirred a nation—that might have made +him president instead of king. He waited for the thunder of that +throat and his nerves keyed themselves to meet its bursting +passion. But when Strang spoke again it was in a voice as soft and +as gentle as a woman's.</p> + +<p>"Those are the men who have vilified us, Captain Plum; who have +covered us with crimes that we have never committed; who have +driven our people into groups that they may be free from +depredation; who watch like vultures to despoil our women; wild +wifeless men, Captain Plum, who have left families and character +behind them and who have sought the wilderness to escape the +penalties of law and order. It is they who would destroy us. Go +among my own people first, Captain Plum, and find your lost +property if you can; and if you can not discover it where in seven +years not one child has been born out of wedlock, seek among the +Lamanites—and my sheriffs shall follow where you place the +crime!"</p> + +<p>He had stretched out his arms like one whose plea was of life +and death; his face shone with earnestness; his low words throbbed +as if his heart were borne upon them for the inspection of its +truth and honor. He was Strang the tragedian, the orator, the +conqueror of a legislature, a governor, a dozen juries—and of +human souls. And as he stood silent for a moment in this attitude +Nathaniel rose to his feet, subservient, and believing as others +had believed in the fitness of this man. But as his eyes traveled a +dozen paces beyond, he saw the young girl gesturing to him in that +same terror, and holding up for him to see a slip of paper upon +which she had written. And when she had caught his eyes she +crumpled the paper into a shapeless ball and tossed it just over +the landing to the ground below the stair.</p> + +<p>"I thank you for the privileges of the island which you have +offered me," said Nathaniel, putting on his hat, "and I shall +certainly take advantage of your kindness for a few hours, as I +want very much to witness one of your ceremonies which I understand +is to take place to-day. Then, if I have discovered nothing, I +shall return to my ship."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you wish to see the whipping?" The king smiled his +approval. "That is one way we have of punishing slight misdemeanors +in our kingdom, Captain Plum. It is an illustration of our +intolerance of evil-doers." He turned suddenly toward the girl. +"Winnsome, my dear, have you copied the paper I was at work on? I +wish to show it to Captain Plum."</p> + +<p>He walked slowly toward her and for the first time since her +warning Nathaniel had an opportunity of observing the girl without +fear of being perceived by the prophet. She was very young, hardly +more than a child he would have guessed at first; and yet at a +second and more careful glance he knew that she could not be under +fifteen—perhaps sixteen. Her whole attire was one to add to +her childish appearance. Her hair, which was rather short, fell in +lustrous dark curls about her face and upon her neck. She wore a +fitted coat-like blouse, and knee skirts which disclosed a pretty +pair of legs and ankles. As Strang was returning with the paper +which she handed to him the girl turned her face to Captain Plum. +Her mouth was formed into a round red O and she pointed anxiously +to where she had thrown the note. The king's eyes were on his paper +and Nathaniel nodded to assure her that he understood.</p> + +<p>"I am like a gardener who compels every passing neighbor to go +into his back yard and admire his first sprouts," laughed the +prophet jovially. "In other words, I do a little writing, and I +take a kind of childish joy in making other people read it. But I +see this is not in proper shape, so you have escaped. It is a brief +history of Beaver Island written at the request of the Smithsonian +Institute, which has already published an article of mine. If you +happen to be on the island to-morrow and should you return to this +office I shall certainly have you read it if I have to call all of +my sheriffs into service!"</p> + +<p>He laughed with such open good-humor that Nathaniel found +himself smiling despite the varied unpleasant sensations within +him. "Do you write much?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I get out a daily paper," said the king rather proudly, "and of +course, as prophet, I am the translator of what word may be handed +down to us from Heaven for the direction and commandment of my +people. I hold the secret of the Urim and Thummin, which was first +delivered by angels into the hands of Joseph, and with it have +revealed the word of God as it appears in a book which I have +written. Ah—I had forgotten this!" From among a mass of +papers and books on the table he drew forth a blue-covered pamphlet +and passed it to his companion. "I have only a few copies left but +you may have this one, Captain Plum. It will surely interest you. +In it I have set forth the troubles existing between my own people +and the cyprian-rotted criminals that infest Mackinac and the +mainland and have described our struggle for chastity and honor +against these human vultures. It was published two years ago. But +conditions are different to-day. Now—now I am king, and the +oppressors in the filth of their crime have become the +oppressed!"</p> + +<p>The last words boomed from him in a slogan of triumph and as if +in echoing mockery there came from the open door the chuckling, +mirthless laugh of Obadiah Price.</p> + +<p>"Yea—yea—even into the land of the Lamanites are you +king!"</p> + +<p>At the sound of his voice Strang turned toward him and the +sonorous triumph that rumbled in his throat faded to a low +greeting. And Nathaniel saw that the little old councilor's eyes +glittered boldly as they met the prophet's and that in their glance +was neither fear nor servitude but rather a light as of master +meeting master. The two advanced and clasped hands and a few low +words passed between them while Nathaniel went to the door.</p> + +<p>"I will go with you, Captain Nathaniel Plum," called Obadiah. "I +will go with you and show you the town."</p> + +<p>"The councilor will be your friend," added Strang. "To-day he +carries with him that authority from the king."</p> + +<p>He bowed and Nathaniel passed through the door. Looking back he +caught a last warning flash from the girl's eyes. As he hurried +down the stair he heard the councilor pause for an instant upon the +landing and taking advantage of this opportunity he picked up the +bit of crumpled paper, and read these lines:</p> + +<p>"Hurry to your ship. In another hour men will be watching for an +opportunity to kill you. You will never leave the island +alive—<i>unless you go now</i>. The girl you saw through the +window sends you this warning."</p> + +<p>He thrust the paper into his coat pocket as Obadiah came up +behind him.</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, Nat, my boy, I have come fast to catch you—I have +come fast!" he whispered. He caught his companion by the arm and +Nathaniel felt his hand trembling violently. "Come this way, +Nat—beyond the temple. I have things to say to you." His +voice was strangely unnatural and when Captain Plum looked down +into his face the look in the bead-like eyes startled him. "Nat, +you must hurry away with the package!"</p> + +<p>"So I understand—if I save my skin. Obadiah Price, I have +a notion to kill you!"</p> + +<p>They had passed beyond the huge edifice of logs, and as he +stopped, hidden from the view of the king's office, Nathaniel +caught the councilor's arm in a grip that crushed to the bone.</p> + +<p>"I have a notion to kill you!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>The old man stood unflinching. Not a muscle of his face quivered +as the captain's fingers sank into his flesh.</p> + +<p>"At the first sign of treachery, at the first sign of danger to +myself, I shall shoot you dead!" he finished.</p> + +<p>"You may, Nat, you may. From this moment until you leave the +island I shall be at your side and no harm shall come to you. But +if there should, Nat, or if there should come a moment when you +believe that I am your enemy—shoot me!" There was sincerity +in his voice that carried conviction to Nathaniel's heart and he +released his hold upon the councilor's arm. Regardless of the +mystery that surrounded him he believed in Obadiah. But there rose +in his breast a mad desire to choke this old man into telling him +the truth, to force him to reveal the secrets of this strange plot +into which he had been drawn and of which he knew as little as when +he first set foot in Strang's kingdom. Yet he realized even as the +desire formed itself in his brain that such an effort would be +useless.</p> + +<p>"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known +that I was your friend," continued Obadiah. "She would have come to +you, but now—it is impossible. You know. You have been +warned?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel drew Winnsome's note from his pocket and read it +aloud. Obadiah smiled gleefully when he noticed how carefully he +kept the handwriting from his eyes.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Nat, you are a noble fellow!" he cried, rubbing his hands +in his old tireless way. "You would not betray pretty little Winn, +eh? And who do you suppose told Winnsome to give you this +note?"</p> + +<p>"Strang's wife."</p> + +<p>"Yea, even so. And it was she who set my old legs a-running for +you, my boy. Come, let us move!"</p> + +<p>The little councilor was his old self again, chuckling and +grimacing and rubbing his hands, and his eyes danced as he spoke of +the girl.</p> + +<p>"Casey is not a cautious man," he gurgled with a sudden upward +leer. "Casey is a fool!"</p> + +<p>"Casey!" almost shouted Captain Plum. "What the devil do you +mean?"</p> + +<p>"Ho, ho, ho—haven't you guessed the truth yet, Nat? While +you and I were getting acquainted last night a couple of fishermen +from the mainland dropped alongside your sloop. They had been +robbed by the Mormon pirates! They cursed Strang. They swore +vengeance. And your cautious Casey cursed with 'em, and fed 'em, +and drank with 'em—and he would have had them stay until +morning only they were anxious to hurry with their report to +Strang. Understand, Nat? Eh? Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"What did Casey tell them?" gasped Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>Obadiah hunched his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Enough to warrant a bullet through your head, Nat. Cheerful, +isn't it? But we'll fool them, Nat, we'll fool them! You shall +board your ship and hurry away with the package, and then you shall +make love to Strang's wife—<i>for she will go with +you!</i>"</p> + +<p>He stopped to enjoy the amazement that was written in every +lineament of the other's face. The red blood surged into +Nathaniel's neck and deepened on his bronze cheeks. Slowly the +reaction came. When he spoke there was an uneasy gleam in his eyes +and his voice was as hard as steel.</p> + +<p>"She will go with me, Councilor! And why?"</p> + +<p>Obadiah had laughed softly as he watched the change. Suddenly he +jerked himself erect.</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-h!" he whispered. "Keep cool, Nat! Don't show any +excitement or fear. Here comes the man who is to kill you!"</p> + +<p>He made no move save with his eyes.</p> + +<p>"He is coming to speak with me and to get a good look at you," +he added in excited haste. "Appear friendly. Agree with what I say. +He is the chief of sheriffs, the king's murderer—Arbor +Croche!"</p> + +<p>He turned as if he had just seen the approaching figure. And he +whispered softly, "Winnsome's father!"</p> + +<p>Arbor Croche! Nathaniel gave an involuntary shudder as he turned +with Obadiah. Croche, chief of sheriffs, scourge of the +mainland—the Attila of the Mormon kingdom, whose very name +caused the women of the shores to turn white and on whose head the +men had secretly set a price in gold! Without knowing it his hand +went under his coat. Obadiah saw the movement and as he advanced to +meet the officer of the king he jerked the arm back fiercely. Half +a dozen paces away the chief of sheriffs paused and bowed low. But +the councilor stood erect, as he had stood before the king, smiling +and nodding his head.</p> + +<p>"Ah, Croche," he greeted, "good morning!"</p> + +<p>"Good morning, Councilor!"</p> + +<p>"Sheriff, I would have you meet Captain Nathaniel Plum, master +of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>. Captain Plum this is His Majesty's +officer, Arbor Croche!"</p> + +<p>The two men advanced and shook hands. Nathaniel stood half a +head above the sheriff, who, like his master, the king, was short +and of massive build, though a much younger man. He was a dark +lowering hulk of a creature, with black eyes, black hair, and a +hand-clasp that showed him possessed of great strength.</p> + +<p>"You are a stranger, Captain Plum?"</p> + +<p>The councilor replied quickly.</p> + +<p>"He has never been at St. James before, sheriff. I have invited +him to stay over to see the whipping. By the way—" he shot a +suggestive look at the Officer. "By the way, Croche, I want you to +see him safely aboard his sloop to-night. His ship is at the lower +end of the island, and if you will detail a couple of men just +before dusk—an escort, you know—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt a curious thrill creep up his spine at the +satisfaction which betrayed itself in the officer's black face.</p> + +<p>"It will give me great pleasure, Councilor," he interrupted. "I +shall escort you myself if you will allow me, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>"Thank you," said Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum is to remain with me throughout the day," added +Obadiah. "Come at seven—to my place. Ah, I see that people +are assembling near the jail!"</p> + +<p>"We have changed our plans somewhat, Councilor." The officer +turned to Nathaniel. "You will see the whipping within half an +hour, Captain Plum." He turned away with another bow to the +councilor and hastened in the direction of Strang's office.</p> + +<p>"So that is the gentleman who thinks he is going to put a bullet +through me!" exclaimed Nathaniel when the officer had gone beyond +hearing. He laughed, and there was a kind of wild expectant joy in +his voice. "Obadiah, can you not make arrangements for him to go +with me alone?"</p> + +<p>"He will not go with you at all, Nat," gloated the old man. "Ho, +ho, we are playing at his own game—treachery. When he calls +at my place you will be aboard ship."</p> + +<p>"But I should like to have a talk with him—alone, and in +the woods. God—I know a man at Grand Traverse Bay whose wife +and daughter—"</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-h-h!" interrupted the councilor. "Would you kill little +Winnsome's father?"</p> + +<p>"Her father? That animal! That murderer! Is it true?"</p> + +<p>"But you should have seen her mother, Nat, you should have seen +her mother!" The old man twisted his hands, like a miser ravished +by the sight of gold. "She was beautiful—as beautiful as a +wild flower, and she killed herself three years ago to save the +birth of another child into this hell. Little Winn is like her +mother, Nat."</p> + +<p>"And she lives with him?"</p> + +<p>"Er, yes—and guarded, oh, so carefully guarded by Strang, +Nat! Yes, I guess that some day she will be a queen."</p> + +<p>"Great God!" cried the young man. "And you—you live in +this cesspool of sin and still believe in a Heaven?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe in a Heaven. And my reward there shall be great. +Ho, ho, I am taking no middle road, Nat!"</p> + +<p>They had passed in a semicircle beyond the temple and now +approached a squat building constructed of logs, which Obadiah had +pointed out as the jail. A glance satisfied Nathaniel that it was +so situated that an admirable view of the proceedings could be +obtained from the rear of the structure in which Strang had his +office. Several score of people had already assembled about the +prison and stood chatting with that tense interest and anticipation +with which the mob always awaits public infliction of the law's +penalties. A third of them were women. As Nathaniel had previously +noted, the feminine part of the Mormon population wore their hair +either in braids down their backs or in thick curls flowing over +their shoulders and with the exception of three or four were +attired in skirts that just concealed their knees. Obadiah halted +his companion close to a group of half a dozen of these women and +nudged him slyly.</p> + +<p>"Pretty sight, eh, Nat?" he chuckled. "Ah, the king has a +wonderful eye for beauty, Nat—wonderful eye! He orders that +no skirt shall fall below the female knee. Ho, ho, if he dared, if +he <i>quite</i> dared, Nat!"</p> + +<p>He nudged Nathaniel again with such enthusiasm that the latter +jumped as though a knife had been thrust between his ribs.</p> + +<p>"By George, I admire his taste!" he laughed. The women caught +him staring at them, and one, who was the youngest and prettiest of +the lot, smiled invitingly.</p> + +<p>"Tush—the Jezebel!" snapped Obadiah, catching the look. +"That's her child playing just beyond."</p> + +<p>The young woman tossed her head and her white teeth gleamed in a +laugh, as though she had overheard the old councilor's words.</p> + +<p>"See her twist her hair," he snarled venomously as the young +woman, still boldly eying Nathaniel, played with the luxuriant +curls that glistened in the sun upon her breast. "Ezra Wilton is so +fond of her that he will take no other wife. Ugh, Strang is a +fool!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel turned away from the smiling eyes with a shrug.</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"To tell our women that it helps to save their souls to wear +short skirts and let their hair hang down. For every soul of a +woman that it saves it sends two men on the road to hell!"</p> + +<p>So intense was the old man's displeasure and so ludicrous the +twisting contortions of his face that Nathaniel could hardly +restrain himself from bursting into a roar of laughter. Obadiah +perceived his inclination and with an angry bob of his head led the +way through to the inner edge of the waiting circle of men. Within +this circle, in a small open space, was a short post with straps +attached to an arm nailed across it, and leaning upon this post in +an attitude of one who possesses a most distinguished office was a +young man with a three thonged whip in his hand. An ominous silence +pervaded the circle, with the exception of the hushed whispering of +a number of women who had forced themselves into the line of +spectators, bent upon witnessing the sight of blood as well as +hearing the sound of lashes. Nathaniel noticed that most of the +women hung in frightened curiosity beyond the men.</p> + +<p>"That is MacDougall with the lash—official whipper and +caretaker of the slave hounds," explained Obadiah in a whisper.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel gave a start of horror.</p> + +<p>"Slave hounds!" he breathed.</p> + +<p>The councilor grinned and twisted his hands, in enjoyment of his +companion's surprise.</p> + +<p>"We have the finest pack of bloodhounds north of Louisiana," he +continued, so low that only Nathaniel could hear. "See! Isn't the +earth worn smooth and hard about that post?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel looked and his blood grew hot.</p> + +<p>"I have seen such things in the South," he said. "But +not—for white men!"</p> + +<p>The councilor caught him by the arm.</p> + +<p>"They are coming!"</p> + +<p>In the direction of the jail the crowd was separating. Men +crushed back on each side, forming a narrow aisle, even the +whispering of the women ceased. A moment later three men appeared +in the opening between the spectators. One of these, who walked +between the other two, was stripped to the waist. About each of his +naked wrists was tied a leather thong and these thongs were held by +the man's guards. The prisoner's face was livid; his hands were red +with blood that dripped from his lacerated wrists; his eyes glared +malignantly and his heaving chest showed that he had not been +brought from the log prison without a struggle.</p> + +<p>"Ah, it's Wittle first!" breathed the councilor. "It's he who +said his wife should not wear short skirts."</p> + +<p>At the edge of the circle the prisoner hesitated and the muscles +in his arms and chest grew rigid. Those of the crowd nearest to him +drew back. Then a sudden change swept over the man's features and +he walked quickly to the stake and kneeled before it. The thongs +about his wrists were tied to the straps of the cross-piece and the +whipper took his position. As the first lash fell, a cry burst from +the lips of the victim. When the whip descended again he was +silent. A curious sensation of sickness crept over Nathaniel as he +saw the red gashes thicken on the white flesh. Five times—six +times—seven times the whip rose and fell and he could see the +blood starting. In horror he turned his eyes away. Behind him a man +grinned at the whiteness of his face and the involuntary trembling +of his lips. Again and again he heard the lash fall upon the naked +back. From near him there came the sobbing moan of a woman. A +subdued movement, a sound as of murmuring wordless voices swept +through the throng. A steady glitter filled the eyes of the man who +had laughed at him—and he turned again to the stake. The +man's back was dripping blood. Great red seams lay upon his +shoulders and a single lash had cut his bowed neck. Another stroke, +more fierce than the others, and MacDougall turned away from the +figure at the post, breathing hard. The guards unfastened the +victim's wrist-thongs and the man staggered to his feet. As he +swayed down through the path that opened for him his crimson back +shone in the sun.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" gasped Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>He turned to Obadiah and was startled by the appearance of the +old man. The councilor's face was ghastly. His mouth twitched and +his body trembled. Nathaniel took his arm sympathetically.</p> + +<p>"Hadn't we better go, Dad?" he whispered.</p> + +<p>"No—no—no—not yet, Nat. +It's—it's—Neil now and I must see how the +boy—stands it!"</p> + +<p>It was but a short time before the guards returned. This time +their prisoner walked free and erect. The thongs dangled from his +wrists and he was a pace ahead of the two men who accompanied him. +He was a young man. Nathaniel judged his age at twenty-five. He was +a striking contrast to the man who had suffered first at the post. +His face instead of betraying the former's pallor was flushed with +excitement; his head was held high; not a sign of fear or +hesitation shone in his eyes. As he glanced quickly around the +circle of faces the flush grew deeper in his cheeks. He nodded and +smiled at MacDougall and in that nod and smile there was a meaning +that sent a shiver to the whip-master's heart. Then his eyes fell +upon Obadiah and Nathaniel. He saw the councilor's hand resting +upon the young captain's arm and a flash of understanding passed +over his face. For an instant the eyes of the two young men met. +The man at the post took half a step forward. His lips moved as if +he was on the point of speaking, the defiant smile went out of his +face, the flush faded in his cheeks. Then he turned quickly and +held out his hands to the guards.</p> + +<p>As the young man kneeled before the post Nathaniel heard a +smothered sob at his side which he knew came from Obadiah.</p> + +<p>"Come, Dad," he said softly. "I can't stand this. Let's get +away!"</p> + +<p>He shoved the councilor back. The lash whistled through the air +behind him. As it fell there came a piercing cry. It was a woman's +voice, and with a snarl like that of a tortured animal the old man +struck down Nathaniel's arm and clawed his way back to the edge of +the line. On the opposite side there was a surging in the crowd and +as MacDougall raised his whip a woman burst through.</p> + +<p>"My God!" cried Nathaniel, "it's—"</p> + +<p>He left the rest of the words unspoken. His veins leaped with +fire. A single sweep of his powerful arms and he had forced himself +through the innermost line of spectators. Within a dozen feet of +him stood Strang's wife, her beautiful hair disheveled, her face +deadly white, her bosom heaving as if she had been running. In a +moment her eyes had taken in the situation—the man at the +stake, the upraised lash—and Nathaniel. With a sobbing, +breathless cry, she flung herself in front of MacDougall and threw +her arms around the kneeling man, her hair covering him in a +glistening veil. For an instant her eyes were raised to Nathaniel +and he saw in them that same agonized appeal that had called to him +through the king's window. The striking muscles of his arms +tightened like steel. One of the guards sprang forward and caught +the girl roughly by the arm and attempted to drag her away. In his +excitement he pulled her head back and her hair trailed in the +dirt. The sight was maddening. From Nathaniel's throat there came a +fierce cry and in a single leap he had cleared the distance to the +guard and had driven his fist against the officer's head with the +sickening force of a sledge-hammer. The man fell without a groan. +In another flash he had drawn his knife and severed the thongs that +held the man at the stake. For a moment his face was very near the +girl's and he saw her lips form the glad cry which he did not wait +to hear.</p> + +<p>He turned like an enraged beast toward the circle of dumfounded +spectators and launched himself at the second guard. From behind +him there sounded a shout and he caught the gleam of naked +shoulders as the man who had been at the stake rushed to his side. +Together they tore through the narrow rim of the crowd, striking at +the faces which appeared before them, their terrific blows driving +men right and left.</p> + +<p>"This way, Neil!" shouted Nathaniel. "This way—to the +ship!"</p> + +<p>They raced up the slope that led from the town to the forest. +Even the king's officer, palsied by the suddenness of the attack, +had not followed. From a screened window in the king's building two +men had witnessed the exciting scene near the jail. One of these +men was Strang. The other was Arbor Croche. At another window a few +feet away, hidden from their eyes by a high desk and masses of +papers and books, Winnsome Croche was crumpled up on the floor +hardly daring to breathe through fear of betraying her presence. +From these windows they had seen the girl run from behind the jail; +they had watched her struggle through the line of spectators, saw +Nathaniel leap forward—saw the quick blow, the gleaming +knife, and the escape. So suddenly had it all occurred that not a +sound escaped the two astonished men. But as Nathaniel and Neil +burst through the crowd and sped toward the forest Strang's great +voice boomed forth like the rumble of a gun.</p> + +<p>"Arbor Croche, overtake those men—and kill them!"</p> + +<p>With a wild curse the chief of sheriffs dashed down the stairway +and as she heard him go the terror of Winnsome's heart seemed to +turn her blood cold. She knew what that command meant. She knew +that her father would obey it. As the daughter of the chief of +sheriffs more than one burning secret was hidden in her breast, +more than one of those frightful daggers that had pricked at the +soul of her mother until they had murdered her. And the chief of +them all was this: that to Arbor Croche the words of Strang were +the words of God and that if the prophet said kill, he would kill. +For a full minute she crouched in her concealment, stunned by the +horror that had so quickly taken the place of the joy with which +she had witnessed the escape. She heard Strang leave the window, +heard his heavy steps in the outer room, heard the door close, and +knew that he, too, was gone. She sprang to her feet and ran to the +window at which the two men had stood. The chief of sheriffs was +already at the jail. The crowd had begun to disperse. Men were +swarming like ants up the long slope reaching to the forest. Three +or four of the leaders were running and she knew that they were hot +in pursuit of the fugitives. Others were following more slowly and +among these she saw that there were women. As she looked there came +a sound from the stair. She recognized the step. She recognized the +voice that called her name a moment later and with a despairing cry +she turned with outstretched arms to greet the girl for whom +Nathaniel had interrupted the king's whipping.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0005"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<center>THE MYSTERY</center> + +<p>Hardly had Nathaniel fought his way through the thin crowd of +startled spectators about the whipping-post before the enormity of +his offense in interrupting the king's justice dawned upon him. He +was not sorry that he had responded to the mute appeal of the girl +who had entered so strangely into his life. He rejoiced at the +spirit that had moved him to action, that had fired his blood and +put the strength of a giant in his arms; and his nerves tingled +with an unreasoning joy that he had leaped all barriers which in +cooler moments would have restrained him, and which fixed in his +excited brain only the memory of the beautiful face that had sought +his own in those crucial moments of its suffering. The girl had +turned to him and to him alone among all those men. He had heard +her voice, he had felt the soft sweep of her hair as he severed the +prisoner's thongs, he had caught the flash of her eyes and the +movement of her lips as he dashed himself into the crowd. And as he +sped swiftly up the slope he considered himself amply repaid for +all that he had done. His blood was stirred as if by the fire of +sharp wines; he was still in a tension of fighting excitement. Yet +no sooner had he fought himself clear of the mob than his better +judgment leaped into the ascendency. If danger had been lurking for +him before it was doubly threatening now and he was sufficiently +possessed of the common spirit of self-preservation to exult at the +speed with which he was enabled to leave pursuit behind. A single +glance over his shoulder assured him that the man whom he had saved +from the prophet's wrath was close at his heels. His first impulse +was to direct his flight toward Obadiah's cabin; his second to +follow the path that led to his ship. At this hour some of his men +would surely be awaiting him in a small boat and once aboard the +<i>Typhoon</i> he could continue his campaign against the Mormon +king with better chances of success than as a lone fugitive on the +island. Besides, he knew what Casey would do at sundown.</p> + +<p>At the top of the slope he stopped and waited for the other to +come up to him.</p> + +<p>"I've got a ship off there," he called, pointing inland. "Take a +short cut for the point at the head of the island. There's a boat +waiting for us!"</p> + +<p>Neil came up panting. He was breathing so hard that for a moment +he found it impossible to speak but in his eyes there was a look +that told his unbounded gratitude. They were clear, fearless eyes, +with the blue glint of steel in them and, as he held out his hands +to Nathaniel, they were luminous with the joy of his +deliverance.</p> + +<p>"Thank you, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>He spoke his companion's name with the assurance of one who had +known it for a long time. "If they loose the dogs there will be no +time for the ship," he added, with a suggestive hunch of his naked +shoulders. "Follow me!"</p> + +<p>There was no alarm in his voice and Nathaniel caught the +flashing gleam of white teeth as Neil smiled grimly back at him, +running in the lead. From the man's eyes the master of the +<i>Typhoon</i> had sized up his companion as a fighter. The +smile—daring, confident, and yet signaling their +danger—assured him that he was right, and he followed close +behind without question. A dozen rods up the path Neil turned into +a dense thicket of briars and underbrush and for ten minutes they +plunged through the pathless jungle. Now and then Nathaniel saw the +three red stripes of the whipper's lash upon the bare shoulders of +the man ahead and to these every step seemed to add new wounds made +by the thorns. As they came out upon an old roadway the captain +stripped off his coat and Neil thrust himself into it as they +ran.</p> + +<p>Even in these first minutes of their flight Nathaniel was +thrilled by another thought than that of the peril behind them. +Whom had he saved? Who was this clear-eyed young fellow for whom +the girl had so openly sacrificed herself at the whipping-post, +about whom she had thrown her arms and covered with the protection +of her glorious hair? With his joy at having served her there was +mingled a chilling doubt as these questions formed themselves in +his mind. Obadiah's vague suggestions, the scene in the king's +room, the night visits of the girl to the councilor's +cabin—and last of all this incident at the jail flashed upon +him now with another meaning, with a significance that slowly +cooled the enthusiasm in his veins. He was sure that he was near +the solution of the mysterious events in which he had become +involved, and yet this knowledge brought with it something of +apprehension, something which made him anticipate and yet dread the +moment when the fugitive ahead would stop in his flight, and he +might ask him those questions which would at least relieve him of +his burden of doubt. They had traveled a mile through forest +unbroken by path or road when Neil halted on the edge of a little +stream that ran into a swamp. Pointing into the tangled fen with a +confident smile he plunged to his waist in the water and waded +slowly through the slough into the gloom of the densest alder. A +few minutes later he turned in to the shore and the soft bog gave +place to firm ground. Before Nathaniel had cleared the stream he +saw his companion drop to his knees beside a fallen log and when he +came up to him he was unwrapping a piece of canvas from about a +gun. With a warning gesture he rose to his feet and for twenty +seconds the men stood and listened. No sound came to them but the +chirp of a startled squirrel and the barking of a dog in the +direction of St. James.</p> + +<p>"They haven't turned out the dogs yet," said Neil, holding a +hand against his heaving chest. "If they do they can't reach us +through that slough." He leaned his rifle against the log and again +thrusting an arm into the place where it had been concealed drew +forth a small box.</p> + +<p>"Powder and ball—and grub!" he laughed. "You see I am a +sort of revolutionist and have my hiding-places. To-morrow—I +will be a martyr." He spoke as quietly as though his words but +carried a careless jest.</p> + +<p>"A martyr?" laughed Nathaniel, looking down into the smiling, +sweating face.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to-morrow I shall kill Strang."</p> + +<p>There was no excitement in Neil's voice as he stood erect. The +smile did not leave his lips. But in his eyes there shone that +which neither words nor smiling lips revealed, a reckless, blazing +fury hidden deep in them—so deep that Nathaniel stared to +assure himself what it was. The other saw the doubt in his +face.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow I shall kill Strang," he repeated. "I shall kill him +with this gun from under the window of his house through which you +saw Marion."</p> + +<p>"Marion!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "Marion—" He leaned forward +eagerly, questioning. "Tell me—"</p> + +<p>"My sister, Captain Plum!"</p> + +<p>It seemed to Nathaniel that every fiber in his body was +stretched to the breaking point. He reached out, dazed by what he +had heard and with both hands seized Neil's arm.</p> + +<p>"Your sister—who came to you at the whipping-post?"</p> + +<p>"That was Marion."</p> + +<p>"And—Strang's wife?"</p> + +<p>"No!" cried Neil. "No—not his wife!" He drew back from +Nathaniel's touch as if the question had stabbed him to the heart. +The passion that had slumbered in his eyes burst into savage flame +and his face became suddenly terrible to look upon. There was +hatred there such as Nathaniel had never seen; a ferocious, +pitiless hatred that sent a shuddering thrill through him as he +stood before it. After a moment the clenched fist that had risen +above Neil's head dropped to his side. Half apologetically he held +out his hand to his companion.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, we've got a lot to thank you for, Marion and I," +he said, a tremble of the passing emotion in his voice. "Obadiah +told Marion that help might come to us through you and Marion +brought the word to me at the jail late last night—after she +had seen you at the window. The old councilor kept his word! You +have saved her!"</p> + +<p>"Saved her!" gasped Nathaniel. "From what? How?" A hundred +questions seemed leaping from his heart to his lips.</p> + +<p>"From Strang. Good God, don't you understand? I tell you that I +am going to kill Strang!"</p> + +<p>Neil stood as though appalled by his companion's +incomprehension. "I am going to kill Strang, I tell you!" he cried +again, the fire burning deeper through the sweat of his cheeks.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's bewilderment still shone in his face.</p> + +<p>"She is not Strang's wife," he spoke softly, as if to himself. +"And she is not—" His face flushed as he nearly spoke the +words. "Obadiah lied!" He looked squarely into Neil's eyes. "No, I +don't understand you. The councilor said that she—that Marion +was Strang's wife. He told me nothing more than that, nothing of +her trouble, nothing about you. Until this moment I have been +completely mystified. Only her eyes led me to do—what I did +at the jail."</p> + +<p>Neil gazed at him in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told—you—nothing?" he asked +incredulously.</p> + +<p>"Not a word about you or Marion except that Marion was the +king's seventh wife. But he hinted at many things and kept me on +the trail, always expecting, always watching, and yet every hour +was one of mystery. I am in the darkest of it at this instant. What +does it all mean? Why are you going to kill Strang? Why—"</p> + +<p>Neil interrupted him with a cry so poignant in its wretchedness +that the last question died upon his lips.</p> + +<p>"I thought that the councilor had told you all," he said. "I +thought you knew." The disappointment in his voice was almost +despair. "Then—it was only accidentally—you helped +us?"</p> + +<p>"Only accidentally that I helped <i>you</i>—yes! But +Marion—" Nathaniel crushed Neil's hand in both his own and +his eyes betrayed more than he would have said. "I've got an armed +ship and a dozen men out there and if I can help Marion by blowing +up St. James—I'll do it!"</p> + +<p>For a time only the tense breathing of the two broke the silence +of their lips. They looked into each other's face, Nathaniel with +all the eagerness of the passion with which Marion had stirred his +soul, Neil half doubting, as if he were trying to find in this +man's eyes the friendship which he had not questioned a few minutes +before.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told you nothing?" he asked again, as if still +unbelieving.</p> + +<p>"Nothing."</p> + +<p>"And you have not seen Marion—to talk with her?"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had dropped his companion's hand, and now Neil walked +to the log and sat down with his face turned in the direction from +which their pursuers must come if they entered the swamp.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the memory of Obadiah's note shot into Nathaniel's +head, the councilor's admonition, his allusion to a visitor. With +this memory there recurred to him Obadiah's words at the temple, +"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I +was your friend. She would have come to you, but now—it is +impossible." For the first time the truth began to dawn upon him. +He went and sat down beside Neil.</p> + +<p>"I am beginning to understand—a little," he said. "Obadiah +had planned that I should meet Marion, but I was a fool and spoiled +his scheme. If I had done as he told me I should have seen her this +morning."</p> + +<p>In a few words he reviewed the events of the preceding evening +and of that morning—of his coming to the island, his meeting +with Obadiah, and of the singular way in which he had become +interested in Marion. He omitted the oaths but told of Winnsome's +warning and of his interview with the Mormon king. When he spoke of +the girl as he had seen her through the king's window, and of her +appealing face turned to him at the jail, his voice trembled with +an excitement that deepened the flush in Neil's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I thank God that you like Marion," he said +simply. "After I kill Strang will you help her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"You are willing to risk—"</p> + +<p>"My life—my men—my ship!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel spoke like one to whom there had been suddenly opened +the portals to a great joy. He sprang to his feet and stood before +Neil, his whole being throbbing with the emotions which had been +awakened within him.</p> + +<p>"Good God, why don't you tell me what her peril is?" he cried, +no longer restraining himself. "Why are you going to kill Strang? +Has he—has he—" His face flamed with the question which +he dared not finish.</p> + +<p>"No—not that!" interrupted Neil. "He has never laid a hand +on Marion. She hates him as she hates the snakes in this swamp. And +yet—next Sunday she is to become his seventh wife!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel started as if he had been threatened by a blow.</p> + +<p>"You mean—he is forcing her into his harem?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"No, he can not do that!" exclaimed Neil, the hatred bursting +out anew in his face. "He can not force her into marrying him, and +yet—" He flung his arms above his head in sudden passionate +despair. "As there is a God in Heaven I would give ten years of my +life for the secret of the prophet's power over Marion!" he +groaned. "Three months ago her hatred of him was terrible. She +loathed the sight of him. I have seen her shiver at the sound of +his voice. When he asked her to become his wife she refused him in +words that I had believed no person in the kingdom would dared to +have used. Then—less than a month ago—the change came, +and one day she told me that she had made up her mind to become +Strang's wife. From that day her heart was broken. I was +dumfounded. I raged and cursed and even threatened. Once I accused +her of a shameful thing and though I implored her forgiveness a +thousand times I know that she weeps over my brutal words still. +But nothing could change her. On my knees I have pleaded with her, +and once she flung her arms round my shoulders and said, 'Neil, I +can not tell you why I am marrying Strang. But I must.' I went to +Strang and demanded an explanation; I told him that my sister hated +him, that the sight of his face and the sound of his voice filled +her with abhorrence, but he only laughed at me and asked why I +objected to becoming the brother-in-law of a prophet. Day by day I +have seen Marion's soul dying within her. Some terrible secret is +gnawing at her heart, robbing her of the very life which a few +weeks ago made her the most beautiful thing on this island; some +dreadful influence is shadowing her every step, and as the day +draws near when she is to join the king's harem I see in her eyes +at times a look that frightens me. There is only one salvation. +To-morrow I shall kill Strang!"</p> + +<p>"And then?"</p> + +<p>Neil shrugged his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I will shoot him through the abdomen so that he will live to +tell his wives who did the deed. After that I will try to make my +escape to the mainland."</p> + +<p>"And Marion—"</p> + +<p>"Will not marry Strang! Isn't that plain?"</p> + +<p>"You have guessed nothing—no cause for the prophet's power +over your sister?" asked Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Absolutely nothing. And yet that influence is such that at +times the thought of it freezes the blood in my veins. It is so +great that Strang did not hesitate to throw me into jail on the +pretext that I had threatened his life. Marion implored him to +spare me the disgrace of a public whipping and he replied by +reading to her the commandments of the kingdom. That was last +night—when you saw her through the window. Strang is madly +infatuated with her beauty and yet he dares to go to any length +without fear of losing her. She has become his slave. She is as +completely in his power as though bound in iron chains. And the +most terrible thing about it all is that she has constantly urged +me to leave the island—to go, and never return. Great God, +what does it all mean? I love her more than anything else on earth, +we have been inseparable since the day she was old enough to toddle +alone—and yet she would have me leave her! No power on earth +can reveal the secret that is torturing her. No power can make +Strang divulge it."</p> + +<p>"And Obadiah Price!" cried Nathaniel, sudden excitement flashing +in his eyes. "Does he not know?"</p> + +<p>"I believe that he does!" replied Neil, pacing back and forth in +his agitation. "Captain Plum, if there is a man on this island who +loves Marion with all of a father's devotion it is Obadiah Price, +and yet he swears that he knows nothing of the terrible influence +which has so suddenly enslaved her to the prophet! He suggests that +it may be mesmerism, but I—" He interrupted himself with a +harsh, mirthless laugh. "Mesmerism be damned! It's not that!"</p> + +<p>"Your sister—is—a Mormon," ventured Nathaniel, +remembering what the prophet had said to him that morning. "Could +it be her faith?—a message revealed through Strang +from—"</p> + +<p>Neil stopped him almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>"Marion is not a Mormon!" he said. "She hates Mormonism as she +hates Strang. I have tried to get her to leave the island with me +but she insists on staying because of the old folk. They are very +old, Captain Plum, and they believe in the prophet and his Heaven +as you and I believe in that blue sky up there. The day before I +was arrested I begged my sister to flee to the mainland with me but +she refused with the words that she had said to me a hundred times +before—'Neil, I must marry the prophet!' Don't you see there +is nothing to do—but to kill Strang?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thrust his hand into a pocket of the coat he had +loaned to Neil and drew forth his pipe and tobacco pouch. As he +loaded the pipe he looked squarely into the other's eyes and +smiled.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he said softly. "Do you know that you would have made an +awful fool of yourself if I hadn't hove in sight just when I +did?"</p> + +<p>He lighted his pipe with exasperating coolness, still smiling +over its bowl.</p> + +<p>"You are not going to kill Strang to-morrow," he added, throwing +away the match and placing both hands on Neil's shoulders. His eyes +were laughing with the joy that shone in them. "Neil, I am ashamed +of you! You have worried a devilish lot over a very simple matter. +See here—" He blew a cloud of smoke over the other's head. +"I've learned to demand some sort of pay for my services since I +landed on this island. Will you promise to be—a sort of +brother—to me—if I steal Marion and sail away with her +to-night?"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0006"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<center>MARION</center> + +<p>At Nathaniel's astonishing words Neil stood as though struck +suddenly dumb.</p> + +<p>"Don't you see what a very simple case it is?" he continued, +enjoying the other's surprised silence. "You plan to kill Strang to +keep Marion from marrying him. Well, I will hunt up Marion, put her +in a bag if necessary, and carry her to my ship. Isn't that better +and safer and just as sure as murder?"</p> + +<p>The excitement had gone out of Neil's face. The flush slowly +faded from his cheeks and in his eyes there gleamed something +besides the malevolence of a few moments before. As Nathaniel +stepped back from him half laughing and puffing clouds of smoke +from his pipe Marion's brother thrust his hands into his pockets +with an exclamation that forcefully expressed his appreciation of +Captain Plum's scheme.</p> + +<p>"I never thought of that," he added, after a moment. "By Heaven, +it will be easy—"</p> + +<p>"So easy that I tell you again I am ashamed of you for not +having thought of it!" cried Nathaniel. "The first thing is to get +safely aboard my ship."</p> + +<p>"We can do that within an hour."</p> + +<p>"And to-night—where will we find Marion?"</p> + +<p>"At home," said Neil. "We live near Obadiah. You must have seen +the house as you came out into the clearing this morning from the +forest."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel smiled as he thought of his suspicions of the old +councilor.</p> + +<p>"It couldn't be better situated for our work," he said. "Does +the forest run down to the lake on Obadiah's side of the +island?"</p> + +<p>"Clear to the beach."</p> + +<p>Neil's face betrayed a sudden flash of doubt.</p> + +<p>"I believe that our place has been watched for some time," he +explained. "I am sure that it is especially guarded at night and +that no person leaves or enters it without the knowledge of Strang. +I am certain that Marion is aware of this surveillance although she +professes to be wholly ignorant of it. It may cause us +trouble."</p> + +<p>"Can you reach the house without being observed?"</p> + +<p>"After midnight—yes."</p> + +<p>"Then there is no cause for alarm," declared Nathaniel. "If +necessary I can bring ten men into the edge of the woods. Two can +approach the house as quietly as one and I will go with you. Once +there you can tell Marion that your life depends on her +accompanying you to Obadiah's. I believe she will go. If she +won't—" He stretched out his arms as if in anticipation of +the burden they might hold. "If she won't—I'll help you carry +her!"</p> + +<p>"And meanwhile," said Neil, "Arbor Croche's men—"</p> + +<p>"Will be as dead as herring floaters if they show up!" he cried, +leaping two feet off the ground in his enthusiasm. "I've got twelve +of the damnedest fighters aboard my ship that ever lived and ten of +them will be in the edge of the woods!"</p> + +<p>Neil's eyes were shining with something that made Nathaniel turn +his own to the loading of his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I hope I will be able to repay you for this," he +said. There was a trembling break in his voice and for a moment +Nathaniel did not look up. His own heart was near bursting with the +new life that throbbed within it. When he raised his eyes to his +companion's face again there was a light in them that spoke almost +as plainly as words.</p> + +<p>"You haven't accepted my price, yet, Neil," he replied quietly. +"I asked you if you'd—be—a sort of brother—"</p> + +<p>Neil sprang to his side with a fervor that knocked the pipe out +of his hand.</p> + +<p>"I swear that! And if Marion doesn't—"</p> + +<p>Suddenly he jerked himself into a listening attitude.</p> + +<p>"Hark!"</p> + +<p>For a moment the two ceased to breathe. The sound had come to +them both, low, distant. After it there fell a brief hush. Then +again, as they stared questioningly into each other's eyes, it +rolled faintly into the swamp—the deep, far baying of a +hound.</p> + +<p>"Ah!" exclaimed Neil, drawing back with a deep breath. "I +thought they would do it!"</p> + +<p>"The bloodhounds!"</p> + +<p>Horror, not fear, sent an involuntary shiver through +Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"They can't reach us!" assured Neil. There was the glitter of +triumph in his eyes. "This was to have been my way of escape after +I killed Strang. A quarter of a mile deeper in the swamp I have a +canoe." He picked up the gun and box and began forcing his way +through the dense alder along the edge of the stream. "I'd like to +stay and murder those dogs," he called back, "but it wouldn't be +policy."</p> + +<p>For a time the crashing of their bodies through the dense growth +of the swamp drowned all other sound. Five minutes later Neil +stopped on the edge of a wide bog. The hounds were giving fierce +tongue in the forest on their left and their nearness sent +Nathaniel's hand to his pistol. Neil saw the movement and +laughed.</p> + +<p>"Don't like the sound, eh?" he said. "We get used to it on +Beaver Island. They're just about at the place where they tore +little Jim Schredder to pieces a few weeks back. Schredder tried to +kill one of the elders for stealing his wife while he was away on a +night's fishing trip."</p> + +<p>He plunged to his knees in the bog.</p> + +<p>"They caught him just before he reached the swamp," he flung +back over his shoulder. "Two minutes more and he would have been +safe."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel, sinking to his knees in the mire, forged up beside +him.</p> + +<p>"Lord!" he exclaimed, as a breath of air brought a sudden burst +of blood-curdling cries to them. "If they'd loosed them on us +sooner—"</p> + +<p>He shivered at the terrible grimace Neil turned on him.</p> + +<p>"Had they slipped the leashes when we escaped, we would have +been with poor Schredder now, Captain Plum. By the way—" he +stopped a moment to wipe the water and mud from his face, +"—three days after they covered Schredder's bones with muck +out there, the elder took Schredder's wife! She was too pretty for +a fisherman." He started on, but halted suddenly with uplifted +hand. No longer could they hear the baying of the dogs. "They've +struck the creek!" said Neil. "Listen!"</p> + +<p>After an interval of silence there came a long mournful +howl.</p> + +<p>"Treed—treed or in the water, that's what the howling +means. How Croche and his devils are hustling now!"</p> + +<p>A curse was mingled with Neil's breath as he forced his way +through the bog. Twenty rods farther on they came to a slime +covered bit of water on which was floating a dugout canoe. Immense +relief replaced the anxiety in Nathaniel's face as he climbed into +it. At that moment he was willing to fight a hundred men for +Marion's sake, but snakes and bogs and bloodhounds were entirely +outside his pale of argument and he exhibited no hesitation in +betraying this fact to his companion. For a quarter of a mile Neil +forced the dugout through water viscid with slime and rotted +substance before the clearer channel of the creek was reached. As +they progressed the stream constantly became deeper and more +navigable until it finally began to show signs of a current and a +little later, under the powerful impetus of Neil's paddle, the +canoe shot from between the dense shores into the open lake. A mile +away Nathaniel discerned the point of forest beyond which the +<i>Typhoon</i> was hidden. He pointed out the location of the ship +to his companion.</p> + +<p>"You are sure there is a small boat waiting for you on the +point?" asked Neil.</p> + +<p>"Yes, since early morning."</p> + +<p>Neil was absorbed in thought for some time as he drove the canoe +through the tall rice grass that grew thick along the edge of the +shore.</p> + +<p>"How would it be if I landed you on the point and met you +to-night at Obadiah's?" he asked suddenly. "It is probable that +after we get Marion aboard your ship I will not return to the +island again, and it is quite necessary that I run down the coast +for a couple of miles—for—" He did not finish his +reason, but added: "I can make the whole distance in this rice so +there is no danger of being seen. Or you might lie off the point +yonder and I would join you early this evening."</p> + +<p>"That would be a better plan if we must separate," said +Nathaniel, whose voice betrayed the reluctance with which he +assented to the project. He had guessed shrewdly at Neil's motive. +"Is it possible that we may have another young lady passenger?" he +asked banteringly.</p> + +<p>There was no answering humor to this in Neil's eyes.</p> + +<p>"I wish we might!" he said quietly.</p> + +<p>"We can!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "My ship—"</p> + +<p>"It is impossible. I am speaking of Winnsome. Arbor Croche's +house is in the heart of the town and guarded by dogs. I doubt if +she would go, anyway. She has always been like a little sister to +Marion and me and she has come to believe—something—as +we do. I hate to leave her."</p> + +<p>"Obadiah told me about her mother," ventured Nathaniel. "He said +that some day Winnsome will be a queen."</p> + +<p>"I knew her mother," replied Neil, as though he had not heard +Nathaniel's last words. He looked frankly into the other's face. "I +worshipped her!"</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h!"</p> + +<p>"From a distance," he hastened. "She was as pure as Winnsome is +now. Little Winn looks like her. Some day she will be as +beautiful."</p> + +<p>"She is beautiful now."</p> + +<p>"But she is a mere child. Why, it seems only a year ago that I +was toting her about on my shoulders! And—by George, that was +a year before her mother died! She is sixteen now."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel laughed softly.</p> + +<p>"To-morrow she will be making love, Neil, and before you know it +she will be married and have a family of her own. I tell you she is +a woman—and if you are not a fool you will take her away with +Marion."</p> + +<p>With a powerful stroke of his paddle Neil brought the canoe in +to the shore.</p> + +<p>"There!" he whispered. "You have only to cross this point to +reach your boat." He stretched out his long arm and in the silence +the two shook hands. "If you should happen to think of a +way—that we might get Winnsome—" he added, +coloring.</p> + +<p>The sudden grip of his companion's fingers made him flinch.</p> + +<p>"We must!" said Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>He climbed ashore and watched Neil until he had disappeared in +the wild rice. Then he turned into the woods. He looked at his +watch and saw that it was only two o'clock. He was conscious of no +fatigue; he was not conscious of hunger. To him the whole world had +suddenly opened with glorious promise and in the still depths of +the forest he felt like singing out his rejoicing. He had never +stopped to ask himself what might be the end of this passion that +had overwhelmed him; he lived only in the present, in the knowledge +that Marion was not a wife, and that it was he whom fate had chosen +for her deliverance. He reasoned nothing beyond the sweet eyes that +had called upon him, that had burned their gratitude, their hope +and their despair upon his soul; nothing beyond the thought that +she would soon be free from the mysterious influence of the Mormon +king and that for days and nights after that she would be on the +same ship with him. He had emptied the pockets of the coat he had +given Neil and now he brought forth the old letter which Obadiah +had rescued from the sands. He read it over again as he sat for a +few moments in the cool of the forest and there was no trouble in +his face now. It was from a girl. He had known that girl, years +ago, as Neil knew Winnsome; in years of wandering he had almost +forgotten her—until this letter came. It had brought many +memories back to him with shocking clearness. The old folk were +still in the little home under the hill; they received his letters; +they received the money he sent them each month—but they +wanted <i>him</i>. The girl wrote with merciless candor. He had +been away four years and it was time for him to return. She told +him why. She wrote what they, in their loving fear of inflicting +pain, would never have dared to say. At the end, in a postscript, +she had asked for his congratulations on her approaching +marriage.</p> + +<p>To Nathaniel this letter had been a torment. He saw the truth as +he had never seen it before—that his place was back there in +Vermont, with his father and mother; and that there was something +unpleasant in thinking of the girl as belonging to another. But now +matters had changed. The letter was a hope and inspiration to him +and he smoothed it out with tender care. What a refuge that little +home among the Vermont hills would make for Marion! He trembled at +the thought and his heart sang with the promise of it as he went +his way again through the thick growth of the woods.</p> + +<p>It was half an hour before he came out upon the beach. Eagerly +he scanned the sea. The <i>Typhoon</i> was nowhere in sight and for +an instant the gladness that had been in his heart gave place to a +chilling fear. But the direction of the wind reassured him. Casey +had probably moved beyond the jutting promontory, that swung in the +form of a cart wheel from the base of the point, that he might have +sea room in case of something worse than a stiff breeze. But where +was the small boat? With every step adding to his anxiety Nathaniel +hurried along the narrow rim of beach. He went to the very tip of +the point which reached out like the white forefinger of, a lady's +hand into the sea; he passed the spot where he had lain concealed +the preceding day; his breath came faster and faster; he ran, and +called softly, and at last halted in the arch of the cart wheel +with the fear full-flaming in his breast. Over all those miles of +sea there was no sign of the sloop. From end to end of the point +there was no boat. What did it mean? Breathlessly he tore his way +through the strip of forest on the promontory until all Lake +Michigan to the south lay before his eyes. The <i>Typhoon</i> was +gone! Was it possible that Casey had abandoned hope of Nathaniel's +return and was already lying off St. James with shotted gun? The +thought sent a shiver of despair through him. He passed to the +opposite side of the point and followed it foot by foot, but there +was no sign of life, no distant flash of white that might have been +the canvas of the sloop <i>Typhoon</i>.</p> + +<p>There was only one thing for him to do—wait. So he went to +his hiding-place of the day before and watched the sea with staring +eyes. An hour passed and his still aching vision saw no sign of +sail; two hours—and the sun was falling in a blinding glare +over the Wisconsin wilderness. At last he sprang to his feet with a +hopeless cry and stood for a few moments undecided. Should he wait +until night with the hope of attracting the attention of Neil and +joining him in his canoe or should he hasten in the direction of +St. James? In the darkness he might miss Neil, unless he kept up a +constant shouting, which would probably bring the Mormons down upon +him; if he went to St. James there was a possibility of reaching +Casey. He still had faith in Obadiah and he was sure that the old +man would help him to reach his ship; he might even assist him in +his scheme of getting Marion from the island.</p> + +<p>He would go to the councilor's. Having once decided, Nathaniel +turned in the direction of the town, avoiding the use of the path +which he and Obadiah had taken, but following in the forest near +enough to use it as a guide. He was confident that Arbor Croche and +his sheriffs were confining their man-hunt to the swamp, but in +spite of this belief he exercised extreme caution, stopping to +listen now and then, with one hand always near his pistol. A quiet +gloom filled the forest and by the tree-tops he marked the going +down of the sun. Nathaniel's ears ached with their strain of +listening for the rumbling roar that would tell of Casey's attack +on St. James.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he heard a crackling in the underbrush ahead of him, a +sound that came not from the strain of listening for the rumbling +roar and in a moment he had dodged into the concealment of the huge +roots of an overturned tree, drawn pistol in hand. Whatever object +was approaching came slowly, as if hesitating at each step—a +cautious, stealthy advance, it struck Nathaniel, and he cocked his +weapon. Directly in front of him, half a stone's throw away, was a +dense growth of hazel and he could see the tops of the slender +bushes swaying. Twice this movement ceased and the second time +there came a crashing of brush and a faint cry. For many minutes +after that there was absolute silence. Was it the cry of an animal +that he had heard—or of a man? In either case the creature +who made it had fallen in the thicket and was lying there as still +as if dead. For a quarter of an hour Nathaniel waited and listened. +He could no longer have seen the movement of bushes in the +gathering night-gloom of the forest but his ears were strained to +catch the slightest sound from the direction of the mysterious +thing that lay within less than a dozen rods of him. Slowly he drew +himself out from the shelter of the roots and advanced step by +step. Half way to the thicket a stick cracked loudly under his foot +and as the sound startled the dead quiet of the forest with +pistol-shot clearness there came another cry from the dense hazel, +a cry which was neither that of man nor animal but of a woman; and +with an answering shout Nathaniel sprang forward to meet there in +the edge of the thicket the white face and outstretched arms of +Marion. The girl was swaying on her feet. In her face there was a +pallor that even in his instant's glance sent a chill of horror +through the man and as she staggered toward him, half falling, her +lips weakly forming his name Nathaniel leaped to her and caught her +close in his arms. In that moment something seemed to burst within +him and flood his veins with fire. Closer he held the girl, and +heavier he knew that she was becoming in his arms. Her head was +upon his breast, his face was crushed in her hair, he felt her +throbbing and breathing against him and his lips quivered with the +words that were bursting for freedom in his soul. But first there +came the girl's own whispered breath—"Neil—where is +Neil?"</p> + +<p>"He is gone—gone from the island!"</p> + +<p>She had become a dead weight now and so he knelt on the ground +with her, her head still upon his breast, her eyes closed, her arms +fallen to her side. And as Nathaniel looked into the face from +which all life seemed to have fled he forgot everything but the joy +of this moment—forgot all in life but this woman against his +breast. He kissed her soft mouth and the closed eyes until the eyes +themselves opened again and gazed at him in a startled, half +understanding way, until he drew his head far back with the shame +of what he had dared to do flaming in his face.</p> + +<p>And as for another moment he held her thus, feeling the +quivering life returning in her, there came to him through that +vast forest stillness the distant deep-toned thunder of a great +gun.</p> + +<p>"That's Casey!" he whispered close down to the girl's face. His +voice was almost sobbing in its happiness. "That's +Casey—firing on St. James!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0007"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<center>THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE</center> + +<p>For perhaps twenty seconds after the last echoes of the gun had +rolled through the forest the girl lay passive in Nathaniel's arms, +so close that he could feel her heart beating against his own and +her breath sweeping his face. Then there came a pressure against +his breast, a gentle resistance of Marion's half conscious form, +and when she had awakened from her partial swoon he was holding her +in the crook of his arm. It had all passed quickly, the girl had +rested against him only so long as he might have held half a dozen +breaths and yet there had been all of a lifetime in it for +Nathaniel Plum, a cycle of joy that he knew would remain with him +for ever. But there was something bitter-sweet in the thought that +she was conscious of what he had done, something of humiliation as +well as gladness, and still not enough of the first to make him +regret that he had kissed her, that he had kissed her mouth and her +eyes. He loved her, and he was glad that in those passing moments +he had betrayed himself. For the first time he noticed that her +face was scratched and that the sleeves of her thin waist were torn +to shreds; and as she drew away from him, steadying herself with a +hand on his arm, his lips were parched of words, and yet he leaned +to her eagerly, everything that he would have said burning in the +love of his eyes. Still irresolute in her faintness the girl smiled +at him, and in that smile there was gentle accusation, the +sweetness of forgiveness, and measureless gratitude, and it was yet +light enough for him to see that with these there had come also a +flush into her cheeks and a dazzling glow into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Neil has escaped!" she breathed. "And you—"</p> + +<p>"I was going back to you, Marion!" He spoke the words hardly +above a whisper. The beautiful eyes so close to him drew his secret +from him before he had thought. "I am going to take you from the +island!"</p> + +<p>With his words there came again that sound of a great gun +rolling from the direction of St. James. With a frightened cry the +girl staggered to her feet, and as she stood swaying unsteadily, +her arms half reached to him, Nathaniel saw only mortal dread in +the whiteness of her face.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you go? Why didn't you go with Neil?" she moaned. +Her breath was coming in sobbing excitement. "Your ship +is—at—St. James!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my ship is at St. James, Marion!" His voice was tremulous +with triumph, with gladness, with a tenderness which he could not +control. He put an arm half round her waist to support her +trembling form and to his joy she did not move away from him. His +hand was buried in the richness of her loose hair. He bent until +his lips touched her silken tresses. "Neil has told me +everything—about you," he added softly. "My ship is +bombarding St. James, and I am going to take you from the +island!"</p> + +<p>Not until then did Marion free herself from his arm and then so +gently that when she stood facing him he felt no reproof. No longer +did shame send a flush into his face. He had spoken his love, +though not in words, and he knew that the girl understood him. It +did not occur to him in these moments that he had known this girl +for only a few hours, that until now a word had never passed +between them. He was conscious only that he had loved her from the +time he saw her through the king's window, that he had risked his +life for her, and that she knew why he had leaped into the arena at +the whipping-post.</p> + +<p>The words she spoke now came like a dash of cold water in his +face.</p> + +<p>"Your ship is not bombarding St. James, Captain Plum!" she +exclaimed. Darkness hid the terror in her face but he could hear +the tremble of it in her voice. "The <i>Typhoon</i> has been +captured by the Mormons and those guns are—guns of +triumph—and not—" She caught her breath in a convulsive +sob. "I want you to go—I want you to go—with Neil!" she +pleaded.</p> + +<p>"So Casey is taken!"</p> + +<p>He spoke slowly, as if he had not heard her last words. For a +moment he stood silent, and as silently the girl stood and watched +him. She guessed the despair that was raging in his heart but when +he spoke to her she could detect none of it in his voice.</p> + +<p>"Casey is a fool," he said, unconsciously repeating Obadiah's +words. "Marion, will you come with me? Will you leave the +island—and join your brother?"</p> + +<p>The hope that had risen in his heart was crushed as Marion drew +farther away from him.</p> + +<p>"You must go alone," she replied. With a powerful effort she +steadied her voice. "Tell Neil that he has been condemned to death. +Tell him that—if he loves me—he will not return to the +island."</p> + +<p>"And I?"</p> + +<p>From her distance she saw his arms stretched like shadows toward +her.</p> + +<p>"And you—"</p> + +<p>Her voice was low, so low that he could hardly hear the words +she spoke, but its sweetness thrilled him.</p> + +<p>"And you—if you love me—will do this thing for me. +Go to Neil. Save his life for me!"</p> + +<p>She had come to him through the gloom, and in the luster of the +eyes that were turned up to him Nathaniel saw again the power that +swayed his soul.</p> + +<p>"You will go?"</p> + +<p>"I will save your brother—if I can!"</p> + +<p>"You can—you can—" she breathed. In an ecstasy of +gratitude she seized one of his hands in both her own. "You can +save him!"</p> + +<p>"For you—I will try."</p> + +<p>"For me—"</p> + +<p>She was so close that he could feel the throbbing of her bosom. +Suddenly he lifted his free hand and brushed back the thick hair +from her brow and turned her face until what dim light there still +remained of the day glowed in the beauty of her eyes. "I will keep +him from the island if I can," he said, looking deep into them, +"and as there is a God in Heaven I swear that you—"</p> + +<p>"What?" she urged, as he hesitated.</p> + +<p>"That you shall not marry Strang!" he finished.</p> + +<p>A cry welled up in the girl's throat. Was it of gladness? Was it +of hope? She sprang back a pace from Nathaniel and with clenched +hands waited breathlessly, as if she expected him to say more.</p> + +<p>"No—no—you can not save me from Strang! +Now—you must go!"</p> + +<p>She retreated slowly in the direction of the path. In an instant +Nathaniel was at her side.</p> + +<p>"I am going to see you safely back in St. James," he declared. +"Then I will go to your brother."</p> + +<p>She barred his way defiantly.</p> + +<p>"You can not go!"</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because—" He caught the frightened flutter of her voice +again. "Because—they will kill you!"</p> + +<p>The low laugh that he breathed in her hair was more of joy than +fear.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you care—Marion." He spoke her name with +faltering tenderness, and led her out into the path.</p> + +<p>"You must go," she still persisted.</p> + +<p>"With you—yes," he answered.</p> + +<p>She surrendered to the determination in his voice and they moved +slowly along the path, listening for any sound that might come from +ahead of them. Nathaniel had already formed his plan of action. +From Marion's words and the voice in which she had uttered them he +knew that it would be useless for him as it had been for Neil to +urge her to flee from the island. There remained but one thing for +him to do, so he fell back upon the scheme which he had proposed to +Marion's brother. He realized now that he might be compelled to +play the game single-handed unless he could secure assistance from +Obadiah. His ship and men were in the hands of the Mormons; Neil, +in his search for the captured vessel, stood a large chance, of +missing him that night, and in that event Marion's fate would +depend on him alone. If he could locate a small boat on the beach +back of Obadiah's; if he could in some way lure Marion to +it—He gave an involuntary shudder at the thought of using +force upon the girl at his side, at the thought of her terror of +those first few moments, her struggles, her broken confidence. She +believed in him now. She believed that he loved her. She trusted +him. The warm soft pressure of her hand as it clung to his arm in +the blackening gloom of the forest was evidence of that trust. She +looked into his face anxiously, inquiringly when they stopped to +listen, like a child who was sure of a stronger spirit at her side. +She held her breath when he held his, she listened when he +listened, her feet fell with velvet stillness when he stepped with +caution. Her confidence in him was like a beautiful dream to +Nathaniel and he trembled when he pictured the destruction of it. +After a little he reached over and as if by accident touched the +hand that was lying on his arm; he dared more after a moment, and +drew the warm little fingers into his great strong palm and held +them there, his soul thrilled by their gentle submissiveness. And +then in another breath there came to still his joy a thought of the +terrible power that chained this girl to the Mormon king. He longed +to speak words of encouragement to her, to instil hope in her +bosom, to ask her to confide in him the secret of the shadow which +hung over her, but the memory of what Neil had said to him held his +lips closed.</p> + +<p>They had walked in silence for many minutes when the girl +stopped.</p> + +<p>"It is not very far now," she whispered. "You must go!"</p> + +<p>"Only a little farther," he begged.</p> + +<p>She surrendered again, hesitatingly, and they went on, more +slowly than before, until they came to where the path met the +footway that led to Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>"Now—now you <i>must</i> go," whispered Marion again.</p> + +<p>In this last moment Nathaniel crushed her hand against his +breast, his body throbbing with a wild tumult, and a half of what +he had meant not to say fell passionately from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me for—that—back there—Marion," he +whispered. "It was because I love you—love you—" He +freed her hand and stood back, choking the words that would have +revealed his secret. He lied now for the love of this girl. "Neil +is out there waiting for me in a small boat," he continued, +pointing beyond Obadiah's to the lake. "I will see him soon, and +then I will return to Obadiah's to tell you if he has left for the +mainland. Will you promise to meet me there—to-night?"</p> + +<p>"I will promise."</p> + +<p>"At midnight—"</p> + +<p>"Yes, at twelve o'clock."</p> + +<p>This time it was Marion who came to him. Her eyes shone like +stars.</p> + +<p>"And if you make Neil go to the mainland," she said softly, +"when I meet you I will—will tell you—something."</p> + +<p>The last word came in a breathless sob. As she slipped into the +path that led to St. James she paused for a moment and called back, +in a low voice, "Tell Neil that he must go for Winnsome's sake. +Tell him that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine—tell +him that Winnsome loves him, and that she will escape and come to +him on the mainland. Tell him to go—go!"</p> + +<p>She turned again, and Nathaniel stood like a statue, hardly +breathing, until the sound of her feet had died away. Then he +walked swiftly up the foot-path that led to Obadiah's. He forgot +his own danger in the excitement that pulsated with every fiber of +his being, forgot his old caution and the fears that gave birth to +it—forgot everything in those moments but Marion and his own +great happiness. Neil's absence meant nothing to him now. He had +held Marion in his arms, he had told her of his love, and though +she had accepted it with gentle unresponsiveness he was thrilled by +the memory of that last look in her eyes, which had spoken faith, +confidence, and perhaps even more. What was that <i>something</i> +she would tell him if he got Neil safely away? It was to be a +reward for his own loyalty—he knew that, by the half fearing +tremble of her voice, the sobbing catch of her breath, the strange +glow in her eyes. With her brother away would she confide in him? +Would she tell him the secret of her slavedom to Strang? Nathaniel +was conscious of no madness in the wild hope that filled him; +nothing seemed impossible to him now. Marion would meet him at +midnight. She would go with him to the boat, and then—ah, he +had solved the problem! He would use no force. He would tell her +that Neil was in his canoe half a mile out from the shore and that +he had promised to leave the island for good if she would go out to +bid him good-by. And once there, a half a mile or a mile away, he +would tell her that he had lied to her; and he would give her his +heart to trample upon to prove the love that had made him do this +thing, and then he would row her to the mainland.</p> + +<p>It was the sight of Obadiah's cabin that brought his caution +back. He came upon it so suddenly that an exclamation of surprise +fell unguarded from his lips. There was no light to betray life +within. He tried the door and found it locked. He peered in at the +windows, listened, and knocked, and at last concealed himself near +the path, confident that the little old councilor was still at St. +James. For an hour he waited. From the rear of Obadiah's home a +narrow footway led toward the lake and Nathaniel followed it, now +as warily as an animal in search of prey. For half a mile it took +him through the forest and ended at the white sands of the beach. +In neither direction could Nathaniel see a light, and keeping close +in the shadows of the trees he made his way slowly toward St. +James. He had gone but a short distance when he saw a house +directly ahead of him, a single gleam of light from a small window +telling him that it was inhabited and that its tenants were at +home. He circled down close to the water looking for a boat. His +heart leaped with sudden exultation when he saw a small skiff drawn +upon the beach and his joy was doubled at finding the oars still in +the locks. It took him but a moment to shove the light craft into +the sea and a minute later he was rowing swiftly away from the +land.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel was certain that by this time Neil had abandoned his +search for the captured <i>Typhoon</i> and was probably paddling in +the direction of St. James. With the hope of intercepting him he +pulled an eighth of a mile from the shore and rowed slowly toward +the head of the island. There was no moon, but countless stars +glowed in a clear sky and upon the open lake Nathaniel could see +for a considerable distance about him. For another hour he rowed +back and forth and then beached his boat within a dozen rods of the +path that came down from Obadiah's.</p> + +<p>It was ten o'clock. Two more hours! He had tried to suppress his +excitement, his apprehensions, his eagerness, but now as he went +back into the darkness of the forest they burst out anew. What if +Marion should not keep the tryst? He thought of the spies whom Neil +had said guarded the girl's home—and of Obadiah. Could he +trust the old councilor? Should he confide his plot to him and ask +his assistance? As the minutes passed and these thoughts recurred +again and again in his brain he could not keep the nervousness from +growing within him. He was sure now that he would have to fight his +battle without Neil. He saw the necessity of coolness, of judgment, +and he began to demand these things of himself, struggling sternly +against those symptoms of weakness which had replaced his +confidence of a short time before. Gradually he fought himself back +into his old faith. He would save Marion—without Neil, +without Obadiah. If Marion did not come to him by midnight it would +be because of the guards against whom Neil had warned him, and he +would go to her. In some way he would get her to the boat, even if +he had to fight his way through Arbor Croche's men.</p> + +<p>With this return of confidence Nathaniel's thoughts reverted to +his present greatest need, which was food. Since early morning he +had eaten nothing and he began to feel the physical want in a +craving that was becoming acutely uncomfortable. If Obadiah had not +returned to his home he made up his mind that he would find +entrance to the cabin and help himself. A sudden turn in the path +which he was following, however, revealed one of the councilor's +windows aglow with light, and as he pressed quietly around the end +of the building the sound of a low voice came to him through the +open door. Cautiously he approached and peered in. A large oil +lamp, the light of which he had seen in the window, was burning on +a table in the big room but the voice came from the little closet +into which Obadiah had taken him the preceding night. For several +minutes he crouched and listened. He heard the chuckling laugh of +the old councilor—and then an incoherent raving that set his +blood tingling. There is a horror in the sound of madness, a horror +that creeps to the very pit of one's soul, that sends shivering +dread from every nerve center, that causes one who is alone with it +to sweat with a nameless fear. It was the voice of madness that +came from that little room. Before it Nathaniel quailed as if a +clammy hand had reached out from the darkness and gripped him by +the throat. He drew back shivering in every limb, and the voice +followed him, shrieking now in a sudden burst of insane mirth and +dying away a moment later in a hollow cackling laugh that seemed to +curdle the blood in his veins. Mad! Obadiah Price was mad! Step by +step Nathaniel fell back from the door. He felt himself trembling +from head to foot. His heart thumped within his breast like the +beating of a hammer. For an instant there was silence—a +silence in which strange dread held him breathless while he watched +the glow in the door and listened. And after that quiet there came +suddenly a cry that ended in the exultant chattering of a name.</p> + +<p>At the sound of that name Nathaniel sprang forward again. It was +Marion's name and he strained his ears to catch the words that +might follow it. As he listened, his head thrust half in at the +door, Obadiah's voice became lower and lower, until at last it +ceased entirely. Not a step, not a deep breath, not the movement of +a hand disturbed the stillness of the little room. By inches +Nathaniel drew himself inside the door. His heavy boot caught in a +sliver on the step but the rending of wood brought no response. It +was the quiet of death that pervaded the cabin, it was a strange, +growing fear of death that entered Nathaniel as he now hurried +across the room and peered through the narrow aperture. The old +councilor was half stretched upon the table, his arms reaching out, +his long, thin fingers gripping its edges, his face buried under +his shoulders. It looked as if death had come suddenly to him +during some terrible convulsion, but after a moment Nathaniel saw +that he was breathing. He went over and placed a hand on the old +man's twisted back.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Obadiah! Hello—hello!" he called cheerfully.</p> + +<p>A shudder ran through the councilor's frame, as if the voice had +startled him, his arms and body stiffened and slowly he lifted his +head. Nathaniel tried to stifle the cry on his lips, tried to +smile—to speak, but the terrible face that stared up into his +own held him silent, motionless. He had heard the voice of madness, +now he looked upon madness in the eyes that glared at him. In them +was no sign of recognition, no passing flash of sanity. The white +face was lined with purplish veins, the mouth was distorted and the +lips bleeding. Involuntarily he stepped back to the end of the +table.</p> + +<p>At his movement the councilor stretched out his arms with a +sobbing moan.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—don't—go—"</p> + +<p>He fell again upon his face, clutching the table in a sudden +convulsion. In the next room Nathaniel had noticed a pail of water +and he brought this and wet the old man's head. For a long time +Obadiah did not move, and when he did it was to reach out with a +groping hand to find Nathaniel. A change had come into his face +when he lifted it again, the mad fire had partly burned itself out +of his eyes, the old chuckling laugh came from between his +lips.</p> + +<p>"A little weakness, Nat—a little weakness," he gasped +faintly. "I have it now and then. Excitement—great +excitement—" He straightened himself for a moment and stood, +swaying free from the table, then collapsed into a chair his head +dropping upon his breast.</p> + +<p>Without arousing him from the stupor into which he had fallen, +Nathaniel again concealed himself in the shadows outside the cabin +where he could better guard himself against the possible approach +of Mormon visitors. But he did not remain long. He struck a match +and saw that it was nearly eleven and a sudden resolution turned +him back to the cabin door. He believed that Obadiah would not +easily arouse himself from the strange stupor into which he had +fallen. Meanwhile he would find food and then conceal himself near +the path to intercept Marion.</p> + +<p>As he mounted the step he heard for the second time since +landing upon the island the solemn tolling of the great bell at St. +James, and as he paused for an instant to listen, peal upon peal +followed the first until its brazen thunder rolled in one long +booming echo through the forests of the Mormon kingdom. There came +a shrill cry at his back and he whirled about to see the councilor +standing in the center of the big room, his arms outstretched, his +face lifted as it had been raised in prayer at the tolling of that +same bell the night before—but this time it was not prayer +that fell from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Nat, ye have returned in the hour of vengeance! The hand of God +is descending upon the Mormon kingdom!"</p> + +<p>His words came in a gasping, but triumphant cry.</p> + +<p>"And to-morrow—to-morrow—" He stepped forward, his +voice crooning a wild joy, +"To-morrow—I—shall—be—king!"</p> + +<p>As he spoke the cabin trembled, a tremor passed under them, and +the tolling of the bell was lost in a sudden tumult that came like +the bursting crash of low thunder.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried Nathaniel. He leaped into the room and +caught Obadiah by the arm. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"The hand of God!" whispered the old man again. +"Nat—Nat—" It was his old self that stood grimacing and +twisting his hands before Nathaniel now. "Nat—a thousand +armed men are off the coast! The Lamanites of the mainland are +descending upon the Mormon kingdom as the hosts of Israel upon +Canaan! Strang is doomed—doomed—doomed—and +to-morrow I shall be king!" His voice rose in a wailing shriek. He +darted to the door and his cackling laugh rang with the old madness +as he pointed into the north where a lurid glow had mounted high +into the sky.</p> + +<p>"The signal fire—the bell!" he gurgled chokingly. "They +are calling the Mormons to arms—but it is too late—too +late! Ho, ho, it is too late, Nat—too late!" He staggered +back, gripping his throat, and fell upon the floor. "Too +late—too late," he moaned, groveling weakly, as if struggling +for breath. "Too late—Nat—Marion—"</p> + +<p>A shiver passed through his body and he lay quite still.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0008"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<center>THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS</center> + +<p>In an instant Nathaniel was upon his knees beside the prostrate +form of the old councilor.</p> + +<p>Obadiah's eyes were open, but unseeing; his face was blanched to +the whiteness of paper; an almost imperceptible movement of his +chest showed that he still breathed. Nathaniel lifted one of the +limp hands and its clammy chill struck horror to his heart. +Tenderly he lifted the old man and carried him to the cot at the +end of the room. He loosened his clothes, tore off the low collar +about his throat, and felt with his hand to measure the faint +beating of life in the councilor's breast. For a few moments it +seemed to grow fainter and fainter, and a choking lump rose in his +throat as he watched the pallor of death fixing itself on the +councilor's shriveled face. What strange chord of sympathy was it +that bound him to this old man? Was it the same mysterious +influence that had attracted Marion to him? He dropped upon his +knees and called the girl's name softly but it awakened no response +in the sightless eyes, no tremor in the parted, unquivering lips. +Very slowly as the minutes passed there came a reaction. The +pulsations of the weakened heart became a little stronger, he could +catch faintly the sound of breath coming from between the old man's +lips.</p> + +<p>With a gasp of relief Nathaniel rose to his feet. Through the +door he saw the red glare growing in the northern sky and heard the +great bell at St. James ring a wilder and more excited alarm. For a +few moments he stood in silent, listening inaction, his nerves +tingling with a strange sensation of impending peril. Obadiah's +madness, the mysterious trembling of the earth beneath his feet, +the volcano of fire, the clanging of the bell and the councilor's +insane rejoicing had all come so suddenly that he was dazed. What +great calamity, what fearful vengeance, was about to come upon the +Mormon kingdom? Was it possible that the fishermen and settlers of +the mainland had risen, as Obadiah had said, and were already at +hand to destroy Strang and his people? The thought spurred him to +the door. The blood rushed like fire through his veins. What would +it mean to Marion—to Neil?</p> + +<p>In his excitement he started down the path that led to the lilac +hidden home beyond the forest. Then he thought again of Obadiah and +his last choking utterance of Marion's name. He had tried to speak +of her, even with that death-like rattling of the breath in his +throat; and the memory of the old councilor's frantic struggle for +words brought Nathaniel quickly back to the cabin. He bent over +Obadiah's shriveled form and spoke the girl's name again and again +in his ears. There came no response, no quiver of life to show that +the old man was conscious of his presence. As he worked over him, +bathing his face and chest in cool water, the feeling became strong +in him that he was fighting death in this gloomy room for Marion's +sake. It was like the whispering of an invisible spirit in his +ears—something more than presentiment, something that made +his own heart grow faint when death seemed winning in the struggle. +His watchfulness was acute, intense, desperate. When, after a time, +he straightened himself again, rewarded by Obadiah's more regular +breathing, the sweat stood in beads upon his face. He knew that he +had triumphed. Obadiah would live, and Marion—</p> + +<p>He placed his mouth close to the councilor's ear.</p> + +<p>"Tell me about Marion," he said again. +"Marion—Marion—Marion—"</p> + +<p>He waited, stilling his own breath to catch the sound of a +whisper. None came. As he bent over him he saw through the open +door that the red glare of fire had faded to a burnt out glow in +the sky. In the deep silence the sullen beating of the bell seemed +nearer, and he could hear the excited barking of dogs in St. James. +Slowly the hope that Obadiah might speak to him died away and he +returned to the door. It still lacked an hour of midnight, when +Marion, had promised to come to him. He was wildly impatient and to +his impatience was added the fear that had filled him as he hovered +over Obadiah, a nameless, intangible fear—something which he +could not have analyzed and which clutched at his heart and urged +him to follow the path that led to Marion's. For a time he resisted +the impulse. What if she should come by another path while he was +gone? He waited nervously in the edge of the forest, watching, and +listening for footsteps. Each minute seemed like an hour marked +into seconds by the solemn steady tolling of the bell, and after a +little he found himself unconsciously measuring time by counting +the strokes. Then he went out into the path. He followed it, step +by step, until he could no longer see the light in the cabin; his +pulse beat a little faster; he stared ahead into the deep gloom +between the walls of forest—and quickened his pace. If Marion +was coming to him he would meet her. If she was not +coming—</p> + +<p>In his old fearless way he promptly made up his mind. He would +go boldly to the cabin and tell her that Neil was waiting. He felt +sure that the alarm sounding from St. James had drawn away the +guards and that there would be nothing to interfere with his plan. +If she had already left the cabin he would return quickly to +Obadiah's. In his eagerness he began to run. Once a sound stopped +him—the distant beating of galloping hoofs. He heard the +shout of a man, a reply farther away, the quick, excited yelping of +a dog. His blood danced as he thought of the gathering of the +Mormon fighters, the men and boys racing down the black trails from +the inland forests, the excitement in St. James. As he ran on again +he thought of Arbor Croche mustering the panting, vengeful +defenders; of Strang, his great voice booming encouragement and +promise, above the brazen thunder of the bell; he saw in fancy the +frightened huddling groups of women and children and beyond and +above all the coming of the "vengeance of God"—a hundred +beats, a thousand men—and there went out from his soul if not +from his lips a great cry of joy. At the edge of the forest he +stopped for a moment. Over beyond the clearing a light burned dimly +through the lilacs. The sweet odor of the flowers came to him +gently, persuasively, and nerved him into the open. He passed +across the open space swiftly and plunged into a tangle of bushes +close to the lighted window.</p> + +<p>He heard a man's voice within, and then a woman's. Was it +Marion? Cautiously Nathaniel crept close to the log wall of the +cabin. He reached out, and hesitated. Should he look—as he +had done at the king's window? The man's voice came to him again, +harsh and angry, and this time it was not a woman's words that he +heard but a woman's sobbing cry. He parted the bushes and a glare +of light fell on his face. The lamp was on a table and beside the +table there sat a woman, her white head turned from him, her face +buried in her hands. She was an old woman and he knew that it was +Marion's mother. He could not see the man.</p> + +<p>Where was Marion? He wormed himself back out of the bushes and +walked quickly around the house. There was no other light, no other +sign of life except in that one room. With sudden resolution he +stepped to the door and knocked loudly.</p> + +<p>For a full half minute there was silence, and he knocked again. +He heard the approach of a shuffling step, the thump, thump, thump +of a cane, and the door swung back. It was the man who opened it, a +tall giant of an old man, doubled as if with rheumatism, and close +behind him was the frightened face of the woman. An involuntary +shudder passed through Nathaniel as he looked at them. They were +old—so old that the man's shrivelled hands were like those of +a skeleton; his giant frame seemed about to totter into ruin, his +eyes were sunken until his face gave the horror of a death mask. +Was it possible that these people were the father and mother of +Marion—and of Neil? As he stepped to the threshold they +timidly drew back from him. In a single glance Nathaniel swept the +room and what he saw thrilled him, for everywhere were signs of +Marion; in the pictures on the walls, the snowy curtains, the +cushions in the window-seat—and the huge vase of lilacs on +the mantle.</p> + +<p>"I am a messenger of the king," he said, advancing and closing +the door behind him. "I want to speak with Marion."</p> + +<p>"Strang—the king!" cried the old man, clutching the knob +of his cane with both hands. "She has gone!"</p> + +<p>"Gone!" exclaimed Nathaniel. For an instant his heart bounded +with delight. Marion was on her way to the tryst! He sprang back to +the door. "When? When did she go?"</p> + +<p>The woman had come forward, her hands trembling, her lips +quivering. Something in the terror of her face sent the hot blood +from Nathaniel's cheeks.</p> + +<p>"They sent for her an hour ago," she said. "The king sent +Obadiah Price for her! O, my God!" she shrieked suddenly, clutching +at her breast, "Tell me—what are they doing with +Marion—"</p> + +<p>"Shut up!" snarled the old man. "That is Strang's business. She +has gone to Strang." With an effort he straightened himself until +his towering form rose half a head above Nathaniel. "She has gone +to the king," he repeated. "Tell Strang that she will wive him +to-night, as she has promised!"</p> + +<p>In spite of his effort to control himself a terrible cry burst +from Nathaniel's lips. He flung open the door and stood for an +instant with his white face turned back.</p> + +<p>"She went to the castle—an hour ago?" he cried.</p> + +<p>"Yes, to the castle—with Obadiah Price—" The last +words followed him as he sped out into the night. As swiftly as a +wolf he raced across the clearing to the trail that led down to St. +James. Something seemed to have burst in his brain; something that +was not blood, but fire, seemed to burn in his veins—a mad +desire to reach Strang, to grip him by the throat, to mete out to +him the vengeance of a fiend instead of that of a man. He was too +late to save Marion! His brain reeled with the thought. Too +late—too late—too late. He panted the words. They came +with every gasp for breath. Too late! Too late! His heart pumped +like an engine as he strained to keep up his speed. He passed a man +and a boy hurrying with their rifles to St. James and made no +answer to their shout; a galloping horse forged ahead of him and he +tried to keep up with it; and then, at the top of the long hill +that sloped down to the stronghold of the Mormon kingdom something +seemed to sweep his legs from under him, and he fell panting on the +ground. For a few moments he lay there looking down upon the city. +The great bell at the temple was now silent. He saw huge fires +burning for a mile along the coast, hundreds of lights were +twinkling in the harbor, there came up to him softly, subdued by +distance, the sound of commotion and excitement far below.</p> + +<p>His eyes rested on the beacon above the prophet's home, burning +like a ball of fire over the black canopy of tree-tops. Marion was +there! He rose to his feet again and went on, reason and judgment +returning to him—telling him that he was about to play +against odds; that his work was to be one of strength and +generalship and not of madness. As he picked his way more slowly +and cautiously down the slope a new hope flashed upon him. Was it +possible that the discovery of the approach of the mainlanders had +served to save Marion? In the excitement that followed the calling +of the Mormons to arms and the preparations for the defense would +Strang, the master of the kingdom, the bulwark of his people, waste +priceless time in carrying out the purpose for which he had sent +for Marion? Hardly did hope burn anew in his breast when there came +another thought to quench it. Why had the king sent for Marion on +this particular night and at this late hour? Why, unless at the +approach of his enemies he had feared that he might lose his +beautiful victim, and in his overmastering passion had called her +to him even as his people assembled in defense of his kingdom.</p> + +<p>There was desperate coolness in Nathaniel's approach now. +Whatever had happened he would do what Neil had threatened to +do—kill Strang. And whatever had happened he would take +Marion away with him if it was only her dead body that he carried +in his arms. To do these things he needed strength. He advanced +more slowly and drew deeper and deeper drafts of air into his +exhausted lungs. At the edge of the grove surrounding the castle he +paused to listen. For the first time it occurred to Nathaniel that +the prophet might have assembled some of his fighters to the +defense of his harem, which he knew would be one of the first +places to feel the vengeance of the outraged men of the mainland. +But he heard no voices ahead of him. There were no fires to betray +the approach of the enemy. Not even the barking of a dog gave +warning of his stealthy advance. Soon he could make out a light in +the king's house. A few steps more and he saw that the door was +open, as it had been on his first visit to the castle. He dodged +swiftly from bush to bush, darted under the window through which he +had seen Marion, leaped lightly up the broad steps and sprang into +the great room, his pistol cocked in his hand.</p> + +<p>The room was empty. He listened, but not a sound came to his +ears except the rustling of a curtain in the breeze. The huge lamp +over the table was burning dimly. The five doors leading from the +room were tightly closed. Nathaniel held his breath, tried to still +the tumultuous pounding of his heart as he waited for a sound of +life—a step beyond those doors, a woman's voice, a child's +cry. But none came. The stillness of desertion hovered about him. +He went to one of the five doors. It was not locked. He opened it +silently, with the caution of a thief, and there loomed before him +a chaos of gloom.</p> + +<p>"Hello!" he called gently. "Hello—Hello—"</p> + +<p>There was no answer. He struck a match and advanced step by +step, holding the yellow bit of flame above his head. It disclosed +the narrow walls of a hall and an open door leading into another +room. The match sputtered and went out and he lighted another. On a +little table just outside the door was a half burned candle and he +replaced his match with this. Then he went in.</p> + +<p>At a glance he knew that he had entered a woman's room, redolent +with the perfume of flowers. On one side was a bed and close beside +it a cradle with a child's toys scattered about it. The tumbled +coverlets showed that both had been recently used. About the room +were thrown articles of wearing apparel; a trunk had been dragged +from a closet and was half packed; everywhere was the disorder of +hurried flight. For a few moments the depth of his despair held +Nathaniel motionless. The castle was deserted—Marion was +gone! He ran back into the great room, no longer trying to still +the sound of his footsteps, and opened a second door. The same +silence greeted him, the same disorder, the same evidence that the +wives and children of the Mormon king had fled. He went into a +third room—and then a fourth.</p> + +<p>For an instant he paused at the threshold of this fourth +chamber. A light was burning in the room at the end of the hall. +The door was closed with the exception of an inch or two.</p> + +<p>"Marion!" he called softly, and listened intently.</p> + +<p>He went on when there was no reply, and pushed open the +door.</p> + +<p>A candle was burning on a stand in front of a mirror. The room +was as empty as the others. But there was no disorder here. The bed +was unused, the garments in the open closet had not been +disarranged. On the floor beside the bed was a pair of shoes and as +Nathaniel saw them his heart seemed to leap to his throat and +stifled the cry that was on his lips. He took one of them in his +hand, his whole being throbbing with excitement. It was Marion's +shoe—encrusted with mud and torn as he had seen it in the +forest. With her name falling from his lips in a pleading cry he +now searched the room and on the stand in front of the mirror he +found a lilac colored ribbon, soiled and crumpled. It was Marion's +ribbon—the one he had seen last in her hair, and he crushed +it to his lips as he ran back into the great room, calling out her +name again and again in the torture of helplessness that now +possessed him.</p> + +<p>Mechanically, rather than with reason, he went to the fifth and +last door. His candle had become extinguished in his haste and +after he had opened the door he stopped at the threshold of the +black hall to light it again. There was a moment's pause as he +searched his pockets for a match, a silence in which he listened as +he searched, and suddenly as he was about to strike the sulphur +tipped splint there came to his ears a sound that held him chained +to the spot. It was the sobbing of a woman; or was it a child? In a +moment he knew that it was a woman; and then the sobbing +ceased.</p> + +<p>There was nothing but darkness ahead of him; no ray of light +shone under the door; the chamber itself was in utter gloom. As +quietly as possible he relighted his candle. A glance assured him +that this hall was different from the others; it was deeper, and +there were two doors at the end of it instead of one. Through which +of these doors had come the sound of sobbing he had heard?</p> + +<p>He approached and listened. Each moment added to his excitement, +his fears, his hopes, but at last he opened the door on the left. +The room was empty; there was the same disorder as before; the same +signs of hurried flight. It was the room on the right! His heart +almost stopped its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, +lifted it, and pushed the door in. Kneeling beside the bed he saw a +woman. She had turned toward the light and in the dim illumination +of the room Nathaniel recognized the beautiful face he had seen at +the king's castle the preceding day—the face of the woman who +had sent him to find the prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on +Marion's head as he had looked through the window. There was no +fear in her eyes as she saw Nathaniel. Something more terrible than +that shone in their glorious depths as she rose to her feet and +stood before him, her face lined with grief, her mouth twitching in +agony. She stood with clenched hands, her bosom rising and falling +in the passion of the storm within her; and she sobbed even as +Nathaniel paused there, unmanned in this sudden presence of a +distress greater than his own; sobbed in a choking, tearless way, +waiting for him to speak.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me," he spoke gently. "I have +come—for—Marion." He felt that he had no reason to lie +to this woman. His face betrayed his own anguish as he came nearer +to her. "I want Marion," he repeated. "My God, won't you tell +me—?"</p> + +<p>She struggled to calm herself as he spoke the girl's name.</p> + +<p>"Marion is not here," she said. She crushed his hands against +her bosom and a softer look came into her eyes; her voice was low +and sweet, as it had been the morning he asked for Strang. As she +saw the despair deepening in the man's face a great pity swept over +her and she stretched out her arms to him with an aching cry, +"Marion is gone—gone—gone," she moaned, "and you must +go, too! O, I know you love her—she told me that you loved +her, as I love Strang, my king! We have both +lost—lost—and you must +go—as—I—shall—go!" She turned away from him +with a cry so heart-breaking in its pain that Nathaniel felt +himself trembling to the soul. In another instant she had faced him +again, fighting back a strange calm into her face.</p> + +<p>"I love Marion," she breathed softly. "I would help you—I +would help her—if I could." For a moment her pale beautiful +face was filled with a light that might have shone from the face of +an angel, "Don't you understand?" she continued, scarcely above a +whisper. "I have been Strang's one great love—his +life—until Marion came into his heart. I have lost—you +have lost—but mine is the more bitter because Marion loves +you, and Strang—"</p> + +<p>With a cry Nathaniel sprang to her side. The candle fell from +his hand, sputtered on the floor, and left them in darkness.</p> + +<p>"Marion loves me! You say that Marion loves me?"</p> + +<p>The woman's voice came to him in a whisper filled with the +sweetness of sympathy.</p> + +<p>"She said so to-night—in this room. She told me that she +loved you as she never thought that she could love a man in this +world. O, my God, is that not a balm for your heart, if it is +broken? And Strang—my Strang—has forgotten his love for +me!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel reached out his arms. They found the woman and for a +time he held her hands in his, while a great silence fell upon +them. He could hear the sobbing of her breath and as her fingers +tightened about his own his heart seemed bursting with its hatred +of this man who called himself a prophet of God; a hatred that +burned furiously even as his being throbbed with the wild joy of +the words he had just heard.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he pleaded.</p> + +<p>"I don't know," replied the woman. "They took her away alone. +The others have gone to the temple."</p> + +<p>"Do you think she is at the temple?" he inquired +insistently.</p> + +<p>"No. One of the others came back a little while ago. She said +that Marion was not there."</p> + +<p>"Where is Strang?"</p> + +<p>This time he felt the woman tremble.</p> + +<p>"Strang—"</p> + +<p>She drew her hands away from him. There was a strange quiver in +her voice.</p> + +<p>"Yes—where is Strang?"</p> + +<p>There came no reply.</p> + +<p>"Tell me—where is he?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>"Is he at the temple?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know."</p> + +<p>He could hear her stifled breath; he could almost feel her +trembling, an arm's reach out there in the darkness. What a woman +was this whose heart the Mormon king had broken for a new love!</p> + +<p>"Listen," he said gently. "I am going to find Marion. I am going +to take her away. To-morrow you shall have Strang again—if he +is alive!"</p> + +<p>There was no answer and he moved slowly back to the door. He +closed it after him as he entered the hall. Once in the big room he +paused for a moment under the hanging lamp to examine his pistol +and then went outside. The grove in which the castle stood was +absolutely deserted. So far as he could see not even a guard +watched over the property of the king. Nathaniel had become too +accustomed to the surprises of Beaver Island to wonder at this. He +could see by the lights flaring along the harbor that the castle +was in an isolated position and easy of attack. From what Strang's +wife had told him and the evidences of panic in the chambers of the +harem he believed that the Mormon king had abandoned the castle to +its fate and that the approaching conflict would center about the +temple.</p> + +<p>Was Marion at the temple? If so he realized that she was beyond +his reach. But the woman had said that she was not there. Where +could she have gone? Why had not Strang taken her with his wives? +In a flash Nathaniel thought of Arbor Croche and Obadiah—the +two men who always knew what the king was doing. If he could find +the sheriff alone—if he could only nurse Obadiah back into +sane life again! He thrust his pistol into its holster. There was +but one thing for him to do and that was to return to the old +councilor. It would be madness for him to go down to St. James. He +had lost—Strang had won. But his love for Marion was undying. +If he found her Strang's wife it would make no difference to him. +It would all be evened up when he killed the king. For Marion loved +him—loved him—</p> + +<p>He turned his face toward Obadiah's, his heart singing the glad +words which the woman had spoken to him back there in the sixth +chamber.</p> + +<p>And as he was about to take the first step in that long race +back to the mad councilor's he heard behind him the approach of +quick feet. He crouched behind a clump of bushes and waited. A +shadowy form was hurrying through the grove. It passed close to +him, mounted the castle steps, and in the doorway turned and looked +back for an instant in the direction of St. James.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's lips quivered; the pounding of his heart half choked +him; a shriek of mad, terrible joy was ready to leap from his +lips.</p> + +<p>There in the dim glow of the great lamp stood Strang, the Mormon +king.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0009"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<center>THE HAND OF FATE</center> + +<p>Like a panther Nathaniel crouched and watched the man on the +steps. His muscles jerked, his hands were clenched; each instant he +seemed about to spring. But he held himself back until Strang had +passed through the door. Then he slipped along the log wall of the +castle, hugging the shadows, fearing that the king might reappear +and see him in time to close the door. What an opportunity fate had +made for him! His fingers itched to get at Strang's thick bull-like +throat. He felt no fear, no hesitation about the outcome of the +struggle with this giant prophet of God. He did not plan to shoot, +for a shot would destroy the secret of Marion's fate. He would +choke the truth from Strang; rob him of life slowly, gasp by gasp, +until in the horror of death the king would reveal her +hiding-place—would tell what he had done with her.</p> + +<p>Then he would kill him!</p> + +<p>There was the strength of tempered steel in his arms; his body, +slender as an athlete's, quivered to hurl itself into action. Up +the steps he crept so cautiously that he made no sound. In the +intensity of his purpose Nathaniel looked only ahead of +him—to the door. He did not see that another figure was +stealing through the gloom behind him as cautiously, as quietly as +himself. He passed through the door and stood erect. Strang had not +seen him. He had not heard him. He was standing with his huge back +toward him, facing the hall that led to the sixth chamber—and +the woman. Nathaniel drew his pistol. He would not shoot, but +Strang might be made to tell the truth with death leveling itself +at his heart. He groped behind him, found the door, and slammed it +shut. There would be no retreat for the king!</p> + +<p>And the man who turned toward him at the slamming of that door, +turned slowly, coolly, and gazed into the black muzzle of his +pistol looked, indeed, every inch of him a king. The muscles of his +face betrayed no surprise, no fear. His splendid nerve was +unshaken, his eyes unfaltering as they rose above the pistol to the +face behind it. For fifteen seconds there was a strange terrible +silence as the eyes of the two men met. In that quarter of a minute +Nathaniel knew that he had not guessed rightly. Strang was not +afraid. He would not tell him where Marion was. The insuperable +courage of this man maddened Captain Plum and unconsciously his +finger fell upon the trigger of his pistol. He almost shrieked the +words that he meant to speak calmly:</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?"</p> + +<p>"She is safe, Captain Plum. She is where the friends who are +invading us from the mainland will have no chance of finding +her."</p> + +<p>Strang spoke as quietly as though in his own office beside the +temple. Suddenly he raised his voice.</p> + +<p>"She is safe, Captain Plum—safe!"</p> + +<a name="image-0003"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp210.jpg" +alt="His Fingers Twined About the Purplish Throat." align="right"> +<!--IMAGE END--> + + +<p>His eyes wavered, and traveled beyond. As accurately as a +striking serpent Nathaniel measured that glance. It had gone to the +door. He heard a movement, felt a draft of air, and in an instant +he whirled about with his pistol pointed to the door. In another +instant he had fired and the huge form of Arbor Croche toppled +headlong into the room. A roar like that of a beast came from +behind him and before he could turn again Strang was upon him. In +that moment he felt that all was lost. Under the weight of the +Mormon king he was crushed to the floor; his pistol slipped from +his grasp; two great hands choked a despairing cry from his throat. +He saw the prophet's face over him, distorted with passion, his +huge neck bulging, his eyes flaming like angry garnets. He +struggled to free his pinioned arms, to wrench off the death grip +at his throat, but his efforts were like those of a child against a +giant. In a last terrible attempt he drew up his knees inch by inch +under the weight of his enemy; it was his only chance—his +only hope. Even as he felt the fingers about his throat sinking +like hot iron into his flesh and the breath slipping from his body +he remembered this murderous knee-punch of the rough fighters of +the inland seas and with all the life that remained in him he sent +it crushing into the abdomen of the Mormon king. It was a moment +before he knew that it had been successful, before the film cleared +from his eyes and he saw Strang groveling at his feet; another +moment and he had hurled himself on the prophet. His fist shot out +like a hammer against Strang's jaw. Again and again he struck until +the great shaggy head fell back limp. Then his fingers twined +themselves like the links of a chain about the purplish throat and +he choked until Strang's eyes opened wide and lifeless and his +convulsions ceased. He would have held on until there was no doubt +of the end, had not the king's wife—the woman whose misery he +had shared that night—suddenly flung herself with a piercing +cry, between him and the blackened face, clutching at his hands +with all her fragile strength.</p> + +<p>"My God, you are killing him—killing him!" she moaned.</p> + +<p>Her eyes blazed as she tore at his fingers.</p> + +<p>"You are killing him—killing him!" she shrieked. "He has +not destroyed Marion! You said you would take her and leave +him—for me—" She struck her head against his breast, +tearing the flesh of his wrists with her nails.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel loosened his grip and staggered to his feet.</p> + +<p>"For you!" he panted. "If you had only come—a little +sooner—" He stumbled to his pistol and picked it up. "I am +afraid he is—dead!"</p> + +<p>He did not look back.</p> + +<p>Arbor Croche barred the door. He had not moved since he had +fallen. His head was twisted so that his face was turned to the +glow of the lamp and Nathaniel shuddered as he saw where his shot +had struck. He had apparently died with that last cry on his +lips.</p> + +<p>There was no longer a fear of the Mormons in Nathaniel. He +believed the king and Arbor Croche dead, and that in the gloom and +excitement of the night he could go among the people of St. James +undiscovered. A great load was lifted from his soul, for if he had +not been in time to save Marion he had at least delivered her after +a short bondage. He had now only to find Marion and she would go +with him, for she loved him—and Strang was no more.</p> + +<p>He hurried through the grove toward the temple. Even before he +had come near to it he could see that a great crowd had congregated +there. The street which he passed was deserted. No lights shone in +the houses. Even the dogs were gone. For the first time he +understood what it meant. The whole town had fled to that huge log +stronghold for protection. Buildings and trees shut out his view +seaward but he could see the flare of great fires mounting into the +sky and he knew that those who were not at the temple were guarding +the shore.</p> + +<p>Suddenly he almost fell over a figure in his path. It was an old +woman mumbling and sobbing incoherently as she stumbled weakly in +the direction of the temple. Like an inspiration the thought came +to him that here was his opportunity of gaining admittance to that +multitude of women and children. He seized the old woman by the arm +and spoke words of courage to her as he half carried her on her +way. A few minutes more and a blaze of light burst upon them and +the great square in which the temple was situated lay open before +them. Half a hundred yards ahead a fire was burning; oil and pine +sent their lurid flame high up into the night, and in the thick +gloom behind it, intensified by the blinding glare, Nathaniel saw +the shadows of men. He caught the old woman in his arms and went on +boldly. He passed close to a thin line of waiting men, saw the +faint glint of firelight on their rifles, and staggering past them +unchallenged with his weight he stopped for a moment to look back. +The effect was startling. Beyond the three great fires that blazed +around the temple the clearing was bathed in a sea of light; in its +concealment of giant trees the temple was buried in gloom. From the +gloom a hundred cool men might slaughter five times their number +charging across that illumined death-square!</p> + +<p>Nathaniel could not repress a shudder as he looked. Screened +behind each of the three fires was a cannon. He figured that there +were more than a hundred rifles in that silent cordon of men. What +was there on the opposite side of the temple?</p> + +<p>He turned with the old woman and joined the throng that was +seething about the temple doors. There were women, children and old +men, crushing and crowding, fighting with panic-stricken fierceness +for admittance to the thick log walls. Through the doors there came +the low thunder of countless voices pierced by the shrill cries of +little children. Foot by foot Nathaniel fought his way up the +steps. At the top were drawn a dozen men forming barriers with +their rifles. One of them shoved him back.</p> + +<p>"Not you!" he shouted. "This is for the women!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel fell back, filled with horror. A glance had shown him +the vast dimly lighted interior of the temple packed to +suffocation. What sins had this people wrought that it thus feared +the vengeance of the men from the mainland! He felt the sweat break +out upon his face as he thought of Marion being in that mob, tired +and fainting with her terrible day's experience—perhaps dying +under the panic-stricken feet of those stronger than herself. He +hoped now for that which at first had filled him with +despair—that Strang had hidden Marion away from the terror +and suffocation of this multitude that fought for its breath within +the temple. Freeing himself of the crowd he ran to the farther side +of the building. A fourth fire blazed in his face. But on this side +there was no cannon; scarcely a score of men were guarding the rear +of the temple.</p> + +<p>For a full minute he stood concealed in the gloom. He realized +now that it would be useless to return to Obadiah. The old +councilor could probably have told him all that he had discovered +for himself; that Marion had gone to the castle—that Strang +intended to make her his bride that night. But did Obadiah know +that the castle had been abandoned? Did he know that the king's +wives had sought refuge in the temple, and did he know where Marion +was hidden? Nathaniel could assure himself but one answer; Obadiah, +struck down by his strange madness, was more ignorant than he +himself of what had occurred at St. James.</p> + +<p>While he paused a heavy noise arose that quickened his +heart-beats and sent the blood through his veins in wild +excitement. From far down by the shore there came the roar of a +cannon. It was closely followed by a second and a third, and hardly +was the night shaken by their thunder than a mighty cheering of men +swept up from the fire-rimmed coast. The battle had begun! +Nathaniel leaped out into the glow of the great blazing fire beyond +the temple; he heard a warning shout as he darted past the men; for +an instant he saw their white faces staring at him from the +firelight—heard a second shout, which he knew was a +command—and was gone. Half a dozen rifles cracked behind him +and a yell of joyful defiance burst from his throat as the bullets +hissed over his head. The battle had begun! Another hour and the +Mormon kingdom would be at the mercy of the avenging host from the +mainland—and Marion would be his own for ever! He heard again +the deep rumble of a heavy gun and from its sullen detonation he +knew that it was fired from a ship at sea. A nearer crash of +returning fire turned him into a deserted street down which he ran +wildly, on past the last houses of the town, until he came to the +foot of a hill up which he climbed more slowly, panting like a +winded animal.</p> + +<p>From its top he could look down upon the scene of battle. To the +eastward stretched the harbor line with its rim of fires. A glance +showed him that the fight was not to center about these. They had +served their purpose, had forced the mainlanders to seek a landing +farther down the coast. The light of dawn had already begun to +disperse the thick gloom of night and an eighth of a mile below +Nathaniel the Mormon forces were creeping slowly along the shore. +The pale ghostly mistiness of the sea hung like a curtain between +him and what was beyond, and even as he strained his eyes to catch +a glimpse of the avenging fleet a vivid light leaped out of the +white distance, followed by the thunder of a cannon. He saw the +head of the Mormon line falter. In an instant it had been thrown +into confusion. A second shot from the sea—a storm of +cheering voices from out of that white chaos of mist—and the +Mormons fell back from the shore in a panic-stricken, fleeing mob. +Were those frightened cowards the fierce fighters of whom he had +heard so much? Were they the men who had made themselves masters of +a kingdom in the land of their enemies—whose mere name +carried terror for a hundred miles along the coast? He was +stupefied, bewildered. He made no effort to conceal himself as they +approached the hill, but drew his pistol, ready to fire down upon +them as they came. Suddenly there was a change. So quickly that he +could scarcely believe his eyes the flying Mormons had disappeared. +Not a man was visible upon that narrow plain between the hill and +the sea. Like a huge covey of quail they had dropped to the ground, +their rifles lost in that ghostly gloom through which the voices of +the mainlanders came in fierce cries of triumph. It was +magnificent! Even as the crushing truth of what it all meant came +to him, the fighting blood in his veins leaped at the sight of +it—the pretended effect of the shots from sea, the sham +confusion, the disorderly flight, the wonderful quickness and +precision with which the rabble of armed men had thrown itself into +ambush!</p> + +<p>Would the mainlanders rush into the trap? Had some keen eye seen +those shadowy forms dropping through the mist? Each instant the +ghostly pall that shut out vision seaward seemed drifting away. +Nathaniel's staring eyes saw a vague shape appear in it, an +indistinct dirt-gray blotch, and he knew that it was a boat. +Another followed, and then another; he heard the sound of oars, the +grinding of keels upon the sand, and where the Mormons had been a +few moments before the beach was now alive with mainlanders. In the +growing light he could make out the king's men below him, inanimate +spots in the middle of the narrow plain. Helpless he stood +clutching his pistol, the horror in him growing with each breath. +Could he give no warning? Could he do +nothing—nothing—At least he could join in the fight! He +ran down the hill, swinging to the left of the Mormons. Half way, +and he stopped as a thundering cheer swept up from the shore. The +mainlanders had started toward the hill! Without rank, without +order—shouting their triumph as they came they were rushing +blindly into the arms of the ambush! A shriek of warning left +Nathaniel's lips. It was drowned in a crash of rifle fire. Volley +after volley burst from that shadowy stretch of plain. Before the +furious fire the van of the mainlanders crumpled into ruin. Like +chaff before a wind those behind were swept back. Apparently they +were flying without waiting to fire a shot! Nathaniel dashed down +into the plain. Ahead of him the Mormons were charging in a solid +line, and in another moment the shore had become a mass of fighting +men. Far to the left he saw a group of the mainlanders running +along the beach toward the conflict. If he could only intercept +them—and bring them into the rear! Like the wind he sped to +cut them off, shouting and firing his pistol.</p> + +<p>He won by a hundred yards and stood panting as they came toward +him. Dawn had dispelled the mist-gloom and as the mainlanders drew +nearer he discerned in their lead a figure that brought a cry of +joy from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Neil!" he shouted. "Neil—"</p> + +<p>He turned as Marion's brother darted to his side.</p> + +<p>"This way—from behind!"</p> + +<p>The two led the way, side by side, followed by a dozen men. A +glance told Nathaniel that nothing much less than a miracle could +turn the tide of battle. Half of the mainlanders were fighting in +the water. Others were struggling desperately to get away in the +boats. Foot by foot the Mormons were crushing them back, their +battle cries now turned into demoniac yells of victory. Into the +rear of the struggling mass, firing as they ran, charged the +handful of men behind Captain Plum and Neil. For a little space the +king's men gave way before them and with wild cheers the powerful +fishermen from the coast fought their way toward their comrades. +Many of them were armed with long knives; some had pistols; others +used their empty rifles as clubs. A dozen more men and they would +have split like a wedge through the Mormon mass. Above the din of +battle Nathaniel's voice rose in thundering shouts to the men in +the sea, and close beside him he heard Neil shrieking out a name +between his blows. Like demons they fought straight ahead, slashing +with their knives. The Mormon line was thinning. The mainlanders +had turned and were fighting their way back, gaining foot by foot +what they had lost. Suddenly there came a terrific cheer from the +plain and the hope that had flamed in Nathaniel's breast died out +as he heard it. He knew what it meant—that the Mormons at St. +James had come to reinforce their comrades. He fought now to reach +the boats, calling to Neil, whom he could no longer see. Even in +that moment he thought of Marion. His only chance was to escape +with the others, his only hope of wresting her from the kingdom lay +in his own freedom. He had waited too long. A crushing blow fell +upon him from behind and with a last cry to Neil he sank under the +trampling feet. Indistinctly there came to him the surging shock of +the fresh body of Mormons. The din about him became fainter and +fainter as though he was being carried rapidly away from it; +shouting voices came to him in whispers, and deadened sounds, like +the quick tapping of a finger on his forehead, were all that he +heard of the steady rifle fire that pursued the defeated +mainlanders in their flight.</p> + +<p>After a little he began struggling back into consciousness. +There was a splitting pain somewhere in his head and he tried to +reach his hand to it.</p> + +<p>"You won't have to carry him," he heard a voice say. "Give him a +little water and he'll walk."</p> + +<p>He felt the dash of the water in his face and it put new life +into him. Somebody had raised him to a sitting posture and was +supporting him there while a second person bound a cloth about his +head. He opened his eyes and the light of day shot into them like a +stinging, burning charge of needle-points, and he closed them again +with a sharp cry of pain. That second's glance had shown him that +it was a woman who was binding his head. He had not seen her face. +Beyond her he had caught a half formed vision of many people and +the glistening edge of the sea, and as he lay with closed eyes the +murmur of voices came to him. The support at his back was taken +away, slowly, as if the person who held him feared that he would +fall. Nathaniel stiffened himself to show his returning strength +and opened his eyes again. This time the pain was not so great. A +few yards away he saw a group of people and among them were women; +still farther away, so far that his brain grew dizzy as he looked, +there was a black moving crowd. He was among the wounded. The +Mormon women were here. Down there along the shore—among the +dead—had assembled the population of St. James.</p> + +<p>A strange sickness overpowered him and he sank back against his +supporter. A cool hand passed over his face. It was a soothing, +gentle touch—the hand of the woman. He felt the sweep of soft +hair against his cheek—a breath whispering in his ear.</p> + +<p>"You will be better soon."</p> + +<p>His heart stood still.</p> + +<p>"You will be better—"</p> + +<p>Against his rough cheek there fell the soft pressure of a +woman's lips.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel pulled himself erect, every drop of blood in him +striving for the mastery of his body, his vision, his strength. He +tried to turn, but strong arms seized him from behind. A man's +voice spoke to him, a man's strength held him. In an agony of +appeal Marion's name burst from his lips.</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-!" warned the voice behind him. "Are you crazy?"</p> + +<p>The arms relaxed their hold and Nathaniel dragged himself to his +knees. The woman was gone. As far as he could see there were +people—scores of them, hundreds of them—multiplied into +thousands and millions as he looked, until there was only a black +cloud about him. He staggered to his feet and a strong hand kept +him from falling while his brain slowly cleared. The millions and +thousands and hundreds of people dissolved themselves into the day +until only a handful was left where he had seen multitudes. He +turned his face weakly to the man beside him.</p> + +<p>"Where did she go?" he asked.</p> + +<p>It was a boyish face into which his pleading eyes gazed, a face +white with the strain of battle, reddened a little on one cheek +with a smear of blood, and there was a startled, frightened look in +it that did not come of the strife that had passed.</p> + +<p>"Who? What are you talking about?"</p> + +<p>"The woman," whispered Nathaniel. "The +woman—Marion—who kissed—me—"</p> + +<p>The young fellow's hand gripped his arm in a sudden fierce +clutch.</p> + +<p>"You've been dreaming!" he exclaimed in a threatening voice. +"Shut up!" He spoke the words loudly. Then quickly dropping his +voice to a whisper he added, "For God's sake don't betray her! They +saw her with us—everybody knows that it was the king's wife +with you!"</p> + +<p>The king's wife! Nathaniel was too weak to analyze the words +beyond the fact that they carried the dread truth of his fears deep +into his soul. Who would have come to him but Marion? Who else +would have kissed him? It was her voice that had whispered in his +ear—the thrill of her hand that had passed over his face. And +this man had said that she was the wife of the king! He heard the +voices of other men near him but did not understand what they were +saying. He knew that after a moment there was a man on each side of +him holding him by the arms, and mechanically he moved his legs, +knowing that they wanted him to walk. They did not guess how weak +he was—how he struggled to keep from becoming too great a +weight on their hands. Once or twice they stopped in their +agonizing climb up the hill. On its top the cool sea air swept into +Nathaniel's face and it was like water to a parched throat.</p> + +<p>After a time—it seemed a day of terrible work and pain to +him—they came to the streets of the town, and in a half +conscious sort of way he cursed at the rabble trailing at their +heels. They passed close to the temple, dirt and blood and a +burning torment shutting the vision of it from his eyes, and beyond +this there was another crowd. An aisle opened for them, as it had +opened for others ahead of them. In front of the jail they stopped. +Nathaniel's head hung heavily upon his breast and he made no effort +to raise it. All ambition and desire had left him, all desire but +one, and that was to drop upon the ground and lie there for +endless, restful years. What consciousness was left in him was +ebbing swiftly; he saw black, fathomless night about him and the +earth seemed slipping from under his feet.</p> + +<p>A voice dragged him back into life—a voice that boomed in +his ears like rolling thunder and set every fiber in him quivering +with emotion. He drew himself erect with the involuntary strength +of one mastering the last spasm of death and as they dragged him +through the door he saw there within an arm's reach of him the +great, living face of Strang, gloating at him as if from out of a +mist—red eyed, white fanged, filled with the vengefulness of +a beast.</p> + +<p>The great voice rumbled in his ears again.</p> + +<p>"Take that man to the dungeon!"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0010"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<center>WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH</center> + +<p>The voice—the condemning words—followed Nathaniel as +he staggered on between his two guards; it haunted him still as the +cold chill of the rotting dungeon walls struck in his face; it +remained with him as he stood swaying alone in the thick +gloom—the voice rumbling in his ears, the words beating +against his brain until the shock of them sickened him, until he +stretched out his arms and there fell from him such a cry as had +never tortured his lips before.</p> + +<p>Strang was alive! He had left the spark of life in him, and the +woman who loved him had fanned it back into full flame.</p> + +<p>Strang was alive! And Marion—Marion was his wife!</p> + +<p>The voice of the king taunted him from the black chaos that hid +the dungeon walls. The words struck at him, filling his head with +shooting pain, and he tottered back and sank to the ground to get +away from them. They followed, and that vengeful leer of the king +was behind them, urging them on, until they beat his face into the +sticky earth, and smothered him into what he thought was death.</p> + +<p>There came rest after that, a long silent rest. When Nathaniel +slowly climbed up out of the ebon shadows again the first +consciousness that came to him was that the word-demons had stopped +their beating against his brain and that he no longer heard the +voice of the king. His relief was so great that he breathed a +restful sigh. Something touched him then. Great God! were they +coming back? Were they still +there—waiting—waiting—</p> + +<p>It was a wonderfully familiar voice that spoke to him.</p> + +<p>"Hello there, Nat! Want a drink?"</p> + +<p>He gulped eagerly at the cool liquid that touched his lips.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he whispered.</p> + +<p>"It's me, Nat. They chucked me in with you. Hell's hole, isn't +it?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel sat up, Neil's strong arm at his back. There was a +light in the room now and he could see his companion's face, +smiling at him encouragingly. The sight of it was like an elixir to +him. He drank again and new life coursed through him.</p> + +<p>"Yes—hell of a hole!" he repeated drowsily. "Sorry for +you—Neil—" and he seemed to sleep again.</p> + +<p>Neil laughed as he wiped his companion's face with a wet +cloth.</p> + +<p>"I'm used to it, Nat. Been here before," he said. "Can you get +up? There's a bench over here—not long enough to stretch you +out on or I would have made you a bed of it, but it's better than +this mud to sit on."</p> + +<p>He put his arms about Nathaniel and helped him to his feet. For +a few moments the wounded man stood without moving.</p> + +<p>"I'm not very bad, I guess," he said, taking a slow step. "Where +is the seat, Neil? I'm going to walk to it. What sort of a bump +have I got on the head?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing much," assured Neil. "Suspicious, though," he grinned +cheerfully. "Looks as though you were running and somebody came up +and tapped you from behind!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's strength returned to him quickly. The pain had gone +from his head and his eyes no longer hurt him. In the dim +candle-light he could distinguish the four walls of the dungeon, +glistening with the water and mold that reeked from between their +rotting logs. The floor was of wet, sticky earth which clung to his +boots, and the air that he breathed filled his nostrils and throat +with the uncomfortable thickness of a night fog at sea. Through it +the candle burned in a misty halo. Near the candle, which stood on +a shelf-like table against one of the walls, was a big dish which +caught Nathaniel's eyes.</p> + +<p>"What's that?" he asked pointing toward it.</p> + +<p>"Grub," replied Neil. "Hungry?"</p> + +<p>He went to the table and got the plate of food. There were +chunks of boiled meat, unbuttered bread, and cold potatoes. For +several minutes they ate in silence. Now that Nathaniel was himself +again Neil could no longer keep up his forced spirits. Both +realized that they had played their game and that it had ended in +defeat. And each believed that it was in his individual power to +alleviate to some extent the other's misery. To Neil what was ahead +of them held no mystery. A few hours more and then—death. It +was only the form in which it would come that troubled him, that +made him think. Usually the victims of this dungeon cell were shot. +Sometimes they were hanged. But why tell Nathaniel? So he ate his +meat and bread without words, waiting for the other to speak, as +the other waited for him. And Nathaniel, on his part, kept to +himself the secret of Marion's fate. After they had done with the +meat and the bread and the cold potatoes he pulled out his beloved +pipe and filled it with the last scraps of his tobacco, and as the +fumes of it clouded round his head, soothing him in its old +friendship, he told of his fight with Strang and his killing of +Arbor Croche.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad for Winnsome's sake," said Neil, after a moment. "Oh, +if you'd only killed Strang!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thought of what Marion had said to him in the +forest.</p> + +<p>"Neil," he said quietly, "do you know that Winnsome loves +you—not as the little girl whom you toted about on your +shoulders—but as a woman? Do you know that?" In the other's +silence he added, "When I last saw Marion she sent this message to +you—'Tell Neil that he must go, for Winnsome's sake. Tell him +that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine—tell him that +Winnsome loves him and that she will escape and come to him on the +mainland.'" Like words of fire they had burned themselves in his +brain and as Nathaniel repeated them he thought of that other +broken heart that had sobbed out its anguish to him in the castle +chamber. "Neil, a man can die easier when he knows that a woman +loves him!"</p> + +<p>He had risen to his feet and was walking back and forth through +the thick gloom.</p> + +<p>"I'm glad!" Neil's voice came to him softly, as though he +scarcely dared to speak the words aloud. After a moment he added, +"Have you got a pencil, Nat? I would like to leave a little note +for Winnsome."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel found both pencil and paper in one of his pockets and +Neil dropped upon his knees in the mud beside the table. Ten +minutes later he turned to Nathaniel and a great change had come +into his face.</p> + +<p>"She always seemed like such a little child to me that I never +dared—to—tell her," he faltered. "I've done it in +this."</p> + +<p>"How will you get the note to her?"</p> + +<p>"I know the jailer. Perhaps when he comes to bring us our dinner +I can persuade him to send it to her."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel thrust his hands into his pockets. His fingers dug +into Obadiah's gold.</p> + +<p>"Would this help?" he asked.</p> + +<p>He brought out a shimmering handful of it and counted the pieces +upon the table.</p> + +<p>"Two hundred dollars—if he will deliver that note," he +said.</p> + +<p>Neil stared at him in amazement.</p> + +<p>"If he won't take it for that—I've got more. I'll go a +thousand!"</p> + +<p>Neil stood silent, wondering if his companion was mad. Nathaniel +saw the look in his face and his own flushed with sudden +excitement.</p> + +<p>"Don't you understand?" he cried. "That note means Heaven or +hell for Winnsome—it means life—her whole future! And +you know what this cell means for us," he said more calmly. "It +means that we're at the end of our rope, that the game is up, that +neither of us will ever see Marion or Winnsome again. That note is +the last word in life from us—from you. It's a dying prayer. +Tell Winnsome your love, tell her that it is your last wish that +she go out into the big, free world—away from this hell-hole, +away from Strang, away from the Mormons, and live as other women +live! And commanded by your love—she will go!"</p> + +<p>"I've told her that!" breathed Neil.</p> + +<p>"I knew you would!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel threw another handful of gold on the table.</p> + +<p>"Five hundred!" he exclaimed. "It's cheap enough for a woman's +soul!"</p> + +<p>He motioned for Neil to put the money in his pocket. The pain +was coming back into his head, he grew dizzy, and hastened to the +bench. Neil came and sat beside him.</p> + +<p>"So you think it's the end?" he asked. He was glad that his +companion had guessed the truth.</p> + +<p>"Don't you?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>There was a minute's dark silence. The ticking of Nathaniel's +watch sounded like the tapping of a stick.</p> + +<p>"What will happen?"</p> + +<p>"I don't know. But whatever it may be it will come to us soon. +Usually it happens at night."</p> + +<p>"There is no hope?"</p> + +<p>"Absolutely none. The whole mainland is at the mercy of Strang. +He fears no retribution now, no punishment for his crimes, no hand +stronger than his own. He will not even give us the pretense of a +hearing. I am a traitor, a revolutionist—you have attempted +the life of the king. We are both condemned—both doomed."</p> + +<p>Neil spoke calmly and his companion strove to master the +terrible pain at his heart as he thought of Marion. If Neil could +go to the end like a martyr he would at least make an attempt to do +as much. Yet he could not help from saying:</p> + +<p>"What will become of Marion?"</p> + +<p>He felt the tremor that passed through his companion's body.</p> + +<p>"I have implored Winnsome to do all that she can to get her +away," replied Neil. "If Marion won't go—" He clenched his +hands with a moaning curse and sprang to his feet, again pacing +back and forth through the gloomy dungeon. "If she won't go I swear +that Strang's triumph will be short!" he cried suddenly. "I can not +guess the terrible power that the king possesses over her, but I +know that once his wife she will not endure it long. The moment she +becomes that, her bondage is broken. I know it. I have seen it in +her eyes. She will kill herself!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose slowly from the bench and came to his side.</p> + +<p>"She won't do that!" he groaned. "My God—she won't do +that!"</p> + +<p>Neil's face was blanched to the whiteness of paper.</p> + +<p>"She will," he repeated quietly. "Her terrible pact with Strang +will have been fulfilled. And I—I am +glad—glad—"</p> + +<p>He raised his arms to the dripping blackness of the dungeon +ceiling, his voice shaking with a cold, stifled anguish. Nathaniel +drew back from that tall, straight figure, step by step, as though +to hide beyond the flickering candle glow the betrayal that had +come into his face, the blazing fire that seemed burning out his +eyes. If what Neil had said was true—</p> + +<p>Something choked him as he dropped alone upon the bench.</p> + +<p>If it was true—Marion was dead!</p> + +<p>He dropped his head in his hands and sat for a long time in +silence, listening to Neil as he walked tirelessly over the muddy +earth. Not until there came a rattling of the chain at the cell +door and a creaking of the rusty hinges did he lift his face. It +was the jailer with a huge armful of straw. He saw Neil approach +him after he had thrown it down. Their low voices came to him in an +indistinct murmur. After a little he caught the sound of the +chinking gold pieces.</p> + +<p>Neil came and sat down beside him as the heavy door closed upon +them again.</p> + +<p>"He took it," he whispered exultantly. "He will deliver it this +morning. If possible he will bring us an answer. I kept out a +hundred and told him that a reply would be worth that to him."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel did not speak, and after a moment's silence Neil +continued.</p> + +<p>"The jury is assembling. We will know our fate very soon."</p> + +<p>He rose to his feet, his words quivering with nervous +excitement, and Nathaniel heard him kicking about in the straw. In +another breath his voice hissed through the gloom in a sharp, +startled command:</p> + +<p>"Good God, Nat, come here!"</p> + +<p>Something in the strange fierceness of Neil's words startled +Nathaniel, like the thrilling twinges of an electric shock. He +darted across the cell and found Marion's brother with his shoulder +against the door.</p> + +<p>"It's open!" he whispered. "The door—is—open!"</p> + +<p>The hinges creaked under his weight. A current of air struck +them in the face. Another instant and they stood in the corridor, +listening, crushing back the breath in their lungs, not daring to +speak. Only the drip of water came to their ears. Gently Neil drew +his companion back into the cell.</p> + +<p>"There's a chance—one chance in ten thousand!" he +whispered. "At the end of this corridor there is a door—the +jailer's door. If that's not locked, we can make a run for it! I'd +rather die fighting—than here!"</p> + +<p>He slipped out again, pressing Nathaniel back.</p> + +<p>"Wait for me!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel heard him stealing slowly through the blackness. A +minute later he returned.</p> + +<p>"Locked!" he exclaimed.</p> + +<p>In the opposite direction a ray of light caught Nathaniel's +eye.</p> + +<p>"Where does that light come from?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Through a hole about as big as your two hands. It was made for +a stove pipe. If we were up there we could see into the jury +room."</p> + +<p>They moved quietly down the corridor until they stood under the +aperture, which was four or five feet above their heads. Through it +they could hear the sound of voices but could not distinguish the +words that were being spoken.</p> + +<p>"The jury," explained Neil. "They're in a devil of a hurry! I +wonder why?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel could feel his companion shrug himself in the +darkness.</p> + +<p>"Lord—for my revolver!" he whispered excitedly. "One shot +through that hole would be worth a thousand notes to the girls!" He +caught Marion's brother by the arm as a voice louder than the +others came to them.</p> + +<p>"Strang!"</p> + +<p>"Yes—the—king!" affirmed Neil laying an +expostulating hand on him. "Hush!"</p> + +<p>"I would like to see—"</p> + +<p>Even in these last hours of failure and defeat the fire of +adventure flamed up in Nathaniel's blood. He felt his nerves +leaping again to action, his arms grew tense with new +ambition—almost he forgot that death had him cornered and was +already preparing to strike him down. Another thought replaced all +fear of this. A few feet beyond that log wall were gathered the men +whose bloodthirsty deeds had written for them one of the reddest +pages in history—men who had burned their souls out in the +destruction of human lives, whose passions and loves and hatreds +carried with them life and death; men who had bathed themselves in +blood and lived in blood until the people of the mainland called +them "the leeches."</p> + +<p>"The Mormon jury!" Nathaniel spoke the words scarcely above his +breath.</p> + +<p>"I'd like to take a look through that hole, Neil," he added.</p> + +<p>"Easy enough—if you keep quiet. Here!" He doubled himself +against the wall. "Climb up on my shoulders."</p> + +<p>No sooner had Nathaniel's face come to a level with the hole +than a soft cry of astonishment escaped him. Neil whispered +hoarsely but he did not reply. He was looking into a room twice as +large as the dungeon cell and lighted by narrow windows whose lower +panes were on a level with the ground outside. At the farther end +of the room, in full view, was a platform raised several feet from +the main floor. On this platform were seated ten men, immovable as +statues, every face gazing straight ahead. Directly in front of +them, on the lower floor, stood the Mormon king, and at his side, +partly held in the embrace of one of his arms was Winnsome!</p> + +<p>Strang's voice came to him in a low, solemn monotone, its +rumbling depth drowning the words he was speaking, and as Nathaniel +saw him lift his arm from about the girl's shoulders and place his +great hand upon her head he dug his own fingers fiercely into the +rotting logs and an imprecation burned in his breath. He did not +need to hear what the king was saying. It was a pantomime in which +every gesture was understandable. But even Neil, huddled against +the wall, heard the last words of the prophet as they thundered +forth in sudden passion.</p> + +<p>"Winnsome Croche demands the death of her father's +murderer!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel felt his companion's shoulders sinking under his +weight and he leaped quickly to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Winnsome is there!" he panted desperately. "Do you want to see +her?"</p> + +<p>Neil hesitated.</p> + +<p>"No. Your boots gouge my shoulder. Take them off."</p> + +<p>The scene had changed when Nathaniel took his position again. +The jury had left its platform and was filing through a small door. +Winnsome and the king were along.</p> + +<p>The girl had turned from him. She was deathly pale and yet she +was wondrously beautiful, so beautiful that Nathaniel's breath came +in quick dread as the king approached her. He could see the triumph +in his eyes, a terrible eagerness in his face. He seized Winnsome's +hand and spoke to her in a soft, low voice, so low that it came to +Nathaniel only in a murmur. Then, in a moment, he began stroking +the shimmering glory of her hair, caressing the silken curls +between his fingers until the blood seemed as if it must burst, +like hot sweat from Nathaniel's face. Suddenly Winnsome drew back +from him, the pallor gone from her face, her eyes blazing like +angry stars. She had retreated but a step when the prophet sprang +to her and caught her in his arms, straining her to him until the +scream on her lips was choked to a gasping cry. In answer to that +cry a yell of rage hurled itself from Nathaniel's throat.</p> + +<p>"Stop, you hell-hound!" he cried threateningly. "Stop!"</p> + +<p>He shrieked the words again and again, maddened beyond control, +and the Mormon king, whose self-possession was more that of devil +than man, still held the struggling girl in his arms as he turned +his head toward the voice and saw Nathaniel's long arm and knotted +fist threatening him through the hole in the wall. Then Neil's name +in a piercing scream resounded through the dungeon corridor and in +response to it the man under Nathaniel straightened himself so +quickly that his companion fell back to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Great God! what is the matter, Nat? Quick! let me up!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel staggered to his feet, the breath half gone out of his +body, and in another instant Neil was at the opening. The great +room into which he looked was empty.</p> + +<p>"What was it?" he cried, leaping down. "What were they doing +with Winnsome?"</p> + +<p>"It was the king," said Nathaniel, struggling to master himself. +"The king put his arms around Winnsome and—she struck +him!"</p> + +<p>"That was all?"</p> + +<p>"He kissed her as she fought—and I yelled."</p> + +<p>"She struck him!" Neil cried. "God bless little Winnsome, Nat! +and—God bless her!"</p> + +<p>Neil's breath came fast as he caught the other's hand.</p> + +<p>"I'd give my life if I could help you—and Marion!"</p> + +<p>"We'll give them together," said Nathaniel coolly, turning down +the corridor. "Here's our chance. They'll come through that door to +relock us in our cell. Shall we die fighting?"</p> + +<p>He was groping about in the mud of the floor for some +object.</p> + +<p>"If we had a couple of stones—"</p> + +<p>"It would be madness—worse than madness!" interposed Neil, +steadying himself. "There will be a dozen rifles at that door when +they open it. We must return to the cell. It is worth dying a +harder death to hear from Marion and Winnsome. And we will hear +from them before night!"</p> + +<p>They retreated into the dungeon. A few minutes later the door +opened cautiously at the head of the corridor. A light blazed +through the blackness and after an interval of silence the jailer +made his appearance in front of the cell, a pistol in his hand.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid, Jeekum," said Neil reassuringly. "You forgot +the door and we've been having a little fun with the jury. That's +all!"</p> + +<p>The nervous whiteness left Jeekum's face at this cheerful report +and he was about to close the door when Nathaniel exhibited a +handful of gold pieces in the candle-light and frantically beckoned +the man to come in. The jailer's eyes glittered understandingly and +with a backward glance down the lighted corridor he thrust his head +and shoulders inside.</p> + +<p>"Five hundred dollars for that note!" he whispered. "Five +hundred beside the four you've got!"</p> + +<p>"Jeekum's a fool!" said Neil, as the door closed on them. "I +feel sorry for him."</p> + +<p>"Why?"</p> + +<p>"Because he is accepting the money. Don't you suppose that you +have been searched? Of course you have—probably before I +came, while you were half dead on the floor. Somebody knows that +you have the gold."</p> + +<p>"Why hasn't it been taken?"</p> + +<p>For a full minute Neil made no answer. And his answer, when it +did come, first of all was a laugh.</p> + +<p>"By George, that's good!" he cried exultingly. "Of course you +were searched—and by Jeekum! He knows, but he hasn't made a +report of it to Strang because he believes that in some way he will +get hold of the money. He is taking a big risk—but he's +winning! I wonder what his first scheme was?"</p> + +<p>"Thought I'd bury it, perhaps," vouchsafed Nathaniel, throwing +himself upon the straw. "There's room for two here, Neil."</p> + +<p>A long silence fell between them. The action during the last few +minutes had been too great an effort for Nathaniel and his wound +troubled him again. As the pain and his terrible thoughts of +Marion's fate returned to him he regretted that they had not ended +it all in one last fight at the door. There, at least, they might +have died like men instead of waiting to be shot down like dogs, +their hands bound behind them, their breasts naked to the Mormon +rifles. He did not fear death. In more than one game he had played +against its hand, more often for love of the sport than not, but +there was a horror in being penned up and tortured by it. He had +come to look upon it as a fair enemy, filled of course with +subterfuge and treachery, which were the laws of the game; but he +had never dreamed of it as anything but merciful in its quickness. +It was as if his adversary had broken an inviolable pact with him +and he sweated and tossed on his bed of straw while Neil sat cool +and silent on the bench against the dungeon wall. Sheer exhaustion +brought him relief, and after a time he fell asleep.</p> + +<p>He was awakened by Neil. The white face of Marion's brother was +over him when he opened his eyes and he was shaking him roughly by +the shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Wake up, Nat!" he cried. "For Heaven's sake—wake up!"</p> + +<p>He drew back as Nathaniel sleepily roused himself.</p> + +<p>"I couldn't help it, Nat," he apologized, laughing nervously. +"You've lain there like a dead man for hours. My head is splitting +with this damned silence. Come—smoke up! I got some tobacco +from our jailer and he loaned me his pipe."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel jumped to his feet. A fresh candle was burning on the +table and in its light he saw that a startling change had come into +Neil's face during the hours he had slept. It looked to him thinner +and whiter, its lines had deepened, and the young man's eyes were +filled with gloomy dejection.</p> + +<p>"Why didn't you awaken me sooner?" he exclaimed. "I deserve a +good drubbing for leaving you alone here!" He saw fresh food on the +table. "It's late—" he began.</p> + +<p>"That is our dinner and supper," interrupted Neil. He held his +watch close to the candle. "Half past eight!"</p> + +<p>"And no word—from—"</p> + +<p>"No."</p> + +<p>The two men looked deeply into each other's eyes.</p> + +<p>"Jeekum delivered my note to her at noon when he was relieved," +said Neil. "He did not carry it personally but swears that he saw +her receive it. He sent her word that he would call at a certain +place for a reply when he was relieved again at five. There was no +reply for him—not a word from Winnsome."</p> + +<p>Their silence was painful. It was Nathaniel who spoke first, +hesitatingly, as though afraid to say what was passing in his +mind.</p> + +<p>"I killed Winnsome's father, Neil," he said, "and Winnsome has +demanded my death. I know that I am condemned to die. But +you—" His eyes flashed sudden fire. "How do you know that my +fate is to be yours? I begin to see the truth. Winnsome has not +answered your note because she knows that you are to live and that +she will see you soon. Between Winnsome and—Marion you will +be saved!"</p> + +<p>Neil had taken a piece of meat and was eating it as though he +had not heard his companion's words.</p> + +<p>"Help yourself, Nat. It's our last opportunity."</p> + +<p>"You don't believe—"</p> + +<p>"No. Lord, man, do you suppose that Strang is going to let me +live to kill him?"</p> + +<p>Somebody was fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door.</p> + +<p>The two men stared as it opened slowly and Jeekum appeared. The +jailer was highly excited.</p> + +<p>"I've got word—but no note!" he whispered hoarsely. +"Quick! Is it worth—"</p> + +<p>"Yes! Yes!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel dug the gold pieces out of his pockets and dropped +them into the jailer's outstretched hand.</p> + +<p>"I've had my boy watching Winnsome Croche's house," continued +the sheriff, white with the knowledge of the risk he was taking. +"An hour ago Winnsome came out of the house and went into the +woods. My boy followed. She ran to the lake, got into a skiff, and +rowed straight out to sea. She is following your instructions!"</p> + +<p>In his excitement he betrayed himself. He had read the note.</p> + +<p>There came a sound up the corridor, the opening of a door, the +echo of voices, and Jeekum leaped back. Nathaniel's foot held the +cell door from closing.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he cried softly, his heart standing still +with dread. "Great God—what about Marion?"</p> + +<p>For an instant the sheriff's ghastly face was pressed against +the opening.</p> + +<p>"Marion has not been seen since morning. The king's officers are +searching for her."</p> + +<p>The door slammed, the chains clanked loudly, and above the sound +of Jeekum's departure Neil's voice rose in a muffled cry of +joy.</p> + +<p>"They are gone! They are leaving the island!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel stood like one turned into stone. His heart grew cold +within him. When he spoke his words were passionless echoes of what +had been.</p> + +<p>"You are sure that Marion would kill herself as soon as she +became the wife of Strang?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes—before his vile hands touched more than the dress she +wore!" shouted Neil.</p> + +<p>"Then Marion is dead," replied Nathaniel, as coldly as though he +were talking to the walls about him. "For last night Marion was +forced into the harem of the king."</p> + +<p>As he revealed the secret whose torture he meant to keep +imprisoned in his own breast he dropped upon the pallet of straw +and buried his face between his arms, cursing himself that he had +weakened in these last hours of their comradeship.</p> + +<p>He dared not look to see the effect of his words on Neil. His +companion uttered no sound. Instead there was a silence that was +terrifying.</p> + +<p>At the end of it Neil spoke in a voice so strangely calm that +Nathaniel sat up and stared at him through the gloom.</p> + +<p>"I believe they are coming after us, Nat. Listen!"</p> + +<p>The tread of many feet came to them faintly from beyond the +corridor wall.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel had risen. They drew close together, and their hands +clasped.</p> + +<p>"Whatever it may be," whispered Neil, "may God have mercy on our +souls!"</p> + +<p>"Amen!" breathed Captain Plum.</p> + +<a name="2HCH0011"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<center>"THE STRAIGHT DEATH"</center> + +<p>Hands were fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door.</p> + +<p>It opened and Jeekum's ashen face shone in the candle-light. For +a moment his frightened eyes rested on the two men still standing +in their last embrace of friendship. A word of betrayal from them +and he knew that his own doom was sealed.</p> + +<p>He came in, followed by four men. One of them was MacDougall, +the king's whipper. In the corridor were other faces, like ghostly +shadows in the darkness. Only MacDougall's face was uncovered. The +others were hidden behind white masks. The men uttered no sound but +ranged themselves like specters in front of the door, their cocked +rifles swung into the crooks of their arms. There was a triumphant +leer on MacDougall's lips as he and the jailer approached. As the +whipper bound Neil's hands behind his back he hissed in his +ear.</p> + +<p>"This will be a better job than the whipping, damn you!"</p> + +<p>Neil laughed.</p> + +<p>"Hear that, Nat?" he asked, loud enough for all in the cell to +hear. "MacDougall says this will be a better job than the whipping. +He remembers how I thrashed him once when he said something to +Marion one day."</p> + +<p>Neil was as cool as though acting his part in a play. His face +was flushed, his eyes gleamed fearlessly defiant. And Nathaniel, +looking upon the courage of this man, from under whose feet had +been swept all hope of life, felt a twinge of shame at his own +nervousness. MacDougall grew black with passion at the taunting +reminder of his humiliation and tightened the thongs about Neil's +wrists until they cut into the flesh.</p> + +<p>"That's enough, you coward!" exclaimed</p> + +<p>Nathaniel, as he saw the blood start. "Here—take +this!"</p> + +<p>Like lightning he struck out and his fist fell with crushing +force against the side of the man's head. MacDougall toppled back +with a hollow groan, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. +Nathaniel turned coolly to the four rifles leveled at his +breast.</p> + +<p>"A pretty puppet to do the king's commands!" he cried. "If +there's a man among you let him finish the work!"</p> + +<p>Jeekum had fallen upon his knees beside the whipper.</p> + +<p>"Great God!" he shrieked. "You've killed, him! You've stove in +the side of his head!"</p> + +<p>There was a sudden commotion in the corridor. A terrible voice +boomed forth in a roar.</p> + +<p>"Let me in!"</p> + +<p>Strang stood in the door. He gave a single glance at the man +gasping and bleeding in the mud. Then he looked at Nathaniel. The +eyes of the two men met unflinching. There was no hatred now in the +prophet's face.</p> + +<p>"Captain Plum, I would give a tenth of my kingdom for a brother +like you!" he said calmly. "Here—I will finish the work." He +went boldly to the task, and as he tied Nathaniel's arms behind him +he added, "The vicissitudes of war, Captain Plum. You are a +man—and can appreciate what they sometimes mean!"</p> + +<p>A few minutes later, gagged and bound, the prisoners fell behind +two of the armed guards and at a command from the king, given in a +low tone to Jeekum, marched through the corridor and up the short +flight of steps that led out of the jail. To Nathaniel's +astonishment there was no light to guide them. Candles and lights +had been extinguished. What words he heard were spoken in whispers. +In the deep shadow of the prison wall a third guard joined the two +ahead and like automatons they strode through the gloom with slow, +measured step, their rifles held with soldierly precision. +Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder and saw three other white +masked faces a dozen feet away. The king had remained behind.</p> + +<p>He shuddered and looked at Neil. His companion's appearance was +almost startling. He seemed half a head taller than himself, yet he +knew that he was shorter by an inch or two; his shoulders were +thrown back, his chin held high, he kept step with the guards +ahead. He was marching to his death as coolly as though on +parade.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's heart beat excitedly as they came to where the scrub +of the forest met the plain. They were taking the path that led to +Marion's! Again he looked at Neil. There was no change in the +fearless attitude of Marion's brother, no lowering of his head, no +faltering in his step. They passed the graves and entered the +opening in the forest where lay Marion's home, and as once more the +sweet odor of lilac came to him, awakening within his soul all +those things that he had tried to stifle that he might meet death +like a man, he felt himself weakening, until only the cloth about +his mouth restrained the moaning cry that forced itself to his +lips. If he had possessed a life to give he would have sacrificed +it gladly then for a word with the Mormon king, a last prayer that +death might be meted to him here, where eternity would come to him +with his glazing eyes fixed to the end upon the home of his +beloved, and where the sweetness of the flower that had become a +part of Marion herself might soothe the pain of his final moment on +earth.</p> + +<p>His heart leaped with hope as a sharp voice from the rear +commanded a halt. It was Jeekum. He came up out of the darkness +from behind the rear guard, his face still unmasked, and for a few +moments was in whispered consultation with the guards ahead. Had +Strang, in the virulence of that hatred which he concealed so well, +conceived of this spot to give added torment to death? It was the +poetry of vengeance! For the first time Neil turned toward his +companion. Each read what the other had guessed. Neil, who was +nearest to the whispering four, turned suddenly toward them and +listened. When he looked at Nathaniel again it was with a slow +negative shake of his head.</p> + +<p>Jeekum returned quickly and placed himself between them, seizing +each by an arm, and the forward guards, pivoting to the left, set +off at their steady pace across the clearing. As they entered the +denser gloom of the forest on the farther side Nathaniel felt the +jailer's fingers tighten about his arm, then relax—and +tighten again. A gentle pressure held him back and the guards in +front gained half a dozen feet. In a low voice Jeekum called for +those behind to fall a few paces to the rear.</p> + +<p>Then came again the mysterious working of the man's fingers on +Nathaniel's arm.</p> + +<p>Was Jeekum signaling to him?</p> + +<p>He could see Neil's white face still turned stoically to the +front. Evidently nothing had occurred to arouse his suspicions. If +the maneuvering of Jeekum's fingers meant anything it was intended +for him alone. Action had been the manna of his life. The +possibility of new adventure, even in the face of death, thrilled +him. He waited, breathless—and the strange pressure came +again, so hard that it hurt his flesh.</p> + +<p>There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The king's sheriff +wanted to speak to him.</p> + +<p>And he was afraid of the eyes and ears behind.</p> + +<p>The fingers were cautioning him to be ready—when the +opportunity came.</p> + +<p>The path widened and through the thin tree-tops above their +heads the starlight filtered down upon them. The leading guards +were twenty feet away. How far behind were the others?</p> + +<p>A moment more and they plunged into deep night again. The +figures ahead were mere shadows. Again the fingers dug into +Nathaniel's arm, and pressing close to the sheriff he bent down his +head.</p> + +<p>A low, quick whisper fell in his ear.</p> + +<p>"Don't give up hope! Marion—Winnsome—"</p> + +<p>The sheriff jerked himself erect without finishing. Hurried +footsteps had come close to their heels. The rear guards were so +near that they could have touched them with their guns. Had some +spot of lesser gloom ahead betrayed the prisoner's bowed head and +Jeekum's white face turned to it? There was a steady pressure on +Nathaniel's arm now, a warning, frightened pressure, and the hand +that made it trembled. Jeekum feared the worst—but his fear +was not greater than the chill of disappointment that came to +smother the excited beating of Nathaniel's heart. What had the +jailer meant to say? What did he know about Marion and Winnsome, +and why had he given birth to new hope in the same breath that he +mentioned their names?</p> + +<p>His words carried at least one conviction. Marion was alive +despite her brother's somber prophesies. If she had killed herself +the sheriff would not have coupled her name with Winnsome's in the +way he had.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's nerves were breaking with suspense. He stifled his +breath to listen, to catch the faintest whisper that might come to +him from the white faced man at his side. Each passing moment of +silence added to his desperation. He squeezed the sheriff's hand +with his arm, but there was no responding signal; in a patch of +thick gloom that almost concealed the figures ahead he pressed near +to him and lowered his head again—and Jeekum pushed him back +fiercely, with a low curse.</p> + +<p>They emerged from the forest and the clear starlight shone down +upon them. A little distance off lay the lake in shimmering +stillness. Nathaniel looked boldly at the sheriff now, and as his +glance passed beyond him he was amazed at the change that had come +over Neil. The young man's head was bowed heavily upon his breast, +his shoulders were hunched forward, and he walked with a listless, +uneven step. Was it possible that his magnificent courage had at +last given way?</p> + +<p>A hundred steps farther they came to the beach and Nathaniel saw +a boat at the water's edge with a single figure guarding it. +Straight to this Jeekum led his prisoners. For the first time he +spoke to them aloud.</p> + +<p>"One in front, the other in back," he said.</p> + +<p>For an instant Nathaniel found himself close beside Neil and he +prodded him sharply with his knee. His companion did not lift his +head. He made no sign, gave no last flashing comradeship with his +eyes, but climbed into the bow of the boat and sat down with his +chin still on his chest, like a man lost in stupor.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel followed him, scarcely believing his eyes, and sat +himself in the stern, leaning comfortably against the knees of the +man who took the tiller. He felt a curious thrill pass through him +when he discovered a moment later that this man was Jeekum. Two men +seized the oars amidships. A fourth, with his rifle across his +knees sat facing Neil.</p> + +<p>For the first time Nathaniel found himself wondering what this +voyage meant. Were they to be rowed far down the shore to some +secret fastness where no other ears would hear the sound of the +avenging rifles, and where, a few inches under the forest mold, +their bodies would never be discovered? Each stroke of the oars +added to the remoteness of this possibility. The boat was heading +straight out to sea. Perhaps they were to meet a less terrible +death by drowning, an end which, though altogether unpleasant, held +something comforting in it for Captain Plum. Two hours passed +without pause in the steady labor of the men at the oars. In those +hours not a word was spoken. The two men amidships held no +communication. The guard in the bow moved a little now and then +only to relieve his cramped limbs. Neil was absolutely motionless, +as though he had ceased to breathe. Jeekum uttered not a +whisper.</p> + +<p>It was his whisper that Nathaniel waited for, the signaling +clutch of his fingers, the sound of his breath close to his ears. +Again and again he pressed himself against the sheriff's knees. He +knew that he was understood, and yet there came no answer. At last +he looked up, and Jeekum's face was far above him, staring straight +and unseeing into the darkness ahead. His last spark of hope went +out.</p> + +<p>After a time a dark rim loomed slowly up out of the sea. It was +land, half a mile or so away. Nathaniel sat up with fresh interest, +and as they drew nearer Jeekum rose to his feet and gazed long and +steadily in both directions along the coast. When he returned to +his seat the boat's course was changed. A few minutes later the bow +grated upon sand. Still voiceless as specters the guards leaped +ashore and Neil roused himself to follow them, climbing over the +gunwale like a sick man. Nathaniel was close at his heels. With a +growing sense of horror he saw two ghostly stakes thrusting +themselves out of the beach a dozen paces away. He looked beyond +them. As far as he could see there was sand—nothing but sand, +as white as paper, scintillating in a billion flashing +needle-points in the starlight. Instinctively he guessed what the +stakes were for, and walked toward them with the blood turning cold +in his veins. Neil was before him and stopped at the first stake, +making no effort to lift his eyes as Nathaniel strode past him. At +the second, a dozen feet beyond, Nathaniel's two guards halted, and +placed him with his back to the post. Two minutes later, bound hand +and foot to the stake, he shifted his head so that he could look at +his companion.</p> + +<p>Neil was similarly fastened, with his face turned partly toward +him. There was no change in his attitude. His head hung weakly upon +his chest, as if he had fainted.</p> + +<p>What did it mean?</p> + +<p>Suddenly every nerve in Nathaniel's body leaped into excited +action.</p> + +<p>The guards were entering their boat! The last man was shoving it +off—they were rowing away! His throbbing muscles seemed ready +to burst their bonds. The boat became indistinct in the starry +gloom—a mere shadow—and faded in the distance. The +sound of oars became fainter and fainter. Then, after a little, +there was wafted back to him from far out in the lake a man's +voice—the wild snatch of a song. The Mormons were gone! They +were not to be shot! They were not—</p> + +<p>A voice spoke to him, startling him so that he would have cried +out if it had not been for the cloth that gagged him. It was Neil, +speaking coolly, laughingly.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Nat?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel's staring eyes revealed his astonishment. He could see +Neil laughing at him as though it was an unusually humorous joke in +which they were playing a part.</p> + +<p>"Lord, but this is a funny mess!" he chuckled. "Here am I, able +and willing to talk—and there you are, as dumb as a mummy, +and looking for all the world as if you'd seen a ghost! What's the +matter? Aren't you glad we're not going to be shot?"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel nodded.</p> + +<p>The other's voice became suddenly sober.</p> + +<p>"This is worse than the other, Nat. It's what we call the +'Straight Death.' Unless something turns up between now and +to-morrow morning, or a little later, we'll be as dead as though +they had filled us with bullets. Our only hope rests in the fact +that I can use my lungs. That's why I didn't let them know when my +gag became loose. I had the devil's own time keeping it from +falling with my chin; pretty near broke my neck doing it. A little +later, when we're sure Jeekum and his men are out of hearing, I'll +begin calling for help. Perhaps some fisherman or +hunter—"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and a chill ran up Nathaniel's back as he listened +to a weird howl that came from far behind them. It was a +blood-curdling sound and his face turned a more ghastly pallor as +he gazed inquiringly at Neil. His companion saw the terrible +question in his face.</p> + +<p>"Wolves," he said. "They're away back in the forest. They won't +come down to us." For a moment he was silent, his eyes turned to +the sea. Then he added, "Do you notice anything queer about the way +you're bound to that stake, Nat?"</p> + +<p>There was a thrilling emphasis in Nathaniel's answer. He nodded +his head affirmatively, again and again.</p> + +<p>"Your hands are tied to the post very loosely, with a slack of +say six inches," continued Neil with an appalling precision. "There +is a rawhide thong about your neck, wet, and so tight that it +chafes your skin when you move your head. But the very +uncomfortable thing just at this moment is the way your feet are +fastened. Isn't that so? Your legs are drawn back, so that you are +half resting on your toes, and I'm pretty sure your knees are +aching right now. Eh? Well, it won't be very long before your legs +will give way under you and the slack about your wrists will keep +you from helping yourself. Do you know what will happen then?"</p> + +<p>He paused and Nathaniel stared at him, partly understanding, yet +giving no sign.</p> + +<p>"You will hang upon the thong about your neck until you choke to +death," finished Neil. "That's the 'Straight Death.' If the end +doesn't come by morning the sun will finish the job. It will dry +out the wet rawhide until it grips your throat like a hand. +Poetically we call it the hand of Strang. Pleasant, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>The grim definiteness with which he described the manner of +their end added to those sensations which had already become +acutely discomforting to Nathaniel. Had he possessed the use of his +voice when the Mormons were leaving he would have called upon them +to return and lengthen the thongs about his ankles by an inch or +two. Now, with almost brutal frankness, Neil had explained to him +the meaning of his strange posture. His knees began to ache. An +occasional sharp pain shot up from them to his hips, and the thong +about his neck, which at first he had used as a support for his +chin, began to irritate him. At times he found himself resting upon +it so heavily that it shortened his breath, and he was compelled to +straighten himself, putting his whole weight on his twisted feet. +It seemed an hour before Neil broke the terrible silence again. +Perhaps it was ten minutes.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to begin," he said. "Listen. If you hear an answer +nod your head."</p> + +<p>He drew a deep breath, turned his face as far as he could toward +the shore, and shouted.</p> + +<p>"Help—help—help!"</p> + +<p>Again and again the thrilling words burst from his throat, and +as their echoes floated back to them from the forest, like a +thousand mocking voices, Nathaniel grew hot with the sweat of +horror. If he could only have added his own voice to those cries, +shrieked out the words with Neil—joined even unavailingly in +this last fight for life, it would not have been so bad. But he was +helpless. He watched the desperation grow in his companion's face +as there came no response save the taunting echoes; even in the +light of the stars he saw that face darken with its effort, the +eyes fill with a mad light, and the throat strain against its +choking thong. Gradually Neil's voice became weaker. When he +stopped to rest and listen his panting breath came to Nathaniel +like the hissing of steam. Soon the echoes failed to come back from +the forest, and Nathaniel fought like a crazed man to free himself, +jerking at the thongs that held him until his wrists were bleeding +and the rawhide about his neck choked him.</p> + +<p>"No use!" he heard Neil say. "Better take it easy for a while, +Nat!"</p> + +<p>Marion's brother had turned toward him, his head thrown back +against the stake, his face lifted to the sky. Nathaniel raised his +own head, and found that he could breath easier. For a long time +his companion did not break the silence. Mentally he began counting +off the seconds. It was past midnight—probably one o'clock. +Dawn came at half past two, the sun rose an hour later. Three hours +to live! Nathaniel lowered his head, and the rawhide tightened +perceptibly at the movement. Neil was watching him. His face shone +as white as the starlit sand. His mouth was partly open.</p> + +<p>"I'm devilish sorry—for you—Nat—" he said.</p> + +<p>His words came with painful slowness. There was a grating +huskiness in his voice.</p> + +<p>"This damned rawhide—is pinching—my Adam's +apple—"</p> + +<p>He smiled. His white teeth gleamed, his eyes laughed, and with a +heart bursting with grief Nathaniel looked away from him. He had +seen courage, but never like this, and deep down in his soul he +prayed—prayed that death might come to him first, so that he +might not have to look upon the agonies of this other, whose end +would be ghastly in its fearless resignation. His own suffering had +become excruciating. Sharp pains darted like red-hot needles +through his limbs, his back tortured him, and his head ached as +though a knife had cloven the base of his skull. Still—he +could breathe. By pressing his head against the post it was not +difficult for him to fill his lungs with air. But the strength of +his limbs was leaving him. He no longer felt any sensation in his +cramped feet. His knees were numb. He measured the paralysis of +death creeping up his legs inch by inch, driving the sharp pains +before it, until suddenly his weight tottered under him and he hung +heavily upon the thong about his throat. For a full half minute he +ceased to breathe, and a feeling of ineffable relief swept over +him, for during those few seconds his body was at rest. He found +that by a backward contortion he could bring himself erect again, +and that for a few minutes after each respite it was not so +difficult for him to stand.</p> + +<p>After a third effort he turned again toward Neil. A groan of +horror rose to his imprisoned lips. His companion's face was full +upon him, ghastly white; his eyes were wide and staring, like balls +of shimmering glass in the starlight, and his throat was straining +at the fatal rawhide! Nathaniel heard no sound, saw no stir of life +in the inanimate figure.</p> + +<p>A moaning, wordless cry broke through the cloth that gagged +him.</p> + +<p>At the sound of that cry, faint, terrifying, with all the horror +that might fill a human soul in its inarticulate note, a shudder of +life passed into Neil's body. Weakly he flung himself back, stood +poised for an instant against the stake, then fell again upon the +deadly thong. Twice—three times he made the effort, and +failed. And to Nathaniel, staring wild eyed and silent now, the +spectacle was one that seemed to blast the very soul within him and +send his blood in rushing torrents of fire to his sickened brain. +Neil was dying! A fourth time he struggled back. A fifth—and +he held his ground. Even in that passing instant something like a +flash of his buoyant smile flickered in his face and there came to +Nathaniel's ears like a throttled whisper—his name.</p> + +<p>"Nat—"</p> + +<p>And no more.</p> + +<p>The head fell forward again. And Nathaniel, turning his face +away, saw something come up out of the shimmering sea, like a +shadow before his blistering eyes, and as his own limbs went out +from under him and he felt the strangling death at his throat there +came from that shadow a cry that seemed to snap his very +heartstrings—a piercing cry and (even in his half +consciousness he recognized it) a woman's cry! He flung himself +back, and for a moment he saw Neil struggling, the last spark of +life in him stirred by that same cry; and then across the white +sand two figures flew madly toward them and even as the hot film in +his eyes grew thicker he knew that one of them was Marion, and that +the other was Winnsome Croche.</p> + +<p>His heart seemed to stop beating. He strove to pull himself +together, but his head fell forward. Faintly, as on a battlefield, +voices came to him, and when with a superhuman effort he +straightened himself for an instant he saw that Neil was no longer +at the stake but was stretched on the sand, and of the two figures +beside him one suddenly sprang to her feet and ran to him. And then +Marion's terror-filled face was close to his own, and Marion's lips +were moaning his name, and Marion's hands were slashing at the +thongs that bound him. When with a great sigh of joy he crumpled +down upon the earth he knew that he was slipping off into oblivion +with Marion's arms about his neck, and with her lips pressing to +his the sweet elixir of her love.</p> + +<p>Darkness enshrouded him but a few moments, when a dash of cool +water brought him back into light. He felt himself lowered upon the +sand and after a breath or two he twisted himself on his elbow and +saw that Neil's white face was held on Winnsome's breast and that +Marion was running up from the shore with more water. For a space +she knelt beside her brother, and then she hurried to him. Joy +shone in her face. She fell upon her knees and drew his head in the +hollow of her arm, crooning mad senseless words to him, and bathing +his face with water, her eyes shining down upon him gloriously. +Nathaniel reached up and touched her face, and she bowed her head +until her hair smothered him in sweet gloom, and kissed him. He +drew her lips to his own, and then she lowered him gently and stood +up in the starlight, looking first at Neil and next down at him; +and then she turned quickly back to the sea.</p> + +<p>From down near the shore she called back some word, and with a +shrill cry Winnsome followed her. Nathaniel struggled to his elbow, +to his knees—staggered to his feet. He saw the boat drifting +out into the night, and Winnsome standing alone at the water-edge, +her sobbing cries of entreaty, of terror, following it unanswered. +He tottered down toward her, gaining new strength at each step, but +when he reached her the boat was no longer to be seen and +Winnsome's face was whiter than the sands under her feet.</p> + +<p>"She is gone—gone—" she moaned, stretching out her +arms to him. "She is going—back to Strang!"</p> + +<p>And then, from far out in the white glory of the night, there +came back to him the voice of the girl he loved.</p> + +<p>"Good-by—Good-by—"</p> + +<a name="2HCH0012"><!-- H2 anchor --></a> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<center>MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE</center> + +<p>"Gone!" moaned Winnsome again. "She has +gone—back—to—Strang!"</p> + +<p>Neil was crawling to them like a wounded animal across the +sand.</p> + +<p>She started toward him but Nathaniel stopped her.</p> + +<p>"She is the king's—wife—"</p> + +<p>His throat was swollen so that he could hardly speak.</p> + +<p>"No. They are to be married to-night. Oh, I thought she was +going to stay!" She tore herself away from him to go to Neil, who +had fallen upon his face exhausted, a dozen yards away.</p> + +<p>In the wet sand, where the incoming waves lapped his hands and +feet, Nathaniel sank down, his eyes staring out into the shimmering +distance where Marion had gone. His brain was in a daze, and he +wondered if he had been stricken by some strange madness—if +this all was but some passing phantasm that would soon leave him +again to his misery and his despair. But the dash of the cold water +against him cleared away his doubt. Marion had come to him. She had +saved him from death. And now she was gone.</p> + +<p>And she was not the king's wife!</p> + +<p>He staggered to his feet again and plunged into the lake until +the water reached to his waist, calling her name, entreating her in +weak, half choked cries to come back to him. The water soaked +through to his hot, numb body, restoring his reason and strength, +and he buried his face in it and drank like one who had been near +to dying of thirst. Then he returned to Neil. Winnsome was holding +his head in her arms.</p> + +<p>He dropped upon his knees beside them and saw that life was +returning full and strong in Neil's face.</p> + +<p>"You will be able to walk in a few minutes," he said. "You and +Winnsome must leave here. We are on the mainland and if you follow +the shore northward you will come to the settlements. I am going +back for Marion."</p> + +<p>Neil made an effort to follow him as he rose to his feet.</p> + +<p>"Nat—Nat—wait—"</p> + +<p>Winnsome held him back, frightened, tightening her arms about +him.</p> + +<p>"You must go with Winnsome," urged Nathaniel, seizing the hand +that Neil stretched up to him. "You must take her to the first +settlement up the coast. I will come back to you with Marion."</p> + +<p>He spoke confidently, as a man who sees his way open clearly +before him, and yet as he turned, half running, to the low black +shadow of the distant forest he knew that he was beginning a blind +fight against fate. If he could find a hunter's cabin, a +fisherman's shanty—a boat!</p> + +<p>Barely had he disappeared when a voice called to him. It was +Winnsome. The girl ran up to him holding something in her hand. It +was a pistol. "You may need it!" she exclaimed. "We brought +two!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel reached out hesitatingly, but not to take the weapon. +Gently, as though his touch was about to fall upon some fragile +flower, he drew the girl to him, took her beautiful face between +his two strong hands and gazed steadily and silently for a moment +into her eyes.</p> + +<p>"God bless you, little Winnsome!" he whispered. "I hope that +someday you will—forgive me."</p> + +<p>The girl understood him.</p> + +<p>"If I have anything to forgive—you are forgiven."</p> + +<p>The pistol dropped upon the sand, her hands stole to his +shoulders.</p> + +<p>"I want you to take something to Marion for me," she whispered +softly. "This!"</p> + +<p>And she kissed him.</p> + +<p>Her eyes shone upon him like a benediction.</p> + +<p>"You have given me a new life, you have given me—Neil! My +prayers are with you."</p> + +<p>And kissing him again, she slipped away from under his hands +before he could speak.</p> + +<p>And Nathaniel, following her with his eyes until he could no +longer see her, picked up the pistol and set off again toward the +forest, the touch of her lips and the prayers of this girl whose +father he had slain filling him with something that was more than +strength, more than hope. Life had been given to him again, strong, +fighting life, and with it and Winnsome's words there returned his +old confidence, his old daring. There was everything for him to win +now. His doubts and his fears had been swept away. Marion was not +dead, she was not the king's wife—and it was not of another +that he had accepted proof of her love for him, for he had felt the +pressure of her arms about his neck and the warmth of her lips upon +his face. He had until night—and the dawn was just beginning +to break. Ten or fifteen miles to the north there were settlements, +and between there were scores of settlers' homes and fishermen's +shanties. Surely within an hour or two he would find a boat.</p> + +<p>He turned where the edge of the forest came down to meet the +white water-run of the sea, and set off at a slow, steady trot into +the north. If he could reach a boat soon he might overtake Marion +in mid-lake. The thought thrilled him, and urged him to greater +speed. As the stars faded away in the dawn he saw the dark barrier +of the forest drifting away, and later, when the light broke more +clearly, there stretched out ahead of him mile upon mile of desert +dunes. As far as he could see there was no hope of life. He slowed +his steps now, for he would need to preserve his strength. Yet he +experienced no fear, no loss of confidence. Each moment added to +his faith in himself. Before noon he would be on his way to the +Mormon kingdom, by nightfall he would be upon its shores. After +that—</p> + +<p>He examined the pistol that Winnsome had given him. There were +five shots in it and he smiled joyously as he saw that it had been +loaded by an experienced hand. It would be easy enough for him to +find Strang. He would not consider the woman—his wife. The +king's wife! Like a flash there occurred to him the incident of the +battlefield. Was it this woman—the woman who had begged him +to spare the life of the prophet, who had knelt beside him, and +whispered in his ear, and kissed him? Had that been her reward for +the sacrifice she believed he had made for her in the castle +chamber? The thought of this woman, whose beauty and love breathed +the sweet purity of a flower and whose faith to her king and master +was still unbroken even in her hour of repudiation fell upon him +heavily. For there was no choice, no shadow of alternative. There +was but one way for him to break the bondage of the girl he +loved.</p> + +<p>For hours he trod steadily through the sand. The sun rose above +him, hot and blistering, and the dunes still stretched out ahead of +him, like winnows and hills and mountains of glittering glass. +Gradually the desert became narrower. Far ahead he could see where +the forest came down to the shore and his heart grew lighter. Half +an hour later he entered the margin of trees. Almost immediately he +found signs of life. A tree had been felled and cut into wood. A +short distance beyond he came suddenly upon a narrow path, beaten +hard by the passing of feet, and leading toward the lake. He had +meant to rest under the shade of these trees but now he forgot his +fatigue. For a moment he hesitated. Far back in the forest he heard +the barking of a dog—but he turned in the opposite direction. +If there was a boat the path would take him to it. Through a break +in the trees he caught the green sweep of marsh rice and his heart +beat excitedly with hope. Where there was rice there were +wild-fowl, and surely where there were wild-fowl, there would be a +punt or a canoe! In his eagerness he ran, and where the path ended, +the flags and rice beaten into the mud and water, he stopped with +an exultant cry. At his feet was a canoe. It was wet, as though +just drawn out of the water, and a freshly used paddle was lying +across the bow. Pausing but to take a quick and cautious glance +about him he shoved the frail craft into the lake and with a few +quiet strokes buried himself in the rice grass. When he emerged +from it he was half a mile from the shore.</p> + +<p>For a long time he sat motionless, looking out over the +shimmering sea. Far to the south and west he could make out the dim +outline of Beaver Island, while over the trail he had come, mile +upon mile, lay the glistening dunes. Somewhere between the white +desert sand and that distant coast of the Mormon kingdom Marion was +making her way back to bondage. Nathaniel had given up all hope of +overtaking her now. Long before he could intercept her she would +have reached the island. When he started again he paddled slowly, +and laid out for himself the plan that he was to follow. There must +be no mistake this time, no error in judgment, no rashness in his +daring. He would lie in hiding until dusk, and then under cover of +darkness he would hunt down Strang and kill him. After that he +would fly to his canoe and escape. A little later, perhaps that +very night if fate played the game well for him, he would return +for Marion. And yet, as he went over and over his scheme, whipping +himself into caution—into cool deliberation—there +burned in his blood a fire that once or twice made him set his +teeth hard, a fire that defied extinction, that smoldered only to +await the breath that would fan it into a fierce blaze. It was the +fire that had urged him into the rescue at the whipping-post, that +had sent him single-handed to invade the king's castle, that had +hurled him into the hopeless battle upon the shore. He swore at +himself softly, laughingly, as he paddled steadily toward Beaver +Island.</p> + +<p>The sun mounted straight and hot over his head; he paddled more +slowly, and rested more frequently, as it descended into the west, +but it still lacked two hours of sinking behind the island forest +when the white water-run of the shore came within his vision. He +had meant to hold off the coast until the approach of evening but +changed his mind and landed, concealing his canoe in a spot which +he marked well, for he knew it would soon be useful to him again. +Deep shadows were already gathering in the forest and through these +Nathaniel made his way slowly in the direction of St. James. +Between him and the town lay Marion's home and the path that led to +Obadiah's. Once more the spirit of impatience, of action, stirred +within him. Would Marion go first to her home? Involuntarily he +changed his course so that it would bring him to the clearing. He +assured himself that it would do no harm, that he still would take +no chances.</p> + +<p>He came out in the strip of dense forest between the clearing +and St. James, worming his way cautiously through the underbrush +until he could look out into the opening. A single glance and he +drew back in astonishment. He looked again, and his face turned +suddenly white, and an almost inaudible cry fell from his lips. +There was no longer a cabin in the clearing! Where it had been +there was gathered a crowd of men and boys. Above their heads he +saw a thin film of smoke and he knew what had happened. Marion's +home had burned! But what was the crowd doing? It hung close in +about the smoldering ruins as if every person in it were striving +to reach a common center. Surely a mere fire would not gather and +hold a throng like this.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose to his feet and thrust his head and shoulders +from his hiding-place. He heard a loud shout near him and drew back +quickly as a boy rushed madly across the opening toward the crowd, +crying out at the top of his voice. He had come out of the path +that led to St. James. No sooner had he reached the group about the +burned cabin than there came a change that added to Nathaniel's +bewilderment. He heard loud voices, the excited shouting of men and +the shrill cries of boys, and the crowd suddenly began to move, +thinning itself out until it was racing in a black stream toward +the Mormon city. In his excitement Nathaniel hurried toward the +path. From the concealment of a clump of bushes he watched the +people as they rushed past him a dozen paces away. Behind all the +others there came a figure that drew a sharp cry from him as he +leaped from his hiding-place. It was Obadiah Price.</p> + +<p>"Obadiah!" he called. "Obadiah Price!"</p> + +<p>The old man turned. His face was livid. He was chattering to +himself, and he chattered still as he ran up to Nathaniel. He +betrayed no surprise at seeing him, and yet there was the insane +grip of steel in the two hands that clutched fiercely at +Nathaniel's.</p> + +<p>"You have come in time, Nat!" he panted joyfully. "You have come +in time! Hurry—hurry—hurry—"</p> + +<p>He ran back into the clearing, with Nathaniel close at his side, +and pointed to the smoking ruins of the cabin among the lilacs.</p> + +<p>"They were killed last night!" he cried shrilly. "Somebody +murdered them—and burned them with the house! They are +dead—dead!"</p> + +<p>"Who?" shouted Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>Obadiah had stopped and was rubbing and twisting his hands in +his old, mad way.</p> + +<p>"The old folks. Ho, ho, the old folks, of course! They are +dead—dead—dead—"</p> + +<p>He fairly shrieked the words. Then, for a moment, he stood +tightly clutching his thin hands over his chest in a powerful +effort to control himself.</p> + +<p>"They are dead!" he repeated.</p> + +<p>He spoke more calmly, and yet there was something so terrible in +his eyes, something so harshly vibrant of elation in the quivering +passion of his voice that Nathaniel felt himself filled with a +strange horror. He caught him by the arm, shaking him as he would +have shaken a child.</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?" he asked. "Tell me, Obadiah—where is +Marion?"</p> + +<p>The councilor seemed not to have heard him. A singular change +came into his face and his eyes traveled beyond Nathaniel. +Following his glance the young man saw that three men had appeared +from the scorched shrubbery about the burned house and were +hurrying toward them. Without shifting his eyes Obadiah spoke to +him quickly.</p> + +<p>"Those are king's sheriffs, Nat," he said. "They know me. In a +moment they will recognize you. The United States warship +<i>Michigan</i> has just arrived in the harbor to arrest Strang. If +you can reach the cabin and hold it for an hour you will be saved. +Quick—you must run—"</p> + +<p>"Where is Marion?"</p> + +<p>"At the cabin! She is at—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel waited to hear no more, but sped toward the breach in +the forest that marked the beginning of the path to Obadiah's. The +shouts of the king's men came to him unheeded. At the edge of the +woods he glanced back and saw that they had overtaken the +councilor. As he ran he drew his pistol and in his wild joy he +flung back a shout of defiance to the men who were pursuing him. +Marion was at the cabin—and a government ship had come to put +an end to the reign of the Mormon king! He shouted Marion's name as +he came in sight of the cabin; he cried it aloud as he bounded up +the low steps.</p> + +<p>"Marion—Marion—"</p> + +<p>In front of the door that led to the tiny chamber in which he +had taken Obadiah's gold he saw a figure. For a moment he was +blinded by his sudden dash from the light of day into the gloom of +the cabin, and he saw only that a figure was standing there, as +still as death. His pistol dropped to the floor. He stretched out +his arms, and his voice sobbed in its entreaty as he whispered the +girl's name. In response to that whisper came a low, glad cry, and +Marion lay trembling on his breast.</p> + +<p>"I have come back for you!" he breathed.</p> + +<p>He felt her heart beating against him. He pressed her closer, +and her arms slipped about his neck.</p> + +<p>"I have come back for you!"</p> + +<p>He was almost crying, like a boy, in his happiness.</p> + +<p>"I love you, I love you—"</p> + +<p>He felt the warm touch of her lips.</p> + +<p>"You will go with me?"</p> + +<p>"If you want me," she whispered. "If you want me—after you +know—what I am—"</p> + +<p>She shuddered against his breast, and he raised her face between +his two hands and kissed her until she drew away from him, crying +softly.</p> + +<a name="image-0004"><!--IMG--></a> <img src="images/ccp306.jpg" +alt="Marion" align="left"> <!--IMAGE END--> +<p>"You must wait—you must wait!"</p> + +<p>He saw now in her face an agony that appalled him. He would have +gone to her again, but there came loud voices from the forest, and +recovering his pistol he sprang to the door. Half a hundred paces +away were Obadiah and the king's sheriffs. They had stopped and the +councilor was expostulating excitedly with the men, evidently +trying to keep them from the cabin. Suddenly one of the three broke +past him and ran swiftly toward the open door, and with a shriek of +warning to Nathaniel the old councilor drew a pistol and fired +point blank in the sheriff's back. In another instant the two men +behind had fired and Obadiah fell forward upon his face.</p> + +<p>With a yell of rage Nathaniel leaped from the door. He heard +Marion cry out his name, but his fighting blood was stirred and he +did not stop. Obadiah had given up his life for him, for Marion, +and he was mad with a desire to wreak vengeance upon the murderers. +The first man lay where he had fallen, with Obadiah's bullet +through his back. The other two fired again as Nathaniel rushed +down upon them. He heard the zip of one of the balls, which came so +close that it stung his cheek.</p> + +<p>"Take that!" he cried.</p> + +<p>He fired, still running—once, twice, three times and one +of the two men crumpled down as though a powerful blow had broken +his legs under him.</p> + +<p>The other turned into the path and ran. Nathaniel caught a +glimpse of a frightened, boyish face, and something of mercy +prompted him to hold the shot he was about to send through his +lungs.</p> + +<p>"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop!"</p> + +<p>He aimed at the fugitive's legs and fired.</p> + +<p>"Stop!"</p> + +<p>The boyish sheriff was lengthening the distance between them and +Nathaniel halted to make sure of his last ball. He was about to +shoot when there came a sharp command from down the path and a file +of men burst into view, running at double-quick. He saw the flash +of a saber, the gleam of brass buttons, the blue glare of the +setting sun on leveled carbines, and he stopped, shoulder to +shoulder with the man he had been pursuing. For a moment he stared +as the man with the naked saber approached. Then he sprang toward +him with a joyful cry of recognition.</p> + +<p>"My God, Sherly—Sherly—"</p> + +<p>He stood with his arms stretched out, his naked chest +heaving.</p> + +<p>"Sherly—Lieutenant Sherly—don't you know me?"</p> + +<p>The lieutenant had dropped the point of his saber. He advanced a +step, his face filled with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Plum!" he cried incredulously. "Is it you?"</p> + +<p>For the moment Nathaniel could only wring the other's hand. He +tried to speak but his breath choked him.</p> + +<p>"I told you in Chicago that I was going to blow up this damned +island—if you wouldn't do it for me—", he gasped at +last. "I've had—a hell of a time—"</p> + +<p>"You look it!" laughed the lieutenant. "We got our orders the +second day after you left to 'Arrest Strang, and break up the +Mormon kingdom!' We've got Strang aboard the <i>Michigan</i>. But +he's dead."</p> + +<p>"Dead!"</p> + +<p>"He was shot in the back by one of his own men as we were +bringing him up the gang-way. The fellow who killed him has given +himself up, and says that he did it because Strang had him publicly +whipped day before yesterday. I'm up here hunting for a man named +Obadiah Price. Do you know—"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel interrupted him excitedly.</p> + +<p>"What do you want with Obadiah Price?"</p> + +<p>"The president of the United States wants him. That's all I +know. Where is he?"</p> + +<p>"Back there—dead or very badly wounded! We've just had a +fight with the king's men—"</p> + +<p>The lieutenant broke in with a sharp command to his men.</p> + +<p>"Quick, lead us to him. Captain Plum! If he's not +dead—"</p> + +<p>He started off at a half run beside Nathaniel.</p> + +<p>"Lord, it's a pretty mess if he is!" he added breathlessly. +Without pausing he called back over his shoulder, "Regan, fall out +and return to the ship. Tell the captain that Obadiah Price is +badly wounded and that we want the surgeon on the run!"</p> + +<p>A turn in the path brought them to the opening where the fight +had occurred. Marion was on her knees beside the old councilor.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel hurried ahead of the lieutenant and his men. The girl +glanced up at him and his heart filled with dread at the terror in +her eyes.</p> + +<p>"Is he dead?"</p> + +<p>"No—but—" Her voice trembled with tears.</p> + +<p>Nathaniel did not let her finish. Gently he raised her to her +feet as the lieutenant came up.</p> + +<p>"You must go to the cabin, sweetheart," he whispered.</p> + +<p>Even in this moment of excitement and death his great love drove +all else from his eyes, and the blood surged into Marion's pale +cheeks as she tremblingly gave him her hand. He led her to the +door, and held her for a moment in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Strang is dead," he said softly. In a few words he told her +what had happened and turned back to the door, leaving her +speechless.</p> + +<p>"If he is dying—you will tell me—" she called after +him.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I will tell you."</p> + +<p>He ran back into the opening.</p> + +<p>The lieutenant had doubled his coat under Obadiah's head and his +face was pale as he looked up at Nathaniel. The latter saw in his +eyes what his lips kept silent. The officer held something in his +hand. It was the mysterious package which Captain Plum had taken +his oath to deliver to the president of the United States.</p> + +<p>"I don't dare move until the surgeon comes," said the +lieutenant. "He wants to speak to you. I believe, if he has +anything to say you had better hear it now."</p> + +<p>His last words were in a whisper so low that Nathaniel scarcely +heard them. As the lieutenant rose to his feet, he whispered +again.</p> + +<p>"He is dying!"</p> + +<p>Obadiah's eyes opened as Nathaniel knelt beside him and from +between his thin lips there came faintly the old, gurgling +chuckle.</p> + +<p>"Nat!" he breathed. His thin hand sought his companion's and +clung to it tightly. "We have won. The vengeance of God—has +come!"</p> + +<p>In these last moments all madness had left the eyes of Obadiah +Price.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell you—" he whispered, and Nathaniel bent +low. "I have given him the package. It is evidence I have +gathered—all these years—to destroy the Mormon +kingdom."</p> + +<p>He tried to turn his head.</p> + +<p>"Marion—" he whispered wistfully.</p> + +<p>"She will come," said Nathaniel. "I will call her."</p> + +<p>"No—not yet."</p> + +<p>Obadiah's fingers tightened about Captain Plum's.</p> + +<p>"I want to tell—you."</p> + +<p>For a few moments he seemed struggling to command all his +strength.</p> + +<p>"A good many years ago," he said, as if speaking to himself, "I +loved a girl—like Marion, and she loved me—as Marion +loves you. Her people were Mormons, and they went to +Kirtland—and I followed them. We planned to escape and go +east, for my Jean was good and beautiful, and hated the Mormons as +I hated them. But they caught us +and—thought—they—killed—"</p> + +<p>The old man's lips twitched and a convulsive shudder shook his +body.</p> + +<p>"When everything came back to me I was older—much older," +he went on. "My hair was white. I was like an old man. My people +had found me and they told me that I had been mad for three years, +Nat—mad—mad—mad! and that a great surgeon had +operated on my head, where they struck me—and brought me back +to reason. Nat—Nat—" He strained to raise himself, +gasping excitedly. "God, I was like you then, Nat! I went back to +fight for my Jean. She was gone. Nobody knew me, for I was an old +man. I hunted from settlement to settlement. In my madness I became +a Mormon, for vengeance—in hope of finding her. I was rich, +and I became powerful. I was made an elder because of my gold. Then +I found—"</p> + +<p>A moan trembled on the old man's lips.</p> + +<p>"—they had forced her to marry—the son of a +Mormon—"</p> + +<p>He stopped, and for a moment his eyes seemed filling with the +glazed shadows of death. He roused himself almost fiercely.</p> + +<p>"But he loved my Jean, Nat—he loved her as I loved +her—and he was a good man!", he whispered shrilly. +"Quick—quick—I must tell you—they had tried to +escape from Missouri and the Danites killed him,—and Joseph +Smith wanted Jean and at the last moment she killed herself to save +her honor as Marion was going to do, and she left two +children—"</p> + +<p>He coughed and blood flecked his lips.</p> + +<p>"She left—Marion and Neil!"</p> + +<p>He sank back, ashen white and still, and with a cry Nathaniel +turned to the lieutenant. The officer ran forward with a flask in +his hand.</p> + +<p>"Give him this!"</p> + +<p>The touch of liquor to Obadiah's lips revived him. He whispered +weakly.</p> + +<p>"The children, Nat—I tried to find them—and years +after—I did—in Nauvoo. The man and woman who had killed +the father in their own house had taken them and were raising them +as their own. I went mad! Vengeance—vengeance—I lived +for it, year after year. I wanted the children—but if I took +them all would be lost. I followed them, watched them, loved +them—and they loved me. I would wait—wait—until +my vengeance would fall like the hand of God, and then I would free +them, and tell them how beautiful their mother was. When Joseph +Smith was killed and the split came the old folks followed +Strang—and I—I too—"</p> + +<p>He rested a moment, breathing heavily.</p> + +<p>"I brought my Jean with me and buried her up there on the +hill—the middle grave, Nat, the middle grave—Marion's +mother."</p> + +<p>Nathaniel pressed the liquor to the old man's lips again.</p> + +<p>"My vengeance was at hand—I was almost ready—when +Strang learned a part of the secret," he continued with an effort. +"He found the old people were murderers. When Marion would not +become his wife he told her what they had done. He showed her the +evidence! He threatened them with death unless Marion became his +wife. His sheriffs watched them night and day. He named the hour of +their doom—unless Marion yielded to him. And to save them, +her supposed parents—to keep the terrible knowledge of their +crime from +Neil—Marion—was—going—to—sacrifice—herself—when—"</p> + +<p>Again he stopped. His breath was coming more faintly.</p> + +<p>"I understand," whispered Nathaniel. "I understand—"</p> + +<p>Obadiah's dimming eyes gazed at him steadily.</p> + +<p>"I thought my vengeance would come—in time—to save +her, Nat. But—it failed. I knew of one other way and when all +seemed lost—I took it. I killed the old people—the +murderers of her father—of my Jean! I knew that would destroy +Strang's power—"</p> + +<p>In a sudden spasm of strength he lifted his head. His voice came +in a hoarse, excited whisper.</p> + +<p>"You won't tell Marion—you won't tell Marion that I killed +them—"</p> + +<p>"No—never."</p> + +<p>Obadiah fell back with a relieved sigh. After a moment he +added.</p> + +<p>"In a chest in the cabin there is a letter for Marion. It tells +her about her mother—and the gold there—is for +her—and Neil—"</p> + +<p>His eyes closed. A shudder passed through his form.</p> + +<p>"Marion—" he breathed. "Marion!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel rose to his feet and ran to the cabin door.</p> + +<p>"Marion!" he called.</p> + +<p>Blinding tears shut out the vision of the girl from his eyes. He +pointed, looking from her, and she, knowing what he meant, sped +past him to the old councilor.</p> + +<p>In the great low room in which Obadiah Price had spent so many +years planning his vengeance Captain Plum waited.</p> + +<p>After a time, the girl came back.</p> + +<p>There was great pain in her voice as she stretched out her arms +to him blindly, sobbing his name.</p> + +<p>"Gone—gone—they're all gone now—but Neil!"</p> + +<p>Nathaniel held out his arms.</p> + +<p>"Only Neil,"—he cried, "only +Neil—Marion—?"</p> + +<p>"And you—you—you—"</p> + +<p>Her arms were around his neck, he held her throbbing against his +breast.</p> + +<p>"And you—"</p> + +<p>She raised her face, glorious in its love.</p> + +<p>"If you want me—still."</p> + +<p>And he whispered:</p> + +<p>"For ever and for ever!"</p> + +<center>THE END</center> + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courage of Captain Plum +by James Oliver Curwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM *** + +***** This file should be named 12388-h.htm or 12388-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/8/12388/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Kara Passmore, Leah Moser and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> + diff --git a/old/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg b/old/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3dfc8c4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h/images/ccp020.jpg diff --git a/old/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg b/old/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..28dbaf4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h/images/ccp210.jpg diff --git a/old/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg b/old/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a7ae1ff --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h/images/ccp306.jpg diff --git a/old/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg b/old/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ee8c38e --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388-h/images/ccpfrontis.jpg diff --git a/old/12388.txt b/old/12388.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..486d397 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6241 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Courage of Captain Plum, by James Oliver Curwood + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Courage of Captain Plum + +Author: James Oliver Curwood + +Release Date: May 20, 2004 [EBook #12388] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM *** + + + + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Kara Passmore, Leah Moser and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + + +[Illustration: "I am going to take you from the island!"] + + +The COURAGE of CAPTAIN PLUM + +BY +JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD +1912 + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY +FRANK E. SCHOONOVER + + + + + + +THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE TWO OATHS + + +On an afternoon in the early summer of 1856 Captain Nathaniel Plum, +master and owner of the sloop _Typhoon_ was engaged in nothing more +important than the smoking of an enormous pipe. Clouds of strongly +odored smoke, tinted with the lights of the setting sun, had risen above +his head in unremitting volumes for the last half hour. There was +infinite contentment in his face, notwithstanding the fact that he had +been meditating on a subject that was not altogether pleasant. But +Captain Plum was, in a way, a philosopher, though one would not have +guessed this fact from his appearance. He was, in the first place, a +young man, not more than eight or nine and twenty, and his strong, +rather thin face, tanned by exposure to the sea, was just now lighted up +by eyes that shone with an unbounded good humor which any instant might +take the form of laughter. + +At the present time Captain Plum's vision was confined to one direction, +which carried his gaze out over Lake Michigan. Earlier in the day he had +been able to discern the hazy outline of the Michigan wilderness twenty +miles to the eastward. Straight ahead, shooting up rugged and sharp in +the red light of the day's end, were two islands. Between these, three +miles away, the sloop _Typhoon_ was strongly silhouetted in the fading +glow. Beyond the islands and the sloop there were no other objects for +Captain Plum's eyes to rest upon. So far as he could see there was no +other sail. At his back he was shut in by a dense growth of trees and +creeping vines, and unless a small boat edged close in around the end +of Beaver Island his place of concealment must remain undiscovered. At +least this seemed an assured fact to Captain Plum. + +In the security of his position he began to whistle softly as he beat +the bowl of his pipe on his boot-heel to empty it of ashes. Then he drew +a long-barreled revolver from under a coat that he had thrown aside and +examined it carefully to see that the powder and ball were in solid and +that none of the caps was missing. From the same place he brought forth +a belt, buckled it round his waist, shoved the revolver into its +holster, and dragging the coat to him, fished out a letter from an +inside pocket. It was a dirty, much worn letter. Perhaps he had read it +a score of times. He read it again now, and then, refilling his pipe, +settled back against the rock that formed a rest for his shoulders and +turned his eyes in the direction of the sloop. + +The last rim of the sun had fallen below the Michigan wilderness and in +the rapidly increasing gloom the sloop was becoming indistinguishable. +Captain Plum looked at his watch. He must still wait a little longer +before setting out upon the adventure that had brought him to this +isolated spot. He rested his head against the rock, and thought. He had +been thinking for hours. Back in the thicket he heard the prowling of +some small animal. There came the sleepy chirp of a bird and the +rustling of tired wings settling for the night. A strange stillness +hovered about him, and with it there came over him a loneliness that was +chilling, a loneliness that made him homesick. It was a new and +unpleasant sensation to Captain Plum. He could not remember just when he +had experienced it before; that is, if he dated the present from two +weeks ago to-night. It was then that the letter had been handed to him +in Chicago, and it had been a weight upon his soul and a prick to his +conscience ever since. Once or twice he had made up his mind to destroy +it, but each time he had repented at the last moment. In a sudden +revulsion at his weakness he pulled himself together, crumpled the +dirty missive into a ball, and flung it out upon the white rim of beach. + +At this action there came a quick movement in the dense wall of verdure +behind him. Noiselessly the tangle of vines separated and a head thrust +itself out in time to see the bit of paper fall short of the water's +edge. Then the head shot back as swiftly and as silently as a serpent's. +Perhaps Captain Plum heard the gloating chuckle that followed the +movement. If so he thought it only some night bird in the brush. + +"Heigh-ho!" he exclaimed with some return of his old cheer, "it's about +time we were starting!" He jumped to his feet and began brushing the +sand from his clothes. When he had done, he walked out upon the rim of +beach and stretched himself until his arm-bones cracked. + +Again the hidden head shot forth from its concealment. A sudden turn and +Captain Plum would certainly have been startled. For it was a weird +object, this spying head; its face dead-white against the dense green of +the verdure, with shocks of long white hair hanging down on each side, +framing between them a pair of eyes that gleamed from cavernous sockets, +like black glowing beads. There was unmistakable fear, a tense anxiety +in those glittering eyes as Captain Plum walked toward the paper, but +when he paused and stretched himself, the sole of his boot carelessly +trampling the discarded letter, the head disappeared again and there +came another satisfied bird-like chuckle from the gloom of the thicket. + +Captain Plum now put on his coat, buttoned it close to conceal the +weapons in his belt, and walked along the narrow water-run that crept +like a white ribbon between the lake and the island wilderness. No +sooner had he disappeared than the bushes and vines behind the rock were +torn asunder and a man wormed his way through them. For an instant he +paused, listening for returning footsteps, and then with startling +agility darted to the beach and seized the crumpled letter. + +The person who for the greater part of the afternoon had been spying +upon Captain Plum from the security of the thicket was to all +appearances a very small and a very old man, though there was something +about him that seemed to belie a first guess at his age. His face was +emaciated; his hair was white and hung in straggling masses on his +shoulders; his hooked nose bore apparently the infallible stamp of +extreme age. Yet there was a strange and uncanny strength and quickness +in his movements. There was no stoop to his shoulders. His head was set +squarely. His eyes were as keen as steel. It would have been impossible +to have told whether he was fifty or seventy. Eagerly he smoothed out +the abused missive and evidently succeeded even in the failing light, in +deciphering much of it, for the glimmer of a smile flashed over his thin +features as he thrust the paper into his pocket. + +Without a moment's hesitation he set out on the trail of Captain Plum. A +quarter of a mile down the path he overtook the object of his pursuit. + +"Ah, how do you do, sir?" he greeted as the younger man turned about +upon hearing his approach. "A mighty fast pace you're setting for an old +man, sir!" He broke into a laugh that was not altogether unpleasant, and +boldly held out a hand. "We've been expecting you, but--not in this way. +I hope there's nothing wrong?" + +Captain Plum had accepted the proffered hand. Its coldness and the +singular appearance of the old man who had come like an apparition +chilled him. In a moment, however, it occurred to him that he was a +victim of mistaken identity. As far as he knew there was no one on +Beaver Island who was expecting him. To the best of his knowledge he was +a fool for being there. His crew aboard the sloop had agreed upon that +point with extreme vehemence and, to a man, had attempted to dissuade +him from the mad project upon which he was launching himself among the +Mormons in their island stronghold. All this came to him while the +little old man was looking up into his face, chuckling, and shaking his +hand as if he were one of the most important and most greatly to be +desired personages in the world. + +"Hope there's nothing wrong, Cap'n?" he repeated. + +"Right as a trivet here, Dad," replied the young man, dropping the cold +hand that still persisted in clinging to his own. "But I guess you've +got the wrong party. Who's expecting me?" + +The old man's face wrinkled itself in a grimace and one gleaming eye +opened and closed in an understanding wink. + +"Ho, ho, ho!--of course you're not expected. Anyway, you're not +_expected_ to be expected! Cautious--a born general--mighty clever thing +to do. Strang should appreciate it." The old man gave vent to his own +approbation in a series of inimitable chuckles. "Is that your sloop out +there?" he inquired interestedly. + +Something in the strangeness of the situation began to interest Captain +Plum. He had planned a little adventure of his own, but here was one +that promised to develop into something more exciting. He nodded his +head. + +"That's her." + +"Splendid cargo," went on the old man. "Splendid cargo, eh?" + +"Pretty fair." + +"Powder in good shape, eh?" + +"Dry as tinder." + +"And balls--lots of balls, and a few guns, eh?" + +"Yes, we _have_ a few guns," said Captain Plum. The old man noted the +emphasis, but the darkness that had fast settled about them hid the +added meaning that passed in a curious look over the other's face. + +"Odd way to come in, though--very odd!" continued the old man, gurgling +and shaking as if the thought of it occasioned him great merriment. +"Very cautious. Level business head. Want to know that things are on +the square, eh?" + +"That's it!" exclaimed Captain Plum, catching at the proffered straw. +Inwardly he was wondering when his feet would touch bottom. Thus far he +had succeeded in getting but a single grip on the situation. Somebody +was expected at Beaver Island with powder and balls and guns. Well, he +had a certain quantity of these materials aboard his sloop, and if he +could make an agreeable bargain-- + +The old man interrupted the plan that was slowly forming itself in +Captain Plum's puzzled brain. + +"It's the price, eh?" He laughed shrewdly. "You want to see the color of +the gold before you land the goods. I'll show it to you. I'll pay you +the whole sum to-night. Then you'll take the stuff where I tell you to. +Eh? Isn't that so?" He darted ahead of Captain Plum with a quick alert +movement. "Will you please follow me, sir?" + +For an instant Captain Plum's impulse was to hold back. In that instant +it suddenly occurred to him that he was lending himself to a rank +imposition. At the same time he was filled with a desire to go deeper +into the adventure, and his blood thrilled with the thought of what it +might hold for him. + +"Are you coming, sir?" + +The little old man had stopped a dozen paces away and turned +expectantly. + +"I tell you again that you've got the wrong man, Dad!" + +"Will you follow me, sir?" + +"Well, if you'll have it so--damned if I won't!" cried Captain Plum. He +felt that he had relieved his conscience, anyway. If things should +develop badly for him during the next few hours no one could say that he +had lied. So he followed light-heartedly after the old man, his eyes and +ears alert, and his right hand, by force of habit, reaching under his +coat to the butt of his pistol. His guide said not another word until +they had traveled for half an hour along a twisting path and stood at +last on the bald summit of a knoll from which they could look down upon +a number of lights twinkling dimly a quarter of a mile away. One of +these lights gleamed above all the others, like a beacon set among +fireflies. + +"That's St. James," said the old man. His voice had changed. It was low +and soft, as though he feared to speak above a whisper. + +"St. James!" + +The young man at his side gazed down silently upon the scattered lights, +his heart throbbing in a sudden tumult of excitement. He had set out +that day with the idea of resting his eyes on St. James. In its silent +mystery the town now lay at his feet. + +"And that light--" spoke the old man. He pointed a trembling arm toward +the glare that shone more powerfully than the others. "That light marks +the sacred home of the king!" His voice had again changed. A metallic +hardness came into it, his words were vibrant with a strange excitement +which he strove hard to conceal. It was still light enough for Captain +Plum to see that the old man's black, beady eyes were startlingly alive +with newly aroused emotion. + +"You mean--" + +"Strang!" + +He started rapidly down the knoll and there floated back to Captain Plum +the soft notes of his meaningless chuckle. A dozen rods farther on his +mysterious guide turned into a by-path which led them to another knoll, +capped by a good-sized building made of logs. There sounded the grating +of a key in a lock, the shooting of a bolt, and a door opened to admit +them. + +"You will pardon me if I don't light up," apologized the old man as he +led the way in. "A candle will be sufficient. You know there must be +privacy in these matters--always. Eh? Isn't that so?" + +Captain Plum followed without reply. He guessed that the cabin was made +up of one large room, and that at the present time, at least, it +possessed no other occupant than the singular creature who had guided +him to it. + +"It is just as well, on this particular night, that no light is seen at +the window," continued the old man as he rummaged about a table for a +match and a candle. "I have a little corner back here that a candle will +brighten up nicely and no one in the world will know it. Ho, ho, +ho!--how nice it is to have a quiet little corner sometimes! Eh, Captain +Plum?" + +At the sound of his name Captain Plum started as though an unexpected +hand had suddenly been laid upon him. So he _was_ expected, after all, +and his name was known! For a moment his surprise robbed him of the +power of speech. The little old man had lighted his candle, and, +grinning back over his shoulder, passed through a narrow cut in the +wall that could hardly be called a door and planted his light on a table +that stood in the center of a small room, or closet, not more than five +feet square. Then he coolly pulled Captain Plum's old letter from his +pocket and smoothed it out in the dim light. + +"Be seated, Captain Plum; right over there--opposite me. So!" + +He continued for a moment to smooth out the creases in the letter and +then proceeded to read it with as much assurance as though its owner +were a thousand miles away instead of within arm's reach of him. Captain +Plum was dumfounded. He felt the hot blood rushing to his face and his +first impulse was to recover the crumpled paper and demand something +more than an explanation. In the next instant it occurred to him that +this action would probably spoil whatever possibilities his night's +adventure might have for him. So he held his peace. The old man was so +intent in his perusal of the letter that the end of his hooked nose +almost scraped the table. He went over the dim, partly obliterated words +line by line, chuckling now and then, and apparently utterly oblivious +of the other's presence. When he had come to the end he looked up, his +eyes glittering with unbounded satisfaction, carefully folded the +letter, and handed it to Captain Plum. + +"That's the best introduction in the world, Captain Plum--the very best! +Ho, ho!--it couldn't be better. I'm glad I found it." He chuckled +gleefully, and rested his ogreish head in the palms of his skeleton-like +hands, his elbows on the table. "So you're going back home--soon?" + +"I haven't made up my mind yet, Dad," responded Captain Plum, pulling +out his pipe and tobacco. "You've read the letter pretty carefully, I +guess. What would you do?" + +"Vermont?" questioned the old man shortly. + +"That's it." + +"Well, I'd go, and very soon, Captain Plum, _very_ soon, indeed. Yes, +I'd hurry!" The old man jumped up with the quickness of a cat. So sudden +was his movement that it startled Captain Plum, and he dropped his +tobacco pouch. By the time he had recovered this article his strange +companion was back in his seat again holding a leather bag in his hand. +Quickly he untied the knot at its top and poured a torrent of glittering +gold pieces out upon the table. + +"Business--business and gold," he gurgled happily, rubbing his thin +hands and twisting his fingers until they cracked. "A pretty sight, eh, +Captain Plum? Now, to our account! A hundred carbines, eh? And a +thousand of powder and a ton of balls. Or is it in lead? It doesn't make +any difference--not a bit. It's three thousand, that's the account, eh?" +He fell to counting rapidly. + +For a full minute Captain Plum remained in stupefied bewilderment, +silenced by the sudden and unexpected turn his adventure had taken. +Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as they clinked the gold +pieces. What was the mysterious plot into which he had allowed himself +to be drawn? Why were a hundred guns and a ton and a half of powder and +balls wanted by the Mormons of Beaver Island? Instinctively he reached +out and closed his hand over the counting fingers of the old man. Their +eyes met. And there was a shrewd, half-understanding gleam in the black +orbs that fixed Captain Plum in an unflinching challenge. For a little +space there was silence. It was Captain Plum who broke it. + +"Dad, I'm going to tell you for the third and last time that you've made +a mistake. I've got eight of the best rifles in America aboard my sloop +out there. But there's a man for every gun. And I've got something +hidden away underdeck that would blow up St. James in half an hour. And +there is powder and ball for the whole outfit. But that's all. I'll sell +you what I've got--for a good price. Beyond that you've got the wrong +man!" + +He settled back and blew a volume of smoke from his pipe. For another +half minute the old man continued to look at him, his eyes twinkling, +and then he fell to counting again. + +Captain Plum was not given over to the habit of cursing. But now he +jumped to his feet with an oath that jarred the table. The old man +chuckled. The gold pieces clinked between his fingers. Coolly he shoved +two glittering piles alongside the candle-stick, tumbled the rest back +into the leather bag, deliberately tied the end, and smiled up into the +face of the exasperated captain. + +"To be sure you're not the man," he said, nodding his head until his +elf-locks danced around his face. "Of course you're not the man. I know +it--ho, ho! you can wager that I know it! A little ruse of mine, Captain +Plum. Pardonable--excusable, eh? I wanted to know if you were a liar. I +wanted to see if you were honest." + +[Illustration: Captain Plum] + +With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum sank back into the chair. His +jaw dropped and his pipe was held fireless in his hand. + +"The devil you say!" + +"Oh, certainly, certainly, if you wish it," chuckled the little man, in +high humor. "I would have visited your sloop to-day, Captain Plum, if +you hadn't come ashore so opportunely this morning. Ho, ho, ho! a good +joke, eh? A mighty good joke!" + +Captain Plum regained his composure by relighting his pipe. He heard the +chink of gold pieces and when he looked again the two piles of money +were close to the edge of his side of the table. + +"That's for you, Captain Plum. There's just a thousand dollars in those +two piles." There was tense earnestness now in the old man's face and +voice. "I've imposed on you," he continued, speaking as one who had +suddenly thrown off a disguise. "If it had been any other man it would +have been the same. I want help. I want an honest man. I want a man whom +I can trust. I will give you a thousand dollars if you will take a +package back to your vessel with you and will promise to deliver it as +quickly as you can." + +"I'll do it!" cried Captain Plum. He jumped to his feet and held out his +hand. But the old man slipped from his chair and darted swiftly out into +the blackness of the adjoining room. As he came back Captain Plum could +hear his insane chuckling. + +"Business--business--business--" he gurgled. "Eh, Captain Plum? Did you +ever take an oath?" He tossed a book on the table. It was the Bible. + +Captain Plum understood. He reached for the book and held it under his +left hand. His right he lifted above his head, while a smile played +about his lips. + +"I suppose you want to place me under oath to deliver that package," he +said. + +The old man nodded. His eyes gleamed with a feverish glare. A sudden +hectic flush had gathered in his death-like cheeks. He trembled. His +voice rose barely above a whisper. + +"Repeat," he commanded. "I, Captain Nathaniel Plum, do solemnly swear +before God--" + +A thrilling inspiration shot into Captain Plum's brain. + +"Hold!" he cried. He lowered his hand. With something that was almost a +snarl the old man sprang back, his hands clenched. "I will take this +oath upon one other consideration," continued Captain Plum. "I came to +Beaver Island to see something of the life and something of the people +of St. James. If you, in turn, will swear to show me as much as you can +to-night I will take the oath." + +The old man was beside the table again in an instant. + +"I will show it to you--all--all--" he exclaimed excitedly. "I will show +it to you--yes, and swear to it upon the body of Christ!" + +Captain Plum lifted his hand again and word by word repeated the oath. +When it was done the other took his place. + +"Your name?" asked Captain Plum. + +A change scarcely perceptible swept over the old man's face. + +"Obadiah Price." + +"But you are a Mormon. You have the Bible there?" + +Again the old man disappeared into the adjoining room. When he returned +he placed two books side by side and stood them on edge so that he might +clasp both between his bony fingers. One was the Bible, the other the +Book of the Mormons. In a cracked, excited voice he repeated the +strenuous oath improvised by Captain Plum. + +"Now," said Captain Plum, distributing the gold pieces among his +pockets, "I'll take that package." + +This time the old man was gone for several minutes. When he returned he +placed a small package tightly bound and sealed into his companion's +hand. + +"More precious than your life, more priceless than gold," he whispered +tensely, "yet worthless to all but the one to whom it is to be +delivered." + +There were no marks on the package. + +"And who is that?" asked Captain Plum. + +The old man came so close that his breath fell hot upon the young man's +cheek. He lifted a hand as though to ward sound from the very walls that +closed them in. + +"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE SEVEN WIVES + + +Hardly had the words fallen from the lips of Obadiah Price than the old +man straightened himself and stood as rigid as a gargoyle, his gaze +penetrating into the darkness of the room beyond Captain Plum, his head +inclined slightly, every nerve in him strained to a tension of +expectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped the butt of his pistol +and faced the narrow entrance through which they had come. In the moment +of absolute silence that followed there came to him, faintly, a sound, +unintelligible at first, but growing in volume until he knew that it was +the last echo of a tolling bell. There was no movement, no sound of +breath or whisper from the old man at his back. But when it came again, +floating to him as if from a vast distance, he turned quickly to find +Obadiah Price with his face lifted, his thin arms flung wide above his +head and his lips moving as if in prayer. His eyes burned with a dull +glow as though he had been suddenly thrown into a trance. He seemed not +to breathe, no vibration of life stirred him except in the movement of +his lips. With the third toll of the distant bell he spoke, and to +Captain Plum it was as if the passion and fire in his voice came from +another being. + +"Our Christ, Master of hosts, we call upon Thy chosen people the three +blessings of the universe--peace, prosperity and plenty, and upon +Strang, priest, king and prophet, the bounty of Thy power!" + +Three times more the distant bell tolled forth its mysterious message +and when the last echoes had died away the old man's arms dropped beside +him and he turned again to Captain Plum. + +"Franklin Pierce, President of the United States of America," he +repeated, as though there had been no interruption since his companion's +question. "The package is to be delivered to him. Now you must excuse +me. An important matter calls me out for a short time. But I will be +back soon--oh, yes, very soon. And you will wait for me. You will wait +for me here, and then I will take you to St. James." + +He was gone in a quick hopping way, like a cricket, and the last that +Captain Plum saw of him was his ghostly face turned back for an instant +in the darkness of the next room, and after that the soft patter of his +feet and the strange chuckle in his throat traveled to the outer door +and died away as he passed out into the night. Nathaniel Plum was not a +man to be easily startled, but there was something so unusual about the +proceedings in which he was as yet playing a blind part that he forgot +to smoke, which was saying much. Who was the old man? Was he mad? His +eyes scanned the little room and an exclamation of astonishment fell +from his lips when he saw the leather bag, partly filled with gold, +lying where his mysterious acquaintance had dropped it. Surely this was +madness or else another ruse to test his honesty. The discovery thrilled +him. It was wonderfully quiet out in that next room and very dark. Were +hidden eyes guarding that bag? Well, if so, he would give their owner to +understand that he was not a thief. He rose from his chair and moved +toward the bag, lifted it in his hand, and tossed it back again so that +the gold in it chinked loudly. Then he went to the narrow aperture and +blocked it with his body and listened until he knew that if there had +been human life in the room he would have heard it. + +The outer door was open and through it there came to him the soft breath +of the night air and the sweetness of balsam and wild flowers. It struck +him that it would be pleasanter waiting outside than in, and it would +undoubtedly make no difference to Obadiah Price. In front of the cabin +he found the stump of a log and seating himself on it where the clear +light of the stars fell full upon him he once more began his +interrupted smoke. It seemed to him that he had waited a long time when +he heard the sound of footsteps. They came rapidly as if the person was +half running. Hardly had he located the direction of the sound when a +figure appeared in the opening and hurried toward the door of the cabin. +A dozen yards from him it paused for a moment and turned partly about, +as if inspecting the path over which it had come. With a greeting +whistle Captain Plum jumped to his feet. He heard a little throat note, +which was not the chuckling of Obadiah Price, and the figure ran almost +into his arms. A sudden knowledge of having made a mistake drew Captain +Plum a pace backward. For scarcely more than five seconds he found +himself staring into the white terrified face of a girl. Eyes wide and +glowing with sudden fright met his own. Instinctively he lifted his hand +to his hat, but before he could speak the girl sprang back with a low +cry and ran swiftly down the path that led into the gloom of the woods. + + +For several minutes Captain Plum stood as if the sudden apparition had +petrified him. He listened long after the sound of retreating footsteps +had died away. There remained behind a faint sweet odor of lilac which +stirred his soul and set his blood tingling. It was a beautiful face +that he had seen. He was sure of that and yet he could have given no +good verbal proof of it. Only the eyes and the odor of lilac remained +with him and after a little the lilac drifted away. Then he went back to +the log and sat down. He smiled as he thought of the joke that he had +unwittingly played on Obadiah. From his knowledge of the Beaver Island +Mormons he was satisfied that the old man who displayed gold in such +reckless profusion was anything but a bachelor. In all probability this +was one of his wives and the cabin behind him, he concluded, was for +some reason isolated from the harem. "Evidently that little Saintess is +not a flirt," he concluded, "or she would have given me time to speak to +her." + +The continued absence of Obadiah Price began to fill Captain Plum with +impatience. After an hour's wait he reentered the cabin and made his way +to the little room, where the candle was still burning dimly. To his +astonishment he beheld the old man sitting beside the table. His thin +face was propped between his hands and his eyes were closed as if he was +asleep. They shot open instantly on Captain Plum's appearance. + +"I've been waiting for you, Nat," he cried, straightening himself with +spring-like quickness. "Waiting for you a long time, Nat!" He rubbed his +hands and chuckled at his own familiarity. "I saw you out there enjoying +yourself. What did you think of her, Nat?" He winked with such audacious +glee that, despite his own astonishment, Captain Plum burst into a +laugh. Obadiah Price held up a warning hand. "Tut, tut, not so loud!" he +admonished. His face was a map of wrinkles. His little black eyes shone +with silent laughter. There was no doubt but that he was immensely +pleased over something. "Tell me, Nat--why did you come to St. James?" + +He leaned forward over the table, his odd white head almost resting on +it, and twiddled his thumbs with wonderful rapidity. "Eh, Nat?" he +urged. "Why did you come?" + +"Because it was too hot and uninteresting lying out there in a calm, +Dad," replied the master of the _Typhoon_. "We've been roasting for +thirty-six hours without a breath to fill our sails. I came over to see +what you people are like. Any harm done?" + +"Not a bit, not a bit--yet," chuckled the old man. "And what's your +business, Nat?" + +"Sailing--mostly." + +"Ho, ho, ho! of course, I might have known it! Sailing--_mostly_. Why, +certainly you sail! And why do you carry a pistol on one side of you and +a knife on the other, Nat?" + +"Troublous times, Dad. Some of the fisher-folk along the Northern End +aren't very scrupulous. They took a cargo of canned stuffs from me a +year back." + +"And what use do you make of the four-pounder that's wrapped up in +tarpaulin under your deck, Nat? And what in the world are you going to +do with five barrels of gunpowder?" + +"How in blazes--" began Captain Plum. + +"O, to be sure, to be sure--they're for the fisher-folk," interrupted +Obadiah Price. "Blow 'em up, eh, Nat? And you seem to be a young man of +education, Nat. How did you happen to make a mistake in your count? +Haven't you twelve men aboard your sloop instead of eight, Nat? Aren't +there twelve, instead of eight? Eh, Nat?" + +"The devil take you!" cried Captain Plum, leaping suddenly to his feet, +his face flaming red. "Yes, I have got twelve men and I've got a gun in +tarpaulin and I've got five barrels of gunpowder! But how in the name of +Kingdom-Come did you find it out?" + +Obadiah Price came around the end of the table and stood so close to +Captain Plum that a person ten feet away could not have heard him when +he spoke. + +"I know more than that, Nat," he whispered. "Listen! A little while +ago--say two weeks back--you were becalmed off the head of Beaver +Island, and one dark night you were boarded by two boat-loads of men who +made you and your crew prisoners, robbed you of everything you had,--and +the next day you went back to Chicago. Eh?" + +Nathaniel stood speechless. + +"And you made up your mind the pirates were Mormons, enlisted some of +your friends, armed your ship--and you're back here to make us settle. +Isn't it so, Nat?" + +The little old man was rubbing his hands eagerly, excitedly. + +"You tried to get the revenue cutter _Michigan_ to come down with you, +but they wouldn't--ho, ho, they wouldn't! One of our friends in Chicago +sent quick word ahead of you to tell me all about it, and--Strang, the +king, doesn't know!" + +He spoke the last words in intense earnestness. + +Then, suddenly, he held out his hand. + +"Young man, will you shake hands with me? Will you shake hands?--and +then we will go to St. James!" + +Captain Plum thrust out a hand and the old man gripped it. The thin +fingers tightened like cold clamps of steel. For a moment the face of +Obadiah Price underwent a strange change. The hardness and glitter went +out of his eyes and in place there came a questioning, almost an +appealing, look. His tense mouth relaxed. It was as if he was on the +point of surrendering to some emotion which he was struggling to stifle. +And Nathaniel, meeting those eyes, felt that somewhere within him had +been struck a strange chord of sympathy, something that made this little +old man more than a half-mad stranger to him, and involuntarily the +grip of his fingers tightened around those of his companion. + +"Now we will go to St. James, Captain Plum!" + +He attempted to withdraw his hand but Captain Plum held to it. + +"Not yet!" he exclaimed. "There are two or three things which your +friend didn't tell you, Obadiah Price!" + +Nathaniel's eyes glittered dangerously. + +"When I left ship this morning I gave explicit orders to Casey, my +mate." + +He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinching eyes. + +"I said something like this: 'Casey, I'm going to see Strang before I +come back. If he's willing to settle for five thousand, we'll call it +off. And if he isn't--why, we'll stand out there a mile and blow St. +James into hell! And if I don't come back by to-morrow at sundown, +Casey, you take command and blow it to hell without me!' So, Obadiah +Price, if there's treachery--" + +The old man clutched at his hands with insane fierceness. + +"There will be no treachery, Nat, I swear to God there will be no +treachery! Come, we will go--" + +Still Captain Plum hesitated. + +"Who are you? Whom am I to follow?" + +"A member of our holy Council of Twelve, Nat, and lord high treasurer of +His Majesty, King Strang!" + +Before Captain Plum could recover from the surprise of this whispered +announcement the little old man had freed himself and was pattering +swiftly through the darkness of the next room. The master of the +_Typhoon_ followed close behind him. Outside the councilor hesitated for +a moment, as if debating which route to take, and then with a prodigious +wink at Captain Plum and a throatful of his inimitable chuckles, chose +the path down which his startled visitor of a short time before had +fled. For fifteen minutes this path led between thick black walls of +forest verdure. Obadiah Price kept always a few paces ahead of his +companion and spoke not a word. At the end of perhaps half a mile the +path entered into a large clearing on the farther side of which +Nathaniel caught the glimmer of a light. They passed close to this +light, which came from the window of a large square house built of logs, +and Captain Plum became suddenly conscious that the air was filled with +the redolent perfume of lilac. With half a dozen quick strides he +overtook the councilor and caught him by the arm. + +"I smell lilac!" he exclaimed. + +"Certainly, so do I," replied Obadiah Price. "We have very fine lilacs +on the island." + +"And I smelled lilac back there," continued Nathaniel, still holding to +the old man's arm, and pointing a thumb over his shoulder. "I smelled +'em back there, when--" + +"Ho, ho, ho!" chuckled the councilor softly. "I don't doubt it, Nat, I +don't doubt it. She is very fond of lilacs. She wears the flowers very +often." + +He pulled himself away and Captain Plum could hear his queer chuckling +for some time after. Soon they entered the gloom of the woods again and +a little later came out into another clearing and Nathaniel knew that it +was St. James that lay at his feet. The lights of a few fishing boats +were twinkling in the harbor, but for the most part the town was dark. +Here and there a window shone like a spot of phosphorescent yellow in +the dismal gloom and the great beacon still burned steadily over the +home of the prophet. + +"Ah, it is not time," whispered Obadiah. "It is still too early." He +drew his companion out of the path which they had followed and sat +himself down on a hummock a dozen yards away from it, inviting Nathaniel +by a pull of the sleeve to do the same. There were three of these +hummocks, side by side, and Captain Plum chose the one nearest the old +man and waited for him to speak. But the councilor did not open his +lips. Doubled over until his chin rested almost upon the sharp points of +his knees, he gazed steadily at the beacon, and as he looked it +shuddered and grew dark, like a firefly that suddenly closes its wings. +With a quick spring the councilor straightened himself and turned to the +master of the _Typhoon_. + +"You have a good nose, Nat," he said, "but your ears are not so good. +Sh-h-h-h!" He lifted a hand warningly and nodded sidewise toward the +path. Captain Plum listened. He heard low voices and then +footsteps--voices that were approaching rapidly, and were those of +women, and footsteps that were almost running. The old man caught him by +the arm and as the sounds came nearer his grip tightened. + +"Don't frighten them, Nat. Get down!" + +He crouched until he was only a part of the shadows of the ground and +following his example Nathaniel slipped between two of the knolls. A +few yards away the sound of the voices ceased and there was a hesitancy +in the soft tread of the approaching steps. Slowly, and now in awesome +silence, two figures came down the path and when they reached a point +opposite the hummocks Nathaniel could see that they turned their faces +toward them and that for a brief space there was something of terror in +the gleam he caught of their eyes. In a moment they had passed. Then he +heard them running. + +"They saw us!" Captain Plum exclaimed. + +Obadiah hopped to his feet and rubbed his hands with great glee. "What a +temptation, Nat!" he whispered. "What a temptation to frighten them out +of their wits! No, they didn't see us, Nat--they didn't see us. The +girls are always frightened when they pass these graves. Some day--" + +"Graves!" almost shouted the master of the _Typhoon_. "Graves--and we +sitting on 'em!" + +"That's all right, Nat--that's all right. They're my graves, so we're +welcome to sit on them. I often come here and sit for hours at a time. +They like to have me, especially little Jean--the middle one. Perhaps +I'll tell you about Jean before you go away." + +If Captain Plum had been watching him he would have seen that soft +mysterious light again shining in the old councilor's eyes. But now +Nathaniel stood erect, his nostrils sniffing the air, catching once more +the sweet scent of lilac. He hurried out into the opening, with the old +man close behind him, and peered down into the starlit gloom into which +the two girls had disappeared. The lovely face that had appeared to him +for an instant at Obadiah's cabin began to haunt him. He was sure now +that his sudden appearance had not been the only cause of its terror, +and he felt that he should have called out to her or followed until he +had overtaken her. He could easily have excused his boldness, even if +the councilor had been watching him from the cabin door. He was certain +that she had passed very near to him again and that the fright which +Obadiah had attempted to explain was not because of the graves. He swung +about upon his companion, determined to ask for an explanation. The +latter seemed to divine his thought. + +"Don't let a little scent of lilac disturb you so, young man," he said +with singular coldness. "It may cause you great unpleasantness." He went +ahead and Nathaniel followed him, assured that the old man's words and +the way in which he had spoken them no longer left a doubt as to the +identity of his night visitor. She was one of the councilor's wives, so +he thought, and his own interest in her was beginning to have an +irritating effect. In other words Obadiah was becoming jealous. + +For some time there was silence between the two. Obadiah Price now +walked with extreme slowness and along paths which seemed to bring him +no nearer to the town below. Nathaniel could see that he was absorbed in +thoughts of his own, and held his peace. Was it possible that he had +spoiled his chances with the councilor because of a pretty face and a +bunch of lilacs? The thought tickled Captain Plum despite the delicacy +of his situation and he broke into an involuntary laugh. The laugh +brought Obadiah to a halt as suddenly as though some one had thrust a +bayonet against his breast. + +"Nat, you've got good red blood in you," he cried, whirling about. "D'ye +suppose you can hate as well as love?" + +"Lord deliver us!" exclaimed the astonished Captain Plum. +"Hate--love--what the--" + +"Yes, _hate_," repeated the old man with fierce emphasis, so close that +his breath struck Nathaniel's face. "You can love a pretty face--and you +can _hate_. I know you can. If you couldn't I would send you back to +your sloop with the package to-night. But as it is I am going to relieve +you of your oath. Yes, Nat, I give you back your oath--for a time." + +Nathaniel stepped a pace back and put his hands on his pockets as if to +protect the gold there. + +"You mean that you want to call off our bargain?" he asked. + +The councilor rubbed his hands until the friction of them sent a shiver +up Nathaniel's back. "Not that, Nat--O, no, not that! The bargain is +good. The gold is yours. You must deliver the package. But you need not +do it immediately. Understand? I am lonely back there in my shack. I +want company. You must stay with me a week. Eh? Lilacs and pretty faces, +Nat! Ho, ho!--You will stay a week, won't you, Nat?" + +He spoke so rapidly and his face underwent so many changes, now +betraying the keenest excitement, now wrinkled in an ogreish, bantering +grin, now almost pleading in its earnestness, that Nathaniel knew not +what to make of him. He looked into the beady eyes, sparkling with +passion, and the cat-like glitter of them set his blood tingling. What +strange adventure was this old man dragging him into? What were the +motives, the reasoning, the plot that lay behind this mysterious +creature's apparent faith in him? He tried to answer these things in the +passing of a moment before he replied. The councilor saw his hesitancy +and smiled. + +"I will show you many things of interest, Nat," he said. "I will show +you just one to-night. Then you will make up your mind, eh? You need not +tell me until then." + +He took the lead again and this time struck straight down for the town. +They passed a number of houses built of logs and Nathaniel caught narrow +gleams of light from between close-drawn curtains. In one of these +houses he heard the crying of children, and with a return of his grisly +humor Obadiah Price prodded him in the ribs and said, + +"Good old Israel Laeng lives there--two wives, one old, one +young--eleven children. The Kingdom of Heaven is open to him!" And from +a second he heard the sound of an organ, and from still a third there +came the laughter and chatter of several feminine voices, and again +Obadiah reached out and prodded Nathaniel in the ribs. There was one +great, gloomy, long-built place which they passed, without a ray of +light to give it life, and the councilor said, "Three widows there, +Nat,--fight like cats and dogs. Poor Job killed himself." They avoided +the more thickly populated part of the settlement and encountered few +people, which seemed to please the councilor. Once they overtook and +passed a group of women clad in short skirts and loose waists and with +their hair hanging in braids down their backs. For a third time Obadiah +nudged Captain Plum. + +"It is the king's pleasure that all women wear skirts that come just +below the knees," he whispered. "Some of them won't do it and he's +wondering how to punish them. To-morrow there's going to be two public +whippings. One of the victims is a man who said that if he was a woman +he'd die before he put on knee skirts. After he's whipped he is going +to be made to wear 'em. By Urim and Thummin, isn't that choice, Nat?" + +He shivered with quiet laughter and dived into a great block of darkness +where there seemed to be no houses, keeping close beside Nathaniel. Soon +they came to the edge of a grove and deep among the trees Captain Plum +caught a glimpse of a lighted window. Obadiah Price now began to exhibit +unusual caution. He approached the light slowly, pausing every few steps +to peer guardedly about him, and when they had come very near to the +window he pulled his companion behind a thick clump of shrubbery. +Nathaniel could hear the old man's subdued chuckle and he bent his head +to catch what he was about to whisper to him. + +"You must make no noise, Nat," he warned. "This is the castle of our +priest, king and prophet--James Jesse Strang. I am going to show you +what you have never seen before and what you will never look upon again. +I have sworn upon the Two Books and I will keep my oath. And then--you +will answer the question I asked you back there." + +He crept out into the darkness of the trees and Nathaniel followed, his +heart throbbing with excitement, every sense alert, and one hand resting +on the butt of his pistol. He felt that he was nearing the climax of his +day's adventure and now, in the last moment of it, his old caution +reasserted itself. He knew that he was among a dangerous people, men +who, according to the laws of his country, were criminals in more ways +than one. He had seen much of their work along the coasts and he had +heard of more of it. He knew that this gloom and sullen quiet of St. +James hid cut-throats and pirates and thieves. Still there was nothing +ahead to alarm him. The old man dodged the gleams of the lighted window +and slunk around to the end of the great house. Here, several feet above +his head, was another window, small and veiled with the foliage wall. +With the assurance of one who had been there before the councilor +mounted some object under the window, lifted himself until his chin was +on a level with the glass, and peered within. He was there but an +instant and then fell back, chuckling and rubbing his hands. + +"Come, Nat!" + +He stood a little to one side and bowed with mock politeness. For a +moment Captain Plum hesitated. Under ordinary circumstances this spying +through a window would have been repugnant to him. But at present +something seemed to tell him that it was not to satisfy his curiosity +alone that Obadiah Price had given him this opportunity. Would a look +through that little window explain some of the mysteries of the night? + +There came a low whisper in his ear. + +"Do you smell lilac, Nat? Eh?" + +The councilor was grinning at him. There was a suggestive gleam in his +eyes. He rubbed his hands almost fiercely. + +In another instant Captain Plum had stepped upon the object beneath the +window and parted the leaves. Breathlessly he looked in. A strange scene +met his eyes. He was looking into a vast room, illuminated by a huge +hanging lamp suspended almost on a level with his head. Under this lamp +there was a long table and at the table sat seven women and one man. The +man was at the end nearest the window and all that Nat could see was the +back of his head and shoulders. But the women were in full view, three +on each side of the table and one at the far end. He guessed the man to +be Strang; but he stared at the women and as his eyes traveled back to +the one facing him at the end of the table he could scarcely repress the +exclamation of surprise that rose to his lips. It was the girl whom he +had encountered at the councilor's cabin. She was leaning forward as if +in an agony of suspense, her eyes on the king, her lips parted, her +hands clutching at a great book which lay open before her. Her cheeks +were flushed with excitement. And even as he looked Captain Plum saw +her head fall suddenly forward upon the table, encircled by her arms. +The heavy braid of her hair, partly undone, glistened like red gold in +the lamplight. Her slender body was convulsed with sobs. The woman +nearest her reached over and laid a caressing hand on the bowed head, +but drew it quickly away as if at a sharp command. + +In his eagerness Nathaniel thrust his face through the foliage until his +nose touched the glass. When the girl lifted her head she straightened +back in her chair--and saw him. There came a sudden white fear in her +face, a parting of the lips as if she were on the point of crying out, +and then, before the others had seen, she looked again at Strang. She +had discovered him and yet she had not revealed her discovery! Nathaniel +could have shouted for joy. She had seen him, had recognized him! And +because she had not cried out she wanted him! He drew his pistol from +its holster and waited. If she signaled for him, if she called him, he +would burst the window. The girl was talking now and as she talked she +lifted her eyes. Nathaniel pressed his face close against the window, +and smiled. That would let her know he was a friend. She seemed to +answer him with a little nod and he fancied that her eyes glowed with a +mute appeal for his assistance. But only for an instant, and then they +turned again to the king. Not until that moment did Nathaniel notice +upon her bosom a bunch of crumpled lilacs. + +From below the iron grip of the councilor dragged him down. + +"That's enough," he whispered. "That's enough--for to-night." He saw the +pistol in Nathaniel's hand and gave a sudden breathless cry. + +"Nat--Nat--" + +He caught Captain Plum's free hand in his. + +"Tell me this, Obadiah Price," whispered the master of the _Typhoon_, +"who is she?" + +The councilor stood on tiptoe to answer. + +"They are the six wives of Strang, Nat!" + +"But the other?" demanded Nathaniel. "The other--" + +"O, to be sure, to be sure," chuckled Obadiah. "The girl of the lilacs, +eh? Why, she's the seventh wife, Nat--that's all, the seventh wife!" + + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE WARNING + + +So quickly that Obadiah Price might not have counted ten before it had +come and gone the significance of his new situation flashed upon Captain +Plum as he stood under the king's window. His plans had changed since +leaving ship but now he realized that they had become hopelessly +involved. He had intended that Obadiah should show him where Strang was +to be found, and that later, when ostensibly returning to his vessel, he +would visit the prophet in his home. Whatever the interview brought +forth he would still be in a position to deliver the councilor's +package. Even an hour's bombardment of St. James would not interfere +with the fulfilment of his oath. But those few minutes at the king's +window had been fatal to the scheme he had built. The girl had seen +him. She had not betrayed his presence. She had called to him with her +eyes--he would have staked his life on that. What did it all mean? He +turned to Obadiah. The old man was grimacing and twisting his hands +nervously. He seemed half afraid, cringing, as if fearing a blow. The +sight of him set Nathaniel's blood afire. His white face seemed to +verify the terrible thought that had leaped into his brain. Suddenly he +heard a faint cry--a woman's voice--and in an instant he was back at the +window. The girl had risen to her feet and stood facing him. This time, +as her eyes met his own, he saw in them a flashing warning, and he +obeyed it as if she had spoken to him. As he dropped silently back to +the ground the councilor came close to his side. + +"That's enough for to-night, Nat," he whispered. + +He made as if to slip away but Nathaniel detained him with an emphatic +hand. + +"Not yet, Dad! I'd like to have a word with--this--" + +"With Strang's wife," chuckled Obadiah. "Ho, ho, ho, Nat, you're a +rascal!" The old man's face was mapped with wrinkles, his eyes glowed +with joyous approbation. "You shall, Nat, you shall! You love a pretty +face, eh? You shall meet Mrs. Strang, Nat, and you shall make love to +her if you wish. I swear that, too. But not to-night, Nat--not +to-night." + +He stood a pace away and rubbed his hands. + +"There will be no chance to-night, Nat--but to-morrow night, or the +next. O, I promise you shall meet her, and make love to her, Nat! Ho, if +Strang knew, if Strang _only_ knew!" + +There was something so fiendishly gloating in the councilor's attitude, +in his face, in the hot glow of his eyes, that for a moment Nathaniel's +involuntary liking for the little old man before him turned to +abhorrence. The passion, the triumph of the man, convinced him where +words had failed. The girl was Strang's wife. His last doubt was +dispelled. And because she was Strang's wife Obadiah hated the Mormon +prophet. The councilor had spoken with fateful assurance--that he should +meet her, that he should make love to her. It was an assurance that made +him shudder. As he followed in silence up out of the gloom of the town +he strove, but in vain, to find whether sin had lurked in the sweet face +that had appealed to him in its misery--whether there had been a flash +of something besides terror, besides prayerful entreaty, in the lovely +eyes that had met his own. Obadiah spoke no word to break in on his +thoughts. Now and then the old man's insane chucklings floated softly to +Nathaniel's ears, and when at last they came to the cabin in the forest +he broke into a low laugh that echoed weirdly in the great black room +which they entered. He lighted another candle and approached a ladder +which led through a trap in the ceiling. Without a word he mounted this +ladder, and Nathaniel followed him, finding himself a moment later in a +small low room furnished with a bed. The councilor placed his candle on +a table close beside it and rubbed his hands until it seemed they must +burn. + +"You will stay--eh, Nat?" he cried, bobbing his head. "Yes, you will +stay, and you will give me back the package for a day or two." He +retreated to the trap and slid down it as quickly as a rat. "Pleasant +dreams to you, Nat, and--O, wait a minute!" Captain Plum could hear him +pattering quickly over the floor below. In a moment he was back, +thrusting his white grimacing face through the trap and tossed something +upon the bed. "She left them last night, Nat. Pleasant dreams, pleasant +dreams," and he was gone. + +Nathaniel turned to the bed and picked up a faded bunch of lilacs. Then +he sat down, loaded his pipe, and smoked until he could hardly see the +walls of his little room. From the moment of his landing on the island +he turned the events of the day over in his mind. Yet when he arrived at +the end of them he was no less mystified than when he began. Who was +Obadiah Price? Who was the girl that fate had so mysteriously associated +with his movements thus far? What was the plot in which he had +accidentally become involved? With tireless tenacity he hung to these +questions for hours. That there was a plot of some kind he had not the +least doubt. The councilor's strange actions, the oath, the package, and +above all the scene in the king's house convinced him of that. And he +was sure that Obadiah's night visitor--the girl with the lilacs--was +playing a vital part in it. + +He plucked at the withered flowers which the old man had thrown him. He +could detect their sweet scent above the pungent fumes of tobacco and as +Obadiah's triumphant chuckle recurred to him, the gloating joy in his +eyes, the passionate tremble of his voice, a grim smile passed over his +face. The mystery was easy of solution--if he was willing to reason +along certain lines. But he was not willing. He had formed his own +picture of Strang's wife and it pleased him to keep it. At moments he +half conceded himself a fool, but that did not trouble him. The longer +he smoked the more his old confidence and his old recklessness returned +to him. He had enjoyed his adventure. The next day he would end it. He +would go openly into St. James and have done his business with Strang. +Then he would return to his ship. What had he, Captain Plum, to do with +Strang's wife? + +But even after he had determined on these things his brain refused to +rest. He paced back and forth across the narrow room, thinking of the +man whom he was to meet to-morrow--of Strang, the one-time schoolmaster +and temperance lecturer who had made himself a king, who for seven years +had defied the state and nation, and who had made of his island +stronghold a hot-bed of polygamy, of licentiousness, of dissolute power. +His blood grew hot as he thought again of the beautiful girl who had +appealed to him. Obadiah had said that she was the king's wife. Still-- + +Thoughts flashed into his head which for a time made him forget his +mission on the island. In spite of his resolution to keep to his own +scheme he found himself, after a little, thinking only of the Mormon +king, and the lovely face he had seen through the castle window. He knew +much about the man with whom he was to deal to-morrow. He knew that he +had been a rival of Brigham Young and that when the exodus of the +Mormons to the deserts of the west came he had led his own followers +into the North, and that each July, amid barbaric festivities, he was +recrowned with a circlet of gold. But the girl! If she was the king's +wife why had her eyes called to him for help? + +The question crowded Nathaniel's brain with a hundred thrilling +pictures. With a shudder he thought of the terrible power the Mormon +king held not only over his own people but over the Gentiles of the +mainlands as well. With these mainlanders, he regarded Beaver Island as +a nest of pirates and murderers. He knew of the depredations of Strang +and his people among the fishermen and settlers, of the piratical +expeditions of his armed boats, of the dreaded raids of his sheriffs, +and of the crimes that made the women of the shores tremble and turn +white at the mere mention of his name. + +Was it possible that this girl-- + +Captain Plum did not let himself finish the thought. With a powerful +effort he brought himself back to his own business on the island, smoked +another pipe, and undressed. He went to bed with the withered lilacs on +the table close beside him. He fell asleep with their scent in his +nostrils. When he awoke they were gone. He started up in astonishment +when he saw what had taken their place. Obadiah had visited him while he +slept. The table was spread with a white cloth and upon it was his +breakfast, a pot of coffee still steaming, and the whole of a cold baked +fowl. Near-by, upon a chair, was a basin of water, soap and a towel. +Nathaniel rolled from his bed with a healthy laugh of pleasure. The +councilor was at least a courteous host, and his liking for the curious +old man promptly increased. There was a sheet of paper on his plate upon +which Obadiah had scribbled the following words: + +"My dear Nat:--Make yourself at home. I will be away to-day but will see +you again to-night. Don't be surprised if somebody makes you a visit." + +The "somebody" was heavily underscored and Nathaniel's pulse quickened +and a sudden flush of excitement surged into his face as he read the +meaning of it. The "somebody" was Strang's wife. There could be no other +interpretation. He went to the trap and called down for Obadiah but +there was no answer. The councilor had already gone. Quickly eating his +breakfast the master of the _Typhoon_ climbed down the ladder into the +room below. The remains of the councilor's breakfast were on a table +near the door, and the door was open. Through it came a glory of +sunshine and the fresh breath of the forest laden with the perfume of +wild flowers and balsam. A thousand birds seemed caroling and twittering +in the sunlit solitude about the cabin. Beyond this there was no other +sound or sign of life. For many minutes Nathaniel stood in the open, his +eyes on the path along which he knew that Strang's wife would come--if +she came at all. Suddenly he began to examine the ground where the girl +had stood the previous night. The dainty imprints of her feet were +plainly discernible in the soft earth. Then he went to the path--and +with a laugh so loud that it startled the birds into silence he set off +with long strides in the direction of St. James. From the footprints in +that path it was quite evident that Strang's wife was a frequent visitor +at Obadiah's. + +At the edge of the forest, from where he could see the log house +situated across the opening, Nathaniel paused. He had made up his mind +that the girl whom he had seen through the king's window was in some way +associated with it. Obadiah had hinted as much and she had come from +there on her way to Strang's. But as the prophet's wives lived in his +castle at St. James this surely could not be her home. More than ever he +was puzzled. As he looked he saw a figure suddenly appear from among the +mass of lilac bushes that almost concealed the cabin. An involuntary +exclamation of satisfaction escaped him and he drew back deeper among +the trees. It was the councilor who had shown himself. For a few moments +the old man stood gazing in the direction of St. James as if watching +for the approach of other persons. Then he dodged cautiously along the +edge of the bushes, keeping half within their cover, and moved swiftly +in the opposite direction toward the center of the island. Nathaniel's +blood leaped with a desire to follow. The night before he had guessed +that Obadiah with his gold and his smoldering passion was not a man to +isolate himself in the heart of the forest. Here--across the open--was +evidence of another side of his life. In that great square-built +domicile of logs, screened so perfectly by flowering lilac, lived +Obadiah's wives. Captain Plum laughed aloud and beat the bowl of his +pipe on the tree beside him. And the _girl_ lived there--or came from +there to the woodland cabin so frequently that her feet had beaten a +well-worn path. Had the councilor lied to him? Was the girl he had seen +through the King's window one of the seven wives of Strang--or was she +the wife of Obadiah Price? + +The thought was one that thrilled him. If the girl was the councilor's +wife what was the motive of Obadiah's falsehood? And if she was Strang's +wife why had her feet--and hers alone with the exception of the old +man's--worn this path from the lilac smothered house to the cabin in the +woods? The captain of the _Typhoon_ regretted now that he had given such +explicit orders to Casey. Otherwise he would have followed the figure +that was already disappearing into the forest on the opposite side of +the clearing. But now he must see Strang. There might be delay, +necessary delay, and if it so happened that his own blundering curiosity +kept him on the island until sundown--well, he smiled as he thought of +what Casey would do. + +Refilling his pipe and leaving a trail of smoke behind him he set out +boldly for St. James. When he came to the three graves he stopped, +remembering that Obadiah had said they were his graves. A sort of grim +horror began to stir at his soul as he gazed on the grass-grown +mounds--proofs that the old councilor would inherit a place in the +Mormon Heaven having obeyed the injunctions of his prophet on earth. +Nathaniel now understood the meaning of his words of the night before. +This was the family burying ground of the old councilor. + +He walked on, trying in vain to concentrate his mind solely upon the +business that was ahead of him. A few days before he would have counted +this walk to St. James one of the events of his life. Now it had lost +its fascination. Despite his efforts to destroy the vision of the +beautiful face that had looked at him through the king's window its +memory still haunted him. The eyes, soft with appeal; the red mouth, +quivering, and with lips parted as if about to speak to him; the bowed +head with its tumbled glory of hair--all had burned themselves upon his +soul in a picture too deep to be eradicated. If St. James was +interesting now it was because that face was a part of it, because the +secret of its life, of the misery that it had confessed to him, was +hidden somewhere down there among its scattered log homes. + +Slowly he made his way down the slope in the direction of Strang's +castle, the tower of which, surmounted by its great beacon, glistened in +the morning sun. He would find Strang there. And there would be one +chance in a thousand of seeing the girl--if Obadiah had spoken the +truth. As he passed down he met men and boys coming up the slope and +others moving along at the bottom of it, all going toward the interior +of the island. They had shovels or rakes or hoes upon their shoulders +and he guessed that the Mormon fields were in that direction; others +bore axes; and now and then wagons, many of them drawn by oxen, left the +town over the road that ran near the shore of the lake. Those whom he +met stared at him curiously, much interested evidently in the appearance +of a stranger. Nathaniel paid but small heed to them. As he entered the +grove through which the councilor had guided him the night before his +eagerness became almost excitement. He approached the great log house +swiftly but cautiously, keeping as much from view as possible. As he +came under the window through which he had looked upon the king and his +wives his heart leaped with anticipation, with hope that was strangely +mingled with fear. For only a moment he paused to listen, and +notwithstanding the seriousness of his position he could not repress a +smile as there came to his ears the crying of children and the high +angry voice of a woman. He passed around to the front of the house. The +door of Strang's castle was wide open and unguarded. No one had seen his +approach; no one accosted him as he mounted the low steps; there was no +one in the room into which he gazed a moment later. It was the great +hall into which he had spied a few hours previous. There was the long +table with the big book on it, the lamp whose light had bathed the +girl's head in a halo of glory, the very chair in which he had found her +sitting! He was conscious of a throbbing in his breast, a longing to +call out--if he only knew her name. + +In the room there were four closed doors and it was from beyond these +that there came to him the wailing of children. A fifth door was open +and through it he saw a cradle gently rocking. Here at last was visible +life, or motion at least, and he knocked loudly. Very gradually the +cradle ceased its movement. Then it stopped, and a woman came out into +the larger room. In a moment Nathaniel recognized her as the one who had +placed a caressing hand upon the bowed head of the sobbing girl the +night before. Her face was of pathetic beauty. Its whiteness was +startling. Her eyes shone with an unhealthy luster, and her dark hair, +falling in heavy curls over her shoulder, added to the wonderful pallor +of her cheeks. + +Nathaniel bowed. "I beg your pardon, madam; I came to see Mr. Strang," +he said. + +"You will find the king at his office," she replied. + +The woman's voice was low, but so sweet that it was like music to the +ear. As she spoke she came nearer and a faint flush appeared in the +transparency of her cheek. + +"Why do you wish to see the king?" she asked. + +Was there a tremble of fear in her voice? Even as he looked Nathaniel +saw the flush deepen in her cheeks and her eyes light with nervous +eagerness. + +"I am sent by Obadiah Price," he hazarded. + +A flash of relief shot into the woman's face. + +"The king is at his office," she repeated. "His office is near the +temple." + +Nathaniel retired with another bow. + +"By thunder, Strang, old boy, you've certainly got an eye for beauty!" +he laughed as he hurried through the grove. + +"And Obadiah Price must be somebody, after all!" + +The Mormon temple was the largest structure in St. James, a huge square +building of hewn logs, and Nathaniel did not need to make inquiry to +find it. On one side was a two-story building with an outside stairway +leading to the upper floor, and a painted sign announced that on this +second floor was situated the office of James Jesse Strang, priest, king +and prophet of the Mormons. It was still very early and the general +merchandise store below was not open. Congratulating himself on this +fact, and with the fingers of his right hand reaching instinctively for +his pistol butt, Captain Plum mounted the stair. When half way up he +heard voices. As he reached the landing at the top he caught the quick +swish of a skirt. Another step and he was in the open door. He was not +soon enough to see the person who had just disappeared through an +opposite door but he knew that it was a woman. Directly in front of him +as if she had been expecting his arrival was a young girl, and no sooner +had he put a foot over the threshold than she hurried toward him, the +most acute anxiety and fear written in her face. + +"You are Captain Plum?" she asked breathlessly. + +Nathaniel stopped in astonishment. + +"Yes, I'm--" + +"Then you must hurry--hurry!" cried the girl excitedly. "You have not a +moment to lose! Go back to your ship before it is too late! She says +they will kill you--" + +"Who says so?" thundered Captain Plum. He sprang to the girl's side and +caught her by the arm. "Who says that I will be killed? Tell me--who +gave you this warning for me?" + +"I--I--tell you so!" stammered the young girl. "I--I--heard the +king--they will kill you--" Her lips trembled. Nathaniel saw that her +eyes were already red from crying. "You will go?" she pleaded. + +Nathaniel had taken her hand and now he held it tightly in his own. His +head was thrown back, his eyes were upon the door across the room. When +he looked again into the girlish face there was flashing joyous defiance +in his eyes, and in his voice there was confession of the truth that had +suddenly come to overwhelm whatever law of self preservation he might +have held unto himself. + +"No, my dear, I am not going back to my ship," he spoke softly. "Not +unless she who is in that room comes out and bids me go herself!" + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE WHIPPING + + +Scarce had the words fallen from his lips when there sounded a slow, +heavy step on the stair outside. The young girl snatched her hand free +and caught Nathaniel by the wrist. + +"It is the king!" she whispered excitedly. "It is the king! Quick--you +still have time! You must go--you must go--" + +She strove to pull him across the room. + +"There--through that door!" she urged. + +The slowly ascending steps were half way up the stairs. Nathaniel +hesitated. He knew that a moment before there had passed through that +door one who carried with her the odor of lilac and his heart leaped to +its own conclusion who that person was. He had heard the rustle of the +girl's skirt. He had seen the last inch of the door close as Strang's +wife pulled it after her. And now he was implored to follow! He sprang +forward as the heavy steps neared the landing. His hand was upon the +latch--when he paused. Then he turned and bent his head close down to +the girl. + +"No, I won't do it, my dear," he whispered. "Just now it might make +trouble for--her." + +He lifted his eyes and saw a man looking at him from the doorway. He +needed no further proof to assure him that this was Strang the king of +the Mormons, for the Beaver Island prophet was painted well in that +region which knew the grip and terror of his power. He was a massive +man, with the slow slumbering strength of a beast. He was not much under +fifty; but his thick beard, reddish and crinkling, his shaggy hair, and +the full-fed ruddiness of his face, with its foundation of heavy jaw, +gave him a more youthful appearance. There was in his eyes, set deep and +so light that they shone like pale blue glass, the staring assurance +that is frequently born of power. In his hand he carried a huge +metal-knobbed stick. + +In an instant Nathaniel had recovered himself. He advanced a step, +bowing coolly. + +"I am Captain Plum, of the sloop _Typhoon_," he said. "I called at your +home a short time ago and was directed to your office. As a stranger on +the island I did not know that you had an office or I would have come +here first." + +"Ah!" + +The king drew his right foot back half a pace and bowed so low that +Nathaniel saw only the crown of his hat. When he raised his head the +aggressive stare had gone out of his eyes and a welcoming smile lighted +up his face as he advanced with extended hand. + +"I am glad to see you, Captain Plum." + +His voice was deep and rich, filled with that wonderful vibratory power +which seems to strike and attune the hidden chords of one's soul. The +man's appearance had not prepossessed Nathaniel, but at the sound of his +voice he recognized that which had made him the prophet of men. As the +warm hand of the king clasped his own Captain Plum knew that he was in +the presence of a master of human destinies, a man whose ponderous +red-visaged body was simply the crude instrument through which spoke the +marvelous spirit that had enslaved thousands to him, that had enthralled +a state legislature and that had hypnotized a federal jury into giving +him back his freedom when evidence smothered him in crime. He felt +himself sinking in the presence of this man and struggled fiercely to +regain himself. He withdrew his hand and straightened himself like a +soldier. + +"I have come to you with a grievance, Mr. Strang," he began. "A +grievance which I feel sure you will do your best to right. Perhaps you +are aware that some little time ago--about two weeks back--your people +boarded my ship in force and robbed me of several thousand dollars' +worth of merchandise." + +Strang had drawn a step back. + +"Aware of it!" he exclaimed in a voice that shook the room. "Aware of +it!" The red of his face turned purple and he clenched his free hand in +sudden passion. "Aware of it!" He repeated the words, this time so +gently that Nathaniel could scarcely hear them, and tapped his heavy +stick upon the floor. "No, Captain Plum, I was not aware of it. If I +_had_ been--" He shrugged his thick shoulders. The movement, and a +sudden gleam of his teeth through his beard, were expressive enough for +Nathaniel to understand. + +Then the king smiled. + +"Are you sure--are you _quite_ sure, Captain Plum, that it was my people +who attacked your ship? If so, of course you must have some proof?" + +"We were very near to Beaver Island and many miles from the mainland," +said Nathaniel. "It could only have been your people." + +"Ah!" + +Strang led the way to a table at the farther end of the room and +motioned Nathaniel to a seat opposite him. + +"We are a much persecuted people, Captain Plum, very much persecuted +indeed." His wonderful voice trembled with a subdued pathos. "We have +answered for many sins that have never been ours, Captain Plum, and +among them are robbery, piracy and even murder. The people along the +coasts are deadly enemies to us--who would be their friends; they commit +crimes in our name and we do not retaliate. It was not my people who +waylaid your vessel. They were fishermen, probably, who came from the +Michigan shore and awaited their opportunity off Beaver Island. But I +shall investigate this; believe me, I shall investigate this fully, +Captain Plum!" + +Nathaniel felt something like a great choking fist shoot up into his +throat. It was not a sensation of fear but of humiliation--the +humiliation of defeat, the knowledge of his own weakness in the hands of +this man who had so quickly and so surely blocked his claim. His quick +brain saw the futility of argument. He possessed no absolute proof and +he had thought that he needed none. Strang saw the flash of doubt in his +face, the hesitancy in his answer; he divined the working of the other's +brain and in his soft voice, purring with friendship, he followed up his +triumph. + +"I sympathize with you," he spoke gently, "and my sympathy and word +shall help you. We do not welcome strangers among us, for strangers have +usually proved themselves our enemies and have done us wrong. But to you +I give the freedom of our kingdom. Search where you will, at what hours +you will, and when you have found a single proof that your stolen +property is among my people--when you have seen a face that you +recognize as one of the robbers, return to me and I shall make +restitution and punish the evil-doers." + +So intensely he spoke, so filled with reason and truth were his words, +that Nathaniel thrust out his hand in token of acceptance of the king's +terms. And as Strang gripped that hand Captain Plum saw the young girl's +face over the prophet's shoulder--a face, white as death in its terror, +that told him all he had heard was a lie. + +"And when you have done with my people," continued the king, "you will +go among that other race, along the mainland, where men have thrown off +the restraints of society to give loose reign to lust and avarice; where +the Indian is brutified that his wife may be intoxicated by compulsion +and prostituted by violence before his eyes; where the forest cabins and +the streets of towns are filled with half-breeds; where there stalk +wretches with withered and tearless eyes, who are in nowise troubled by +recollection of robbery, rape and murder. And _there_ you will find whom +you are looking for!" + +Strang had risen to his feet. His eyes blazed with the fire of smothered +hatred and passion and his great voice rolled through his beard, +tremulous with excitement, but still deep and rich, like the booming of +some melodious instrument. He flung aside his hat as he paced back and +forth; his shaggy hair fell upon his shoulders; huge veins stood out +upon his forehead--and Nathaniel sat mute as he watched this lion of a +man whose great throat quivered with the power that might have stirred a +nation--that might have made him president instead of king. He waited +for the thunder of that throat and his nerves keyed themselves to meet +its bursting passion. But when Strang spoke again it was in a voice as +soft and as gentle as a woman's. + +"Those are the men who have vilified us, Captain Plum; who have covered +us with crimes that we have never committed; who have driven our people +into groups that they may be free from depredation; who watch like +vultures to despoil our women; wild wifeless men, Captain Plum, who have +left families and character behind them and who have sought the +wilderness to escape the penalties of law and order. It is they who +would destroy us. Go among my own people first, Captain Plum, and find +your lost property if you can; and if you can not discover it where in +seven years not one child has been born out of wedlock, seek among the +Lamanites--and my sheriffs shall follow where you place the crime!" + +He had stretched out his arms like one whose plea was of life and death; +his face shone with earnestness; his low words throbbed as if his heart +were borne upon them for the inspection of its truth and honor. He was +Strang the tragedian, the orator, the conqueror of a legislature, a +governor, a dozen juries--and of human souls. And as he stood silent for +a moment in this attitude Nathaniel rose to his feet, subservient, and +believing as others had believed in the fitness of this man. But as his +eyes traveled a dozen paces beyond, he saw the young girl gesturing to +him in that same terror, and holding up for him to see a slip of paper +upon which she had written. And when she had caught his eyes she +crumpled the paper into a shapeless ball and tossed it just over the +landing to the ground below the stair. + +"I thank you for the privileges of the island which you have offered +me," said Nathaniel, putting on his hat, "and I shall certainly take +advantage of your kindness for a few hours, as I want very much to +witness one of your ceremonies which I understand is to take place +to-day. Then, if I have discovered nothing, I shall return to my ship." + +"Ah, you wish to see the whipping?" The king smiled his approval. "That +is one way we have of punishing slight misdemeanors in our kingdom, +Captain Plum. It is an illustration of our intolerance of evil-doers." +He turned suddenly toward the girl. "Winnsome, my dear, have you copied +the paper I was at work on? I wish to show it to Captain Plum." + +He walked slowly toward her and for the first time since her warning +Nathaniel had an opportunity of observing the girl without fear of +being perceived by the prophet. She was very young, hardly more than a +child he would have guessed at first; and yet at a second and more +careful glance he knew that she could not be under fifteen--perhaps +sixteen. Her whole attire was one to add to her childish appearance. Her +hair, which was rather short, fell in lustrous dark curls about her face +and upon her neck. She wore a fitted coat-like blouse, and knee skirts +which disclosed a pretty pair of legs and ankles. As Strang was +returning with the paper which she handed to him the girl turned her +face to Captain Plum. Her mouth was formed into a round red O and she +pointed anxiously to where she had thrown the note. The king's eyes were +on his paper and Nathaniel nodded to assure her that he understood. + +"I am like a gardener who compels every passing neighbor to go into his +back yard and admire his first sprouts," laughed the prophet jovially. +"In other words, I do a little writing, and I take a kind of childish +joy in making other people read it. But I see this is not in proper +shape, so you have escaped. It is a brief history of Beaver Island +written at the request of the Smithsonian Institute, which has already +published an article of mine. If you happen to be on the island +to-morrow and should you return to this office I shall certainly have +you read it if I have to call all of my sheriffs into service!" + +He laughed with such open good-humor that Nathaniel found himself +smiling despite the varied unpleasant sensations within him. "Do you +write much?" he asked. + +"I get out a daily paper," said the king rather proudly, "and of course, +as prophet, I am the translator of what word may be handed down to us +from Heaven for the direction and commandment of my people. I hold the +secret of the Urim and Thummin, which was first delivered by angels into +the hands of Joseph, and with it have revealed the word of God as it +appears in a book which I have written. Ah--I had forgotten this!" From +among a mass of papers and books on the table he drew forth a +blue-covered pamphlet and passed it to his companion. "I have only a few +copies left but you may have this one, Captain Plum. It will surely +interest you. In it I have set forth the troubles existing between my +own people and the cyprian-rotted criminals that infest Mackinac and the +mainland and have described our struggle for chastity and honor against +these human vultures. It was published two years ago. But conditions are +different to-day. Now--now I am king, and the oppressors in the filth of +their crime have become the oppressed!" + +The last words boomed from him in a slogan of triumph and as if in +echoing mockery there came from the open door the chuckling, mirthless +laugh of Obadiah Price. + +"Yea--yea--even into the land of the Lamanites are you king!" + +At the sound of his voice Strang turned toward him and the sonorous +triumph that rumbled in his throat faded to a low greeting. And +Nathaniel saw that the little old councilor's eyes glittered boldly as +they met the prophet's and that in their glance was neither fear nor +servitude but rather a light as of master meeting master. The two +advanced and clasped hands and a few low words passed between them while +Nathaniel went to the door. + +"I will go with you, Captain Nathaniel Plum," called Obadiah. "I will go +with you and show you the town." + +"The councilor will be your friend," added Strang. "To-day he carries +with him that authority from the king." + +He bowed and Nathaniel passed through the door. Looking back he caught a +last warning flash from the girl's eyes. As he hurried down the stair he +heard the councilor pause for an instant upon the landing and taking +advantage of this opportunity he picked up the bit of crumpled paper, +and read these lines: + +"Hurry to your ship. In another hour men will be watching for an +opportunity to kill you. You will never leave the island alive--_unless +you go now_. The girl you saw through the window sends you this +warning." + +He thrust the paper into his coat pocket as Obadiah came up behind him. + +"Ho, ho, Nat, my boy, I have come fast to catch you--I have come fast!" +he whispered. He caught his companion by the arm and Nathaniel felt his +hand trembling violently. "Come this way, Nat--beyond the temple. I have +things to say to you." His voice was strangely unnatural and when +Captain Plum looked down into his face the look in the bead-like eyes +startled him. "Nat, you must hurry away with the package!" + +"So I understand--if I save my skin. Obadiah Price, I have a notion to +kill you!" + +They had passed beyond the huge edifice of logs, and as he stopped, +hidden from the view of the king's office, Nathaniel caught the +councilor's arm in a grip that crushed to the bone. + +"I have a notion to kill you!" he repeated. + +The old man stood unflinching. Not a muscle of his face quivered as the +captain's fingers sank into his flesh. + +"At the first sign of treachery, at the first sign of danger to myself, +I shall shoot you dead!" he finished. + +"You may, Nat, you may. From this moment until you leave the island I +shall be at your side and no harm shall come to you. But if there +should, Nat, or if there should come a moment when you believe that I am +your enemy--shoot me!" There was sincerity in his voice that carried +conviction to Nathaniel's heart and he released his hold upon the +councilor's arm. Regardless of the mystery that surrounded him he +believed in Obadiah. But there rose in his breast a mad desire to choke +this old man into telling him the truth, to force him to reveal the +secrets of this strange plot into which he had been drawn and of which +he knew as little as when he first set foot in Strang's kingdom. Yet he +realized even as the desire formed itself in his brain that such an +effort would be useless. + +"If you had remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I was +your friend," continued Obadiah. "She would have come to you, but +now--it is impossible. You know. You have been warned?" + +Nathaniel drew Winnsome's note from his pocket and read it aloud. +Obadiah smiled gleefully when he noticed how carefully he kept the +handwriting from his eyes. + +"Ah, Nat, you are a noble fellow!" he cried, rubbing his hands in his +old tireless way. "You would not betray pretty little Winn, eh? And who +do you suppose told Winnsome to give you this note?" + +"Strang's wife." + +"Yea, even so. And it was she who set my old legs a-running for you, my +boy. Come, let us move!" + +The little councilor was his old self again, chuckling and grimacing and +rubbing his hands, and his eyes danced as he spoke of the girl. + +"Casey is not a cautious man," he gurgled with a sudden upward leer. +"Casey is a fool!" + +"Casey!" almost shouted Captain Plum. "What the devil do you mean?" + +"Ho, ho, ho--haven't you guessed the truth yet, Nat? While you and I +were getting acquainted last night a couple of fishermen from the +mainland dropped alongside your sloop. They had been robbed by the +Mormon pirates! They cursed Strang. They swore vengeance. And your +cautious Casey cursed with 'em, and fed 'em, and drank with 'em--and he +would have had them stay until morning only they were anxious to hurry +with their report to Strang. Understand, Nat? Eh? Do you understand?" + +"What did Casey tell them?" gasped Nathaniel. + +Obadiah hunched his shoulders. + +"Enough to warrant a bullet through your head, Nat. Cheerful, isn't it? +But we'll fool them, Nat, we'll fool them! You shall board your ship and +hurry away with the package, and then you shall make love to Strang's +wife--_for she will go with you!_" + +He stopped to enjoy the amazement that was written in every lineament of +the other's face. The red blood surged into Nathaniel's neck and +deepened on his bronze cheeks. Slowly the reaction came. When he spoke +there was an uneasy gleam in his eyes and his voice was as hard as +steel. + +"She will go with me, Councilor! And why?" + +Obadiah had laughed softly as he watched the change. Suddenly he jerked +himself erect. + +"Sh-h-h!" he whispered. "Keep cool, Nat! Don't show any excitement or +fear. Here comes the man who is to kill you!" + +He made no move save with his eyes. + +"He is coming to speak with me and to get a good look at you," he added +in excited haste. "Appear friendly. Agree with what I say. He is the +chief of sheriffs, the king's murderer--Arbor Croche!" + +He turned as if he had just seen the approaching figure. And he +whispered softly, "Winnsome's father!" + +Arbor Croche! Nathaniel gave an involuntary shudder as he turned with +Obadiah. Croche, chief of sheriffs, scourge of the mainland--the Attila +of the Mormon kingdom, whose very name caused the women of the shores to +turn white and on whose head the men had secretly set a price in gold! +Without knowing it his hand went under his coat. Obadiah saw the +movement and as he advanced to meet the officer of the king he jerked +the arm back fiercely. Half a dozen paces away the chief of sheriffs +paused and bowed low. But the councilor stood erect, as he had stood +before the king, smiling and nodding his head. + +"Ah, Croche," he greeted, "good morning!" + +"Good morning, Councilor!" + +"Sheriff, I would have you meet Captain Nathaniel Plum, master of the +sloop _Typhoon_. Captain Plum this is His Majesty's officer, Arbor +Croche!" + +The two men advanced and shook hands. Nathaniel stood half a head above +the sheriff, who, like his master, the king, was short and of massive +build, though a much younger man. He was a dark lowering hulk of a +creature, with black eyes, black hair, and a hand-clasp that showed him +possessed of great strength. + +"You are a stranger, Captain Plum?" + +The councilor replied quickly. + +"He has never been at St. James before, sheriff. I have invited him to +stay over to see the whipping. By the way--" he shot a suggestive look +at the Officer. "By the way, Croche, I want you to see him safely aboard +his sloop to-night. His ship is at the lower end of the island, and if +you will detail a couple of men just before dusk--an escort, you know--" + +Nathaniel felt a curious thrill creep up his spine at the satisfaction +which betrayed itself in the officer's black face. + +"It will give me great pleasure, Councilor," he interrupted. "I shall +escort you myself if you will allow me, Captain Plum!" + +"Thank you," said Nathaniel. + +"Captain Plum is to remain with me throughout the day," added Obadiah. +"Come at seven--to my place. Ah, I see that people are assembling near +the jail!" + +"We have changed our plans somewhat, Councilor." The officer turned to +Nathaniel. "You will see the whipping within half an hour, Captain +Plum." He turned away with another bow to the councilor and hastened in +the direction of Strang's office. + +"So that is the gentleman who thinks he is going to put a bullet through +me!" exclaimed Nathaniel when the officer had gone beyond hearing. He +laughed, and there was a kind of wild expectant joy in his voice. +"Obadiah, can you not make arrangements for him to go with me alone?" + +"He will not go with you at all, Nat," gloated the old man. "Ho, ho, we +are playing at his own game--treachery. When he calls at my place you +will be aboard ship." + +"But I should like to have a talk with him--alone, and in the woods. +God--I know a man at Grand Traverse Bay whose wife and daughter--" + +"Sh-h-h-h!" interrupted the councilor. "Would you kill little Winnsome's +father?" + +"Her father? That animal! That murderer! Is it true?" + +"But you should have seen her mother, Nat, you should have seen her +mother!" The old man twisted his hands, like a miser ravished by the +sight of gold. "She was beautiful--as beautiful as a wild flower, and +she killed herself three years ago to save the birth of another child +into this hell. Little Winn is like her mother, Nat." + +"And she lives with him?" + +"Er, yes--and guarded, oh, so carefully guarded by Strang, Nat! Yes, I +guess that some day she will be a queen." + +"Great God!" cried the young man. "And you--you live in this cesspool of +sin and still believe in a Heaven?" + +"Yes, I believe in a Heaven. And my reward there shall be great. Ho, ho, +I am taking no middle road, Nat!" + +They had passed in a semicircle beyond the temple and now approached a +squat building constructed of logs, which Obadiah had pointed out as the +jail. A glance satisfied Nathaniel that it was so situated that an +admirable view of the proceedings could be obtained from the rear of the +structure in which Strang had his office. Several score of people had +already assembled about the prison and stood chatting with that tense +interest and anticipation with which the mob always awaits public +infliction of the law's penalties. A third of them were women. As +Nathaniel had previously noted, the feminine part of the Mormon +population wore their hair either in braids down their backs or in thick +curls flowing over their shoulders and with the exception of three or +four were attired in skirts that just concealed their knees. Obadiah +halted his companion close to a group of half a dozen of these women and +nudged him slyly. + +"Pretty sight, eh, Nat?" he chuckled. "Ah, the king has a wonderful eye +for beauty, Nat--wonderful eye! He orders that no skirt shall fall below +the female knee. Ho, ho, if he dared, if he _quite_ dared, Nat!" + +He nudged Nathaniel again with such enthusiasm that the latter jumped as +though a knife had been thrust between his ribs. + +"By George, I admire his taste!" he laughed. The women caught him +staring at them, and one, who was the youngest and prettiest of the lot, +smiled invitingly. + +"Tush--the Jezebel!" snapped Obadiah, catching the look. "That's her +child playing just beyond." + +The young woman tossed her head and her white teeth gleamed in a laugh, +as though she had overheard the old councilor's words. + +"See her twist her hair," he snarled venomously as the young woman, +still boldly eying Nathaniel, played with the luxuriant curls that +glistened in the sun upon her breast. "Ezra Wilton is so fond of her +that he will take no other wife. Ugh, Strang is a fool!" + +Nathaniel turned away from the smiling eyes with a shrug. + +"Why?" + +"To tell our women that it helps to save their souls to wear short +skirts and let their hair hang down. For every soul of a woman that it +saves it sends two men on the road to hell!" + +So intense was the old man's displeasure and so ludicrous the twisting +contortions of his face that Nathaniel could hardly restrain himself +from bursting into a roar of laughter. Obadiah perceived his inclination +and with an angry bob of his head led the way through to the inner edge +of the waiting circle of men. Within this circle, in a small open space, +was a short post with straps attached to an arm nailed across it, and +leaning upon this post in an attitude of one who possesses a most +distinguished office was a young man with a three thonged whip in his +hand. An ominous silence pervaded the circle, with the exception of the +hushed whispering of a number of women who had forced themselves into +the line of spectators, bent upon witnessing the sight of blood as well +as hearing the sound of lashes. Nathaniel noticed that most of the women +hung in frightened curiosity beyond the men. + +"That is MacDougall with the lash--official whipper and caretaker of the +slave hounds," explained Obadiah in a whisper. + +Nathaniel gave a start of horror. + +"Slave hounds!" he breathed. + +The councilor grinned and twisted his hands, in enjoyment of his +companion's surprise. + +"We have the finest pack of bloodhounds north of Louisiana," he +continued, so low that only Nathaniel could hear. "See! Isn't the earth +worn smooth and hard about that post?" + +Nathaniel looked and his blood grew hot. + +"I have seen such things in the South," he said. "But not--for white +men!" + +The councilor caught him by the arm. + +"They are coming!" + +In the direction of the jail the crowd was separating. Men crushed back +on each side, forming a narrow aisle, even the whispering of the women +ceased. A moment later three men appeared in the opening between the +spectators. One of these, who walked between the other two, was stripped +to the waist. About each of his naked wrists was tied a leather thong +and these thongs were held by the man's guards. The prisoner's face was +livid; his hands were red with blood that dripped from his lacerated +wrists; his eyes glared malignantly and his heaving chest showed that +he had not been brought from the log prison without a struggle. + +"Ah, it's Wittle first!" breathed the councilor. "It's he who said his +wife should not wear short skirts." + +At the edge of the circle the prisoner hesitated and the muscles in his +arms and chest grew rigid. Those of the crowd nearest to him drew back. +Then a sudden change swept over the man's features and he walked quickly +to the stake and kneeled before it. The thongs about his wrists were +tied to the straps of the cross-piece and the whipper took his position. +As the first lash fell, a cry burst from the lips of the victim. When +the whip descended again he was silent. A curious sensation of sickness +crept over Nathaniel as he saw the red gashes thicken on the white +flesh. Five times--six times--seven times the whip rose and fell and he +could see the blood starting. In horror he turned his eyes away. Behind +him a man grinned at the whiteness of his face and the involuntary +trembling of his lips. Again and again he heard the lash fall upon the +naked back. From near him there came the sobbing moan of a woman. A +subdued movement, a sound as of murmuring wordless voices swept through +the throng. A steady glitter filled the eyes of the man who had laughed +at him--and he turned again to the stake. The man's back was dripping +blood. Great red seams lay upon his shoulders and a single lash had cut +his bowed neck. Another stroke, more fierce than the others, and +MacDougall turned away from the figure at the post, breathing hard. The +guards unfastened the victim's wrist-thongs and the man staggered to his +feet. As he swayed down through the path that opened for him his crimson +back shone in the sun. + +"Great God!" gasped Nathaniel. + +He turned to Obadiah and was startled by the appearance of the old man. +The councilor's face was ghastly. His mouth twitched and his body +trembled. Nathaniel took his arm sympathetically. + +"Hadn't we better go, Dad?" he whispered. + +"No--no--no--not yet, Nat. It's--it's--Neil now and I must see how the +boy--stands it!" + +It was but a short time before the guards returned. This time their +prisoner walked free and erect. The thongs dangled from his wrists and +he was a pace ahead of the two men who accompanied him. He was a young +man. Nathaniel judged his age at twenty-five. He was a striking contrast +to the man who had suffered first at the post. His face instead of +betraying the former's pallor was flushed with excitement; his head was +held high; not a sign of fear or hesitation shone in his eyes. As he +glanced quickly around the circle of faces the flush grew deeper in his +cheeks. He nodded and smiled at MacDougall and in that nod and smile +there was a meaning that sent a shiver to the whip-master's heart. Then +his eyes fell upon Obadiah and Nathaniel. He saw the councilor's hand +resting upon the young captain's arm and a flash of understanding passed +over his face. For an instant the eyes of the two young men met. The man +at the post took half a step forward. His lips moved as if he was on the +point of speaking, the defiant smile went out of his face, the flush +faded in his cheeks. Then he turned quickly and held out his hands to +the guards. + +As the young man kneeled before the post Nathaniel heard a smothered sob +at his side which he knew came from Obadiah. + +"Come, Dad," he said softly. "I can't stand this. Let's get away!" + +He shoved the councilor back. The lash whistled through the air behind +him. As it fell there came a piercing cry. It was a woman's voice, and +with a snarl like that of a tortured animal the old man struck down +Nathaniel's arm and clawed his way back to the edge of the line. On the +opposite side there was a surging in the crowd and as MacDougall raised +his whip a woman burst through. + +"My God!" cried Nathaniel, "it's--" + +He left the rest of the words unspoken. His veins leaped with fire. A +single sweep of his powerful arms and he had forced himself through the +innermost line of spectators. Within a dozen feet of him stood Strang's +wife, her beautiful hair disheveled, her face deadly white, her bosom +heaving as if she had been running. In a moment her eyes had taken in +the situation--the man at the stake, the upraised lash--and Nathaniel. +With a sobbing, breathless cry, she flung herself in front of MacDougall +and threw her arms around the kneeling man, her hair covering him in a +glistening veil. For an instant her eyes were raised to Nathaniel and he +saw in them that same agonized appeal that had called to him through the +king's window. The striking muscles of his arms tightened like steel. +One of the guards sprang forward and caught the girl roughly by the arm +and attempted to drag her away. In his excitement he pulled her head +back and her hair trailed in the dirt. The sight was maddening. From +Nathaniel's throat there came a fierce cry and in a single leap he had +cleared the distance to the guard and had driven his fist against the +officer's head with the sickening force of a sledge-hammer. The man fell +without a groan. In another flash he had drawn his knife and severed the +thongs that held the man at the stake. For a moment his face was very +near the girl's and he saw her lips form the glad cry which he did not +wait to hear. + +He turned like an enraged beast toward the circle of dumfounded +spectators and launched himself at the second guard. From behind him +there sounded a shout and he caught the gleam of naked shoulders as the +man who had been at the stake rushed to his side. Together they tore +through the narrow rim of the crowd, striking at the faces which +appeared before them, their terrific blows driving men right and left. + +"This way, Neil!" shouted Nathaniel. "This way--to the ship!" + +They raced up the slope that led from the town to the forest. Even the +king's officer, palsied by the suddenness of the attack, had not +followed. From a screened window in the king's building two men had +witnessed the exciting scene near the jail. One of these men was Strang. +The other was Arbor Croche. At another window a few feet away, hidden +from their eyes by a high desk and masses of papers and books, Winnsome +Croche was crumpled up on the floor hardly daring to breathe through +fear of betraying her presence. From these windows they had seen the +girl run from behind the jail; they had watched her struggle through the +line of spectators, saw Nathaniel leap forward--saw the quick blow, the +gleaming knife, and the escape. So suddenly had it all occurred that not +a sound escaped the two astonished men. But as Nathaniel and Neil burst +through the crowd and sped toward the forest Strang's great voice +boomed forth like the rumble of a gun. + +"Arbor Croche, overtake those men--and kill them!" + +With a wild curse the chief of sheriffs dashed down the stairway and as +she heard him go the terror of Winnsome's heart seemed to turn her blood +cold. She knew what that command meant. She knew that her father would +obey it. As the daughter of the chief of sheriffs more than one burning +secret was hidden in her breast, more than one of those frightful +daggers that had pricked at the soul of her mother until they had +murdered her. And the chief of them all was this: that to Arbor Croche +the words of Strang were the words of God and that if the prophet said +kill, he would kill. For a full minute she crouched in her concealment, +stunned by the horror that had so quickly taken the place of the joy +with which she had witnessed the escape. She heard Strang leave the +window, heard his heavy steps in the outer room, heard the door close, +and knew that he, too, was gone. She sprang to her feet and ran to the +window at which the two men had stood. The chief of sheriffs was already +at the jail. The crowd had begun to disperse. Men were swarming like +ants up the long slope reaching to the forest. Three or four of the +leaders were running and she knew that they were hot in pursuit of the +fugitives. Others were following more slowly and among these she saw +that there were women. As she looked there came a sound from the stair. +She recognized the step. She recognized the voice that called her name a +moment later and with a despairing cry she turned with outstretched arms +to greet the girl for whom Nathaniel had interrupted the king's +whipping. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +THE MYSTERY + + +Hardly had Nathaniel fought his way through the thin crowd of startled +spectators about the whipping-post before the enormity of his offense in +interrupting the king's justice dawned upon him. He was not sorry that +he had responded to the mute appeal of the girl who had entered so +strangely into his life. He rejoiced at the spirit that had moved him to +action, that had fired his blood and put the strength of a giant in his +arms; and his nerves tingled with an unreasoning joy that he had leaped +all barriers which in cooler moments would have restrained him, and +which fixed in his excited brain only the memory of the beautiful face +that had sought his own in those crucial moments of its suffering. The +girl had turned to him and to him alone among all those men. He had +heard her voice, he had felt the soft sweep of her hair as he severed +the prisoner's thongs, he had caught the flash of her eyes and the +movement of her lips as he dashed himself into the crowd. And as he sped +swiftly up the slope he considered himself amply repaid for all that he +had done. His blood was stirred as if by the fire of sharp wines; he was +still in a tension of fighting excitement. Yet no sooner had he fought +himself clear of the mob than his better judgment leaped into the +ascendency. If danger had been lurking for him before it was doubly +threatening now and he was sufficiently possessed of the common spirit +of self-preservation to exult at the speed with which he was enabled to +leave pursuit behind. A single glance over his shoulder assured him that +the man whom he had saved from the prophet's wrath was close at his +heels. His first impulse was to direct his flight toward Obadiah's +cabin; his second to follow the path that led to his ship. At this hour +some of his men would surely be awaiting him in a small boat and once +aboard the _Typhoon_ he could continue his campaign against the Mormon +king with better chances of success than as a lone fugitive on the +island. Besides, he knew what Casey would do at sundown. + +At the top of the slope he stopped and waited for the other to come up +to him. + +"I've got a ship off there," he called, pointing inland. "Take a short +cut for the point at the head of the island. There's a boat waiting for +us!" + +Neil came up panting. He was breathing so hard that for a moment he +found it impossible to speak but in his eyes there was a look that told +his unbounded gratitude. They were clear, fearless eyes, with the blue +glint of steel in them and, as he held out his hands to Nathaniel, they +were luminous with the joy of his deliverance. + +"Thank you, Captain Plum!" + +He spoke his companion's name with the assurance of one who had known +it for a long time. "If they loose the dogs there will be no time for +the ship," he added, with a suggestive hunch of his naked shoulders. +"Follow me!" + +There was no alarm in his voice and Nathaniel caught the flashing gleam +of white teeth as Neil smiled grimly back at him, running in the lead. +From the man's eyes the master of the _Typhoon_ had sized up his +companion as a fighter. The smile--daring, confident, and yet signaling +their danger--assured him that he was right, and he followed close +behind without question. A dozen rods up the path Neil turned into a +dense thicket of briars and underbrush and for ten minutes they plunged +through the pathless jungle. Now and then Nathaniel saw the three red +stripes of the whipper's lash upon the bare shoulders of the man ahead +and to these every step seemed to add new wounds made by the thorns. As +they came out upon an old roadway the captain stripped off his coat and +Neil thrust himself into it as they ran. + +Even in these first minutes of their flight Nathaniel was thrilled by +another thought than that of the peril behind them. Whom had he saved? +Who was this clear-eyed young fellow for whom the girl had so openly +sacrificed herself at the whipping-post, about whom she had thrown her +arms and covered with the protection of her glorious hair? With his joy +at having served her there was mingled a chilling doubt as these +questions formed themselves in his mind. Obadiah's vague suggestions, +the scene in the king's room, the night visits of the girl to the +councilor's cabin--and last of all this incident at the jail flashed +upon him now with another meaning, with a significance that slowly +cooled the enthusiasm in his veins. He was sure that he was near the +solution of the mysterious events in which he had become involved, and +yet this knowledge brought with it something of apprehension, something +which made him anticipate and yet dread the moment when the fugitive +ahead would stop in his flight, and he might ask him those questions +which would at least relieve him of his burden of doubt. They had +traveled a mile through forest unbroken by path or road when Neil halted +on the edge of a little stream that ran into a swamp. Pointing into the +tangled fen with a confident smile he plunged to his waist in the water +and waded slowly through the slough into the gloom of the densest alder. +A few minutes later he turned in to the shore and the soft bog gave +place to firm ground. Before Nathaniel had cleared the stream he saw his +companion drop to his knees beside a fallen log and when he came up to +him he was unwrapping a piece of canvas from about a gun. With a warning +gesture he rose to his feet and for twenty seconds the men stood and +listened. No sound came to them but the chirp of a startled squirrel and +the barking of a dog in the direction of St. James. + +"They haven't turned out the dogs yet," said Neil, holding a hand +against his heaving chest. "If they do they can't reach us through that +slough." He leaned his rifle against the log and again thrusting an arm +into the place where it had been concealed drew forth a small box. + +"Powder and ball--and grub!" he laughed. "You see I am a sort of +revolutionist and have my hiding-places. To-morrow--I will be a martyr." +He spoke as quietly as though his words but carried a careless jest. + +"A martyr?" laughed Nathaniel, looking down into the smiling, sweating +face. + +"Yes, to-morrow I shall kill Strang." + +There was no excitement in Neil's voice as he stood erect. The smile did +not leave his lips. But in his eyes there shone that which neither words +nor smiling lips revealed, a reckless, blazing fury hidden deep in +them--so deep that Nathaniel stared to assure himself what it was. The +other saw the doubt in his face. + +"To-morrow I shall kill Strang," he repeated. "I shall kill him with +this gun from under the window of his house through which you saw +Marion." + +"Marion!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "Marion--" He leaned forward eagerly, +questioning. "Tell me--" + +"My sister, Captain Plum!" + +It seemed to Nathaniel that every fiber in his body was stretched to the +breaking point. He reached out, dazed by what he had heard and with both +hands seized Neil's arm. + +"Your sister--who came to you at the whipping-post?" + +"That was Marion." + +"And--Strang's wife?" + +"No!" cried Neil. "No--not his wife!" He drew back from Nathaniel's +touch as if the question had stabbed him to the heart. The passion that +had slumbered in his eyes burst into savage flame and his face became +suddenly terrible to look upon. There was hatred there such as Nathaniel +had never seen; a ferocious, pitiless hatred that sent a shuddering +thrill through him as he stood before it. After a moment the clenched +fist that had risen above Neil's head dropped to his side. Half +apologetically he held out his hand to his companion. + +"Captain Plum, we've got a lot to thank you for, Marion and I," he said, +a tremble of the passing emotion in his voice. "Obadiah told Marion that +help might come to us through you and Marion brought the word to me at +the jail late last night--after she had seen you at the window. The old +councilor kept his word! You have saved her!" + +"Saved her!" gasped Nathaniel. "From what? How?" A hundred questions +seemed leaping from his heart to his lips. + +"From Strang. Good God, don't you understand? I tell you that I am going +to kill Strang!" + +Neil stood as though appalled by his companion's incomprehension. "I am +going to kill Strang, I tell you!" he cried again, the fire burning +deeper through the sweat of his cheeks. + +Nathaniel's bewilderment still shone in his face. + +"She is not Strang's wife," he spoke softly, as if to himself. "And she +is not--" His face flushed as he nearly spoke the words. "Obadiah lied!" +He looked squarely into Neil's eyes. "No, I don't understand you. The +councilor said that she--that Marion was Strang's wife. He told me +nothing more than that, nothing of her trouble, nothing about you. Until +this moment I have been completely mystified. Only her eyes led me to +do--what I did at the jail." + +Neil gazed at him in astonishment. + +"Obadiah told--you--nothing?" he asked incredulously. + +"Not a word about you or Marion except that Marion was the king's +seventh wife. But he hinted at many things and kept me on the trail, +always expecting, always watching, and yet every hour was one of +mystery. I am in the darkest of it at this instant. What does it all +mean? Why are you going to kill Strang? Why--" + +Neil interrupted him with a cry so poignant in its wretchedness that +the last question died upon his lips. + +"I thought that the councilor had told you all," he said. "I thought you +knew." The disappointment in his voice was almost despair. "Then--it was +only accidentally--you helped us?" + +"Only accidentally that I helped _you_--yes! But Marion--" Nathaniel +crushed Neil's hand in both his own and his eyes betrayed more than he +would have said. "I've got an armed ship and a dozen men out there and +if I can help Marion by blowing up St. James--I'll do it!" + +For a time only the tense breathing of the two broke the silence of +their lips. They looked into each other's face, Nathaniel with all the +eagerness of the passion with which Marion had stirred his soul, Neil +half doubting, as if he were trying to find in this man's eyes the +friendship which he had not questioned a few minutes before. + +"Obadiah told you nothing?" he asked again, as if still unbelieving. + +"Nothing." + +"And you have not seen Marion--to talk with her?" + +"No." + +Nathaniel had dropped his companion's hand, and now Neil walked to the +log and sat down with his face turned in the direction from which their +pursuers must come if they entered the swamp. + +Suddenly the memory of Obadiah's note shot into Nathaniel's head, the +councilor's admonition, his allusion to a visitor. With this memory +there recurred to him Obadiah's words at the temple, "If you had +remained at the cabin, Nat, you would have known that I was your friend. +She would have come to you, but now--it is impossible." For the first +time the truth began to dawn upon him. He went and sat down beside Neil. + +"I am beginning to understand--a little," he said. "Obadiah had planned +that I should meet Marion, but I was a fool and spoiled his scheme. If I +had done as he told me I should have seen her this morning." + +In a few words he reviewed the events of the preceding evening and of +that morning--of his coming to the island, his meeting with Obadiah, and +of the singular way in which he had become interested in Marion. He +omitted the oaths but told of Winnsome's warning and of his interview +with the Mormon king. When he spoke of the girl as he had seen her +through the king's window, and of her appealing face turned to him at +the jail, his voice trembled with an excitement that deepened the flush +in Neil's cheeks. + +"Captain Plum, I thank God that you like Marion," he said simply. "After +I kill Strang will you help her?" + +"Yes." + +"You are willing to risk--" + +"My life--my men--my ship!" + +Nathaniel spoke like one to whom there had been suddenly opened the +portals to a great joy. He sprang to his feet and stood before Neil, his +whole being throbbing with the emotions which had been awakened within +him. + +"Good God, why don't you tell me what her peril is?" he cried, no longer +restraining himself. "Why are you going to kill Strang? Has he--has +he--" His face flamed with the question which he dared not finish. + +"No--not that!" interrupted Neil. "He has never laid a hand on Marion. +She hates him as she hates the snakes in this swamp. And yet--next +Sunday she is to become his seventh wife!" + +Nathaniel started as if he had been threatened by a blow. + +"You mean--he is forcing her into his harem?" he asked. + +"No, he can not do that!" exclaimed Neil, the hatred bursting out anew +in his face. "He can not force her into marrying him, and yet--" He +flung his arms above his head in sudden passionate despair. "As there +is a God in Heaven I would give ten years of my life for the secret of +the prophet's power over Marion!" he groaned. "Three months ago her +hatred of him was terrible. She loathed the sight of him. I have seen +her shiver at the sound of his voice. When he asked her to become his +wife she refused him in words that I had believed no person in the +kingdom would dared to have used. Then--less than a month ago--the +change came, and one day she told me that she had made up her mind to +become Strang's wife. From that day her heart was broken. I was +dumfounded. I raged and cursed and even threatened. Once I accused her +of a shameful thing and though I implored her forgiveness a thousand +times I know that she weeps over my brutal words still. But nothing +could change her. On my knees I have pleaded with her, and once she +flung her arms round my shoulders and said, 'Neil, I can not tell you +why I am marrying Strang. But I must.' I went to Strang and demanded an +explanation; I told him that my sister hated him, that the sight of his +face and the sound of his voice filled her with abhorrence, but he only +laughed at me and asked why I objected to becoming the brother-in-law of +a prophet. Day by day I have seen Marion's soul dying within her. Some +terrible secret is gnawing at her heart, robbing her of the very life +which a few weeks ago made her the most beautiful thing on this island; +some dreadful influence is shadowing her every step, and as the day +draws near when she is to join the king's harem I see in her eyes at +times a look that frightens me. There is only one salvation. To-morrow I +shall kill Strang!" + +"And then?" + +Neil shrugged his shoulders. + +"I will shoot him through the abdomen so that he will live to tell his +wives who did the deed. After that I will try to make my escape to the +mainland." + +"And Marion--" + +"Will not marry Strang! Isn't that plain?" + +"You have guessed nothing--no cause for the prophet's power over your +sister?" asked Nathaniel. + +"Absolutely nothing. And yet that influence is such that at times the +thought of it freezes the blood in my veins. It is so great that Strang +did not hesitate to throw me into jail on the pretext that I had +threatened his life. Marion implored him to spare me the disgrace of a +public whipping and he replied by reading to her the commandments of the +kingdom. That was last night--when you saw her through the window. +Strang is madly infatuated with her beauty and yet he dares to go to any +length without fear of losing her. She has become his slave. She is as +completely in his power as though bound in iron chains. And the most +terrible thing about it all is that she has constantly urged me to leave +the island--to go, and never return. Great God, what does it all mean? I +love her more than anything else on earth, we have been inseparable +since the day she was old enough to toddle alone--and yet she would have +me leave her! No power on earth can reveal the secret that is torturing +her. No power can make Strang divulge it." + +"And Obadiah Price!" cried Nathaniel, sudden excitement flashing in his +eyes. "Does he not know?" + +"I believe that he does!" replied Neil, pacing back and forth in his +agitation. "Captain Plum, if there is a man on this island who loves +Marion with all of a father's devotion it is Obadiah Price, and yet he +swears that he knows nothing of the terrible influence which has so +suddenly enslaved her to the prophet! He suggests that it may be +mesmerism, but I--" He interrupted himself with a harsh, mirthless +laugh. "Mesmerism be damned! It's not that!" + +"Your sister--is--a Mormon," ventured Nathaniel, remembering what the +prophet had said to him that morning. "Could it be her faith?--a +message revealed through Strang from--" + +Neil stopped him almost fiercely. + +"Marion is not a Mormon!" he said. "She hates Mormonism as she hates +Strang. I have tried to get her to leave the island with me but she +insists on staying because of the old folk. They are very old, Captain +Plum, and they believe in the prophet and his Heaven as you and I +believe in that blue sky up there. The day before I was arrested I +begged my sister to flee to the mainland with me but she refused with +the words that she had said to me a hundred times before--'Neil, I must +marry the prophet!' Don't you see there is nothing to do--but to kill +Strang?" + +Nathaniel thrust his hand into a pocket of the coat he had loaned to +Neil and drew forth his pipe and tobacco pouch. As he loaded the pipe he +looked squarely into the other's eyes and smiled. + +"Neil," he said softly. "Do you know that you would have made an awful +fool of yourself if I hadn't hove in sight just when I did?" + +He lighted his pipe with exasperating coolness, still smiling over its +bowl. + +"You are not going to kill Strang to-morrow," he added, throwing away +the match and placing both hands on Neil's shoulders. His eyes were +laughing with the joy that shone in them. "Neil, I am ashamed of you! +You have worried a devilish lot over a very simple matter. See here--" +He blew a cloud of smoke over the other's head. "I've learned to demand +some sort of pay for my services since I landed on this island. Will you +promise to be--a sort of brother--to me--if I steal Marion and sail away +with her to-night?" + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +MARION + + +At Nathaniel's astonishing words Neil stood as though struck suddenly +dumb. + +"Don't you see what a very simple case it is?" he continued, enjoying +the other's surprised silence. "You plan to kill Strang to keep Marion +from marrying him. Well, I will hunt up Marion, put her in a bag if +necessary, and carry her to my ship. Isn't that better and safer and +just as sure as murder?" + +The excitement had gone out of Neil's face. The flush slowly faded from +his cheeks and in his eyes there gleamed something besides the +malevolence of a few moments before. As Nathaniel stepped back from him +half laughing and puffing clouds of smoke from his pipe Marion's brother +thrust his hands into his pockets with an exclamation that forcefully +expressed his appreciation of Captain Plum's scheme. + +"I never thought of that," he added, after a moment. "By Heaven, it will +be easy--" + +"So easy that I tell you again I am ashamed of you for not having +thought of it!" cried Nathaniel. "The first thing is to get safely +aboard my ship." + +"We can do that within an hour." + +"And to-night--where will we find Marion?" + +"At home," said Neil. "We live near Obadiah. You must have seen the +house as you came out into the clearing this morning from the forest." + +Nathaniel smiled as he thought of his suspicions of the old councilor. + +"It couldn't be better situated for our work," he said. "Does the forest +run down to the lake on Obadiah's side of the island?" + +"Clear to the beach." + +Neil's face betrayed a sudden flash of doubt. + +"I believe that our place has been watched for some time," he explained. +"I am sure that it is especially guarded at night and that no person +leaves or enters it without the knowledge of Strang. I am certain that +Marion is aware of this surveillance although she professes to be wholly +ignorant of it. It may cause us trouble." + +"Can you reach the house without being observed?" + +"After midnight--yes." + +"Then there is no cause for alarm," declared Nathaniel. "If necessary I +can bring ten men into the edge of the woods. Two can approach the house +as quietly as one and I will go with you. Once there you can tell Marion +that your life depends on her accompanying you to Obadiah's. I believe +she will go. If she won't--" He stretched out his arms as if in +anticipation of the burden they might hold. "If she won't--I'll help you +carry her!" + +"And meanwhile," said Neil, "Arbor Croche's men--" + +"Will be as dead as herring floaters if they show up!" he cried, leaping +two feet off the ground in his enthusiasm. "I've got twelve of the +damnedest fighters aboard my ship that ever lived and ten of them will +be in the edge of the woods!" + +Neil's eyes were shining with something that made Nathaniel turn his own +to the loading of his pipe. + +"Captain Plum, I hope I will be able to repay you for this," he said. +There was a trembling break in his voice and for a moment Nathaniel did +not look up. His own heart was near bursting with the new life that +throbbed within it. When he raised his eyes to his companion's face +again there was a light in them that spoke almost as plainly as words. + +"You haven't accepted my price, yet, Neil," he replied quietly. "I asked +you if you'd--be--a sort of brother--" + +Neil sprang to his side with a fervor that knocked the pipe out of his +hand. + +"I swear that! And if Marion doesn't--" + +Suddenly he jerked himself into a listening attitude. + +"Hark!" + +For a moment the two ceased to breathe. The sound had come to them both, +low, distant. After it there fell a brief hush. Then again, as they +stared questioningly into each other's eyes, it rolled faintly into the +swamp--the deep, far baying of a hound. + +"Ah!" exclaimed Neil, drawing back with a deep breath. "I thought they +would do it!" + +"The bloodhounds!" + +Horror, not fear, sent an involuntary shiver through Nathaniel. + +"They can't reach us!" assured Neil. There was the glitter of triumph in +his eyes. "This was to have been my way of escape after I killed Strang. +A quarter of a mile deeper in the swamp I have a canoe." He picked up +the gun and box and began forcing his way through the dense alder along +the edge of the stream. "I'd like to stay and murder those dogs," he +called back, "but it wouldn't be policy." + +For a time the crashing of their bodies through the dense growth of the +swamp drowned all other sound. Five minutes later Neil stopped on the +edge of a wide bog. The hounds were giving fierce tongue in the forest +on their left and their nearness sent Nathaniel's hand to his pistol. +Neil saw the movement and laughed. + +"Don't like the sound, eh?" he said. "We get used to it on Beaver +Island. They're just about at the place where they tore little Jim +Schredder to pieces a few weeks back. Schredder tried to kill one of the +elders for stealing his wife while he was away on a night's fishing +trip." + +He plunged to his knees in the bog. + +"They caught him just before he reached the swamp," he flung back over +his shoulder. "Two minutes more and he would have been safe." + +Nathaniel, sinking to his knees in the mire, forged up beside him. + +"Lord!" he exclaimed, as a breath of air brought a sudden burst of +blood-curdling cries to them. "If they'd loosed them on us sooner--" + +He shivered at the terrible grimace Neil turned on him. + +"Had they slipped the leashes when we escaped, we would have been with +poor Schredder now, Captain Plum. By the way--" he stopped a moment to +wipe the water and mud from his face, "--three days after they covered +Schredder's bones with muck out there, the elder took Schredder's wife! +She was too pretty for a fisherman." He started on, but halted suddenly +with uplifted hand. No longer could they hear the baying of the dogs. +"They've struck the creek!" said Neil. "Listen!" + +After an interval of silence there came a long mournful howl. + +"Treed--treed or in the water, that's what the howling means. How +Croche and his devils are hustling now!" + +A curse was mingled with Neil's breath as he forced his way through the +bog. Twenty rods farther on they came to a slime covered bit of water on +which was floating a dugout canoe. Immense relief replaced the anxiety +in Nathaniel's face as he climbed into it. At that moment he was willing +to fight a hundred men for Marion's sake, but snakes and bogs and +bloodhounds were entirely outside his pale of argument and he exhibited +no hesitation in betraying this fact to his companion. For a quarter of +a mile Neil forced the dugout through water viscid with slime and rotted +substance before the clearer channel of the creek was reached. As they +progressed the stream constantly became deeper and more navigable until +it finally began to show signs of a current and a little later, under +the powerful impetus of Neil's paddle, the canoe shot from between the +dense shores into the open lake. A mile away Nathaniel discerned the +point of forest beyond which the _Typhoon_ was hidden. He pointed out +the location of the ship to his companion. + +"You are sure there is a small boat waiting for you on the point?" asked +Neil. + +"Yes, since early morning." + +Neil was absorbed in thought for some time as he drove the canoe through +the tall rice grass that grew thick along the edge of the shore. + +"How would it be if I landed you on the point and met you to-night at +Obadiah's?" he asked suddenly. "It is probable that after we get Marion +aboard your ship I will not return to the island again, and it is quite +necessary that I run down the coast for a couple of miles--for--" He did +not finish his reason, but added: "I can make the whole distance in this +rice so there is no danger of being seen. Or you might lie off the point +yonder and I would join you early this evening." + +"That would be a better plan if we must separate," said Nathaniel, whose +voice betrayed the reluctance with which he assented to the project. He +had guessed shrewdly at Neil's motive. "Is it possible that we may have +another young lady passenger?" he asked banteringly. + +There was no answering humor to this in Neil's eyes. + +"I wish we might!" he said quietly. + +"We can!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "My ship--" + +"It is impossible. I am speaking of Winnsome. Arbor Croche's house is in +the heart of the town and guarded by dogs. I doubt if she would go, +anyway. She has always been like a little sister to Marion and me and +she has come to believe--something--as we do. I hate to leave her." + +"Obadiah told me about her mother," ventured Nathaniel. "He said that +some day Winnsome will be a queen." + +"I knew her mother," replied Neil, as though he had not heard +Nathaniel's last words. He looked frankly into the other's face. "I +worshipped her!" + +"Oh-h-h!" + +"From a distance," he hastened. "She was as pure as Winnsome is now. +Little Winn looks like her. Some day she will be as beautiful." + +"She is beautiful now." + +"But she is a mere child. Why, it seems only a year ago that I was +toting her about on my shoulders! And--by George, that was a year before +her mother died! She is sixteen now." + +Nathaniel laughed softly. + +"To-morrow she will be making love, Neil, and before you know it she +will be married and have a family of her own. I tell you she is a +woman--and if you are not a fool you will take her away with Marion." + +With a powerful stroke of his paddle Neil brought the canoe in to the +shore. + +"There!" he whispered. "You have only to cross this point to reach your +boat." He stretched out his long arm and in the silence the two shook +hands. "If you should happen to think of a way--that we might get +Winnsome--" he added, coloring. + +The sudden grip of his companion's fingers made him flinch. + +"We must!" said Nathaniel. + +He climbed ashore and watched Neil until he had disappeared in the wild +rice. Then he turned into the woods. He looked at his watch and saw that +it was only two o'clock. He was conscious of no fatigue; he was not +conscious of hunger. To him the whole world had suddenly opened with +glorious promise and in the still depths of the forest he felt like +singing out his rejoicing. He had never stopped to ask himself what +might be the end of this passion that had overwhelmed him; he lived only +in the present, in the knowledge that Marion was not a wife, and that it +was he whom fate had chosen for her deliverance. He reasoned nothing +beyond the sweet eyes that had called upon him, that had burned their +gratitude, their hope and their despair upon his soul; nothing beyond +the thought that she would soon be free from the mysterious influence of +the Mormon king and that for days and nights after that she would be on +the same ship with him. He had emptied the pockets of the coat he had +given Neil and now he brought forth the old letter which Obadiah had +rescued from the sands. He read it over again as he sat for a few +moments in the cool of the forest and there was no trouble in his face +now. It was from a girl. He had known that girl, years ago, as Neil knew +Winnsome; in years of wandering he had almost forgotten her--until this +letter came. It had brought many memories back to him with shocking +clearness. The old folk were still in the little home under the hill; +they received his letters; they received the money he sent them each +month--but they wanted _him_. The girl wrote with merciless candor. He +had been away four years and it was time for him to return. She told +him why. She wrote what they, in their loving fear of inflicting pain, +would never have dared to say. At the end, in a postscript, she had +asked for his congratulations on her approaching marriage. + +To Nathaniel this letter had been a torment. He saw the truth as he had +never seen it before--that his place was back there in Vermont, with his +father and mother; and that there was something unpleasant in thinking +of the girl as belonging to another. But now matters had changed. The +letter was a hope and inspiration to him and he smoothed it out with +tender care. What a refuge that little home among the Vermont hills +would make for Marion! He trembled at the thought and his heart sang +with the promise of it as he went his way again through the thick growth +of the woods. + +It was half an hour before he came out upon the beach. Eagerly he +scanned the sea. The _Typhoon_ was nowhere in sight and for an instant +the gladness that had been in his heart gave place to a chilling fear. +But the direction of the wind reassured him. Casey had probably moved +beyond the jutting promontory, that swung in the form of a cart wheel +from the base of the point, that he might have sea room in case of +something worse than a stiff breeze. But where was the small boat? With +every step adding to his anxiety Nathaniel hurried along the narrow rim +of beach. He went to the very tip of the point which reached out like +the white forefinger of, a lady's hand into the sea; he passed the spot +where he had lain concealed the preceding day; his breath came faster +and faster; he ran, and called softly, and at last halted in the arch of +the cart wheel with the fear full-flaming in his breast. Over all those +miles of sea there was no sign of the sloop. From end to end of the +point there was no boat. What did it mean? Breathlessly he tore his way +through the strip of forest on the promontory until all Lake Michigan +to the south lay before his eyes. The _Typhoon_ was gone! Was it +possible that Casey had abandoned hope of Nathaniel's return and was +already lying off St. James with shotted gun? The thought sent a shiver +of despair through him. He passed to the opposite side of the point and +followed it foot by foot, but there was no sign of life, no distant +flash of white that might have been the canvas of the sloop _Typhoon_. + +There was only one thing for him to do--wait. So he went to his +hiding-place of the day before and watched the sea with staring eyes. An +hour passed and his still aching vision saw no sign of sail; two +hours--and the sun was falling in a blinding glare over the Wisconsin +wilderness. At last he sprang to his feet with a hopeless cry and stood +for a few moments undecided. Should he wait until night with the hope of +attracting the attention of Neil and joining him in his canoe or should +he hasten in the direction of St. James? In the darkness he might miss +Neil, unless he kept up a constant shouting, which would probably bring +the Mormons down upon him; if he went to St. James there was a +possibility of reaching Casey. He still had faith in Obadiah and he was +sure that the old man would help him to reach his ship; he might even +assist him in his scheme of getting Marion from the island. + +He would go to the councilor's. Having once decided, Nathaniel turned in +the direction of the town, avoiding the use of the path which he and +Obadiah had taken, but following in the forest near enough to use it as +a guide. He was confident that Arbor Croche and his sheriffs were +confining their man-hunt to the swamp, but in spite of this belief he +exercised extreme caution, stopping to listen now and then, with one +hand always near his pistol. A quiet gloom filled the forest and by the +tree-tops he marked the going down of the sun. Nathaniel's ears ached +with their strain of listening for the rumbling roar that would tell of +Casey's attack on St. James. + +Suddenly he heard a crackling in the underbrush ahead of him, a sound +that came not from the strain of listening for the rumbling roar and in +a moment he had dodged into the concealment of the huge roots of an +overturned tree, drawn pistol in hand. Whatever object was approaching +came slowly, as if hesitating at each step--a cautious, stealthy +advance, it struck Nathaniel, and he cocked his weapon. Directly in +front of him, half a stone's throw away, was a dense growth of hazel and +he could see the tops of the slender bushes swaying. Twice this movement +ceased and the second time there came a crashing of brush and a faint +cry. For many minutes after that there was absolute silence. Was it the +cry of an animal that he had heard--or of a man? In either case the +creature who made it had fallen in the thicket and was lying there as +still as if dead. For a quarter of an hour Nathaniel waited and +listened. He could no longer have seen the movement of bushes in the +gathering night-gloom of the forest but his ears were strained to catch +the slightest sound from the direction of the mysterious thing that lay +within less than a dozen rods of him. Slowly he drew himself out from +the shelter of the roots and advanced step by step. Half way to the +thicket a stick cracked loudly under his foot and as the sound startled +the dead quiet of the forest with pistol-shot clearness there came +another cry from the dense hazel, a cry which was neither that of man +nor animal but of a woman; and with an answering shout Nathaniel sprang +forward to meet there in the edge of the thicket the white face and +outstretched arms of Marion. The girl was swaying on her feet. In her +face there was a pallor that even in his instant's glance sent a chill +of horror through the man and as she staggered toward him, half falling, +her lips weakly forming his name Nathaniel leaped to her and caught her +close in his arms. In that moment something seemed to burst within him +and flood his veins with fire. Closer he held the girl, and heavier he +knew that she was becoming in his arms. Her head was upon his breast, +his face was crushed in her hair, he felt her throbbing and breathing +against him and his lips quivered with the words that were bursting for +freedom in his soul. But first there came the girl's own whispered +breath--"Neil--where is Neil?" + +"He is gone--gone from the island!" + +She had become a dead weight now and so he knelt on the ground with her, +her head still upon his breast, her eyes closed, her arms fallen to her +side. And as Nathaniel looked into the face from which all life seemed +to have fled he forgot everything but the joy of this moment--forgot all +in life but this woman against his breast. He kissed her soft mouth and +the closed eyes until the eyes themselves opened again and gazed at him +in a startled, half understanding way, until he drew his head far back +with the shame of what he had dared to do flaming in his face. + +And as for another moment he held her thus, feeling the quivering life +returning in her, there came to him through that vast forest stillness +the distant deep-toned thunder of a great gun. + +"That's Casey!" he whispered close down to the girl's face. His voice +was almost sobbing in its happiness. "That's Casey--firing on St. +James!" + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE + + +For perhaps twenty seconds after the last echoes of the gun had rolled +through the forest the girl lay passive in Nathaniel's arms, so close +that he could feel her heart beating against his own and her breath +sweeping his face. Then there came a pressure against his breast, a +gentle resistance of Marion's half conscious form, and when she had +awakened from her partial swoon he was holding her in the crook of his +arm. It had all passed quickly, the girl had rested against him only so +long as he might have held half a dozen breaths and yet there had been +all of a lifetime in it for Nathaniel Plum, a cycle of joy that he knew +would remain with him for ever. But there was something bitter-sweet in +the thought that she was conscious of what he had done, something of +humiliation as well as gladness, and still not enough of the first to +make him regret that he had kissed her, that he had kissed her mouth and +her eyes. He loved her, and he was glad that in those passing moments he +had betrayed himself. For the first time he noticed that her face was +scratched and that the sleeves of her thin waist were torn to shreds; +and as she drew away from him, steadying herself with a hand on his arm, +his lips were parched of words, and yet he leaned to her eagerly, +everything that he would have said burning in the love of his eyes. +Still irresolute in her faintness the girl smiled at him, and in that +smile there was gentle accusation, the sweetness of forgiveness, and +measureless gratitude, and it was yet light enough for him to see that +with these there had come also a flush into her cheeks and a dazzling +glow into her eyes. + +"Neil has escaped!" she breathed. "And you--" + +"I was going back to you, Marion!" He spoke the words hardly above a +whisper. The beautiful eyes so close to him drew his secret from him +before he had thought. "I am going to take you from the island!" + +With his words there came again that sound of a great gun rolling from +the direction of St. James. With a frightened cry the girl staggered to +her feet, and as she stood swaying unsteadily, her arms half reached to +him, Nathaniel saw only mortal dread in the whiteness of her face. + +"Why didn't you go? Why didn't you go with Neil?" she moaned. Her breath +was coming in sobbing excitement. "Your ship is--at--St. James!" + +"Yes, my ship is at St. James, Marion!" His voice was tremulous with +triumph, with gladness, with a tenderness which he could not control. He +put an arm half round her waist to support her trembling form and to his +joy she did not move away from him. His hand was buried in the richness +of her loose hair. He bent until his lips touched her silken tresses. +"Neil has told me everything--about you," he added softly. "My ship is +bombarding St. James, and I am going to take you from the island!" + +Not until then did Marion free herself from his arm and then so gently +that when she stood facing him he felt no reproof. No longer did shame +send a flush into his face. He had spoken his love, though not in words, +and he knew that the girl understood him. It did not occur to him in +these moments that he had known this girl for only a few hours, that +until now a word had never passed between them. He was conscious only +that he had loved her from the time he saw her through the king's +window, that he had risked his life for her, and that she knew why he +had leaped into the arena at the whipping-post. + +The words she spoke now came like a dash of cold water in his face. + +"Your ship is not bombarding St. James, Captain Plum!" she exclaimed. +Darkness hid the terror in her face but he could hear the tremble of it +in her voice. "The _Typhoon_ has been captured by the Mormons and those +guns are--guns of triumph--and not--" She caught her breath in a +convulsive sob. "I want you to go--I want you to go--with Neil!" she +pleaded. + +"So Casey is taken!" + +He spoke slowly, as if he had not heard her last words. For a moment he +stood silent, and as silently the girl stood and watched him. She +guessed the despair that was raging in his heart but when he spoke to +her she could detect none of it in his voice. + +"Casey is a fool," he said, unconsciously repeating Obadiah's words. +"Marion, will you come with me? Will you leave the island--and join your +brother?" + +The hope that had risen in his heart was crushed as Marion drew farther +away from him. + +"You must go alone," she replied. With a powerful effort she steadied +her voice. "Tell Neil that he has been condemned to death. Tell him +that--if he loves me--he will not return to the island." + +"And I?" + +From her distance she saw his arms stretched like shadows toward her. + +"And you--" + +Her voice was low, so low that he could hardly hear the words she spoke, +but its sweetness thrilled him. + +"And you--if you love me--will do this thing for me. Go to Neil. Save +his life for me!" + +She had come to him through the gloom, and in the luster of the eyes +that were turned up to him Nathaniel saw again the power that swayed his +soul. + +"You will go?" + +"I will save your brother--if I can!" + +"You can--you can--" she breathed. In an ecstasy of gratitude she seized +one of his hands in both her own. "You can save him!" + +"For you--I will try." + +"For me--" + +She was so close that he could feel the throbbing of her bosom. Suddenly +he lifted his free hand and brushed back the thick hair from her brow +and turned her face until what dim light there still remained of the day +glowed in the beauty of her eyes. "I will keep him from the island if I +can," he said, looking deep into them, "and as there is a God in Heaven +I swear that you--" + +"What?" she urged, as he hesitated. + +"That you shall not marry Strang!" he finished. + +A cry welled up in the girl's throat. Was it of gladness? Was it of +hope? She sprang back a pace from Nathaniel and with clenched hands +waited breathlessly, as if she expected him to say more. + +"No--no--you can not save me from Strang! Now--you must go!" + +She retreated slowly in the direction of the path. In an instant +Nathaniel was at her side. + +"I am going to see you safely back in St. James," he declared. "Then I +will go to your brother." + +She barred his way defiantly. + +"You can not go!" + +"Why?" + +"Because--" He caught the frightened flutter of her voice again. +"Because--they will kill you!" + +The low laugh that he breathed in her hair was more of joy than fear. + +"I am glad you care--Marion." He spoke her name with faltering +tenderness, and led her out into the path. + +"You must go," she still persisted. + +"With you--yes," he answered. + +She surrendered to the determination in his voice and they moved slowly +along the path, listening for any sound that might come from ahead of +them. Nathaniel had already formed his plan of action. From Marion's +words and the voice in which she had uttered them he knew that it would +be useless for him as it had been for Neil to urge her to flee from the +island. There remained but one thing for him to do, so he fell back upon +the scheme which he had proposed to Marion's brother. He realized now +that he might be compelled to play the game single-handed unless he +could secure assistance from Obadiah. His ship and men were in the hands +of the Mormons; Neil, in his search for the captured vessel, stood a +large chance, of missing him that night, and in that event Marion's fate +would depend on him alone. If he could locate a small boat on the beach +back of Obadiah's; if he could in some way lure Marion to it--He gave an +involuntary shudder at the thought of using force upon the girl at his +side, at the thought of her terror of those first few moments, her +struggles, her broken confidence. She believed in him now. She believed +that he loved her. She trusted him. The warm soft pressure of her hand +as it clung to his arm in the blackening gloom of the forest was +evidence of that trust. She looked into his face anxiously, inquiringly +when they stopped to listen, like a child who was sure of a stronger +spirit at her side. She held her breath when he held his, she listened +when he listened, her feet fell with velvet stillness when he stepped +with caution. Her confidence in him was like a beautiful dream to +Nathaniel and he trembled when he pictured the destruction of it. After +a little he reached over and as if by accident touched the hand that was +lying on his arm; he dared more after a moment, and drew the warm little +fingers into his great strong palm and held them there, his soul +thrilled by their gentle submissiveness. And then in another breath +there came to still his joy a thought of the terrible power that chained +this girl to the Mormon king. He longed to speak words of encouragement +to her, to instil hope in her bosom, to ask her to confide in him the +secret of the shadow which hung over her, but the memory of what Neil +had said to him held his lips closed. + +They had walked in silence for many minutes when the girl stopped. + +"It is not very far now," she whispered. "You must go!" + +"Only a little farther," he begged. + +She surrendered again, hesitatingly, and they went on, more slowly than +before, until they came to where the path met the footway that led to +Obadiah's. + +"Now--now you _must_ go," whispered Marion again. + +In this last moment Nathaniel crushed her hand against his breast, his +body throbbing with a wild tumult, and a half of what he had meant not +to say fell passionately from his lips. + +"Forgive me for--that--back there--Marion," he whispered. "It was +because I love you--love you--" He freed her hand and stood back, +choking the words that would have revealed his secret. He lied now for +the love of this girl. "Neil is out there waiting for me in a small +boat," he continued, pointing beyond Obadiah's to the lake. "I will see +him soon, and then I will return to Obadiah's to tell you if he has left +for the mainland. Will you promise to meet me there--to-night?" + +"I will promise." + +"At midnight--" + +"Yes, at twelve o'clock." + +This time it was Marion who came to him. Her eyes shone like stars. + +"And if you make Neil go to the mainland," she said softly, "when I meet +you I will--will tell you--something." + +The last word came in a breathless sob. As she slipped into the path +that led to St. James she paused for a moment and called back, in a low +voice, "Tell Neil that he must go for Winnsome's sake. Tell him that her +fate is shortly to be as cruel as mine--tell him that Winnsome loves +him, and that she will escape and come to him on the mainland. Tell him +to go--go!" + +She turned again, and Nathaniel stood like a statue, hardly breathing, +until the sound of her feet had died away. Then he walked swiftly up +the foot-path that led to Obadiah's. He forgot his own danger in the +excitement that pulsated with every fiber of his being, forgot his old +caution and the fears that gave birth to it--forgot everything in those +moments but Marion and his own great happiness. Neil's absence meant +nothing to him now. He had held Marion in his arms, he had told her of +his love, and though she had accepted it with gentle unresponsiveness he +was thrilled by the memory of that last look in her eyes, which had +spoken faith, confidence, and perhaps even more. What was that +_something_ she would tell him if he got Neil safely away? It was to be +a reward for his own loyalty--he knew that, by the half fearing tremble +of her voice, the sobbing catch of her breath, the strange glow in her +eyes. With her brother away would she confide in him? Would she tell him +the secret of her slavedom to Strang? Nathaniel was conscious of no +madness in the wild hope that filled him; nothing seemed impossible to +him now. Marion would meet him at midnight. She would go with him to the +boat, and then--ah, he had solved the problem! He would use no force. He +would tell her that Neil was in his canoe half a mile out from the shore +and that he had promised to leave the island for good if she would go +out to bid him good-by. And once there, a half a mile or a mile away, he +would tell her that he had lied to her; and he would give her his heart +to trample upon to prove the love that had made him do this thing, and +then he would row her to the mainland. + +It was the sight of Obadiah's cabin that brought his caution back. He +came upon it so suddenly that an exclamation of surprise fell unguarded +from his lips. There was no light to betray life within. He tried the +door and found it locked. He peered in at the windows, listened, and +knocked, and at last concealed himself near the path, confident that the +little old councilor was still at St. James. For an hour he waited. From +the rear of Obadiah's home a narrow footway led toward the lake and +Nathaniel followed it, now as warily as an animal in search of prey. For +half a mile it took him through the forest and ended at the white sands +of the beach. In neither direction could Nathaniel see a light, and +keeping close in the shadows of the trees he made his way slowly toward +St. James. He had gone but a short distance when he saw a house directly +ahead of him, a single gleam of light from a small window telling him +that it was inhabited and that its tenants were at home. He circled down +close to the water looking for a boat. His heart leaped with sudden +exultation when he saw a small skiff drawn upon the beach and his joy +was doubled at finding the oars still in the locks. It took him but a +moment to shove the light craft into the sea and a minute later he was +rowing swiftly away from the land. + +Nathaniel was certain that by this time Neil had abandoned his search +for the captured _Typhoon_ and was probably paddling in the direction +of St. James. With the hope of intercepting him he pulled an eighth of a +mile from the shore and rowed slowly toward the head of the island. +There was no moon, but countless stars glowed in a clear sky and upon +the open lake Nathaniel could see for a considerable distance about him. +For another hour he rowed back and forth and then beached his boat +within a dozen rods of the path that came down from Obadiah's. + +It was ten o'clock. Two more hours! He had tried to suppress his +excitement, his apprehensions, his eagerness, but now as he went back +into the darkness of the forest they burst out anew. What if Marion +should not keep the tryst? He thought of the spies whom Neil had said +guarded the girl's home--and of Obadiah. Could he trust the old +councilor? Should he confide his plot to him and ask his assistance? As +the minutes passed and these thoughts recurred again and again in his +brain he could not keep the nervousness from growing within him. He was +sure now that he would have to fight his battle without Neil. He saw +the necessity of coolness, of judgment, and he began to demand these +things of himself, struggling sternly against those symptoms of weakness +which had replaced his confidence of a short time before. Gradually he +fought himself back into his old faith. He would save Marion--without +Neil, without Obadiah. If Marion did not come to him by midnight it +would be because of the guards against whom Neil had warned him, and he +would go to her. In some way he would get her to the boat, even if he +had to fight his way through Arbor Croche's men. + +With this return of confidence Nathaniel's thoughts reverted to his +present greatest need, which was food. Since early morning he had eaten +nothing and he began to feel the physical want in a craving that was +becoming acutely uncomfortable. If Obadiah had not returned to his home +he made up his mind that he would find entrance to the cabin and help +himself. A sudden turn in the path which he was following, however, +revealed one of the councilor's windows aglow with light, and as he +pressed quietly around the end of the building the sound of a low voice +came to him through the open door. Cautiously he approached and peered +in. A large oil lamp, the light of which he had seen in the window, was +burning on a table in the big room but the voice came from the little +closet into which Obadiah had taken him the preceding night. For several +minutes he crouched and listened. He heard the chuckling laugh of the +old councilor--and then an incoherent raving that set his blood +tingling. There is a horror in the sound of madness, a horror that +creeps to the very pit of one's soul, that sends shivering dread from +every nerve center, that causes one who is alone with it to sweat with a +nameless fear. It was the voice of madness that came from that little +room. Before it Nathaniel quailed as if a clammy hand had reached out +from the darkness and gripped him by the throat. He drew back shivering +in every limb, and the voice followed him, shrieking now in a sudden +burst of insane mirth and dying away a moment later in a hollow cackling +laugh that seemed to curdle the blood in his veins. Mad! Obadiah Price +was mad! Step by step Nathaniel fell back from the door. He felt himself +trembling from head to foot. His heart thumped within his breast like +the beating of a hammer. For an instant there was silence--a silence in +which strange dread held him breathless while he watched the glow in the +door and listened. And after that quiet there came suddenly a cry that +ended in the exultant chattering of a name. + +At the sound of that name Nathaniel sprang forward again. It was +Marion's name and he strained his ears to catch the words that might +follow it. As he listened, his head thrust half in at the door, +Obadiah's voice became lower and lower, until at last it ceased +entirely. Not a step, not a deep breath, not the movement of a hand +disturbed the stillness of the little room. By inches Nathaniel drew +himself inside the door. His heavy boot caught in a sliver on the step +but the rending of wood brought no response. It was the quiet of death +that pervaded the cabin, it was a strange, growing fear of death that +entered Nathaniel as he now hurried across the room and peered through +the narrow aperture. The old councilor was half stretched upon the +table, his arms reaching out, his long, thin fingers gripping its edges, +his face buried under his shoulders. It looked as if death had come +suddenly to him during some terrible convulsion, but after a moment +Nathaniel saw that he was breathing. He went over and placed a hand on +the old man's twisted back. + +"Hello, Obadiah! Hello--hello!" he called cheerfully. + +A shudder ran through the councilor's frame, as if the voice had +startled him, his arms and body stiffened and slowly he lifted his head. +Nathaniel tried to stifle the cry on his lips, tried to smile--to +speak, but the terrible face that stared up into his own held him +silent, motionless. He had heard the voice of madness, now he looked +upon madness in the eyes that glared at him. In them was no sign of +recognition, no passing flash of sanity. The white face was lined with +purplish veins, the mouth was distorted and the lips bleeding. +Involuntarily he stepped back to the end of the table. + +At his movement the councilor stretched out his arms with a sobbing +moan. + +"Nat--Nat--don't--go--" + +He fell again upon his face, clutching the table in a sudden convulsion. +In the next room Nathaniel had noticed a pail of water and he brought +this and wet the old man's head. For a long time Obadiah did not move, +and when he did it was to reach out with a groping hand to find +Nathaniel. A change had come into his face when he lifted it again, the +mad fire had partly burned itself out of his eyes, the old chuckling +laugh came from between his lips. + +"A little weakness, Nat--a little weakness," he gasped faintly. "I have +it now and then. Excitement--great excitement--" He straightened himself +for a moment and stood, swaying free from the table, then collapsed into +a chair his head dropping upon his breast. + +Without arousing him from the stupor into which he had fallen, Nathaniel +again concealed himself in the shadows outside the cabin where he could +better guard himself against the possible approach of Mormon visitors. +But he did not remain long. He struck a match and saw that it was nearly +eleven and a sudden resolution turned him back to the cabin door. He +believed that Obadiah would not easily arouse himself from the strange +stupor into which he had fallen. Meanwhile he would find food and then +conceal himself near the path to intercept Marion. + +As he mounted the step he heard for the second time since landing upon +the island the solemn tolling of the great bell at St. James, and as he +paused for an instant to listen, peal upon peal followed the first until +its brazen thunder rolled in one long booming echo through the forests +of the Mormon kingdom. There came a shrill cry at his back and he +whirled about to see the councilor standing in the center of the big +room, his arms outstretched, his face lifted as it had been raised in +prayer at the tolling of that same bell the night before--but this time +it was not prayer that fell from his lips. + +"Nat, ye have returned in the hour of vengeance! The hand of God is +descending upon the Mormon kingdom!" + +His words came in a gasping, but triumphant cry. + +"And to-morrow--to-morrow--" He stepped forward, his voice crooning a +wild joy, "To-morrow--I--shall--be--king!" + +As he spoke the cabin trembled, a tremor passed under them, and the +tolling of the bell was lost in a sudden tumult that came like the +bursting crash of low thunder. + +"What is it?" cried Nathaniel. He leaped into the room and caught +Obadiah by the arm. "What is it?" + +"The hand of God!" whispered the old man again. "Nat--Nat--" It was his +old self that stood grimacing and twisting his hands before Nathaniel +now. "Nat--a thousand armed men are off the coast! The Lamanites of the +mainland are descending upon the Mormon kingdom as the hosts of Israel +upon Canaan! Strang is doomed--doomed--doomed--and to-morrow I shall be +king!" His voice rose in a wailing shriek. He darted to the door and his +cackling laugh rang with the old madness as he pointed into the north +where a lurid glow had mounted high into the sky. + +"The signal fire--the bell!" he gurgled chokingly. "They are calling the +Mormons to arms--but it is too late--too late! Ho, ho, it is too late, +Nat--too late!" He staggered back, gripping his throat, and fell upon +the floor. "Too late--too late," he moaned, groveling weakly, as if +struggling for breath. "Too late--Nat--Marion--" + +A shiver passed through his body and he lay quite still. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS + + +In an instant Nathaniel was upon his knees beside the prostrate form of +the old councilor. + +Obadiah's eyes were open, but unseeing; his face was blanched to the +whiteness of paper; an almost imperceptible movement of his chest showed +that he still breathed. Nathaniel lifted one of the limp hands and its +clammy chill struck horror to his heart. Tenderly he lifted the old man +and carried him to the cot at the end of the room. He loosened his +clothes, tore off the low collar about his throat, and felt with his +hand to measure the faint beating of life in the councilor's breast. For +a few moments it seemed to grow fainter and fainter, and a choking lump +rose in his throat as he watched the pallor of death fixing itself on +the councilor's shriveled face. What strange chord of sympathy was it +that bound him to this old man? Was it the same mysterious influence +that had attracted Marion to him? He dropped upon his knees and called +the girl's name softly but it awakened no response in the sightless +eyes, no tremor in the parted, unquivering lips. Very slowly as the +minutes passed there came a reaction. The pulsations of the weakened +heart became a little stronger, he could catch faintly the sound of +breath coming from between the old man's lips. + +With a gasp of relief Nathaniel rose to his feet. Through the door he +saw the red glare growing in the northern sky and heard the great bell +at St. James ring a wilder and more excited alarm. For a few moments he +stood in silent, listening inaction, his nerves tingling with a strange +sensation of impending peril. Obadiah's madness, the mysterious +trembling of the earth beneath his feet, the volcano of fire, the +clanging of the bell and the councilor's insane rejoicing had all come +so suddenly that he was dazed. What great calamity, what fearful +vengeance, was about to come upon the Mormon kingdom? Was it possible +that the fishermen and settlers of the mainland had risen, as Obadiah +had said, and were already at hand to destroy Strang and his people? The +thought spurred him to the door. The blood rushed like fire through his +veins. What would it mean to Marion--to Neil? + +In his excitement he started down the path that led to the lilac hidden +home beyond the forest. Then he thought again of Obadiah and his last +choking utterance of Marion's name. He had tried to speak of her, even +with that death-like rattling of the breath in his throat; and the +memory of the old councilor's frantic struggle for words brought +Nathaniel quickly back to the cabin. He bent over Obadiah's shriveled +form and spoke the girl's name again and again in his ears. There came +no response, no quiver of life to show that the old man was conscious +of his presence. As he worked over him, bathing his face and chest in +cool water, the feeling became strong in him that he was fighting death +in this gloomy room for Marion's sake. It was like the whispering of an +invisible spirit in his ears--something more than presentiment, +something that made his own heart grow faint when death seemed winning +in the struggle. His watchfulness was acute, intense, desperate. When, +after a time, he straightened himself again, rewarded by Obadiah's more +regular breathing, the sweat stood in beads upon his face. He knew that +he had triumphed. Obadiah would live, and Marion-- + +He placed his mouth close to the councilor's ear. + +"Tell me about Marion," he said again. "Marion--Marion--Marion--" + +He waited, stilling his own breath to catch the sound of a whisper. None +came. As he bent over him he saw through the open door that the red +glare of fire had faded to a burnt out glow in the sky. In the deep +silence the sullen beating of the bell seemed nearer, and he could hear +the excited barking of dogs in St. James. Slowly the hope that Obadiah +might speak to him died away and he returned to the door. It still +lacked an hour of midnight, when Marion, had promised to come to him. He +was wildly impatient and to his impatience was added the fear that had +filled him as he hovered over Obadiah, a nameless, intangible +fear--something which he could not have analyzed and which clutched at +his heart and urged him to follow the path that led to Marion's. For a +time he resisted the impulse. What if she should come by another path +while he was gone? He waited nervously in the edge of the forest, +watching, and listening for footsteps. Each minute seemed like an hour +marked into seconds by the solemn steady tolling of the bell, and after +a little he found himself unconsciously measuring time by counting the +strokes. Then he went out into the path. He followed it, step by step, +until he could no longer see the light in the cabin; his pulse beat a +little faster; he stared ahead into the deep gloom between the walls of +forest--and quickened his pace. If Marion was coming to him he would +meet her. If she was not coming-- + +In his old fearless way he promptly made up his mind. He would go boldly +to the cabin and tell her that Neil was waiting. He felt sure that the +alarm sounding from St. James had drawn away the guards and that there +would be nothing to interfere with his plan. If she had already left the +cabin he would return quickly to Obadiah's. In his eagerness he began to +run. Once a sound stopped him--the distant beating of galloping hoofs. +He heard the shout of a man, a reply farther away, the quick, excited +yelping of a dog. His blood danced as he thought of the gathering of the +Mormon fighters, the men and boys racing down the black trails from the +inland forests, the excitement in St. James. As he ran on again he +thought of Arbor Croche mustering the panting, vengeful defenders; of +Strang, his great voice booming encouragement and promise, above the +brazen thunder of the bell; he saw in fancy the frightened huddling +groups of women and children and beyond and above all the coming of the +"vengeance of God"--a hundred beats, a thousand men--and there went out +from his soul if not from his lips a great cry of joy. At the edge of +the forest he stopped for a moment. Over beyond the clearing a light +burned dimly through the lilacs. The sweet odor of the flowers came to +him gently, persuasively, and nerved him into the open. He passed across +the open space swiftly and plunged into a tangle of bushes close to the +lighted window. + +He heard a man's voice within, and then a woman's. Was it Marion? +Cautiously Nathaniel crept close to the log wall of the cabin. He +reached out, and hesitated. Should he look--as he had done at the king's +window? The man's voice came to him again, harsh and angry, and this +time it was not a woman's words that he heard but a woman's sobbing cry. +He parted the bushes and a glare of light fell on his face. The lamp was +on a table and beside the table there sat a woman, her white head turned +from him, her face buried in her hands. She was an old woman and he knew +that it was Marion's mother. He could not see the man. + +Where was Marion? He wormed himself back out of the bushes and walked +quickly around the house. There was no other light, no other sign of +life except in that one room. With sudden resolution he stepped to the +door and knocked loudly. + +For a full half minute there was silence, and he knocked again. He heard +the approach of a shuffling step, the thump, thump, thump of a cane, and +the door swung back. It was the man who opened it, a tall giant of an +old man, doubled as if with rheumatism, and close behind him was the +frightened face of the woman. An involuntary shudder passed through +Nathaniel as he looked at them. They were old--so old that the man's +shrivelled hands were like those of a skeleton; his giant frame seemed +about to totter into ruin, his eyes were sunken until his face gave the +horror of a death mask. Was it possible that these people were the +father and mother of Marion--and of Neil? As he stepped to the threshold +they timidly drew back from him. In a single glance Nathaniel swept the +room and what he saw thrilled him, for everywhere were signs of Marion; +in the pictures on the walls, the snowy curtains, the cushions in the +window-seat--and the huge vase of lilacs on the mantle. + +"I am a messenger of the king," he said, advancing and closing the door +behind him. "I want to speak with Marion." + +"Strang--the king!" cried the old man, clutching the knob of his cane +with both hands. "She has gone!" + +"Gone!" exclaimed Nathaniel. For an instant his heart bounded with +delight. Marion was on her way to the tryst! He sprang back to the +door. "When? When did she go?" + +The woman had come forward, her hands trembling, her lips quivering. +Something in the terror of her face sent the hot blood from Nathaniel's +cheeks. + +"They sent for her an hour ago," she said. "The king sent Obadiah Price +for her! O, my God!" she shrieked suddenly, clutching at her breast, +"Tell me--what are they doing with Marion--" + +"Shut up!" snarled the old man. "That is Strang's business. She has gone +to Strang." With an effort he straightened himself until his towering +form rose half a head above Nathaniel. "She has gone to the king," he +repeated. "Tell Strang that she will wive him to-night, as she has +promised!" + +In spite of his effort to control himself a terrible cry burst from +Nathaniel's lips. He flung open the door and stood for an instant with +his white face turned back. + +"She went to the castle--an hour ago?" he cried. + +"Yes, to the castle--with Obadiah Price--" The last words followed him +as he sped out into the night. As swiftly as a wolf he raced across the +clearing to the trail that led down to St. James. Something seemed to +have burst in his brain; something that was not blood, but fire, seemed +to burn in his veins--a mad desire to reach Strang, to grip him by the +throat, to mete out to him the vengeance of a fiend instead of that of a +man. He was too late to save Marion! His brain reeled with the thought. +Too late--too late--too late. He panted the words. They came with every +gasp for breath. Too late! Too late! His heart pumped like an engine as +he strained to keep up his speed. He passed a man and a boy hurrying +with their rifles to St. James and made no answer to their shout; a +galloping horse forged ahead of him and he tried to keep up with it; and +then, at the top of the long hill that sloped down to the stronghold of +the Mormon kingdom something seemed to sweep his legs from under him, +and he fell panting on the ground. For a few moments he lay there +looking down upon the city. The great bell at the temple was now silent. +He saw huge fires burning for a mile along the coast, hundreds of lights +were twinkling in the harbor, there came up to him softly, subdued by +distance, the sound of commotion and excitement far below. + +His eyes rested on the beacon above the prophet's home, burning like a +ball of fire over the black canopy of tree-tops. Marion was there! He +rose to his feet again and went on, reason and judgment returning to +him--telling him that he was about to play against odds; that his work +was to be one of strength and generalship and not of madness. As he +picked his way more slowly and cautiously down the slope a new hope +flashed upon him. Was it possible that the discovery of the approach of +the mainlanders had served to save Marion? In the excitement that +followed the calling of the Mormons to arms and the preparations for the +defense would Strang, the master of the kingdom, the bulwark of his +people, waste priceless time in carrying out the purpose for which he +had sent for Marion? Hardly did hope burn anew in his breast when there +came another thought to quench it. Why had the king sent for Marion on +this particular night and at this late hour? Why, unless at the approach +of his enemies he had feared that he might lose his beautiful victim, +and in his overmastering passion had called her to him even as his +people assembled in defense of his kingdom. + +There was desperate coolness in Nathaniel's approach now. Whatever had +happened he would do what Neil had threatened to do--kill Strang. And +whatever had happened he would take Marion away with him if it was only +her dead body that he carried in his arms. To do these things he needed +strength. He advanced more slowly and drew deeper and deeper drafts of +air into his exhausted lungs. At the edge of the grove surrounding the +castle he paused to listen. For the first time it occurred to Nathaniel +that the prophet might have assembled some of his fighters to the +defense of his harem, which he knew would be one of the first places to +feel the vengeance of the outraged men of the mainland. But he heard no +voices ahead of him. There were no fires to betray the approach of the +enemy. Not even the barking of a dog gave warning of his stealthy +advance. Soon he could make out a light in the king's house. A few steps +more and he saw that the door was open, as it had been on his first +visit to the castle. He dodged swiftly from bush to bush, darted under +the window through which he had seen Marion, leaped lightly up the broad +steps and sprang into the great room, his pistol cocked in his hand. + +The room was empty. He listened, but not a sound came to his ears except +the rustling of a curtain in the breeze. The huge lamp over the table +was burning dimly. The five doors leading from the room were tightly +closed. Nathaniel held his breath, tried to still the tumultuous +pounding of his heart as he waited for a sound of life--a step beyond +those doors, a woman's voice, a child's cry. But none came. The +stillness of desertion hovered about him. He went to one of the five +doors. It was not locked. He opened it silently, with the caution of a +thief, and there loomed before him a chaos of gloom. + +"Hello!" he called gently. "Hello--Hello--" + +There was no answer. He struck a match and advanced step by step, +holding the yellow bit of flame above his head. It disclosed the narrow +walls of a hall and an open door leading into another room. The match +sputtered and went out and he lighted another. On a little table just +outside the door was a half burned candle and he replaced his match with +this. Then he went in. + +At a glance he knew that he had entered a woman's room, redolent with +the perfume of flowers. On one side was a bed and close beside it a +cradle with a child's toys scattered about it. The tumbled coverlets +showed that both had been recently used. About the room were thrown +articles of wearing apparel; a trunk had been dragged from a closet and +was half packed; everywhere was the disorder of hurried flight. For a +few moments the depth of his despair held Nathaniel motionless. The +castle was deserted--Marion was gone! He ran back into the great room, +no longer trying to still the sound of his footsteps, and opened a +second door. The same silence greeted him, the same disorder, the same +evidence that the wives and children of the Mormon king had fled. He +went into a third room--and then a fourth. + +For an instant he paused at the threshold of this fourth chamber. A +light was burning in the room at the end of the hall. The door was +closed with the exception of an inch or two. + +"Marion!" he called softly, and listened intently. + +He went on when there was no reply, and pushed open the door. + +A candle was burning on a stand in front of a mirror. The room was as +empty as the others. But there was no disorder here. The bed was unused, +the garments in the open closet had not been disarranged. On the floor +beside the bed was a pair of shoes and as Nathaniel saw them his heart +seemed to leap to his throat and stifled the cry that was on his lips. +He took one of them in his hand, his whole being throbbing with +excitement. It was Marion's shoe--encrusted with mud and torn as he had +seen it in the forest. With her name falling from his lips in a pleading +cry he now searched the room and on the stand in front of the mirror he +found a lilac colored ribbon, soiled and crumpled. It was Marion's +ribbon--the one he had seen last in her hair, and he crushed it to his +lips as he ran back into the great room, calling out her name again and +again in the torture of helplessness that now possessed him. + +Mechanically, rather than with reason, he went to the fifth and last +door. His candle had become extinguished in his haste and after he had +opened the door he stopped at the threshold of the black hall to light +it again. There was a moment's pause as he searched his pockets for a +match, a silence in which he listened as he searched, and suddenly as he +was about to strike the sulphur tipped splint there came to his ears a +sound that held him chained to the spot. It was the sobbing of a woman; +or was it a child? In a moment he knew that it was a woman; and then the +sobbing ceased. + +There was nothing but darkness ahead of him; no ray of light shone under +the door; the chamber itself was in utter gloom. As quietly as possible +he relighted his candle. A glance assured him that this hall was +different from the others; it was deeper, and there were two doors at +the end of it instead of one. Through which of these doors had come the +sound of sobbing he had heard? + +He approached and listened. Each moment added to his excitement, his +fears, his hopes, but at last he opened the door on the left. The room +was empty; there was the same disorder as before; the same signs of +hurried flight. It was the room on the right! His heart almost stopped +its beating as he placed his hand on the latch, lifted it, and pushed +the door in. Kneeling beside the bed he saw a woman. She had turned +toward the light and in the dim illumination of the room Nathaniel +recognized the beautiful face he had seen at the king's castle the +preceding day--the face of the woman who had sent him to find the +prophet, who had placed her gentle hand on Marion's head as he had +looked through the window. There was no fear in her eyes as she saw +Nathaniel. Something more terrible than that shone in their glorious +depths as she rose to her feet and stood before him, her face lined with +grief, her mouth twitching in agony. She stood with clenched hands, her +bosom rising and falling in the passion of the storm within her; and she +sobbed even as Nathaniel paused there, unmanned in this sudden presence +of a distress greater than his own; sobbed in a choking, tearless way, +waiting for him to speak. + +"Forgive me," he spoke gently. "I have come--for--Marion." He felt that +he had no reason to lie to this woman. His face betrayed his own anguish +as he came nearer to her. "I want Marion," he repeated. "My God, won't +you tell me--?" + +She struggled to calm herself as he spoke the girl's name. + +"Marion is not here," she said. She crushed his hands against her bosom +and a softer look came into her eyes; her voice was low and sweet, as it +had been the morning he asked for Strang. As she saw the despair +deepening in the man's face a great pity swept over her and she +stretched out her arms to him with an aching cry, "Marion is +gone--gone--gone," she moaned, "and you must go, too! O, I know you love +her--she told me that you loved her, as I love Strang, my king! We have +both lost--lost--and you must go--as--I--shall--go!" She turned away +from him with a cry so heart-breaking in its pain that Nathaniel felt +himself trembling to the soul. In another instant she had faced him +again, fighting back a strange calm into her face. + +"I love Marion," she breathed softly. "I would help you--I would help +her--if I could." For a moment her pale beautiful face was filled with a +light that might have shone from the face of an angel, "Don't you +understand?" she continued, scarcely above a whisper. "I have been +Strang's one great love--his life--until Marion came into his heart. I +have lost--you have lost--but mine is the more bitter because Marion +loves you, and Strang--" + +With a cry Nathaniel sprang to her side. The candle fell from his hand, +sputtered on the floor, and left them in darkness. + +"Marion loves me! You say that Marion loves me?" + +The woman's voice came to him in a whisper filled with the sweetness of +sympathy. + +"She said so to-night--in this room. She told me that she loved you as +she never thought that she could love a man in this world. O, my God, is +that not a balm for your heart, if it is broken? And Strang--my +Strang--has forgotten his love for me!" + +Nathaniel reached out his arms. They found the woman and for a time he +held her hands in his, while a great silence fell upon them. He could +hear the sobbing of her breath and as her fingers tightened about his +own his heart seemed bursting with its hatred of this man who called +himself a prophet of God; a hatred that burned furiously even as his +being throbbed with the wild joy of the words he had just heard. + +"Where is Marion?" he pleaded. + +"I don't know," replied the woman. "They took her away alone. The +others have gone to the temple." + +"Do you think she is at the temple?" he inquired insistently. + +"No. One of the others came back a little while ago. She said that +Marion was not there." + +"Where is Strang?" + +This time he felt the woman tremble. + +"Strang--" + +She drew her hands away from him. There was a strange quiver in her +voice. + +"Yes--where is Strang?" + +There came no reply. + +"Tell me--where is he?" + +"I don't know." + +"Is he at the temple?" + +"I don't know." + +He could hear her stifled breath; he could almost feel her trembling, an +arm's reach out there in the darkness. What a woman was this whose +heart the Mormon king had broken for a new love! + +"Listen," he said gently. "I am going to find Marion. I am going to take +her away. To-morrow you shall have Strang again--if he is alive!" + +There was no answer and he moved slowly back to the door. He closed it +after him as he entered the hall. Once in the big room he paused for a +moment under the hanging lamp to examine his pistol and then went +outside. The grove in which the castle stood was absolutely deserted. So +far as he could see not even a guard watched over the property of the +king. Nathaniel had become too accustomed to the surprises of Beaver +Island to wonder at this. He could see by the lights flaring along the +harbor that the castle was in an isolated position and easy of attack. +From what Strang's wife had told him and the evidences of panic in the +chambers of the harem he believed that the Mormon king had abandoned the +castle to its fate and that the approaching conflict would center about +the temple. + +Was Marion at the temple? If so he realized that she was beyond his +reach. But the woman had said that she was not there. Where could she +have gone? Why had not Strang taken her with his wives? In a flash +Nathaniel thought of Arbor Croche and Obadiah--the two men who always +knew what the king was doing. If he could find the sheriff alone--if he +could only nurse Obadiah back into sane life again! He thrust his pistol +into its holster. There was but one thing for him to do and that was to +return to the old councilor. It would be madness for him to go down to +St. James. He had lost--Strang had won. But his love for Marion was +undying. If he found her Strang's wife it would make no difference to +him. It would all be evened up when he killed the king. For Marion loved +him--loved him-- + +He turned his face toward Obadiah's, his heart singing the glad words +which the woman had spoken to him back there in the sixth chamber. + +And as he was about to take the first step in that long race back to the +mad councilor's he heard behind him the approach of quick feet. He +crouched behind a clump of bushes and waited. A shadowy form was +hurrying through the grove. It passed close to him, mounted the castle +steps, and in the doorway turned and looked back for an instant in the +direction of St. James. + +Nathaniel's lips quivered; the pounding of his heart half choked him; a +shriek of mad, terrible joy was ready to leap from his lips. + +There in the dim glow of the great lamp stood Strang, the Mormon king. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +THE HAND OF FATE + + +Like a panther Nathaniel crouched and watched the man on the steps. His +muscles jerked, his hands were clenched; each instant he seemed about to +spring. But he held himself back until Strang had passed through the +door. Then he slipped along the log wall of the castle, hugging the +shadows, fearing that the king might reappear and see him in time to +close the door. What an opportunity fate had made for him! His fingers +itched to get at Strang's thick bull-like throat. He felt no fear, no +hesitation about the outcome of the struggle with this giant prophet of +God. He did not plan to shoot, for a shot would destroy the secret of +Marion's fate. He would choke the truth from Strang; rob him of life +slowly, gasp by gasp, until in the horror of death the king would reveal +her hiding-place--would tell what he had done with her. + +Then he would kill him! + +There was the strength of tempered steel in his arms; his body, slender +as an athlete's, quivered to hurl itself into action. Up the steps he +crept so cautiously that he made no sound. In the intensity of his +purpose Nathaniel looked only ahead of him--to the door. He did not see +that another figure was stealing through the gloom behind him as +cautiously, as quietly as himself. He passed through the door and stood +erect. Strang had not seen him. He had not heard him. He was standing +with his huge back toward him, facing the hall that led to the sixth +chamber--and the woman. Nathaniel drew his pistol. He would not shoot, +but Strang might be made to tell the truth with death leveling itself at +his heart. He groped behind him, found the door, and slammed it shut. +There would be no retreat for the king! + +And the man who turned toward him at the slamming of that door, turned +slowly, coolly, and gazed into the black muzzle of his pistol looked, +indeed, every inch of him a king. The muscles of his face betrayed no +surprise, no fear. His splendid nerve was unshaken, his eyes unfaltering +as they rose above the pistol to the face behind it. For fifteen seconds +there was a strange terrible silence as the eyes of the two men met. In +that quarter of a minute Nathaniel knew that he had not guessed rightly. +Strang was not afraid. He would not tell him where Marion was. The +insuperable courage of this man maddened Captain Plum and unconsciously +his finger fell upon the trigger of his pistol. He almost shrieked the +words that he meant to speak calmly: + +"Where is Marion?" + +"She is safe, Captain Plum. She is where the friends who are invading us +from the mainland will have no chance of finding her." + +Strang spoke as quietly as though in his own office beside the temple. +Suddenly he raised his voice. + +"She is safe, Captain Plum--safe!" + +His eyes wavered, and traveled beyond. As accurately as a striking +serpent Nathaniel measured that glance. It had gone to the door. He +heard a movement, felt a draft of air, and in an instant he whirled +about with his pistol pointed to the door. In another instant he had +fired and the huge form of Arbor Croche toppled headlong into the room. +A roar like that of a beast came from behind him and before he could +turn again Strang was upon him. In that moment he felt that all was +lost. Under the weight of the Mormon king he was crushed to the floor; +his pistol slipped from his grasp; two great hands choked a despairing +cry from his throat. He saw the prophet's face over him, distorted with +passion, his huge neck bulging, his eyes flaming like angry garnets. He +struggled to free his pinioned arms, to wrench off the death grip at his +throat, but his efforts were like those of a child against a giant. In a +last terrible attempt he drew up his knees inch by inch under the +weight of his enemy; it was his only chance--his only hope. Even as he +felt the fingers about his throat sinking like hot iron into his flesh +and the breath slipping from his body he remembered this murderous +knee-punch of the rough fighters of the inland seas and with all the +life that remained in him he sent it crushing into the abdomen of the +Mormon king. It was a moment before he knew that it had been successful, +before the film cleared from his eyes and he saw Strang groveling at his +feet; another moment and he had hurled himself on the prophet. His fist +shot out like a hammer against Strang's jaw. Again and again he struck +until the great shaggy head fell back limp. Then his fingers twined +themselves like the links of a chain about the purplish throat and he +choked until Strang's eyes opened wide and lifeless and his convulsions +ceased. He would have held on until there was no doubt of the end, had +not the king's wife--the woman whose misery he had shared that +night--suddenly flung herself with a piercing cry, between him and the +blackened face, clutching at his hands with all her fragile strength. + +[Illustration: His fingers twined about the purplish throat.] + +"My God, you are killing him--killing him!" she moaned. + +Her eyes blazed as she tore at his fingers. + +"You are killing him--killing him!" she shrieked. "He has not destroyed +Marion! You said you would take her and leave him--for me--" She struck +her head against his breast, tearing the flesh of his wrists with her +nails. + +Nathaniel loosened his grip and staggered to his feet. + +"For you!" he panted. "If you had only come--a little sooner--" He +stumbled to his pistol and picked it up. "I am afraid he is--dead!" + +He did not look back. + +Arbor Croche barred the door. He had not moved since he had fallen. His +head was twisted so that his face was turned to the glow of the lamp +and Nathaniel shuddered as he saw where his shot had struck. He had +apparently died with that last cry on his lips. + +There was no longer a fear of the Mormons in Nathaniel. He believed the +king and Arbor Croche dead, and that in the gloom and excitement of the +night he could go among the people of St. James undiscovered. A great +load was lifted from his soul, for if he had not been in time to save +Marion he had at least delivered her after a short bondage. He had now +only to find Marion and she would go with him, for she loved him--and +Strang was no more. + +He hurried through the grove toward the temple. Even before he had come +near to it he could see that a great crowd had congregated there. The +street which he passed was deserted. No lights shone in the houses. Even +the dogs were gone. For the first time he understood what it meant. The +whole town had fled to that huge log stronghold for protection. +Buildings and trees shut out his view seaward but he could see the +flare of great fires mounting into the sky and he knew that those who +were not at the temple were guarding the shore. + +Suddenly he almost fell over a figure in his path. It was an old woman +mumbling and sobbing incoherently as she stumbled weakly in the +direction of the temple. Like an inspiration the thought came to him +that here was his opportunity of gaining admittance to that multitude of +women and children. He seized the old woman by the arm and spoke words +of courage to her as he half carried her on her way. A few minutes more +and a blaze of light burst upon them and the great square in which the +temple was situated lay open before them. Half a hundred yards ahead a +fire was burning; oil and pine sent their lurid flame high up into the +night, and in the thick gloom behind it, intensified by the blinding +glare, Nathaniel saw the shadows of men. He caught the old woman in his +arms and went on boldly. He passed close to a thin line of waiting men, +saw the faint glint of firelight on their rifles, and staggering past +them unchallenged with his weight he stopped for a moment to look back. +The effect was startling. Beyond the three great fires that blazed +around the temple the clearing was bathed in a sea of light; in its +concealment of giant trees the temple was buried in gloom. From the +gloom a hundred cool men might slaughter five times their number +charging across that illumined death-square! + +Nathaniel could not repress a shudder as he looked. Screened behind each +of the three fires was a cannon. He figured that there were more than a +hundred rifles in that silent cordon of men. What was there on the +opposite side of the temple? + +He turned with the old woman and joined the throng that was seething +about the temple doors. There were women, children and old men, crushing +and crowding, fighting with panic-stricken fierceness for admittance to +the thick log walls. Through the doors there came the low thunder of +countless voices pierced by the shrill cries of little children. Foot by +foot Nathaniel fought his way up the steps. At the top were drawn a +dozen men forming barriers with their rifles. One of them shoved him +back. + +"Not you!" he shouted. "This is for the women!" + +Nathaniel fell back, filled with horror. A glance had shown him the vast +dimly lighted interior of the temple packed to suffocation. What sins +had this people wrought that it thus feared the vengeance of the men +from the mainland! He felt the sweat break out upon his face as he +thought of Marion being in that mob, tired and fainting with her +terrible day's experience--perhaps dying under the panic-stricken feet +of those stronger than herself. He hoped now for that which at first had +filled him with despair--that Strang had hidden Marion away from the +terror and suffocation of this multitude that fought for its breath +within the temple. Freeing himself of the crowd he ran to the farther +side of the building. A fourth fire blazed in his face. But on this side +there was no cannon; scarcely a score of men were guarding the rear of +the temple. + +For a full minute he stood concealed in the gloom. He realized now that +it would be useless to return to Obadiah. The old councilor could +probably have told him all that he had discovered for himself; that +Marion had gone to the castle--that Strang intended to make her his +bride that night. But did Obadiah know that the castle had been +abandoned? Did he know that the king's wives had sought refuge in the +temple, and did he know where Marion was hidden? Nathaniel could assure +himself but one answer; Obadiah, struck down by his strange madness, was +more ignorant than he himself of what had occurred at St. James. + +While he paused a heavy noise arose that quickened his heart-beats and +sent the blood through his veins in wild excitement. From far down by +the shore there came the roar of a cannon. It was closely followed by a +second and a third, and hardly was the night shaken by their thunder +than a mighty cheering of men swept up from the fire-rimmed coast. The +battle had begun! Nathaniel leaped out into the glow of the great +blazing fire beyond the temple; he heard a warning shout as he darted +past the men; for an instant he saw their white faces staring at him +from the firelight--heard a second shout, which he knew was a +command--and was gone. Half a dozen rifles cracked behind him and a yell +of joyful defiance burst from his throat as the bullets hissed over his +head. The battle had begun! Another hour and the Mormon kingdom would be +at the mercy of the avenging host from the mainland--and Marion would be +his own for ever! He heard again the deep rumble of a heavy gun and from +its sullen detonation he knew that it was fired from a ship at sea. A +nearer crash of returning fire turned him into a deserted street down +which he ran wildly, on past the last houses of the town, until he came +to the foot of a hill up which he climbed more slowly, panting like a +winded animal. + +From its top he could look down upon the scene of battle. To the +eastward stretched the harbor line with its rim of fires. A glance +showed him that the fight was not to center about these. They had served +their purpose, had forced the mainlanders to seek a landing farther down +the coast. The light of dawn had already begun to disperse the thick +gloom of night and an eighth of a mile below Nathaniel the Mormon forces +were creeping slowly along the shore. The pale ghostly mistiness of the +sea hung like a curtain between him and what was beyond, and even as he +strained his eyes to catch a glimpse of the avenging fleet a vivid light +leaped out of the white distance, followed by the thunder of a cannon. +He saw the head of the Mormon line falter. In an instant it had been +thrown into confusion. A second shot from the sea--a storm of cheering +voices from out of that white chaos of mist--and the Mormons fell back +from the shore in a panic-stricken, fleeing mob. Were those frightened +cowards the fierce fighters of whom he had heard so much? Were they the +men who had made themselves masters of a kingdom in the land of their +enemies--whose mere name carried terror for a hundred miles along the +coast? He was stupefied, bewildered. He made no effort to conceal +himself as they approached the hill, but drew his pistol, ready to fire +down upon them as they came. Suddenly there was a change. So quickly +that he could scarcely believe his eyes the flying Mormons had +disappeared. Not a man was visible upon that narrow plain between the +hill and the sea. Like a huge covey of quail they had dropped to the +ground, their rifles lost in that ghostly gloom through which the voices +of the mainlanders came in fierce cries of triumph. It was magnificent! +Even as the crushing truth of what it all meant came to him, the +fighting blood in his veins leaped at the sight of it--the pretended +effect of the shots from sea, the sham confusion, the disorderly +flight, the wonderful quickness and precision with which the rabble of +armed men had thrown itself into ambush! + +Would the mainlanders rush into the trap? Had some keen eye seen those +shadowy forms dropping through the mist? Each instant the ghostly pall +that shut out vision seaward seemed drifting away. Nathaniel's staring +eyes saw a vague shape appear in it, an indistinct dirt-gray blotch, and +he knew that it was a boat. Another followed, and then another; he heard +the sound of oars, the grinding of keels upon the sand, and where the +Mormons had been a few moments before the beach was now alive with +mainlanders. In the growing light he could make out the king's men below +him, inanimate spots in the middle of the narrow plain. Helpless he +stood clutching his pistol, the horror in him growing with each breath. +Could he give no warning? Could he do nothing--nothing--At least he +could join in the fight! He ran down the hill, swinging to the left of +the Mormons. Half way, and he stopped as a thundering cheer swept up +from the shore. The mainlanders had started toward the hill! Without +rank, without order--shouting their triumph as they came they were +rushing blindly into the arms of the ambush! A shriek of warning left +Nathaniel's lips. It was drowned in a crash of rifle fire. Volley after +volley burst from that shadowy stretch of plain. Before the furious fire +the van of the mainlanders crumpled into ruin. Like chaff before a wind +those behind were swept back. Apparently they were flying without +waiting to fire a shot! Nathaniel dashed down into the plain. Ahead of +him the Mormons were charging in a solid line, and in another moment the +shore had become a mass of fighting men. Far to the left he saw a group +of the mainlanders running along the beach toward the conflict. If he +could only intercept them--and bring them into the rear! Like the wind +he sped to cut them off, shouting and firing his pistol. + +He won by a hundred yards and stood panting as they came toward him. +Dawn had dispelled the mist-gloom and as the mainlanders drew nearer he +discerned in their lead a figure that brought a cry of joy from his +lips. + +"Neil!" he shouted. "Neil--" + +He turned as Marion's brother darted to his side. + +"This way--from behind!" + +The two led the way, side by side, followed by a dozen men. A glance +told Nathaniel that nothing much less than a miracle could turn the tide +of battle. Half of the mainlanders were fighting in the water. Others +were struggling desperately to get away in the boats. Foot by foot the +Mormons were crushing them back, their battle cries now turned into +demoniac yells of victory. Into the rear of the struggling mass, firing +as they ran, charged the handful of men behind Captain Plum and Neil. +For a little space the king's men gave way before them and with wild +cheers the powerful fishermen from the coast fought their way toward +their comrades. Many of them were armed with long knives; some had +pistols; others used their empty rifles as clubs. A dozen more men and +they would have split like a wedge through the Mormon mass. Above the +din of battle Nathaniel's voice rose in thundering shouts to the men in +the sea, and close beside him he heard Neil shrieking out a name between +his blows. Like demons they fought straight ahead, slashing with their +knives. The Mormon line was thinning. The mainlanders had turned and +were fighting their way back, gaining foot by foot what they had lost. +Suddenly there came a terrific cheer from the plain and the hope that +had flamed in Nathaniel's breast died out as he heard it. He knew what +it meant--that the Mormons at St. James had come to reinforce their +comrades. He fought now to reach the boats, calling to Neil, whom he +could no longer see. Even in that moment he thought of Marion. His only +chance was to escape with the others, his only hope of wresting her from +the kingdom lay in his own freedom. He had waited too long. A crushing +blow fell upon him from behind and with a last cry to Neil he sank under +the trampling feet. Indistinctly there came to him the surging shock of +the fresh body of Mormons. The din about him became fainter and fainter +as though he was being carried rapidly away from it; shouting voices +came to him in whispers, and deadened sounds, like the quick tapping of +a finger on his forehead, were all that he heard of the steady rifle +fire that pursued the defeated mainlanders in their flight. + +After a little he began struggling back into consciousness. There was a +splitting pain somewhere in his head and he tried to reach his hand to +it. + +"You won't have to carry him," he heard a voice say. "Give him a little +water and he'll walk." + +He felt the dash of the water in his face and it put new life into him. +Somebody had raised him to a sitting posture and was supporting him +there while a second person bound a cloth about his head. He opened his +eyes and the light of day shot into them like a stinging, burning charge +of needle-points, and he closed them again with a sharp cry of pain. +That second's glance had shown him that it was a woman who was binding +his head. He had not seen her face. Beyond her he had caught a half +formed vision of many people and the glistening edge of the sea, and as +he lay with closed eyes the murmur of voices came to him. The support at +his back was taken away, slowly, as if the person who held him feared +that he would fall. Nathaniel stiffened himself to show his returning +strength and opened his eyes again. This time the pain was not so great. +A few yards away he saw a group of people and among them were women; +still farther away, so far that his brain grew dizzy as he looked, there +was a black moving crowd. He was among the wounded. The Mormon women +were here. Down there along the shore--among the dead--had assembled the +population of St. James. + +A strange sickness overpowered him and he sank back against his +supporter. A cool hand passed over his face. It was a soothing, gentle +touch--the hand of the woman. He felt the sweep of soft hair against his +cheek--a breath whispering in his ear. + +"You will be better soon." + +His heart stood still. + +"You will be better--" + +Against his rough cheek there fell the soft pressure of a woman's lips. + +Nathaniel pulled himself erect, every drop of blood in him striving for +the mastery of his body, his vision, his strength. He tried to turn, but +strong arms seized him from behind. A man's voice spoke to him, a man's +strength held him. In an agony of appeal Marion's name burst from his +lips. + +"Sh-h-!" warned the voice behind him. "Are you crazy?" + +The arms relaxed their hold and Nathaniel dragged himself to his knees. +The woman was gone. As far as he could see there were people--scores of +them, hundreds of them--multiplied into thousands and millions as he +looked, until there was only a black cloud about him. He staggered to +his feet and a strong hand kept him from falling while his brain slowly +cleared. The millions and thousands and hundreds of people dissolved +themselves into the day until only a handful was left where he had seen +multitudes. He turned his face weakly to the man beside him. + +"Where did she go?" he asked. + +It was a boyish face into which his pleading eyes gazed, a face white +with the strain of battle, reddened a little on one cheek with a smear +of blood, and there was a startled, frightened look in it that did not +come of the strife that had passed. + +"Who? What are you talking about?" + +"The woman," whispered Nathaniel. "The woman--Marion--who kissed--me--" + +The young fellow's hand gripped his arm in a sudden fierce clutch. + +"You've been dreaming!" he exclaimed in a threatening voice. "Shut up!" +He spoke the words loudly. Then quickly dropping his voice to a whisper +he added, "For God's sake don't betray her! They saw her with +us--everybody knows that it was the king's wife with you!" + +The king's wife! Nathaniel was too weak to analyze the words beyond the +fact that they carried the dread truth of his fears deep into his soul. +Who would have come to him but Marion? Who else would have kissed him? +It was her voice that had whispered in his ear--the thrill of her hand +that had passed over his face. And this man had said that she was the +wife of the king! He heard the voices of other men near him but did not +understand what they were saying. He knew that after a moment there was +a man on each side of him holding him by the arms, and mechanically he +moved his legs, knowing that they wanted him to walk. They did not guess +how weak he was--how he struggled to keep from becoming too great a +weight on their hands. Once or twice they stopped in their agonizing +climb up the hill. On its top the cool sea air swept into Nathaniel's +face and it was like water to a parched throat. + +After a time--it seemed a day of terrible work and pain to him--they +came to the streets of the town, and in a half conscious sort of way he +cursed at the rabble trailing at their heels. They passed close to the +temple, dirt and blood and a burning torment shutting the vision of it +from his eyes, and beyond this there was another crowd. An aisle opened +for them, as it had opened for others ahead of them. In front of the +jail they stopped. Nathaniel's head hung heavily upon his breast and he +made no effort to raise it. All ambition and desire had left him, all +desire but one, and that was to drop upon the ground and lie there for +endless, restful years. What consciousness was left in him was ebbing +swiftly; he saw black, fathomless night about him and the earth seemed +slipping from under his feet. + +A voice dragged him back into life--a voice that boomed in his ears like +rolling thunder and set every fiber in him quivering with emotion. He +drew himself erect with the involuntary strength of one mastering the +last spasm of death and as they dragged him through the door he saw +there within an arm's reach of him the great, living face of Strang, +gloating at him as if from out of a mist--red eyed, white fanged, filled +with the vengefulness of a beast. + +The great voice rumbled in his ears again. + +"Take that man to the dungeon!" + + + + +CHAPTER X + +WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH + + +The voice--the condemning words--followed Nathaniel as he staggered on +between his two guards; it haunted him still as the cold chill of the +rotting dungeon walls struck in his face; it remained with him as he +stood swaying alone in the thick gloom--the voice rumbling in his ears, +the words beating against his brain until the shock of them sickened +him, until he stretched out his arms and there fell from him such a cry +as had never tortured his lips before. + +Strang was alive! He had left the spark of life in him, and the woman +who loved him had fanned it back into full flame. + +Strang was alive! And Marion--Marion was his wife! + +The voice of the king taunted him from the black chaos that hid the +dungeon walls. The words struck at him, filling his head with shooting +pain, and he tottered back and sank to the ground to get away from them. +They followed, and that vengeful leer of the king was behind them, +urging them on, until they beat his face into the sticky earth, and +smothered him into what he thought was death. + +There came rest after that, a long silent rest. When Nathaniel slowly +climbed up out of the ebon shadows again the first consciousness that +came to him was that the word-demons had stopped their beating against +his brain and that he no longer heard the voice of the king. His relief +was so great that he breathed a restful sigh. Something touched him +then. Great God! were they coming back? Were they still +there--waiting--waiting-- + +It was a wonderfully familiar voice that spoke to him. + +"Hello there, Nat! Want a drink?" + +He gulped eagerly at the cool liquid that touched his lips. + +"Neil," he whispered. + +"It's me, Nat. They chucked me in with you. Hell's hole, isn't it?" + +Nathaniel sat up, Neil's strong arm at his back. There was a light in +the room now and he could see his companion's face, smiling at him +encouragingly. The sight of it was like an elixir to him. He drank again +and new life coursed through him. + +"Yes--hell of a hole!" he repeated drowsily. "Sorry for you--Neil--" and +he seemed to sleep again. + +Neil laughed as he wiped his companion's face with a wet cloth. + +"I'm used to it, Nat. Been here before," he said. "Can you get up? +There's a bench over here--not long enough to stretch you out on or I +would have made you a bed of it, but it's better than this mud to sit +on." + +He put his arms about Nathaniel and helped him to his feet. For a few +moments the wounded man stood without moving. + +"I'm not very bad, I guess," he said, taking a slow step. "Where is the +seat, Neil? I'm going to walk to it. What sort of a bump have I got on +the head?" + +"Nothing much," assured Neil. "Suspicious, though," he grinned +cheerfully. "Looks as though you were running and somebody came up and +tapped you from behind!" + +Nathaniel's strength returned to him quickly. The pain had gone from his +head and his eyes no longer hurt him. In the dim candle-light he could +distinguish the four walls of the dungeon, glistening with the water and +mold that reeked from between their rotting logs. The floor was of wet, +sticky earth which clung to his boots, and the air that he breathed +filled his nostrils and throat with the uncomfortable thickness of a +night fog at sea. Through it the candle burned in a misty halo. Near the +candle, which stood on a shelf-like table against one of the walls, was +a big dish which caught Nathaniel's eyes. + +"What's that?" he asked pointing toward it. + +"Grub," replied Neil. "Hungry?" + +He went to the table and got the plate of food. There were chunks of +boiled meat, unbuttered bread, and cold potatoes. For several minutes +they ate in silence. Now that Nathaniel was himself again Neil could no +longer keep up his forced spirits. Both realized that they had played +their game and that it had ended in defeat. And each believed that it +was in his individual power to alleviate to some extent the other's +misery. To Neil what was ahead of them held no mystery. A few hours more +and then--death. It was only the form in which it would come that +troubled him, that made him think. Usually the victims of this dungeon +cell were shot. Sometimes they were hanged. But why tell Nathaniel? So +he ate his meat and bread without words, waiting for the other to speak, +as the other waited for him. And Nathaniel, on his part, kept to himself +the secret of Marion's fate. After they had done with the meat and the +bread and the cold potatoes he pulled out his beloved pipe and filled it +with the last scraps of his tobacco, and as the fumes of it clouded +round his head, soothing him in its old friendship, he told of his fight +with Strang and his killing of Arbor Croche. + +"I'm glad for Winnsome's sake," said Neil, after a moment. "Oh, if you'd +only killed Strang!" + +Nathaniel thought of what Marion had said to him in the forest. + +"Neil," he said quietly, "do you know that Winnsome loves you--not as +the little girl whom you toted about on your shoulders--but as a woman? +Do you know that?" In the other's silence he added, "When I last saw +Marion she sent this message to you--'Tell Neil that he must go, for +Winnsome's sake. Tell him that her fate is shortly to be as cruel as +mine--tell him that Winnsome loves him and that she will escape and come +to him on the mainland.'" Like words of fire they had burned themselves +in his brain and as Nathaniel repeated them he thought of that other +broken heart that had sobbed out its anguish to him in the castle +chamber. "Neil, a man can die easier when he knows that a woman loves +him!" + +He had risen to his feet and was walking back and forth through the +thick gloom. + +"I'm glad!" Neil's voice came to him softly, as though he scarcely dared +to speak the words aloud. After a moment he added, "Have you got a +pencil, Nat? I would like to leave a little note for Winnsome." + +Nathaniel found both pencil and paper in one of his pockets and Neil +dropped upon his knees in the mud beside the table. Ten minutes later he +turned to Nathaniel and a great change had come into his face. + +"She always seemed like such a little child to me that I never +dared--to--tell her," he faltered. "I've done it in this." + +"How will you get the note to her?" + +"I know the jailer. Perhaps when he comes to bring us our dinner I can +persuade him to send it to her." + +Nathaniel thrust his hands into his pockets. His fingers dug into +Obadiah's gold. + +"Would this help?" he asked. + +He brought out a shimmering handful of it and counted the pieces upon +the table. + +"Two hundred dollars--if he will deliver that note," he said. + +Neil stared at him in amazement. + +"If he won't take it for that--I've got more. I'll go a thousand!" + +Neil stood silent, wondering if his companion was mad. Nathaniel saw the +look in his face and his own flushed with sudden excitement. + +"Don't you understand?" he cried. "That note means Heaven or hell for +Winnsome--it means life--her whole future! And you know what this cell +means for us," he said more calmly. "It means that we're at the end of +our rope, that the game is up, that neither of us will ever see Marion +or Winnsome again. That note is the last word in life from us--from you. +It's a dying prayer. Tell Winnsome your love, tell her that it is your +last wish that she go out into the big, free world--away from this +hell-hole, away from Strang, away from the Mormons, and live as other +women live! And commanded by your love--she will go!" + +"I've told her that!" breathed Neil. + +"I knew you would!" + +Nathaniel threw another handful of gold on the table. + +"Five hundred!" he exclaimed. "It's cheap enough for a woman's soul!" + +He motioned for Neil to put the money in his pocket. The pain was coming +back into his head, he grew dizzy, and hastened to the bench. Neil came +and sat beside him. + +"So you think it's the end?" he asked. He was glad that his companion +had guessed the truth. + +"Don't you?" + +"Yes." + +There was a minute's dark silence. The ticking of Nathaniel's watch +sounded like the tapping of a stick. + +"What will happen?" + +"I don't know. But whatever it may be it will come to us soon. Usually +it happens at night." + +"There is no hope?" + +"Absolutely none. The whole mainland is at the mercy of Strang. He fears +no retribution now, no punishment for his crimes, no hand stronger than +his own. He will not even give us the pretense of a hearing. I am a +traitor, a revolutionist--you have attempted the life of the king. We +are both condemned--both doomed." + +Neil spoke calmly and his companion strove to master the terrible pain +at his heart as he thought of Marion. If Neil could go to the end like a +martyr he would at least make an attempt to do as much. Yet he could not +help from saying: + +"What will become of Marion?" + +He felt the tremor that passed through his companion's body. + +"I have implored Winnsome to do all that she can to get her away," +replied Neil. "If Marion won't go--" He clenched his hands with a +moaning curse and sprang to his feet, again pacing back and forth +through the gloomy dungeon. "If she won't go I swear that Strang's +triumph will be short!" he cried suddenly. "I can not guess the terrible +power that the king possesses over her, but I know that once his wife +she will not endure it long. The moment she becomes that, her bondage is +broken. I know it. I have seen it in her eyes. She will kill herself!" + +Nathaniel rose slowly from the bench and came to his side. + +"She won't do that!" he groaned. "My God--she won't do that!" + +Neil's face was blanched to the whiteness of paper. + +"She will," he repeated quietly. "Her terrible pact with Strang will +have been fulfilled. And I--I am glad--glad--" + +He raised his arms to the dripping blackness of the dungeon ceiling, his +voice shaking with a cold, stifled anguish. Nathaniel drew back from +that tall, straight figure, step by step, as though to hide beyond the +flickering candle glow the betrayal that had come into his face, the +blazing fire that seemed burning out his eyes. If what Neil had said was +true-- + +Something choked him as he dropped alone upon the bench. + +If it was true--Marion was dead! + +He dropped his head in his hands and sat for a long time in silence, +listening to Neil as he walked tirelessly over the muddy earth. Not +until there came a rattling of the chain at the cell door and a creaking +of the rusty hinges did he lift his face. It was the jailer with a huge +armful of straw. He saw Neil approach him after he had thrown it down. +Their low voices came to him in an indistinct murmur. After a little he +caught the sound of the chinking gold pieces. + +Neil came and sat down beside him as the heavy door closed upon them +again. + +"He took it," he whispered exultantly. "He will deliver it this morning. +If possible he will bring us an answer. I kept out a hundred and told +him that a reply would be worth that to him." + +Nathaniel did not speak, and after a moment's silence Neil continued. + +"The jury is assembling. We will know our fate very soon." + +He rose to his feet, his words quivering with nervous excitement, and +Nathaniel heard him kicking about in the straw. In another breath his +voice hissed through the gloom in a sharp, startled command: + +"Good God, Nat, come here!" + +Something in the strange fierceness of Neil's words startled Nathaniel, +like the thrilling twinges of an electric shock. He darted across the +cell and found Marion's brother with his shoulder against the door. + +"It's open!" he whispered. "The door--is--open!" + +The hinges creaked under his weight. A current of air struck them in the +face. Another instant and they stood in the corridor, listening, +crushing back the breath in their lungs, not daring to speak. Only the +drip of water came to their ears. Gently Neil drew his companion back +into the cell. + +"There's a chance--one chance in ten thousand!" he whispered. "At the +end of this corridor there is a door--the jailer's door. If that's not +locked, we can make a run for it! I'd rather die fighting--than here!" + +He slipped out again, pressing Nathaniel back. + +"Wait for me!" + +Nathaniel heard him stealing slowly through the blackness. A minute +later he returned. + +"Locked!" he exclaimed. + +In the opposite direction a ray of light caught Nathaniel's eye. + +"Where does that light come from?" he asked. + +"Through a hole about as big as your two hands. It was made for a stove +pipe. If we were up there we could see into the jury room." + +They moved quietly down the corridor until they stood under the +aperture, which was four or five feet above their heads. Through it they +could hear the sound of voices but could not distinguish the words that +were being spoken. + +"The jury," explained Neil. "They're in a devil of a hurry! I wonder +why?" + +Nathaniel could feel his companion shrug himself in the darkness. + +"Lord--for my revolver!" he whispered excitedly. "One shot through that +hole would be worth a thousand notes to the girls!" He caught Marion's +brother by the arm as a voice louder than the others came to them. + +"Strang!" + +"Yes--the--king!" affirmed Neil laying an expostulating hand on him. +"Hush!" + +"I would like to see--" + +Even in these last hours of failure and defeat the fire of adventure +flamed up in Nathaniel's blood. He felt his nerves leaping again to +action, his arms grew tense with new ambition--almost he forgot that +death had him cornered and was already preparing to strike him down. +Another thought replaced all fear of this. A few feet beyond that log +wall were gathered the men whose bloodthirsty deeds had written for them +one of the reddest pages in history--men who had burned their souls out +in the destruction of human lives, whose passions and loves and hatreds +carried with them life and death; men who had bathed themselves in blood +and lived in blood until the people of the mainland called them "the +leeches." + +"The Mormon jury!" Nathaniel spoke the words scarcely above his breath. + +"I'd like to take a look through that hole, Neil," he added. + +"Easy enough--if you keep quiet. Here!" He doubled himself against the +wall. "Climb up on my shoulders." + +No sooner had Nathaniel's face come to a level with the hole than a soft +cry of astonishment escaped him. Neil whispered hoarsely but he did not +reply. He was looking into a room twice as large as the dungeon cell and +lighted by narrow windows whose lower panes were on a level with the +ground outside. At the farther end of the room, in full view, was a +platform raised several feet from the main floor. On this platform were +seated ten men, immovable as statues, every face gazing straight ahead. +Directly in front of them, on the lower floor, stood the Mormon king, +and at his side, partly held in the embrace of one of his arms was +Winnsome! + +Strang's voice came to him in a low, solemn monotone, its rumbling +depth drowning the words he was speaking, and as Nathaniel saw him lift +his arm from about the girl's shoulders and place his great hand upon +her head he dug his own fingers fiercely into the rotting logs and an +imprecation burned in his breath. He did not need to hear what the king +was saying. It was a pantomime in which every gesture was +understandable. But even Neil, huddled against the wall, heard the last +words of the prophet as they thundered forth in sudden passion. + +"Winnsome Croche demands the death of her father's murderer!" + +Nathaniel felt his companion's shoulders sinking under his weight and he +leaped quickly to the floor. + +"Winnsome is there!" he panted desperately. "Do you want to see her?" + +Neil hesitated. + +"No. Your boots gouge my shoulder. Take them off." + +The scene had changed when Nathaniel took his position again. The jury +had left its platform and was filing through a small door. Winnsome and +the king were along. + +The girl had turned from him. She was deathly pale and yet she was +wondrously beautiful, so beautiful that Nathaniel's breath came in quick +dread as the king approached her. He could see the triumph in his eyes, +a terrible eagerness in his face. He seized Winnsome's hand and spoke to +her in a soft, low voice, so low that it came to Nathaniel only in a +murmur. Then, in a moment, he began stroking the shimmering glory of her +hair, caressing the silken curls between his fingers until the blood +seemed as if it must burst, like hot sweat from Nathaniel's face. +Suddenly Winnsome drew back from him, the pallor gone from her face, her +eyes blazing like angry stars. She had retreated but a step when the +prophet sprang to her and caught her in his arms, straining her to him +until the scream on her lips was choked to a gasping cry. In answer to +that cry a yell of rage hurled itself from Nathaniel's throat. + +"Stop, you hell-hound!" he cried threateningly. "Stop!" + +He shrieked the words again and again, maddened beyond control, and the +Mormon king, whose self-possession was more that of devil than man, +still held the struggling girl in his arms as he turned his head toward +the voice and saw Nathaniel's long arm and knotted fist threatening him +through the hole in the wall. Then Neil's name in a piercing scream +resounded through the dungeon corridor and in response to it the man +under Nathaniel straightened himself so quickly that his companion fell +back to the floor. + +"Great God! what is the matter, Nat? Quick! let me up!" + +Nathaniel staggered to his feet, the breath half gone out of his body, +and in another instant Neil was at the opening. The great room into +which he looked was empty. + +"What was it?" he cried, leaping down. "What were they doing with +Winnsome?" + +"It was the king," said Nathaniel, struggling to master himself. "The +king put his arms around Winnsome and--she struck him!" + +"That was all?" + +"He kissed her as she fought--and I yelled." + +"She struck him!" Neil cried. "God bless little Winnsome, Nat! and--God +bless her!" + +Neil's breath came fast as he caught the other's hand. + +"I'd give my life if I could help you--and Marion!" + +"We'll give them together," said Nathaniel coolly, turning down the +corridor. "Here's our chance. They'll come through that door to relock +us in our cell. Shall we die fighting?" + +He was groping about in the mud of the floor for some object. + +"If we had a couple of stones--" + +"It would be madness--worse than madness!" interposed Neil, steadying +himself. "There will be a dozen rifles at that door when they open it. +We must return to the cell. It is worth dying a harder death to hear +from Marion and Winnsome. And we will hear from them before night!" + +They retreated into the dungeon. A few minutes later the door opened +cautiously at the head of the corridor. A light blazed through the +blackness and after an interval of silence the jailer made his +appearance in front of the cell, a pistol in his hand. + +"Don't be afraid, Jeekum," said Neil reassuringly. "You forgot the door +and we've been having a little fun with the jury. That's all!" + +The nervous whiteness left Jeekum's face at this cheerful report and he +was about to close the door when Nathaniel exhibited a handful of gold +pieces in the candle-light and frantically beckoned the man to come in. +The jailer's eyes glittered understandingly and with a backward glance +down the lighted corridor he thrust his head and shoulders inside. + +"Five hundred dollars for that note!" he whispered. "Five hundred beside +the four you've got!" + +"Jeekum's a fool!" said Neil, as the door closed on them. "I feel sorry +for him." + +"Why?" + +"Because he is accepting the money. Don't you suppose that you have been +searched? Of course you have--probably before I came, while you were +half dead on the floor. Somebody knows that you have the gold." + +"Why hasn't it been taken?" + +For a full minute Neil made no answer. And his answer, when it did come, +first of all was a laugh. + +"By George, that's good!" he cried exultingly. "Of course you were +searched--and by Jeekum! He knows, but he hasn't made a report of it to +Strang because he believes that in some way he will get hold of the +money. He is taking a big risk--but he's winning! I wonder what his +first scheme was?" + +"Thought I'd bury it, perhaps," vouchsafed Nathaniel, throwing himself +upon the straw. "There's room for two here, Neil." + +A long silence fell between them. The action during the last few minutes +had been too great an effort for Nathaniel and his wound troubled him +again. As the pain and his terrible thoughts of Marion's fate returned +to him he regretted that they had not ended it all in one last fight at +the door. There, at least, they might have died like men instead of +waiting to be shot down like dogs, their hands bound behind them, their +breasts naked to the Mormon rifles. He did not fear death. In more than +one game he had played against its hand, more often for love of the +sport than not, but there was a horror in being penned up and tortured +by it. He had come to look upon it as a fair enemy, filled of course +with subterfuge and treachery, which were the laws of the game; but he +had never dreamed of it as anything but merciful in its quickness. It +was as if his adversary had broken an inviolable pact with him and he +sweated and tossed on his bed of straw while Neil sat cool and silent on +the bench against the dungeon wall. Sheer exhaustion brought him relief, +and after a time he fell asleep. + +He was awakened by Neil. The white face of Marion's brother was over him +when he opened his eyes and he was shaking him roughly by the shoulder. + +"Wake up, Nat!" he cried. "For Heaven's sake--wake up!" + +He drew back as Nathaniel sleepily roused himself. + +"I couldn't help it, Nat," he apologized, laughing nervously. "You've +lain there like a dead man for hours. My head is splitting with this +damned silence. Come--smoke up! I got some tobacco from our jailer and +he loaned me his pipe." + +Nathaniel jumped to his feet. A fresh candle was burning on the table +and in its light he saw that a startling change had come into Neil's +face during the hours he had slept. It looked to him thinner and whiter, +its lines had deepened, and the young man's eyes were filled with gloomy +dejection. + +"Why didn't you awaken me sooner?" he exclaimed. "I deserve a good +drubbing for leaving you alone here!" He saw fresh food on the table. +"It's late--" he began. + +"That is our dinner and supper," interrupted Neil. He held his watch +close to the candle. "Half past eight!" + +"And no word--from--" + +"No." + +The two men looked deeply into each other's eyes. + +"Jeekum delivered my note to her at noon when he was relieved," said +Neil. "He did not carry it personally but swears that he saw her receive +it. He sent her word that he would call at a certain place for a reply +when he was relieved again at five. There was no reply for him--not a +word from Winnsome." + +Their silence was painful. It was Nathaniel who spoke first, +hesitatingly, as though afraid to say what was passing in his mind. + +"I killed Winnsome's father, Neil," he said, "and Winnsome has demanded +my death. I know that I am condemned to die. But you--" His eyes flashed +sudden fire. "How do you know that my fate is to be yours? I begin to +see the truth. Winnsome has not answered your note because she knows +that you are to live and that she will see you soon. Between Winnsome +and--Marion you will be saved!" + +Neil had taken a piece of meat and was eating it as though he had not +heard his companion's words. + +"Help yourself, Nat. It's our last opportunity." + +"You don't believe--" + +"No. Lord, man, do you suppose that Strang is going to let me live to +kill him?" + +Somebody was fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door. + +The two men stared as it opened slowly and Jeekum appeared. The jailer +was highly excited. + +"I've got word--but no note!" he whispered hoarsely. "Quick! Is it +worth--" + +"Yes! Yes!" + +Nathaniel dug the gold pieces out of his pockets and dropped them into +the jailer's outstretched hand. + +"I've had my boy watching Winnsome Croche's house," continued the +sheriff, white with the knowledge of the risk he was taking. "An hour +ago Winnsome came out of the house and went into the woods. My boy +followed. She ran to the lake, got into a skiff, and rowed straight out +to sea. She is following your instructions!" + +In his excitement he betrayed himself. He had read the note. + +There came a sound up the corridor, the opening of a door, the echo of +voices, and Jeekum leaped back. Nathaniel's foot held the cell door +from closing. + +"Where is Marion?" he cried softly, his heart standing still with dread. +"Great God--what about Marion?" + +For an instant the sheriff's ghastly face was pressed against the +opening. + +"Marion has not been seen since morning. The king's officers are +searching for her." + +The door slammed, the chains clanked loudly, and above the sound of +Jeekum's departure Neil's voice rose in a muffled cry of joy. + +"They are gone! They are leaving the island!" + +Nathaniel stood like one turned into stone. His heart grew cold within +him. When he spoke his words were passionless echoes of what had been. + +"You are sure that Marion would kill herself as soon as she became the +wife of Strang?" he asked. + +"Yes--before his vile hands touched more than the dress she wore!" +shouted Neil. + +"Then Marion is dead," replied Nathaniel, as coldly as though he were +talking to the walls about him. "For last night Marion was forced into +the harem of the king." + +As he revealed the secret whose torture he meant to keep imprisoned in +his own breast he dropped upon the pallet of straw and buried his face +between his arms, cursing himself that he had weakened in these last +hours of their comradeship. + +He dared not look to see the effect of his words on Neil. His companion +uttered no sound. Instead there was a silence that was terrifying. + +At the end of it Neil spoke in a voice so strangely calm that Nathaniel +sat up and stared at him through the gloom. + +"I believe they are coming after us, Nat. Listen!" + +The tread of many feet came to them faintly from beyond the corridor +wall. + +Nathaniel had risen. They drew close together, and their hands clasped. + +"Whatever it may be," whispered Neil, "may God have mercy on our souls!" + +"Amen!" breathed Captain Plum. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +"THE STRAIGHT DEATH" + + +Hands were fumbling with the chain at the dungeon door. + +It opened and Jeekum's ashen face shone in the candle-light. For a +moment his frightened eyes rested on the two men still standing in their +last embrace of friendship. A word of betrayal from them and he knew +that his own doom was sealed. + +He came in, followed by four men. One of them was MacDougall, the king's +whipper. In the corridor were other faces, like ghostly shadows in the +darkness. Only MacDougall's face was uncovered. The others were hidden +behind white masks. The men uttered no sound but ranged themselves like +specters in front of the door, their cocked rifles swung into the crooks +of their arms. There was a triumphant leer on MacDougall's lips as he +and the jailer approached. As the whipper bound Neil's hands behind his +back he hissed in his ear. + +"This will be a better job than the whipping, damn you!" + +Neil laughed. + +"Hear that, Nat?" he asked, loud enough for all in the cell to hear. +"MacDougall says this will be a better job than the whipping. He +remembers how I thrashed him once when he said something to Marion one +day." + +Neil was as cool as though acting his part in a play. His face was +flushed, his eyes gleamed fearlessly defiant. And Nathaniel, looking +upon the courage of this man, from under whose feet had been swept all +hope of life, felt a twinge of shame at his own nervousness. MacDougall +grew black with passion at the taunting reminder of his humiliation and +tightened the thongs about Neil's wrists until they cut into the flesh. + +"That's enough, you coward!" exclaimed + +Nathaniel, as he saw the blood start. "Here--take this!" + +Like lightning he struck out and his fist fell with crushing force +against the side of the man's head. MacDougall toppled back with a +hollow groan, blood spurting from his mouth and nose. Nathaniel turned +coolly to the four rifles leveled at his breast. + +"A pretty puppet to do the king's commands!" he cried. "If there's a man +among you let him finish the work!" + +Jeekum had fallen upon his knees beside the whipper. + +"Great God!" he shrieked. "You've killed, him! You've stove in the side +of his head!" + +There was a sudden commotion in the corridor. A terrible voice boomed +forth in a roar. + +"Let me in!" + +Strang stood in the door. He gave a single glance at the man gasping and +bleeding in the mud. Then he looked at Nathaniel. The eyes of the two +men met unflinching. There was no hatred now in the prophet's face. + +"Captain Plum, I would give a tenth of my kingdom for a brother like +you!" he said calmly. "Here--I will finish the work." He went boldly to +the task, and as he tied Nathaniel's arms behind him he added, "The +vicissitudes of war, Captain Plum. You are a man--and can appreciate +what they sometimes mean!" + +A few minutes later, gagged and bound, the prisoners fell behind two of +the armed guards and at a command from the king, given in a low tone to +Jeekum, marched through the corridor and up the short flight of steps +that led out of the jail. To Nathaniel's astonishment there was no light +to guide them. Candles and lights had been extinguished. What words he +heard were spoken in whispers. In the deep shadow of the prison wall a +third guard joined the two ahead and like automatons they strode through +the gloom with slow, measured step, their rifles held with soldierly +precision. Nathaniel glanced over his shoulder and saw three other white +masked faces a dozen feet away. The king had remained behind. + +He shuddered and looked at Neil. His companion's appearance was almost +startling. He seemed half a head taller than himself, yet he knew that +he was shorter by an inch or two; his shoulders were thrown back, his +chin held high, he kept step with the guards ahead. He was marching to +his death as coolly as though on parade. + +Nathaniel's heart beat excitedly as they came to where the scrub of the +forest met the plain. They were taking the path that led to Marion's! +Again he looked at Neil. There was no change in the fearless attitude of +Marion's brother, no lowering of his head, no faltering in his step. +They passed the graves and entered the opening in the forest where lay +Marion's home, and as once more the sweet odor of lilac came to him, +awakening within his soul all those things that he had tried to stifle +that he might meet death like a man, he felt himself weakening, until +only the cloth about his mouth restrained the moaning cry that forced +itself to his lips. If he had possessed a life to give he would have +sacrificed it gladly then for a word with the Mormon king, a last prayer +that death might be meted to him here, where eternity would come to him +with his glazing eyes fixed to the end upon the home of his beloved, and +where the sweetness of the flower that had become a part of Marion +herself might soothe the pain of his final moment on earth. + +His heart leaped with hope as a sharp voice from the rear commanded a +halt. It was Jeekum. He came up out of the darkness from behind the rear +guard, his face still unmasked, and for a few moments was in whispered +consultation with the guards ahead. Had Strang, in the virulence of that +hatred which he concealed so well, conceived of this spot to give added +torment to death? It was the poetry of vengeance! For the first time +Neil turned toward his companion. Each read what the other had guessed. +Neil, who was nearest to the whispering four, turned suddenly toward +them and listened. When he looked at Nathaniel again it was with a slow +negative shake of his head. + +Jeekum returned quickly and placed himself between them, seizing each by +an arm, and the forward guards, pivoting to the left, set off at their +steady pace across the clearing. As they entered the denser gloom of the +forest on the farther side Nathaniel felt the jailer's fingers tighten +about his arm, then relax--and tighten again. A gentle pressure held him +back and the guards in front gained half a dozen feet. In a low voice +Jeekum called for those behind to fall a few paces to the rear. + +Then came again the mysterious working of the man's fingers on +Nathaniel's arm. + +Was Jeekum signaling to him? + +He could see Neil's white face still turned stoically to the front. +Evidently nothing had occurred to arouse his suspicions. If the +maneuvering of Jeekum's fingers meant anything it was intended for him +alone. Action had been the manna of his life. The possibility of new +adventure, even in the face of death, thrilled him. He waited, +breathless--and the strange pressure came again, so hard that it hurt +his flesh. + +There was no longer a doubt in his mind. The king's sheriff wanted to +speak to him. + +And he was afraid of the eyes and ears behind. + +The fingers were cautioning him to be ready--when the opportunity came. + +The path widened and through the thin tree-tops above their heads the +starlight filtered down upon them. The leading guards were twenty feet +away. How far behind were the others? + +A moment more and they plunged into deep night again. The figures ahead +were mere shadows. Again the fingers dug into Nathaniel's arm, and +pressing close to the sheriff he bent down his head. + +A low, quick whisper fell in his ear. + +"Don't give up hope! Marion--Winnsome--" + +The sheriff jerked himself erect without finishing. Hurried footsteps +had come close to their heels. The rear guards were so near that they +could have touched them with their guns. Had some spot of lesser gloom +ahead betrayed the prisoner's bowed head and Jeekum's white face turned +to it? There was a steady pressure on Nathaniel's arm now, a warning, +frightened pressure, and the hand that made it trembled. Jeekum feared +the worst--but his fear was not greater than the chill of disappointment +that came to smother the excited beating of Nathaniel's heart. What had +the jailer meant to say? What did he know about Marion and Winnsome, and +why had he given birth to new hope in the same breath that he mentioned +their names? + +His words carried at least one conviction. Marion was alive despite her +brother's somber prophesies. If she had killed herself the sheriff would +not have coupled her name with Winnsome's in the way he had. + +Nathaniel's nerves were breaking with suspense. He stifled his breath to +listen, to catch the faintest whisper that might come to him from the +white faced man at his side. Each passing moment of silence added to his +desperation. He squeezed the sheriff's hand with his arm, but there was +no responding signal; in a patch of thick gloom that almost concealed +the figures ahead he pressed near to him and lowered his head again--and +Jeekum pushed him back fiercely, with a low curse. + +They emerged from the forest and the clear starlight shone down upon +them. A little distance off lay the lake in shimmering stillness. +Nathaniel looked boldly at the sheriff now, and as his glance passed +beyond him he was amazed at the change that had come over Neil. The +young man's head was bowed heavily upon his breast, his shoulders were +hunched forward, and he walked with a listless, uneven step. Was it +possible that his magnificent courage had at last given way? + +A hundred steps farther they came to the beach and Nathaniel saw a boat +at the water's edge with a single figure guarding it. Straight to this +Jeekum led his prisoners. For the first time he spoke to them aloud. + +"One in front, the other in back," he said. + +For an instant Nathaniel found himself close beside Neil and he prodded +him sharply with his knee. His companion did not lift his head. He made +no sign, gave no last flashing comradeship with his eyes, but climbed +into the bow of the boat and sat down with his chin still on his chest, +like a man lost in stupor. + +Nathaniel followed him, scarcely believing his eyes, and sat himself in +the stern, leaning comfortably against the knees of the man who took the +tiller. He felt a curious thrill pass through him when he discovered a +moment later that this man was Jeekum. Two men seized the oars +amidships. A fourth, with his rifle across his knees sat facing Neil. + +For the first time Nathaniel found himself wondering what this voyage +meant. Were they to be rowed far down the shore to some secret fastness +where no other ears would hear the sound of the avenging rifles, and +where, a few inches under the forest mold, their bodies would never be +discovered? Each stroke of the oars added to the remoteness of this +possibility. The boat was heading straight out to sea. Perhaps they were +to meet a less terrible death by drowning, an end which, though +altogether unpleasant, held something comforting in it for Captain Plum. +Two hours passed without pause in the steady labor of the men at the +oars. In those hours not a word was spoken. The two men amidships held +no communication. The guard in the bow moved a little now and then only +to relieve his cramped limbs. Neil was absolutely motionless, as though +he had ceased to breathe. Jeekum uttered not a whisper. + +It was his whisper that Nathaniel waited for, the signaling clutch of +his fingers, the sound of his breath close to his ears. Again and again +he pressed himself against the sheriff's knees. He knew that he was +understood, and yet there came no answer. At last he looked up, and +Jeekum's face was far above him, staring straight and unseeing into the +darkness ahead. His last spark of hope went out. + +After a time a dark rim loomed slowly up out of the sea. It was land, +half a mile or so away. Nathaniel sat up with fresh interest, and as +they drew nearer Jeekum rose to his feet and gazed long and steadily in +both directions along the coast. When he returned to his seat the boat's +course was changed. A few minutes later the bow grated upon sand. Still +voiceless as specters the guards leaped ashore and Neil roused himself +to follow them, climbing over the gunwale like a sick man. Nathaniel was +close at his heels. With a growing sense of horror he saw two ghostly +stakes thrusting themselves out of the beach a dozen paces away. He +looked beyond them. As far as he could see there was sand--nothing but +sand, as white as paper, scintillating in a billion flashing +needle-points in the starlight. Instinctively he guessed what the stakes +were for, and walked toward them with the blood turning cold in his +veins. Neil was before him and stopped at the first stake, making no +effort to lift his eyes as Nathaniel strode past him. At the second, a +dozen feet beyond, Nathaniel's two guards halted, and placed him with +his back to the post. Two minutes later, bound hand and foot to the +stake, he shifted his head so that he could look at his companion. + +Neil was similarly fastened, with his face turned partly toward him. +There was no change in his attitude. His head hung weakly upon his +chest, as if he had fainted. + +What did it mean? + +Suddenly every nerve in Nathaniel's body leaped into excited action. + +The guards were entering their boat! The last man was shoving it +off--they were rowing away! His throbbing muscles seemed ready to burst +their bonds. The boat became indistinct in the starry gloom--a mere +shadow--and faded in the distance. The sound of oars became fainter and +fainter. Then, after a little, there was wafted back to him from far out +in the lake a man's voice--the wild snatch of a song. The Mormons were +gone! They were not to be shot! They were not-- + +A voice spoke to him, startling him so that he would have cried out if +it had not been for the cloth that gagged him. It was Neil, speaking +coolly, laughingly. + +"How are you, Nat?" + +Nathaniel's staring eyes revealed his astonishment. He could see Neil +laughing at him as though it was an unusually humorous joke in which +they were playing a part. + +"Lord, but this is a funny mess!" he chuckled. "Here am I, able and +willing to talk--and there you are, as dumb as a mummy, and looking for +all the world as if you'd seen a ghost! What's the matter? Aren't you +glad we're not going to be shot?" + +Nathaniel nodded. + +The other's voice became suddenly sober. + +"This is worse than the other, Nat. It's what we call the 'Straight +Death.' Unless something turns up between now and to-morrow morning, or +a little later, we'll be as dead as though they had filled us with +bullets. Our only hope rests in the fact that I can use my lungs. That's +why I didn't let them know when my gag became loose. I had the devil's +own time keeping it from falling with my chin; pretty near broke my neck +doing it. A little later, when we're sure Jeekum and his men are out of +hearing, I'll begin calling for help. Perhaps some fisherman or +hunter--" + +He stopped, and a chill ran up Nathaniel's back as he listened to a +weird howl that came from far behind them. It was a blood-curdling +sound and his face turned a more ghastly pallor as he gazed inquiringly +at Neil. His companion saw the terrible question in his face. + +"Wolves," he said. "They're away back in the forest. They won't come +down to us." For a moment he was silent, his eyes turned to the sea. +Then he added, "Do you notice anything queer about the way you're bound +to that stake, Nat?" + +There was a thrilling emphasis in Nathaniel's answer. He nodded his head +affirmatively, again and again. + +"Your hands are tied to the post very loosely, with a slack of say six +inches," continued Neil with an appalling precision. "There is a rawhide +thong about your neck, wet, and so tight that it chafes your skin when +you move your head. But the very uncomfortable thing just at this moment +is the way your feet are fastened. Isn't that so? Your legs are drawn +back, so that you are half resting on your toes, and I'm pretty sure +your knees are aching right now. Eh? Well, it won't be very long before +your legs will give way under you and the slack about your wrists will +keep you from helping yourself. Do you know what will happen then?" + +He paused and Nathaniel stared at him, partly understanding, yet giving +no sign. + +"You will hang upon the thong about your neck until you choke to death," +finished Neil. "That's the 'Straight Death.' If the end doesn't come by +morning the sun will finish the job. It will dry out the wet rawhide +until it grips your throat like a hand. Poetically we call it the hand +of Strang. Pleasant, isn't it?" + +The grim definiteness with which he described the manner of their end +added to those sensations which had already become acutely discomforting +to Nathaniel. Had he possessed the use of his voice when the Mormons +were leaving he would have called upon them to return and lengthen the +thongs about his ankles by an inch or two. Now, with almost brutal +frankness, Neil had explained to him the meaning of his strange +posture. His knees began to ache. An occasional sharp pain shot up from +them to his hips, and the thong about his neck, which at first he had +used as a support for his chin, began to irritate him. At times he found +himself resting upon it so heavily that it shortened his breath, and he +was compelled to straighten himself, putting his whole weight on his +twisted feet. It seemed an hour before Neil broke the terrible silence +again. Perhaps it was ten minutes. + +"I'm going to begin," he said. "Listen. If you hear an answer nod your +head." + +He drew a deep breath, turned his face as far as he could toward the +shore, and shouted. + +"Help--help--help!" + +Again and again the thrilling words burst from his throat, and as their +echoes floated back to them from the forest, like a thousand mocking +voices, Nathaniel grew hot with the sweat of horror. If he could only +have added his own voice to those cries, shrieked out the words with +Neil--joined even unavailingly in this last fight for life, it would not +have been so bad. But he was helpless. He watched the desperation grow +in his companion's face as there came no response save the taunting +echoes; even in the light of the stars he saw that face darken with its +effort, the eyes fill with a mad light, and the throat strain against +its choking thong. Gradually Neil's voice became weaker. When he stopped +to rest and listen his panting breath came to Nathaniel like the hissing +of steam. Soon the echoes failed to come back from the forest, and +Nathaniel fought like a crazed man to free himself, jerking at the +thongs that held him until his wrists were bleeding and the rawhide +about his neck choked him. + +"No use!" he heard Neil say. "Better take it easy for a while, Nat!" + +Marion's brother had turned toward him, his head thrown back against the +stake, his face lifted to the sky. Nathaniel raised his own head, and +found that he could breath easier. For a long time his companion did not +break the silence. Mentally he began counting off the seconds. It was +past midnight--probably one o'clock. Dawn came at half past two, the sun +rose an hour later. Three hours to live! Nathaniel lowered his head, and +the rawhide tightened perceptibly at the movement. Neil was watching +him. His face shone as white as the starlit sand. His mouth was partly +open. + +"I'm devilish sorry--for you--Nat--" he said. + +His words came with painful slowness. There was a grating huskiness in +his voice. + +"This damned rawhide--is pinching--my Adam's apple--" + +He smiled. His white teeth gleamed, his eyes laughed, and with a heart +bursting with grief Nathaniel looked away from him. He had seen courage, +but never like this, and deep down in his soul he prayed--prayed that +death might come to him first, so that he might not have to look upon +the agonies of this other, whose end would be ghastly in its fearless +resignation. His own suffering had become excruciating. Sharp pains +darted like red-hot needles through his limbs, his back tortured him, +and his head ached as though a knife had cloven the base of his skull. +Still--he could breathe. By pressing his head against the post it was +not difficult for him to fill his lungs with air. But the strength of +his limbs was leaving him. He no longer felt any sensation in his +cramped feet. His knees were numb. He measured the paralysis of death +creeping up his legs inch by inch, driving the sharp pains before it, +until suddenly his weight tottered under him and he hung heavily upon +the thong about his throat. For a full half minute he ceased to breathe, +and a feeling of ineffable relief swept over him, for during those few +seconds his body was at rest. He found that by a backward contortion he +could bring himself erect again, and that for a few minutes after each +respite it was not so difficult for him to stand. + +After a third effort he turned again toward Neil. A groan of horror rose +to his imprisoned lips. His companion's face was full upon him, ghastly +white; his eyes were wide and staring, like balls of shimmering glass in +the starlight, and his throat was straining at the fatal rawhide! +Nathaniel heard no sound, saw no stir of life in the inanimate figure. + +A moaning, wordless cry broke through the cloth that gagged him. + +At the sound of that cry, faint, terrifying, with all the horror that +might fill a human soul in its inarticulate note, a shudder of life +passed into Neil's body. Weakly he flung himself back, stood poised for +an instant against the stake, then fell again upon the deadly thong. +Twice--three times he made the effort, and failed. And to Nathaniel, +staring wild eyed and silent now, the spectacle was one that seemed to +blast the very soul within him and send his blood in rushing torrents of +fire to his sickened brain. Neil was dying! A fourth time he struggled +back. A fifth--and he held his ground. Even in that passing instant +something like a flash of his buoyant smile flickered in his face and +there came to Nathaniel's ears like a throttled whisper--his name. + +"Nat--" + +And no more. + +The head fell forward again. And Nathaniel, turning his face away, saw +something come up out of the shimmering sea, like a shadow before his +blistering eyes, and as his own limbs went out from under him and he +felt the strangling death at his throat there came from that shadow a +cry that seemed to snap his very heartstrings--a piercing cry and (even +in his half consciousness he recognized it) a woman's cry! He flung +himself back, and for a moment he saw Neil struggling, the last spark of +life in him stirred by that same cry; and then across the white sand two +figures flew madly toward them and even as the hot film in his eyes grew +thicker he knew that one of them was Marion, and that the other was +Winnsome Croche. + +His heart seemed to stop beating. He strove to pull himself together, +but his head fell forward. Faintly, as on a battlefield, voices came to +him, and when with a superhuman effort he straightened himself for an +instant he saw that Neil was no longer at the stake but was stretched on +the sand, and of the two figures beside him one suddenly sprang to her +feet and ran to him. And then Marion's terror-filled face was close to +his own, and Marion's lips were moaning his name, and Marion's hands +were slashing at the thongs that bound him. When with a great sigh of +joy he crumpled down upon the earth he knew that he was slipping off +into oblivion with Marion's arms about his neck, and with her lips +pressing to his the sweet elixir of her love. + +Darkness enshrouded him but a few moments, when a dash of cool water +brought him back into light. He felt himself lowered upon the sand and +after a breath or two he twisted himself on his elbow and saw that +Neil's white face was held on Winnsome's breast and that Marion was +running up from the shore with more water. For a space she knelt beside +her brother, and then she hurried to him. Joy shone in her face. She +fell upon her knees and drew his head in the hollow of her arm, crooning +mad senseless words to him, and bathing his face with water, her eyes +shining down upon him gloriously. Nathaniel reached up and touched her +face, and she bowed her head until her hair smothered him in sweet +gloom, and kissed him. He drew her lips to his own, and then she lowered +him gently and stood up in the starlight, looking first at Neil and next +down at him; and then she turned quickly back to the sea. + +From down near the shore she called back some word, and with a shrill +cry Winnsome followed her. Nathaniel struggled to his elbow, to his +knees--staggered to his feet. He saw the boat drifting out into the +night, and Winnsome standing alone at the water-edge, her sobbing cries +of entreaty, of terror, following it unanswered. He tottered down toward +her, gaining new strength at each step, but when he reached her the boat +was no longer to be seen and Winnsome's face was whiter than the sands +under her feet. + +"She is gone--gone--" she moaned, stretching out her arms to him. "She +is going--back to Strang!" + +And then, from far out in the white glory of the night, there came back +to him the voice of the girl he loved. + +"Good-by--Good-by--" + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE + + +"Gone!" moaned Winnsome again. "She has gone--back--to--Strang!" + +Neil was crawling to them like a wounded animal across the sand. + +She started toward him but Nathaniel stopped her. + +"She is the king's--wife--" + +His throat was swollen so that he could hardly speak. + +"No. They are to be married to-night. Oh, I thought she was going to +stay!" She tore herself away from him to go to Neil, who had fallen upon +his face exhausted, a dozen yards away. + +In the wet sand, where the incoming waves lapped his hands and feet, +Nathaniel sank down, his eyes staring out into the shimmering distance +where Marion had gone. His brain was in a daze, and he wondered if he +had been stricken by some strange madness--if this all was but some +passing phantasm that would soon leave him again to his misery and his +despair. But the dash of the cold water against him cleared away his +doubt. Marion had come to him. She had saved him from death. And now she +was gone. + +And she was not the king's wife! + +He staggered to his feet again and plunged into the lake until the water +reached to his waist, calling her name, entreating her in weak, half +choked cries to come back to him. The water soaked through to his hot, +numb body, restoring his reason and strength, and he buried his face in +it and drank like one who had been near to dying of thirst. Then he +returned to Neil. Winnsome was holding his head in her arms. + +He dropped upon his knees beside them and saw that life was returning +full and strong in Neil's face. + +"You will be able to walk in a few minutes," he said. "You and Winnsome +must leave here. We are on the mainland and if you follow the shore +northward you will come to the settlements. I am going back for Marion." + +Neil made an effort to follow him as he rose to his feet. + +"Nat--Nat--wait--" + +Winnsome held him back, frightened, tightening her arms about him. + +"You must go with Winnsome," urged Nathaniel, seizing the hand that Neil +stretched up to him. "You must take her to the first settlement up the +coast. I will come back to you with Marion." + +He spoke confidently, as a man who sees his way open clearly before him, +and yet as he turned, half running, to the low black shadow of the +distant forest he knew that he was beginning a blind fight against fate. +If he could find a hunter's cabin, a fisherman's shanty--a boat! + +Barely had he disappeared when a voice called to him. It was Winnsome. +The girl ran up to him holding something in her hand. It was a pistol. +"You may need it!" she exclaimed. "We brought two!" + +Nathaniel reached out hesitatingly, but not to take the weapon. Gently, +as though his touch was about to fall upon some fragile flower, he drew +the girl to him, took her beautiful face between his two strong hands +and gazed steadily and silently for a moment into her eyes. + +"God bless you, little Winnsome!" he whispered. "I hope that someday you +will--forgive me." + +The girl understood him. + +"If I have anything to forgive--you are forgiven." + +The pistol dropped upon the sand, her hands stole to his shoulders. + +"I want you to take something to Marion for me," she whispered softly. +"This!" + +And she kissed him. + +Her eyes shone upon him like a benediction. + +"You have given me a new life, you have given me--Neil! My prayers are +with you." + +And kissing him again, she slipped away from under his hands before he +could speak. + +And Nathaniel, following her with his eyes until he could no longer see +her, picked up the pistol and set off again toward the forest, the touch +of her lips and the prayers of this girl whose father he had slain +filling him with something that was more than strength, more than hope. +Life had been given to him again, strong, fighting life, and with it and +Winnsome's words there returned his old confidence, his old daring. +There was everything for him to win now. His doubts and his fears had +been swept away. Marion was not dead, she was not the king's wife--and +it was not of another that he had accepted proof of her love for him, +for he had felt the pressure of her arms about his neck and the warmth +of her lips upon his face. He had until night--and the dawn was just +beginning to break. Ten or fifteen miles to the north there were +settlements, and between there were scores of settlers' homes and +fishermen's shanties. Surely within an hour or two he would find a boat. + +He turned where the edge of the forest came down to meet the white +water-run of the sea, and set off at a slow, steady trot into the north. +If he could reach a boat soon he might overtake Marion in mid-lake. The +thought thrilled him, and urged him to greater speed. As the stars faded +away in the dawn he saw the dark barrier of the forest drifting away, +and later, when the light broke more clearly, there stretched out ahead +of him mile upon mile of desert dunes. As far as he could see there was +no hope of life. He slowed his steps now, for he would need to preserve +his strength. Yet he experienced no fear, no loss of confidence. Each +moment added to his faith in himself. Before noon he would be on his +way to the Mormon kingdom, by nightfall he would be upon its shores. +After that-- + +He examined the pistol that Winnsome had given him. There were five +shots in it and he smiled joyously as he saw that it had been loaded by +an experienced hand. It would be easy enough for him to find Strang. He +would not consider the woman--his wife. The king's wife! Like a flash +there occurred to him the incident of the battlefield. Was it this +woman--the woman who had begged him to spare the life of the prophet, +who had knelt beside him, and whispered in his ear, and kissed him? Had +that been her reward for the sacrifice she believed he had made for her +in the castle chamber? The thought of this woman, whose beauty and love +breathed the sweet purity of a flower and whose faith to her king and +master was still unbroken even in her hour of repudiation fell upon him +heavily. For there was no choice, no shadow of alternative. There was +but one way for him to break the bondage of the girl he loved. + +For hours he trod steadily through the sand. The sun rose above him, hot +and blistering, and the dunes still stretched out ahead of him, like +winnows and hills and mountains of glittering glass. Gradually the +desert became narrower. Far ahead he could see where the forest came +down to the shore and his heart grew lighter. Half an hour later he +entered the margin of trees. Almost immediately he found signs of life. +A tree had been felled and cut into wood. A short distance beyond he +came suddenly upon a narrow path, beaten hard by the passing of feet, +and leading toward the lake. He had meant to rest under the shade of +these trees but now he forgot his fatigue. For a moment he hesitated. +Far back in the forest he heard the barking of a dog--but he turned in +the opposite direction. If there was a boat the path would take him to +it. Through a break in the trees he caught the green sweep of marsh rice +and his heart beat excitedly with hope. Where there was rice there were +wild-fowl, and surely where there were wild-fowl, there would be a punt +or a canoe! In his eagerness he ran, and where the path ended, the flags +and rice beaten into the mud and water, he stopped with an exultant cry. +At his feet was a canoe. It was wet, as though just drawn out of the +water, and a freshly used paddle was lying across the bow. Pausing but +to take a quick and cautious glance about him he shoved the frail craft +into the lake and with a few quiet strokes buried himself in the rice +grass. When he emerged from it he was half a mile from the shore. + +For a long time he sat motionless, looking out over the shimmering sea. +Far to the south and west he could make out the dim outline of Beaver +Island, while over the trail he had come, mile upon mile, lay the +glistening dunes. Somewhere between the white desert sand and that +distant coast of the Mormon kingdom Marion was making her way back to +bondage. Nathaniel had given up all hope of overtaking her now. Long +before he could intercept her she would have reached the island. When he +started again he paddled slowly, and laid out for himself the plan that +he was to follow. There must be no mistake this time, no error in +judgment, no rashness in his daring. He would lie in hiding until dusk, +and then under cover of darkness he would hunt down Strang and kill him. +After that he would fly to his canoe and escape. A little later, perhaps +that very night if fate played the game well for him, he would return +for Marion. And yet, as he went over and over his scheme, whipping +himself into caution--into cool deliberation--there burned in his blood +a fire that once or twice made him set his teeth hard, a fire that +defied extinction, that smoldered only to await the breath that would +fan it into a fierce blaze. It was the fire that had urged him into the +rescue at the whipping-post, that had sent him single-handed to invade +the king's castle, that had hurled him into the hopeless battle upon the +shore. He swore at himself softly, laughingly, as he paddled steadily +toward Beaver Island. + +The sun mounted straight and hot over his head; he paddled more slowly, +and rested more frequently, as it descended into the west, but it still +lacked two hours of sinking behind the island forest when the white +water-run of the shore came within his vision. He had meant to hold off +the coast until the approach of evening but changed his mind and landed, +concealing his canoe in a spot which he marked well, for he knew it +would soon be useful to him again. Deep shadows were already gathering +in the forest and through these Nathaniel made his way slowly in the +direction of St. James. Between him and the town lay Marion's home and +the path that led to Obadiah's. Once more the spirit of impatience, of +action, stirred within him. Would Marion go first to her home? +Involuntarily he changed his course so that it would bring him to the +clearing. He assured himself that it would do no harm, that he still +would take no chances. + +He came out in the strip of dense forest between the clearing and St. +James, worming his way cautiously through the underbrush until he could +look out into the opening. A single glance and he drew back in +astonishment. He looked again, and his face turned suddenly white, and +an almost inaudible cry fell from his lips. There was no longer a cabin +in the clearing! Where it had been there was gathered a crowd of men and +boys. Above their heads he saw a thin film of smoke and he knew what had +happened. Marion's home had burned! But what was the crowd doing? It +hung close in about the smoldering ruins as if every person in it were +striving to reach a common center. Surely a mere fire would not gather +and hold a throng like this. + +Nathaniel rose to his feet and thrust his head and shoulders from his +hiding-place. He heard a loud shout near him and drew back quickly as a +boy rushed madly across the opening toward the crowd, crying out at the +top of his voice. He had come out of the path that led to St. James. No +sooner had he reached the group about the burned cabin than there came a +change that added to Nathaniel's bewilderment. He heard loud voices, the +excited shouting of men and the shrill cries of boys, and the crowd +suddenly began to move, thinning itself out until it was racing in a +black stream toward the Mormon city. In his excitement Nathaniel hurried +toward the path. From the concealment of a clump of bushes he watched +the people as they rushed past him a dozen paces away. Behind all the +others there came a figure that drew a sharp cry from him as he leaped +from his hiding-place. It was Obadiah Price. + +"Obadiah!" he called. "Obadiah Price!" + +The old man turned. His face was livid. He was chattering to himself, +and he chattered still as he ran up to Nathaniel. He betrayed no +surprise at seeing him, and yet there was the insane grip of steel in +the two hands that clutched fiercely at Nathaniel's. + +"You have come in time, Nat!" he panted joyfully. "You have come in +time! Hurry--hurry--hurry--" + +He ran back into the clearing, with Nathaniel close at his side, and +pointed to the smoking ruins of the cabin among the lilacs. + +"They were killed last night!" he cried shrilly. "Somebody murdered +them--and burned them with the house! They are dead--dead!" + +"Who?" shouted Nathaniel. + +Obadiah had stopped and was rubbing and twisting his hands in his old, +mad way. + +"The old folks. Ho, ho, the old folks, of course! They are +dead--dead--dead--" + +He fairly shrieked the words. Then, for a moment, he stood tightly +clutching his thin hands over his chest in a powerful effort to control +himself. + +"They are dead!" he repeated. + +He spoke more calmly, and yet there was something so terrible in his +eyes, something so harshly vibrant of elation in the quivering passion +of his voice that Nathaniel felt himself filled with a strange horror. +He caught him by the arm, shaking him as he would have shaken a child. + +"Where is Marion?" he asked. "Tell me, Obadiah--where is Marion?" + +The councilor seemed not to have heard him. A singular change came into +his face and his eyes traveled beyond Nathaniel. Following his glance +the young man saw that three men had appeared from the scorched +shrubbery about the burned house and were hurrying toward them. Without +shifting his eyes Obadiah spoke to him quickly. + +"Those are king's sheriffs, Nat," he said. "They know me. In a moment +they will recognize you. The United States warship _Michigan_ has just +arrived in the harbor to arrest Strang. If you can reach the cabin and +hold it for an hour you will be saved. Quick--you must run--" + +"Where is Marion?" + +"At the cabin! She is at--" + +Nathaniel waited to hear no more, but sped toward the breach in the +forest that marked the beginning of the path to Obadiah's. The shouts of +the king's men came to him unheeded. At the edge of the woods he glanced +back and saw that they had overtaken the councilor. As he ran he drew +his pistol and in his wild joy he flung back a shout of defiance to the +men who were pursuing him. Marion was at the cabin--and a government +ship had come to put an end to the reign of the Mormon king! He shouted +Marion's name as he came in sight of the cabin; he cried it aloud as he +bounded up the low steps. + +"Marion--Marion--" + +In front of the door that led to the tiny chamber in which he had taken +Obadiah's gold he saw a figure. For a moment he was blinded by his +sudden dash from the light of day into the gloom of the cabin, and he +saw only that a figure was standing there, as still as death. His +pistol dropped to the floor. He stretched out his arms, and his voice +sobbed in its entreaty as he whispered the girl's name. In response to +that whisper came a low, glad cry, and Marion lay trembling on his +breast. + +"I have come back for you!" he breathed. + +He felt her heart beating against him. He pressed her closer, and her +arms slipped about his neck. + +"I have come back for you!" + +He was almost crying, like a boy, in his happiness. + +"I love you, I love you--" + +He felt the warm touch of her lips. + +"You will go with me?" + +"If you want me," she whispered. "If you want me--after you know--what I +am--" + +She shuddered against his breast, and he raised her face between his two +hands and kissed her until she drew away from him, crying softly. + +[Illustration: Marion] + +"You must wait--you must wait!" + +He saw now in her face an agony that appalled him. He would have gone to +her again, but there came loud voices from the forest, and recovering +his pistol he sprang to the door. Half a hundred paces away were Obadiah +and the king's sheriffs. They had stopped and the councilor was +expostulating excitedly with the men, evidently trying to keep them from +the cabin. Suddenly one of the three broke past him and ran swiftly +toward the open door, and with a shriek of warning to Nathaniel the old +councilor drew a pistol and fired point blank in the sheriff's back. In +another instant the two men behind had fired and Obadiah fell forward +upon his face. + +With a yell of rage Nathaniel leaped from the door. He heard Marion cry +out his name, but his fighting blood was stirred and he did not stop. +Obadiah had given up his life for him, for Marion, and he was mad with a +desire to wreak vengeance upon the murderers. The first man lay where he +had fallen, with Obadiah's bullet through his back. The other two fired +again as Nathaniel rushed down upon them. He heard the zip of one of the +balls, which came so close that it stung his cheek. + +"Take that!" he cried. + +He fired, still running--once, twice, three times and one of the two men +crumpled down as though a powerful blow had broken his legs under him. + +The other turned into the path and ran. Nathaniel caught a glimpse of a +frightened, boyish face, and something of mercy prompted him to hold the +shot he was about to send through his lungs. + +"Stop!" he shouted. "Stop!" + +He aimed at the fugitive's legs and fired. + +"Stop!" + +The boyish sheriff was lengthening the distance between them and +Nathaniel halted to make sure of his last ball. He was about to shoot +when there came a sharp command from down the path and a file of men +burst into view, running at double-quick. He saw the flash of a saber, +the gleam of brass buttons, the blue glare of the setting sun on leveled +carbines, and he stopped, shoulder to shoulder with the man he had been +pursuing. For a moment he stared as the man with the naked saber +approached. Then he sprang toward him with a joyful cry of recognition. + +"My God, Sherly--Sherly--" + +He stood with his arms stretched out, his naked chest heaving. + +"Sherly--Lieutenant Sherly--don't you know me?" + +The lieutenant had dropped the point of his saber. He advanced a step, +his face filled with astonishment. + +"Plum!" he cried incredulously. "Is it you?" + +For the moment Nathaniel could only wring the other's hand. He tried to +speak but his breath choked him. + +"I told you in Chicago that I was going to blow up this damned +island--if you wouldn't do it for me--", he gasped at last. "I've had--a +hell of a time--" + +"You look it!" laughed the lieutenant. "We got our orders the second day +after you left to 'Arrest Strang, and break up the Mormon kingdom!' +We've got Strang aboard the _Michigan_. But he's dead." + +"Dead!" + +"He was shot in the back by one of his own men as we were bringing him +up the gang-way. The fellow who killed him has given himself up, and +says that he did it because Strang had him publicly whipped day before +yesterday. I'm up here hunting for a man named Obadiah Price. Do you +know--" + +Nathaniel interrupted him excitedly. + +"What do you want with Obadiah Price?" + +"The president of the United States wants him. That's all I know. Where +is he?" + +"Back there--dead or very badly wounded! We've just had a fight with the +king's men--" + +The lieutenant broke in with a sharp command to his men. + +"Quick, lead us to him. Captain Plum! If he's not dead--" + +He started off at a half run beside Nathaniel. + +"Lord, it's a pretty mess if he is!" he added breathlessly. Without +pausing he called back over his shoulder, "Regan, fall out and return to +the ship. Tell the captain that Obadiah Price is badly wounded and that +we want the surgeon on the run!" + +A turn in the path brought them to the opening where the fight had +occurred. Marion was on her knees beside the old councilor. + +Nathaniel hurried ahead of the lieutenant and his men. The girl glanced +up at him and his heart filled with dread at the terror in her eyes. + +"Is he dead?" + +"No--but--" Her voice trembled with tears. + +Nathaniel did not let her finish. Gently he raised her to her feet as +the lieutenant came up. + +"You must go to the cabin, sweetheart," he whispered. + +Even in this moment of excitement and death his great love drove all +else from his eyes, and the blood surged into Marion's pale cheeks as +she tremblingly gave him her hand. He led her to the door, and held her +for a moment in his arms. + +"Strang is dead," he said softly. In a few words he told her what had +happened and turned back to the door, leaving her speechless. + +"If he is dying--you will tell me--" she called after him. + +"Yes, yes, I will tell you." + +He ran back into the opening. + +The lieutenant had doubled his coat under Obadiah's head and his face +was pale as he looked up at Nathaniel. The latter saw in his eyes what +his lips kept silent. The officer held something in his hand. It was the +mysterious package which Captain Plum had taken his oath to deliver to +the president of the United States. + +"I don't dare move until the surgeon comes," said the lieutenant. "He +wants to speak to you. I believe, if he has anything to say you had +better hear it now." + +His last words were in a whisper so low that Nathaniel scarcely heard +them. As the lieutenant rose to his feet, he whispered again. + +"He is dying!" + +Obadiah's eyes opened as Nathaniel knelt beside him and from between his +thin lips there came faintly the old, gurgling chuckle. + +"Nat!" he breathed. His thin hand sought his companion's and clung to it +tightly. "We have won. The vengeance of God--has come!" + +In these last moments all madness had left the eyes of Obadiah Price. + +"I want to tell you--" he whispered, and Nathaniel bent low. "I have +given him the package. It is evidence I have gathered--all these +years--to destroy the Mormon kingdom." + +He tried to turn his head. + +"Marion--" he whispered wistfully. + +"She will come," said Nathaniel. "I will call her." + +"No--not yet." + +Obadiah's fingers tightened about Captain Plum's. + +"I want to tell--you." + +For a few moments he seemed struggling to command all his strength. + +"A good many years ago," he said, as if speaking to himself, "I loved a +girl--like Marion, and she loved me--as Marion loves you. Her people +were Mormons, and they went to Kirtland--and I followed them. We planned +to escape and go east, for my Jean was good and beautiful, and hated the +Mormons as I hated them. But they caught us and--thought--they--killed--" + +The old man's lips twitched and a convulsive shudder shook his body. + +"When everything came back to me I was older--much older," he went on. +"My hair was white. I was like an old man. My people had found me and +they told me that I had been mad for three years, Nat--mad--mad--mad! +and that a great surgeon had operated on my head, where they struck +me--and brought me back to reason. Nat--Nat--" He strained to raise +himself, gasping excitedly. "God, I was like you then, Nat! I went back +to fight for my Jean. She was gone. Nobody knew me, for I was an old +man. I hunted from settlement to settlement. In my madness I became a +Mormon, for vengeance--in hope of finding her. I was rich, and I became +powerful. I was made an elder because of my gold. Then I found--" + +A moan trembled on the old man's lips. + +"--they had forced her to marry--the son of a Mormon--" + +He stopped, and for a moment his eyes seemed filling with the glazed +shadows of death. He roused himself almost fiercely. + +"But he loved my Jean, Nat--he loved her as I loved her--and he was a +good man!", he whispered shrilly. "Quick--quick--I must tell you--they +had tried to escape from Missouri and the Danites killed him,--and +Joseph Smith wanted Jean and at the last moment she killed herself to +save her honor as Marion was going to do, and she left two children--" + +He coughed and blood flecked his lips. + +"She left--Marion and Neil!" + +He sank back, ashen white and still, and with a cry Nathaniel turned to +the lieutenant. The officer ran forward with a flask in his hand. + +"Give him this!" + +The touch of liquor to Obadiah's lips revived him. He whispered weakly. + +"The children, Nat--I tried to find them--and years after--I did--in +Nauvoo. The man and woman who had killed the father in their own house +had taken them and were raising them as their own. I went mad! +Vengeance--vengeance--I lived for it, year after year. I wanted the +children--but if I took them all would be lost. I followed them, +watched them, loved them--and they loved me. I would wait--wait--until +my vengeance would fall like the hand of God, and then I would free +them, and tell them how beautiful their mother was. When Joseph Smith +was killed and the split came the old folks followed Strang--and I--I +too--" + +He rested a moment, breathing heavily. + +"I brought my Jean with me and buried her up there on the hill--the +middle grave, Nat, the middle grave--Marion's mother." + +Nathaniel pressed the liquor to the old man's lips again. + +"My vengeance was at hand--I was almost ready--when Strang learned a +part of the secret," he continued with an effort. "He found the old +people were murderers. When Marion would not become his wife he told her +what they had done. He showed her the evidence! He threatened them with +death unless Marion became his wife. His sheriffs watched them night +and day. He named the hour of their doom--unless Marion yielded to him. +And to save them, her supposed parents--to keep the terrible knowledge of +their crime from Neil--Marion--was--going--to--sacrifice--herself--when--" + +Again he stopped. His breath was coming more faintly. + +"I understand," whispered Nathaniel. "I understand--" + +Obadiah's dimming eyes gazed at him steadily. + +"I thought my vengeance would come--in time--to save her, Nat. But--it +failed. I knew of one other way and when all seemed lost--I took it. I +killed the old people--the murderers of her father--of my Jean! I knew +that would destroy Strang's power--" + +In a sudden spasm of strength he lifted his head. His voice came in a +hoarse, excited whisper. + +"You won't tell Marion--you won't tell Marion that I killed them--" + +"No--never." + +Obadiah fell back with a relieved sigh. After a moment he added. + +"In a chest in the cabin there is a letter for Marion. It tells her +about her mother--and the gold there--is for her--and Neil--" + +His eyes closed. A shudder passed through his form. + +"Marion--" he breathed. "Marion!" + +Nathaniel rose to his feet and ran to the cabin door. + +"Marion!" he called. + +Blinding tears shut out the vision of the girl from his eyes. He +pointed, looking from her, and she, knowing what he meant, sped past him +to the old councilor. + +In the great low room in which Obadiah Price had spent so many years +planning his vengeance Captain Plum waited. + +After a time, the girl came back. + +There was great pain in her voice as she stretched out her arms to him +blindly, sobbing his name. + +"Gone--gone--they're all gone now--but Neil!" + +Nathaniel held out his arms. + +"Only Neil,"--he cried, "only Neil--Marion--?" + +"And you--you--you--" + +Her arms were around his neck, he held her throbbing against his breast. + +"And you--" + +She raised her face, glorious in its love. + +"If you want me--still." + +And he whispered: + +"For ever and for ever!" + + +THE END + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Courage of Captain Plum +by James Oliver Curwood + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM *** + +***** This file should be named 12388.txt or 12388.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/2/3/8/12388/ + +Produced by Suzanne Shell, Kara Passmore, Leah Moser and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +https://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at https://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +https://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at https://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit https://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including including checks, online payments and credit card +donations. To donate, please visit: https://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +Each eBook is in a subdirectory of the same number as the eBook's +eBook number, often in several formats including plain vanilla ASCII, +compressed (zipped), HTML and others. + +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks replace the old file and take over +the old filename and etext number. The replaced older file is renamed. +VERSIONS based on separate sources are treated as new eBooks receiving +new filenames and etext numbers. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + https://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + +EBooks posted prior to November 2003, with eBook numbers BELOW #10000, +are filed in directories based on their release date. If you want to +download any of these eBooks directly, rather than using the regular +search system you may utilize the following addresses and just +download by the etext year. + + https://www.gutenberg.org/etext06 + + (Or /etext 05, 04, 03, 02, 01, 00, 99, + 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90) + +EBooks posted since November 2003, with etext numbers OVER #10000, are +filed in a different way. The year of a release date is no longer part +of the directory path. The path is based on the etext number (which is +identical to the filename). The path to the file is made up of single +digits corresponding to all but the last digit in the filename. For +example an eBook of filename 10234 would be found at: + + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/2/3/10234 + +or filename 24689 would be found at: + https://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/6/8/24689 + +An alternative method of locating eBooks: + https://www.gutenberg.org/GUTINDEX.ALL + + diff --git a/old/12388.zip b/old/12388.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e9a6079 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/12388.zip |
