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 Collection of i^ortfj Carolmiana 
 
 C8I3 
 
This book must not 
 be taken from the 
 Library building. 
 
 Form No. 471 
 
When the Cock Crows 
 
He bore her with uhat haste he could to the landing and gently placed her 
 
 within the blankets. 
 
When the Cock Crows 
 
 BY 
 
 WALDRON BAILY 
 
 Author of " Heart of the Blue Ridge,'* 
 *« The Homeward Trail,*' etc. 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 G. W. GAGE 
 
 NEW YORK 
 
 BEDFORD PUBLISHING CQ 
 
 1918 
 
Cop3TigIit 1918, by 
 BEDFORD PUBLISHING CO. 
 
 PRiss or 
 
 BRAUNWORTH Ik CO. 
 
 ■OOK MANUFACTURCRfl 
 
 BROOKLYN. N. V. 
 
TO 
 
 Hon* ^cstpl^ns Pattiela 
 
 As a token of the author's admiration and re- 
 spect, for one who in the greatest crisis in 
 history has demonstrated to the public 
 those quahties of courage, determina- 
 tion and achievement that his 
 friends have always 
 known him to 
 possess. 
 
 to 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 I. Ichabod's Island 9 
 
 II. Among the Breakers 19 
 
 III. A New Calamity 31 
 
 IV. Under the After Awning 38 
 
 V. A Prisoner of Morphia 49 
 
 VI. Hunting a Clue 64 
 
 VII. Stormbound 77 
 
 VIII. The Efficiency of Clam-Broth 87 
 
 IX. Once in a Lifetime 100 
 
 X. Eyes from the Deep. 108 
 
 XI. The Awakening of Ichabod. . 127 
 XII. Toward the Unknown r 140 
 
 XIII. Among the Fisherfolk 151 
 
 XIV. Garnet the Hero 168 
 
 XV. Adrift with a Madman 180 
 
 XVI. The Coming-out Party 191 
 
 XVII. Strangers at Ichabod' s Island 203 
 
 XVIII. The Call of the Dark 215 
 
 7 
 
8 CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 XIX. Bottled Up 228 
 
 XX. The Truth Unalloyed 234 
 
 XXI. Sealed Orders 249 
 
 XXII. The Parting Crow 261 
 
 XXIII. The Search up the Shore... 2^2 
 
 XXIV. A Gentleman's Promise 284 
 
 XXV. Doing his Bit \ 291 
 
WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 Ichabod's Island 
 
 THE tide was at ebb. The noisily rush- 
 ing spume-spotted waters of the sea 
 were pounding the hard-sand shore 
 of the easterly side of a beautifiil island, nest- 
 ling as a jewel in its setting just within the 
 Capes, which form the shores on either side 
 of Beaufort Inlet, but so exposed that when 
 the winds blow from the sea the full force 
 of the breakers is felt at this point. As this 
 small bit of land is low-lying, more than 
 once when a southeaster has raged, the tiny 
 isle has become entirely submerged. 
 
 Man has placed but one habitation upon 
 this toy of the great waters, and that a fisher- 
 man's shack, surrounded with the usual net- 
 drying racks and other crude tools of the 
 
 9 
 
10 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 fisherfolk. One would rightly guess that the 
 occupant of an abode built upon such a tiny 
 bit of old mother earth must be a hardy cus- 
 tomer, who imderstood the ways of the winds 
 and sea and who dared combat them. 
 
 It is sunrise. The door of the hut swings 
 on its heavy hinges. A sturdy-looking old 
 fellow with grizzled beard and flowing locks 
 steps out of the shack, and, as has been his 
 wont for years, he scans the horizon for a sail 
 or perchance for other more modem craft of 
 the sea. 
 
 In his arms, he is tenderly carrying a large 
 Dominick rooster, which, judging from his 
 length of spurs, and scaly legs, has lingered 
 many summers. Satisfying himself that there 
 is no boat in sight, to break the monotony 
 of the view. Captain Ichabod places his only 
 living companion — as he expresses it, his 
 poultry alarm clock — upon the ground, and 
 from a pocket produces a handful of com, 
 which the old cock greedily devours. 
 
 These two have been companions for a long 
 time. Captain Ichabod found him one morn- 
 ing perched upon the top of a floating crate, 
 washed from the deck of a schooner that had 
 
ICHABOD'S ISLAND 11 
 
 gone upon the beach in a booming southeaster. 
 The Captain had proved a Hfe-saver indeed 
 to the proud old bird. Ichabod, when he 
 first spied Shrimp, as he afterward named this 
 bit of flotsam, was wildly anxious to save 
 the creature so it might have a life on shore 
 suited to its nature and desires. Then it 
 flashed upon him that his antiquated and well- 
 worn alarm clock had ceased to work. It 
 occurred to him that the rooster*s crowing 
 would suflice to advise him of the hour, and 
 that there would be no need to buy another 
 clock. 
 
 The Captain was a woman-hater. This 
 fact accounted for his choosing to live as a 
 hermit on the bit of sand, which he had 
 grown to love. But that loneliness was a 
 trial to Shrimp, who naturally desired a 
 harem of his own. Many times, when the 
 wind was from the mainland, Captain Icha- 
 bod had heard the far-away crow of a barn- 
 yard fowl, and had gravely and criticizingly 
 listened as Shrimp returned the salute in 
 lusty manner. He had seen the bird swell 
 in rage, and his comb turn red in jealous 
 envy of the other rooster on the mainland. ; 
 
n WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Captain Ichabod had now come to busying 
 himself with fishing by hook and line for blue 
 fish and sheepshead. In addition he set a 
 line of gill nets in the cove for mullet or any 
 other fish that might become entangled within 
 their meshes. On all his excursions Shrimp 
 accompanied his master. He would perch 
 himself proudly upon the centerboard box. 
 More than once, before becoming a seasoned 
 sailor, he had failed to dodge the boom to 
 which the little leg o* mutton sail was at- 
 tached, and had been knocked from his 
 perch when Uncle Ichabod for a joke let 
 the boat jibe in a flaw of the wind. But 
 Shrimp learned. He learned to dodge the 
 boom. He became, imder stress of circum- 
 stances, an expert sailor — and was never sea- 
 sick. 
 
 When Shrimp had finished his meal, Ich- 
 abod addressed the mangy-looking bird very 
 gravely: 
 
 "Shrimp, thar hain't nary sail nor steamer 
 smoke in sight off the Capes and I 'low thar 
 has a dozen skippers seen that-thar same 
 mare's tail as did I last night, and has had 
 the good common sense to haul to in the 
 
ICHABOD'S ISLAND 13 
 
 hook o* the Cape ter ride out the blow that is 
 sure ter come. May the sarpants o' Davy 
 Jones' have mercy on him or her as don*t 
 take kiwer; me an' you, rooster, '11 have ter 
 do our hook an' linin' in the Spar Channel on 
 this ebb fer so soon as she hauls a leetle more 
 to the south 'ard thar is goin' ter be hell 
 kicked up in the Inlet an' me and yo', ole 
 feathers an' comb, had better do our anglin' 
 clost enough that we can shoot inter this 
 home harbor without loosin' o' our rag." 
 
 Captain Ichabod busied himself with get- 
 ting his leads and lines in shape. He cut up 
 a half-dozen mullets for bait. Then he picked 
 up the mast, around which was wrapped a 
 patchwork of canvas, very snugly. It felt 
 at home there for it had been thus rolled 
 arotmd the mast time and again through many 
 years. Captain Ichabod now walked to the 
 red skiff. At his heels Shrimp stalked with 
 great dignity. The Captain stepped the 
 mast, arranged the halyards, and pushed off. 
 The sail caught the wind and Captain Ich- 
 abod at the tiller was off for the Spar Channel 
 fishing grounds. 
 
 When he had arrived and thrown his 
 
14 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 anchor overboard, the Captain addressed 
 Shrimp with much solemnity. 
 
 "Shrimp, ye air a heap o* company to the 
 ole man, but ye wa'n*t built by God A'mighty 
 fer a sailin' mate, all he fixed ye fer was to 
 peck an' scratch an' fight — oh, yes, an' I 
 like ter forgot the crow." 
 
 Then nonchalantly he remarked : 
 
 "An' thar would be a heap more peace in 
 the world to-day if he had o' built all kinds o' 
 Hens without thar tarnation cackle," . 
 
 When Captain Icky mentioned the word 
 cackle he thought he could detect a dejected 
 look upon the coimtenance of his feathered 
 friend, and in a sympathetic voice to ease the 
 rooster's feelings, said: 
 
 "Wall, rooster, I must say that yo'r women 
 folks was made with the only kind of cackle 
 that has done men folks any good, but gosh 
 darned if it hain't a right-smart bit since I's 
 et an aig!" 
 
 Then, having thus relieved himself, Ich- 
 abod tossed his heavily sinkered lines into the 
 swift tide. The fish were hungry, and he 
 was kept busy hauling them in. 
 
 The swell began to increase. The small 
 
ICHABOD'S ISLAND 15 
 
 craft began to rock uncomfortably. The 
 Sim was hidden by a red cloud that banked 
 in the eastern sky. Captain Ichabod knew 
 the signs. He pulled in his line and hooks, 
 made sail, and beat across to the point where 
 nestled the life-saving station. There he 
 wotild read the barometer, have a chat and 
 a meal with the men, and afterward make a 
 qiiick nm home before the wind. 
 
 At the life-saving station, he found the 
 barometer indicated storm, as he had feared. 
 
 After a hearty dinner, and a pipe with yams, 
 Captain Ichabod set sail for the Island, and 
 made it safely, in spite of the rising storm. 
 
 The Captain realized that a gale was 
 brewing. He gathered up his nets from their 
 racks. He made them snug in the shack, 
 and stowed away everything movable. He 
 was weather-wise. He would not be caught 
 unawares. A high tide had more than once 
 taught him the lesson of that beach. He had 
 the red skiff hauled well up out of harm's way. 
 There was, too, an extra anchor tied to the 
 painter. Captain Ichabod and the rooster 
 entered their cottage, for refuge from the 
 wind that was now blowing dangerously. 
 
16 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 The storm reached such proportions that 
 from his window to seaward it was no longer 
 possible to make out through the rain and 
 spray the broad crepe-like bands of black and 
 white painted upon the great, towering light- 
 house, at the extreme point of Cape Lookout, 
 a few miles to the eastward. The shack was 
 fairly shaking in the West India hurricane — 
 for such it proved to be. . . . And great 
 was the devastation wrought that night by 
 both wind and wave. 
 
 About midnight, Captain Ichabod, feeling 
 that it was not quite safe to retire, stood in 
 the open doorway. He little minded the 
 pelting of the rain as it drove against his 
 weathered cheek. He had donned his oil- 
 skins, hat and slicker, and was peering in- 
 tently seaward. He had been to his skiff 
 and had dragged it a couple of rods further 
 up on the sand as a measure of safety. A 
 yellow flash showed dimly on the black storm 
 clouds that banked the horizon to the north 
 of the Cape — ^wherein nestled a tiny harbor 
 of refuge. Those who knew took advantage 
 of this retreat in times of tempest. . . . Wo 
 imto the hapless seafarer, unknowing the way. 
 
ICHABOD'S ISLAND 17 
 
 It did not take a second flash for the prac- 
 tised eye of the lone man in oilskins to recog- 
 nize that this was the thing he had expected — 
 even while praying God that it might not be. 
 It was the rocket signal of a boat in distress. 
 Within sound of the breakers, that coiild 
 not be seen in the pitch black, was some- 
 where a mass of timber and iron, burdened 
 with cargo and human freight. And that 
 mass, which was a ship, dragged its anchor, 
 as if that anchor were a toy — foot by foot 
 to sure destruction on a beach that has 
 known a hundred wrecks. 
 
 The rockets continued to flare. Closer 
 and closer to the outer shoals of the beach 
 they beamed. The ship was swiftly and 
 surely going to its doom. 
 
 Turning his face to the clouded heavens, 
 and raising his voice in a final appeal, Uncle 
 Ichabod prayed: 
 
 "God help the boys in such a surf." 
 
 At the point where the ship was making 
 the distress signals, the coast offered only a 
 narrow strip of sand, running from the Cape to 
 Ocracoke Inlet — many miles to the northeast. 
 
 The old fisherman's face was ashen. There 
 
18 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 was nothing that he could do except stand 
 and helplessly watch the final disaster. He 
 realized that the craft was doomed. He was 
 powerless to interfere, although in despair 
 over this catastrophe before his very eyes. 
 He turned away, and entered his little house, 
 and tried to sleep. But he was wakeful, 
 and found himself murmuring prayers for 
 those who went down to the sea in ships. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 Among the Breakers 
 
 ORDINARILY, Captain Ichabod Jones 
 enjoyed being crooned to sleep by 
 the weird sounds of the winds as 
 they beat about the comers of his cottage. 
 Now, his mind was filled with a memory of 
 last frantic cries uttered by men, women and 
 children as their clinging hold was loosed 
 from the derelict, the sturdy frame of which 
 he had heard strike on the rocks, as she went 
 to her grave in the sea. Now, he heard the 
 clamors of despair, voiced in the shrieking of 
 the gale. He tossed uneasily upon his bed, 
 offering ever and anon a prayer to the God 
 that rules mad waters to have mercy upon 
 those even then fighting a last grim battle 
 with death. 
 
 The first gray gleam of dawn showed a 
 tinge of storm red, radiant and calm above 
 the wildly tossing surges of the sea. 
 
 19 
 
«0 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Uncle Icky got out of his bunk, built a 
 fire in the stove and set his coffee to boil. 
 Then, of a sudden, he forgot his preparations 
 for breakfast. His sharp ears had caught 
 the far-away chug-chug of a naphtha-driven 
 craft. He listened, and knew that the boat 
 was making its way toward the Island. 
 
 '' Well, I'll be blowed,'' said the Captain to 
 himself — and the rooster. What fool skipper 
 would come down this shore, even on the 
 inside, in such a kick-up as is goin' on? He 
 shore must be plimib daffy, or arter an M.D. 
 for a mighty sick himian. Til try an' hail 
 him as he passes; but the Lord knows he 
 can't pass to the wind'ard o' this-here Island 
 till she ca'ms a heap, an' if he tries to go to 
 lee'ard he'll shore as shootin' take up on the 
 oyster rocks, an' stove her through to her 
 vitals." 
 
 Captain Ichabod was right. No land lub- 
 ber, imacquainted with the dangerous cur- 
 rents and powerful surf breaking over the 
 bar at the Inlet, could pilot a craft safely 
 past the little Island in good weather — let 
 alone the doing of it in this tail-end of a gale. 
 Uncle Icky rushed from the cottage, lantern 
 
AMONG THE BREAKERS 21 
 
 in hand. He tried to wave a warning to the 
 foolhardy adventurer who was thus darting 
 down at breakneck speed on the mill-race of 
 the ebb tide to certain destruction. 
 
 Captain Ichabod ran with his lantern to 
 the far point of land, and waved it frantically 
 in warning. The wind-driven spray of the 
 surf soaked and chilled him to the bone. But 
 he swung his light in desperate earnestness, 
 though his efforts seemed of no avail, for the 
 launch swept on toward its doom. Ichabod 
 now could see that it was a palatial yacht, 
 of trim build, with a prow that cut the waves 
 like a razor. But, too, he knew that, after 
 rounding the point, the tiny vessel would 
 meet the full fury of the sea, and must be 
 destroyed. 
 
 Day broke. In the increased light, the old 
 man cast his lantern aside as useless and swung 
 his arms as a semaphore. The yacht, buf- 
 feted by the timibling seas, swept within 
 hailing distance. Captain Ichabod yelled to 
 the man who was at the tiller to keep her off. 
 In answer, there came three shrill, pitifully 
 wavering blasts of the whistle — a salute that 
 was derisive, the absurd response of a mad- 
 
22 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 man. And the man at the wheel waved his 
 hand in pleasant salutation and grinned in a 
 most amiable manner. Captain Ichabod 
 stared aghast. Then, he realized that the 
 man at the helm must be a maniac. 
 
 The yacht was in the breakers. The first 
 wave spilled clear over her. Ichabod, watch- 
 ing from the shore, shuddered. He believed 
 her already lost in the coil of waters. But, 
 to the Captain's amazement, the yacht eddied 
 and tossed, dived and floated again. Then, 
 at last, it was swept on the rocks. The hull 
 broke in two under the impact, and the racing 
 waves swept over the wreck. 
 
 Out of the ruin of the yacht, the surge bore 
 a mattress, on which rested the seemingly 
 lifeless body of a beautiful yoimg woman. 
 Captain Ichabod saw the strange raft sweep 
 toward the strand. He rushed to seize it, 
 and pulled it beyond the power of the tide 
 to snatch it back into the maw of the ocean. 
 Thereafter, he worked over the girl to save 
 her from death by drowning. 
 
 It was a long time before she showed signs 
 of life. But, after a time, the breast began 
 to rise and fall in the perfect rhythm of 
 
AMONG THE BREAKERS 23 
 
 health. Captain Ichabod, wild with anxiety, 
 could hear the breathing of this woman whom 
 he had saved from the sea. He was glad. 
 He stood working over her in desperate 
 haste. And then, presently, the lashes of 
 the girl unclosed, and she stared wonderingly 
 into the face of this old man, who stood over 
 her with so much tenderness in his expression. 
 
 The girl, suddenly arousing to consciousness, 
 spoke anxiously: 
 
 "Doctor, tell me, where am I?'* 
 
 Ichabod felt himself embarrassed. He spoke 
 emphatically. 
 
 "No, Miss, I hain't no doctor — that is, 
 I hain't no medical M.D., but folks says I'm 
 a right smart o' a water doctor fer fever an' 
 sich, but in yo'r case, I's a-takin' o' the water 
 out instead o' puttin' it in or rubbin' it on, 
 an' you lacks a heap o' havin' a fever, but 
 arter I gits ye ter the shack I'll warm up yer 
 little cold frame an' vitals with a swig o' 
 brandy. That is, if ye has come to 'nough 
 ter swaller," 
 
 The young woman was now breathing nor- 
 mally. The Captain raised her in his arms 
 and bore her to the shack — ^across the thresh- 
 
24 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 old of which hitherto no woman*s foot had 
 stepped. The room was warm with the heat 
 from the cook-stove, which had been left with 
 the drafts open. He laid the girl on his bed, 
 and then brought to her a glass of old brandy, 
 salvaged years before from a wreck, and held 
 intact by him during all this time as if for 
 just such an emergency. 
 
 It was with difficulty that he aroused the 
 victim of the wreck sufficiently to swallow 
 the liquor, but in the end he was successful, 
 Then he removed her outer garments, and 
 wrapped her in woolen blankets. 
 
 Yet, even after it was plain that the heart 
 was working normally once again, since there 
 was a delicate flush showing in the girl's 
 cheeks, the Captain was puzzled by the mental 
 vagueness. She did not show any revival 
 of intelligence, although she seemed to recover 
 all her physical powers. He came to believe 
 that she must have been injured on the head, 
 by a blow from some bit of wreckage. But, 
 though he went over her skull with deft fin- 
 gers, he could find no trace of a bruise. He 
 finally decided that her mental condition 
 must be merely the resxilt of the strain under- 
 
AMONG THE BREAKERS 25 
 
 gone by her, and that it would be remedied 
 by an interval of sleep. So, he tucked the 
 blankets snugly about. her, and then left her 
 alone, that he might see what could be done 
 toward bringing the marooned skipper from 
 his perilous place on the wrecked boat. 
 
 While Captain Ichabod was busy with the 
 rescue of the girl, there had come a lull in 
 the storm. The wind had hauled aroimd to 
 the southwest, and was now blowing a stiff 
 breeze off shore, which, taken together with 
 the fast-running tide still on the ebb, had 
 caused the seas to lessen in the Inlet. Under 
 these improved conditions, the Captain de- 
 cided to make a try at relieving the casta- 
 way from his sorry plight. 
 
 He launched the red skiff, and set out to 
 row toward the wreck. He was encouraged 
 in the difficult task by the frantic gestures 
 with which the victim of the storm called for 
 succor. Captain Ichabod reflected grimly 
 that this fellow who had disregarded his 
 warnings must be plainly a maniac. Yet he 
 was sufficiently sane to have a normal desire 
 to be saved from death. He guessed that 
 perhaps the yachtsman had been temporarily 
 
26 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 unbalanced in his mind when in the grip of 
 the raging waters — then, afterward, had re- 
 gained his self-control, and with it a whole- 
 some desire to live. 
 
 Captain Ichabod managed to bring the 
 skiff up under the lee of the wreck. He threw 
 a rope to the man, and bade him make it fast. 
 The order was obeyed. Ichabod then di- 
 rected the yachtsman to collect his valuables 
 and come aboard the skiff. The castaway 
 lost no time in obeying. Presently, carrying 
 a small black bag, he seated himself in the 
 skiff, and Ichabod turned the boat's nose 
 toward the shore, and bent to the oars, in 
 haste to get back to his patient, and so to 
 complete his list of rescues for that eventful 
 day. 
 
 During the short interval of time consimied 
 in going from the wreck to the Island, the 
 stranger made anxious inquiries as to the 
 fate of the girl. He had thought that she 
 was dead. When he heard from Captain 
 Ichabod that the girl still lived he was obvi- 
 ously startled and surprised, but, too, he 
 showed every symptom of intense pleasure. 
 He displayed anxiety as to what the girl might 
 
AMONG THE BREAKERS 27 
 
 have said. Then, when he learned that she 
 had said nothing at all, he appeared greatly 
 relieved. He seemed pleased to learn that 
 she was still unconscious. 
 
 Ichabod, wonderingly, thought that he 
 heard the stranger say: 
 
 "Thank God!" 
 
 The boat was no sooner beached than the 
 man who had been rescued leaped ashore, 
 still carrying in his hand the small physician's 
 bag. He raced toward the cabin, as if he 
 felt that life or death depended on his haste. 
 [ Captain Ichabod suddenly felt very old 
 and worn. He had used too much energy in 
 this work of rescue, and now the reaction set 
 in. He dawdled over the securing of the skiff. 
 Then he made his way with lagging steps 
 toward the cabin. He pushed open the door, 
 and was startled to behold the man he had 
 rescued kneeling beside the couch of the girl. 
 At the noise of the opening door, the man 
 sprang to his feet. . . . Ichabod wondered 
 as he glimpsed an object that shone like silver, 
 and then was slipped cautiously into the 
 man's coat pocket. 
 
 Captain Ichabod approached the bed upon 
 
28 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 which the girl lay motionless. He noticed 
 on the forearm a tiny drop of blood. He 
 wondered also over this, then solved the puzzle 
 to his satisfaction by thinking that a mos- 
 quito had left this trace of its attack. He 
 was confirmed in the opinion by the fact that 
 there was a white blotch beneath the touch of 
 crimson. 
 
 Captain Ichabod tried to question the man 
 he had saved, but found every answer baf- 
 fling and unsatisfactory. The yachtsman re- 
 fused any sort of information. His reticence 
 angered the old man, and he at last spoke 
 his mind freely, with something of suspicion 
 engendered by a new thought concerning that 
 curious drop of blood on the girl's arm. 
 
 " She acts ter me like a woman chuck-er- 
 block with Bateman Drops or opiimi. A 
 heap o' that kind o' truck is used by the 
 women about these-here islands o' the Sound, 
 an' I've seed a heap o' the effects o' it in the 
 years past, but the good Lord knows it's a 
 spell since Captain Icky has seed a woman 
 a-hitten dope, as new-fangled folks calls it." 
 
 The man who had been rescued by Icha- 
 bod started violently as he heard the word 
 
AMONG THE BREAKERS 29 
 
 ''dope.** He cast a probing glance on the 
 old man, but spoke never a word. 
 
 "Thar is one thing fer sartin/* continued 
 the fisherman, "if it hain't dope that is 
 |a*lin* o* her, it's somethin' that calls fer an 
 M.D., an' if she hain't come to her senses in 
 an hour, I'll put the rag on the skiff an' run 
 up to Beaufort an' bring back Dr. Hudson to 
 pass on the case. Thar has never been a 
 death o' a htmian in Ichabod Jones' shack, 
 an' Lord have mercy, the first passin' sha'n't 
 be a woman!" 
 
 The condition of the girl continued such 
 that Ichabod felt it necessary to simimon the 
 physician. He must make the trip in his 
 sailboat to Beaufort, the nearest town along 
 the coast. The yachtsman now approved the 
 idea. 
 
 When Captain Ichabod went to make ready 
 his boat for the trip to town, the yachtsman 
 followed him, and then presently, walking 
 down to where the wreckage had come ashore, 
 proceeded to right and clear of debris a little 
 cedar motor boat, which had come ashore 
 from the wrecked yacht, practically unharmed, 
 except that the batteries were wet. 
 
30 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 In the absence of Captain Ichabod, the 
 stranger removed all the wire connections in 
 this small boat, and placed the batteries 
 over the stove to dry. When they were in 
 fact thoroughly dried, he waited patiently 
 for the departure of Captain Ichabod in search 
 of a physician. Presently, the old man set 
 out on his errand of mercy. The stranger 
 yachtsman grinned derisively as he saw the 
 boat slip into the smother of storm-tossed 
 waters. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 A New Calamity 
 
 PERHAPS there is no point upon the 
 Carohna coast where there is more 
 interest shown in weather conditions 
 than at Beaufort, the present terminus of 
 the great inland water-route from Boston to 
 the Gulf. There are vital reasons for this. 
 First: a fleet of small fishing vessels makes 
 this their home port. Hardly a family in 
 the town that has not one or more of its mem- 
 bers going to sea in the little craft. To be 
 caught off shore in one of the West India 
 hurricanes, which, at irregular intervals, touch 
 this point, means almost certain destruction. 
 Again: there is always danger to the low- 
 lying town from a tidal wave. The town is 
 built on flat ground almost level with the 
 surface of the water. There is no sea wall 
 to keep off the angry waves. The dwellers 
 in the town have learned their danger through 
 
 31 
 
32 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 dear experience in times past when the waves 
 have swept over it, bringing desolation and 
 death. 
 
 Luckily, the storm that brought the stran- 
 gers to Captain Ichabod Jones did not blow 
 long enough from the southeast to cause 
 severe damage to the town. Nor was there 
 loss of life at sea. The masters of the fish- 
 ing boats had seen the weather flags — angry- 
 red, with sullen black centers — ^flying from the 
 signal mast. They had taken warning and 
 remained in port through the time of tempest. 
 
 When Uncle Icky roimded the point of 
 marsh land, and headed his skiff for Beaufort, 
 the eyes of the storm-boimd fishermen and 
 the other loimging natives gathered at the 
 market wharf quickly espied the familiar 
 patched rag of sail and were filled with won- 
 der as to what could have tempted the old 
 man from his snug Island out into the teeth 
 of the gale. When he sped into the slip, 
 there were many hands ready to grasp the 
 hawser tossed to them by Captain Ichabod, 
 and make it fast to a *'punchin." 
 
 If the loimgers had expected to hear some- 
 thing startling, they were doomed to disap- 
 
A NEW CALAMITY 33 
 
 pointment. He had no time then to stop and 
 gossip with friends. He hurried on, with an 
 air of unaccustomed self-importance on ac- 
 count of the serious nature of his mission. He 
 was in quest of Dr. Hudson, a great-hearted 
 man, who had spent the best years of his life 
 in ministering to the ills of these fisherfolk. 
 They, in their turn, looked upon him with a 
 feeling of grateful fondness, tinctured with 
 awe — so miraculous to them seemed many 
 of his cures. And, too, they honored him 
 for the manner in which he did his duty 
 toward them. Never a night too black, 
 never a storm too high, for him to fare forth 
 for the relief of suffering. Latterly, however, 
 he had felt the weight of work over much, had 
 felt perhaps as well the burden of advancing 
 years. He had so contrived that a young 
 medical graduate opened up a practise in 
 the neighborhood. He had adroitly used the 
 influence of suggestion so diplomatically that 
 most of the chronic cases — ^those that took 
 comfort in telling of their maladies, in detail- 
 ing their symptoms to imwilling listeners — 
 had gladly availed themselves of the new 
 treatment offered by the yoimg physician. 
 
34 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 In this way, the old Doctor was spared a 
 tedious and unnecessary routine of labor, yet 
 was left free for such urgent calls as might 
 come to him. 
 
 Ichabod foimd the physician at home, and 
 declared: 
 
 ''Thar's sick folks at my shack what needs 
 ye an* needs ye bad/' 
 
 The doctor was aware that Ichabod's sole 
 companion in the shack was the rooster. 
 Knowing also the Captain's fondness for the 
 Dominick, he was inclined to be suspicious 
 that this call for his services was as a veter- 
 inary. 
 
 "I suppose," he said, ''your Shrimp has the 
 pip." Then, of a sudden, he guessed some- 
 thing of the truth. He spoke anxiously. 
 ''There hasn't been a wreck, has there?" 
 
 "Right ye air. Doctor, there has been a 
 fool shipwreck on my oyster rocks. The 
 captain of the ship an' his mate air at the 
 shack this very minute. He's batty as a 
 toad arter swallerin' shot. An' she's outter 
 her haid — leastways she ain't got sense 'nough 
 left ter talk." 
 
 In answer to questions, Ichabod gave a full 
 
A NEW CALAMITY S5 
 
 narrative of what had occiirred, telling all 
 the events in his own quaint fashion, to all 
 of which Doctor Hudson listened with the 
 closest attention. 
 
 His comment was crisp. 
 
 "It soimds like whisky — ^more likely, mor- 
 phia. I reckon it's my duty to go.'' As a 
 matter of fact, the physician's curiosity had 
 been aroused. He was professionally anxious 
 to get at a solution of the mystery. He hur- 
 riedly changed his clothes in preparation for 
 the rough voyage to Ichabod's Island, and 
 equipped himself with the old, worn leather 
 bag stocked with medicines, which, for years, 
 had been a familiar sight throughout the 
 whole region in every household where dis- 
 ease came to terrify and destroy. 
 
 ' ' Hurry, Ichabod, ' ' the Doctor cried. ' ' We'll 
 shake a leg, or the tide'll be nmning against 
 us." 
 
 Ichabod's skiff was tailed to the physician's 
 little latmch. The motor power made the 
 voyage to the Island swift, although it was 
 rough, even to the point of danger on account 
 of the storm-driven waters. When they had 
 made fast at the landing, the two hurried to 
 
36 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the shack. The door was swinging wide. 
 But to their amazement and dismay not even 
 Shrimp was there to give them welcome. 
 The place was utterly deserted. The visitors 
 so strangely cast up from the sea had vanished 
 as mysteriously as they had come. There 
 was the bed on which the girl had been lying 
 — now it was empty. Not even a vestige of 
 her clothing remained to prove that she was 
 more than the figment of a crazed brain. 
 Ichabod stared about him with distended 
 eyes. He could make no guess as to the 
 meaning of the strange thing that had be- 
 fallen. Then, abruptly, his dazed mind was 
 aroused to a new calamity. . . . Shrimp, too, 
 was gone! 
 
 Presently, Ichabod looked for the yacht's 
 tender, and foimd it likewise gone. He was 
 able to imderstand in some measure what 
 had occurred. The batteries had been dried 
 by the hot stove in the shack, and — ^the little 
 craft thus restored to nmning condition — 
 the man had undoubtedly fled with the girl. 
 And with them Shrimp had voyaged. A 
 sudden overwhelming desolation fell on the 
 old man. He had been through much that 
 
A NEW CALAMITY 37 
 
 day. He had been strained to the utmost 
 resoiirces of his energies. And he was an old 
 man. He had small reserves of force with 
 which to meet the vinexpected. Now, he 
 felt himself bewildered over all the strange 
 happenings. And there was something more. 
 The one constant companion of his lonely- 
 life was Shrimp — and Shrimp, too, had fled 
 from him. 
 
 The Doctor, very much puzzled over this 
 absence of an expected patient, started to 
 leave the shack. He halted at the head of 
 the steps, and looked down in a bewilderment 
 touched with pity. 
 
 For Ichabod was on his knees before the 
 steps of his own house, and his form was 
 shaken with the sobbings of despair. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Under the After Awning 
 
 SIDEWALKS along Fifth Avenue were 
 packed with persons of all national- 
 ities, representatives of every variety 
 of industrial activity in the life of the City. 
 There was a reviewing stand erected in front 
 of the massive library that displayed its lines 
 of architectural beauty in place of the sloping, 
 age-gray walls of the old reservoir at Bryant 
 Square. City officials and families of officers 
 in the troops soon to pass were assembled 
 there to witness this march of soldiers on their 
 way to entrain for the Mexican border. They 
 were filled with the zeal of patriots, because 
 their comrades had been foully killed on that 
 same border by a treacherous foe, and they 
 were being sent to avenge that insult against 
 the life and dignity of their nation. 
 
 Came the rhythmic beat of feet on the 
 pavement ; came the blare of the band. The 
 
 38 
 
UNDER THE AFTER AWNING 39 
 
 two swung together into a harmony of march- 
 ing. These boys, ordered to the front, were 
 going, steadfastly, as in duty bound. They 
 loved this " send-off/* They marched with 
 vigor in their steps, because ten thousand 
 handkerchiefs waved from the windows along 
 the line of march. 
 
 On the sidewalks was assembled a strange 
 crowd. There were the stenographers taking 
 their noonday outing. Many were carefully 
 over-powdered and perfumed. They were 
 dressed after the latest fashion — a long way 
 after it! 
 
 But the Midinettes were a very small pro- 
 portion of those wild to see the real soldiers. 
 
 All New York had heard the troops were 
 to march that day. And all New York 
 turned out to see the regiments. 
 
 There are a myriad phases of metropolitan 
 life. Those phases were illustrated that day 
 in the crowds along the line of march. The 
 bulk of those clustering at the curb were of a 
 sort eager for a free show. In the coimtless 
 loft buildings bordering the avenue were 
 hordes of men and women too busy in earning 
 a pitiful wage to think of anything so friv- 
 
40 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 clous as a procession, with banners waving 
 and bands playing. But while these had no 
 thought of marching troops, there were in- 
 numerable others. For New York is a city 
 gigantic. Within it are hosts. Some of these 
 always are idle. Some, always eager for the 
 free show of the streets. 
 
 So, to-day, when the troops are to march by 
 with shrill of fife and blatant noise of band, 
 the multitude comes scurrying, curious to 
 see, patriotic with the emotional patriotism 
 of one just become a citizen of a free coimtry, 
 where before he was the unrecognized and 
 unhonored subject of despotism, from which 
 he fled in search of liberty. 
 
 New York is a city of millions. It is the 
 biggest city on earth. It is the melting pot 
 of nations. The crowd that lines the curb 
 is of one sort. There is another sort marching 
 the length of the avenue. And this is a mix- 
 ture to bewilder any beholder. A coimtry- 
 man from New Jersey, with his wife and chil- 
 dren comes to-day for this splendid free show 
 of the troops that are to march; the coun- 
 trymen from the reaches of New York along 
 the Hudson, with the same purpose; his 
 
UNDER THE AFTER AWNING 41 
 
 fellows from Long Island, from Connecticut. 
 With these alien figures, treading the principal 
 city street of the world, are others. Those 
 who walk there daily walk there again to-day. 
 The clubman, coated, hatted, gloved to per- 
 fection, takes his accustomed stroll on the 
 avenue, and looks with contemptuous dis- 
 gust on the crowd that forces him to walk 
 gingerly where usually he struts as a master. 
 He, too, is a patriot and he means to see the 
 march of the troops, and to applaud it — ^but 
 from his club window, if ever he is able to 
 make his way there through the perspiring 
 congestion of the motley crowd. 
 
 There is a crew of money-makers, busy 
 along the avenue on an occasion such as this. 
 These are hordes of itinerant merchants 
 moving up and down with things to sell to 
 the crowd. They offer canes and instruments 
 of noise that by a twist of the wrist make a 
 horrible din. Expecially, they offer American 
 flags — ^bigger or smaller according to the pur- 
 chaser's taste and purse. These are bought 
 with eagerness by the crowd, and the fakers 
 reap a harvest from the enthusiasm of those 
 assembled to witness the marching soldiers. 
 
42 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 The boy with a box is dominant. Wherever 
 a short, but eager watcher stands to look, the 
 boy comes, with his offer of a box to stand on, 
 a box to sit on, as the purchaser may please, 
 for the nominal cost of ten cents. Always, one 
 finds at hand this boy, with the box that he 
 offers for your sitting or for your feet, as you 
 will. One box bought, he shows another, offer- 
 ing it for sale. Whence he comes with boxes so 
 multitudinous none may guess. But he goes 
 away with nickles and dimes enough perhaps 
 to provide an income that will continue over 
 imtil another day of parade. 
 
 In the reviewing stand, there was seated 
 a girl who watched the marching troops with 
 an intentness that had in it something of 
 desperation, something of despair. Yet, as 
 the soldiers passed, she gave them little heed. 
 She was always looking toward those advanc- 
 ing, as if in search for something that meant 
 more to her than this moving mass of 
 troops. 
 
 A band passed. Behind it, at the head of 
 his men, rode Colonel Marion. As he came 
 opposite the reviewing stand, his eyes swept 
 over the crowd seated on the tiers of benches. 
 
UNDER THE AFTER AWNING 43 
 
 They rested on the face of the girl, who had 
 been so anxiously watching. He smiled and 
 saluted. The girl — his daughter Ethel — 
 waved her handkerchief eagerly in response. 
 Then she turned, and spoke to the young man 
 who sat beside her. There was love, touched 
 with reverence, in her voice. 
 
 "Isn't Daddy splendid!" 
 
 Her companion, Roy Morton, answered 
 with sincerity, in which was a tincture of 
 irrepressible bitterness. 
 
 "He's every inch a soldier." 
 
 The bitterness came from the fact that a 
 broken tendon — received during his last foot- 
 ball fight for Yale — disqualified him for mil- 
 itary service, for which he longed more than 
 ever in this hour when he saw the girl beside 
 him so thrilled by the pomp of war, when he 
 saw her pride and exultation in the military 
 bearing of the father she revered. He felt 
 that he must seem a slacker in her eyes, even 
 though she knew that no fault of his own kept 
 him at home, while others marched away to 
 serve their cotmtry. 
 
 For Roy loved Ethel and his chief desire 
 always was to show perfect in her eyes. For 
 
44 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 that matter, he was successful enough, since 
 the girl loved him. Their troth was plighted, 
 and in due time they would be married with 
 the full approval of Colonel Marion, who both 
 liked and respected his prospective son-in- 
 law. So, in preparation for his own absence 
 from home on military service, he strictly 
 charged Roy to watch over Ethel and guard 
 her from any possible peril. It was only a 
 father*s instinctive act in protection of his 
 child. As a matter of fact, what danger 
 could by any possibility threaten the well- 
 being of this Ethel, who would remain living 
 quietly in her father's New York house, 
 along with the elderly cousin who acted as 
 chaperon to the motherless girl, and the staff 
 of old and faithful servants? 
 
 During the summer weeks that followed the 
 departure of her father, Ethel lived happily 
 enough, content with a routine of life that 
 included entertainments of the usual social 
 sort and especially the almost constant com- 
 pany of her lover. 
 
 One of her favorite diversions was a visit 
 to her father's yacht, which lay at its moor- 
 ings off Eighty-fourth Street in the North 
 
UNDER THE AFTER AWNING 45 
 
 River. There was only a caretaker left on 
 board during the ColoneFs absence, but 
 Ethel was fond of spending an afternoon 
 in solitary enjoyment on the yacht. Under 
 the after awning she would sit at ease in the 
 low wicker chair, by turns reading, watching 
 the ceaseless traffic of the river, musing on 
 love and happiness — ^which meant, always, 
 Roy. 
 
 Came a day when Roy was summoned home 
 by the illness of his mother. Ethel went with 
 him to the station and saw him off. It was 
 long after noon when she had given the 
 last word of farewell and the last kiss of ten- 
 derness to her lover. Ethel thought that she 
 would like to seek the repose of the yacht 
 for a period of tranquil meditation in the 
 luxurious depths of her favorite chair under 
 the after awning. 
 
 She rode to the dock in a taxicab, and the 
 yacht's tender took her to the vessel. It was 
 just then that a great steamer passed, and as 
 she wotild have moimted the stairs to the 
 yacht's deck an unexpected swell from the 
 passing steamer smote the stairs so violently 
 that Ethel was thrown back into the boat 
 
46 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 she had just left, with an ankle crushed under 
 her own weight. 
 
 The girl realized that it was badly sprained. 
 She gave orders that she should be carried on 
 board the yacht forthwith. She decided then 
 that she wotild send home for whatever 
 might be needed — and, too, for the family 
 physician. 
 
 With the assistance of the caretaker she 
 managed to reach her cabin, and then sent 
 the fellow to bring the physician in all haste. 
 She pulled off her outer garments and donned 
 a kimono, and crawled into her berth, to 
 await the Doctor's coming. 
 
 It was within the hour that the little tender 
 came back toward the yacht, carrying a 
 passenger. 
 
 This was Doctor Gifford Garnet, the fam- 
 ily physician. He hurried up the companion 
 way, and went at once to his patient's state- 
 room. A very short examination sufficed. 
 He saw the girl was suffering excruciating 
 pain from the injury to her ankle. 
 
 The physician himself was a victim of 
 morphia. And, too, he was a man of imag- 
 ination — a most dangerous quality in one 
 
UNDER THE AFTER AWNING 47 
 
 ^ 
 
 of his profession. Now, as he regarded the 
 girl, he reaHzed the intense suffering caused 
 to her by the wrenched tendons in the ankle. 
 That thought of suffering sickened his sensi- 
 tive nature, so that he felt an emotion almost 
 of nausea from the pain he knew her to be 
 enduring. . . . And he was a coward. Pain 
 had come to him often. Because he was a 
 coward, he had fled from it — interposing 
 morphia as a shield against its attack. So, 
 now, in sympathy for the anguish endured 
 by the girl he turned to the drug to give her 
 relief from suffering. He made an injection 
 into Ethel's arm. . . . The girl watched his 
 movement with listless eyes. Then she sighed 
 and smiled as she felt the gentle sting of the 
 needle. At once she sank into an imtroubled 
 sleep. 
 
 Dr. Garnet regarded her for a moment with 
 a curiously contemplative stare. Then he 
 grinned grimly, pulled up his coat and shirt- 
 sleeve, and pressed the piston of the hypo- 
 dermic, driving a heavier charge of the drug 
 into his own blood. 
 
 One minute he spent in deft examination 
 of the injured ankle, then bandaged it. After- 
 
48 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ward, he left the girl, and went up on deck, 
 where he stood staring through long minutes 
 toward the fleecy masses of cumulus clouds 
 that lay along the New Jersey horizon. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 A Prisoner of Morphia 
 
 IT was mid-forenoon of the following day 
 when Ethel awoke from the profound 
 sleep superinduced by the drug. It was 
 with a vast astonishment that her startled 
 eyes took in the surroundings of the state- 
 room. There was a blank wall straight oppo- 
 site her widely gazing eyes, where should 
 have stood a dressing table of Circassian wal- 
 nut, topped by the long oval mirror always 
 ready to show her the reflected loveliness of 
 her face. And there should have been also 
 lying exposed on the polished surface of the 
 table an orderly and beautiful array of those 
 things that make for a woman's beauty — 
 the creams that cleanse a skin too delicate 
 for the harsh water poured from city mains; 
 in a gold-topped bottle a lotion for the hair, 
 delicate and effective; in dainty phials es- 
 
 49 
 
50 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 sences of perfume, subtle, yet curiously per- 
 vasive, with the fragrance of joyous spring- 
 time. Indeed, a medley of the arts evolved 
 through the ages for the perfecting of that 
 beauty, which, after all, is God-given — a 
 thing not to be attained by the pro- 
 cesses of even the most skilled beauty- 
 doctors. . . . 
 
 But Ethel possessed the thing itself. To 
 her the accessories were but absurdities — 
 unnecessary and wanton, means whereby to 
 emphasize a natural loveliness. 
 
 There should have been a glimmer of pure 
 white light from the back of a hair brush, 
 lying on the dressing table. Ethel had loved 
 the purity of that ivory surface. She had 
 loved it so much that she refused to have it 
 broken by the superimposition upon it of 
 initials wrought cleverly in silver or gold or 
 platinum. That brush meant so much to 
 her! Night by night, she toiled with it. 
 After she had undone the masses of her bronze- 
 gold hair, she worked over them, with a syba- 
 ritical, meticulous care. 
 
 She was used to sitting in negligee and 
 having her maid brush the strands. That 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 51 
 
 brushing made the hair resplendent. . . . 
 Now, Ethel looked — there was no dressing 
 table — no mirror — nothing, of the sort that 
 she was accustomed to see when she awoke 
 in the morning. 
 
 She thought again of her own bedroom at 
 home. She was minded to take her bath, 
 which must be drawn and waiting. . . . And 
 then, suddenly, that blank wall there 
 before her eyes hammered upon her con- 
 sciousness. 
 
 She was stricken with a curious sense of 
 horror in this instant of realization that she 
 was in some unknown place — absolutely apart 
 from the dear, familiar things of home. 
 
 For a few horrid instants that shock of a 
 vague terror pressed upon her like a destroy- 
 ing incubus. 
 
 A moment later, recollection thronged upon 
 her. She remembered everything — the com- 
 ing to the yacht, the fall, the wrenched ankle, 
 the arrival of the physician, the almost dainty 
 pain of the needle thrust into her flesh. And 
 then Ethel began to think that it would be 
 pleasant to be an invalid on board the yacht 
 for a long time. It wotild need only a judi- 
 
52 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 cious selection of guests to make a voyage the 
 most agreeable of diversions. 
 
 Just then she was startled into a new emo- 
 tion. She realized the rh3rthmic beating of 
 the engines. . . . The yacht was already 
 under way. 
 
 For a little, Ethel was too stunned by the 
 shock of surprise to take action. To her, it 
 was inconceivable that the yacht should be 
 thus voyaging. It should be still lying at 
 anchor in the North River. Her father could 
 have given no orders for its sailing. She had 
 not. There was no one else with authority 
 to command the movements of the craft. It 
 should be lying at anchor in its berth. . . . 
 But it was not. There was the pulse from 
 the engines, the gentle swing of the hull to 
 prove that a journey was begun. A journey — 
 whither or wherefore she could not even 
 guess. 
 
 Ethel put her feet out of the berth, and 
 winced with pain from the movement of the 
 injured ankle. But she set her teeth in grim 
 determination, and stood up, putting her 
 weight on the sound foot. Then she hobbled 
 to the port, and looked out. She saw the 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 53 
 
 highlands of New Jersey slipping gently 
 past. She recognized the lightship. There 
 was no longer room for doubt. The yacht 
 had put to sea. 
 
 Ethel remained staring out of the port-hole 
 for a long hour, during which the New Jersey 
 coast unrolled a panorama of varied loveliness. 
 And throughout all that hour, the girl was in a 
 maze of wonder over this thing that had be- 
 fallen. She could make no guess as to the 
 meaning of it all. She found herself dazed 
 by the unexpected situation. Yet, a certain 
 instinct warned her of danger. She did not 
 in the least understand the nature of the 
 peril, the cause of it, the effect. But some- 
 how a subconscious intelligence guided her to 
 the realization that this inexplicable situation 
 was fraught with portents of evil. Her 
 fear sharpened when she found that the 
 door of the stateroom was locked from the 
 outside. 
 
 Moving with care that she might not cause 
 herself more pain by strain in the injured 
 ankle, she looked for and fotmd a pencil and 
 a sheet of paper, on which she scribbled a note 
 to her lover. 
 
54 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 LI 
 
 Mr. Roy Morton, 
 
 Birchwood Camp, 
 "Nahassane, N. Y. 
 
 ** Dearest Roy: 
 
 ''I fell and injured my ankle and concluded 
 to stay aboard The Isabel under the care of 
 Dr. Garnet. I awoke this morning and to my 
 surprise, foimd the yacht headed down the 
 New Jersey coast. I tried to go on deck. I 
 foimd I had been locked in my stateroom. . . . 
 Boat still headed south. Come to my 
 rescue ! 
 
 *'I am going to place this note in a face- 
 powder can. I see ahead a fisherman's boat. 
 It is near enough for me to attract its atten- 
 tion. I shall throw the can near the boat, 
 with the hope that the fisherman will open it 
 and find this note. We are heading toward 
 the Delaware Capes. 
 
 Love to you and father, 
 
 Ethel Marion." 
 
 She folded the note and scrawled a few 
 words on the outside very hurriedly, for they 
 were now almost abreast the fleet of fishing 
 yawls. 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 55 
 
 '* Mr. Fisherman, I am a prisoner on my own 
 yacht. Please help me and telegraph this 
 letter to Mr. Morton's address." She 
 crammed the bit of paper into the can from 
 which she had emptied the powder. She 
 thrust her head out of the port and uttered a 
 shrill cry to attract the attention of the 
 fisherman. Then she threw the can with all 
 force toward the nearest boat. 
 
 Ethel watched in a mood of half hope, half 
 despair. She saw the can fall into the sea. 
 But one of the fishermen also observed the 
 container of her message as it was thrown into 
 the water. Ethel, watching with strained 
 eyes, perceived the figure of a man in oilskins 
 who suddenly thrust a boat-hook overboard, 
 fished with it for a moment, then drew along- 
 side the tin can, bent over, and picked it out 
 of the water. . . . The girl thrilled with 
 relief over the success of her attempt to send 
 news of the trouble come upon her. 
 
 Nevertheless, there was, there could be, no 
 immediate effect of the message. The engine 
 of the yacht throbbed steadily, carrying her 
 moment by moment further from home and 
 lover and father and friends, to a destination 
 
56 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 unknown — a destination fraught by imagina- 
 tion with unguessed horrors. 
 
 Suddenly, Ethel forgot all the difficulties 
 of this strange situation in a realization of 
 the fact that she was hungry — atrociously 
 hungry ! It dawned upon her that she had not 
 eaten a single morsel of food since the Itmch- 
 eon of the previous day. She realized then 
 that she was entirely dependent upon her 
 unknown captor, even for food to keep her 
 body alive. 
 
 The distraught girl thought of the locked 
 stateroom door, and was made frantic by the 
 fact that she was thus shut in, a prisoner. 
 She stared longingly at the small, round port- 
 hole. She regarded that swinging window of 
 heavy plate glass with an anxiety of desire 
 that thrilled through every atom of her blood. 
 She wondered: Could she by any chance 
 thrust her slender body through that narrow 
 aperture? She even went so far as to measure 
 the width of the disc — comparing the space to 
 her own slender breadth of shoulders. 
 
 She thought that it might be possible for 
 her to thrust her lithe form through the 
 meager opening. She believed that she could 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 57 
 
 push her body through the port-hole. She 
 dared to hope that she might thus escape. 
 Down below was the runway used by the 
 sailors. It seemed to her that the matter of 
 escape would be simple. 
 
 Her hunger urged Ethel to make the des- 
 perate attempt. She was sure that coiild she 
 once reach the nmway she would be safe 
 from detection on the part of the one directing 
 the course of the craft from the pilot-house. 
 She had heard no noise from the galley, which 
 was near her room. She was certain that 
 it was imoccupied, and that she could slip 
 into it imnoticed, there to satisfy her longing 
 for food from the abundant supply of canned 
 goods. Then, after relieving her hunger, she 
 could determine her future conduct. She 
 might decide to act the brave part by showing 
 herself and demanding to know the cause of 
 her confinement; or she might return in the 
 way by which she had come to the stateroom, 
 with a supply of food, and thus await develop- 
 ments. 
 
 The distracted girl took a full hour for 
 consideration of the matter. Betimes, she 
 was bold to the point of desperation; be- 
 
58 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 times, she was flaccid with despair, helpless 
 before the mysterious horrors of her situation. 
 But at last courage rose in her, became dom- 
 inant. She resolved to make the attempt at a 
 descent through the opening. Now, she was 
 not in the least intimidated by the very real 
 danger of being unable to secure safe footing 
 upon the narrow nmway. The deck below 
 was without a solid rail. It had only the 
 light hand rail with an open space beneath, 
 through which her body might easily plimge 
 into the sea. Moreover, the peril of the 
 exploit was increased for her by the fact 
 of her injured ankle, which must make 
 her footing awkward and unsteady at the 
 best. 
 
 Ethel found some comfort on a final exam- 
 ination of the injured ankle. The swelling 
 from the sprain had lessened very percep- 
 tibly. She discovered, too, that now she 
 could bend the joint a little without experienc- 
 ing the excruciating pain which such move- 
 ment had produced before she lost conscious- 
 ness from the effect of the opiate. The fact 
 that the injury was not so severe as she had 
 thought and that she could at least depend 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 59 
 
 upon the hurt member for some support, 
 painful though it might be, heartened her 
 anew. Without further pause for reasonings 
 pro and con, she began to force her body 
 thrdugh the opening. 
 
 The berth was so located that by placing 
 her soimd foot upon the edge of it she was 
 able to thrust the upper part of her body out 
 of the port-hole. But this aid would not 
 serve for the remainder of the progress. To 
 get her hips through, she would have to de- 
 pend on being able to seize the hand rail 
 and thus pull herself outward and downward. 
 She had no fear of being caught midway and 
 held fast, for her measurements had proved 
 that her shoulders were a trifle broader than 
 her hips. The danger would lie in getting a 
 firm grip with her hands on the rail and in the 
 subsequent swinging down of her body to the 
 tmy width of the runway. Now, as she 
 Itmged forward, she held her hands out- 
 stretched, as if she were about to dive into 
 the sea. In this moment of stress she thanked 
 God for the strictness with which her father 
 had insisted on athletic training. She knew 
 that her eye was keen and accurate, that her 
 
60 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 muscles were strong, ready with instant re- 
 sponse to the commands of will. 
 
 But, to her dismay, Ethel found that, not- 
 withstanding measurements, her shoulders 
 would not pass through the opening. She 
 writhed in fruitless endeavor until she was 
 exhausted by the strain. Finally, she gave 
 up the attempt and drew back into the cabin, 
 utterly downcast by her failure. Then, when 
 she was somewhat refreshed, she tested the 
 accuracy of her measurements. To her as- 
 tonishment she foimd that she had made no 
 mistake. The port-hole was in fact a little 
 wider than her shoulders. For a time she 
 was puzzled by the mystery of it all. Then, 
 suddenly, imderstanding came to her. She 
 realized that the outstretching of her arms 
 had caused a lifting and consequent broaden- 
 ing of the shoulders. Once again hope filled 
 her. She repeated her attempt, but now 
 with arms dropped close to her sides. She 
 thrilled with delight as her shoulders slid 
 easily through the opening. 
 
 Then, in the next instant, the joy vanished. 
 In its place came stark terror. For she foimd 
 herself held motionless, when half way through 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 61 
 
 the port-hole, with her arms bound fast by 
 the pressure. She struggled violently, but 
 to no avail. She was caught prisoner with a 
 ruthless firmness that could not be escaped. 
 Her frantic strivings did not budge her body 
 the fraction of an inch either forward or back- 
 ward. Indeed, it seemed that her futile 
 endeavors to free herself only succeeded in 
 wedging her more securely. She fancied that 
 her own physical violence was causing her 
 body to swell so that it should be gripped 
 more fiercely by the unyielding circumfer- 
 ence of the window. There flashed on her a 
 memory of how once she had tried on a friend's 
 ring, had tried it on a finger too large; of 
 how she had pushed it down easily enough 
 over the joint; of how she could not push it 
 back again. She remembered how the finger 
 had swiftly swollen until the ring was deep 
 sunken in the reddened flesh. Now, she 
 imagined her body, caught within the metal rim 
 of the port-hole, was thus reddened and swollen. 
 Her plight filled her with anguish. The dread 
 of it made her forget in this new, overmaster- 
 ing fear all that she had so greatly dreaded 
 hitherto. . . . Her voice broke in a scream: 
 
62 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Help! Oh, help! Help!'' 
 
 Almost instantly, as her voice ceased, Ethel 
 heard the sound of hurrying feet on the deck 
 above. She twisted her neck to look upward, 
 and saw the pleasantly smiling face of Doctor 
 Gifford Garnet, as he peered over the hurri- 
 cane rail. In that moment of relief, the girl 
 welcomed the familiar countenance of the 
 family physician. She had no thought for 
 the cunning smile that answered to her an- 
 guished appeal. She realized only that here 
 was one to succor her in her extremity. She 
 called out to him imploringly: 
 
 "Oh, Doctor, help me please. I am caught 
 here. My body is swelling, I think. You 
 must get me out at once or I shall die. Oh, 
 hurry!'' 
 
 The Doctor grinned at her with sardonic 
 enjoyment of her predicament. But his bland 
 words soothed her alarm: 
 
 "I come to your rescue with all speed. Miss 
 Ethel. Never fear, little one, you will soon 
 be quite safe. I hasten to relieve your suf- 
 fering." 
 
 He vanished. Then, a few seconds later, 
 she saw him making his way along the run- 
 
A PRISONER OF MORPHIA 63 
 
 way. She did not see the hypodermic syringe 
 he carried in his left hand. She did not iin- 
 derstand even when he came to her, and put 
 his two hands to her shoulders as if to help 
 her. She felt the sting of pain in her right 
 arm, but thought it no more than the twinge 
 of a strained muscle. Doctor Garnet deftly 
 slipped the hypodermic syringe into his pocket 
 without the girl's observing it. He spoke to 
 her gently, encouragingly, awaiting the action 
 of the drug. Then, a few moments later, 
 Ethel's lids drooped, her form grew limp, her 
 head lolled to the slight swaying of the yacht. 
 She was held now in a clutch more terrible 
 and more relentless than that of the metal 
 band about her body. She was the hapless 
 prisoner of morphia. Dr. Garnet stared into 
 the face of the unconscious girl for a long half 
 minute, with a curious gloating in his gaze. 
 Then, abruptly, he strode away, and as he 
 went he chuckled softly, with infinite relish 
 over some evil jest known only to himself. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 Hunting a Clue 
 
 THE Morton camp was not unlike other 
 Adirondack camps owned by the 
 wealthy New Yorker. It consisted 
 of vast acres of wonderful forests, where con- 
 ifers and hard wood intermingled. Through 
 the tract wandered a pellucid trout stream. 
 At a glance, one would know that those waters 
 were teeming with wonderful trout, that 
 many a big fellow of the finny tribe inhabited 
 the depths that waited for the angler's liire. 
 
 The comfortable camp, built of rough-hewn 
 logs with low sloping roof overhanging broad 
 verandas, was built upon a bluff immediately 
 above and overlooking the home of the most 
 elusive, the most splendid speckled beauties — 
 the trout that are the most savory on the 
 table and the gam.est in the water. 
 
 This morning, Roy Morton was well con- 
 
 64 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 65 
 
 t«nt with the world. It was late stmuner, 
 and something of the languor^of the season 
 coursed in his blood. He sat on the porch, 
 watching idly the dimpling waters below in a 
 pool. He had an eager eye for the occasional 
 leap of a trout to the stirface in search of prey. 
 He watched appreciatively the glint of rain- 
 bow tints on the iridescent sides as the fish 
 rose and the simlight showed all its splendor. 
 While he gazed, at intervals, Roy worked on 
 his fisherman's tackle. As the trout leaped, 
 he studied that for which they leaped — with 
 an idea of fashioning flies to suit their ca- 
 pricious taste. He finally determined just 
 the fly that he should use for a cast at this 
 hour of the day in order to entice the appetite 
 of the trout. He had that particular fly upon 
 his leader in readiness for a ^cast, and had 
 started toward the stream to test his judgment 
 in playing on the appetite of a fish, when his 
 attention was distracted by the approach of 
 an ungainly boy, evidently a native. 
 
 The boy held in his hand a telegram. Roy 
 dropped his tackle, and held out his hand for 
 the message. Mechanically, he tossed a coin 
 to the lad. Then he ripped open the envelope 
 
66 TVTJEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 and read the message. . . . And he read 
 there Ethel's frantic appeal for help. 
 
 Roy was equally amazed and alarmed as he 
 read and its meaning penetrated his brain. 
 Usually, he was a yoimg man distinguished 
 for his coolness, resourcefulness and courage. 
 Now, however, for the time being his brain 
 was dazed; his heart leaped with fear. 
 Through long minutes he stood motionless, 
 staring with imseeing eyes, as if striving in 
 vain to penetrate the veil of this terrible 
 mystery that hung between him and the girl 
 he loved. His thoughts w^ere a miserable 
 whirl of confusion; his will was powerless to 
 marshal them in order. He did not note the 
 going of the messenger boy, who sauntered 
 casually back over the way he had come, 
 whistling in happy imconsciousness as to the 
 suffering of which he had been the harbinger. 
 
 Then, presently, Roy's mind cleared; his 
 heart grew brave again; he felt a frantic 
 desire for instant action. He looked about 
 for the messenger boy, and uttered an exclama- 
 tion of anger as he saw that the fellow was 
 gone. He was desirous of sending on that 
 very instant a telegram to the police authori- 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 67 
 
 ties in New York, asking them to begin an 
 investigation at once. He shouted for the 
 boy, but there was no answer, and he reaHzed 
 that the messenger was gone beyond recall. 
 
 Roy wheeled, and rushed into the house. 
 He ordered a horse saddled, and within five 
 minutes was galloping at breakneck speed for 
 the station. He knew that the next regular 
 train was not due for three hours, but he had 
 decided without any hesitation that he would 
 order a special. He felt that no haste could 
 equal the necessity now when Ethel was 
 momently being carried further and further 
 away from him, when perhaps her life, her 
 honor, were imperilled by the scoundrels 
 who had her in their keeping. 
 
 On his arrival at the station, Roy issued his 
 orders with a crisp air of authority that won 
 instant obedience from the man who served 
 as station master and telegraph operator. 
 The telegraph key sotmded busily for a few 
 minutes, and the matter was arranged. A 
 special would be ready for him within an 
 hour. This would ,^et him to Albany in time 
 to make connection with the limited express 
 for New York. 
 
68 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 That accomplished, Roy cantered leisurely 
 back to the camp. As he rode, his mind was 
 concentrated on plans for his future course. 
 He resolved to keep the matter secret from 
 his elderly mother, who was by no means in 
 good health. Instead, he would merely tell 
 her that a friend of his was in trouble, and 
 that he must go immediately to New York, 
 in order to straighten out the affair. His 
 mother accepted his explanation without any 
 suspicion that he had told her only a half- 
 , truth. She merely mourned over this inter- 
 ruption of his visit, and made him promise to 
 return at the earliest possible moment. Roy 
 felt shame over the subterfuge with which he 
 had deceived his mother, but he knew that 
 it was necessary for her own sake, while her 
 knowledge of Ethel's plight cotild do no good. 
 
 Roy hastily, but methodically, packed his 
 traveling bag, and then, after an affectionate 
 farewell to his mother, stepped into the town 
 wagon, and was driven to the station. ^ 
 
 After reaching the station, Roy occupied the 
 short interval of waiting for the special by 
 writing out two messages, which he had put 
 on the wire to New York. The first of these 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 69 
 
 was addressed to the Collector of the Port, 
 asking whether or not clearance papers had 
 been taken out for The Isabel, The other 
 telegram was to the most noted detective 
 agency in the city, which contained a request 
 that their best operative should meet him at 
 the arrival of his train in the Grand Central 
 Terminal. He directed that the replies, in 
 each instance, should be sent to him at Albany, 
 in care of the limited train with which he 
 would make connection there. 
 
 The second message was barely completed 
 and delivered to the telegrapher when the 
 special roared to a standstill by the station 
 platform. Roy sprang quickly up the steps, 
 and almost before he had entered the car the 
 locomotive was again snorting on its way. 
 
 The loimgers about the station watched 
 greedily this unexpected interruption of the 
 day's routine. And, too, there was bitter 
 envy in their hearts directed toward this 
 handsome, young aristocrat, who could thus 
 simimon a train for his private pleasure. 
 They could not guess an3rthing of the black 
 misery that marked the mood of the young 
 man whom they deemed so favored of fate. 
 
70 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Roy*s impatience was such that he coiild 
 not sit for a minute at a time. Instead, he 
 strode to and fro with the feverish intensity 
 of a leopard padding swiftly backward and 
 forward in its cage. So he moved restlessly, 
 though walking in the car was none too easy. 
 There was need of haste if the special would 
 catch the limited express at Albany. It was 
 evident that the engineer and fireman had no 
 mind to fail, in the task set for them. The 
 fireman gave steam a plenty, and the engineer 
 made use of it with seemingly reckless prod- 
 igality. The car swayed and leaped with the 
 excessive speed. On the curves, sometimes, 
 it appeared as if it must be thrown off the 
 track, and Roy was compelled to cling fast 
 to his seat in order to avoid falling. But he 
 felt no distress over the rocking, lurching 
 progress. Rather, he foimd a grim joy in it, 
 since it was haste, and always more haste, 
 for which he longed. . . . And then, at last, 
 the special thundered into the Albany sta- 
 tion and clanged to a standstill. Roy breathed 
 a sigh of relief. The limited express had not 
 yet pulled in. 
 
 He had time to make inquiry concerning 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 71 
 
 telegrams, and found one awaiting him from 
 the Collector of the Port of New York. This 
 simply stated that no papers had been issued 
 for the clearing of the yacht Isabel, The 
 message added that if the vessel had sailed 
 it must have been stolen. Just as he finished 
 the reading of this dispatch, the operator 
 handed him a second telegram — one from the 
 detective agency. It announced that their 
 best operative would meet him in the ter- 
 minal at the gate on the arrival of the limited 
 express in New York. There was a direction 
 added to the effect that the operative might 
 be recognized by his standing apart from the 
 crowd and wearing two white carnations in 
 the lapel of his coat. 
 
 Arriving at the Grand Central terminal, Roy 
 walked rapidly to the exit gate. His eyes 
 roamed for a moment over the passing throng 
 in search of the man with the boutonniere of 
 white carnations, and presently picked him 
 out where he stood a little apart. Roy hur- 
 ried to him, and made himself known. At 
 once then the two men left the station and 
 crossed over to the Biltmore, where they took 
 seats in the lobby for a conference. 
 
72 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Jack Scott, the detective, had won fame for 
 his agency by his masterly work in solving 
 the problems of many skilftil jewel robberies 
 among the wealthy residents of the metropolis. 
 He yet lacked some years of thirty, but his 
 reputation was already of the highest among 
 those who knew what his occupation was. 
 For, as a matter of fact, the young man was 
 of old Knickerbocker stock, and the inheritor 
 of wealth. He had a genius for detective 
 work and a love of the calling that compelled 
 him to make it his vocation. But his em- 
 ployment in this wise was known only to the 
 head of the agency with which he had asso- 
 ciated himself, and to a few trusted intimates. 
 The better to guard his secret he adopted the 
 plebeian alias of Jack Scott for professional 
 purposes instead of his own aristocratic name. 
 
 He had first won the admiring attention 
 of the detective agency's chief by an exploit 
 when he was only eighteen years of age. At 
 that time his mother was robbed of a fabu- 
 lously valuable pearl necklace. Extraordinary 
 rewards were offered for its recovery, and de- 
 tectives big and small himted high and low 
 for the gems. They failed utterly in their 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 73 
 
 search. But the lad worked out a theory as 
 to the theft, gained evidence to prove it the 
 truth — in short, within a fortnight, he had 
 recovered the pearls, and the thieves were 
 safely lodged in jail. 
 
 Already at this early age, the boy was 
 profoundly interested in uplift work among 
 criminals. When his mother smilingly turned 
 over to him the reward she had offered for the 
 recovery of her necklace, he devoted the 
 whole sum to this charitable work. And 
 ever since he had made a like disposal of the 
 proceeds from his professional services. Now, 
 Roy recognized in the detective assigned to 
 him by the agency, an acquaintance of his 
 own, Arthur Van Dusen. He expressed his 
 astonishment at this revelation concerning 
 one whom he had regarded merely as a social 
 butterfly. But explanations were soon made, 
 and Roy could not doubt Van Dusen's ability 
 since it was guaranteed by the agency. 
 
 He immediately made known his need of 
 help. 
 
 '* Fm afraid,'* he began with a tremor of 
 anxiety in his voice, "that you have been 
 assigned to a case which will prove hard to 
 
74 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 solve. The woman I love — the woman I 
 had expected to marry soon — has been taken 
 from me in a most mysterious way. Somehow 
 she's been kidnapped, and taken to sea a 
 prisoner on her father's yacht.'* 
 
 "Her name?" Van Dusen demanded crisply 
 as the speaker paused. 
 
 "It's Ethel Marion," Roy answered huskily. 
 "The daughter of Colonel Stephen Marion, 
 who, at present, is with his regiment on the 
 Mexican Border." He drew Ethel's message 
 from his pocket and extended it to th3 detec- 
 tive. 
 
 "The only clue I have," he continued, "is 
 this letter from her. She managed somehow 
 to toss it near enough to a fisherman's dory 
 so that they picked it up, and forwarded It 
 to my mother's camp in the Adirondacks. I 
 wired the Collector of the Port for information 
 about the yacht's clearance papers. I had a 
 reply from him at Albany on the way down 
 here. He said that the yacht has not been 
 cleared, and that if it's not in port, it has been 
 stolen." 
 
 Roy fairly groaned, and made a gesture of 
 despair. 
 
HUNTING A CLUE 75 
 
 ''That's all I know of the affair/' he added 
 drearily. "I am distracted for fear some- 
 thing dreadful may have happened already. 
 You understand now how badly I require your 
 help. I can think of nothing — do nothing. 
 You are not to think of expense. Just rescue 
 Ethel Marion and run down and jail those 
 guilty of this crime against her." His voice 
 suddenly became pleading. "And you must 
 let me enlist as a lieutenant to serve under 
 you. Inactivity imder such stress would 
 drive me mad, I know. I was stunned at 
 first, but now I have my faculties again, and 
 I believe that I may be able to be of use in 
 the case imder your guidance." 
 
 Van Dusen stretched out his hand and 
 clasped that of Roy warmly. Something 
 in the firm contact comforted the distraught 
 lover. It was as if strength and courage 
 flowed into him from the other man. 
 
 "Rely upon me," Van Dusen said quietly, 
 but with a note of confidence in his voice that 
 still further served to hearten his hearer. 
 "And I shall certainly make use of you — and 
 at once. First off, I'll ask you to get in touch 
 immediately with Captain Halstead, the mas- 
 
96 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ter of my yacht. Arrange to have it properly 
 equipped and provisioned, so that we may sail 
 at a moment's notice. Luckily/* he added 
 musingly to himself, "the new wireless outfit 
 is already installed on The Hialdo. We'll 
 need it." 
 
 Van Dusen stood up abruptly, and again 
 spoke to Roy, almost curtly. 
 
 ** After you've attended to the matter of 
 the yacht, report to me at the agency. You 
 should be there well within an hoiu*. If you 
 arrive first, wait for me.'* 
 
 "But you ?" Roy began eagerly. 
 
 Van Dusen replied to the unfinished ques- 
 tion. 
 
 "I'm off now to seek a clue from Miss 
 Marion's maid.'* His voice grew gentle as 
 he spoke again after a moment's silence. ' * It's 
 a curious case; curious and — difficult. But, 
 please God, we'll win.** 
 
 Roy*s answer came brokenly. 
 
 "Heaven bless you, Van Dusen! And,** 
 he added with fierce intensity, "we will win 
 — ^we must!" 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 Stormbound 
 
 VAN DUSEN hurried to the Marion 
 address, where he found Ethel's maid 
 thoroughly enjoying the vacation that 
 had resulted for her from Doctor Garnet's 
 action. Using his alias of Jack Scott, Van 
 Dusen explained to the girl the situation that 
 had developed, which was so perilous to her 
 yotmg mistress. When the maid had recov- 
 ered from her first dismay, she told freely all 
 that she knew, and this was sufficient easily 
 to give Van Dusen the suspicion that the 
 family physician might be in fact the guilty 
 man, who was responsible for Ethel's disap- 
 pearance. 
 
 The detective's next visit was to the office 
 of Doctor Garnet. There he fotmd the physi- 
 cian's secretary much worried over the pro- 
 longed and unexplained absence of his em- 
 ployer. He declared that the last time he 
 
 77 
 
78 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 had seen Doctor Garnet was several days 
 before when he had left in answer to a hurry 
 call from the victim of an accident. The 
 secretary added that he had made careful 
 inquiries in every possible direction, but had 
 been unable to find any trace whatsoever of 
 the missing man. 
 
 Van Dusen gave only vague answers to the 
 anxious questions put by the secretary. He 
 stated merely that a client of his was anxious 
 to get in touch with the physician. Then, 
 without more ado, he hastened to keep his 
 appointment with Roy. His own face, now 
 he was alone without any necessity for the 
 mask of indifference, was deeply pertiu-bed. 
 Consternation was written in his expression. 
 His deductions brought him face to face with 
 the fact that Garnet was actively concerned 
 in the mystery. Either the physician was 
 actually guilty of abducting his girl patient 
 for some evil purpose of his own, or else he 
 himself was also a victim of the kidnappers 
 along with Ethel. Or, finally, the man had 
 suddenly become deranged from nerve strain 
 and overwork, and in this irresponsible con- 
 dition had stolen away the girl, with what 
 
STORiVIBOUND 79 
 
 crazy design none might guess. This possi- 
 biHty was even more dreadful than the others 
 since there could be no certainty as to what 
 the madman might intend. Van Dusen real- 
 ized, with a shudder of horror, that in haste 
 must lie the only chance of rescuing the girl 
 from some horrible fate. It seemed to him 
 that the single feasible plan would be to 
 follow down the coast according to the direc- 
 tions given in Ethel's letter to Roy. While 
 doing this the wireless on his yacht would 
 keep constantly in touch with all Southern 
 ports and with the coastwise steamers for 
 news of The Isabel. Then whenever the stolen 
 yacht should be located, if fortime so fav- 
 ored, it would be pursued with all speed in the 
 hope of effecting a rescue. 
 
 Van Dusen found Roy pacing imeasily to 
 and fro in an outer room at the agency. He 
 had performed the duties entrusted to him 
 by the detective and was now wild with im- 
 patience for further action. His first glance 
 into Van Dusen's face stirred him to new 
 excitement. 
 
 1 "Oh, Arthur!" he exclaimed, ''I can see by 
 your expression that you have obtained im- 
 
80 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 portant information. Tell me!" he insisted. 
 "Tell me! I must know — even if it's the worst. 
 In these hours of suspense and despair, I've 
 braced myself to stand any shock. Tell me!" 
 
 Van Dusen answered soothingly. 
 
 "Roy, old man, the mystery will be solved, 
 I think, and that before long. That is to say, 
 it will be cleared up tmless The Isabel founders 
 at sea before we can reach it. I have dis- 
 covered that in all human probability Miss 
 Marion has been carried away in the yacht 
 by Doctor Garnet." 
 
 "Are you positive about that?" Roy de- 
 manded fiercely. 
 
 "I am positive this far," came the quiet 
 reply. "Doctor Garnet has not returned to 
 his office since the time when he answered the 
 call to attend Miss Marion on the yacht. It 
 is fairly to be deduced from her message to you 
 that he appeared on board in answer to her 
 summons. I am of the opinion that Doctor 
 Garnet is the one responsible for this outrage. 
 He is either the victim of a sudden fit of in- 
 sanity, or he has become a man-beast, sac- 
 rificing position and honor and every decent 
 instinct in order to gratify a heretofore smol- 
 
STORMBOUND 81 
 
 dering lust, which has suddenly flamed forth 
 and got beyond his control." 
 
 ''Your deductings are doubtless right — at 
 least in part," Roy admitted, though with 
 obvious reluctance in his tone. ''But I find 
 it hard to believe the possibility of Doctor 
 Garnet's being the brute you suggest. He is 
 imiversally esteemed not only for his ability, 
 but also for his manliness and his many deeds 
 of kindness and charity. If he has done this 
 thing it must have been as you also suggest 
 because he has gone crazy." 
 
 Roy mused for a moment, and then spoke 
 with a new note of excitement in his voice. 
 
 "How do we know that the Doctor was not 
 murdered while on board the yacht, and that 
 the murderer or murderers then made off 
 with the vessel and Marion? Or, perhaps, 
 the tender was capsized and he was drowned 
 along with the caretaker. Afterward the 
 kidnapping may have been done by others 
 who knew nothing whatever of Doctor Gar- 
 net." Roy shook his head with decision. 
 "Anyhow," he added, "I cannot believe that 
 Doctor Garnet, in his right mind, could ever 
 have been gmlty of such a foul crime." 
 
82 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Van Dusen regarded the young man toler- 
 antly, but his smile was a little cynical as he 
 replied : 
 
 "When you have studied crime as thor- 
 oughly as I have during the past few years, 
 Roy, yon will not be so confident of finding 
 nothing but good in any particular man, no 
 matter how high his reputation may be. I 
 cannot say with certainty that Doctor Garnet 
 is vile; neither can I say that he is incapable 
 of vileness. But in the work I have to do, I 
 must entertain all possibilities if I would solve 
 the problem." 
 
 "Well, Arthur,'' came Roy's reply after a 
 moment of reflection, ''I admit that I am 
 amazed by what you have told me. I do not 
 in the least tmderstand the turn of affairs by 
 which Doctor Garnet is implicated. But you 
 are in charge of the case, and I am absolutely 
 in your hands. I mean not to hamper you in 
 any way — not even by throwing doubts on 
 your judgment. So, now, just tell me what 
 you mean to do next." 
 
 Van Dusen answered authoritatively: 
 
 "We must leave at once. On my way here, 
 I sent out wires to Norfolk and other nearby 
 
STORMBOUND 83 
 
 coast points. These will be sufficient to keep 
 the port officers on the lookout for The Isabel, 
 as well as the coast-guard crews. I have a 
 wardrobe on board my yacht. Whatever 
 you may need beyond what's in your bag, I 
 can supply you with. Let's be off." 
 
 Van Dusen's yacht was moored near the 
 spot where The Isabel had been lying. The 
 detective made diligent inquiry at the landing 
 stage in the hope of picking up some bit of 
 information concerning Doctor Garnet's pres- 
 ence there, but the effort was fruitless. No 
 one seemed to have known anything concern- 
 ing the physician's visit. 
 
 Forthwith, then, the two yoimg men went 
 aboard Van Dusen's yacht, and a few min- 
 utes later the vessel was imder way, with 
 instructions to the master to hug the New Jer- 
 sey shore while keeping a sharp lookout for 
 The Isabel. 
 
 The detective operated his own wireless 
 outfit and for several hours at the outset of 
 the voyage he kept busy, interrogating the 
 different ships bound up and down the coast, 
 and the shore stations as well, for any infor- 
 mation concerning the stolen yacht. Finally, 
 
84 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 a tramp steamer answered that she had passed 
 The Isabel the day before, and that the yacht 
 at that time was headed down the coast, 
 going slowly, in the direction of Hampton 
 Roads. At once, on receiving this news. Van 
 Dusen directed that the yacht's course 
 should be set for Cape Charles and the 
 Roads. 
 
 As a matter of fact, without this informa- 
 tion, the yacht must have taken this same 
 direction for the sake of safety, since the 
 weather soon became so threatening that none 
 but the most foolhardy would have ventured 
 to navigate in the open sea a vessel of The 
 Hialdo type. 
 
 The Hialdo pushed her nose through the 
 waters of Hampton Roads in the early morn- 
 ing. Both Roy and Van Dusen were on the 
 bridge, surveying with their glasses every 
 detail visible of the bays and creeks. They 
 dared hope to catch somewhere a glimpse of 
 The Isahely for they believed that she must be 
 secreted somewhere hereabouts in some out- 
 of-the-way place. They were justified in 
 this by the fact that they had received no 
 word of the yacht's arrival from the harbor 
 
STORMBOUND 85 
 
 authorities of Norfolk. Yet, now, their rov- 
 ing scrutiny was of no avail. Nowhere could 
 they find a trace of aught that could possibly 
 be mistaken for The Isabel. . . . With the 
 approach of night the violence of the gale 
 became such that perforce Van Dusen gave 
 orders for the tying up of the The Hialdo 
 at the Norfolk port, there to await the 
 passing of this southeaster of hurricane 
 force. 
 
 The hours during which the tempest raged 
 were fraught with horror for Roy Morton. 
 He was in despair now, for he could not 
 believe that The Isabel would be able to ride 
 out the gale. His imagination pictured for 
 him with frightful vividness the wreck of the 
 yacht and its carrying down to death the girl 
 he loved. The young man's agony of spirit 
 was so evident that Van Dusen became 
 alarmed lest he should break down. The 
 detective thought to distract Roy from his 
 morbid thoughts by suggesting that they take 
 a trip into the town to lessen the tedium of 
 waiting until the storm should wear itself 
 out. His persistence at last won a reluctant 
 consent, and the two set forth. ... In after 
 
m WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 years, Roy was to think often with shuddering 
 of what must have been tlie dreadful result, 
 had he indeed refused to accompany the 
 detective on that excursion into the town. 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 The Efficiency of Clam Broth 
 
 THE mere act of rapid walking had a 
 beneficial effect upon Roy. His cir- 
 ciilation was equalized by the exer- 
 cise and something of his natural buoyancy of 
 spirit was restored to him. The detective, 
 too, found pleasure in the tramp, and the 
 young men walked along many miles of the 
 Norfolk streets, aimless, but well entertained. 
 They swimg at last into the square where a 
 huge monument commemorates the Lost 
 Cause and heroic dead. Suddenly Van Dusen's 
 attention was attracted to a huge gilt sign 
 over the door of a saloon. The outer aspect 
 of the place was attractive enough, with some- 
 thing of distinctiveness about it. He turned 
 to Roy and spoke with a tone of amused 
 interest. 
 
 ''That seems a bit different from other 
 saloons. And I fancy the sign tells the truth." 
 
 87 
 
88 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 With the words, he pointed to the gilt letter- 
 ing over the door. 
 
 Roy turned and looked in the direction of 
 the detective's pointing finger. "Clam Broth 
 King," he read, and smiled appreciatively. 
 
 **Well, old man," he remarked, "it's a 
 straightforward way of advertising a food, as 
 well as a novel one. And from the labels on 
 the bottles in the window, it might prove a 
 good place for us to visit before we start on 
 the return joiuney to the yacht. 
 
 "I really know the place," Van Dusen 
 declared, "and it is excellent. About a year 
 ago, I was in this city on an important case. 
 It was through the assistance of The King 
 that I was able to locate a most valuable 
 witness. And the probability is that but for 
 the sign I would have missed it. I've always 
 been a perfect fiend for clam broth. After 
 seeing the sign, I knew, of course, there 
 must be something particular in that line 
 inside, and so I wandered in. Well, I was 
 served by The King. When I first entered, 
 I reconnoitered by stepping up to the bar and 
 ordering a drink. Before I had a chance to 
 question the man who was serving me, a 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 89 
 
 gentlemanly appearing fellow touched me on 
 the arm, and asked me pleasantly if I wouldn't 
 like a cup of clam broth. He said that The 
 King had just made a fresh batch, and that it 
 was fine. I scrutinized the fellow closely. 
 He had a kindly, youthful face, and his bear- 
 ing was agreeable. I answered him promptly 
 that good clam broth was just what I wished 
 to have. 'But,' I demanded, 'who the devil 
 is The King? It's a new one on me, to have a 
 king for a chef.' - 
 
 "The man laughed and then replied: 
 " ^ Oh, The King ! Why, he's only me !' 
 *'To cut it short, a few minutes later the 
 broth was served to me, along with some 
 dainty wafers, and while I drank it The King 
 and I made friends." 
 
 Van Dusen's tone changed abruptly. 
 "But let's not loiter here on the outside 
 any longer. Let us go into the presence of 
 The King." 
 
 So it came about that Roy was duly pre- 
 sented to The King, and he was not disap- 
 pointed in either that culinary monarch or 
 the throne room. Perhaps his enthusiasm 
 was the greater since he was sorely in need of 
 
90 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 food to nourish a mind and body exhausted 
 by suffering. 
 
 The clam-broth King catered largely to the 
 officers of ocean-going vessels. There's hardly 
 a master sailing the main who has touched 
 at Norfolk or anchored in Hampton Roads 
 diiring recent years that has not known Harry 
 the clam-broth King, and has called him 
 friend. To-day the usual number of storm- 
 bound seafaring men of the better class were 
 gathered aroimd the miniature tables in the 
 place. The King was very busy indeed, 
 passing from group to group to see that none 
 of his friends were neglected. He greeted 
 Van Dusen with obvious pleasure and had a 
 welcoming smile for the newcomer when he 
 was introduced to Roy. A moment later Van 
 Dusen and Roy were seated at one of the 
 tables, each with a bowl of piping-hot clam 
 broth before him. 
 
 But before the contents of the bowls had 
 been wholly swallowed both Roy and the 
 detective paused to listen with avid interest 
 to the words of a mariner seated at an adjoin- 
 ing table. And this is what they heard: 
 
 **Yes, boys, it was some blow and believe 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 9l 
 
 y 
 
 me it is still a-kicking up good and plenty 
 outside the Capes. I missed the worst of it. 
 My barometer had indicated that there was 
 going to be some big doings long before the 
 clouds begun to loom. I was half a mind to 
 haul to in the hook o' the Cape at Lookout, 
 but the sky seemed so clear and I was so near 
 Hatteras that I made up my mind that we 
 could get into the Roads by crowding the 
 boilers a little. I'd a heap rather be laying 
 up close to the King's clam broth than at 
 that sorry, lonely, Lookout Bight. Don't 
 imderstand me that I have got anything 
 against that snug little harbor. I have every 
 reason in the world not to have for she has 
 saved my vessel and my carcass many's the 
 time. The only thing is that it is such a 
 desert place on land, not a house, not a 
 human, with the exception of the light- 
 keeper and his crew. When a skipper makes 
 harbor he likes it to be where there are some 
 shore pleasures on tap. I will venture that 
 there was not less than half a dozen skippers 
 put in there to get away from this blow and 
 every last one whilst they knew the fact of 
 that little nook o* safety being there had 
 
92 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 saved him and his ship, was just a-raring be- 
 cause he had not taken a chance rounding 
 Hatteras and putting into Hampton Roads 
 where he could run in here and gossip and 
 inhale the fumes of King Harry's clam broth 
 and feel the effects of his Scotch, while this- 
 here West India hurricane wore herself out. 
 
 ''You know, boys, I wish that I was a 
 yachtsman with a good roll to back it up. 
 Why, do you know them fellers take lots of 
 chances and it's very seldom that they lose 
 their craft? Of course, I have navigated 
 over more of the sea than you, having been 
 coasters all your lives. And do you know there 
 is hardly a port in the world where I haven't 
 seen a pretty, trim American yacht lying 
 at anchor or haven't passed them on the seven 
 seas? And never have I foimd one in great 
 distress — except for being out o' some par- 
 ticular kind of liquor. With we fellers it*s 
 different. We're always in some kind o' 
 trouble, not to mention being constantly 
 out o* all kinds o' liquors. And then we are 
 scairt o' our lives, or rim agroimd or burn 
 up, and so lose our master's papers, which 
 means our job." 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 93 
 
 The speaker paused to clear his throat 
 noisily. Then he went on: 
 
 "Speaking along these lines reminds me of a 
 little yacht we passed on the nm up, off 
 Ocracoke Inlet. She was a long ways off 
 shore, headed in. But I guess she made the 
 inside all right in spite of the waves running 
 high and breaking and the strength of the 
 wind increasing with every flaw. Her name 
 was The Isabel, And it's my opinion the 
 captain of that yacht ought to be in the crazy 
 house or dead.'* 
 
 Somehow at the outset, the narrative had 
 riveted the attention of Roy and Van Dusen. 
 It was as if their intuitions warned them that 
 something significant was to issue from the 
 mariner's rambling remarks. The utterance 
 of the yacht's name thrilled them both, and 
 they stared at each other for a moment with 
 startled eyes. Then they listened again with 
 new intentness as the speaker continued his 
 account : 
 
 "It was just after daylight. I had been 
 on the bridge all through the night, for I was 
 anxious over our position, should the hurri- 
 cane break with full force. I knew from the 
 
94 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 glass that it was close on us. I was looking 
 dead ahead. Suddenly out of the mist ap- 
 peared a craft as white and trim as a swan. 
 She would plunge forward on a giant wave, 
 then disappear for a moment in the trough, to 
 appear again right side up, and coming at full 
 speed to meet the next one. She was driving so 
 fast that often she would force herself through, 
 rather than over, the oncoming waves. I 
 just naturally kept expecting from second to 
 second that that fool skipper, sending her 
 along at such reckless speed, would bury her 
 so deep that it would be impossible for her to 
 shake off the tons of brine, and so float on 
 top again. If the fool only had sense enough 
 to slow her down, I thought to myself, that 
 bit of a craft would almost go through hell 
 itself without a scorch. I realized that we 
 were getting dangerously close, for I was going 
 fast before the wind. So I quickly gave a 
 passing-signal blast from our whistle, indi- 
 cating that we would pass her on the port 
 side. What do you suppose that fool at the 
 wheel did then? Close as we were, and with 
 no other reason that I could guess other than 
 a desire to court death, he deliberately an- 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 95 
 
 swered my signal with two blasts. They 
 meant that he was going to starboard, almost 
 diagonally across our bow. I saw it was too 
 late to correct his error, so I simply had to 
 accept his cross signal, and I did my best to 
 avoid a collision. I was successful — no thanks 
 to him. We missed The Isabel by a hair. As 
 it was, I thought that in spite of all we could 
 do the suction from our propellers would draw 
 in and crush the smaller boat against our side. 
 I fancy we missed it more through good luck 
 and the grace of God than through good man- 
 agement. And now what do you think? 
 
 "That chap at the wheel, instead of appear- 
 ing grateful and giving me three blasts in 
 salute, stuck his head and shoulders out of 
 the pilot-house window and shook his fist at 
 me. He yelled, too, and the wind brought 
 the words down to me. 'You're only a dirty 
 tramp, but you think you own the seas ! ' You 
 boys know that that word ' tramp ' for a good 
 honest trading steamer always did get on 
 my nerves. I admit I swore a little at the 
 bimglesome cuss, but he was well to windward, 
 so I might just as well have saved my breath, 
 
 ''I honestly believe that that ornery fellow 
 
96 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 in the pilot house was crazy as a bed-bug. 
 Stranger still, there wasn't another soul in 
 sight aboard of her. I'm thinking I'll report 
 the affair to the inspectors. There's no doubt 
 in my mind that The Isabel weathered the 
 storm for the chap was headin' her straight 
 as he could go for Ocracoke Inlet. As the 
 yacht was of light draft she could easily get 
 over the bar and into Pamlico Soimd, where 
 he could haul to under the lea of the sand 
 dimes. Down there that craft would ride 
 out 'most anything that might come along." 
 
 The detective, with a gesture to Roy that 
 he should remain in his seat, arose and crossed 
 over to the Captain of the tramp steamer. 
 He called the man aside, and frankly ex- 
 plained how he had overheard the narrative 
 concerning the yacht Isabel, He admitted 
 that this information was of vital importance 
 to his friend and himself. 
 
 The Captain at once became intently inter- 
 ested. Doubtless he foresaw something in 
 store for the yachtsman that would settle 
 his own score against the fellow, the fellow 
 who had reviled him. 
 
 ''If you really want to come up with that 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 97 
 
 critter," the mariner declared, "it would be 
 the easiest thing in the world according to 
 my mind, provided you have the right sort 
 of a boat." 
 
 Van Dusen described his yacht. 
 
 '^How much does this Hialdo of yours 
 draw?" the swarthy-faced skipper demanded. 
 
 ''She draws, fully stocked, just eight and 
 a half feet aft," the detective answered. 
 ''And we could shift the gasoline so that she 
 would get through on eight feet of water." 
 
 The captain nodded appreciatively. 
 
 "That fellow, the chances are, is right this 
 minute at anchor somewhere in Pamlico 
 Sound, or else he*s cruising around on some 
 of those connecting inland waters. The one 
 and only place where he could get to sea 
 again would be where he went in at Ocra- 
 coke, or else at Beaufort Inlet — though he 
 might head for Norfolk by way of one of the 
 two canal routes. You can bet your bottom 
 dollar that, even as crazy as he is, he won't 
 tackle the open, sea just yet while this heavy 
 swell is still on. It's my idea you got your 
 man sure enough, for he's in a trap. The 
 thing for you to do is to get aboard your craft, 
 
98 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 and then hot-foot it through the Dismal 
 Swamp Canal for Ocracoke by way of Albe- 
 marle, Coratan and Pamlico Sounds. 
 
 ''If you like," the Captain added with a 
 touch of embarrassment lest he might seem 
 officious, ''I'll keep a sharp lookout on the 
 other canal, so that he can't pass you while 
 you're going through old Dismal. You might 
 post the authorities at Elizabeth City to keep 
 an eye open for the yacht, and to detain her 
 if she shows up while you're rushing on at full 
 speed for Ocracoke and Portsmouth. They're 
 the little towns, one on each side of the Inlet. 
 If you don't happen to find the outfit at either 
 of these places, there ain't a particle of doubt 
 according to my judgment that those folks 
 can inform you of the direction taken by The 
 Isabel when she sailed, for they keep mighty 
 close tabs on every vessel that comes or goes 
 through the Inlet. If you find she headed 
 south on the inside, you'll know that loony is 
 making for Beaufort Harbor with the idea of 
 waiting there for the sea to calm down before 
 venturing on the outside. Or maybe he 
 hasn't any intention of going out at aU. It 
 seems to me he's more likely to be heading 
 
EFFICIENCY OF CLAM-BROTH 99 
 
 for some one of those tributaries to the Sound 
 that are narrow and deep, with the shores 
 covered by a regular jungle growth. Boats 
 of any size seldom go into them — except 
 once in a while one run by a drag-net fisher- 
 man. This crazy man could expect to hide 
 there for weeks on a stretch without danger 
 of being disturbed. If it's actually a case of 
 kidnapping he's certainly shown himself as 
 cimning as mad folks sometimes are." 
 
 The detective motioned to Roy to join him 
 and the Captain. Then in a few crisp words 
 he explained the situation as it was indicated 
 by the mariner. Both he and Roy joined in 
 expression of gratitude to the skipper, who 
 gave his name as Jake White. Then the two, 
 realizing the need of haste, said farewell, 
 and made their way back to the wharf with 
 what speed they might. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 Once in a Lifetime 
 
 TO the average humane person the loss 
 of a pet, whether through thievery 
 or death itself, brings a very real 
 sorrow for a time. How much worse it must 
 be for one who lives alone, a recluse on an 
 island of sand in the sea, to suffer the loss of 
 his only living companion, something to come 
 at his beck and call, something that seems 
 indeed to reciprocate its master's affec- 
 tion! 
 
 It is true that Shrimp was only a fowl — a 
 Dominick rooster at that. Probably, from the 
 standpoint of intelligence, a creature very 
 low in the scale. But its association in this 
 case had developed the qualities of the bird. 
 The years of companionship had brought 
 man and rooster to an intimate imderstanding 
 of each other. 
 
 100 
 
ONCE IN A LIFETI]VIE 101 
 
 When Captain Ichabod stepped from his 
 shack, his pocket bulging with com for his 
 favorite, and saw the rooster showing afar 
 off against the snow-white sand where he 
 was industriously scratching, and whistled a 
 summoning call. Shrimp would come racing 
 toward him at top speed, with wings beating 
 a rh3rthm to his hurrying legs. Then would 
 the rooster greedily pick the grain of com 
 from his master's homy palm, clucking the 
 while guttural notes of gratitude. And at 
 such moments Ichabod 's heart would grow 
 warm with pleasure in the realization that it 
 was within his power thus to make one of 
 God's creatures happy. 
 
 When Doctor Hudson came to the door of 
 the shack, where the bereft old fisherman sat, 
 shaken with sorrow over his loss, he tenderly 
 smoothed the Captain's wrinkled brow. He 
 asked to know the cause of this sudden 
 misery. 
 
 Ichabod, with a boylike gesture, brushed 
 away the tears from his eyes with the 
 back of his hand. Then he straightened 
 himself, and met the physician's kindly gaze 
 squarely. 
 
102 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Thar ain't no call for explanations when a 
 feller's feelin's are teched. Doc, do ye know 
 o' some lonely codger that needs a good 
 housekeeper?" 
 
 The earnest question came in such startling 
 contrast to the old man's manner of a moment 
 before, when he was shaken with sobs, that 
 the Doctor was hard put to it to restrain a 
 burst of laughter. But by a great effort he 
 limited his expression of amusement to a 
 broad smile as he replied: 
 
 "Yes, I know one — an old retired fisher- 
 man by the name of Jones, Captain Ichabod 
 Jones. He's a man who has weathered many 
 of the storms of life. Now, as his bark is 
 getting nearer to the last port, he needs to be 
 less alone." A note of very sincere sym- 
 pathy had crept into the physician's voice. 
 "He should no longer be troubled with the 
 cares of looking after his own home. But, 
 I suppose, there's no use mentioning this to 
 the man himself." 
 
 "Yo'r in the right church, Doc," replied 
 the fisherman, "but ye are approachin' the 
 wrong pew. Ichabod Jones has proved him- 
 self this day. I did 'low that I was gettin' 
 
ONCE IN A LIFETIME 103 
 
 sort o' decrepit like, but this mornin' proved 
 to me that I ain't as near all in as me and my 
 friends thought. Didn't I tote a htmian woman 
 nigh onto a quarter of a mile without 
 a-hurtin' me a mite? No, sir, Doctor, I am 
 the man that wants_the job. Them scoun- 
 drels that I saved has stole all that I had in 
 the world to come home to and now I'm ready 
 to quit this island o' mine an' go an' dust out 
 an' cook vituals for some crabbid old cus- 
 tomer that is meaner than me. The more 
 he'd quarrel the more it 'ould suit fer it 
 'ould take my mind off of this woman 
 business that took place here to-day, 
 and then I might larn to forgit the 
 rooster.'* 
 
 ''Jones, I believe you're crazy!" The Doc- 
 tor exclaimed half angrily. Then he added, 
 with a grin: "I guess I'd better give you a 
 sedative to quiet those overwrought nerves 
 of yours. Then you can get inside the shack, 
 lie down on your bunk and doze off for a 
 spell." 
 
 The old fisherman took the remark with 
 all seriousness. His face grew livid as he 
 stared at the Doctor with widened eyes. He 
 
104 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 stretched to his ftill height and spoke in a 
 tone of tense solemnity. 
 
 ''I will have you to know, Doctor Hudson, 
 that never again will Ichabod Jones occupy 
 that bunk, for — God A'mighty, man! — ^it has 
 been desecrated by a woman. Of course, 
 it was my own fault, I suppose. But then 
 there was death a-starin', an' what could I 
 do? When I built that hut an* tossed the 
 fust blankets on that bunk I swore by the 
 power that rules the waters what washes over 
 this sand-bank o' mine that no woman should 
 ever be welcome. An*, by the Eternal, I 
 meant it! They may say that Icky Jones 
 has quar notions, and like enough he has, 
 but when that woman what I loved saw fit 
 to take on the beach-comber o' Port Smith 
 Town, an' left me to be the laughin' stock 
 o' Cartaret County, I sure as shootin' made 
 up my mind that it couldn't happen but 
 once in my lifetime — an' it hain't — an' it 
 won't! An' say. Doc, when that foreign 
 woman, whilst I was a-bringin' her to, opened 
 up them pretty eyes an' looked at me fer the 
 fust time, I made up my mind or rather dis- 
 
ONCE IN A LIFETIME 105 
 
 kivered, that old as I be an' quar as I be, I 
 can't trust myself agin whar that's women. 
 Sure as thar's clams and oysters on them rocks 
 yonder, I'd play fool, an' try an' make it 
 heigh-ho for the parson. You see. Doc, it 
 ain't that I hate women that I located on this 
 lonely island. It*s because, by golly, I'm 
 afeared of 'em.'* 
 
 This was the first time, so far as the physi- 
 cian knew, that Ichabod had ever thus frankly 
 confessed the truth concerning his bitter 
 marital experience and its effect on his life. 
 Doctor Hudson was deeply impressed by the 
 fisherman's display of emotion. He spoke 
 seriously in reply: 
 
 ''Captain, you can't imagine how glad I am 
 to have heard you say this. Until now, I 
 never could tmderstand how a man of your 
 honest character and kind heart could hate the 
 sex to which we owe our being, the sex that 
 has done so much to make life more beau- 
 tiful, to make happiness for himianity. Now, 
 at last, I tmderstand. Your seeming hatred 
 has been merely a mask for cowardice. You'd 
 fight a giant, if need be — ^just as you have 
 
106 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 fought that giant, the sea, so often and so 
 bravely. But, just the same, you're an 
 arrant coward. You turn tail and run when a 
 woman's in question, because you're afraid 
 of the weaker sex. I suspect it's time for 
 you to reform. I want you to come to town 
 with me now, and stay there until you've 
 fully recovered from to-day's excitement. 
 While you're there, I'll look round and see 
 what I can do toward finding you a place as 
 housekeeper.'* 
 
 Ichabod shook his head with great emphasis. 
 
 "No, sir. Doc," he declared sturdily, "I 
 ain't a-goin' to stir a step fer the town. But 
 I'll let ye tow me as far as the Spar Chan- 
 nel. Then I'll set sail fer the coast-guard sta- 
 tion. I'll spin my yam thar to the boys, an' 
 like's not spend the night with 'em. Then I 
 reckon I'll come back to the Island. But, 
 fust off, I*ll stop at your office an' git some 
 fumigatin' powders, so's to fix the house fit 
 fer Ichabod again." 
 
 The Captain and the physician made some 
 further examination, which convinced them 
 that the strangers had in fact left the Island 
 by means of the wrecked yacht's little tender. 
 
ONCE IN A LIFETIME 107 
 
 Asstired of this, the two men set forth, the 
 Doctor for Beaufort, Ichabod to pay his visit 
 at the life-saving station near old Fort Macon, 
 where he knew that he v/as sure of a royal 
 welcome. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 Eyes from the Deep 
 
 THE staid little city of Beaufort had 
 been stirred to its remotest comers 
 with the exciting news brought back 
 from Ichabod's Island by the physician. 
 Doctor Hudson had told the story to little 
 groups here and there as he called upon his 
 patients. Needless to say that a shipwreck, 
 even though it be only that of a medium-sized 
 pleasure craft, was enough to set everyone all 
 agog with excitement. And here, too, there 
 was the added mystery, concerning the young 
 and beautiful woman together with her strange 
 companion, who had been rescued from death 
 only to vanish so inexplicably. ~* 
 
 Next day, Ichabod quite forgot to stop at 
 the town in order to secure the fumigating 
 powders from the ph^^sician. As a matter of 
 fact, he was accompanied home by a number 
 of the life-saving crew, who were eager to 
 
 io8 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 109 
 
 survey the wreck and make investigation on 
 their own account. As he approached the 
 Island, the old fisherman was astonished to 
 see at least a dozen laimches and fishing 
 schooners gathered near the wreck. It was 
 low tide, and all those aboard the craft 
 seemed to be staring down into the pellucid 
 waters. It was evident that something of an 
 unusual sort attracted their gaze. As Icha- 
 bod drew near, accompanied by the boat from 
 the life-saving station, one of the men, on a 
 laimch that had her nose resting on the tiny 
 beach at the oyster rocks was seen to be 
 busy arranging a block and tackle. In an- 
 swer to Ichabod's hail, he shouted that there 
 was a dead man in the wreck. 
 
 This information astonished both Ichabod 
 and those to whom he had told his story, for 
 he had had no least suspicion that there was a 
 third person on the yacht at the time of the 
 wreck. In answer to eager questions, the 
 man with the tackle declared that the body 
 seemed to be chained fast to the engine of the 
 simken boat. 
 
 At this news, the Captain became greatly 
 excited. 
 
110 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Men!" he exclaimed in accents of dismay. 
 "Hain't it been enough for this old, weather- 
 beaten, storm-tossed hulk of an Ichabod to 
 have gone through more'n most young fellers 
 could stand without now havin' a murder to 
 be investigated at his very door? Didn't ye 
 hear them words o' Simmer Jenkins? He 
 says as how the body is chained to the ingine. 
 It's fitten, boys, as we should go right plimib 
 up thar, an' have a look fer ourselves." 
 
 A few minutes later, Ichabod and his com- 
 panions were lying alongside the wreck, and 
 were leaning over gimwales, looking intently 
 down into the transparent depths of the sea. 
 And there, sure enough, lay the form of a 
 man, with distorted features and wide-open 
 dead eyes gazing back up at them. Around 
 the waist of the corpse there was to be seen 
 distinctly the chain that tightly encircled the 
 body and thence ran to the engine frame, 
 around which it was twisted, and held im- 
 movable by a huge padlock. Thus fettered, 
 the imfortunate wretch had been carried down 
 to his doom in the sea. 
 
 The gruesome discovery had been made that 
 morning by pur^ chance on the part of a 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 111 
 
 fisherman who, out of curiosity to view the 
 wreck, had brought his boat up into the wind 
 there. A careless glance over the side had 
 shown him the ghastly face of the corpse 
 beneath the waves. At the sight, the fisher- 
 man had let his craft slip off before the wind. 
 He sailed straight to Beaufort, and told the 
 town his news. It was the tidings carried 
 by him that brought the morbid crowd of 
 sightseers. 
 
 The combined efforts of those present had 
 been insufficient to raise the engine and the 
 body of the dead man to the surface. Now 
 they were arranging a windlass, with block 
 and fall, to bring the victim up to where the 
 Coroner was impatiently waiting to perform 
 his duty. Presently, then, the energetic 
 workers secured a firm hold with the tackle 
 on the engine frame. It was hauled to the 
 surface, bringing with it the attached body. 
 The padlock was smashed, and the stiffened 
 form released from its iron bonds. Forth- 
 with, the body was removed in one of the 
 small boats to the sandy beach of Captain 
 Ichabod's Island. The Coroner would have 
 preferred that it shotild be taken into the 
 
112 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 shack for the holding of the inquest. But 
 when the official made his request to the 
 fisherman, the reply was by no means favor- 
 able. 
 
 "It seems as how I might be just a leetle 
 accomidatin', but I dunno, Mr. Coroner, 
 IVe already got that place to fumigate out 
 on accoimt o' thar havin* been sickness an' 
 a woman present thar. An* now should ye 
 see fitten to carry that poor murdered feller 
 in thar, Uncle Icky would sure have to quit. 
 It *ould be just a leetle more'n he could stand. 
 Don't think I'm feared o' hants an' sich fer I 
 hain't. It's just this: The thoughts o' the 
 poor devil, how he just lay thar on the bottom 
 with his eyes wide-open, an' him murdered — 
 them thoughts would keep a-comin' back. 
 No, Mr. Coroner, you'd better not take him 
 into the hut — not unless you aim to buy 
 Ichabod's Island." 
 
 The Coroner yielded to the old man's whim. 
 He ordered the sodden and twisted form laid 
 out decently on the white smoothness of the 
 beach. Then, with the other men grouped 
 about him, the Coroner selected a jury, and a 
 minute later the investigation was imder way 
 
EYES FEOM THE DEEP US 
 
 according to due form of law. The only 
 witnesses who were examined were the man 
 who had discovered the corpse, and Ichabod. 
 There was small need of more. For while 
 the accoimt of the finding of the body was 
 completed within a few minutes, Captain 
 Ichabod's narrative continued for a full hour, 
 during which he told everything he knew 
 concerning the wreck of The Isabel and the 
 subsequent events, including the kidnapping 
 of Shrimp. 
 
 Most of the hearers, if not all, had heard 
 previously broken bits of the narrative. But 
 now as they received the account in detail 
 from beginning to end they hung on the old 
 fisherman's words, held by the weird spell of 
 this mystery of the sea. 
 
 At the conclusion of the testimony, the 
 Coroner charged the jury briefly, and sent 
 them into the shack to agree upon a verdict. 
 The decision was not long delayed. Within 
 ten minutes, the jury returned to the beach 
 and the foreman announced that they had 
 agreed upon a verdict. This was to the 
 effect that the man had come to his death at 
 the hands of parties imknown, while confined 
 
114 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 against his will aboard the gasoline yacht 
 Isabel. 
 
 The Coroner complimented the jury upon 
 their verdict and then discharged the panel. 
 He next arranged with one of the boatmen 
 present for the removal of the corpse to Beau- 
 fort, where he meant to have it embalmed and 
 held for a reasonable length of time before 
 burial, for identification. When these for- 
 malities were concluded the crowd quickly 
 scattered. Some hastened away to attend 
 their nets, which had been neglected for many 
 hours, while the others set sail or cranked 
 engines for the voyage home. 
 
 Captain Ichabod and his friends from the 
 life-saving station decided that they would 
 run over to Shackleford's Banks, and thence 
 sail along shore to approximately the point 
 where Ichabod had seen the rockets of a ship 
 that doubtless went to pieces in the surf 
 during the night of the gale. Their particular 
 destination was a place where the strip of 
 sand was so narrow that they could easily 
 cross it on foot in the expectation of locating 
 the wreck of the unfortunate vessel. Very 
 soon after the party had set out, Captain 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 115 
 
 Ichabod^s spirits lightened. The congenial 
 company of the coast-guard crew, now that 
 he was away from the gruesome association 
 of the Coroner's Court, induced a reaction in 
 his mood, and he was almost cheerful. His 
 companions were anxious to remove the old 
 man's depression and made kindly effort to 
 divert his thoughts into pleasant channels 
 by droll stories and rough banter. When, 
 finally, the party went ashore at Core Banks 
 and walked up the beach along the edge of 
 the breaking surf in search for signs of the 
 wrecked ship, it was Ichabod that walked 
 in the lead with brisk steps and animated 
 face. It seemed scarcely possible in view of his 
 agility and vigor that the old fisherman was 
 indeed living on borrowed time. 
 
 It was not long before they began to see 
 huge timbers that had been twisted and rent 
 asunder, which now strewed the beach. They 
 saw, too, others to which were attached sec- 
 tions of the deck and the deck-house, which 
 were lazily riding back and forth to the 
 rhythm of the sea. Now, a wave would drop 
 its bit of flotsam upon the hard sand; then, 
 a moment later, one of greater magnitude 
 
116 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 would envelop the stranded spar or plank or 
 piece of cargo, and with its backward flow 
 bear away the wreckage, to be again tossed 
 hither and yon, until perhaps finally the tide 
 at its Ml would leave it on the shore, to be- 
 come the spoil of beach-combers — those ghouls 
 ever ready to take advantage of the hapless 
 mariner's mischance. 
 
 It was a fact that the whole shore line for 
 over a mile was littered with parts torn away 
 from the foundered schooner. Amid the mass 
 were many barrels of rimi and of molasses 
 out of the cargo. As the little squad of men 
 from the station, together with Captain Icha- 
 bod, drew near the strip of beach, they saw 
 two fellows working with feverish haste to 
 roll a barrel of molasses over the top of a 
 sand dime, and then down on the Sound side. 
 Captain Ichabod scrambled to the pinnacle 
 of a near-by hill of sand. From this vantage 
 point, he beheld a good-sized two-masted 
 sharpie lying near the shore. The sight made 
 him immediately aware that the beach- 
 combers from up the coast were already on 
 the job, and that the boat on the Sound side 
 of the Banks belonged to them. He knew, 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 117 
 
 too, that the pair working so desperately to 
 get the barrel away from the wreckage were 
 thus toiling in haste to get their loot aboard 
 the sharpie. 
 
 For certain reasons, Captain Ichabod Jones 
 had taken a strong dislike to the professional 
 beach-combers. He beHeved that a man who 
 would rush to the wreckage of a ship thrown 
 on a barren shore away from civilization, and 
 would appropriate without investigation the 
 valuable articles thus cast up by the sea, was 
 in very sooth not a good citizen — ^just a plain 
 thief. More than once, indeed, he had seen 
 fit to report men of this stripe, and had caused 
 them no little trouble in the courts over this 
 matter of their pilfering. It is just possible 
 that, had Captain Ichabod not been robbed 
 of the woman he loved years before by one 
 of this class, he might have looked on their 
 depredations with a more lenient eye. Be 
 that as it may, it remains certain that he 
 maintained a very genuine and very bitter 
 spite against all beach-combers. 
 
 Captain Ichabod often asserted that it 
 was right for the natives to remove to a place 
 of safety above high tide any articles of value 
 
118 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 from a wreck on their shores, and then to wait 
 during a reasonable time for the lawful owners 
 to make their claim. But he had no toler- 
 ance for the fellow who would hurriedly and 
 secretly remove to his own premises goods of 
 a salvable sort. He declared this to be no 
 better than theft. 
 
 The Captain quickly realized now that here 
 was his opporttinity. He motioned to his 
 friends from the station to go on toward the 
 two men busy with the barrel. He, himself, 
 hastened down the slope of sand, in order that 
 he might slip close unseen, and station himself 
 between the beach-combers and their boat. 
 By this method of approach both he and the 
 men from the station would make sure of 
 recognizing the offenders. As the old man 
 drew near the sharpie, which lay with her 
 sails flapping idly in the scant breeze, his eyes 
 took in the name roughly painted on the stem 
 rail of the boat, and he stared at it in shocked 
 amazement. He stopped short and spelled 
 the words aloud: 
 
 '' R-o-x-a-n-a L-e-e !" 
 
 At the soimd of the name in his ears, a 
 strange expression came over the fisherman's 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 119 
 
 features. It was an expression compounded 
 of many warring emotions, which it might 
 well have puzzled an observer to interpret. 
 But his muttered soliloquy made his feeling 
 clear. 
 
 "Wall, ril be plumb damned! Here it is, 
 most twenty year since I has spoke them words 
 an' God knows I didn't aim to now, but bein' 
 a leetle slow on spellin', an' kinder beflustered 
 over identifyin' these-here thievin' cusses 
 they got out before I realized what I was 
 sayin*. That boat's named fer my old 
 
 gal!" 
 
 Captain Ichabod had no time for further 
 musing. His attention was attracted by a 
 crackling of twigs in the small brush on the 
 side of the dime. As he looked in the direc- 
 tion of the sound he saw hurtling toward him 
 the barrel of molasses. The two beach- 
 combers had succeeded in topping the rise 
 with their burden ; then, suddenly excited and 
 confused by the approach of the coast-guard 
 men, they had tiimed it loose with a violent 
 push. It shot downward at speed, nor did it 
 stop until it had reached the very edge of the 
 water of Core Sound, almost at Ichabod 's 
 
120 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 feet. After the heavy barrel came the two 
 plunderers, ninning rapidly. One of them was 
 a mere lad, certainly not more than nineteen 
 years of age, while the other was of advanced 
 years as was proclaimed by his deeply lined 
 face and gray hair. 
 
 As the two drew near, Captain Ichabod 
 quickly concealed himself behind a haw bush, 
 there to await developments. He had a 
 particular reason for not wishing to be recog- 
 nized by these men — at least not imtil he 
 should have had time to get his bearings and 
 to decide what course it were best to pursue 
 in this imexpected situation. For that mat- 
 ter, he was half tempted to leave the place 
 without showing himself and without de- 
 nouncing the paltry thieves. 
 
 Ichabod's indecision was not of long dura- 
 tion. His course of action was decided more 
 quickly than he had anticipated by the arrival 
 of the coast-guard men. They had hurried 
 after the fugitives with some apprehension 
 lest the old fisherman might be roughly 
 handled. Now the men descended the slope 
 with a cheer, and in another moment had 
 pounced on the two cringing wretches, who 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 121 
 
 were eagerly clutching their ill-gotten barrel of 
 ''long sweet 'nin'," as if loath to give it up. 
 
 This was not the first time that old Sandy 
 Mason, for such was the name of the gray- 
 haired man, had been driven away from his 
 nefarious work by the boys from the station. 
 Hitherto, he had been let off with a repri- 
 mand. He was sure that such would now be 
 the case. Nevertheless, his heart was sore 
 within him, for he knew that the coming of 
 these servants of Uncle Sam must prevent 
 him from taking away in his sharpie a whole 
 winter's supply, and more, of fine old Porto 
 Rico molasses — a treasure trove indeed. For 
 the dwellers on the banks have little butter, 
 and molasses, when it is to be had, serves in a 
 measure as a substitute, at every meal. 
 
 There was only a short struggle, for the 
 beach-combers offered no resistance, except 
 at being separated from the precious barrel. 
 The capture was chiefly an affair for merri- 
 ment to the men of the coast guard, and, when 
 they finally loosened their hold of Sandy and 
 the lad, his son, they were laughing boister- 
 ously at the despair on the coimtenance of 
 the father and the yoimgster's look of chagrin. 
 
122 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Then, before a word was spoken and while 
 the men were still roaring with mirth, Captain 
 Ichabod stepped forth from the shelter of the 
 haw tree. He seem.cd to stand a little more 
 erect than was his wont. There was a twinkle 
 of deHght in those kindly eyes, a Httle dimmed 
 by age. He bore himself with an air of im- 
 pressive manliness, despite the burden of his 
 years. He passed around the group until he 
 stood directly in front of the beach-comber 
 with the gray hair. For a moment he did not 
 speak, but stood motionless, gazing steadily 
 at the fellow before him. But, presently, he 
 raised his hand in a gesture commanding 
 silence. The laughter of the coast guard 
 ceased on the instant, and the fisherman spoke: 
 
 ''Men," he said in a steady voice, evidently 
 weighing each word, "as I dim over the top 
 o' yonder dime an* come down the slope to 
 the shore I saw that sharpie with her nose 
 snug-up to the shore. As I came on further 
 I saw an' read aloud her name — Roxana Lee. 
 Right then was the fust time that name had 
 passed my lips in twenty year. It hurt me 
 to speak it, fer 'twas that o' the only woman 
 I have ever loved — or ever lost until just 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 123 
 
 lately. The words was on my lips afore I 
 knowed it. That woman did not die, pass 
 away like an honest woman, but she ran off 
 with a low-down beach-comber, whose thiev- 
 ing face I hain't looked upon — ^like the name 
 on the stem rail o' yonder boat — fer twenty 
 year, until to-day. Neither have I spoke 
 his name. Seein' as how so many things has 
 been a-happenin' here lately that is a-changin' 
 things with me, I will say to you men — that 
 varmint, that low-down robber o' the dead 
 an' o' the livin' whose clawlike hands you have 
 unhooked from the chymes o' the barrel con- 
 tainin' the stolen 'lasses that he hoped to get 
 home fer Roxana Lee to wallop her dodgers 
 in, is no less or no other than Sandy Mason, 
 the thief who stole my gal twenty year ago, 
 an' if I hain't plumb wrong on family favorin', 
 that striplin' is their son." 
 
 To all outward appearance, old Ichabod was 
 perfectly calm. The men from the station 
 regarded the speaker with faces grown sud- 
 denly stem as they realized the nature of the 
 wrong done him. Neither Sandy Mason nor 
 his son ventured to utter a syllable, as the 
 fisherman continued: 
 
124 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Sandy, you may think as how tain't none 
 o' my affair, an' that I'd look a heap better 
 to keep my lip out o' it. Maybe as how 
 that's a fact, but God knows when 111 ever 
 get another chance to rub it in hard on the 
 likes o' you. I've heard, year after year, 
 that you was still at the old tricks — too lazy 
 to work, with your eye always turned to the 
 sea hoping that some poor devil would mis- 
 read his reckonin' an' put his ship where you 
 can ransack its vitals fer an easy livin' fer 
 you and yours. I'll lay my all agin a two 
 pence that that wife o' your'n has wished 
 many's the time that she had married an 
 honest man an* not a thief. Judging from 
 what I knew o' her years ago, I'll allow 
 that it mighty nigh breaks her heart to 
 see the man that infatuated her as a 
 gal a-takin' her child an' a-bringin' him 
 up in the ways o' a thief. Shame on ye, 
 Sandy Mason! I'm goin' to ask the boys 
 to turn ye loose, an' I hope to God that 
 this will be a lesson that ye'll not soon 
 forget, an' that ye'll straighten up an' be 
 a man afore it's too late. If so be you 
 an' the woman are past redemption, quit 
 
EYES FROM THE DEEP 125 
 
 your thievin' an' beach-combin* for the sake 
 o* the boy." 
 
 Ichabod then turned to the lad, and ad- 
 dressed him in a kindly voice. 
 
 ''Young man, I'm sorry to have had to 
 hurt your feelin's with the truth, an' I hope 
 ye'll forgive me. Take this experience of 
 to-day as a wamin\ Don't be a beach- 
 comber. For when you are, to my mind, you 
 are what folks call a grave-robber — a ghoul. 
 Now go home to your mammy, who used to 
 have some good thoughts. Unless they're all 
 gone through livin' with that no- 'count daddy 
 o' your'n, she'll tell you that Captain Ichabod 
 is right fer once. Yes, I say, quit it all! Be 
 a man, an' show folks, that, after all, it is 
 possible to make a silk purse out o' a sow's 
 
 ear.'* 
 
 After this parting thrust, Ichabod turned 
 on his heel without another word, and walked 
 swiftly away down the shore. The men from 
 the station added a few phrases of very trench- 
 ant advice to Sandy and his son. They 
 waited imtil the beach-combers had entered 
 the sharpie and set sail due north toward the 
 hamlet of Portsmouth. 
 
126 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 When the coast guard came up again with 
 Captain Ichabod, they found him seated on 
 the sand hard by the noisy breakers. Three 
 Dominick hens clucked about him. The old 
 fisherman was throwing them kernels of com, 
 which he took from his pocket. The men 
 gazed somewhat somberly at the fowls. It 
 was plain that these were the only creatures 
 that had escaped alive from the three-master 
 whose bones littered the beach. 
 
 Ichabod looked up at his friends with a wry 
 smile, that was touched with grimness. 
 
 ''Boys," he remarked whimsically, "it seems 
 to me as if Icky had had about enough re- 
 minders fer one day without these pesky 
 Dominick pullets a-buttin' in.'* 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 The Awakening of Ichabod 
 
 THE door to the fisherman's shack stood 
 ajar, and in the opening showed the 
 form of a man. As the Hght from 
 the newly risen moon fell full upon the wrin- 
 kled features of the face, a pleased, contented 
 smile was to be seen as he placidly puffed his 
 corncob pipe and blew rings before him in the 
 quiet, heavy, midnight air. It was Captain 
 Ichabod, home again after the momentous 
 happenings of the day when the dead body 
 was found in the wreck of The Isabel. 
 
 The Captain had been more or less method- 
 ical in his ways all his life, but he had never 
 carried routine so far as to keep a diary. 
 Probably diiring the past twenty years, living 
 the life he had upon his lonely island, there 
 had not been enough of incident to have sug- 
 gested even the idea of such a record. But 
 
 on this particular night, the fisherman, clos- 
 
 127 
 
128 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 eted within his shack, had been toiling through 
 three long hours in order to set down a de- 
 tailed narrative of the strange happenings in 
 which he had been concerned since the coming 
 of the great storm. He had ransacked his 
 belongings until he found pencil and paper. 
 Then, with his characteristically painstaking 
 and deliberate manner, he had indited an 
 itemized account of the various events. Now 
 he had completed his work, and rested well 
 content with his accomplishment. As he 
 loimged in the doorway, he was taking a 
 glimpse over the beautiful expanse of water, 
 the while he smoked a final pipe before turn- 
 ing in. He felt that after the arduous en- 
 deavors of the day he was entitled to a soimd 
 and refreshing sleep. His usual calm had 
 returned to him. 
 
 At daylight that very morning when he 
 awakened in the life-saving station at old 
 Fort Macon, he had felt that he could never 
 again occupy his old cabin home. Yet, here 
 he was at night, resting well satisfied, without 
 any qualm whatsoever. The exciting hap- 
 pening of the day — perhaps especially the 
 opportunity to tell his old rival just what he 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 129 
 
 thought of the fellow — ^had proved a balm to 
 his over-strained nerves. He had come back 
 home with a firm resolve to continue on 
 there in tranquillity, and to enjoy to the fvill 
 the days that were before him. It is true 
 that he missed Shrimp. But, after mature 
 meditation on the matter of the fowl's going 
 away, the fisherman had about come to the 
 conclusion that in all probability he had 
 gone of his own free will and accord. It 
 occurred to the Captain as possible that the 
 bird might have been peeved by his master's 
 sailing away without him as he hurried to 
 Beaufort Town in quest of Doctor Hudson. 
 Ichabod believed that Shrimp had seen his 
 opportunity to cross to the mainland with 
 the strangers and had seized on it in the hope 
 of being able at last to fight it out with 
 his rooster rival, whose challenging salute 
 had been tantalizing him for many a day. 
 Ichabod chuckled as he expressed the wish, 
 that Shrimp's encounter with this rival might 
 give him as much sacisf action as had his own 
 with the beach-comber. 
 
 Now, under the flow of his meditations, 
 the old man grew loquacious. He went into 
 
130 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the shack, shut the door and Hghted the 
 lamp. Then he sprawled at ease in his fav- 
 orite chair, and since there was no other 
 auditor at hand, talked to himself. 
 
 "Wall! I reckon I have larned a heap this 
 day. The most important fact is that Icky 
 Jones has been a fool for over twenty year. 
 Jest because a no- 'count woman took a 
 notion in her haid that she had rather marry 
 a beach-combin' thief than an honest fisher- 
 man I have made myself hate all o' the rest 
 o' the gender, or least-wise to keep away 
 fr'm 'em, an' lead a miserable lonely life. 
 Why! do ye know, I believe that when I 
 spimked up an' told old Sandy Mason what I 
 thought o' him an' his callin', an' rubbed it 
 in some on the poor kid, that it did me more 
 good than a dost o' medicine. It sure put 
 sand in my craw an' made me feel like fightin' 
 every mean thing livin'. If I hadn't been a 
 narrow-fool, an' awful sot in my way, in- 
 stead o' takin' the loss of Roxana Lee to 
 heart, I'd 'a' braced up an' gone right ahead 
 an' looked fer one o' the right sort. I've 
 learned jest a short time back that I'd gone 
 off on the wrong track. When I revived 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 131 
 
 that fine-lookin' foreign woman an* she opened 
 those eyes — such beautiful brown eyes! — 
 an' looked at me so appealin'-like an' called 
 me Doctor, I jest couldn't he'p but wish that 
 she'd talk to me a leetle more, but fate was 
 agin me, an' she was mimi as an adder.'' 
 
 Captain Ichabod fell silent as he undressed 
 for the night, extinguished the light and 
 stretched himself luxuriously on his bed. 
 As he snuggled down into the blankets with 
 a capacious yawn, he drowsily spoke aloud 
 yet once again. 
 
 "Wall, hanged if I 'lowed this momin' 
 when I woke up at the station, that to-night 
 I'd be a-layin' here so peaceable-like an' 
 jest a-pinin' fer sleep. This shack an' this 
 bunk has had a woman in 'em, but I don't 
 reckin it has hurt 'em none after all. I can 
 sleep, you bet. Uncle Icky may dream a 
 leetle might, but it won't be about Roxana 
 Lee." 
 
 It was not until the sim was more than an 
 hour high that the old fisherman opened his 
 eyes again to the realization that another day 
 had come. When he felt the warm rays of the 
 summer sun upon his cheek he knew that he 
 
132 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 had slept beyond his usual time of waking, 
 which stirred him to a fleeting anger against 
 himself. He got up quickly, and while he 
 dressed, admonished himself harshly. 
 
 '* Betwixt the rust o' time an' a thievin' 
 yachtsman, ye're plumb out o' time, Ichabod. 
 If ye aim to be a successful fisherman in the 
 future as in the past, you must either find ye 
 another rooster, or buy a clock, an' I reckin 
 that a clock, what will run, but can't run away, 
 is the thing fer you." 
 
 Breakfast over, Ichabod busied himself in 
 getting his nets and other fishing para- 
 phernalia straightened out, for in his hurry 
 to put them out of harm's way as the big 
 blow came on, he had got them pretty badly 
 tangled. It was mid-forenoon before he con- 
 sidered that things about the shack and door 
 yard were about as they should be at the 
 place of a first-class fisherman. Occasion- 
 ally as he worked, he would glance toward 
 the oyster rocks, where lay the remains of 
 The Isabel, and he would wonder once again 
 what could have been the occasion of the 
 curious crime that had resulted in the death 
 of the man chained to the engine. But all 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 133 
 
 his musings brought only increased perplex- 
 ity, tintil his wits were totally befuddled. 
 He dare be sure only that the yachtsman 
 he had rescued was either a villain or a 
 maniac. 
 
 It was a custom in the Sound Country for 
 the natives at frequent intervals to favor 
 their preacher, their doctor and the editor 
 of the gossipy local newspaper with a gift of 
 something attractive, either grown in their 
 vegetable gardens, or taken from the waters 
 round about. In this respect, Ichabod was 
 not different from his neighbors of the other 
 islands and the mainland. Many a time and 
 oft, after he had made a particularly good 
 catch of the delicious stone crabs or scallops, 
 he had set sail to carry an offering of the del- 
 icacies to friends in the town. To-day, after 
 he had finally established order in his house 
 and among his accoutrements, he shouldered 
 his clam fork, and, carrying a large bucket 
 to hold the catch, strode out on the point. 
 The tide was extremely low, and Ichabod 
 was aware that now was the time to reach 
 the place where round clams grew in great 
 abundance. The old man was an expert at 
 
134 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 locating these shell-fish. The keyhole sign 
 made by them in the sand was so familiar 
 to him that he could walk along at a smart 
 pace, while peering alertly here and there in 
 search of it. When his eyes caught the 
 mark, he would strike quickly with his fork 
 into the yielding sand, and so bring to the 
 surface one of the luscious bivalves. On this 
 occasion, Ichabod filled his bucket well within 
 the hour, and then, content, retiuned to the 
 shack for a midday meal. 
 
 When he was done eating, the fisherman 
 washed the clams carefully and wrapped them 
 in a neat bundle. He then took them on 
 board the skiff, and made sail for Beatifort 
 Town, to pay his promised visit to Doctor 
 Hudson, and to present him with the morn- 
 ing's catch, which was of particularly good 
 quality. In addition, he was prompted to 
 the trip by anxiety to learn if an3rthing had 
 been heard in the town as to the identity of 
 the yacht Isabel, or of those who voyaged 
 in her. 
 
 On this occasion, the customary group of 
 loungers was not present on the shore to 
 welcome the little red skiff and her skipper. 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 135 
 
 The quay was practically deserted. The 
 fishing fleet had put to sea again in order to 
 take advantage of as many days as possible 
 with favorable weather for their labor. Icha- 
 bod made his boat fast, and then with his 
 bimdle of clams took his way at once to the 
 physician's house. Doctor Hudson himself 
 met the fisherman at the threshold with a 
 warm handshake. 
 
 "Why, Ichabod!" he exclaimed, with a 
 cheery smile. "Now, what in the world has 
 come over you? In all my life I don't think 
 I ever saw such a change for the better in a 
 man's appearance within the few hours since 
 I saw you last. I guess that wrecks and 
 strange women and the finding of dead men 
 in the sea agree with you." 
 
 Ichabod grinned assent. 
 
 "Yes, Doctor, I 'low that I'm improved a 
 sight," he replied enthusiastically. "I come 
 down to bring ye a few clams, an' to tell ye 
 that since I saw ye I found a housekeepin' 
 job fer life. An' so, while I'm obleeged to 
 ye fer a-keepin' your weather eye open fer 
 me, why, ye needn't no more, fer I've beat 
 ye to it." 
 
136 VrSEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Doctor Hudson looked a little disconcerted. 
 
 "Why, Ichabod, are you really goin' to 
 leave the Island?** 
 
 The fisherman shook his head solemnly. 
 
 "No, sir, I ain't a-goin* to leave the Island 
 except on business, an* to call on my friends. 
 I've took the job right thar. I've done hired 
 out to the new Ichabod Jones, an* I cal'late 
 I'll be the most satisfactory help ole Icky 
 ever had." 
 
 "What in the world do you mean?** the 
 Doctor questioned, with much perplexity. 
 "I'd suppose you were clean crazy, if it 
 weren't for a mischievous twinkle in your 
 eye. Come on now, and tell me what really 
 has happened. I am interested all right, for 
 it must have been something important to 
 make this remarkable change in you, which I 
 can't imderstand.'* 
 
 Ichabod nodded sagely before he replied. 
 
 "Right you are, Doctor. But it took a 
 heap more than a sudden scare like what 
 cured the feller with the hiccoughs. Yes, 
 it took more'n that to cure me. You know. 
 Doc, I think now, as how I was diseased." 
 
 The physician perceived that nothing was 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 137 
 
 to be gained by any attempt at htirrying the 
 old man. 
 
 "Come on into the house," he urged, 
 '*and make yourself comfortable while you 
 tell me the whole story." 
 
 As the two came into the reception-room, 
 the Captain fumbled in his inside coat pocket 
 for a moment, and then carefully drew forth 
 his narrative of the events in which he had 
 been concerned during the last few days. He 
 handed this to the physician as the two 
 seated themselves by the open window. 
 
 "Doctor," Ichabod declared with gravity, 
 "I never did think as how I was a partic'lar 
 good story-teller, an' knowin' as how you 
 an' one or two other friends o' mine would 
 have to know the story, I made up my mind 
 last night that I'd put it into writ fer you- 
 all, so then thar couldn't be no dispute as 
 to the exact words of Ichabod. The story 
 starts right from the beginning o' the blow, 
 A part of it, the first part, you already know, 
 so jest skip along until ye come to whar 
 Sandy Mason shows up." 
 
 Doctor Hudson perused the document with 
 great interest. The imconscious drollery of 
 
138 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the old man*s literary style gave piquancy to 
 the account. At times, the fisherman's bits 
 of humor were amusing enough; again, there 
 was often pathos of a very genuine sort, in 
 the paragraphs. But as the physician neared 
 the end of the roughly written record, the 
 Captain interrupted him. 
 
 ''Say, Doc," he asked, *' would ye mind 
 a-readin' o' that last stanzy right out loud? 
 I think it has got stuff in it that'll make my 
 blood warm up a heap to hear it read." 
 
 The doctor nodded assent, for he at this 
 moment reached the paragraph by which the 
 old man set such store. 
 
 "I, Ichabod Jones," the words ran, "age 
 unknown, bein' as how the family Bible was 
 burnt up, announces to my friends, all an' 
 sundry, that fer the past twenty year I've 
 been a coward an' a fool, but was not a-knowin' 
 of the same imtil to-day. I ain't been called 
 to preach nor nothin' like that. I has jest 
 woke up! From this day on to the end o' 
 me in this world, I aim to git all o' the honest 
 enjoyment I kin out o' this life. An' I want 
 my friends to know that the rule for twenty 
 
THE AWAKENING OF ICHABOD 139 
 
 year as made an' provided has been busted. 
 From this day forward women, ole an' young, 
 will find a welcome on the shore an' in the 
 shack at Ichabod's Island." 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 Toward the Unknown 
 
 WHEN Captain Ichabod left the Island 
 in haste to get medical help for the 
 unconscious Ethel Marion, Doctor 
 Gifford Garnet stood before the shack and 
 watched the red skiff as it rose and fell on the 
 billows until it was well on its way to Beau- 
 fort. Then, with a smile of satisfaction, he 
 turned and entered the abode where the girl 
 was lying with no sign of life save the gentle 
 rh3rthm of the bosom as it rose and fell with 
 her breathing. Now, once again, he knelt 
 by the bedside. For a little, he stroked the 
 forehead with deft fingers, then touched her 
 wrist and counted the pulse. It was evident 
 that he found the condition of his patient sat- 
 isfactory, for a pleased expression came in 
 place of the anxiety that had hitherto marked 
 
 his features. 
 
 140 
 
TOWARD THE UNKNOWN 141 
 
 Leaving the bedside, Doctor Garnet went 
 to the kitchen stove, where he opened the 
 oven door and took out the batteries he had 
 removed from the Httle cedar tender. The 
 intense heat of the oven had thoroughly dried 
 these, so that they were again in working 
 condition, together with the spark coil. The 
 Doctor carried the attachments from the 
 shack to the launch, in which he installed 
 them. This accomiplished, he succeeded, after 
 a great deal of straining effort, in getting 
 launched the small craft, which had been left 
 high up on the sand. By means of an oar, he 
 paddled the boat around to the Captain's 
 miniature wharf. He made it fast here and 
 then busied himself in tuning up the engine. 
 When at last it was running smoothly, he 
 threw in the clutch, and steered the launch 
 toward the wreck of The Isabel. As he neared 
 the oyster rocks, he slowed down the engine, 
 and ran directly over the sunken part of the 
 vessel. There, he peered intently over the 
 side into the depths of the water. Of a 
 sudden, he drew back as if in fright, and his 
 face became ghastly pale. He threw in the 
 clutch and steered at full speed back for the 
 
142 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 landing. One glimpse of the dead eyes glar- 
 ing up at him had sufficed. Though he was a 
 physician, inured to dreadful sights, he quailed 
 before this hideous spectacle. 
 
 At the landing, he hurriedly made the boat 
 fast, and then ran swiftly to the shack. He 
 disappeared for a moment inside, and then 
 came forth bearing his medicine case and 
 blankets. He stowed the case in the launch 
 and spread out the blankets in the bow. This 
 done, he returned to the shack. When he 
 issued from it again, he staggered under a 
 burden almost too great for his strength — 
 the unconscious form of Ethel Marion. He 
 bore her with what haste he could to the land- 
 ing and gently placed her within the 
 blankets. 
 
 At this moment, Doctor Garnet looked in 
 all reality the part of a wild man. He was 
 coatless and hatless. The strong breeze made 
 new tangles in his already disheveled hair. 
 Then, through long seconds, he stood staring 
 bleakly at the distorted and broken yacht. 
 Abruptly there came from his lips a weird 
 wail of distress. That cry meant that every- 
 thing good in life was over for him. His 
 
TOWARD THE UNKNOWN 143 
 
 face set in sullen lines, as he loosed the painter 
 and seated himself aft by the engine. He 
 opened the throttle, and, heading to the 
 northward, soon left the sands of Ichabod's 
 Island and those staring eyes of the dead man 
 far behind. 
 
 So absorbed had the Doctor been in his 
 purpose of flight that he failed even to see 
 the action of Shrimp. Just as the latmch 
 began to move away from the wharf, the 
 rooster leaped lightly to the forward deck. 
 It never occurred to him that he might be 
 imwelcome. He entered the boat as he would 
 have the skiff for a voyage with Ichabod. 
 He was a sociable bird, and fond of a cruise. 
 When the opportunity offered he seized on it 
 with pleased promptness. By the time that 
 Doctor Gifford Garnet chanced to observe 
 Shrimp's presence, the launch was at such a 
 distance from the Island that it would have 
 been folly for him to turn back for the sake 
 of restoring the creature to its place. 
 
 The laimch tossed and pitched dangerously 
 when it came into the broad reaches of Core 
 Sound. It seemed indeed at times that it 
 must inevitably be swamped. But the Doc- 
 
144 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 tor had skill and daring, and now, in the face 
 of this new danger, he was cool and resoiirce- 
 ful. Here there were no rocks to increase 
 the danger as there had been at Ichabod's 
 Island, and eventually he guided the laimch 
 to safety tinder the lea of the wooded shore 
 of the mainland. ^ 
 
 The first intention of Garnet was to make a 
 landing in order to await the coming of night, 
 when, as he knew from past experiences, the 
 wind would almost certainly fall, after which 
 the voyage could be resumed without danger 
 and in comparative comfort. The Doctor 
 found, however, that his plan was impossible 
 of execution. To his discomfiture, he per- 
 ceived that the heavily wooded shore was 
 nothing other than a vast swamp, without 
 an3rwhere a dry spot on which to step foot. 
 Upon making this discovery, he allowed the 
 boat to drift a short distance away from the 
 land, and then dropped overboard the tiny 
 anchor. 
 
 After the launch was made secure, the Doc- 
 tor took from his pocket the hypodermic 
 syringe. The vial accompanying it, how- 
 
TOWARD THE UNKNOWN 145 
 
 ever, was empty. Garnet searched feverishly 
 through his medicine case, at first in despair, 
 for he feared that he had no more of the 
 drug. But at last he uttered an ejaculation 
 of triumph as he drew forth a small bottle of 
 the narcotic. He removed the cork and 
 dropped the pellets into the palm of his hand. 
 He coimted them rapidly, before replacing 
 all but one in the bottle. The quantity of 
 the drug was so small as to fill him with the 
 worst apprehensions. A man held as was 
 Garnet in the clutch of an evil habit would 
 be placed in a horrible position, were he to 
 run out of his morphia supply, while thus 
 storm-bound along the desolate shores of 
 Core Sound. He shuddered at the dreadful 
 thought of such catastrophe. Then he tried 
 to forget the hatmting fear, the while he made 
 his preparations for loading the syringe. 
 Though his fastidiousness was revolted, he 
 had no choice but to use the brackish water 
 from over the side to dissolve the pellet for 
 the shot. When, finally, the task was com- 
 pleted and the syringe duly charged, he did 
 not again bare the girl's arm for an injection. 
 
146 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Now that his stock was running low, perhaps 
 his selfishness forbade any bestowal of the 
 drug on another; or, perhaps, his trained 
 eye told him that the further stupefying of 
 her would react dangerously. So, the liqmd 
 in its entirety was forced into his own arm 
 through the needle's puncture. It was only 
 a matter of a few minutes before the efHcacy 
 of the drug was made manifest. The ner- 
 vousness that had marked the physician's 
 manner fell away from him. His countenance 
 wore a serene aspect. Presently he settled 
 himself comfortably on an upholstered seat 
 and then without more ado fell sound 
 asleep. 
 
 Garnet did not awaken until the shades of 
 night were fast settling over the waters. In 
 all probability, he would have slumbered on 
 much longer, had it not been for his acutely 
 sensitive hearing, which caught the sound of 
 a tiny voice. It was hardly more than a 
 whisper that issued from out the blankets in 
 the bow. It was the voice of Ethel Marion 
 calling him. This was the first time she had 
 spoken since the moment of semi-consciousness 
 upon the Island when she had been revived 
 
TOWARD THE UNKNOWN 147 
 
 by the ministrations of Captain Ichabod. 
 Now she spoke once, and again, the single 
 word: 
 
 ^'Doctor!" 
 
 Garnet sprang up and hurried to her 
 side. 
 
 "Yes, Miss Marion,'' he exclaimed sooth- 
 ingly as he came to her. 
 
 As he knelt by her side, she bade him wel- 
 come with a smile in which pleasure and con- 
 fidence were blended. Indeed, the girl felt 
 that she was quite safe from any possibility 
 of harm while in the company of the trusted 
 family physician. But she realized that she 
 was very weak, and, too, her mind was by 
 no means clear. She was unaware that she 
 was in fact hundreds of miles distant from 
 home and friends. She rested in a reclining 
 position so that the gimwales of the laimch 
 were high enough to shut off a vision of the 
 shore. Otherwise, the luxuriant swamp growth 
 must have shown her that she was far south 
 of New York Harbor. Ethel was familiar 
 with the Sound Country from having trav- 
 ersed it in voyaging to and from Florida 
 points. Could she now have seen, she would 
 
148 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 have recognized the giant gum trees and 
 cypress, garnished with festoons of Spanish 
 moss that swayed gently under the impact of 
 the lessening breeze. 
 
 *' Oh, Doctor! " she queried. ** Have I been 
 ill? I feel so strange in my head, and I am 
 so weak, and, oh, so hungry!" 
 
 ''Yes, Miss Marion," replied Garnet in his 
 most suave manner, '^you have been ill, but 
 are now very much improved. If you will 
 just lie qmet and try to sleep a little more, I 
 will soon have you where you can have plenty 
 of good things to eat, and your strength will 
 return as rapidly as it left you. Fm not 
 going to tell you more at this time. I shall 
 wait until you've had some nourishment and 
 are strong enough to listen to a long 
 story." "- 
 
 Ethel forbore further questioning. She sim- 
 ply smiled again and resimied her sleep. Gar- 
 net drew out the hypodermic syringe, then 
 hesitated. He remembered how limited was 
 his stock of morphia. After a moment more 
 of doubt, he shook his head decidedly and 
 restored the syringe to his pocket. It was 
 only too apparent to him that he must hus- 
 
TOWARD THE UNKNOWN 149 
 
 band his supply with miserly care if he woiild 
 not suffer the tortures of the damned. 
 
 Garnet slipped quietly back to his place by 
 the engine. The sky was now quite clear 
 again, and as the darkness deepened the wind 
 continued to fall, until there was almost per- 
 fect calm. It was safe enough now for the 
 little boat to proceed on her way. The Doc- 
 tor raised the anchor and started the engine. 
 He steered out from the shore resolutely, 
 without any sign of wavering, heading toward 
 the northward. But for what port he sailed 
 was the secret of his own drug-crazed brain 
 alone. Was it his intention to hide away for 
 a time in some sparsely settled section of the 
 Sound country, where he could depend upon 
 getting supplies from the kind-hearted, sim- 
 ple-living coast dwellers? Or did he mean 
 to go back over the way he had come in this 
 frail craft? To do this, could have but one 
 ending — the final disaster. 
 
 The heavy darkness of the early night 
 hours was soon dispelled. Far to the east-- 
 ward, the golden moon at the full came 
 creeping up from behind a huge sand dune 
 upon Core Banks. Its gentle luminousness 
 
150 WHEN THE COCK: CROWS 
 
 fell over the expanse of water and showed the 
 launch clearly as it voyaged toward the un- 
 known. . . . And that same radiance shone 
 upon a lover seeking wildly for the girl of his 
 heart — and seeking in vain. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 Among the Fisherfolk 
 
 THIS night was not different from other 
 nights along the western shores and 
 estuaries of the Sound Country. For 
 that matter, the people of the Hunting Quar- 
 ter and Cedar Island section are not very 
 greatly changed in their manners and customs 
 from those of their forebears of many genera- 
 tions ago. Grouped in small settlements of 
 just a few houses each, they live there to-day 
 after the fashion of those same forebears in 
 almost every detail. The houses are the same 
 or at least they are carefully patterned after 
 those built by the first settlers so many gen- 
 erations ago. 
 
 There is no doubt concerning the ancestry 
 of these folk. A little conversation with the 
 natives is enough to make one realize that 
 he is listening here to a speech redolent of 
 the days of Chaucer, a speech richly flavored 
 
 151 
 
152 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 with the colloqtdalisms of the Elizabethan 
 era. Some of the famiHar folk-lore tales 
 might well have emanated from the poet 
 himself, both for their language and their 
 spirit. 
 
 And these descendants of an early English 
 stock have preserved not only the ancient 
 speech, but they have maintained the gener- 
 ous courtesy of a former time, when Sir 
 Walter Raleigh spread his mantle in the mire 
 in order that his queen might pass dry shod. 
 And real courtesy includes always an imhes- 
 itating and imgrudging hospitality. The 
 dwellers in this isolated region are surpassed 
 by none in their warm welcome of any way- 
 farer who may come to them. 
 
 They have no highway or railroad connec- 
 tion with the outside world. The only means 
 is voyaging by small boats, a method neces- 
 sarily slow at the best, and often quite im- 
 possible. It is claimed that good roads and 
 the railways are essential factors in the edu- 
 cation of any community, and the claim is, 
 doubtless, just. But it would be well, per- 
 haps, if some of those who boast of their 
 education were to be cast among these illit- 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 153 
 
 erates, there to gain a new appreciation of 
 their own language, shorn of its modem 
 barbarities and the atrocities of slang. It is 
 a curious fact that many of these persons who 
 can neither read nor write, nevertheless, 
 possess a vocabulary beyond that of many a 
 grammar-school graduate. Schools have been 
 few and far between in this lonely place. Yet 
 the very isolation has tended to preserve the 
 purity of the local speech. ' 
 
 To-night the inhabitants of the settlement 
 are resting upon their tiny porches, for the 
 air is over- warm and only the slightest bit of 
 breeze is stirring. What little there is of it 
 comes from the forest hard by, and brings 
 with it a plague of numberless mosquitoes. 
 Because of them a huge smudge is kept going 
 close beside every house. But for this defense 
 the insects' victims would be forced to take 
 refuge within doors, with every window and 
 door fast shut. But, after all, they are ac- 
 customed to this affliction whenever the wind 
 blows off the land. They seem to suffer 
 little, if at all, from the volume of smoke 
 that would strangle the unaccustomed. It 
 would seem indeed that they would require 
 
154 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 no masks against the poisonous gases loosed 
 against them by a warrior foe. The most 
 patient sufferers from the pests are those 
 young ladies who are entertaining their lovers. 
 Those of their age go barefooted late this 
 season. The smoke does not lie close to the 
 floor. So they are kept busy slapping at 
 ankles and toes while they listen as best they 
 can to the words of love uttered by their 
 suitors. 
 
 But to-night most of the men are fishing. 
 The season for the gray trout or weak fish 
 has arrived. Of late years a new method for 
 successfully catching them has crept in from 
 the Beaufort section, whither it was brought 
 by some unknown foreigner. After its first 
 coming, it was quickly taken up by all the 
 dwellers along the Sound. The method of it 
 is to suspend a fire of light wood knots, which is 
 built within a hollow, gratelike iron frame 
 over the water. The fire throws a strong 
 light into the depths, which attracts the fish 
 in swarms. As they come close to the sur- 
 face, toward the fire of pine knots, the fisher- 
 man deftly slips beneath them a net shaped 
 like those used for crabbing. By a quick 
 
AMONG THE FISHERPOLK 155 
 
 upward movement, the wriggling fish are 
 drawn safely to skifE or shore as the case may 
 be. 
 
 Such a method of fishing will not appeal to 
 a disciple of Izaak Walton, but one must 
 remember that these primitive folk are not 
 fishing for the sport that is to be found in the 
 pursuit. It is their way of earning a liveli- 
 hood. It is a matter of necessity, not of 
 choice, with them. 
 
 Doctor Garnet realized that it would not 
 be well for Ethel to remain exposed to the 
 chill dampness of the night. He was also 
 aware that she had taken no nourishment 
 throughout the day, and was, therefore, in 
 a peculiarly susceptible condition. So he 
 steered the launch close in to shore, seek- 
 ing eagerly for the lights of some friendly 
 hamlet. But to-night there was a land- 
 ward breeze, so that all lights were extin- 
 gmshed to avoid attracting the mosquitoes. 
 There were only the smudges burning, and 
 these rarely showed any blaze underneath 
 the drifting clouds of smoke. It was the 
 custom to stifle at once any flare of the fire, 
 in order to maintain the smoke at the densest. 
 
156 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 It was the fishermen's lights between Hunt- 
 ing Quarter and Cedar Island that gave the 
 Doctor his first glimpse of life anywhere in 
 the vicinity. Many boats had passed him 
 going up and down the water way, but this 
 strange man had studiously avoided hailing 
 them, or being hailed by them. He was not 
 willing to run the risk of being reported by 
 any craft so encotintered. 
 
 Then, presently, he observed twenty-five or 
 thirty of the lights burning upon the water 
 within a radius of a half mile. Some of them 
 appeared to be directly on the water's edge, 
 while others were scattered over the surface 
 of the Sound. He wondered greatly at the 
 weird sight, but his drug-crazed nerves left 
 him no courage to investigate the phenom- 
 enon. But, of a sudden, the blanket-wrapped 
 form in the bow stirred. There came the 
 gentle noise of a healthy yawn, and then the 
 girl's voice called: 
 
 "Doctor Garnet! Won't you please take 
 me home — wherever that is — or some place 
 where there is food? I'm just as himgry as 
 I can be!" 
 
 "Yes, Miss Marion," the physician an- 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 157 
 
 swered glibly. ** We'll soon be where there 
 is both food and shelter. I'm so glad to find 
 you improved! My patient will soon be her- 
 self again." 
 
 *'Yes," the girl agreed, "I am improved, 
 Doctor. I feel quite myself again, and Fm 
 wondering where I am and what has hap- 
 pened. I must have been unconscious for 
 some time," she added thoughtfully, "for the 
 ankle I sprained while boarding The Isabel is 
 almost well. Do you know, there is very 
 little I remember after that? I recall the 
 awakening in the morning and the finding 
 that the yacht was at sea and then your 
 coming to my assistance when I discovered 
 that I was locked in my room. Please, Doc- 
 tor, won't you explain this whole affair to 
 me? Were we kidnapped by river thieves, 
 and did you succeed in escaping with me? 
 Somehow, I have an impression that we're 
 a long way from New York Harbor." Even 
 in the faint light from the moon, Ethel 
 could see that the physician was perturbed 
 by her questioning. The fact startled her, 
 aroused a vague suspicion. She spoke now 
 with an authoritative quality in her voice. 
 
158 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ''Doctor, what is the meaning of this reti- 
 cence? Why do you show such emotion? 
 Has something dreadful happened? Surely, 
 an explanation is my due.** 
 
 Garnet perceived that he had at last a sane, 
 sensible woman with whom to deal. He 
 knew that it would be necessary for him to 
 treat her as such, to give her a satisfactory 
 and rational explanation. But he had the 
 cunning of that partial madness induced by 
 the drug. He meant to have that cunning 
 stimulated to even a greater degree. For 
 even while the girl was speaking, he contrived 
 to arrange another charge for the hypodermic. 
 To avoid attracting her attention, he did not 
 even roll up his sleeve to insert the point into 
 his flesh. Instead, he inserted it through 
 coat and shirt. In an emergency such as 
 this, he had no need for the aseptic niceties 
 characteristic of his profession. He had no 
 thought of bacteria from the cloth to infect 
 the wound. His sole concern was to feel 
 within him the increased thrill of the morphia. 
 His nerves must be at their best to combat 
 the inquisitiveness of this intelligent young 
 woman, now in the possession of her normal 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 159 
 
 mind. He understood perfectly that his nar- 
 rative of events must contain such a skillful 
 mingling of truth and falsehood as to leave 
 her without any doubt whatsoever concern- 
 ing his own integrity. Otherwise, there must 
 come disgrace for himself, the ruin of his 
 career. He spoke then suavely, genially even. 
 ''Right you are. Miss Ethel. You were 
 kidnapped — taken miles and miles from your 
 home. I trust you are strong enough now 
 to hear the story — properly censored — that I 
 have to tell you. I think, though, it will be 
 sufficient, for the time being, to inform you 
 that you are now absolutely safe. I regret 
 to advise you that The Isabel is no more. 
 She was driven on the rocks, and is a total 
 wreck. Yet, perhaps, it is better so. Your 
 kidnapper was trying to run out into the open 
 sea when the tempest was such that no 
 yacht of such tonnage could have endured the 
 fury of the waves. So the wreck probably 
 saved your life, for you were rescued unharmed 
 with the exception of a mild concussion of 
 the bra^n, which left you unconscious for some 
 time. And you may be glad now, since you 
 have aroused from the stupor, that you have 
 
160 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 no memory of the many harrowing scenes 
 connected with this affair. I also was res- 
 cued, and am doing my utmost to return you 
 to your friends safe and sound. To-night, 
 we're going northward on the waters of Core 
 Sound, off the North CaroHna mainland. 
 The great sand dunes of Core Banks, which 
 you have admired so many times in passing 
 through these waters while cruising with your 
 father, are just visible off the starboard bow 
 in the moonlight. Off the port bow are many 
 tiny lights, which I confess are a mystery to 
 me. I have a suspicion, however, that they 
 are shown by fishermen craft. I think it 
 best to head for them in the hope that we 
 may obtain shelter and food. And now, my 
 dear patient,'' the Doctor concluded briskly, 
 "please let this statement be sufficient for 
 the time being. Then, by-and-by, I will tell 
 you in full the most wonderful story of adven- 
 ture that any little New York girl has ever 
 experienced." 
 
 "Thank you, so much!" Ethel responded 
 gratefully. "Now that I've had this much of 
 the story from you, I'll promise to be as patient 
 as possible. Just the same, I'm awfully 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 161 
 
 anxious to hear it all in its completeness. I 
 love adventure, and I am afraid I can't 
 exactly be sorry that IVe lived through one 
 myself. I'm more sorry for poor father down 
 there on that desolate border, for I know how 
 he is looking forward to another cruise in the 
 poor Isabel. I must wire him promptly, so 
 that he'll be able to have the yacht dupli- 
 cated without delay." 
 
 The physician was immensely elated that 
 his narrative was so well received by the girl. 
 With a new feeling of safety and contentment 
 he headed the launch toward the light that 
 seemed nearest the shore. It was not long 
 until they reached the roughly constructed 
 pier. Upon the extreme end of it sat a soli- 
 tary man fishing with fire and net. 
 
 As they approached the shore, Garnet was 
 able to make out the shadowy outlines that 
 bulked in the distance as a half-dozen small 
 houses. Beside each a smudge sent forth 
 clouds of heavy smoke. He was heartened 
 by the scene, for he knew well the hospitality 
 of the southern home, and he was confident 
 that within the walls of one of these humble 
 cottages would be found food and rest for 
 
162 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 himself and the girl in his charge. Yet even 
 in this moment, the physician wondered if 
 indeed there would ever be real rest for him 
 while he should remember the staring, accusing 
 eyes that looked up at him from the water's 
 depth. 
 
 Garnet brought the tender alongside the 
 wharf in shore, at a sufficient distance from 
 the man to avoid disturbing the fishing. Then 
 he climbed out upon the frail, wooden struc- 
 ture built upon poles driven into the bottom, 
 and made his way over its swaying surface 
 to the native by the fire. This proved to 
 be ''Squire" Goodwin, the big man of the 
 settlement. He was of an appearance above 
 the average, and handsome still in spite of 
 fifty-odd years of toil and exposure. He rose 
 at Garnet's approach, and, without waiting 
 to be addressed, spoke with an air of genial 
 familiarity. 
 
 *'I don't usually go a-firin' for trout this 
 late o' night, but the truth is that between 
 the hell-fired skeeters and the gals havin' 
 beaux there wasn't much for me to enjoy at 
 home. My name's Goodwin," he added by 
 way of introduction. ''They call me Squire 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 163 
 
 all around these parts. I'm the justice o' 
 the peace. So be you're after a warrant?" 
 
 The last word affected Garnet very un- 
 pleasantly, and he shook his head with such 
 grim emphasis that the Squire perceived he 
 had been mistaken as to the stranger's pur- 
 pose. 
 
 ''No?" he remarked. ''Well, then, maybe 
 it's fair for me to make another guess." A 
 twinkle shone now in his clear eyes. "Judg- 
 ing from the face that the moon just lighted 
 up there in the bow of your snapper, I don't 
 believe I'd be far wrong in judging ye two to 
 be worldly folks that think a squire's good as 
 a parson. What mout you're name be, 
 stranger?" 
 
 At this blunt demand, Garnet again showed 
 traces of embarrassment, but these endured 
 only for an instant. He realized that in 
 this place so remote from the ordinary lanes 
 of travel there could be little danger in divulg- 
 ing his identity. So he spoke with brisk 
 confidence. 
 
 "My name, sir, is Gifford Garnet, I am a 
 physician. The young lady lying in the 
 launch yonder is my patient. Wo were sg 
 
164 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 unfortunate as to be wrecked while on a 
 yacht cruising in the waters to the south of 
 here. We are now on our way northward, 
 bound for one of the larger towns, where we 
 shall be able to get transportation home. 
 The young lady is suffering from an injured 
 ankle, and, too, she has been for some time 
 unconscious from a blow on the head received 
 while we were escaping from the yacht. It 
 is only within the last hoiu* that she has 
 seemed to be again quite normal. We were 
 obliged to lay to in the lower section of the 
 Sound for several hours, waiting for the 
 weather to moderate. Otherwise we would 
 not have been obliged to put in here and beg 
 you for food and lodging. If you can take 
 care of us over night I shall be only too glad 
 to pay you for your hospitality." 
 
 "Pay me for my hospitality!" the Squire 
 exclaimed indignantly. ''That's something 
 in my locality that's never been for sale, and 
 can't be bought. You-all must be from the 
 North. I've heard folks from the outside 
 say that folks up there pay for everything, 
 even for a place to hang their hats in public 
 houses, Folks that pay for everything they 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 165 
 
 get lose all love for each other." His tone 
 changed abruptly, and he spoke authorita- 
 tively. "Get that young woman out o' the 
 boat and after I make another dip, I'll take 
 ye up and show ye one shack where hospi- 
 tality ain't for sale. And when you go please 
 remember that you don't leave under any 
 obligation to Squire Goodwin. I will say 
 though, if ye ever catch me in you-all's fix, 
 and ye he'p me out, then I won't offer to 
 pay you for your hospitality. I just don't 
 believe in it!" 
 
 The Squire skipped back to his firelight, 
 and the Doctor watched him toss four flop- 
 ping, wriggling beauties upon the wharf. 
 As the fish fell from the net, the Squire 
 shouted triumphantly: 
 
 "Say, Doctor, there's a momin' meal you- 
 all can't pay for!" 
 
 The task of getting Ethel Marion from the 
 boat to the shore was not as difficult as Gar- 
 net had anticipated. She was buoyed up 
 wonderfully by the thought that comfortable 
 quarters awaited her and good clean food to 
 satisfy an appetite that was fast becoming 
 ravenous. Had it not been for the injured 
 
166 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ankle, she could have walked as rapidly as* 
 either of the men from the landing stage to 
 the house. But when she rested her full 
 weight on it, she found that it was still pain- 
 ful, so that it was necessary for the Doctor 
 to support her on one side while the Squire 
 gallantly gave his aid on the other. 
 
 As they reached the porch, there was a 
 stealthy sound of scurrying and the pattering 
 of bare feet, as the young-men callers slipped 
 away in the darkness to their homes. Then 
 the two young women hastened forward to 
 greet the strangers in true Core Sound style. 
 "Ma" was in bed, they explained, but they 
 themselves, with easy, unaffected kindness 
 proceeded to make the invalid at home. Then 
 one of them hurried into the cook-room to 
 prepare a quick meal. 
 
 Ethel Marion, a girl of high society in New 
 York City, and reared in luxury, had hith- 
 erto known little of humble homes such as 
 this in which now she was being cared for so 
 generously. As she glanced about her, she 
 saw that the walls were not covered with a 
 paper especially prepared for the piu'pose, in 
 the manner to which she had been accus- 
 
AMONG THE FISHERFOLK 167 
 
 tomed. Instead, they carried sheets of ordi- 
 nary newspapers, most of them of a religious 
 character. It was a quaint and indisputable 
 witness to the fact that here she was in the 
 home of a God-loving, Christian family. All 
 of the furnishings were simple; most of them 
 of great age. Among them were antiques to 
 warm a collector's heart. It was plain that 
 these had been handed down through many 
 generations. Those of later origin were care- 
 fully wrought duplicates of the choicest 
 models. In her astonishment amid surround- 
 ings so strange and yet so pleasant, with the 
 savor of cooking food in her nostrils, Ethel for 
 the moment almost forgot the mystery and 
 the peril through which she had passed — 
 almost forgot, for a fleeting instant, the lover 
 she had summoned to her aid by a message 
 cast into the sea. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 Garnet the Hero 
 
 THE dwellers of the Sound Country are 
 early risers. For this reason, Ethel 
 Marion was up and dressed next morn- 
 ing earlier than ever before in her life. The 
 dawn was just breaking when breakfast was 
 announced. One of the buxom girls came to 
 offer her services in dressing the invalid 
 stranger. Then she was assisted to the porch 
 for a breath of the early morning air, and 
 she exclaimed in delight over the splendid 
 view there unfolded. Far off to the east- 
 ward the sun was just climbing up from be- 
 hind a sand dune on the Banks. For miles 
 up and down the coast the broken sand hills 
 ran in a line north and south, trending the 
 horizon. These showed free from any vege- 
 tation except the scrub growth at their base 
 and the sand of them shone under the rays 
 
 i68 
 
GARNET THE HERO 169 
 
 of the rising stin like molten silver. In the 
 foreground were the blue waters of the Sound 
 now dimpling under the caressing touches of 
 a gentle breeze. Here and there showed high 
 lights from the whitecaps that stood out as 
 souvenirs still of the storm that had passed. 
 Off to the right of the small bay upon v/hich 
 the house was built, a tangled mass of ever- 
 green shrubs offered a vivid note in the color 
 scheme. These were the undergrowth of the 
 huge forest trees, of which the limbs were 
 almost hidden by the clinging wreaths of 
 mistletoe. 
 
 The esthetic sense of Ethel was touched 
 to the deeps by this vista of beauty roimd- 
 about. No wonder that the dwellers in this 
 blessed region lived contented in youth, ma- 
 turity, and old age. She wondered, rather, 
 that anyone could be cross or ill tempered or 
 evil in any way within the environment of a 
 nature so benign. 
 
 She was reluctant when Miss Goodwin 
 gently led her away from the panorama of 
 beauty toward the more sordid pleasure of 
 the breakfast table. As she went, Ethel of- 
 fered a silent and most devout prayer of grat- 
 
170 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 itude for her preservation and for the kind- 
 ness she had received from Doctor Garnet 
 and these strangers, whom just now she was 
 very near to loving. 
 
 Had it not been for the wish to appease the 
 anxiety of friends at home, Ethel would have 
 been content to remain long in this wonder 
 spot, among a people so simple, so different 
 from those to whom she had been acustomed, 
 who were so little acquainted with the man- 
 ners and the fashions of a so-called higher 
 society. But, breakfast over, she was the 
 first to suggest that it were best to leave this 
 remote settlement, with all its charms of 
 scenery and the compelling attractiveness of 
 its homely goodness. The nerve-racked Gar- 
 net also was anxious to depart. He had 
 rested comparatively well after the excite- 
 ment and strain of the previous day, and now 
 to an eye not too critical he would have 
 seemed quite normal. Yet, a certain wild- 
 ness in the expression of his eyes had not 
 wholly disappeared. Now that Ethel was 
 herself again, she perceived that there was 
 something radically wrong with the man. 
 Naturally enough, she attributed this con- 
 
GARNET THE HERO 171 
 
 dition on his part to the worry over her wel- 
 fare, and she even experienced a feeling 
 almost like remorse that she should thus 
 unwittingly have been the cause of suffering 
 on his part. 
 
 The Goodwins urged them to remain for a 
 longer rest, but they abandoned their hos- 
 pitable efforts when Ethel pointed out the 
 necessity of at once relieving the anxiety of 
 her friends concerning her safety. They pro- 
 vided, however, an ample amount of food to 
 be carried by the voyagers, which would suf- 
 fice them until they reached a town on the 
 coast to the northward, and the entire family 
 went down to the wharf to wish them God- 
 speed. 
 
 As the party approached the landing, the 
 attention of all was called to Shrimp, who 
 hitherto had been neglected. He came walk- 
 ing proudly along the beach toward them 
 from the pier. When the physician ex- 
 plained that the rooster was a pet, the Squire 
 hurried back to the house and returned quickly 
 with a small package of com. A moment 
 later, the launch was again in motion, while 
 those on shore waved their adieux with 
 
172 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 handkerchiefs, to which Ethel repHed in 
 kind. 
 
 Ethel was eager in her praise for every 
 member of the family that had shown them 
 such kindness and hospitality. 
 
 ''Oh, Doctor," she exclaimed, ''just as 
 soon as the new yacht is built, the very first 
 cruise shall be a visit to this beautiful spot. 
 Father must know these plain people who 
 have been such life-savers to us. You, too, 
 Doctor Garnet, shall be one of the party. 
 We'll see if we can't devise some scheme by 
 which to repay them for what they've done." 
 
 The physician made no reply. He seemed 
 indeed to be wholly absorbed in meditation. 
 But he aroused with a start from his reverie 
 at the girl's next question. 
 
 "Doctor, you know a woman's inquisi- 
 tiveness! Last night you bade me be patient, 
 and said that after a while you would tell me 
 the whole story of this unfortunate affair. 
 Now, I simply must ask you just one question. 
 Will you answer it?" 
 
 "I'll try, Miss Marion," was the answer, 
 given with an air as nonchalant as he could 
 assume. 
 
GARNET THE HERO 173 
 
 ''Where are the villains who took part in 
 this affair? Did they go down with The 
 Isabel, or did they escape, and are they still 
 at large?'* 
 
 Garnet looked the girl straight in the eye 
 as he replied in a tone of the utmost sincerity. 
 
 "The arch-conspirator escaped. He is 
 probably being hunted by the best detectives 
 in the country. He is sure to be captured' 
 eventually, dead or alive." 
 
 ''Thank you. Doctor,'' Ethel said grate- 
 fully. "And in proof of my thanks, I won't 
 trouble you any more on this subject, which 
 seems to worry and annoy you. Of course, I 
 don't know what dreadful things you were 
 obliged to go through with in order to save 
 yourself and me from harm. Really, I'm 
 not surprised that you don't wish to talk 
 about it. But I do hope they catch the 
 guilty man and punish him as he deserves — 
 hang him, perhaps." 
 
 The physician winced at the innocent re- 
 mark, and vouchsafed no reply. 
 
 The latmch sped on and on. The wind in- 
 creased in some degree during mid-forenoon, 
 as is usual in southern waters at this season 
 
174 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 of the year. But the little craft was staiinchly 
 built, and by taking advantage of the head- 
 lands she made fairly good progress. 
 
 Garnet was beginning to suffer again from 
 lack of the drug. Ethel had not as yet seen 
 him use the hypodermic needle, nor did he 
 care to have her. But by rapid stages his 
 desire reached such a point that he must either 
 have the relief of morphia or go mad. Then 
 his cunning brain suggested that it would be 
 easy enough to deceive this guileless girl. 
 So he boldly told her that he was in a highly 
 nervous state and suffering as well from a 
 splitting headache, and that, therefore, he 
 deemed it advisable to take a small injection 
 of morphia, which would undoubtedly relieve 
 him. 
 
 Ethel had not the faintest idea that this 
 learned man, of such eminence in his pro- 
 fession, was, in fact, a drug fiend. She had 
 no suspicion of the truth even when she saw 
 the point of the hypodermic syringe penetrate 
 the skin of his forearm. She merely admired 
 the graceful, deft movements of the long and 
 slender fingers. 
 I Nevertheless, the girl could hardly fail to 
 
GARNET THE HERO 175 
 
 note the change that came almost immediately 
 over the man. Now he became again his 
 usual self, with little, if any, trace of ner- 
 vousness, with the manner that was affable 
 and sympathetic. 
 
 It was a half hour later when Ethel, ever 
 alert, noticed a fisherman's boat laboring 
 clumsily down the Sound. In years agone, 
 it had been equipped with a sail, but now it 
 chugged away industriously under the energy 
 of a wheezing gasoHne engine. There were 
 several persons aboard — three men, two 
 women and a baby in arms. During her 
 first glance at the ungainly-looking boat, the 
 beat of the engine ceased, and it was evident 
 from the actions of the man who busied him- 
 self with the machinery that the motor had 
 balked. As the laimch drew nearer, the girl 
 saw that those in the broken-down craft were 
 in a state of consternation, with their atten- 
 tion centered on the child. She cried out 
 in wonder to the Doctor. 
 
 *'What in the world can be the matter in 
 that boat? It must have something to do 
 with the baby." 
 
 Garnet answered without hesitation. 
 
176 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Yes, Miss Ethel, I've been watching, and 
 there is certainly something seriously wrong. 
 I'll go close enough to hail them." 
 
 The men in the fishing boat began to wave 
 their hats as distress signals, and the Doctor 
 nodded and raised his hand as a signal that 
 he was coming. 
 
 When the launch came within hailing dis- 
 tance, one of the men shouted out an explan- 
 ation. The propeller had become entangled 
 in a piece of floating net, and so rendered 
 useless. The party came from the Toume- 
 quin Bay section, where an epidemic of 
 diphtheria was raging. This baby had not 
 improved under the ''granny" treatment of 
 the neighborhood, in which there were no 
 doctors. In consequence, it was now being 
 taken to Beaufort to receive the antitoxin — 
 that new remedy for which such miracles were 
 claimed. Even as the man was speaking, the 
 baby was seized with a fit of strangling that 
 brought it almost to the point of death. 
 
 Came a transformation scene. Here was 
 no longer Garnet, the crazed drug fiend. In 
 his stead was revealed the man and the physi- 
 cian — ^he who in times of distress and suffering 
 
GARNET THE HERO 177 
 
 had always given his services to the best of 
 his ability. In this moment the old instinct 
 rose dominant. He called to them in a loud 
 clear voice. 
 
 ''I am a physician. If you will permit me 
 ril come aboard and try to give temporary 
 relief. Something must be done promptly, 
 or the child will die." 
 
 In order to save Ethel as far as possible 
 from any danger of contagion, Garnet brought 
 the launch alongside the stern of the fishing 
 boat, since the baby was in the bow. As he 
 stepped aboard the other craft he bade one 
 of the men let the launch drop back astern 
 to full length of the painter. While this was 
 being done, the physician, medicine case in 
 hand, hurried to the child that lay struggling 
 spasmodically in its mother's arms. An in- 
 stant of examination showed to Garnet's 
 practiced eyes that the throat was almost 
 completely filled with the membrane charac- 
 teristic of the disease, and that it must be only 
 a matter of minutes before suffocation would 
 ensue imless effective measures for relief were 
 taken. A glance to the shore two miles away 
 told him that the delay in reaching it would 
 
178 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 prove fatal to his patient^s chances. It was 
 evident that if the baby's Hfe were to be saved 
 he must act — and act now. Nor did he hes- 
 itate. With lightning-Hke rapidity he took 
 out his emergency kit of surgeons' tools. 
 He bade the most intelligent-appearing of the 
 men hold the child according to his precise 
 directions. Then, with his coat off and 
 shirt sleeves rolled up, Doctor Garnet braced 
 himself in the tossing boat and performed the 
 operation of tracheotomy, while the mother 
 crouched weeping and praying with her face 
 hidden in her hands. 
 
 Presently, the sufferer grew quiet, for now 
 it was able to breathe again. Thanks to 
 the great skill of this man, once again a life 
 had been saved. 
 
 The parents of the child were profuse in 
 the expressions of heartfelt gratitude. They 
 would have given what little money they had 
 to this savior of their child. But Garnet, of 
 course, would take no fee for his services. He 
 diverted the chorus of thanks by offering to 
 take in tow the disabled fishing boat and 
 bring it to the shore, whence means could 
 be secured for their going on to Beaufort. He 
 
GAENET THE HERO 179 
 
 insisted that in spite of what he had done, the 
 baby should be taken to the town, in order to 
 receive treatment with the antitoxin. 
 
 Throughout all the scene, Ethel had watched 
 the physician with eyes in which shone pride 
 and affection. It seemed to her that this 
 man was one who fought always to relieve 
 distress according to the best measure of his 
 strength. 
 
 "He has succored me," she mused with a 
 warm glow in her heart. 
 
 ''He is taking me to my home — to Roy. 
 He has stopped only long enough to rescue 
 another sufferer from the jaws of death — even 
 as he rescued me. He is a hero." 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 Adrift with a Madman 
 
 THE afflicted child showed marked signs 
 of improvement by the time The 
 I saber s tender, with its tow, reached 
 the small hamlet of Atlantic — a cluster of 
 fishermen's houses and two stores built on a 
 bluff to the westerly side of Core Sound. 
 There the disabled boat was pulled out upon 
 the beach so that the stem was exposed and 
 workmen could get at the injured shaft. 
 The work of repair was simple. Soon the 
 craft was restored to running condition, and 
 its passengers went on their way, their hearts 
 filled with new hopes for the safety of the 
 child. 
 
 Ethel remained at the wharf, since the 
 steep climb up the bluff must have proved 
 too trying for her injured ankle. But the 
 
 Doctor, acting imder the girl's instructions, 
 
 1 80 
 
ADRIFT WITH A MADMAN 181 
 
 made his way up the hillside to the stores in 
 order to purchase for her some necessary- 
 apparel to replace that lost in the wreck. 
 There was occasion also to buy additional 
 gasoline for the launch. With these things 
 provided, the two again set forth on their 
 voyaging. 
 
 The physician, though he appeared genial 
 enough, was in fact greatly perturbed. He 
 had tried in vain to secure morphia at either 
 of the stores in Atlantic. He took advantage 
 of his absence from Ethel to administer an- 
 other injection, so that for the present the 
 craving was stilled. But he was filled with 
 dread for the future. While the launch 
 moved forward steadily through the calm 
 water, he secretly counted again the pellets 
 remaining in the vial. Heartsick, he realized 
 the truth. It was a matter only of a few 
 hours before his stock of the drug would be 
 entirely exhausted. In such a situation, 
 knowing as he did the horrible suffering that 
 must ensue to him for lack of morphia, 
 Garnet did not hesitate. He had learned 
 by inquiries that there was a physician at 
 Portsmouth, on the south side of Ocracoke 
 
182 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Inlet, at the extreme northerly end of Core 
 Banks. He must direct the launch thither, 
 there to seek relief from his fellow practi- 
 tioner. There was even the possibility of 
 whiskey to mitigate his torture, for as one of 
 the natives had informed him in Atlantic, 
 "No*th Caroliny wasn't plumb bone- 
 dryr 
 
 For some time now, Ethel Marion had 
 closely watched her companion. She could 
 not but perceive how different was his manner 
 from that of the man who, for years, had 
 visited her father's house whenever medical 
 aid was needed. Formerly he had been full 
 of life and vigor; a man of most affable bear- 
 ing, while now he was morose, almost dif- 
 fident. Since her return to consciousness, she 
 had not once seen a smile on his face. In- 
 stead, his expression was always abstracted 
 and remote. Moreover, at times, the girl 
 had seen him turn his face quickly to the 
 south as if moved by some irresistible and 
 baneful attraction. And, too, at such times 
 he had shuddered visibly. Ethel felt con- 
 vinced that there remained something very 
 frightful in the story still to be told concern- 
 
ADRIFT WITH A MADIMAN 183 
 
 ing the wreck of the yacht. As she watched 
 the man, a vague fear developed in her — a 
 fear of him, for him. She had as yet no sus- 
 picion that she had been in mortal peril 
 through the act of this man. But she was 
 more than half convinced that he could be 
 no longer a safe protector, for the peculiarity 
 of his appearance and manner soon con- 
 vinced her that he was actually deranged. It 
 was evident that he desired to be left to his 
 own musings. So, for a long time, she re- 
 frained from any attempt toward conversa- 
 tion. She even feigned sleep, but through the 
 long, brown lashes she continued to study the 
 worn and harassed visage before her. And 
 it was during this period of sly observation 
 that she detected his deft resort to the hypo- 
 dermic syringe. She witnessed as well the 
 febrile anxiety with which he once more in- 
 spected the number of pellets. She noted 
 with dismay the horror in his drawn features 
 as he stared at the vial. Her ears even 
 caught his whispered words: 
 
 "Only two!" 
 
 But before the startled and apprehensive 
 girl could formulate a conclusion as to the 
 
184 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 significance of what she had seen and heard, 
 there came an interruption. 
 
 In the spring great numbers of shad jour- 
 ney from the depths of the Atlantic to their 
 spawning grounds far up in the head waters 
 of the Neuse and Pamlico Rivers. The Sound 
 fisherman is alert to know the time of their 
 coming and stakes his gill nets all along the 
 miles upon miles of shallows away from the 
 buoy-marked channel of the Soimd, in order 
 that he may gain for himself the high prices 
 paid in the northern markets for these deli- 
 cacies of the sea. It is the rule that after the 
 shad season the stakes to which the nets had 
 been tied shall be removed. But sometimes 
 carelessness, or worse, leaves the stakes in 
 their places. In many instances these are 
 broken off below the surface of the water by 
 the buffeting of the waves. Thus invisible, 
 they become a serious menace in the course 
 of small boats. Sometimes in rough water, a 
 boat falling from a wave has struck on one of 
 these to have its bottom pierced, and forth- 
 with to fill and sink. 
 
 It was one of these stakes that now caused 
 catastrophe. The sloping stem scraped over 
 
ADRIFT \YLTR A ]VL\DMAN 185 
 
 it. Next instant, the brittle bronze propeller 
 blades rasped against it. They were swept 
 off as smoothly as icicles from a window ledge, 
 and the homeward crtiise of the frail little 
 tender was at an end. 
 
 There came a scream from Ethel, which was 
 echoed by a groan from the physician as his 
 thoughts went in despair to the two pellets — 
 only two! It was with the mechanical action 
 of the experienced yachtsman that he threw 
 the throttle of the engine as it raced free from 
 the propeller's resistance. 
 
 "Oh, Doctor," the girl cried, "what is it 
 now? What has happened to us — " 
 
 "Our propeller blades are stripped. Miss 
 Marion,*' he answered, in a tone of deep de- 
 jection. "There is no injury to the hull, of 
 course, or we would have taken in water 
 already. There is no danger, but," he con- 
 cluded with great bitterness, "it is very dis- 
 couraging, I must admit." a 
 
 "What shall we do, Doctor? — drift with 
 the wind imtil we are picked up by some 
 passing vessel?" 
 
 I think not, Miss Ethel," Garnet replied. 
 Judging from the direction of the breeze, in 
 
 
186 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 less than an hotir we shall come on the shore 
 of Core Banks." 
 
 He spoke in a new voice of gentleness as 
 he continued: -^ 
 
 ''Pray do not worry. I don't believe there 
 is an acre of water that we will pass over where 
 the depth would be above our arm-pits.'* 
 
 The thought of being stranded upon the 
 barren Core Banks would have been serious 
 enough to awaken dread in the heart of any 
 woman, even in the company of a sane person. 
 But Ethel Marion had her distress instantly 
 increased by the fact that the man with her 
 was of unsound mind. She had a general 
 idea of how far they would be distant from 
 any human habitation. This very strip of 
 sand had been pointed out to her many times 
 by the local pilot aboard her father's yacht. 
 Now, there came crashing into her tortured 
 brain memories of tales told by that same 
 pilot; concerning treasure secreted there years 
 agone by the pirate Black Beard; concern- 
 ing the weird lights that rose from the sands 
 at night, then mysteriously vanished; con- 
 cerning the evil beach-combers who burned 
 here their flares to trick the skippers of ships 
 
ADRIFT WITH A MADMAN 187 
 
 out at sea and deliver them to death upon 
 these sands, where the bones of the vessels 
 might be picked at ease ; concerning the utter 
 isolation of this region, where no human 
 beings were to be found short of Portsmouth 
 at one end and Cape Lookout at the other — 
 fifty miles apart. a 
 
 The laimch drifted slowly, but none the 
 less surely, toward the strip of sterile bleak- 
 ness broken only by the huddled masses of 
 the dunes. As she saw them that morning 
 from the porch of Squire Goodwin's home, 
 Ethel had thought them a splendid and in- 
 spiring spectacle. Now, under the changed 
 circumstances, their nearer aspect terrified 
 her. She felt a desperate wonder as to what 
 fate might hold in store. 
 
 By a mighty effort of will, the girl forced 
 back the fear that threatened to overcome her. 
 She addi'essed Garnet in a voice that trem- 
 bled only slightly. 
 
 *' Would it not be better to drop the anchor, 
 and remain out here where we could siu*ely be 
 seen by passing boats?" 
 
 The Doctor shook his head in negation as 
 he answered : 
 
188 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "No, Miss Ethel. It would be of no use, 
 for we are too far from the traveled route. 
 Besides, you have been so long cramped up 
 aboard this little boat that it's imperative 
 thp.t you should stretch yourself ashore. As 
 far as the fishermen are concerned, we can 
 make signals to them on shore as well as from 
 here, better in fact.*' 
 
 He pointed suddenly. 
 
 "I can make out a rough fisherman's shack 
 over yoimder between the dunes. There's 
 no chance of its being occupied at this season, 
 but the shelter afforded by it will mean every- 
 thing to you." 
 
 Ethel looked in the direction indicated. 
 
 '*0h, yes, Doctor, I see it. I suppose it 
 would help in an emergency, but I do hope 
 we shall not be compelled to pass a night in 
 this desolate place." 
 
 The physician's voice was surcharged with 
 gloom — perhaps from pity for himself rather 
 than for her — ^as he replied. 
 
 *'It's already near stmdown, so I'm greatly 
 afraid we must pass at least a night in this 
 wretched place. There is just one chance. 
 Should the wind veer a little further to the 
 
ADRIFT WITH A IVIADMAN 189 
 
 southward, I could possibly use a pole and 
 so push the boat up along the shore toward 
 Portsmouth. But while the breeze remains 
 in its present quarter, we have no choice but 
 to stay here marooned. I only wish we had 
 taken on more supplies at Atlantic. Should 
 I be obliged to go on foot to Portsmouth in 
 order to bring back a boat for you, a collection 
 of canned goods would prove capital company 
 for you during my absence.'* 
 
 Ethel regarded the physician with surprise, 
 and a tremulous smile bent her lips, for this 
 was his first and only attempt at humor 
 throughout all the trip. But as she studied 
 his face, with its lugubrious expression, she 
 came to the conclusion that, after all, he had 
 not in the least meant to be funny; had, on 
 the contrary, spoken in all seriousness. 
 
 Presently, the waves bore the tender gently 
 upon the shelving strip of sand. Ethel re- 
 mained on board, while Garnet went to make 
 an inspection of the hut. 
 
 Shrimp, too, hurriedly hopped from the 
 tiny deck forward, and when he found him- 
 self safe ashore expressed his gratification by a 
 lusty crow — ^his first dviring the voyage. 
 
190 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Garnet found the accommodations far bet- 
 ter than he conld have expected. The shack 
 contained a small cook-stove, cooking uten- 
 sils, clean bimks, some chairs and a table. 
 He returned and aided Ethel to disembark. 
 Then, still holding her hand, he led her toward 
 the shack. 
 
 She went in a mood of dire foreboding to- 
 ward this miserable shelter, under the escort 
 of a man whom she now knew to be crazed. 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 The Coming-out Party 
 
 AS Captain Ichabod left the physician's 
 house after having made his confes- 
 sion, Doctor Hudson stood watching 
 him while he walked briskly away. 
 
 "See how that old devil is stepping it off 
 down the street like a four-year-old," was the 
 observer's comment. "He really has taken 
 on a new lease of life, and materia medica 
 didn't have a finger in the pie, either. If it 
 had happened a few years earlier that he had 
 a chance to tell Sandy Mason what he thought 
 of him, and to save a woman from drowning, 
 likely as not there'd have been a wife and 
 children on the Island to-day to cheer the old 
 fellow's declining years. It's a shame that 
 cat of a woman ever crossed his path, for he's 
 one of the best-meaning, greatest-hearted men 
 in the county." 
 
 191 
 
192 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Suddenly, the Doctor chuckled. 
 
 '*By George, I have an idea, and Til get 
 busy on it. Yes, sir, I'll take the old rascal 
 at his word.'* With that. Doctor Hudson 
 disappeared inside his house and shut the 
 door after him. 
 
 The government wireless station at Beau- 
 fort is built upon an island, which is sepa- 
 rated from the mainland by the narrow chan- 
 nel of New Port River just before it empties 
 into the sea. Now, Captain Jones went at 
 once to the government wharf, where he se- 
 cured the services of a small boy to row him 
 to the island. On his arrival, he was warmly 
 welcomed, for he was as popular there as 
 with the men of the coast guard. As he 
 entered the small receiving-room, the instru- 
 ments were spitting out dots and dashes, 
 with all kinds of sparks for accompaniment. 
 The principal operator was taking down a 
 message. As soon as the task was ended, he 
 whirled about and greeted the old fisherman 
 enthusiastically. 
 
 ''Why, howdy. Captain Ichabod — glad to 
 see you. It's sure fine of you to come over. 
 I understand there' ve been some exciting 
 
THE COMING-OUT PARTY 193 
 
 times up in yoiir neck of the woods. By the 
 way, what was the name of the yacht that 
 went on the rock?'' 
 
 "It was The Isabel, of New York," replied 
 Ichabod. 
 
 ''Is that so!" exclaimed the operator. ''If 
 that's the case, I reckon this message I just 
 yanked out of the air will be of interest to 
 you." 
 
 He handed the paper to the Captain, who, 
 after finding his spectacles and adjusting 
 them carefully, read aloud the following: 
 
 "To all port officers: 
 
 Motor-driven yacht Isabel of New York, put to sea 
 without clearance papers. Investigation shows she 
 was probably stolen. Daughter of owner a prisoner 
 on board. If located in your vicinity arrest boat and 
 all members of crew. Make diligent search for young 
 woman and release her. 
 
 The bulletin was signed by an officer of 
 the Treasury Department. 
 
 "We'll ni be doggoned! " cried the Captain, 
 in great astonishment. "I knowed that feller 
 was some kind o' a bad egg, but now I believe 
 to goodness he was plumb sp'ilt. That poor 
 
194 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 little brown-eyed gal! What a pity! I wish 
 I'd a held right smack onto her — that I do." 
 
 "I suppose/' the operator rejoined, "that 
 bulletin has been picked up by all of the sta- 
 tions, so that the boys are keepin' a sharp 
 lookout to overhaul the yacht and pinch the 
 bunch, an' especially to save the girl. I'll 
 get this over to the Collector of Customs right 
 away. He'll want to report the escape of 
 the man and woman and to give the direction 
 they went." 
 
 "Ye'd better tell him to mention the dead 
 feller, an' that he was tied down." 
 
 "That's right, Uncle Ichabod. Say, but 
 there's a lot of mystery about this affair. 
 I'll bet my boots you haven't heard the last 
 of it." ' 
 
 "Maybe not," the fisherman admitted. 
 " But, by cracky, since what I've been through 
 a'ready they can't skeer Ichabod. No, not 
 by a damned sight!" 
 
 It was very seldom that Captain Jones 
 used a profane expression. When he did, it 
 was with deliberate intention. 
 
 Upon this island where the wireless outfit is 
 stationed, the government has another institu- 
 
THE COMING-OUT PARTY 195 
 
 tion — a laboratory where studies are made in 
 sea life. It includes a remarkable museum, 
 which is visited by students from far and near. 
 There are power boats equipped for dredging 
 at considerable depth in order to bring to 
 light the secret things of the sea. Many of 
 the curios are contributed by the fishermen, 
 who are continually dragging forth in their 
 nets objects strange to them. When a thing 
 of real rarity is brought to the laboratory, a 
 snug sum is paid to the finder. The Captain 
 himself had always a ready eye for anything 
 that might prove of value, and his finds from 
 time to time netted him a tidy profit. To-day 
 he had with him a variety of sea porcupine 
 new to him, which he had found in his net 
 a few days before. So now, on leaving the 
 wireless station, Ichabod visited the labora- 
 tory, where the sea porcupine was duly deliv- 
 ered and brought in return a satisfactory sum 
 of money. Here, too, he retold once again 
 all his experiences in connection with the 
 wreck of The Isabel. By the time this was 
 done, the afternoon was well spent. The old 
 man was rowed back to the mainland, where 
 he entered the red skiff and set sail homeward. 
 
196 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 As he passed up the bay, the tide was low, 
 so that in many places the shoals and rocks 
 were exposed. Captain Ichabod, reclining 
 lazily in the stem sheets of the skiff, tiller in 
 hand, listened to the noisy clatter of the giills, 
 which in vast swarms were feeding on their 
 favorite scallops. 
 
 Ages ago, the gulls discovered that the 
 fluted shell must be broken ere the luscious 
 morsel within could be obtained. It was 
 wholly impossible for them to crush the 
 stonelike casing with their bills. So the birds 
 devised another means. This was to carry 
 the shell high aloft, then drop it on the shoals. 
 If it fell on a hard surface, it would be 
 broken open, and the scallop within would 
 be promptly devoured by the gull following. 
 When the shell fell in a soft place, and re- 
 mained unbroken the bird would merely con- 
 tinue its efforts imtil finally crowned with 
 success. Ichabod, idly watching such re- 
 peated trials, was induced to meditation on 
 the lesson thus taught. 
 
 "It shore is a pity that arter Roxana Lee" 
 — ^the name came easily now — ''arter a-stab- 
 bin* o' me in the back — yes, it*s a pity 
 
THE COMING-OUT PARTY 197 
 
 that I didn't do sort o' like that Scotch feller 
 that watched the spider try an' try an' try 
 ag'in till at last he spun his web whar he 
 aimed to. Why, when he saw what that- 
 thar crab-lookin' son-of-a-gim could do, he 
 jumped right up, an', a-bucklin' himself 
 around a leetle tighter, went out and cleaned 
 up a whole mess that was arter him. By 
 cracky! all I had to do was to come right out 
 to these sand shoals an' oyster rocks an' 
 watch them noisy gulls a-tryin' an' a-tryin', 
 an' at last bustin' a scallop. I jest believe, 
 if I'd done that, then I'd have got right square 
 up an' licked Sandy Mason, an' told Rox- 
 ana what I thought o' her no-'coimtness, an' 
 then I might have married the best-lookin* 
 woman in Cartaret Coimty. 
 
 "But, then, what's the use?" he continued, 
 as he drew the sheet in a little closer, so hold- 
 ing the skiff more into the wind, in order to 
 round a point of marsh land. *' That's an- 
 cient history, an' I ain't a-goin' to study 
 it. I've done turned over a new leaf. I 
 hope, Ichabod, ye'll live right an' die 
 happy." 
 
 The skiff was nearing the home port. Cap- 
 
198 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 tain Ichabod's attention was called to a 
 sound of happy voices — women's notes, as he 
 expressed it. Unless he was much mistaken, 
 it came from his own Island. 
 
 The old fisherman, true to his instinct of 
 fear in reference to womankind, loosened the 
 sheet, so that the skiff might slide by and let 
 him learn more definitely what might be the 
 meaning of this invasion. 
 
 The matter was not long in doubt. As he 
 rounded a point, he saw them. It seemed to 
 him there were a dozen or more of women. 
 They were not only upon the Island: the 
 shack door stood open. There were women 
 actually going in and out through the en- 
 trance — ^busy as bees. . . . Upon the shore, 
 a great fire was burning. 
 
 Ichabod, who had been brave for three days, 
 now began to be afraid of this influx of fem- 
 inine furbelows — this show of skirts. Twice 
 Ichabod tacked with a desire to take a run- 
 ning look at his own Island; and twice he 
 dared not make a landing because of the 
 feminine contingent on shore. But, when he 
 sailed the red skiff by his homeland for the 
 third time, he recognized a pudgy figure on 
 
THE COMING-OUT PARTY 199 
 
 the shore, which was waving frantically to- 
 ward him. 
 
 "Oh, hell!" Ichabod spoke, with great in- 
 dignation. **I£ it ain*t Hudson! Consam 
 him, he has took me at my word an' if 
 he hain't brought a flock o' 'em! I didn't 
 aim to run away, nohow. I jest forgot fer 
 a minute thet I had reformed. I wonder 
 what the fire means? It's mighty early yet 
 for an oyster roast, but they are a-gittin' fat." 
 
 The Doctor met the old fellow at the land- 
 ing. Ichabod wore a sheepish look, while, on 
 the contrary, the physician's good-natured 
 face was wreathed in smiles. 
 
 "Throw me your painter. Captain!" 
 shouted the medical man. "When I get that 
 in hand I'll feel sure that you are really 
 here!" 
 
 Old Icky went forward, wound the sail 
 neatly around the mast, removed the rudder, 
 pulled up the center-board, and then tossed to 
 Hudson a line to be turned arotmd the piling. 
 Ichabod stepped ashore, nonplused. His ex- 
 pression was stem and forbidding as he ad- 
 vanced on his friend, the Doctor, and de- 
 manded the meaning of all this. 
 
200 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 **Why, Captain Ichabod/' came the an- 
 swer, "the women folks up there have named 
 this meeting Ichabod Jones* coming-out party. 
 You know in great cities where there's a heap 
 of society, when a girl reaches an age that 
 they think it is time for her to be setting her 
 cap, they arrange a swell party to let the 
 fellows know that the young lady is eligible. 
 So, you see, that's the case to-day. Only, 
 this time, it's a man that has come out 
 of his shell, and you can believe me that 
 shell was the hardest one I ever tried to 
 crack!" 
 
 **Say, Hudson, did I tell ye I was a-lookin' 
 fer a woman? No, sir; I only said as how 
 they was welcome to come to the Island. 
 This how-dy-do o' your'n I call a-rubbin' it in 
 pretty hard. If it's a joke with you, it hain't 
 with me." ^ 
 
 *'Now, old friend, don't get peeved. I'll 
 tell you just how it came about. After you 
 left my house, I went out to pay some pro- 
 fessional calls. Ichabod, your name's in 
 everybody's mouth. They all asked ques- 
 tions about you, knowing how close friends 
 we are. What could I do but just up and tell 
 
THE COMING-OUT PARTY 201 
 
 how you had seen the light and had hit the 
 trail for happiness; how all women were to 
 be welcome at the Island from now on, and 
 how the latch-string would be hanging always 
 on the outside of the shack door? I had no 
 sooner arrived home than one of these good 
 ladies called me up and asked me if I woiild 
 mind escorting a few of them to the Island to 
 congratulate you on your quitting playing 
 Rip Van Winkle as far as women were con- 
 cerned. I just told the pretty creatures I*d 
 be only too glad to go with them. . . . Shake 
 hands, Ichabod. Let your family physician 
 be the first to welcome you back." 
 
 Realizing that the whole trouble had been 
 caused by his talking too much and that no 
 one was to blame save himself, the old man 
 smiled somewhat wryly as he grasped his 
 friend^s extended hand. ^ 
 
 /'Say, Doc," he declared, ''I always did 
 like a joke where it didn't hurt none. So, I 
 ain't a-goin* to make ye out tmtruthful to 
 that passal o' women." 
 
 With that, the fisherman slipped his arm 
 within the Doctor's, and walked forward spir- 
 itedly toward his doom — as he mentally 
 
202 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 termed this social ordeal. It was indeed his 
 coming-out party, and never a debutante 
 so secretly tremulous and shy as Captain 
 Icky. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 Strangers at Ichabod's Island 
 
 THE friendly squeeze that Doctor Hudson 
 was giving Ichabod's arm as they 
 advanced toward the group of women 
 heartened the old man mightily. A few days 
 since, he would have felt that he was being 
 led as a martyr to be burned at the stake. 
 But now, in the twinkling of an eye, every- 
 thing was changed. It is true that he felt a 
 keen embarrassment over this introduction 
 to feminine society after his isolation from it 
 for twenty years. Yet his nattiral courage 
 dominated this embarrassment, so that he 
 faced the trial bravely enough. 
 
 The Doctor explained to him that a formal 
 introduction to the ladies would be necessary. 
 
 "That is," Hudson continued, ''to all ex- 
 cept one. You are already acquainted with 
 the one just now coming out of the shack 
 
 door with your vinegar bottle in her hand. 
 
 203 
 
204 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 It*s Miss Sarah Porter that I*m referring to. 
 She has told me that vou have talked with 
 her on more than one occasion about your 
 domestic troubles and your lonely life. She 
 has told me, too, that she tried her best to 
 give you advice that would be good for you." 
 
 Ichabod replied defensively. 
 
 ''Wall, I cariate IVe been a-tryin' to take 
 her advice!" 
 
 It was even as Doctor Hudson had said. 
 In spite of the sharp eyes and wagging tongues 
 of the townsfolk, few had known that the old 
 fisherman occasionally visited Miss Porter in 
 the hostelry managed by her for many years, 
 and that there he had listened gratefully to 
 her words of kindly admonition. As a matter 
 of fact, long before the Lee woman entered 
 into the fisherman's life, he had felt very 
 kindly toward Miss Porter, and his attentions 
 had been well received by her. It is very- 
 possible that he might have offered himself 
 to her years ago, had it not been for a con- 
 scientious scruple as to his jilted self being 
 unworthy. So, he saw her only at rare inter- 
 vals, and then only when he brought fish to 
 sell, thus making business his excuse. There 
 
STRANGERS AT ICHABOD'S ISLAND 205 
 
 had been to him a certain comfort in the fact 
 that this vivacious woman of sixty had never 
 married. He even dared to wonder sometimes 
 with a thrill of vanity if her feeling toward 
 him could have been the cause of her spin- 
 sterhood. And this was always followed by 
 an emotion of disgust with himself that he 
 should ever have found the company of Rox- 
 ana more to his liking than that of the pleasant 
 and wholesome Sarah. 
 
 When the Captain saw Miss Porter with 
 the vinegar bottle in her hand, he knew that 
 the visitors were preparing an oyster roast, 
 which, of course, accounted for the fire of 
 twigs and seaweed. Now, the other women 
 stood in a row, while Sarah, her face wreathed 
 in smiles, came forward to greet her old lover. 
 This done, she formally presented Ichabod 
 to the other guests. The fisherman's in- 
 creased embarrassment expressed itself in a 
 sheepish grin, when it suddenly dawned on 
 him that every one of the women there before 
 him was unmarried. Dr. Hudson remarked 
 afterward that Ichabod looked to him as if 
 he were convinced that each and every one 
 was "after him!*' 
 
206 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Nevertheless, once the introductions were 
 over, the Captain found himself at ease in 
 a manner quite surprising. Every one of the 
 visitors seemed to enter into the spirit of the 
 affair with a whole-hearted geniality that was 
 infectious, and under this benignant influence 
 the host was filled with an unaccustomed 
 happiness. He at once began to assist in 
 the roasting of the oysters, which the women 
 had gathered from the rocks. He gave them 
 carte blanche to help themselves to plates 
 and forks and such other things as were need- 
 ful from the shack. 
 
 None was so rude as to refer to Ichabod*s 
 reformation. But Sarah Porter, whenever 
 she caught his eye, gave him a look that spoke 
 as plainly as words: 
 
 "Ichabod Jones, at last I have fotind you 
 a man, and I am proud of you!" 
 
 No doubt she congratulated herself, with 
 justice, on the fact that her talks with him had 
 had much to do with this change. She was 
 the only one in the party of mature age; 
 the others were co;mparatively young and 
 sprightly maidens. This selection of guests 
 was due to the fine Italian hand of the Doc- 
 
STRANGERS AT ICHABOD'S ISLAND 207 
 
 tor. Evidently, he was hard at work on a 
 plan to make Ichabod Jones a provider, 
 rather than trying to find him a place as 
 housekeeper, in accordance with the fisher- 
 man's original request. 
 
 The hours passed delightfully for all — espe- 
 cially for the host whose pleasure was edged 
 by the novelty of the situation in which he 
 found himself. It was not imtil the moon 
 showed in the east that the visitors made 
 ready for departure. Just before the party 
 embarked, the boldest of the maidens kissed 
 the old man's weather-beaten cheek. There 
 was a burst of laughter from the onlookers. 
 Ichabod could feel himself blushing furiously, 
 but that blush was invisible under the deep 
 tan. Then the others thus saluted him, one 
 by one — all save Sarah Porter. 
 
 She bestowed herself in the laimch while 
 the kissing was going on, and Ichabod, regard- 
 ing her furtively with anxious eyes, read in 
 her expression signs of strong disapproval, 
 which disconcerted him hugely, and robbed 
 him in great measure of his just due of enjoy- 
 ment under the oscillatory attack. 
 
 Then, it was all over! The old man stood 
 
208 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 waving his hat mechanically as the launch 
 glided away. Ichabod watched with unseeing 
 eyes. He was in a daze, thinking more in 
 sorrow than in anger of ''how fer he had let 
 them minxes go with him — an' Sary a-lookin* 
 on, too!'' He shook his head despondently, 
 as he reflected that the closing incident would 
 have been more agreeable if **Sary hadn't 
 been a-lookin' on." 
 
 Once more, Ichabod Jones burned midnight 
 oil. In the early evening he brought his easy 
 chair out in front, where he could see the 
 glistening waters and watch the moon climb 
 high. He smoked pipeful after pipeful of his 
 strong tobacco. Again he made rings, and 
 thought, and wondered. It was after ten 
 before he arose and went into the shack, 
 lighted his oil lamp, laid out his paper and 
 pencil, and proceeded to add more to the 
 record that he had started. No doubt, after 
 his long reverie in the moonlight, he had come 
 to the conclusion that the fact of his being 
 kissed by ten yoimg women and having one 
 more making eyes at him in one day, the first 
 of his reformation, was of moment enough to 
 be recorded. 
 
STRANGERS AT ICHABOD'S ISLAND 209 
 
 That night, as Ichabod finished his entry 
 in the diary and leaned far back in his chair 
 with chest expanded, his chin with its whift 
 of beard thrown out at an angle of forty-five 
 degrees, he reminded one of a cartoon of 
 Uncle Sam when showing a self-satisfied air. 
 The picture he portrayed at least conveyed 
 the impression that he was monarch of all he 
 surveyed and even dared once again to place 
 his battle flag of conquest on the mainland of 
 Cartaret County. 
 
 As he put away his writing materials and 
 prepared to retire to his lonely bunk, he again 
 talked aloud. 
 
 ' "It looks to me, by cracky, as if things was 
 a-movin' jest a leetle too rapid fer a starter. 
 It reminds me right smart o' a hoss race I 
 saw at the fish and oyster fair, at New Bern, 
 a spell back. The animal that I cal'lated 
 would win, he jest started off like a steam 
 engine, an' when he got half way around he 
 was clean ahead o' the bunch. But by the 
 time he reached the home-stretch, he was a 
 swettin' like a mad bull an' puffin* like a 
 grampus — an' every other hoss got in fust. 
 Here I am now, kissed by ten o' the prettiest 
 
210 WTBDEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 gals in Beaufort jest as the sun is a-settin' on 
 my first day o* new manhood. I'm startin' 
 too almighty fast. If I don't tame down I'll 
 lose out on the home-stretch. I opine Sara 
 didn't like the idea o' that kissin' business. I 
 was particular to hold my face straight out 
 where she could see it an' not let my 
 lips tech nary one o' 'em. But I guess 
 it would be safer to go down an' tell Sara 
 how partic'lar I was, an' how I wanted to 
 tell 'em to stop, but didn't dar'st not to 
 be polite." 
 
 As Captain Ichabod lay in his bunk before 
 falling asleep, he allowed his mind to dwell 
 upon more serious things. He thought of the 
 wireless message. What had become of the 
 strange man, of the woman, and of his rooster, 
 Shrimp? He wondered that there were no 
 reports of their passing other boats. His 
 heart was sore for that poor woman who had 
 lain so long unconscious upon his bed. His 
 interest in her was vital, for he had saved her 
 life. What could the man mean by thus 
 secretly hurrying away? Ichabod had asked 
 himself this question many times. Now he 
 knew beyond peradventure of doubt that the 
 
STRANGERS AT ICHABOD'S ISLAND 211 
 
 fellow was a criminal, a refugee from justice, 
 with a young woman of gentle birth in his 
 power. 
 
 Ichabod*s conscience smote him. He was 
 ashamed that he had not instituted a search 
 immediately after the fellow* s disappearance 
 from the Island. He had had the right to call 
 on the Sheriff of the county for aid. There 
 had been plain theft. A pair of blankets 
 had been stolen from him — as also his chan- 
 ticleer. 
 
 The monetary loss from this robbery meant 
 nothing to the fisherman, but it would have 
 served as an excuse for arresting the man, 
 and thus rescuing his girl victim. . . . Icha- 
 bod remembered the man chained to the 
 engine in the sunken yacht. It was doubt- 
 less this murderer who now had the girl in 
 his power. Should it suit his ends, would 
 that desperate man hesitate to murder even 
 the girl herself — the girl he had saved from 
 drowning? Ichabod decided that he would 
 fulfill a belated duty by going to town next 
 day, there to swear out a warrant of arrest 
 against the abductor of the girl, that thus the 
 Sheriff should have reason to search the waters 
 
212 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 of the Sound in the hope of arresting the 
 giiilty man and rescuing his victim. . . . 
 
 Despite the thrilling experiences of a day 
 so unaccustomedly feminine, the sturdy old 
 fisherman, when he was done with his med- 
 itations, slept soimdly throughout the night. 
 He was up at cock-crow — though there was 
 no clarion call from Shrimp to awaken. 
 
 It was while he was busy over the prepara- 
 tion of a modest breakfast that there came 
 the wailing cry of a yacht's siren. It sounded 
 from the northward, evidently not far away 
 from the Island. Captain Icky shut the 
 drafts on the stove, pushed the coffee-pot 
 back to a position where it would keep hot 
 without boiHng. Then he stepped outside 
 the shack to watch the incoming vessel pass 
 over the bar into the waters of the Inlet. He 
 was impressed at first glance by the beautiful 
 lines of the little vessel, which was evidently 
 of light draft so she might cruise safely in 
 shallow waters, while capable of weathering a 
 storm-tossed sea. 
 
 It was a new thing that a yacht of such size 
 should come to anchor off the Island. Icha- 
 bod watched cvuiously as the vessel slackened 
 
STRANGERS AT ICHABOD'S ISLAND 213 
 
 heavily and then let a light anchor drop from 
 the starboard side of the bow. Presently, he 
 saw a small boat put off from the yacht, rowed 
 by two sailors, and carrying two passengers 
 in the stem. When he made sure that a land- 
 ing was intended, Ichabod went down to the 
 point to greet the imexpected visitors. 
 
 As the boat touched the landing, the two 
 men stepped ashore and advanced toward 
 Ichabod, who greeted them hospitably. 
 
 ''Howdy, men! Ye are welcome to Icha- 
 bod's Island. But it*s a leetle imusual to 
 have a call from boats o* your class. . . . 
 Jones is my name — Captain Ichabod Jones, 
 at your service!'* 
 
 The shorter man stepped forward, and in- 
 troduced himself as Jack Scott. He presented 
 his companion as his friend, Roy Morton. 
 
 ''Captain Jones," the stranger began, "we 
 are now, I take it, just at the entrance to the 
 Beaufort Inlet." 
 
 "Yes, yender is the Inlet," Ichabod replied. 
 
 The other spoke with curt incisiveness. 
 
 "We're in a hurry. We'd like to ask you a 
 few questions. It's plain no craft of any size 
 could pass your Island without attracting 
 
^14 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 notice. WeVe looking for a yacht stolen 
 from her anchorage in the North River. She 
 has now been missing for several days. The 
 last report weVe been able to get is that she 
 was seen passing out of Pamlico into Core 
 Sound. Do you know the whereabouts of 
 any such boat? Her name was The Isabel, 
 
 ''The Isabel!'' Ichabod answered. ''Thar 
 she lays!*' ' 
 
 The two men followed the direction of the 
 homy hand — and saw! Roy Morton felt a 
 sick dizziness crash upon him. In that mo- 
 ment of agony, he believed that the girl he 
 loved was forever lost. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 The Call of the Dark 
 
 A FEW handfuls of sea water dashed 
 into Roy's face by Ichabod, together 
 with a rough massage by Van Dusen, 
 soon brought the young man around again. 
 
 "I must have the truth/' he declared, "no 
 matter how terrible. Was the yoimg woman 
 lost?" 
 
 "Why, no, yotmg man," the fisherman an- 
 swered; "least- wise, not in the wreck. I 
 took her out o' the water myself. She was 
 plumb full o' swallered brine, but I had that 
 out o' her in a jiffy. I tock her into my 
 shack an' got her all right exceptin' her haid. 
 Poor thing never did speak to me but once." 
 
 "Then she died!" Roy cried, in a tone of 
 anguish. 
 
 But Ichabod shook his head emphatically. 
 . "Not as I knows on," he declared; "un- 
 less that nervous-actin' skimk has killed her 
 
 215 
 
216 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 since he took her away in the small boat. 
 Had I knowed what I Tamed yesterday at 
 the wireless station, I'd 'a' held on to the gal. 
 I saw she was pretty bad, not bein' able to 
 talk, an' so I told the man I took off o' the 
 wreck that what she needed was an M.D. 
 Leavin' him in charge, fer he seemed to know 
 a heap about medicine himself, I put the 
 rag on the skiff, an' sailed to town fer the 
 Doctor. When I got back, I foimd that the 
 thievin' rascal had stole my pet rooster, a 
 pair o' blankets — an' the woman, an' had 
 gone off in the gasoline tender what come 
 ashore from the wreck. 0' course, they w^ent 
 up the Soimd — to God knows whar! The 
 woman ain't safe with no sich critter as that 
 feller. If the gal is much to you, which I 
 'lows she is from your tantnims, ye had best 
 make all haste to git her. I was jest a-fixin' 
 to go to Beaufort an' take out a warrant fer 
 the feller fer murder, an' charter a gasoline 
 boat, prepared to go through hell if need be 
 to save that gal an' put the sallow-skinned 
 varmint, what took her, behind the bars o' 
 the county jail." 
 
 *' Warrant for murder?" Van Dusen de- 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 217 
 
 manded, suddenly alert, "What do you mean, 
 Captain Jones? Has this man killed some 
 one?'^ 
 
 ** Wall, I reckin!" Ichabod answered grimly. 
 **Thar was a feller a-sailin' around the wreck 
 o' The Isabel, which, as ye see, is all busted 
 to pieces by an explosion after she struck an* 
 the beatin' on her o* the big storm waves. 
 When this feller looked down by the engine, 
 he saw a dead man a-lookin' back up at him. 
 He looked closter before he hurried away, an* 
 saw that the poor devil was chained to the 
 wreck. Now, that bein' the case, an' this 
 feller that's got the gal bein* the man in 
 charge o* the yacht, then why ain't he wanted 
 for murder?" 
 
 Van Dusen nodded his head understand- 
 ingly. 
 
 "This clears up part of the mystery," he 
 said to Roy. "Now, if we can only catch 
 Garnet and save Miss Marion, the case will 
 be happily ended. The whole thing is clear 
 in my mind, but we have still to find the 
 proof." 
 
 "Them's the names the feller give me," 
 the fisherman vouchsafed, "when he intro- 
 
218 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 duced himself to me. I *lowed he was 'most 
 crazy from his scare. Say, men! Do you 
 know I think that feller was a-takin' dope, 
 an', furthermore, since IVe had time to think 
 it over, I'm almost certain I saw him puttin' 
 some under the gal's skin. As folks around 
 here only use Baitman Drops or swallers pills, 
 I took a spot on the gal's arm fer a skeeter 
 bump. I didn't know what the shiny thing 
 was that he slipped in his pocket when he 
 saw me a-lookin'. Since then the Doctor 
 has told me he 'lowed it was a hypodermic. 
 First he called it a guiiy but when he discov- 
 ered that I thought he meant a shootin' iron, 
 because I said it was too small fer that, why, 
 then he give me the other name. 0' course, I 
 had heard that other name afore." ^ 
 
 "This whole business is goin' to turn out 
 just as I outlined it to you, Roy," Van Dusen 
 asserted. ''These things are unusual, but I 
 don't think you need have any fears for Miss 
 Marion, provided she doesn't starve, or meet 
 with some accident through the foolhardiness 
 of this crazy Garnet. The thing I suggest is 
 to solicit the aid of Captain Jones, and have 
 him act as our pilot. We should also charter 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 219 
 
 several small gasoline boats and go through 
 the waters of this shallow Sound and its trib- 
 utaries like a fine-toothed comb. It's haste 
 now that is important. We'll probably find 
 the fellow hidden away in some remote fisher- 
 man's home where he can administer to the 
 wants of his patient, while avoiding capture. 
 I believe that he is, even though deranged, 
 terrorized at the thought of arrest, so that he 
 will not dare come out into the open. That's 
 the reason he left the comfortable quarters of 
 the Island." 
 
 Roy was all eagerness to begin the work 
 forthwith, and Ichabod proffered all the 
 assistance in his power. 
 V "Jest a minute, men," he said, 'Hill I 
 swaller my coffee an' put out the fire, then 
 Ichabod Jones will be ready to show ye 
 every nook an' comer o' these-here waters; 
 an' if that skunk ain't got out of 'em or 
 gone to the bottom, we'll git him — an' git 
 him right!" 
 
 After leaving Norfolk, The Hialdo had 
 covered many miles. Arthur Van Dusen 
 when he acted, moved with deliberation as 
 well as speed. Already, on the way down, 
 
220 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 every avenue of escape had been blocked. 
 It would have been impossible for The Isabel 
 to escape over the route by which the pur- 
 suers had come. She would have been 
 seized the moment she showed at any port. 
 The thoroughness of these precautionary 
 measures was the reason why it was not 
 until now that The Hialdo had dropped 
 anchor at Beaufort Inlet. 
 
 The only area that remained unsearched 
 was the Core Sound section. The searchers 
 had taken advantage of the night, when 
 there was little else that they could do, to 
 run down to the Inlet in order to find out if 
 the yacht had passed out to sea through 
 the channel. 
 
 They were reasonably certain now.:. that' 
 the Doctor and the young woman were not 
 a great way off. Van Dusen was confident 
 of speedily running down the culprit, and 
 he was exultant over the prospect. But 
 Roy was still tortured with anxiety con- 
 cerning the safety of the girl he loved. 
 
 Before coming out of the shack to go 
 aboard The Hialdo, Ichabod took time to 
 tidy up his person a little. This, for the 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 221 
 
 sufficient reason that they were going first 
 to Beaiifort, where it might be that he 
 would encounter Sarah Porter. It would 
 never do for her to see him except properly 
 "spruced up" for a trip to town. There 
 was, in addition, the fact that he was about 
 to go aboard a handsome yacht, where, as 
 he knew, everybody went about habitually 
 ''dressed up." As he took a parting glance 
 into his tiny bit of mirror, the old fisher- 
 man indulged in a self-satisfied smirk, and 
 spoke aloud. 
 
 'Td be willin* to bet that when them 
 fine fellers gits to be as old as me, they 
 can't tell as how ten single women kissed 
 *em all in one day, an' another one, by 
 cracky, made eyes an' jest didn't darst!" 
 
 Having thus said, Ichabod hurried off to 
 his visitors, and a minute later was follow- 
 ing them up the ladder to the deck of 
 The Hialdo. Van Dusen had taken on a 
 pilot at Ocracoke, so that they had no 
 trouble in following the intricate roimd- 
 about ship's channel to the town. 
 
 Captain Ichabod directed the place of 
 anchorage. This was in th^ small channel 
 
222 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 directly in front of the Inlet Hotel, where 
 Sarah Porter reigned supreme. They would 
 use her wharf in going ashore. He ad- 
 mitted to himself that he had been pleased 
 over being kissed by the "young fry"; but 
 he also admitted that the chief appeal to 
 him had been made by the elderly woman 
 who had looked on so disapprovingly from 
 her place in the Doctor's launch. 
 
 Van Dusen was anxious to call first upon 
 the Collector of the Port. That office here 
 had become, of late years, rather unim- 
 portant, since the action of the tides had 
 filled the Inlet with sand, to such an extent 
 that very few vessels of the ocean-going 
 steamer type could get over the bar. The 
 Collector's business was confined to seeing 
 that yachts and other vessels of small draft 
 had their proper papers. There was no 
 United States Marshal located in the town, 
 and the case of The Isabel was plainly one 
 to be handled by the Treasury Department. 
 
 It was unnecessary for Ichabod to guide 
 the detective further than the wharf, for 
 the Custom House, with its identifying flag, 
 stood near the landing. So, the Captain felt 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 223 
 
 himself at liberty to visit the hotel, where 
 he reclined at ease in a rocking chair on the 
 porch, and enjoyed an intermittent conver- 
 sation with the hostess of the inn. Roy 
 remained on board the yacht, at his friend's 
 bidding, in order to recover from the shock 
 he had suffered on hearing Ichabod's story. 
 
 Van Dusen found the Collector anxious to 
 be of service in every possible way. He sug- 
 gested that the services of the Sheriff should 
 be enlisted, and that a warrant for the 
 arrest of Doctor Garnet should be secured 
 from the Justice of the Peace, for robbery, to 
 be sworn to by Ichabod, since that offense 
 had been committed within the jurisdiction 
 of the state courts. 
 
 The Sheriff, when called up over the tel- 
 ephone, agreed to supply three deputies, 
 each equipped with a copy of the warrant. 
 Finally, two small launches, each carrying 
 one of the Sheriff's men, were chartered to 
 voyage in different directions for the search, 
 while the third would go aboard The Hialdo, 
 Other business prevented the Sheriff from 
 giving his personal aid in the quest. Icha- 
 bod was interrupted during his pleasuring 
 
224 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 on the porch by a telephone call, which re- 
 quested him to report at once to Squire 
 Chadwick's office in order to swear to the 
 necessary papers. 
 
 But the fisherman forgot the imperative 
 summons as his hostess came out on the 
 porch to bid him farewell. 
 
 "Do ye realize, Sarah Porter, that this is 
 the very fust time in over twenty year that 
 I've come to your house except on business, 
 without some fishes, terrapin, scallops, or 
 sich to sell fer the hotel?" 
 
 Miss Porter blushed like a girl. 
 
 "Well, seein' as how you mention it, I 
 reckon it's a fact." Her manner did not 
 betray how often she had wondered, and 
 perhaps grieved, over that fact during the 
 score of years. 
 
 Then, Ichabod at last took heart of cour- 
 age, and spoke boldly: 
 
 " This time, Sarah, arter due deliberation, 
 an' study, Ichabod has come to ye to give 
 something away. Tain't nothin' that comes 
 out o' these waters or sands or marshes. 
 Tain't gold, nor yit silver, but somethin' 
 that nobody in all these years could 'a 
 
 >_> 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 225 
 
 bought, had they tried. Could ye guess 
 what it mout be, Sarah?" 
 
 There came a certain dreaminess into the 
 woman's eyes, which, if a Httle dimmed, had 
 by no means lost their luster. 
 
 "I never was good at guessing, Ichabod," 
 she said simply. "I cal'late you'll jest have 
 to tell me. I know from the way you speak 
 that it must be something perfectly splen- 
 did." 
 
 ''Wall, now, you may think it more wuth- 
 less than plain seaweed, an' if ye do, why 
 ye must speak right out, Sarah. What I 
 have come to offer ye is Ichabod Jones' 
 love!" 
 
 Ichabod waited through a full minute for 
 the answer that failed to come. The wom- 
 an's eyes were gazing out over the broad 
 expanse of the Atlantic, which opened so 
 gloriously before them. He took one of her 
 hands in his, and pressed it gently as he 
 went on speaking. 
 
 "It's true that I'm some old, but I ain't 
 crippled. An' arter all these years o' — yes, 
 oh, hell! — I want to be loved ag'in. Sarah, 
 I'll tell ye, an' it's God's truth, I never did 
 
226 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 love that triflin' woman. I have come to 
 that idea arter a long time o' thinkin*. I 
 was young, an' I thought I loved her, but, 
 Sarah, I just had my haid turned. Time is 
 now tellin' my true feelin's.'* 
 
 Still the woman made no answer, but her 
 very silence gave encouragement to the 
 wooer. 
 
 'Tm through with fishin' an' lonely livin*, 
 whether or no, Sarah. All these years that 
 I've hung around alone, it hain't cost me 
 much to live, an' I've got a right smart o* 
 money saved up. Ye know, this hotel ain't 
 big 'nough fer all the Yankees that'd like to 
 stop on the way up an' down offen their 
 yachts. I was a-thinkin' las' night what a 
 thing it'd be for me an' you to be real part- 
 ners, an' let me spend some o' the savin's 
 to double the size o' the hotel, an' hire 
 'nough help to take the strain offen you in 
 runnin' o' it." 
 
 The mingling of romance and practical 
 worldly advantage won Miss Porter's con- 
 sent to the plea of her suitor. Perhaps, 
 either would have sufficed of itself; cer- 
 tainly, together, they were irresistible. Ich- 
 
THE CALL OF THE DARK 227 
 
 abod was all a-tremble with happiness and 
 pride, as the spinster coyly offered her 
 cheek to his kiss. 
 
 He started guiltily a moment later, as a 
 huge negress appeared in the doorway, and 
 bawled at him: 
 
 "Mr. Ichabod, the 'phone is a-callin' yoh- 
 all." 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 Bottled Up 
 
 CAPTAIN ICHABOD JONES stepped 
 briskly into Squire Chadwick*s court- 
 room — ^which was otherwise the par- 
 lor in his modest home. Van Dusen, that 
 very shrewd detective, observed that the 
 old man trod with a jatmtier step than here- 
 tofore, and that his expression was one of 
 smug complacency. He wondered a little as 
 to just what might have occurred to make 
 this change so swiftly. He could not guess 
 that a romance of twenty years was con- 
 cerned, but his observant eyes told him 
 that in some mysterious fashion this aged 
 native had foimd a new happiness in life 
 within the hour. 
 
 That happiness indeed was a thing as- 
 sured in the opinion of Captain Ichabod. 
 The smile that Van Dusen fotmd so hard to 
 
 interpret was the outward expression of 
 
 228 
 
BOTTLED UP 229 
 
 great things within the old man's soul. He 
 had loved his loneliness. Now, he was re- 
 joicing that no more would his life be 
 lonely! The gulls and fish-hawks and sand- 
 crabs could take possession of the old shack 
 that had sheltered him for years. He cared 
 nothing for that. Shortly, he would be 
 known as Ichabod Jones, proprietor of a 
 fashionable tourist hotel. He chuckled, and 
 his lips moved into the travesty of a kiss. 
 
 'Tm a-sayin' good-bye to that-thar her- 
 mit o' Captain Icky's Island, what lived 
 thar fer twenty year. He hain't a-goin' 
 to live thar no more." 
 
 The warrant was speedily signed and duly 
 sworn to, after which Van Dusen and Cap- 
 tain Jones hurried to board the yacht. The 
 two chartered motor boats arrived. Since 
 The Hialdo had the legs of the others, it 
 took both in tow to bring them to the point 
 whereat the search was to start. On reach- 
 ing the Island, the red skiff also was taken 
 in tow at Ichabod's suggestion, since its 
 draft would permit it to penetrate shallows 
 impenetrable to the other craft. 
 
 At a point midway between Harker's 
 
^30 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Island and Smyrna, Uncle Ichabod directed 
 that one of the chartered boats should be 
 sent over and along the shores of the Island, 
 then to proceed up the Banks shore, but 
 not so far as to prevent the deputy from 
 covering the southerly section of Core Sound 
 with his field-glasses in order to detect any 
 attempt to retrace the route by the Doc- 
 tor in the tender. This laimch having been 
 dispatched, The Hialdo resumed her course, 
 with the other boats still in tow. 
 
 The next objective in the cruise was At- 
 lantic — a long way up the Soimd. Thence, it 
 was the intention to send the other char- 
 tered boat back along the westerly shore, 
 with instructions to go into every inlet and 
 cove and bay, no matter how small, pro- 
 vided they could navigate it, there to make 
 diligent inquiry of every person seen on the 
 shores. 
 
 Van Dusen had already prepared reward 
 notices, offering five thousand dollars for the 
 safe return of Ethel Marion, and one thou- 
 sand dollars for the capture of her abductor. 
 These posters were given to the deputies 
 with instructions that they shotild be posted 
 
BOTTLED UP 231 
 
 in every fishing hamlet. It was the belief 
 of the detective that the effect of these 
 would be to send out a swarm of fishing 
 boats to search every nook and cranny of 
 the territory. 
 
 Before turning in from the main channel 
 to the pier at Atlantic, Van Dusen had the 
 second patrol boat turned loose under the 
 charge of his deputy. He gave instruc- 
 tions that four blasts of the yacht*s siren 
 should be imderstood as a signal for the 
 smaller craft to return to The Hialdo. 
 
 It was learned beyond doubt at Atlantic 
 that the Doctor and Ethel had been there. 
 There were a score of witnesses to the fact. 
 The entire hamlet was loud in its praises of 
 this stranger, who, by his skill, had saved 
 a life without thought of fee. Captain Icha- 
 bod's anxious inquiries elicited the informa- 
 tion that there was indeed a Dominick rooster 
 aboard the tender, perched on the forward 
 deck. One boy, of a fine imaginative mind, 
 declared that the bird was tethered by a 
 string tied to one of his legs. That false in- 
 formation stirred the wrath of Uncle Icky, 
 so that he was moved to mutter: 
 
Wl WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 "Yep, I reckin they're a-savin' 'im fer 
 broth — consam 'em!" 
 
 At the principal store in the town, soon 
 after the arrival of the yacht, there was a 
 scene of unusual excitement. Conspicu- 
 ously posted was the notice typewritten by 
 Van Dusen of the reward for Doctor Garnet's 
 capture. But here sentiment was overwhelm- 
 ingly strong in the physician's favor. A local 
 orator made an impassioned speech to defend 
 this wonderful physician, who had shown 
 such ability in saving of life without charge. 
 He insisted that the townsfolk should throw 
 out the "furriners" who desired the arrest 
 of such a man. 
 
 Van Dusen was in a desperate hurry, but 
 when he sensed the feeling of the crowd, he 
 was at pains to tell them, very simply, the 
 facts. He declared that, in all probability, 
 the physician who had been guilty of the kid- 
 napping was a crazy man. v 
 
 After touching at Atlantic, it was decided 
 to sail the yacht to the northward, along the 
 mainland shore, with the little red skiff still 
 in tow. There was more depth of water on 
 this side and, in consequence, a larger number 
 
BOTTLED UP 233 
 
 of inhabited points, from which news might 
 be gathered. At the end, there was a Hght- 
 house, where the keeper would have seen every 
 boat that passed. 
 
 The yacht stopped at the Squire Goodwin 
 landing. There they learned of the recent 
 presence of the physician and his patient. 
 Thence, they went on to the lighthouse, 
 where they were reassiired by the keeper's 
 firm assertion that the tender had not passed. 
 It seemed to Van Dusen now that the little 
 boat must be bottled up, so that its discovery 
 and capture could be only a matter of a few 
 hours. But there still remained one tract 
 to be explored. - 
 
 For the voyaging over these shallows, the 
 red skiff was needed. The three men entered 
 it, cast off from the yacht, hoisted sail, and 
 set forward toward the desolate land of the 
 sand dimes, the wild ponies, the goats and 
 the beach-combers. . . . And it was Captain 
 Ichabod who sat in the stem, handling 
 proudly both sheets and tiller. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 The Truth Unalloyed 
 
 THE lowly home where Ethel had passed 
 the previous night was as a palace 
 compared with this structure of beach- 
 provided boards and shingles, over the thresh- 
 old of which she was ushered, supported on 
 the arm of her protector. Doctor Gifford Gar- 
 net. As she stepped over the sill, she had a 
 sense of apprehension, that ran over her flesh 
 like chills. They were the physical expres- 
 sion of fright. She was downright afraid of 
 this dark, dank, dungeon-like room. Her 
 emotion was emphasized by a realization that 
 her escort was a mentally unbalanced, drug- 
 mad man. Ethel, realizing something of the 
 danger in her environment, had set herself 
 to carry a bold demeanor. She would not let 
 the man know either her fears or her suspicions. 
 
 234 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 235 
 
 She meant to assume toward him an air of 
 confidence. 
 
 There was a single window in the room, 
 which had a wooden shutter, swimg on leather 
 hinges. This was closed, so effectively that 
 not a particle of light filtered in from outside. 
 It was only by the illumination through the 
 open door that any light entered. Ethel 
 hobbled across the room to the window, and 
 threw open the shutter. 
 
 The setting sun threw its rays freely into 
 the interior of the shack, as the girl looked 
 about her. She saw tiers of bunks on either 
 side. In the center of the room were a table 
 and some rough chairs. An oil lamp stood 
 upon the table. In a comer of the room were 
 a cook-stove and the ordinary utensils for 
 cooking. A curious conglomeration showed 
 on some shelves at one side. In some of the 
 bunks, there were blankets. Ethel regarded 
 those blankets with satisfaction. They would 
 mean warmth for the night, should she be 
 compelled to spend it here. 
 
 The Doctor's nerves did not improve. While 
 the girl dropped down to rest on one of the 
 imcomfortable chairs, he walked the floor to 
 
236 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 and fro in silence. His muscles were twitch- 
 ing, and his eyes were wide-lidded, though 
 the pupils were only pin-points. 
 
 Ethel watched him closely. Now, when at 
 last her suspicions were aroused, she studied 
 as if for her own salvation every aspect of 
 this man, whom at first she had looked on as 
 her savior, but now regarded with a dread 
 imspeakable. 
 
 At last, to relieve the tension of her terror, 
 she requested the Doctor to go out to look for 
 a sail or any craft that he might hail. He 
 went obediently enough. As soon as he had 
 left the room, she moved her seat so that she 
 could watch him. 
 
 He walked hurriedly to the boat, where, 
 using water from the jug, he prepared another 
 measure of the drug and shot it into his arm. 
 When he had done this, he raised the vial 
 that had held the pellet of morphia, and 
 stared at its emptiness with affrighted eyes. 
 Then, at last, with a cry of utter despair, he 
 cast the bit of glass into the sea. The watcher 
 vmderstood that he had used the last atom of 
 the drug. The knowledge filled her with new 
 dismay. She had already learned something 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 237 
 
 as to what must be the tortures of the drug- 
 addict deprived of his supply. 
 
 After vainly scanning the horizon for a few 
 minutes, Garnet retiimed to the hut, carrying 
 the girl's blankets in one hand, the water jug 
 in the other. When he had set the jug by 
 the stove, he went to the cleaner-looking of 
 the bimks, where he deftly arranged the 
 blankets for his patient. ^ 
 
 The sight of his preparations brought an 
 increase of Ethel's distress at the prospect of a 
 night to be passed in the company of the dis- 
 traught man there before her. In her misery, 
 she murmured passionate prayers for the com- 
 ing of her lover to save her from the imknown 
 perils of the night. Her situation seemed to 
 her desperate beyond endurance. Yet, she 
 could not fly from it by reason of her injured 
 ankle. She had no recourse but to remain 
 inactive, helpless, in an agony of dread. She 
 could not take comfort from the thought that 
 the man had always treated her with scrup- 
 ulous respect. Now, he was no longer sane, 
 and his past courtesy could offer no promise 
 for the future. Had she but known, she 
 might have been comforted by the fact that 
 
238 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the long-continued secret indtilgence in mor- 
 phia had killed in him every desire and 
 passion save one — a mad craving for the drug 
 itself, and for more, and more. 
 
 Ethel urged the Doctor to share with her 
 the food provided for them by Mr. Goodwin. 
 But he refused, declaring that he was too 
 greatly worried over the misfortime in which 
 she was involved. The girl then decided that 
 she would not dare to sleep while the crazed 
 man was present with her. She determined 
 to remain in her seat. She was so worn with 
 fatigue that she did not dare lie down on the 
 comfortable blanket, where she would be 
 unable to resist falling asleep. So she sat 
 huddled in a mood of sick misery, while the 
 Doctor ceaselessly paced to and fro the length 
 of the hut, like a wild beast caged. 
 
 Presently, Garnet halted, and insisted that 
 Ethel should lie down in the btmk to rest. 
 This she refused to do, and she persisted in her 
 refusal when urged a second and a third time. 
 But, after her third refusal, Garnet regarded 
 her with an expression of utter despair. Then 
 he spoke, in a changed voice, shaken with 
 emotion. 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 239 
 
 *'Miss Marion, I believe that you have be- 
 come afraid of me!** 
 
 Having uttered the words, he sank down 
 heavily on one of the vacant chairs. His 
 breath came hard and fast. He seemed like 
 a man about to suffer a stroke of apoplexy. 
 Then, suddenly, he burst into tears. 
 
 The man's loud sobbing stirred the girl's 
 sympathies. She even felt a little guilty, 
 since her conduct had caused this final out- 
 burst of wretchedness. She was eager to 
 soothe him. Certainly, he could not be dan- 
 gerous now. She hobbled across the room 
 toward him. 
 
 But the physician ceased his sobs at her 
 approach. He sat erect and by a brusque 
 gesture checked her advance. He spoke to 
 her in a toneless voice. h 
 
 *'Miss Marion, when first you regained 
 consciousness, you asked me to tell the story 
 of yotir kidnapping. Owing partly to your 
 condition at that time and partly to a certain 
 dread of my own, I only gave you a part of 
 the story. I promised to tell the rest later. 
 That time has now arrived. I have waited 
 for a moment when I should feel that you had 
 
240 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 lost confidence in me, for the moment when 
 I should know that you no longer trusted me. 
 I delayed because I hated to confess my 
 weakness. I wished to appear before you 
 still as a strong man. And let me assure you 
 that you are not in any slightest danger from 
 me. It is true, I am a nervous wreck. And 
 yet, ■ at this moment, my mind is clear. I 
 realize that the time has come for me to 
 make my confession to you. In the hope 
 that it will render your judgment of me less 
 harsh, I shall tell you my whole story. It 
 begins back in the days when I was taking my 
 course in the medical school." 
 
 Ethel was amazed over the change that 
 had so abruptly taken place in the man. It 
 seemed indeed that he had recovered, at least 
 in some measure, his accustomed poise. He 
 appeared less afflicted with nervousness in 
 this new eagerness to talk. She returned 
 to her chair and again seated herself. There 
 she sat in rapt attention as she listened to the 
 weird narrative of a great man's folly and 
 degradation. As the tale unfolded, the girl's 
 heart was like a lute swept by chords and dis- 
 sonances of emotion. She was thrilled to 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 241 
 
 horror, moved to strange sympathy; by ttims 
 fearftJ and sympathetic. 
 
 "I believe/* the Doctor went on, ''that I 
 was a more than ordinarily hard-working stu- 
 dent. Night after night I burned the mid- 
 night oil. I was ambitious to forge ahead. I 
 was eager to finish my course and to begin 
 the practice of the profession that I so deeply 
 loved. I was possessed by a feeling that I 
 had been created for this calling. I believed 
 that I was destined to obtain eminence in my 
 chosen career, 
 
 ''Everything went well until I became 
 friends with a certain young tutor in the uni- 
 versity. He noticed that I was working hard, 
 and that sometimes I would begin the day 
 tired and depressed, when, naturally, my mind 
 would not be as bright as it should be. . . . 
 The man was a vampire of viciousness — only 
 desirous to corrupt. . . . And I was an easy 
 mark! The only excuse I have to offer is 
 my age. 
 
 "This man was a drug-fiend. He used mor- 
 phia slyly, knowing full well what the out- 
 come must be. It was that hideous knowl- 
 edge that made him eager to enchain others, 
 
242 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 even as he himself was enchained, so that he 
 would not be alone in the final catastrophe. 
 
 "One day when I was in the dumps, he 
 came to me, placed his hand on my shoulder, 
 and said: 
 
 '* ' Gifford, come with me. I want to make a 
 new man out of you.* . . . He did! — the kind 
 of man you'll know me to be when my story 
 is done. 
 
 "I went with him to his room. From a 
 small bottle, he handed me a pellet, with in- 
 struction to swallow it. I must ask no ques- 
 tion — merely return to my work, and see if 
 it did not ease my labors. I did as directed. 
 I found the promised relief — I could do won- 
 ders. Very soon, I became the leader of my 
 class. There were no questions asked. When- 
 ever I felt depressed, I went to the tutor's 
 room and he came to my rescue. 
 
 *'It was nearly a month before I was cer- 
 tain what he was giving me. As you. Miss 
 Marion, have trusted me as a friend, so I 
 trusted this man. One day I went back to 
 this fellow for more 'Brain Food' — as I had 
 innocently begun to term it. I had been 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 243 
 
 accustomed to entering his room without 
 knocking, but on this occasion the door was 
 locked. He heard me rattHng the knob, and 
 called out to know who was there. I shouted 
 in answer and said it was Garnet after more 
 Brain Food. He then imlatched the door and 
 admitted me. His coat was off and one arm 
 was bare. Upon a small stand was a hypo- 
 dermic outfit. I was surprised, for I had 
 never seen the fellow take medicine of any- 
 kind. He laughingly remarked that I was 
 just in time — that he was not feeling quite 
 himself and so was taking a little Brain Food 
 'the other way.' 
 
 *'I guessed now that the drug I had been 
 taking was indeed morphia. For a moment, 
 I was startled and alarmed. But the fright 
 was of short duration. I had already devel- 
 oped a craving for this thing that so helped 
 me on with my work. The tutor bade me 
 remove my coat, roll up my shirt-sleeve, and 
 allow him to give me a little Brain Food in 
 his way. Needless to say, I did as he ordered. 
 That was my first 'shot*. . . . Years ago, 
 that man killed himself — ^perhaps in remorse 
 
244 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 for his crime against me and others corrupted 
 by him." 
 
 The Doctor sat silent for a long minute in 
 brooding contemplation over this beginning 
 of the vice that had mastered him, and now 
 threatened at last to destroy him. > 
 
 "It was not long after this/' he resumed, 
 still with that toneless monotony of voice, 
 "that I began my life-work. Sometimes, 
 I would go for long periods without resorting 
 to the needle. That has helped me in the 
 deception of my patients. For long inter- 
 vals, I could endure without the drug. Then, 
 during periods of great mental strain and 
 physical depression from all-night vigils, I 
 would invariably fall back upon my old 
 Brain Food. Occasionally, such a relapse 
 would develop into what might be termed a 
 morphia spree. It was at the time of my 
 last spree that — to my destruction, and your 
 discomfiture and suffering — I was called to 
 treat you aboard The Isabel.'' 
 
 It seemed to Ethel that Doctor Garnet 
 wearied of his long discourse. He now arose 
 from his chair, and once again he began to 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 245 
 
 pace the floor uneasily. It appeared that he 
 was debating in his mind whether or not he 
 should continue his narrative. > 
 
 Ethel, moved to pity by the man's evident 
 deep distress, suggested that he should put 
 off the further telling imtil morning when he 
 would be rested. She tugged him to repose 
 in one of the bunks until the morrow, after 
 which she would listen to him again. But to 
 this he objected, declaring that he had made 
 up his mind to tell the whole story. Unless 
 she should refuse to listen, he would continue. 
 Ethel admitted her willingness to hear the 
 remainder of the narrative. 
 
 *'I suppose," the Doctor continued, still 
 in that dead level of monotonous recitation, 
 "at the time that I boarded the yacht that 
 you were suffering so greatly from your in- 
 jvired ankle that you did not detect my deplor- 
 able condition. Of course, I should not have 
 gone in answer to your call. But I realized 
 that you were alone, and I had explicit in- 
 structions from yoiu: father to care for you. 
 So, duty called me. Then, after adminis- 
 tering to you a sedative of extra strength, in 
 
246 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the next instant I injected more of the death- 
 dealing drug into my own arm. From that 
 moment, the Doctor Garnet that you knew 
 and trusted became a Mr. Hyde. Gifford 
 Garnet did not wish to do you harm " 
 
 ''But " 
 
 "But Mr. Hyde became obsessed with an 
 insane desire to have you — a yoimg woman 
 absolutely pure in heart — to have you enjoy 
 with him the wonderful sensations derived 
 from the hideous drug to which he was sub- 
 ject." 
 
 The revelation, shocking as it was, brought 
 a profound relief to the listening girl. The 
 confession shone like a sun through the mists 
 of fear that had fallen upon her. She lis- 
 tened now in a mood, not of fright, but all of 
 pity. 
 
 "I told you when you asked me about the 
 fate of the kidnappers that the ring leader had 
 escaped. That was the truth. He did es- 
 cape. But he*s here to-night, a prisoner — 
 a confessed criminal, in your hands, Miss 
 Marion. 
 
 *'I drugged the man in charge of the yacht. 
 
THE TRUTH UNALLOYED 247 
 
 A 
 
 Then I chained him to the engine. When he 
 aroused from his stupor, I had everything 
 ready for the yacht's sailing. I forced the 
 man to answer the bells as given from the 
 bridge, under penalty of death. The most of 
 the time I kept you under the influence of 
 my drug. Much of the trip is a blank to me. 
 Why we were not swallowed up in the great 
 waters of the Atlantic, I cannot understand. 
 It must have been, Miss Marion, that God 
 stretched out His Arm to save you. ... At 
 the time the yacht struck and was destroyed, 
 I was a raving maniac. 
 
 "Then, somehow, I once again became sane. 
 That was while I watched an old fisherman, 
 who rescued you from the pounding seas. 
 
 ''At last, I remembered the man chained 
 to the engine. It was fear of him that made 
 me flee. When the kindly old fisherman went 
 in search of a physician for your sake, I was 
 wild with the desire of flight. I could see 
 always the accusing eyes of that man there in 
 the depths of the sea, staring up at me — ^his 
 murderer! ... So, I took you and fled with 
 you in the tender.*' 
 
248 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Ethel looked at the man, whom she had 
 known and trusted as the family physician, 
 with widened eyes of horror. This trusted 
 friend, by his own avowal, was not only thief 
 and kidnapper — ^he was a murderer! 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 Sealed Orders 
 
 DOCTOR GARNET, seeing the effect 
 made upon the girl by the conclusion 
 of the story, did not approach her 
 or try to relieve her, as had been his wont. 
 At the moment he felt himself too low, too 
 despicable, to lay his hands on this fair girl, 
 even as a physician. Moreover, he knew that 
 it would not be long ere she recovered her 
 calm. Indeed, only a few minutes elapsed 
 before Ethel had passed through the crisis of 
 her emotion. Her mind clear again, she 
 stared at the man with an imconcealed repug- 
 nance, under which he cringed. She thought 
 with dismay of the dreadful thing Doctor 
 Garnet had done. She even wondered now 
 with new distress as to what her friends must 
 have thought concerning her secret departure. 
 
 It seemed to her that the truth was too fan- 
 
 249 
 
2oO WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 tastic a thing to be credited by the world at 
 large. It woiild scoff at this explanation of a 
 young girl's sailing for days with a man, prac- 
 tically alone, on her own yacht. She shud- 
 dered at thought of the slanders sure to be her 
 portion. How her father would grieve over 
 
 this disgrace of his daughter! How Roy 
 
 Appalled, she thrust the terrifying thought 
 from her mind. . . . And there was the mur- 
 der of the caretaker! Woiild the public not 
 believe her an accomplice, by consent at 
 least, in that forcible holding of him to the 
 engine? 
 
 Ethel's thoughts veered to Roy again. 
 But, now, there was something of comfort 
 in her musing. It occurred to her that he 
 at least would believe the truth, though all 
 the rest of the world should mock at it as a lie. 
 Besides, there was the message she had 
 thrown into the sea for him, which she had 
 seen picked up by the fisherman. There was 
 no doubt in her mind now that Roy had 
 received it. There came a little glow of cour- 
 age in her heart as she reflected that even at 
 this very moment he was searching desper- 
 ately for her. . . . Had she been outside the 
 
SEALED ORDERS 251 
 
 cabin just then, she might have seen the lights 
 of The HialdOy on which her lover was being 
 carried to Beaufort, there to receive the 
 news of her having left Ichabod*s Island 
 alive. 
 
 A new courage for herself left her free to 
 feel compassion toward the miserable being 
 who had done her such grievous wrong. She 
 could guess in some measure from the man's 
 lined and haggard face and twitching body 
 how great was his suffering and remorse. 
 From the fact that he had made such a full 
 confession of his guilt, she knew that he 
 would make every restitution in his power. 
 Sympathy for him, added to sympathy for 
 herself, proved too much for her self-restraint. 
 Woman-like, she hid her face in her arms 
 outstretched on the table, and wept. 
 
 After a little while, the fit of weeping ended. 
 The girl brushed away the tears, and again 
 sat erect. Then, for a long time, neither she 
 nor the man opposite her moved or spoke. 
 What, indeed, was there for her to say to him 
 who had made her his victim? She had not 
 the heart to reproach him. She could find 
 no word of comfort. It seemed to her that 
 
252 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 there could be no assuagement of his misery 
 — that he were better dead. If he Hved, 
 he must be a fugitive from justice, or, 
 if captured, he must be tried and con- 
 demned for murder. Or he might end his 
 days in a mad-house. Surely, death were 
 preferable. 
 
 But Ethel knew that Doctor Garnet, despite 
 her earlier belief, was not mad. Notwith- 
 standing the tortures he endured, his narra- 
 tive to her had revealed a mind lucid and 
 sane. She wondered suddenly if, after all, 
 it might be possible somehow to save him from 
 the law's penalty? Yet, the damning evi- 
 dence of the murdered man in the wreck of 
 the yacht could not be concealed. The con- 
 sequence of it would be that there could be 
 no safety for the guilty one — at least on this 
 continent. 
 
 That last phrase brought inspiration to the 
 girl. There flashed into her mind a thought 
 of another continent, where death was riding 
 ruthless over countless thousands. There, 
 under a new identity, this miserable creature 
 might return to his manhood, might once again 
 exercise his great skill in behalf of suffering 
 
SEALED ORDERS 253 
 
 humanity, might indeed atone for the past, 
 might win a martyr's crown. ... If he could 
 but be smuggled out of the country! 
 
 It was hours past midnight now ; a ghostly 
 trace of dawn showed in the eastern sky. 
 The physician, it was evident, was fighting 
 desperately against the anguish induced by 
 his abstinence after over-indulgence in the 
 drug. But, presently, he noted through the 
 open doorway the lightening of the horizon. 
 Once again, now, he spoke to Ethel. 
 
 ''Miss Marion, it's near daylight and the 
 wind is still holding to the same course it was 
 blowing yesterday. I see little chance of 
 getting away from this place until there is a 
 change. It is, I should judge, about twenty 
 miles to Portsmouth. With your permission, 
 I shall set out for there at once, in order to 
 procure a boat and then return to you. I'm 
 sure that I can make it. I shall be spurred 
 on by two of the strongest incentives: one 
 is my anxiety in your behalf; the other — for 
 I shall be frank with you — is my anxiety to 
 reach a physician. I know that unless I 
 can secure relief within a few hotirs I shall be- 
 come insane." 
 
254 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 4 
 
 He paused for a moment, and then added 
 in a voice surcharged with emotion: 
 
 ''This has been a terrible night. It was a 
 horrible ordeal for me to make my confession 
 to you. But now I feel the better for it. I 
 have fought my hardest to retain my self- 
 control, and I have succeeded thus far. Now, 
 if you can only continue to be brave for a few 
 hours, I'll have you safely on your way 
 home." 
 
 "But do you consider that you are equal 
 to the trip, Doctor?" Ethel inquired 
 doubtfully. "Twenty miles is a long, long 
 distance for one in your state of body and 
 mind. Oh, how I wish my ankle was fit, so 
 that I could stand the journey! But, of 
 course, you most certainly have my per- 
 mission, Doctor Garnet. That is, on one 
 condition." 
 
 "And what is that condition, Miss 
 Marion?" 
 
 " I want you to go under sealed instructions. 
 I shall write these out and give them to you, 
 but you must not read them imtil you have 
 gone ten miles up the shore. Before you 
 answer, let me tell you th^t in those instruc- 
 
SEALED ORDERS ^55 
 
 tions you will find nothing but what is to 
 the best interests of both yourself and me." 
 
 '*I owe you every obedience," the Doctor 
 declared instantly, though there was a note 
 of astonishment in his voice. "It shall be 
 as you wish.'* 
 
 At her request, Doctor Garnet provided 
 Ethel with his fountain-pen and some pages 
 torn from his memorandum-book. She wrote 
 her instructions hurriedly, folded them and 
 gave them to the physician, who bestowed 
 them in his coat-pocket. Then, with a short 
 word of farewell, he set forth on his journey, 
 while the girl, standing in the doorway, looked 
 after him with brooding eyes. When he had 
 disappeared from view, she seated herself on 
 the doorstep and mused for a long time on the 
 curious adventures through which she had 
 passed, and of which the end was not yet 
 come. She felt a great content over being 
 thus alone, gladdened by a sheer relief at the 
 absence of the Doctor. She no longer felt 
 any fear, and presently she limped across 
 to the bunk that had been prepared for her, 
 where she quickly fell asleep on Ichabod's 
 blankets. When at last she awoke, it was 
 
256 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 after a sotind slumber of some hoiirs, for the 
 Sim was now high in the heavens. She foimd 
 herself greatly refreshed, and a desire came 
 on her for the added refreshment of a plimge 
 into the sea. There was no sign of a htiman 
 being anywhere within sight, so she imdressed 
 and entered the water. 
 
 When her bath was ended, and she was 
 again clothed, Ethel found a stick to serve 
 her as a cane, and with its aid made a halting 
 ascent of one of the sand dimes. She was 
 surprised and pleased at the manifest im- 
 provement in her ankle. There remained little 
 pain, even when her weight bore upon it in 
 walking, and the swelling was greatly reduced, 
 so that she was able partly to button her shoe 
 over it. From the crest of the sand dime, 
 she was able to look out over a wide expanse 
 of the waters all round-about. 
 
 To the eastward, she could see for miles 
 out over the bosom of the Atlantic. Far away 
 in the distance, she saw a large steamer 
 headed toward the north. At sight of it, 
 she was swept with a sick longing to be on 
 board, bound back to home and lover. Scat- 
 tered over the surface of the Sound were vis- 
 
SEALED ORDERS 257 
 
 ible many small sails of the fishing boats, 
 darting to and fro, many skirting the shore. 
 These were, however, located far away to the 
 southwest, miles distant from where she stood. 
 It was evident that, for the time being at 
 least, there would be no opportimity to signal 
 for help. A sudden reahzation of hvmger 
 drove her back to the shack. 
 
 Ethel gathered sticks from the shore for 
 the rusty ramshackle stove. She lighted 
 them with matches brought from the tender. 
 Soon she had water boiling for coffee, and 
 presently, with the remnants left from Mrs. 
 Goodwin's supply, the girl was able to make a 
 meal that seemed wonderfully savory to her 
 sharpened appetite. 
 
 As the day lengthened, Ethel's mind busied 
 itself with the problem of finding a means to 
 signal her presence. There was always the 
 possibility of the physician's failure to reach 
 his destination. Prudence demanded that she 
 herself should make every effort possible for 
 relief. From her reading, she remembered 
 how shipwrecked castaways in similar plight 
 had used a shirt or any white garment as a 
 flag of distress. She saw a net-pole lying on 
 
258 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the strand, which, she believed, she could 
 drag to the top of the sand dune, in spite of 
 her ankle's weakness. Her muslin petticoat 
 would serve as the banner. The idea no 
 sooner presented itself than she proceeded 
 to its execution. The moving and the erec- 
 tion of the heavy pole taxed her strength to 
 the utmost, but it was at last accomplished, 
 and its white flag fluttered bravely in the light 
 breeze. Ethel looked with pride on her 
 achievement, and dared to believe that her 
 father, could he have seen her now, would 
 have praised her courage and resourcefulness. 
 She felt oddly like a soldier who has scaled 
 the wall in the face of the enemy, and planted 
 his flag in triiunph on the rampart — though 
 hers was a flag of truce. She siirveyed her 
 work complacently, though every muscle was 
 aching from long-continued digging in the 
 shifting sand with her bare hands and the 
 tramping it into firmness about the pole. 
 
 When again she glanced out over the Sound, 
 Ethel saw off to the northward a small skiff 
 sailing toward her. Even at this distance, 
 she was sure that it was approaching her 
 refuge. It was evident that her signal had 
 
She sat do^n and stared eagerly. 
 
SEALED ORDERS 259 
 
 been seen. She sat down, and stared eagerly. 
 She felt suddenly faint in the reaction of joy 
 over the prospect of rescue. Then, a minute 
 later, the castaway was forgotten in the 
 woman. She hastily pulled her signal banner 
 from the pole, wadded it under her arm, and 
 hurried down the dime to the hut. Having 
 accomplished its extraordinary purpose so 
 valiantly, the white flag should now disap- 
 pear to perform its ordinary useful service. 
 
 And as the signal banner came down, there 
 sotinded a clarion note, as if of victory, from 
 the crest of a neighboring sand dime. It was 
 the crowing of Shrimp, still bold to challenge 
 the world. 
 
 But Ethel gave no heed to the bird that 
 had been her companion for a time in mis- 
 fortime. It occurred to her that she ought 
 not to go away from this place in such fashion 
 as to leave Doctor Garnet to worry over her 
 fate, should he return and find her gone. She 
 decided that she wotild offer her rescuers a 
 sufficient pa3mient to wait throughout the 
 day for his return, before taking their depar- 
 ture. 
 
 Now, the boat was putting in at some little 
 
260 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 distance up the shore. But there could be 
 no doubt that a landing was intended, for the 
 little sail had been lowered, and one of the 
 men was sculling toward the beach with an 
 oar. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 The Parting Crow 
 
 IN this particular case, the cock crowed, 
 not thrice, but once. Indeed, the single 
 triumphant call was all that was neces- 
 sary. It was as if the vainglorious fowl was 
 aware that he had been a figure in a tragedy, 
 as had been no other of his kind since the time 
 when Saint Peter made craven denial of his 
 Master. 
 
 There was no possibility that Captain Icha- 
 bod could be deceived as to the identity of 
 the creature's voice. As the boat drew in 
 toward the shore to investigate the significance 
 of the white flag that had fluttered from the 
 sand dunes and had then so abruptly van- 
 ished, the old fisherman, hearing the cock's 
 crow, tiimed to the detective and Roy Mor- 
 ton, and spoke vehemently: 
 
 '*Men, did ye hear that? Whar are your 
 
 261 
 
262 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ears? I'll jest be John Browned if that wa'n't 
 my ole rooster Shrimp a-crowin' ! Why, men, 
 I declare to goodness if it ain't a fact as sure 
 as shootin'. I'd know that bird's hide in the 
 tan-yard with the feathers off. It's him, men 
 — ^an' if he's thar so is the gal!" 
 
 The all-important feature of the chase 
 with Ichabod hitherto had been to find Ethel. 
 Not only on his own account, but for the sake 
 of Roy, whose deep distress aroused his sym- 
 pathies. Now, however, when he heard his 
 old feathered friend lift up a lusty voice as 
 if in salutation, the fisherman for the time 
 being forgot the graver aspect of their quest. 
 A new emotion dominated him: He must see 
 Shrimp — ^at once ! Forthwith, then, he dropped 
 the sheets, and sculled vigorously toward that 
 part of the beach whence had issued the soimd 
 of the crowing. 
 
 When the boat grounded, Ichabod excit- 
 edly hastened forward, climbing the steep 
 slope of the nearest dune. Roy and Van 
 Dusen followed him, for they believed in the 
 accuracy of the old man's observation that 
 the girl must in truth be somewhere near his 
 pet. 
 
THE PARTING CROW 263 
 
 As the three reached a cleared space above 
 the thick growth of bushes about the base 
 and sides of the dune, Uncle Icky, who was 
 some distance in advance of the others, 
 stopped short. He stood for a few seconds in 
 silence, peering intently ahead. Then he cried 
 out in a loud voice: 
 
 ^'Wall, I'll be eternally damned!'' He 
 pointed a bony forefinger. "Now, what do 
 you men think o' that? It's him, all right, 
 but, by cracky, the ole devil, as well as my- 
 self, has changed consider'ble in his attitude 
 toward the other sex, since last we met! Don't 
 ye see, men, he's a-scratchin' an' a-kityka- 
 dawin' thar fer three hens!" 
 
 Both the old man's hearers burst out laugh- 
 ing over this comparison of the rooster's 
 conduct to Ichabod's own, of which they had 
 been given a full account during their voyag- 
 ing together. 
 
 ''Wait a minute, folks," he called out as he 
 trotted forward, ''till I gits my Shrimp, an' 
 then I'll jine ye!" 
 
 Ichabod gave his whistle, so familiar to 
 the rooster, as he walked forward. The 
 feathered ex-alarm clock, now become a gay 
 
264 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Lothario, looked up from his pecking and 
 scratching. Then, seeing his old Island com- 
 panion approaching. Shrimp hurriedly scur- 
 ried off into the thick growth of bushes, and 
 as he went he issued an authoritative call to 
 the hens to follow, to which they rendered 
 prompt obedience. Ichabod halted, and 
 stared for a moment in dismay. He made no 
 attempt to continue the pursuit. He realized 
 that the old rooster had had a taste of real 
 life, like himself he had come to realize the 
 mistake of living alone on an island of sandy 
 waste, far from the society of the gentler sex. 
 As the old fisherman returned to his com- 
 panions he spoke gravely: 
 
 "Wall, I don't know as how I can 
 blame him. If he's gittin' as much pleasure 
 out o' his new life as I aim to git out o' mine, 
 I don't believe as how he orter be disturbed. 
 He sure was a faithful alarmer, an' I don't 
 see any reason why he shouldn't make a 
 good husband an' father o' a family." 
 
 The three now descended to the shore line. 
 They had made their landing in such haste 
 that they had failed to see the little tender 
 lying in the cove a short distance below. 
 
THE PARTING CROW 265 
 
 Then, presently, the eyes of the three fell 
 on the shack. Roy halted as abruptly as 
 had Ichabod at the sight of Shrimp, though 
 with a vastly more poignant emotion — for 
 in the window he saw the face of the girl he 
 loved. As he saw the smile of recognition 
 and blissful welcoming, he set out on a run 
 for the cabin. A moment later he disap- 
 peared within it. 
 
 Ichabod and the detective discreetly re- 
 frained from following Roy at once. They 
 gave their attention instead to a sailboat that 
 was approaching. They took the newcomer 
 — for the boat had only a single occupant — 
 for a fisherman seeking to win the reward, 
 though they could not understand why he 
 should be coming from the northward. The 
 watchers were still further puzzled when the 
 boat, instead of bearing shoreward, abruptly 
 shifted its course and swung in a wide circle, 
 returning the way it had come. The two 
 men then walked to the tender, which, as it 
 was now low tide, la}^ fully exposed on the 
 beach. At sight of the shorn propeller, they 
 understood the reason of the interrupted voy- 
 age. But they could make no guess as to the 
 
^m WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 whereabouts of Doctor Garnet himself. They 
 waited with feverish impatience for the ap- 
 pearance of Roy, with such information as 
 he should have gathered from Ethel. In the 
 meantime, they kept a sharp lookout all 
 about, in the hope that the physician, being 
 only temporarily absent, might reappear at 
 any moment. 
 
 At last, Roy issued from the cabin. He 
 carried a chair in his left hand, while his right 
 arm supported his betrothed. He placed the 
 chair on the shady side of the shack, and ten- 
 derly bestowed the girl in it. 
 
 Ichabod and Van Du'sen came forward. 
 Ethel greeted the detective warmly as an old 
 acquaintance, and thanked him gratefully for 
 the part he had played in the rescue. But 
 she looked with bewilderment on the leathery 
 visage of the fisherman. She was sure she 
 had seen the face of the old man somewhere 
 once before, but she could by no means find a 
 precise recollection of time or place. Then 
 Roy spoke in introduction of Ichabod to her, 
 and explained the mystery. 
 
 "This is Captain Ichabod Jones. To him, 
 Ethel, you owe your life. It was he who res- 
 
THE PARTING CROW 267 
 
 cued you from the wreck of The Isabel, and 
 faced death himself to do it. To him also we 
 owe our discovery of you here/* 
 
 Ethel bestowed so radiant a smile on the 
 old fisherman that he fairly thrilled with 
 pleasure. 
 
 "You must tell me the whole story some 
 time soon," the girl said, after she had uttered 
 a few phrases of earnest thanks. 
 
 "Miss Marion," replied Captain Ichabod, 
 "jest the pullin' o* a poor drowned woman 
 out o* the water arter the waves has laid her 
 right smack at your feet, an' then a-pumpin* 
 a little swallered brine out o* her lungs don't 
 call for no fuss like what you an' Mr. Morton 
 makes over it. It'd be a mighty-sorry htmian 
 what'd a let you lay thar an' die. That's 
 the way I feel 'bout it. 'S'fur's findin' o' 
 ye here is consarned, that hain't so." 
 
 He pointed at Roy as he continued : 
 
 "Thar's the feller what found ye, an' if 
 thar's any other thanks a-comin' they'd orter 
 go to an old rooster, what used to live with 
 me. Which flighty bird eloped with you an' 
 that tallow-faced Doctor. His crowin' did 
 the business.'* 
 
268 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 The Captain chuckled. 
 
 "An', by cracky, I'm a-thinkin' from what 
 we jest see that he's already got his reward!" 
 
 Van Dusen, who had been showing signs 
 of restlessness, now interrupted. 
 
 "I have a professional reputation at stake," 
 he declared, a little grimly. "I quite under- 
 stand that you two loVers are perfectly happy 
 in being thus reunited again. But there still 
 remains a duty to perform. I must catch 
 Garnet. Please, Miss Marion, tell me where 
 he has gone, what his intentions are." 
 
 "He is off on a mission of mercy," Ethel 
 replied. "He has gone to get a boat to 
 come back here for me." 
 
 She explained in detail concerning the phy- 
 sician's project. 
 
 "I expect him back at any minute," she 
 concluded. "If you folks will sit down and 
 wait patiently, your quarry will come to you." 
 t Van Dusen asked some further questions, 
 which the girl answered frankly, to all appear- 
 ance. The detective was convinced that he 
 had, as she suggested, only to remain in wait- 
 ing at the shack, to make sure of capturing 
 his man within a few hours. He dismissed his 
 
THE PARTING CROW 269 
 
 anxiety concerning Garnet, and for the grat- 
 ification of his ciiriosity, begged for a full 
 narrative of the events that had happened 
 after Ethel regained consciousness. 
 
 The girl did not demur, but told the whole 
 story of her dreadful experiences. The three 
 men sat spellbound as they listened to her 
 dramatic recital. They were thrilled by that 
 climax when in the desolate hut the physician 
 at last made his full confession to the girl. 
 
 As Ethel came to the end of her accoimt, 
 Van Dusen addressed Roy with a note of self- 
 gratulation in his voice. 
 
 ''Now, what do you think, Roy Morton? 
 You remember that night on The Hialdo 
 when I gave you my opinion of this affair? 
 You remember, I said that such cases are 
 rare, but that in the end we should find this 
 whole affair to be the work of a drug-crazed 
 man, dominated by a fixed idea — that he 
 must steal this young lady away, and, by 
 force if necessary, make her a sharer with him 
 in a drug orgy. I told you, too, that I did not 
 believe her life or person in any danger what- 
 ever, unless through accident. And there's 
 another point: This Doctor Garnet should go 
 
270 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 to a mad-house, rather than to prison and the 
 electric chair." 
 
 The day was drawing to a close now, with 
 the sun hardly an hour high above the trees 
 that lined the western horizon. Uncle Icha- 
 bod declared that Garnet should have sent 
 help long before, if he had safely reached 
 Portsmouth. The fisherman gave it as his 
 opinion that the physician must have met 
 with serious trouble on the way, or that he 
 must have deliberately deserted Miss Marion. 
 He further suggested that he and the detective 
 should leave Roy and Ethel for an hour or 
 two, in order to search along the shore for a 
 possible trace of the missing man. But he 
 amended this plan a moment later by advis- 
 ing that Roy should take the girl in the skiff 
 and make sail for the yacht, which was 
 vaguely visible at anchor some miles away. 
 Afterward, a seaman could bring the skiff 
 back for himself and Van Dusen. 
 
 This proposal met with ready acceptance 
 by all concerned. The lovers embarked and 
 sailed away while the fisherman and the de- 
 tectives set forth on their scouting expedition 
 along the shore. But before starting, Ichabod 
 
THE PARTING CROW 271 
 
 pulled off his shoes and stockings and rolled 
 up his trousers. It was his custom to go bare- 
 footed, and he had no mind now to be handi- 
 capped in the long tramp by the foolishness 
 of footgear — suited only to town and the pres- 
 ence of Sarah Porter. 
 
 As he passed among the dimes, Captain 
 Jones heard once again Shrimp's lusty crowing. 
 He whistled, but the bird remained invisible, 
 only crowed again, with a note that soimded 
 almost derisive in the ears of his old master. 
 
 Ichabod grieved a little over the defection 
 of his old friend. Then, quickly, his mood 
 lightened. He would have through the years 
 to come a companion infinitely more desirable. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 The Search up the Shore 
 
 IT was fairly good walking up the shore, 
 so that the two searchers were able to 
 make excellent progress here. Much of 
 the way the waves had pounded the beach 
 until it was hard and level as a floor. But 
 in places the sand was strewn with quanti- 
 ties of sea shells, many of them broken. These 
 troubled Van Dusen a little, even though he 
 wore heavy-soled shoes. He wondered that 
 the barefooted Ichabod experienced no dis- 
 comfort to all appearance. As a matter of 
 fact, the old fisherman's soles were homy, 
 tough as any leather. 
 
 As the two journeyed on, the detective grati- 
 fied his natural curiosity concerning things 
 rotind-about by questioning his companion. 
 He was especially interested in the small 
 
 bands of wild ponies that appeared from time 
 
 272 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 273 
 
 to time. These, like himself, were inqmsitive, 
 and often would stand gazing with curious 
 eyes, until the men were within a hundred 
 yards of them, before they would show their 
 heels and go cantering off through the deep 
 sand. 
 
 Ichabod, though he answered at length all 
 the questions put to him by the detective, 
 kept up a train of thinking apart. He 
 showed the results of it presently when he 
 spoke. 
 
 "Do ye know, Mr. Detective," he began, 
 "I've been a-thinkin' a whole week 'bout that 
 poor cuss what me an' you are a-tryin' to 
 run down? Do ye know, from what that 
 pretty gal says, I don't say as how that feller 
 orter go to a jail house? Thar's a heap o* 
 good left in that man yit. Jest think what 
 he done out thar in the Soimd a-savin' o' 
 the kid! That wa'n't the act o' no beast — 
 not by a damned sight!" 
 
 "Yes, Captain," Van Dusen answered, "I'll 
 admit that was not the act of a beast. But 
 don't you think that a man becomes worse 
 than a beast when he allows the craving for 
 drugs to destroy mind and body and to prompt 
 
274 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 him to acts such as those of which this de- 
 generate has been guilty?" 
 
 "But, Mr. Detective/' the fisherman ar-'% 
 gued, *'that man was led astray. Seems as 
 if, 'cordin* to my way o' thinkin', this case 
 is a heap like that o' a poor gal what's led 
 off when she's yoimg. It don't make no dif- 
 ference what happens arterward. The folks, 
 women 'specially, won't give her no credit, no 
 matter how hard she tries to go right. They 
 jest naturally kain't see no good in her. Ye 
 see, I used to know a gal like that. But she 
 was smart. She up an' moved clear out o' 
 the country, an' started life all over ag'in. 
 It's right-smart hard to believe, but, sir, 
 that gal married a preacher, an' worked a dum 
 sight harder fer God than a heap o' the ones 
 that she up and left behind did! Them poor 
 fools are still a-talkin' 'bout her. Now, Mr. 
 Van Dusen, do ye exactly have to arrest Gar- 
 net if we find him?" 
 
 ''Well," the detective answered, ''since he's 
 a murderer any one has the right to arrest 
 him. For my part, I have no right to take 
 him in charge for the other things he's done. 
 I have no warrant, an' I'm not a state officer." 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 275 
 
 ''What I'm afeard of," Ichabcxi went on, 
 "is that while he's a-sufferin' so, an* so full o' 
 remorse, he'll do away with himself. If he 
 don't do that now, I 'low as how he's a ctired 
 man. It's my opinion that feller will never 
 hit the dope ag'in. An' if he don't, he's too 
 valuable a man to lose. If we come up with 
 him, let's me an' you see if we can't git him 
 to do what that kind-hearted little girl wanted 
 him to — go off somewhars imder another name 
 an' work fer his feller human bein's, an' fer 
 God. A man, when he does it right, is 
 a-workin' fer Him when he practices 
 medicine!" 
 
 Unaccustomed emotion vibrated in Van 
 Dusen's voice as he replied : 
 
 ''Captain, you yourself would make a good 
 one to work for the Master. You have a 
 heart! And, in my profession, I find many, 
 both men and women, who are heartless. I 
 wotild not willingly put a straw in the way of 
 Garnet. But, just the same, for the love of 
 God and man, think what his guilt is." 
 
 The old fisherman wagged his head m 
 assent. 
 
 "Yes, I admit he has done a heap o' evil. 
 
276 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 But, Mr. Detective, the closin' words that 
 man said to Ethel Marion are still a-ringin' in 
 my ears. I hain't got much edicatin, but 
 I can repeat 'em jest like she said the Doctor 
 said 'em. Here they be : * My only hope now 
 is to rettim you safe to your friends an' to 
 do my utmost to explain these most unbeliev- 
 able circimistances. I care nothing fer my 
 own future. It is ruined, an', like a good 
 patient, I am ready to take my medicine.*" 
 
 As the old man ended his quotation from 
 the Doctor's farewell to Ethel, Van Dusen 
 suddenly pointed a little way ahead. 
 
 ''Unless I'm greatly mistaken," he ex- 
 claimed, "he has already taken — or been 
 given — ^his medicine. That looks to me 
 like a yachtsman's cap down there on the 
 beach. You said he was dressed in yachting 
 costume." 
 
 The two men hurried forward. When they 
 reached the cap, which was weighted^do^n 
 with a shell, the detective picked it up and 
 found a note pinned to the top of it. Cap- 
 tain Ichabod glanced about him with appre- 
 hension at thought of the tragedy that might 
 have occurred here. 
 
Van Dusen unpinned the note, opened it and read aloud. 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 277 
 
 Just beyond where they were standing 
 there was a sort of false inlet. It does not 
 show as an inlet upon the map. Neverthe- 
 less, at times it allows the water to cut clear 
 across the Core Banks. Except at high tide, 
 it is shallow. But it is not safe for fording 
 by those who do not know the way, for the 
 bed of it aboimds in treacherous quicksands. 
 It was indeed at this point that Captain Jones 
 had feared lest Garnet, a stranger, might meet 
 with disaster. Now, it seemed likely that 
 he had. 
 
 Van Dusen impinned the note, opened it, 
 and read aloud: 
 
 "To the World: ' 
 
 "I hope to cross this unknown channel in safety, 
 for the sake of the young woman, Ethel Marion, who 
 is piure and innocent. I have spent my energies in 
 order that the world might be benefited. But in zeal 
 to win the fame for myself while helping others, I re- 
 sorted to drugs to give me a capacity for strength be- 
 yond that apportioned to me by my Creator. Let 
 my guilt serve as a warning to every professional man 
 who desires to be of service to his fellows. There can 
 be no gain to humanity from a foUy that must cost him 
 his own soul. 
 
 "GiFFORD Garnet." 
 
378 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 Ichabod burst forth excitedly as the read- 
 ing ended. 
 
 *'Thar, now, didn't I tell ye that feller was 
 no beast? The poor man! I wonder if he 
 did get over all right. Maybe he has jest 
 really destroyed himself, an* meant to, but 
 didn't want folks to think he was that kind o* 
 a coward.'' 
 
 Van Dusen shook his head. 
 
 "No, I don't believe he meant to kill him- 
 self. I believe he meant to try his best to 
 cross, but feared he might be swept away and 
 drowned." 
 
 Ichabod bade the detective wait while he 
 himself shotdd ford the inlet in order to look 
 for tracks in the sand on the further side. He 
 reached the opposite shore safely, and there 
 moved to and fro along the water's edge for a 
 time, apparently making a close search. Van 
 Dusen awaited a signal, but there was none. 
 At last, Ichabod reentered the water and 
 crossed to where the detective awaited him. 
 In answer to the mute inquiry of his com- 
 panion's gaze. Captain Jones shook his head 
 sadly as he spoke. 
 
 *'Mr. Van Dusen, thar hain't a doubt in 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 279 
 
 my mind but that God A 'mighty will be 
 mighty easy with that feller at the judgment 
 seat.'* 
 
 The two slowly retraced their steps toward 
 the cabin. The detective purposely lagged a 
 little. He wished to save his companion 
 from over-exertion. He had never hitherto 
 seen a man of such advanced age endure so 
 much strenuous physical activity, and he 
 feared that it might bring ill consequences. 
 As a matter of fact, of the two, Ichabod prob- 
 ably felt less fatigued. 
 
 It was dark by the time they reached the 
 landing. A sailor from the yacht was in 
 waiting for them with a motor-equipped 
 tender, similar to that of The Isabel. The 
 man had already made his painter fast to the 
 disabled boat, ready for towing it back to the 
 yacht. Very quickly, the detective and fish- 
 erman were aboard, and the little boat was 
 chugging sturdily toward The Hialdo. Van 
 Dusen reflected, almost with a sigh of regret, 
 that his work was practically at an end. 
 There remained only to make a report to the 
 Collector of the Port and the Justice of the 
 Peace at Beaufort. He would exhibit to them 
 
280 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the cap and the accompanying note, and thus 
 the case would be done with. The evidence 
 would eliminate Doctor Garnet from fiirther 
 consideration. 
 
 Ichabod regarded the detective as a man of 
 extraordinary experience and ability. He pro- 
 posed to avail himself of the wisdom here 
 ready to his need. 
 
 ''Mr. Van Dusen," he demanded suddenly, 
 ''air ye a fambly man? " 
 
 "I suppose," was the answer, given with a 
 smile, "you mean by that, am I so lucky as 
 to have a wife and children." 
 
 ''That's it!" Ichabod agreed. 
 
 "No, my friend, I am sorry to say that I 
 am not. I suspect I'm one of those fellows 
 that will keep putting it off until it's too late. 
 But, why do you ask?" 
 
 "I reckon the reason is," the old man said 
 very solemnly, "cause I'm goin' to be, my- 
 self, an' that right soon. An' I thought if 
 ye was, ye might be able to give me a little 
 advice 'bout the pre-nuptals, as Sarey calls 
 'em. She mentioned it, an', to tell ye the 
 truth, I didn't know the meanin' o' the re- 
 mark. Is it something pertainin' to weddin' 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 281 
 
 frocks an' things, or air ye like me, igomant? 
 She said, jest before I left, that it'd take a 
 little time for the pre-nuptals, an' since I 
 ag'in realized how unsartin life is, I sorter 
 thought I'd like to have it over with to- 
 morrer." 
 
 Van Dusen smiled. 
 
 ''I don't think you need to worry, Captain 
 Ichabod," he declared soothingly. "I think 
 the pre-nuptials will be satisfactorily adjusted 
 by you without any trouble. All you need 
 to do is to walk up to your girl to-morrow, 
 and wave before her the five-thousand-dollar 
 check Roy Morton's going to give you as your 
 reward. So long as you have the v/herewithal 
 for the post-nuptials you don't need to worry 
 about the pre-. Then you might tell her 
 that there's a fine yacht all ready to take the 
 two of you north for a honeymoon trip.'* 
 
 Van Dusen dropped his bantering tone and 
 spoke with great cordiality. 
 
 "Leaving all joking aside, Captain, here is 
 a splendid chance for you. I'll take you and 
 your bride all the way to New York, or I'U 
 drop you at any port you like between. I 
 know that Roy and Miss Marion will be de- 
 
282 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 lighted by this chance to get better acquainted 
 with the man who made their reunion pos- 
 sible. They owe everything to you/* 
 
 **Yes," Ichabod retorted; "an' I owe them 
 a heap, too. It's that girl that started the 
 whole change in my way o' thinkin'. She 
 caused me to decide to take on a fambly an* 
 happiness. I don't much like what ye says 
 'bout that-thar five thousand, though. Ye 
 see, we folks down this way don't go round 
 savin' lives fer pay — ^that is 'ceptin' the coast- 
 guard boys. What we does is fer the feelin's 
 that possess us. Why, do ye know, if thar's 
 airy man in Cartaret that I didn't think'd 
 do what I did, an' more, in this scrape, I'd 
 head a passel o' men to run him clean into 
 the swamps fer keeps!" 
 
 ''It's a legally posted reward offered for 
 the discovery of Ethel Marion," Van Dusen 
 explained, ''and there is no question as to its 
 being rightfully yours. You need have no 
 scruple about taking it. But Roy and his 
 sweetheart will convince you as to that, even 
 if I can't." 
 
 Ichabod appeared dubious for the moment. 
 Then his face wrinkled in a grin, for he had 
 
THE SEARCH UP THE SHORE 283 
 
 found a method whereby to satisfy his con- 
 science in the matter. 
 
 ''Wall/' he declared judicially, "I has lost 
 consider 'ble time from my fishin'/' Then 
 his enthusiasm overcame his air of reticence. 
 "Whoopee! Five-thousand dollars! I cal'- 
 late that sure will cut out them pre-nuptals — 
 whatever they be.** 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 A Gentleman's Promise 
 
 ROY and Ethel stood by the rail on the 
 yacht's deck as the tender drew along- 
 side. They were filled with anxiety 
 over the results of the search upon the shore. 
 Dismay touched them when they saw the 
 cap that Van Dusen carried in his hand as 
 they stepped forward. Ethel's cheek blanched, 
 but she asked no question ; only stood waiting 
 while the detective stepped aside with Roy 
 and gave him Garnet's note. The young man 
 hastily read the message. For a moment, he 
 mused as if in doubt concerning its signifi- 
 cance ; then he asked : 
 
 '* Do you think that he made the crossing in 
 safety?" 
 
 *'I think not," was the reply. "Captain 
 
 Ichabod went through the channel to the 
 
 other side. He looked everywhere for signs 
 
 of Garnet's having continued on up the beach, 
 
 284 
 
A GENTLEMAN'S PROMISE 285 
 
 but the search was fruitless. I have an idea 
 that the Doctor, in his weakened condition, 
 was unable to breast the tide, and so was car- 
 ried out to sea. To my mind, it seems, per- 
 haps, the best ending for that drug-crazed 
 man. At the same time, I confess Tm heart- 
 ily sorry for the fellow. Had there been any 
 way to get him clear of the charges it would 
 have been necessary for him to face, I for one 
 would have been willing to go to any length 
 to save him, to get him away to some place 
 where he was not known and could begin life 
 anew.'* 
 
 Roy showed the note to Ethel, and ex- 
 plained how the evidence seemed to indicate 
 that the physician was dead. The girl lis- 
 tened quietly, but when her lover had made 
 an end, she turned quickly and went away to 
 her stateroom, to be alone with her grief. 
 
 Dining Ethel's absence the yacht was got 
 tinder way for Beaufort. Van Dusen and Ich- 
 abod restored their energies by a hearty meal. 
 By the time the moon had risen, the party of 
 four were gathered aft, talking together 
 quietly, and enjoying the beauties in the 
 panorama of sea and shore and sky unfolded 
 
286 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 by the yacht's progress. There was rapture 
 in the hearts of both lovers in this reunion 
 after so great trials. Each of them had 
 sailed over these waters in an agony of grief 
 and fear while they were separated from each 
 other. Now, they were once again together. 
 The fear and the peril were things of the past. 
 For the present, there was only joy, a joy 
 that would endure for the days to come. 
 
 Van Dusen explained to the others how he 
 had extended an invitation to Ichabod to 
 make use of the yacht for his honeymoon- 
 trip. Ethel was astonished and delighted to 
 learn of the old fisherman's romance and his 
 intended bridal on the morrow. 
 
 ''But, do you know,'' she exclaimed with a 
 smile, to Captain Jones, " I supposed, of course, 
 you were married, and had grandchildren?" 
 
 ''Not me!" the old man answered, im- 
 abashed, "But I do aim to!" 
 
 Van Dusen further explained that the only 
 thing now wanting was the consent of the 
 bride herself to the plans. He then spoke 
 again of the reward to be paid to Ichabod. 
 Roy declared that this should be made out 
 immediately. Once again, Captain Icky pro- 
 
A GENTLEMAN'S PROMISE 287 
 
 tested against the payment, but without much 
 heart in his objections, and finally, after 
 mumbling something as to the time lost from 
 his fishing, he consented to receive the amount. 
 But on a condition. He stipulated that the 
 check should be made out to Sarah Porter, and 
 that in the left-hand comer there should be 
 written the words: 
 
 '* In lieu of all other pre-nuptals," 
 
 The fisherman gave it as his positive opin- 
 ion that this would clinch the matter for the 
 following day. 
 
 '* Anyhow," he added grimly, ''if it don't, 
 ril be dogged if she gits it ! " 
 
 When the yacht reached Beaufort, the party 
 went ashore, for it had been decided that 
 Ethel should be cared for at the Inlet Hotel, 
 where, if need be, she might prove of service 
 in persuading Sarah into meeting the ardent 
 Ichabod's wishes. 
 
 The hostess greeted the girl warmly, and 
 fussed over her with a maternal solicitude 
 that promised well for the fisherman*s hopes 
 in the matter of grandchildren. Then, when 
 she had seen her guest comfortably installed, 
 Sarah returned to the porch, where Ichabod, 
 
288 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 armed with the check, was anxiously awaiting 
 her. 
 
 "Oh/' she exclaimed tenderly, ''I*m so 
 glad you have returned safely! IVe really 
 worried about you. I was afraid that dread- 
 ful man might do something terrible if you 
 came upon him unexpectedly." 
 
 "No, sir," was the spirited retort; "there 
 ain't nothin' kin git me now but you!" 
 
 The gallant remark so pleased the spinster 
 that she patted his hand affectionately, as 
 they sat down side by side on a porch 
 settee. 
 
 Ichabod braced himself for the encounter. 
 He felt that there was to be no shilly-shally 
 now. Moreover, his backbone was amazingly 
 stiffened by the five-thousand-dollar check. 
 He meant business! Besides, it would never 
 do to disappoint his new friends. He was 
 going to make that honeymoon-trip, or 
 "bust!" 
 
 "Sarah," he began, "do ye remember as 
 how in the old days I was always said to be a 
 man o' very few words?" 
 
 "Why, yes, Ichabod," Sarah agreed — per- 
 haps a little doubtful, "come to think about 
 
A GENTLEMAN'S PROlVnSE 589 
 
 it I believe you were. But what's agitating of 
 you to-night? There seems to be something 
 heavy-Hke on yoiir mind.'* 
 
 "Thar is, Sary — somethin' mighty big an' 
 I reckin as how you'll think it sudden. But 
 that's the only way to do — ^jest speak right 
 plumb out an' have it over." 
 
 His hearer paled slightly. She had a horrid 
 suspicion that her lover had backslidden, that 
 he meant to return to his hermit life on the 
 Island, and was here now to jilt her. 
 
 **0f course, ye understand that me an' you 
 are promised to wed?" Ichabod went on. 
 
 *'Yes," came the faltered response. 
 
 **Wall, thar ain't but one thing now as I 
 see it that is a-standin' in the way, an' that 
 is them-thar pre-nuptals you mentioned when 
 I wanted to hurry things a leetle. Now, 
 what I'm a-comin' to is this: I'm mighty well 
 aware that them things takes time an' costs 
 money. In lieu o' them as the lawyers say 
 I'm servin' ye with this" — he extended the 
 check — ''an' we'll fix the hull thing up in the 
 momin', an' sail no'th in the evenin' on my 
 New York friend's yacht, for our after-nuptals. 
 But, consam ye! thar's jest one other con- 
 
290 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 dition: Sure as shootin*, ye'll have to pay our 
 way back!" 
 
 Sarah took the check to the light. She 
 gasped as she read the four figures. There 
 was awe in her voice as she pronounced the 
 words aloud: 
 
 ' * Five-thousand dollars ! * ' 
 
 Then, after a moment, she questioned seri- 
 ously : 
 
 "Ichabod, are ye goin' to build the addition 
 on the hotel besides?" 
 
 The old fisherman nodded emphatically. 
 
 *'That," he stoutly declared, ''was a gen- 
 tleman's promise!" 
 
 Sarah capitulated. 
 
 ''Ichabod Jones, I ought to call you a 
 triflin' rascal for starting in to scare me like 
 youVe done. Anyhow, I jest can't make it 
 earlier than eleven-thirty. Will that do?" 
 
 The fisherman's reply was to take Sarah 
 in his arms. Roy and Van Dusen in the 
 hotel lobby hailed the smack that followed 
 as a signal of the wooer's success. 
 
CHAPTER XXV 
 Doing His Bit 
 
 ICHABOD saw Ethel come out on the 
 porch and take a seat at the far end. 
 He somewhat hastily released Sarah 
 from his arms, with the explanation that he 
 ought to leave her free to m^ake her prepara- 
 tions for the wedding. The spinster, blush- 
 ing with happiness and excitement, hurried 
 to busy herself with making ready for her 
 new state of full womanhood. Just as Roy 
 reached Ethel's side, Ichabod joined the two 
 with the glad tidings of his sweetheart's ac- 
 ceptance of the "pre-nuptals.** The fisher- 
 man's apprehensions concerning too much 
 publicity for the wedding ceremony led him 
 rather shyly to suggest that it should take 
 place on board The Hialdo, away from the 
 prying eyes of the townsfolk. He explained 
 
 that he didn't know which would be worse — 
 
 291 
 
29« WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 the small boys, or the older devils, or the 
 cacklin' hens. 
 
 Immediately after the bank opened next 
 morning, the cashier readjusted his enormous 
 bone-rimmed spectacles in order to study a 
 check presented for deposit by Miss Sarah 
 Porter. Then he espied the phrase concern- 
 ing ''pre-nuptals'' in the upper left-hand 
 comer, and that was sufficient, for he was a 
 man of shrewdness. He passed the news 
 along to every person that appeared before 
 his wicket. In less than half an hour, the 
 whole town was agog over the astounding 
 intelligence that the old maid, Sarah Porter, 
 was engaged to be married. There remained 
 the mystery as to the identity of the bride- 
 groom. But this was speedily cleared up by 
 the genial Doctor Hudson, who made no 
 scruples of advertising his old friend's happi- 
 ness. The result was that by the time set 
 for the ceremony, the whole town was out, 
 waiting in eager anticipation. It was indeed 
 a season of great excitement. Here was an 
 opportunity to celebrate an event that was 
 at once amazing, romantic and historic. 
 Captain Ichabod had been known by them 
 
DOING HIS BIT 293 
 
 for twenty years as an inveterate woman- 
 hater. During that same score of years, as 
 her friends could testify, Sarah Porter had 
 refused no less than seven excellent offers of 
 marriage. Now, these two were to marry. 
 The citizens, with one accord, marveled and 
 rejoiced. 
 
 Yet, no one criticized the match. The 
 two were universally liked and respected. 
 While the townsfolk wondered and smiled 
 they did not jeer. But they were resolved 
 to make a demonstration of their apprecia- 
 tion. They meant to give the wedded pair 
 a ''send off" to be remembered. 
 
 Sarah, assisted by three of her closest 
 friends, passed the whole night in making 
 ready for the momentous occasion. By nine 
 o'clock in the morning, her trunk was safely 
 aboard the yacht. Immediately after her 
 return from the bank. Captain Jones escorted 
 her aboard The Hialdo — before the towns- 
 people had any suspicion of what was going 
 on. They were quickly followed by Doctor 
 Hudson and the clergyman. Van Dusen 
 bustled in after them, having finished the 
 paying off of the chartered boats. 
 
294 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 The ceremony was duly performed. A 
 woman's dream of years at last became 
 reality. 
 
 Van Dusen suggested that the newly wedded 
 pair shotdd go ashore to receive the congrat- 
 ulations of the crowd that now thronged the 
 water front. But Ichabod, having in mind 
 pestiferous small boys, steadfastly refused any 
 such exhibition of himself and his bride. His 
 opinion of them would have been confirmed 
 could he have overheard their questioning of 
 Doctor Hudson, which was: Had he exam- 
 ined their teeth to see how old they were? 
 
 Nevertheless, the townsfolk, though they 
 got no sight of the principals in the affair, 
 cheered with a lusty good-will. And, too, 
 they dragged a cannon down to the shore, 
 where the gtmner fired a salute of twenty-one 
 thunderous explosions. The Collector of the 
 Port, who alone knew that this was an honor 
 reserved for the President of the United States, 
 inquired curiously why this exact number was 
 chosen. The gunner replied seriously that it 
 represented the bride's age. 
 
 At Uncle Icky's request, the yacht sailed 
 first for the coast-guard station. Here, be 
 
DOING HIS BIT 295 
 
 had no hesitation in proclaiming his new state 
 and in receiving the congratulations of his 
 friends — for there were no small boys to 
 trouble. He explained the whereabouts of 
 Shrimp and the hens, with a request that 
 they should be rescued from the barren stretch 
 of sand. The coast-guard men promised 
 that the little flock should receive a home at 
 the station itself. Thus, the old fisherman's 
 last concern with the old life was happily 
 ended. In a moment apart, he made a final 
 entry in the diary. 
 
 ** Through with Shrimp and the shack, by 
 heck! My weddin'-day! Hooray!" 
 
 It was owing to a request by Ethel to Van 
 Dusen that the yacht's course was to Ports- 
 mouth that night. Early next morning, be- 
 fore the others were stirring. Captain Ichabod 
 rowed Ethel in a small boat from The Hialdo's 
 anchorage to the town. They were absent 
 for a fiill three hours. On her return, Ethel 
 spoke with enthusiasm of the town's quaint 
 charm, but she gave no details of her visit 
 there, not even to Roy. The old fisherman 
 said nothing at all of the trip, not even to 
 Sarah Jones, 
 
296 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 The wedded pair, though urged to prolong 
 
 their stay on the yacht, insisted on leaving 
 
 when The Hialdo reached Norfolk. They 
 
 took with them a promise from their new 
 
 friends to come south again in order to attend 
 
 the opening of the new Inlet Hotel. 
 
 • ••••* 
 
 Colonel Marion was appointed to head a 
 mission to France for study on the war- 
 methods there. On his return to New York 
 from Texas, he urged Ethel's immediate mar- 
 riage, before his sailing. Naturally, there was 
 no objection on the part of the lovers, and the 
 father was able to depart tranquil in the 
 assurance that his daughter would be safe 
 in her husband's care. 
 
 One morning a few months later, as Roy 
 and Ethel sat at breakfast, the servant brought 
 him a letter with a Paris postmark, which was 
 addressed in the familiar hand of Colonel 
 Marion. Somewhat surprised that the letter 
 should be to him rather than to Ethel, Roy 
 opened it and read: 
 
 *'Dear Roy: 
 
 "Just a few lines to give you the surprise of your life. 
 I have found that o\X£ old friend, Doctor Garnet, was 
 
DOING HIS BIT 297 
 
 not lost in the quicksands, as you supposed. On the 
 contrary, he is here in France, doing noble, wonderful 
 work in the branch of his profession that he always 
 loved — surgery. I understand that he has been dec- 
 orated several times. And also, strange to say, he is 
 going under his own name. I am sending this news 
 to you instead of to Ethel direct, because I feared the 
 effect of a sudden shock on her. You can break the 
 information to her gently. 
 "With love to the dear girl, 
 
 "Your father, 
 
 "Stephen Marion." 
 
 Roy had little alarm lest his wife shotdd 
 suffer any ill effect frora what she would re- 
 gard as the best of news. 
 
 "My dear," he asked at once, "would you 
 be greatly surprised to get authentic informa- 
 tion that Gifford Garnet is alive and doing 
 wonders in h!s profession of surgery? Would 
 you believe it, if I should tell you that he has 
 been several times decorated for his services 
 on the battle front in France?" 
 
 To his astonishment, Ethel showed no ex- 
 traordinary excitement, though her face grew 
 radiant. 
 
 "No, Roy," she replied, "I should not be 
 surprised, but I should be very glad!" 
 
298 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 ** Your answer sounds strange to me/' Roy 
 declared, with a puzzled glance across the 
 table. "Anyhow, you are calm enough so 
 that I don't need to hesitate in telling you 
 that your father's letter to me actually con- 
 tains this astonishing news." 
 
 ''Thank God, Roy!" Ethel said reverently. 
 " The madman has become sane again. Thank 
 God, he did obey my sealed orders." 
 
 Roy stared at his wife in open bewilder- 
 ment. 
 
 "What on earth do you mean, Ethel?" he 
 demanded. "Have you been keeping some- 
 thing from me?" 
 
 "Yes, my dear husband, I've been guilty of 
 just that thing. I've just been waiting and 
 praying for the hour when I could come to 
 you and give you the very information that 
 father has been able to send you. I'll tell you 
 the whole story. But, first, I must exact a 
 promise. For Ichabod's sake, as well as my 
 own, you must not breathe a word of the 
 truth to Arthiu* Van Dusen." 
 
 Still mightily wondering as to the meaning 
 of all this myster^r and eager for its solution, 
 Roy readily gave the reqviired promise that 
 
DOING fflS BIT 299 
 
 he would keep Ethel's secret. Thereupon she 
 told him the story. 
 
 ''The night Arthur and poor old Ichabod 
 returned to us aboard The Hialdo with the 
 Doctor's cap and note, I believed as firmly 
 as you did that the unfortunate man had been 
 swallowed up in the quicksands, or swept 
 away to death by the tide. At the time when 
 he left me alone in the shack in order to go 
 for help, I would not let him go imtil he had 
 agreed to carry with him sealed orders under 
 which he should act. I wrote these and gave 
 them to him, and he promised to follow my 
 instructions. They were for his future guid- 
 ance. I believed that, if he followed them, 
 he would not only escape punishment, but 
 reform so as to be of service once more to the 
 world. Naturally, when help did not arrive 
 from Portsmouth, I concluded that his strength 
 had not been sufficient for the task, that he 
 had perished. So, I was not surprised by the 
 news brought to the yacht by the men who 
 had been searching for him. 
 
 ''That morning when I visited Portsmouth, 
 Roy dear, I had two objects in view. One was 
 to verify the fact that Doctor Garnet had not 
 
300 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 reached the town. The other was to visit 
 the young physician whom I knew to be lo- 
 cated there, in order to arrange with him to 
 care for the afflicted man in case he should 
 arrive l^er on. As I was about to leave the 
 yacht, early in the morning. Captain Icha- 
 bod appeared." 
 
 i" Ethel's gravity vanished for a moment. 
 Her lustrous eyes narrowed and twinkled. 
 She smiled until the dimples in her cheeks 
 were shadows against the rose. 
 
 *^I suppose he stole away from the fond 
 Sarah while she was asleep. He never cotild 
 have managed it had she been awake.** She 
 became serious again, and Roy, whose mouth 
 had widened in an appreciative grin, again 
 listened with sober attention. 
 
 ''Captain Ichabod had a confession to make 
 to me. That confession was vastly more of a 
 surprise to me, as you will soon understand, 
 than this news in father's letter. The old fel- 
 low first swore me to secrecy. Then he out and 
 told me, not without a certain exultation at his 
 shrewdness, that he had put one over on the 
 greatest detective in America, Arthur Van 
 Dusen. He explained that when he and 
 
DOING HIS BIT 301 
 
 Arthur reached the false inlet where they 
 found the cap and note, he believed that Doc- 
 tor Garnet had crossed in safety, for the chan- 
 nel was by no means so dangerous as he rep- 
 resented to the detective. As a matter of 
 fact, he hoped and expected to find the Doc- 
 tor's tracks on the other side, and he did so 
 alhough he concealed the knowledge of their 
 existence from Van Dusen. Ichabod went 
 on to tell me that he was moved to sympathy 
 in Doctor Gamet*s behalf, that he believed 
 the man would reform, would be of use to the 
 world, that he was worth saving from the law's 
 ptmishment for offenses inspired by a drug- 
 maddened brain. He insisted that he told 
 no lie to Arthur — only allowed the world's 
 greatest detective to draw a few wrong con- 
 clusions from his vague remarks and the 
 melancholy expression on his face when he 
 rettirned after crossing the inlet to look for 
 tracks. 
 
 ** Right then and there, that old fisherman 
 and I formed a partnership. We decided 
 that we would locate our man, save him 
 from capture, and have him restored to the 
 normal. This would be comparatively easy 
 
302 WHEN THE COCK CROWS 
 
 since the authorities believed him to be dead. 
 We would demand in return that he should 
 go to France, there to serve those sufferers on 
 the battlefield who might have need of him. 
 
 ''Ichabod preferred to remain behind, when 
 I went to the physician's house. There I 
 found that Doctor Garnet had in fact been 
 received by the yotmg doctor, who had taken 
 him in and cared for him — proud indeed to 
 do so, since he knew his patient's reputation 
 and held him in veneration for his skill. The 
 younger doctor readily entered into a con- 
 spiracy with me when he had heard my 
 story. I had an interview with Doctor Gar- 
 net. He accepted my proposition fully. He 
 was glad of a chance to expiate his follies. He 
 swore to me that never again would he take a 
 grain of the drug. At his request, I brought 
 Ichabod to his bedside, and he thanked the 
 old man warmly for all that he had done both 
 for himself and for me, his victim. I offered 
 him funds for the trip abroad, but he told 
 me that he was well supplied with money. 
 He told me also that he had come in a small 
 sail-boat to carry me away from the shack, 
 but had seen on approaching that his services 
 
DOING HIS BIT 303 
 
 were no longer needed, so had rettimed whence 
 he came. . . . From that day until now, I 
 have had no word of the man. Yet, I felt 
 that he had kept his promise." 
 
 "And he did— nobly!" Roy said. There 
 was a new admiration in the glance with 
 which he regarded his wife, who had accom- 
 plished this miracle of regeneration. 
 
 Ethel met that glance, and smiled respon- 
 sively. 
 
 Once again she dimpled, as she spoke half- 
 seriously, half-playfully. 
 
 "Roy, dear, aren't you just a bit proud of 
 your wife and Uncle Ichabod? Between us 
 we so worked it out that my kidnapping was 
 not in vain. It has done three things: First 
 and best, it hurried our marriage; second, it 
 made Captain Jones a bridegroom instead of 
 a hermit; third, it furnished a hero for the 
 battlefields of France." 
 
 END 
 
i