THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 AM GOIXG TO TAKE YOU FROM THE ISLAXo!" Prt^^ 158
 
 THE COURAGE OF 
 CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 BY 
 
 JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD 
 
 McKINLAY, STONE & MACKENZIE 
 
 NEW YORK
 
 Copyright, 1908, 1912, by 
 Cosmopolitan Book Corporation 
 
 Printed in the United States of America by 
 
 J. J. LITTLE AND IVES COMPANY, NEW YORK
 
 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 enor 
 mous 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 content 
 ment 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 
 
 1 
 
 657351
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 east 
 ward. 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
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 care 
 fully 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 increas 
 ing gloom the sloop was becoming indistinguish-
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 able. 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 prow 
 ling of some small animal. There came the 
 sleepy chirp of a bird and the rustling of tired 
 wings settling for the night. A strange still 
 ness hovered about him, and with it there caine 
 over him a loneliness that was chilling, a loneli 
 ness 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 revul 
 sion at his weakness he pulled himself together, 
 4
 
 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. Noise 
 lessly 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 ser 
 pent's. Perhaps Captain Plum heard the gloat 
 ing 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 start 
 ing ! " He jumped to his feet and began brush 
 ing 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, 
 5
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 disap 
 peared than the bushes and vines behind the rock 
 were torn asunder and a man wormed his way 
 through them. For an instant he paused, list 
 ening for returning footsteps, and then with 
 startling agility darted to the beach and seized 
 the crumpled letter. 
 
 6
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 ap 
 pearances 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 ex 
 treme 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 evi 
 dently 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. 
 
 Wn,Mut a moment's hesitation he set out on 
 the trail of Captain Plum. A quarter of a mile 
 7
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 down the path he overtook the object of his pur 
 suit. 
 
 " Ah, how do you do, sir ? " he greeted as the 
 younger man turned about upon hearing his ap 
 proach. " 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 t-.c mad 
 project upon which he was launching himself 
 8
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 per 
 sonages 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 ex 
 pected. Anyway, you're not expected to be ex- 
 .pected! Cautious a born general mighty 
 clever thing to do. Strang should appreciate 
 it." The old man gave vent to his own appro 
 bation in a series of inimitable chuckles. " Is 
 
 9
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 that your sloop out there ? " he inquired inter 
 estedly. 
 
 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 liave 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 
 10
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 if the thought of it occasioned him great merri 
 ment. " Very cautious. Level business head. 
 Want to know that tilings are on the square, 
 eh?" 
 
 " That's it ! " exclaimed Captain Plum, catch 
 ing 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 ex 
 pected 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 
 11
 
 THE COURAGE 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 oc 
 curred 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 
 12
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 force of habit, reaching under his coat to the 
 butt f li\h 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 othe/s. " That 
 13
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 light marks the sacred home of the king ! " 
 His voice had again changed. A metallic hard 
 ness came into it, his words were vibrant with a 
 strange excitement which he strove hard to con 
 ceal. 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,' 5 
 apologized the old man as he led the way in, 
 " A candle will be sufficient. You know there 
 14
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 tabh 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 sud 
 denly been laid upon him. So he was expected, 
 after all, and his name was known ! For a mo 
 ment his surprise robbed him of the power of 
 speech. The little old man had lighted his 
 candle, and, grinning back over his shoulder, 
 15
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 dum- 
 founded. 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 
 16
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 un- 
 iKHinded 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," re 
 sponded Captain Plum, pulling out his pipe and 
 tobacco. " You've read the letter pretty care 
 fully, I guess. What would you do ? " 
 
 " Vermont ? " questioned the old man shortly. 
 
 " That's it." 
 
 " Well, I'd go, and very soon, Captain Plum, 
 17
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 eery soon, indeed ; Yes, I'd hurry ! '* The 0)0 
 man jumped up with the quickness of a cat. So 
 sudden was his movement that it startled Cap 
 tain 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 hun 
 dred 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 
 i 
 stupefied bewilderment, silenced by the sudden 
 
 and unexpected turn his adventure had taken. 
 
 Fascinated, he watched the skeleton fingers as 
 
 18
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 they clinked the gold pieces. What was the 
 mysterious plot into which he had allowed him 
 self 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? Instinc 
 tively he reached out and closed his hand over 
 the counting fingers of the old man. Their eyes 
 met. And there was a shrewd, half -understand 
 ing 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 un- 
 derdeck 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 ! " 
 19
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 He settled back and blew a volume of smoke 
 from his pipe. For another half minute the o)d 
 man continued to look at him, his eyes twink 
 ling, 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 rent 
 back into the leather bag, deliberately tied the 
 end, and smiled up into the face of the exas 
 perated 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." 
 
 With a gasp of astonishment Captain Plum 
 20
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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. " 1 
 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 f A 
 mighty good joke!" 
 
 Captain Plum regained his composure by re 
 lighting his pipe. He heard the chink of g>ld 
 pieces and when he looked again the two pi?es 
 of money were close to the edge of his side of the 
 table. 
 
 "That's for you, Captain Plum. ThereV 
 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 con 
 tinued, 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
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 isto 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 
 22
 
 THE TWO OATHS 
 
 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 ex 
 claimed excitedly. " I will 'show it to you 
 yes, and swear to it upon the body of 
 Christ!" 
 
 23
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ad 
 joining 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 Cap 
 tain 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 
 24
 
 i HE TWO OATHS 
 
 package tightly bound and sealed into his com 
 panion's hand. 
 
 " More precious than your life, more priceless 
 than gold," he whispered tensely, " yet worth 
 less to all but the one to whom it is to be de 
 livered." 
 
 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 ! " 
 
 9,5
 
 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 ex 
 pectancy. His companion involuntarily gripped 
 the butt of his pistol and faced the narrow en 
 trance 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, 
 26
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 he turned quickly to find Obadiah Price with his 
 face lifted, his thin arras 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 uni 
 verse 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 be 
 side 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 
 07
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 in 
 stant 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 acquain- 
 28
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 tance 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 seat 
 ing himself on it where the clear light of the 
 stars fell full upon him he once more began his 
 29
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Cap 
 tain 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. 
 30
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 For several minutes Captain Plum stood as 
 if the sudden apparition had petrified him. He 
 listened long after the sound of retreating foot 
 steps 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 re 
 mained 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 Mor 
 mons he was satisfied that the old man who dis 
 played gold in such reckless profusion was any 
 thing 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." 
 31
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 The continued absence of Obadiah Price bt- 
 gan 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 appear 
 ance. 
 
 " 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 famil 
 iarity. " I saw you out there enjoying your 
 self. 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 admon 
 ished. His face was a map of wrinkles. His 
 little black eyes shone with silent laughter. 
 32
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 Northem End aren't very scrup- 
 83
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 ulous. 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 gun 
 powder? " 
 
 " 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 King 
 dom-Come did you find it out ? " 
 84
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 every 
 thing 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 Michi 
 gan to come down with you, but they wouldn't 
 ho, ho, they wouldn't! One of our friends 
 35
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 earnest 
 ness. 
 
 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, al 
 most an appealing, look. His tense mouth 
 relaxed. It was as if he was on the point of sur 
 rendering to some emotion which he was strug 
 gling 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- 
 36
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 mad stranger to him, and involuntarily the grip 
 of his fingers tightened around those of his com 
 panion. 
 
 " Now we will go to St. James, Captain 
 Plum ! " 
 
 He attempted to withdraw his hand but Cap 
 tain 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 ex 
 plicit orders to Casey, my mate." 
 
 He gazed steadily into the old man's unflinch 
 ing 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-rnorrow at sundown, 
 Casey, you take command and blow it to hell 
 87
 
 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 patter 
 ing swiftly through the darkness of the next 
 room. The master of the Typhoon followed 
 close behind him. Outside the councilor hesi 
 tated for a moment, as if debating which route 
 to take, and then with a prodigious wink at Cap 
 tain Plum and a throatful of his inimitable 
 chuckles, chose the path down which his startled
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 shoulde*. " I 
 smelled 'em back there, when " 
 
 " Ho, ho, ho ! " chuckled the councilor softly. 
 39
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 phos 
 phorescent 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 
 40
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 fire 
 fly 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 run 
 ning. 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 ex 
 ample Nathaniel slipped between two of th 
 41
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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. 
 42
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 t^e 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 dis 
 appeared. 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 sud 
 den 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 
 43
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 
 eould see that he was absorbed in thoughts of his 
 44,
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 in 
 voluntary 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 Nathan 
 iel'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 
 45
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 fric 
 tion of them sent a shiver up Nathaniel's back. 
 " Not that, Nat O, no, not that ! The bar 
 gain 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 ex 
 citement, 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 
 46
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 this old man dragging him into? What were 
 the motives, the reasoning, the plot that lay be 
 hind 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, 
 
 47
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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-mor 
 row 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 
 48
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 compan 
 ion behind a thick clump of shrubbery. Na 
 thaniel 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 
 49
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 rest 
 ing 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 cau 
 tion 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 
 of a vine that clung in dense masses to the log 
 50
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 re 
 pugnant 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. 
 51
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ut 
 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 \vomen and as his eyes trav 
 eled 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 
 52
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 flushed with excitement. And even as he looked 
 Captain Plum saw her head fall suddenly for 
 ward 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 ca 
 ressing 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, 
 i 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 
 53
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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? " 
 54
 
 THE SEVEN WIVES 
 
 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 sig 
 nificance of his new situation flashed upon Cap 
 tain 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 win- 
 56
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 dow 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, cring 
 ing, 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 whis 
 pered. 
 
 He made as if to slip away but Nathaniel de 
 tained him \vith an emphatic hand. 
 57
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " Not yet, Dad ! I'd like to have a word with 
 this y 
 
 "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 prom 
 ise 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. Hia 
 58
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 last doubt was dispelled. And because she was 
 Strang's wife Obadiah hated the Mormon 
 prophet. The councilor had spoken with fate 
 ful 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 si 
 lence 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 
 59
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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, bob 
 bing 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 mo 
 ment 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 mys- 
 60
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 tified than when he began. Who was Obadiali 
 Price? Who was the girl that Tate had so mys 
 teriously associated with his movements thus 
 far? What was the plot in which he had acci 
 dentally become involved? With tireless tenacity 
 he hung to these questions for hours. That 
 there was a plot of some kind he had not tht 
 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 to 
 bacco and as Obadiah's triumphant chuckle re 
 curred 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 cer 
 tain lines. But he was not willing. He had 
 61
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 temper 
 ance 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 disso 
 lute power. His blood grew hot as he thought 
 again of the beautiful girl who had applied to 
 62
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 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 
 63
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 mainlanders, he regarded Beaver Island as a nest 
 of pirates and murderers. He knew of the dep 
 redations 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 
 64
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 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 fol 
 lowing 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 inter 
 pretation. 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 re- 
 65
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 mains 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 per 
 fume of wild flowers and balsam. A thousand 
 birds seemed caroling and twittering in the sun 
 lit 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 lie 
 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 direc 
 tion 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-, 
 66
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 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 es 
 caped him and he drew back deeper among the 
 trees. It was the councilor who had shown him 
 self. For a few moments the old man stood 
 gazing in the direction of St. James as if watch 
 ing 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 
 67
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Oba- 
 diah 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 
 68
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 explicit orders to Casey. Otherwise he would 
 have followed the figure that was already dis 
 appearing 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 fam 
 ily burying ground of the old councilor. 
 
 He walked on, trying in vain to concentrate 
 his mind solely upon the business that was ahead 
 69
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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, quiv 
 ering, 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 
 70
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 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. Na 
 thaniel paid but small heed to them. As he en 
 tered the grove through which the councilor had 
 guided him the night before his eagerness be 
 came almost excitement. He approached the 
 great log house swiftly but cautiously, keeping 
 as much from view as possible. As he came un 
 der 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 serious-
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 ness 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 un 
 guarded. 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 
 72
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 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, f ailing 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 re 
 plied. 
 
 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 tc see the king ? " the 
 asked. 
 
 Was there a tremble of fear in her voice? 
 Even as he looked Nathaniel saw the flush deepen 
 73
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 cer 
 tainly 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 Mor 
 mons. It was still very early and the general 
 merchandise store below was not open. Con- 
 74
 
 THE WARNING 
 
 gratulating 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 thresh 
 old than she hurried toward him, the most acute 
 anxiety and fear written in her face. 
 
 " You are Captain Plum ? " she asked breath 
 lessly. 
 
 Nathaniel stopped in astonishment. 
 
 " Yes, I'm " 
 
 " Then you must hurry hurry ! " cried the 
 girl excitedly. " You have net a moment to 
 lose! Go back to your ship before it is too late! 
 She says they will kill you " 
 75
 
 " 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 wih 1 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 ! " 
 
 76
 
 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 
 77
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 wh^u he paused. 
 Then he turned and bent his head close down to 
 the girl. 
 
 " No, I won't do it, my <5ear," 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 : hut 
 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 
 78
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 frequently born of power. In his hand he car 
 ried a huge metal-knobbed stick. 
 
 In an instant Nathaniel had recovered him 
 self. 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 
 pa^ce 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 ad 
 vanced 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 Na 
 thaniel, but at the sound of his voice he recog- 
 70
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 nized 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 dol 
 lars' worth of merchandise." 
 
 Strang had drawn a step back. 
 80
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 " 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 move 
 ment, 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 
 81
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 peo 
 ple 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 Mich 
 igan shore and awaited their opportunity off 
 Beaver Island. But I shall investigate this; 
 believe me, I shall investigate this fully, Cap 
 tain Plum ! " 
 
 Nathaniel felt something like a great chok 
 ing fist shoot up into his throat. It was not a 
 sensation of fear but of humiliation the hu 
 miliation of defeat, the knowledge of his own 
 weakness in the hands of this man who had so 
 82
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 fol 
 lowed 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 restitu 
 tion and punish the evil-doers." 
 
 So intensely he spoke, so filled with reason 
 and truth were his words, that Nathaniel thrust 
 83
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 
 Snd 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. 
 84
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 tremulous with excitement, but still deep and 
 rich, like the booming of some melodious instru 
 ment. He flung aside his hat as he paced back 
 and forth; his shaggy hair fell upon his shoul 
 ders ; 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, Cap 
 tain 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 es 
 cape the penalties of law and order. It is they 
 85
 
 THE COURAGE Of CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 who would destroy us. Go among my own peo 
 ple first, Captain Plum, and find your lost prop 
 erty 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 legisla 
 ture, a governor, a dozen juries and of hu 
 man souls. And as he stood silent for a mo 
 ment 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 trav 
 eled 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 bad 
 86
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 cere 
 monies 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? 
 1 wish to show it to Captain Plum." 
 
 He walked slowly toward her and for the first 
 time since her warning Nathaniel had an oppor 
 tunity of observing the girl without fear of 
 87
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 at 
 tire 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 writ 
 ing, and I take a kind of childish joy in making 
 88
 
 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 re 
 turn to this office I shall certainly have you read 
 it if I have to call all of my sheriffs into serv 
 ice!" 
 
 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 de 
 livered by angels into the hands of Joseph, and 
 with it have revealed the word of God as it ap 
 pears in a book which I have written. Ab 
 89
 
 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 
 fro 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 peo 
 ple 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 op 
 pressed ! " 
 
 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, mirth 
 less laugh of Obadiah Price. 
 
 " Yea yea even into the land of the 
 Lamanites are you king ! " 
 
 At the sound of his voice Strang turned to- 
 90
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 ward him and the sonorous triumph that rum 
 bled 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 meet 
 ing 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 au 
 thority from the king." 
 
 He bowed and Nathaniel passed through the 
 door. Looking back he caught a last warning 
 3ash 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 : 
 
 01
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 Na 
 thaniel 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 
 92
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 of the king's office, Nathaniel caught the coun 
 cilor'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 mus 
 cle 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 mo 
 ment 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 mo 
 ment 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 
 93
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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," con 
 tinued 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 glee 
 fully 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! 
 
 i 
 
 94
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 ac 
 quainted 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 un 
 derstand? " 
 
 "What did Casey tell them?" gasped Na 
 thaniel. 
 
 95
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 pack 
 age, 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 re 
 action came. When he spoke there was an un 
 easy 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. 
 96
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 " 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 ap 
 proaching figure. And he whispered softly, 
 " Winnsome's father ! " 
 
 Arbor Croche! Nathaniel gave an in 
 voluntary shudder as he turned with Obadiah. 
 Croche, chief of sheriffs, scourge of the main 
 land 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. 
 
 97
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " Ah, Croche," he greeted, " good morn- 
 ing!" 
 
 " 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 sug 
 gestive 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 
 98
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 of the island, and if you will detail a coupk 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 through 
 out the day," added Obadiah. " Come at seven 
 to my place. Ah, I see that people are as 
 sembling 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 an 
 other 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 
 99
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 play 
 ing 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 mur 
 derer ! 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 her 
 self three years ago to save the birth of an- 
 100
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 other 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 as 
 sembled about the prison and stood chatting with 
 that tense interest and anticipation with which 
 TOT
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 en 
 thusiasm 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. 
 
 102
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 " Tush the Jezebel ! " snapped Obadiah, 
 catcliing 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 -mi- 
 omously 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 
 r>ves it sends two men on the road tc hell ! " 
 
 So intense was the old man's displeasure and 
 so ludicrous the twisting contortions of his face 
 that Nathaniel could hardly restrain himself 
 103
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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/' ex 
 plained Obadiah in a whisper. 
 
 Nathaniel gave a start of horror. 
 
 " Slave hounds ! " he breathed. 
 104
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 
 anly 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 waa 
 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; 
 105
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 coun 
 cilor. " It's he who said his wife should not 
 wear short skirts." 
 
 At the edge of the circle the prisoner hesi 
 tated 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 
 106
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 grinned at the whiteness of his face and the in 
 voluntary 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 crim 
 son 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 
 107
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 body trembled. Nathaniel took his arm sym 
 pathetically. 
 
 " 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 re 
 turned. 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 ac 
 companied him. He was a young man. Na 
 thaniel 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 
 108
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 for 
 ward. 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 
 109
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 run 
 ning. In a moment her eyes had taken in the 
 situation the man at the stake, the upraised 
 lash and Nathaniel. With a sobbing, breath 
 less cry, she flung herself in front of Mac 
 Dougall 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 win 
 dow. The striking muscles of his arms tight 
 ened like steel. One of the guards sprang for 
 ward and caught the girl roughly by the arm 
 110
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 and attempted to drag her away. In his ex 
 citement 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. 
 Ill
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 an- 
 jther 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 win 
 dows 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 
 112
 
 THE WHIPPING 
 
 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 min 
 ute 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. 
 113
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 out 
 stretched arms to greet the girl for whom Na 
 thaniel had interrupted the king's whipping.
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 THE MYSTKRt 
 
 HARDLY had Nathaniel fought his 
 through the thin crowd of startled spectators 
 about the whipping-post before the enormity of 
 his offense in interrupting the king's justice 
 davrned 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 nerve<s 
 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 beau 
 tiful face that had sought his own in those 
 crucial moments of its suffering. The girl had 
 115
 
 THI, COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 turned to him and to him alone among all those 
 men. H? 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 o*f 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 ten 
 sion 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 suffi 
 ciently 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. 
 116
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 sun 
 down. 
 
 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, point - 
 ing inland. " Take a short cut for the point 
 at the head of the island. There's a boat wait 
 ing 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 as- 
 117
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 surance 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 Nathan 
 iel caught the flashing gleam of white teeth as 
 Neil smiled grimly back at him, running in the 
 2ead. 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. 
 118
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 Even in these first minutes of their flight Na 
 thaniel 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 her 
 self at the whipping-post, about whom she had 
 thrown her arms and covered with the protec 
 tion 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 in 
 volved, 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* 
 119
 
 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 un 
 broken 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. 
 * 4 If they do they can't reach us through that 
 120
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 t 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, 
 " 1 shall kill him with this gun from under the 
 window of his house through which you saw 
 Marion." 
 
 121
 
 FKE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 "Marion!" exclaimed Nathaniel. "Marion " 
 lie leaned forward eagerly, questioning. " Tell 
 me" 
 
 " My sister, Captain Plum ! " 
 
 It seemed to Nathaniel that every fiber in his 
 body wts 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 ter 
 rible 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 mo 
 ment the clenched fist that had ri^en above Neil's 
 122
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 
 Marioi 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 un 
 derstand? I tell you that I am going to kill 
 Strang ! " 
 
 Neil stood as though appalled by his com 
 panion'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. 
 
 123
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 mo 
 ment 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 yoti going to kill Strang? 
 Why" 
 
 Neil interrupted him with a cry so poignant 
 124
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 be 
 trayed 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 be 
 fore. 
 
 125
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 admoni 
 tion, his allusion to a visitor. With this mem 
 ory 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," 
 126
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 Oba 
 diah, 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 ex 
 citement 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 
 127
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 him 
 self. " 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 threat 
 ened by a blow. 
 
 " You mean h& 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 
 
 128
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 re 
 fused 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 dum- 
 founded. I raged and cursed and even threat 
 ened. Once I accused her of a shameful thing 
 and though I implored her forgiveness a thou 
 sand 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 
 129
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ob 
 jected 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 gnaw 
 ing at her heart, robbing her of the very life 
 which a few weeks ago made her the most beau 
 tiful thing on this island; some dreadful in 
 fluence 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 " 
 
 130
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 " 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 in 
 fluence 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 con 
 stantly urged me to leave the island to go, 
 and never return. Great God, what does it all 
 mean? I love her mare than anything else on 
 131
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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, sud 
 den 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 sug 
 gests 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 
 132
 
 THE MYSTERY 
 
 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 be 
 lieve 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 
 133
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 cool 
 ness, still smiling over its bowl. 
 
 " You are not going to kill Strang to-mor 
 row," 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 ? " 
 
 134
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 MAKION 
 
 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 sur 
 prised 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 Na 
 thaniel stepped back from him half laughing 
 and puffing clouds of smoke from his pipe 
 Marion's brother thrust his hands into his pock- 
 135
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 ets with an exclamation that forcefully ex 
 pressed 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 Na 
 thaniel. " 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 Oba- 
 diah. 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 sus 
 picions 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." 
 136
 
 MARION 
 
 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 trou 
 ble." 
 
 " Can you reach the house without being ob 
 served? " 
 
 " 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 Oba- 
 diah'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 ! " 
 137
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " And meanwhile," said Neil, " Arbor Croche's 
 men " 
 
 " Will be as dead as herring floaters if they 
 (how 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 jpipe. 
 
 ' c Captain Plum, I hope I will be able to re 
 pay 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 com 
 panion'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 pf brother " 
 138
 
 MARION 
 
 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 
 139
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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. Schred- 
 der 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 
 safe." 
 
 140
 
 MARION 
 
 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 es 
 caped, 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 sud 
 denly 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 
 141
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Nathan 
 iel'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 blood 
 hounds were entirely outside his pale of argu 
 ment and he exhibited no hesitation in betray 
 ing this fact to his companion. For a quarter 
 <>f 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 be 
 came 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 pad 
 dle, the canoe shot from between the dense shores 
 into the open lake. A mile away Nathaniel dis-
 
 MARION 
 
 cerned the point of forest beyond which the 
 Typhoon was hidden. He pointed out the lo 
 cation 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 re 
 turn to the island again, and it is quite neces 
 sary 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 COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 the reluctance with which he assented to the 
 project. He had guessed shrewdly at Neil's 
 motive. " Is it possible that we may have an 
 other young lady passenger? " he asked banter- 
 ingly. 
 
 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 Winn- 
 some. 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," ven 
 tured 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 
 144
 
 MARION 
 
 looked frankly into the other's face. ** I wor 
 shipped 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 beau 
 tiful." 
 
 " 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 . l " he whispered. " You have only
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Winn- 
 some " 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 sud 
 denly 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 
 146
 
 MARION 
 
 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 Winn- 
 some ; in years of wandering he had almost for 
 gotten her until this letter came. It had 
 brought many memories back to him with shock 
 ing clearness. The old folk were still in the 
 little home under the hill; they received his let 
 ters ; they received the money he sent them each 
 month but they wanted him. The girl wrote 
 with merciless candor. He had been away four 
 147
 
 THE COUHAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ap 
 proaching marriage. 
 
 To Nathaniel this letter had been a torment. 
 He saw the truth as he had never seen it be 
 fore that his place was back there in Ver 
 mont, 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 
 148
 
 MARION 
 
 Typhoon was nowhere in sight and for an m 
 atant the gladness that had been in his heart 
 gave place to a chilling fear. But the direc 
 tion of the wind reassured him. Casey had prob 
 ably 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 con 
 cealed 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 
 149
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 until all Lake Michigan to the south lay before 
 his eyes. The Typhoon was gone! Was it 
 possible that Casey had abandoned hope of Na 
 thaniel'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 un 
 decided. 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 
 150
 
 MARION 
 
 might miss Neil, unless he kept up a constant 
 shouting, which would probably bring the Mor 
 mons 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 get 
 ting Marion from the island. 
 
 He would go to the councilor's. Having 
 once decided, Nathaniel turned in the direction 
 cf 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. 
 151
 
 Suddenly he heard a crackling in the under 
 brush 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 con 
 cealment 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 abso 
 lute 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 lis 
 tened. He could no longer have seen the move 
 ment of bushes in the gathering night-gloom 
 152
 
 MARION 
 
 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 clear 
 ness 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 out 
 stretched arms of Marion. The girl was sway 
 ing 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 form 
 ing his name Nathaniel leaped to her and caught 
 her close in his arms. In that moment some 
 thing seemed to burst within him and flood his 
 veins with fire. Closer he held the girl, and 
 153
 
 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 witk 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 for 
 got all in life but this woman against his breast. 
 He kissed her soft mouth and the closed eyes un 
 til 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 
 154
 
 crame 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 ! ;:
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 FOE 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 
 156
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 done, something of humiliation as well as glad 
 ness, 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 her 
 self with a hand on his arm, his lips were parched 
 of words, and yet he leaned to her eagerly, every 
 thing that he would have said burning in the 
 love of his eyes. Still irresolute in her faint- 
 ness the girl smiled at him, and in that smile 
 there *-as gentle accusation, the sweetness of for 
 giveness, 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 
 157
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 stag 
 gered to her feet, and as she stood swaying un 
 steadily, 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 com 
 ing 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 
 158
 
 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 trem- 
 159
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 ble 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 re 
 peating 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 
 160
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 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." 
 161
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " For me " 
 
 She Avas so close that he could feel the throb 
 bing 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 fin 
 ished. 
 
 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. 
 162
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 " 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 j oy 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, lis 
 tening 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 
 163
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 pro 
 posed 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 miss 
 ing 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 Oba- 
 diah'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 mo 
 ments, 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 
 164
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 of that trust. She looked into his face anx 
 iously, 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 mo 
 ment, 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. 
 
 165
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Mar 
 ion 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 be- 
 166
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 yond 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 Winn- 
 some'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 
 167
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 feet had died away. Then he walked swiftly 
 up the foot-path that led to Obadiah's. He for 
 got his own danger in the excitement that pul 
 sated with every fiber of his being, forgot his old 
 caution and the fears that gave birth to it for 
 got 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 some 
 thing she would tell him if he got Neil safely 
 away? It was to be a reward for his own loy 
 alty 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 ? Na 
 thaniel was conscious of no madness in the wild 
 hope that filled him; nothing seemed impossible 
 168
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 to him now. Marion would meet him at mid 
 night. 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 foot- 
 169
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 way 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 in 
 habited 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 
 170
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 direction of St. James. With the hope of inter 
 cepting 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 dis 
 tance 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 apprehen 
 sions, 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 min 
 utes passed and these thoughts recurred again 
 and again in his brain he could not keep the nerv 
 ousness from growing within him. He was sure 
 171
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 now that he would have to fight his battle with 
 out 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 he* 
 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 acutety 
 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 
 172
 
 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 preced 
 ing night. For several minutes he crouched id 
 listened. He heard the chuckling laugh of tae 
 old councilor and then an incoherent rav 
 ing 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 
 tauses 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 Nathan 
 iel quailed as if a clammy hand had reached out 
 from the darkness and gripped him by the 
 173
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Nathan 
 iel 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 breath 
 less while he watched the glow in the door and 
 listened. And after that quiet there came sud 
 denly a cry that ended in the exultant chatter 
 ing 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 
 174
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 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 re 
 sponse. 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 con 
 vulsion, 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, 
 
 175
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 tried to smile to speak, but the terrible face 
 that stared up into his own held him silent, mo 
 tionless. 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 recog 
 nition, no passing flash of sanity. The white 
 face was lined with purplish veins, the mouth 
 was distorted and the lips bleeding. Involun 
 tarily 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 tiie 
 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. 
 176
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 " 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 pos 
 sible approach of Mormon visitors. But he did 
 not remain long. He struck a mutch 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 Ma 
 rion. 
 
 As he mounted the step he heard for the sec 
 ond time since landing upon the island the sol 
 emn tolling of the great bell at St. James, and 
 177
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ven 
 geance! 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 th* 
 bursting crash of low thunder. 
 178
 
 THE HOUR OF VENGEANCE 
 
 " 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 Mor 
 mon kingdom as the hosts of Israel upon Ca 
 naan ! 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 mad 
 ness 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, grov- 
 279
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 eling weakly, as if struggling for breath. 
 "Too late Nat Marion " 
 
 A shiver passed through his body and be krp 
 quite still. 
 
 180
 
 CHAPTER Vlli 
 
 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 
 cod 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 chok 
 ing lump rose in his throat as he watched the 
 pallor of death fixing itself on the councilor's 
 181
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 shriveled face. What strange chord of sympa 
 thy was it that bound him to this old man ? Was 
 it the same mysterious influence that had at 
 tracted 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 reac 
 tion. The pulsations of the weakened heart be 
 came 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 in- 
 182
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 sane rejoicing had all come so suddenly that he 
 was dazed. What great calamity, what fear 
 ful vengeance, was about to come upon the Mor 
 mon kingdom? Was it possible that the fisher 
 men 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 Oba- 
 diah's shriveled form and spoke the girl's name 
 again and again in his ears. There came no re 
 sponse, no quiver of life to show that the old man 
 183
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Ma 
 rion's sake. It was like the whispering of an in 
 visible spirit in his ears something more than 
 presentiment, something that made his own 
 heart grow faint when death seemed winning in 
 }he struggle. His watchfulness was acute, in 
 tense, desperate. When, after a time, he 
 straightened himself again, rewarded by Oba- 
 diah'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 
 
 184
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 in the sky. In the deep silence the sullen beat- 
 "ng 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 Oba 
 diah, 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 re 
 sisted the impulse. What if she should come by 
 another path while he was gone? He waited 
 nervously in the edge of the forest, w*\tching, 
 and listening for footsteps. Each minute 
 seemed like an hour marked into seconds by the 
 solemn steady tolling of the bell, and after a lit 
 tle he found himself unconsciously measuring 
 time by counting the strokes. Then he went out 
 into the path. He followed it, step by step, 
 185
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 fight 
 ers, 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 
 186
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 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 fright 
 ened huddling groups of women and children 
 and beyond and above all the coming of the 
 " vengeance of God " a hundred beats, a thou 
 sand men and there went out from his soul if 
 no* 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. *iJacs. The sweet odor of the flow 
 ers 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 Na 
 thaniel 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, 
 187
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 
 188
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 as he looked at them. They were old so old 
 that the man's shriveled hands were like those of 
 a skeleton ; his giant frame seemed about to tot 
 ter into ruin, his eyes were sunken until his face 
 gave the horror of a death mask. Was it pos 
 sible 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 pic 
 tures on the walls, the snowy curtains, the cush 
 ions in the window-seat and the huge vase of 
 lilacs on the mantle. 
 
 " I am a messenger of the king," he said, ad 
 vancing 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. 
 ;t She has gone ! " 
 
 " Gone ! " exclaimed Nathaniel. For an in 
 stant his heart bounded with delight. Marion 
 189
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ter 
 rible cry burst from Nathaniel's lips. He flung 
 open the door and stood for an instant with his 
 white face turned back. 
 
 190
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 " 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 in 
 stead 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 i 
 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 
 191
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 stronghold of the Mormon kingdom something 
 seemed to sweep his legs from under him, and he 
 fell panting on the ground. For a few mo 
 ments 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 har 
 bor, 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 tell- 
 ;ng him that he was about to play against odds ; 
 that his work was to be one of strength and gen 
 eralship and not of madness. As he picked his 
 way more slowly and cautiously down the slope 
 a new boj>e flashed upon him. Was it possible 
 that the discovery of the approach of the main- 
 landers had served to save Marion^? &n the 
 192
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 excitement that followed the calling of the Mor 
 mons to arms and the preparations for the 
 defense would Strang, the master of the king 
 dom, 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 pas 
 sion had called her to him even as his people as 
 sembled 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 
 193
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 as 
 sembled 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 ap 
 proach 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 t 
 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 hugh lamp over 
 194
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 the table was burning dimly. The five doors 
 leading from the room were tightly closed. Na 
 thaniel held his breath, tried to still the tumul 
 tuous 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. 
 
 195
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ar 
 ticles 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 de 
 serted 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. 
 196
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 " Marion ! " he called softly, and listened in 
 tently. 
 
 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 throb 
 bing 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 
 197
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 name again and again in the torture of helpless 
 ness that now possessed him. 
 
 Mechanically, rather than with reason, he went 
 to the fifth and last door. His candle had be 
 come 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 
 198
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 which of these doors had come the sound of sob 
 bing 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 illu 
 mination 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 glor 
 ious depths as she rose to her feet and stood 
 before him, her face lined with grief, her mouth 
 199
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 twitching in agony. She stood with clenched 
 hands, her bosom rising and falling in the pas 
 sion 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, wait 
 ing 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 be 
 trayed 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 
 200
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 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 in 
 stant 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 un 
 derstand? " 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. 
 201
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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. 
 202
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 " 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 in 
 quired 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 al 
 most feel her trembling, an arm's reach out there 
 in the darkness. What a woman was this whose 
 208
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 sur 
 prises 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 cham 
 bers of the harem he believed that the Mormon 
 king had abandoned the castle to its fate and 
 204
 
 THE SIX CASTLE CHAMBERS 
 
 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 
 205
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 had spoken to him back there in the sixth cham 
 ber. 
 
 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. 
 
 206
 
 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 
 207
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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, quiv 
 ered 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 it 
 self at his heart. He groped behind him, found 
 the door, and slammed it shut. There would be 
 no retreat for the king ! 
 208
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 un 
 faltering 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 covrage of this man mad 
 dened 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 main 
 land will have no chance of finding her." 
 
 Strang spoke as quietly as though in his own 
 209
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 strug 
 gled to free his pinioned arms, to wrench off the 
 death grip at his throat, but his efforts were like 
 210
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 crush 
 ing 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 pro 
 phet. His fist shot out like a hammer against 
 Strang's jaw. Again and again he struck un 
 til 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 life 
 less and his convulsions ceased. He would have 
 held on until there was no doubt of the end, had 
 211
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 not the king's wife the woman whose misery 
 he had shared that night suddenly flung her 
 self with a piercing cry, between him and the 
 blackened face, clutching at his hands with all 
 her fragile strength. 
 
 " 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 sconer " 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 
 <noved since he had fallen. His head was 
 212
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 excite 
 ment 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 tem 
 ple. 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 iii 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
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 tem 
 ple were guarding the shore. 
 
 Suddenly he almost fell over a figure in his 
 path. It was an old woman mumbling and sob 
 bing incoherently as she stumbled weakly in the 
 direction of the temple. Like an inspiration 
 the thought came to him that here was his op 
 portunity of gaining admittance to that multi 
 tude of women and children. He seized the 
 old woman by the arm and spoke words of cour 
 age 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 glai-e, Nathaniel saw the shadows 
 of men. He caught the old woman in his arms 
 and went on boldly. He passed close to a thin
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 line of waiting men, saw the faint glint of fire 
 light 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 tem 
 ple 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 
 215
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 in 
 terior of the temple packed to suffocation. 
 What sins had this people wrought that it thus 
 feared the vengeance of the men from the main 
 land! 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 ex 
 perience 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 
 216
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 guard 
 ing the rear of the temple. 
 
 For a full minute he stood concealed in the 
 gloom. He realized now that it would be use 
 less to return to Obadiah. The old councilor 
 could probably have told him all that he had dis 
 covered 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 hid 
 den? 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 
 217
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 down by the shore there came the roar of a can 
 non. 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 be 
 hind 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 
 218
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 
 wt-re creeping slowly along the shore. The 
 pale ghostly mistiness of the sea hung like a cur 
 tain 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 *
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ap 
 proached 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 mag 
 nificent! Even as the crushing truth of what 
 it all meant came to him, the fighting blood in 
 220
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 his veins leaped at the sight of it the pre 
 tended effect of the shots from sea, the sham con 
 fusion, 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. An 
 other 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. Help 
 less he stood clutching his pistol, the horror in 
 him growing with each breath. Could he give 
 no warning ? Could he do nothing nothing
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 At least he could join in the fight! He ran 
 down the hill, swinging to the left of the Mor 
 mons. Half way, and he stopped as a thunder 
 ing cheer swept up from the shore. The main- 
 landers 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 
 Bghting men. Far to the left he saw a group 
 of the mainlanders running along the beach to 
 ward the conflict. If he could only intercept 
 them and bring them into the rear ! Like the 
 222
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 wind he sped to cut them off, shouting and firing 
 his pistol. 
 
 He won by a hundred yards and stood pant 
 ing as they came toward him. Dawn had dis 
 pelled the mist-gloom and as the mainlamlers 
 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 
 223
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 com 
 rades. 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 Na 
 thaniel'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, slash 
 ing 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 
 224
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 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 car 
 ried 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." 
 
 225
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 lier 
 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 per 
 son 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 braia 
 grew dizzy as he looked, there was a black 
 226
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 moving crowd. He was among the wounded. 
 The Mormon women were here. Down there 
 along the shore among the dead had as 
 sembled the population of St. James. 
 
 A strange sickness overpowered him and he 
 aank 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. 
 
 227
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 multi 
 plied 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 multi 
 tudes. 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. 
 
 228
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 " 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 car 
 ried 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 
 229
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 strug 
 gled 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 an 
 other 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 
 230
 
 THE HAND OF FATE 
 
 upon the ground and lie there for endless, rest 
 ful 3 r ears. 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 ! " 
 
 231
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 voice the condemning words fol 
 lowed 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 hia 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 ! 
 
 232
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 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 shoot 
 ing 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 
 to him. 
 
 " Hello there, Nat ! Want a drink? "
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 He gulped eagerly at the cool liquid that 
 touched his lips. 
 
 " Neil," he whispered. 
 
 " It's me, Nat. They chucked rne in with you. 
 Hell's hole, isn't it?" 
 
 Nathaniel sat up, Neil's strong arm at ids 
 back. There was a light in the room now and lie 
 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 drows 
 ily. " 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 
 234
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 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 go 
 ing to walk to it. What sort of a bump have 
 I got on the head?" 
 
 " Nothing much," assured Neil. " Suspi 
 cious, 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, 
 235
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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, un- 
 buttered bread, and cold potatoes. For several 
 minutes they ate in silence. Now that Na 
 thaniel 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 ex 
 tent 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 
 236
 
 WINXSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 secret of Marion's fate. After they had done 
 with the meat and the bread and the cold pota 
 toes 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 
 237
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 mainland.' ' Like words of fire they had burned 
 themselves in his brain and as Nathaniel re 
 peated 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? " 
 238
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 " 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 compan 
 ion was mad. Nathaniel saw the look in his 
 face and his own flushed with sudden excite 
 ment. 
 
 " Don't you understand? " he cried. " That 
 note means Heaven or hell for Winnsome it 
 .nean-s 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 
 239
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Winn 
 some 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 hif 
 head, he grew dizzy, and hastened to the bench. 
 Neil came and sat beside him. 
 
 " So you think it's the end? " he asked. H( 
 was glad that his companion had guessed the 
 truth. 
 
 240
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 "Don't you?" 
 
 " Yes." 
 
 There was a minute's dark silence. The tick 
 ing of Nathaniel's watch sounded like the tap 
 ping 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 Sprang. He fears no retribu 
 tion 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 at-
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 tempt 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 hand> 
 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. Tin? 
 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 ! " 
 242
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 NeiJ'o face was blanched to the whiteness of 
 paper. 
 
 " She will," he repeated quietly. " Her ter 
 rible 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 
 243
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 ! " 
 244
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 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. An 
 other instant and they stood in the corridor, list 
 ening, crushing back the breath in their lungs, 
 not daring to speak. Only the drip of water 
 came to their ears. Gently Neil drew his com 
 panion back into the cell. 
 
 " There's a chance one chance in ten thou 
 sand ! " he whispered. " At the end of this cor 
 ridor 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!" 
 
 245
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 Nathaniel heard him stealing slowly through 
 Jie 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 dis 
 tinguish 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 him 
 self 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 
 246
 
 WIN N SOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 caught Marion's brother by the arm as a voice 
 louder than the others came to them. 
 
 "Sfcrang!" 
 
 " 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 de 
 feat the fire of adventure flamed up in Nathan 
 iel'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." 
 
 247
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 astonish 
 ment 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. Di 
 rectly 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 Winn- 
 some! 
 
 248
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 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 sink 
 ing 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." 
 
 249
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLILM 
 
 The scene had changed when Nathaniel took 
 bis position again. The jury had left its plat 
 form 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 beau 
 tiful, 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 shim 
 mering glory of her hair, caressing the silken 
 curls between his fingers until the blood seemed 
 as if it must burst, like hot sweat from Nathan 
 iel'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 un 
 til the scream on her lips was choked co a gasp- 
 250
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 ing cry. In answer to that cry a yell of rage 
 hurled itself from Nathaniel's throat. 
 
 " Stop, you hell-hound ! " he cried threaten 
 ingly. "Stop!" 
 
 He shrieked the words again and again, mad- 
 denec 1 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 re 
 sounded through the dungeon corridor and in 
 response to it the man under Nathaniel straight 
 ened 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 in 
 stant Neil was at the opening. The great room 
 into which he looked was empty. 
 251
 
 " 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 mad-
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 ness ! " interposed Neil, steadying himself. 
 " Thei 2 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 reas 
 suringly. " 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 
 253
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 glance down the lighted corridor lie 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 exult - 
 ingly. " Of course you were searched and by 
 Jeekum! He knows, but he hasn't made a re 
 port of it to Strang because he believes that in 
 some way he will get hold of the money. He is 
 254
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 taking a big risk but he's winning ! I won 
 der 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 be 
 hind 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 
 255
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 
 256
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 wa.s 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 hef 
 receive it. He sent her word that he would call 
 at a certain place for a reply when he was re- 
 257
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 lieved 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 eat- 
 big it as though he had not heard his compan 
 ion's words. 
 
 " Help yourself, Nat. It's our last oppor 
 tunity." 
 
 " You don't believe " 
 
 " No. Lord, man, do you suppose that 
 Strang is going to let me live to kill him ? " 
 258
 
 WINNSOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 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 ex 
 cited. 
 
 " I've got word but no note ! " he whis 
 pered hoarsely. " Quick ! Is it worth " 
 
 " Yes ! Yes ! " 
 
 Nathaniel dug the gold pieces out of his 
 pockets and dropped them into the jailer's out 
 stretched 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 in 
 structions ! " 
 
 In his excitement he betrayed himself. He 
 had read the note. 
 
 There came a sound up the corridor, the open- 
 259
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 ing of a door, the echo of voices, and Jeekum 
 leaped back. Nathaniel's foot held the cell 
 door from closirg. 
 
 "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. 
 
 260
 
 W1NN SOME'S VERDICT OF DEATH 
 
 44 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 com 
 radeship. 
 
 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 tnd 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. 
 261
 
 Nathaniel had risen. They drew close to 
 gether, 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 shad 
 ows 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 
 263
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 of their arms. There was a triumphant leer on 
 MacDougall's lips as he and the jailer ap 
 proached. 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 i " 
 
 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. Mac 
 Dougall grew black with passion at the taunt 
 ing reminder of his humiliation and tightened 
 the thongs about Neil's wrists until they cut 
 into the flesh. 
 
 264
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 ** 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 com 
 mands ! " 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 corri 
 dor. 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 
 265
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 corri 
 dor 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 
 266
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 com 
 panion'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 
 267
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 like a man, he felt himself weakening, until only 
 the cloth about his mouth restrained the moan 
 ing 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 rneted 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 her 
 self 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 Jee- 
 kum. He came up out of the darkness from 
 behind the rear guard, his face still unmasked, 
 and for a few moments was in whispered con 
 sultation with the guards ahead. Had Strang, 
 in the virulence of that hatred which he con 
 cealed so well, conceived of this spot to give 
 added torment to death? It was the poetry of 
 vengeance! For the first time Neil turned to- 
 268
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 ward his companion. Each read what the othef 
 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 ann, 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 
 269
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 occurred to arouse his suspicions. If the 
 maneuvering of Jeekum's fingers meant any 
 thing it was intended for him alone. Actiot 
 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 be 
 hind. 
 
 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 Nathan- 
 270
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 iel'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 Winn- 
 some " 
 
 The sheriff jerked himself erect without fin 
 ishing. 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 Nathan 
 iel's heart. What had the jailer meant to say? 
 What did he know about Marion and Winn- 
 some, and why had he given birth to new hope 
 in the same breath that he mentioned their 
 names ? 
 
 271
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Winn- 
 some's in the way he had. 
 
 Nathaniel's nerves were breaking with sus 
 pense. 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 despera 
 tion. 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 low 
 ered 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 dis 
 tance 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 
 272
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 young man's head was bowed heavily upon his 
 breast, his shoulders were hunched forward, and 
 lc walked with a listless, uneven step. Was it 
 possible that his magnificent courage had at last 
 441 ven 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 com 
 radeship 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 com 
 fortably against the knees of the man who took 
 the tiller. He felt a curious thrill pass through 
 273
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 in 
 ches 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 drown 
 ing, 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 
 274
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 
 275
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 tho stakes were for, and walked toward 
 them irith 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 Na 
 thaniel 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 min 
 utes 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? 
 
 276
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 be 
 came 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 & 
 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 astonish 
 ment. He could see Neil laughing at him as 
 though it was an unusually humorous joke in 
 which they were playing a part. 
 277
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " Lord, but this is a funny mess ! " he chuck 
 led. " 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 
 m J g a g 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. Per 
 haps some fisherman or hunter 
 
 He stopped, and a chill ran up Nathaniel's 
 278
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 compan 
 ion 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 any 
 thing 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 raw 
 hide 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 
 279
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 your 
 self. 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 sensa 
 tions which had already become acutely discom 
 forting to Nathaniel. Had he possessed the use 
 of his voice when the Mormons were leaving he 
 would have calJed upon them to return and 
 lengthen the thongs about his ankles Ijy LZJ if 
 280
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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, be 
 gan to irritate him. At times he found him 
 self 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 min 
 utes. 
 
 " 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 mock 
 ing voices, Nathaniel grew hot with the sweat of 
 281
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 re 
 sponse 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. Grad 
 ually 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 raw 
 hide 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 
 282
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 
 288
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 press 
 ing 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 paraly 
 sis 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 heav 
 ily 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 
 84,
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 raw 
 hide ! 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 
 m 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 blasf 
 tne very soul within him and send his blood in 
 285
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Nathan 
 iel, turning his face away, saw something come 
 up out of the shimmering sea, like a shadow be 
 fore his blistering eyes, and as his own limbs 
 went out from under him and he felt the strang 
 ling death at his throat there came from that 
 shadow a cry that seemed to snap his very heart 
 strings 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 
 286
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 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 straight 
 ened 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 sud 
 denly 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. 
 
 Dawkness enshrouded him but a few moments, 
 when a dash of cool water brought him back 
 into Aight. He felt himself lowered upon the 
 287
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 sand and after a breath or two he twisted him 
 self 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 sense 
 less words to him, and bathing his face with 
 water, her eyes shining down upon him glor 
 iously. 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 low 
 ered 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'rom down near the shore she called back 
 some word, and with a shrill cry Winnsome fol 
 lowed her. Nathaniel struggled to his elbow, 
 to his knees staggered to his feet. He saw 
 the boat drifting out into the night, and Winn- 
 288
 
 THE STRAIGHT DEATH 
 
 aoine standing alone at the water-edge, her sob 
 bing 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. 
 
 4< She is gone gone " she moaned, stretch 
 ing out her arms to him. " She is going 
 back to Scrang!" 
 
 And then, from far out in the wlu'te glory of 
 the night, there came back to him the voice of 
 the girl he loved. 
 
 " Good-by Good-by n
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 "GONE !" moaned Winnsome again. " She 
 has gone back to Strang ! " 
 
 Neil was crawling to them like a wounded ani 
 mal across the sand. 
 
 She started toward him but Nathaniel stop 
 ped 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 
 290
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 lapped his hands and feet, Nathaniel sank down, 
 his eyes staring out into the shimmering dis 
 tance 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 
 awav 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 dy 
 ing of thirst. Then he returned to Neil. 
 Winnsome was holding his head in her arms. 
 
 He dropped upon his knees beside them and 
 291
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 settlement*. 
 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, tight 
 ening her arms about him. 
 
 " You must go with Winnsome," urged Na 
 thaniel, seizing the hand that Neil stretched up 
 to him. " You must take her to the first set 
 tlement 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 begin 
 ning a blind fight against fate. If he could 
 292
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 whis 
 pered. " I hope that some day 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. 
 
 293
 
 " 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 some 
 thing 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 
 294
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 be 
 ginning to break. Ten or fifteen miles to the 
 no**tk there were settlements, and between there 
 were scores of settlers' homes and fishermen's 
 shanties. Surely within an hour or two he 
 would fird 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 slo?*, steady trot into the north. If 
 he could reach a b-oat soon he might overtake 
 Marion in mid-lake* The thought thrilled him, 
 and urged him to g-ca^er speed. As the stars 
 faded away in the dawr 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 m hope of life. 
 He slowed his steps now, for he wouH need to 
 preserve his strength. Yet he experienced no 
 fear, no loss of confidence. Each moment addoa! 
 295
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 to his faith in himself. Before noon he would 
 be on his way to the Mormon kingdom, by night 
 fall 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 in 
 cident of the battle-field. 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 be 
 lieved 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 un 
 broken even in her hour of repudiation fell upon 
 him heavily. For there was no choice, no 
 shadow of alternative. There was but one way 
 296
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 nar 
 row 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 ex- 
 297
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 <:itedly 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. Some 
 where between the white desert sand and that 
 distant coast of the Mormon kingdom Marion 
 was making her way back to bondage. Na- 
 298
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 thaniel 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 
 299
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 hopeless battle upon the shore. He swore at 
 himself softly, laughingly, as he paddled stead 
 ily 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. Be 
 tween 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 ? In 
 voluntarily he changed his course so that it 
 would bring him to the clearing. He assured 
 300
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGF- 
 
 himself that it would do no harm, that he still 
 would take no chances. 
 
 He came out in the strip of dense forest be 
 tween 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 clear 
 ing! 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 
 301
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 sud 
 denly began to move, thinning itself out until it 
 was racing in a black stream toward the Mormon 
 city. In his excitement Nathaniel hurried to 
 ward 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 sur 
 prise at seeing him, and yet there was the insane 
 302
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 Nathan 
 iel 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 faurly 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. 
 303
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 He spoke more calmly, and yet there was 
 something so terrible in his eyes, something so 
 harshly vibrant of elation in the quivering pas 
 sion 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 tlie 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 recog 
 nize 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 
 304
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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. Aa 
 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 
 
 305
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 whis 
 pered 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 hap 
 piness. 
 
 " 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. 
 306
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 " You must wait you must wait ! " 
 He saw now in her face an agony that ap 
 palled 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 for 
 ward 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 
 307
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 man lay where he had fallen, with Obadiah'* 
 bullet through his back. The other two firecl 
 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 a* 
 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 >*en<l 
 through his lungs. 
 
 " Stop ! " he shouted. " Stop ! " 
 
 He aimed at the fugitive's legs and fired. 
 
 "Stop!" 
 
 The boyish sheriff was lengthening the dis 
 tance between them and Nathaniel halted to 
 make sure of his last ball. He was about to 
 shoot when there came a sharp command from 
 308
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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, an<? 
 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 w 
 
 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. " In it 
 jou?" 
 
 For the moment Nathaniel could only wring 
 the other's hand. He tried to speak but his 
 breath choked him. 
 
 309
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " 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 Mor 
 mon 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! 
 310
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 We've just had a fight with the king's men " 
 
 The lieutenant broke in with a sharp com 
 mand 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 re 
 turn to the ship. Tell the captain that Oba- 
 diah Price is badly wounded and that we want 
 the surgeon on the run ! " 
 
 A turn in the path brought them to the open 
 ing 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 
 311
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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. JHe 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 some 
 thing in his hand. It was the mysterious pack 
 age which Captain Plum had taken his oath tc 
 jr to the president of the United States. 
 312
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 " 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 bet 
 ter hear it now." 
 
 His last words were in a whisper so low that 
 Nathaniel scarcely heard them. As the lieuten 
 ant rose to his feet, he whispered again. 
 
 "He is dying!" 
 
 Obadiah's eyes opened as Nathaniel knelt be 
 side 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. 
 313
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 " Marion " he whispered wistfully. 
 
 " She will come," said Nathaniel. " I will 
 :all 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 
 314
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 be 
 came a Morman, 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 
 315
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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 Mis 
 souri 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 chil 
 dren " 
 
 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. J 
 316
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 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 ffeavily. 
 
 ** 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 se 
 cret," 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 be- 
 317
 
 came 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 stead- 
 ily. 
 
 " 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. 
 
 318
 
 MARION FREED FROM BONDAGE 
 
 ** 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. 
 
 " IB 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 venge 
 ance Captain Plum waited. 
 
 After a time, the girl came back. 
 319
 
 THE COURAGE OF CAPTAIN PLUM 
 
 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
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
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