CHAPTER XVIII— Continued

Taranaki Herald, Volume LIV, Issue 13485, 29 July 1907, Page 6

CHAPTER XVIII— Continued

An hour later and Rent on and Cathcart were back at their lodgings again. As yet Brodie had not returned. Ab they walked homewards Kent on pointed out a small tug lying at anchor in a little cove. Cathcart eyed her critically. " Looks neglected and old fashioned," he said; ''not at all the kind oi boat one associates with a smart yachtsman like yourself." " And yet she's wonderfully fast," Renton said with a smile. "As to the rest, the tug is carefully disguised. She looks like a lumper, and yet she could show her foot to many a trim launch at Cowcs. And now let's go to bed. We shall have to be up and doing before it's light." "And the surprise?" Cathcart suggested. " Oh, the surprise is coming. You'll have surprise and to spare before you have been between the blankets twice. I'm so tired that I can hardly keep my eyes open. It seemed to Cathcart that he had 1 hardly closed his eyes before there was a heavy knocking at his door, and he struggled slowly back to consciousness. By the time that he had dressed he found Renton and a large man in oilskins, who was introduced as John Brodie, at breakfast. It was still quite dark when they turned out, with a suggestidn of saffron light far away to the east. There was a fresh breeze o^F the land and a touch of raw cold in the air. But there was a sense of elation in the motion that lifted up Cathcart, and sent the blood j tingling in his veins. There was a long line of pink flushing the horizon. They were out at sea at length, and running freely before the breeze. Against the clear background they could see ships passing, big steamers with a long trail of smoke behind them. Presently the swell grew short and choppy, and the ' Queen of the Mist ' passed over the shallow and dangerous waters of the Lugger Bank. A mile or two ahead a big steamer was crossing the bank. At a sign from Renton the helm was put up", and the ' Queen of the Mist ' lay sloping almost broadside on, like some clumsy fishing boat badly manned and badly found. "She'll pass without seeing us, .sir," Brodie whispered hoarsely. ** She's a five boat, though she is so dirty. "What do you make her name to be?" The big steamer was coming nearer, looming-out, clear cut as a cameo, against the primrose of the breaking day. "The 'Polly and the Paul,'" snid Renton, lending his glasses to Cathcart. "Now, I should like to know what .you make of her." Cathcart adjusted the focus. He stared long at the vessel. Then the [glasses fell from his hand with a cnu.h on the deck. ' ! "Good heavens!" he cried. "It's 'impossible. Absolutely impossible. Why. I saw her go down to the bottom of , tho Renton, I've been, deceived — foiled in some strange manner. As I , live, it's the ' Lone Shir.' " | "Right!" said Renton gravely. ] " There's one surprise for you. It is the i'Lone Star!'" * ,