The lagoon of desire
,.. Ik . t<. d-Jifcl. MK Alder The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924009718184 Cornell University Library PS3501.L438L2 The lagoon of desire, 3 1924 009 718 184 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE BY W. F. ALDER AUTHOR OF "THE FLYING FOX"— "THE HOUSE UNBLESSED" "FANGS OF THE BLUE"— "THE INDEX ERROR", "THE ISLE OF VANISHING MEN" ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS WAYSIDE PRESS 1921 Belle Lettres Edition, January. 1911 Copyright, 1921 by W. F. ALDER y All Rightt ReaerBed "Steve saw red"- Isle of beauty, laved by southern seas — Thy coral reefs with stately palm trees dressed ; Within thy arms a clear lagoon reflects The smile of heaven, and Desire is blessed. — Dayton. HE, last strains pi a dance number floated from the ballroom of The "Europe." On the veranda at the tables,' white shirt fronts, pink shoulders, the babble of small talk and two men in earnest con- vei^sation. Across the tennis greens beyond the sea wall, the roadstead of Singapore with the blinking ship's lights of a dozen nations. There was no moon. In the murk of the distance, the waters of the harbor were as placid as a nun's face. Idly swinging on her anchor chains, the "Say- onara" nuzzled the sluggish tide. Leaning flaceidly upon her rail was a spare figure in dungarees. In the light of day, his face spoke of an eternal quest, of a haunting memory that, when his searching eyes groped far behind yours, was questioning. This was Steve. Screened from the open door of the ball room 6 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE by a corpulent, potted cyprus, unmindful of the vapid generalities and small talk drifting from the other tables sat Markham and — Blackton. Markham, thin almost to emaciation, his snow white hair tumbled in becoming riot, was speaking. "You say you can go anywhere in the 'Say- onara. ' That may be very true but is she fast?" Blackton smiled. "There isn't anything in these waters that depends on the wind that can pass her," he replied. "If we can agree on price, I'll take her charter for two months." "That depends on where you're going and what you're going after," said Blackton. "Well, Captain Blackton there is only one way in which I will charter your schooner. That is simply this, — You are to sail her according to my directions to a certain coral island and ask no questions regarding my purpose. I will take the responsibility for the safety of the boat in THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 7 the island waters for I know them well. I am going to this island after certain property that is of great value to me, the loSs of which has occasioned me much trouble. I am an ex-sea captain and I know the value of things. You say you carry a crew of five lascars, a white mate and that the boat is a sixty tonner. I'll pay you three thousand dollars Strait's currency a month for the charter. Take it or leave it." Blackton leaned back in his chair to think. The price offered was a fair one. It was even generous. Then his crafty brain fell to wonder- ing what the something was, that could bring a man of Markham^s age clear from San Fran- cisco to Singapore, to go to a coral island a month's sail farther on. He decided to fence a little to elicit further information. "Suppose we run into a British patrol boat?" he queried. Markham flushed with annoyance. "Do I look like a blackguard?" he snapped. "No offense, Mr. Markham, but you under- stand that I don't know you any more than you 8 TEE LAGOON OF DESIRE know me. You're asking a lot in this charter." Ral Singh, the Sikh doorman passed at that moment. His quick ear caught the last words that Blackton uttered — "You're asking a lot in this charter." Ral's brother worked on the water front where strange tales were told of many mysterious goings and comings of the Sayonara. It was whispered among the Malays that, could the planks of the staunch little schooner speak, — ^well, men had seen dark stains upon her decks. Her white mate and her present crew were all new on board. The others had not come back to Singapore. Ral Singh murmured to himself — "Beware Sahib, Itu Orang tida biak" (That is a bad man.) Markham looked at Blackton with quiet in- sistance. "Do I get the charter or not?" "Will you pay the insurance?" asked Black- ton. "Yes." TEE LAGOON OF DESIRE 9 "All right, we'll make out the papers to- morrow." "When can you sail?" "As soon as you sign the charter and I get my harbor clearance." "Very well, we shall leave the day after to- morrow." Rising, Markham concluded the talk with "See me here tomorrow at ten — we'll conclude the business then." A rickashaw carried Blackton to the point on the bund where just opposite the Sayonara, the dinghy lay. As he paid the coolie, the two las- cars that had been awaiting him, untied the boat from the piling and waited with oars ready. He was taken to the Sayonara where the figure was still hanging over the rail. "Better turn in and get some sleep" — ^was his greeting to Steve. "This ketch pulls out of here day after tomorrow, and I want her cleaned up starting early in the morning. You give me the 'willies' anyway, always mooning around. You 10 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE stare at every man you see like he was a lost brother — a brother that you had a grudge against. Come out of it. ' ' So saying, Blaekton went to his cabin and turned in. Steve did not deign to make reply. The only sound that came from where he stood, was the stuttering gurgle of his briar. It was a very good briar. On it's bowl were carved some class numerals. It was a relic of former days : Days not so long ago, when things had been different. Men around the water front of Singapore had long ago given up trying to add Steve up. In the parlance of the habitues of the bund he was a "Nut". Morose, given to hours of stolid taciturnity and furtive study of those around him who had the smack of the sea, he impressed the less discerning of the water front crowd as a police agent. Those who had discernment were too busy in their own affairs to notice him. The time had come when his money gave out and he was forced to seek work. Blaekton, arriving short handed from the Indies, offered him a job THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 11 for he held a mate's ticket. Blackton hired him because of his apparent lack of interest in what was going on about him. He liked to have men around him that didn't see too much and that minded their own business. The formalities of the charter concluded, Blackton awaited the coming of Markham on the sailing day. Markham had not mentioned Lois as a passenger, and when she came aboard, Blackton gave her a swift appraising glance and mentally congratulated himself, anticipating more or less entertainment during the voyage. Lois was good to look upon. In the middle twenties, clear of eye, wholly unspoiled by that air of laxity and ultra Bohemianism affected by Blackton 's female acquaintances, she swung over the low rail and with a level glance at Blackton said: "Has all the luggage come?" He caught the level glance and answered, "Yes." With the word his eyes dropped to survey her. 12 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE It was that kind of a look that brought the color to her face for under it she felt utterly nude. It was her first experience with a hunter of women and under it something changed within her. Intuitively the warning" came, to fear that man, that cannot turn his eyes to those of woman and keep them there. With the wisdom of many conquests, Black- ton sought to cover himself for he realized that here was different stock than the painted ones of the hotels of Singapore. "I assume you are Mrs. Markham?" "No, Miss Markham," she replied a little tartly. "I might have known that by the way you got over that rail" he said, "I'll have a boy show you your cabin." "Boy!" ***** An hour later Markham came aboard. Under his arm he carried a worn portfolio. With a nod to the captain he went below to his tiny THE LA GOON OF DESIRE 13 cabin, and soon the Sayonara was under way. Night had fallen when they passed quarantine island. Lois and her father sat in silence in their wicker chairs back of the after cabin. They were alone on the deck for Blackton was busy in his cabin. The lilting air of "Peggy Brady" drifted aft from the favorite lounging place of Steve. Hopelessly addicted to the mouth organ, he sat slumped against the mast, braced against the motion of the Sayonara by limbs spread at an impossible angle. It was his tribute to the night, and too, one often suspected him of having, well — memories. The velvet blackness of the "Coal Pit," the ebon depths of which open from the silver arch of the Milky Way made a background for a dream picture of — a memory, and Steve gazing, wrapt in fancies, let fall the beloved harmonica, lost in reverie. His face drew with a wince of pain. He turned. There, burning in the blackness of the tropic moonless sky, he saw the Southern Cross. 14 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE He too, bore a Cross and like the one above, it was a broken kite. His head drooped, one hand stole up, knuckles to his lips. The fist closed slowly, hardening as teeth met flesh and left their mark. Groping by his side, the other hand found the old har- monica, closed quickly on it, and raised it to the other. Softly first, then swelling with his feel- ing, came ''The Eosary," plaintively sweet and like a choir invisible. As the last sweet note hovered on the wings of the light night wind, a cloud, black as the night itself, blotted out the Cross. Steve rose, and slapping the harmonica across his open palm, looked once more at the blackness, then, uncon- scious of the lascar at the wheel, went to his cabin. His, was the early morning watch. Lifting her head to the lazy swells, the Say- onara winged her silent way to find a golden fleece, her wake a sparkling silver pathway in the blackness. TUE LAGOON OF DESIRE 15 "Who is that man, father?" whispered Lois as he  line where sky and sea meet. A faint glow tinges the low hanging clouds. A molten mound lifts from the water's edge, tipping the crests of the breeze awakened sea with gold. A restless sea, of sapphire with a lane of topaz, the natal greeting of a new day. Came a stirring from the cabin, a petulant "Pshaw" accompanied with the clatter of a basin falling — footsteps, then, breaking like the day itself from the cabin door stepped Lois. "Good morning, Steve." "Good morning. Miss Markham." "Oh, what a morning," — ^this to herself, then, "Where are we now Steve, how many more days will it be ? I'm hungry, I wish Dad would get up." Steve grinned. Volley firing was a char- acteristic of Lois' conversation. 16 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE "Well, we're just about on the Line, that's Black Island over there. I don't know how many more days we will be, but if the wind holds steady and that glass — (pointing to the aneroid hanging on the bulkhead) don't keep on drop- ping, and the skipper finds the place, I calculate that we might be in soon, but I'd know better if I knew just where we're going. You see, Miss Markham, the skipper ain't never taken the trouble to tell his first officer where he's shipped for." Lois looked at Steve in surprise. "Don't you know where we are going Steve?", "Honest Injim, Miss, all I know is that I'm steering South 20 West this watch and that's all." Lois stopped to think, a thing that she was f iilly capable of doing. Stepping nearer to him, one hand on the cabin deck combing to steady herself, she opened her lips to speak. "Lois!" THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 17 The thin voice came from the open saloon transom. "Yes Dad." "Come and help me with my things for a moment." With a look of perplexity clouding her face, she went below. Scratching his head with a pen- sive forefinger, Steve glanced into the binnacle and gave the Sayonara two points. "It's a queer run this," soliloquized Steve. "The old gentleman looking at the 'blue backs' (Admiralty Charts) all day, the skipper never giving me a hint as to where we're going and passing it off when I ask him." Steve paused a moment, lost in thought. "I wonder if , Lord! Maybe Well, I'll wait and see." A thumping of boots interrupted further thought along these lines and with a curt "Stir up the cookee," punctuated with a nod aft, the skipper took the wheel. Passed two weeks, 'neath azure skies, on a sea that kissed the stem of the Sayonara with smothered weeping. 18 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE It was middle forenoon. Curled up in the shade of the after deck house, Lois day-dreamed in a steamer chair. The frequent advances Blackton made to her were received with cold disdain, for ever recur- rent in her memory was the manner of their first meeting and his appraising look. Blackton noted Lois' lack of occupation and hoping to break the bar of her reserve, went to his cabin. He returned shortly with an armful of books which he took to her saying, "Life upon a sailing schooner has it's dull moments, Miss Markham. Here are some books with which you can put in the time." He laid them on the chair at her feet. Lois raised up on her elbow and thanked him without warmth. Her eyes scanned the titles. *'I don't know much about what is in them for I don't get much time to read, you may find them interesting however." As Lois made no reply he colored slightly and turned slowly away. "Thank you Captain Blackton," she said THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 19 again, "I will look them over." So saying, Lois gathered the books into her lap. Opening one of them at the fly leaf she read, scrawled boldly across it's white surface, the words "Grloria Maitland." Something that she did not sense, some in- tangible prompting held her eyes upon that name. It became indelibly impressed upon her memory. After another moment's gaze her eyes lost their focus upon the sheet though she stiU dimly saw it. In her fixed abstraction she seemed to look through it and beyond. Through her consciousness drifted some sense of famil- iarity with that n3,me. It seemed as though she had heard it or perhaps read it before and she racked her memory to recall the connection. In- tuitively the feeling came that though she could not place it, it had or was to have, some place, some bearing upon her life. She shrugged her shoulders in her perplexity and turned to the first chapter. Lois ate her luncheon on deck, the book in one 20 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE hand, eating with the other. Late that after- noon she had finished the last chapter. She sat silent for a moment lost in thought about the story, then the name on the fly leaf came to her. Somehow there seemed to be a bond, a tenuous something linking her to that name. A name- less oppression gripped her. It was as though the girl who had written her name Upon that leaf were trying to speak to her. The coming of Steve on deck roused her from her thoughts. As he passed her, he noted the expression of wrapt concentration on her face. "Didn't it end well?" he asked. Lois looked up at him and smiled. "Oh yes" she replied, "It was something else, I was — " then with the thought that Steve might think her foolish should she attempt to explain, she passed the matter off with, "I was thinking of something else." Steve grinned and made his way for- ward. Farther down the deck sitting in a Bombay chair, poreing over an old and tattered chart, THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 21 one thin blue veined hand holding his gold pince nez, sat Markham. Now and then lost in ab- straction, his gaze would wander from the chart and center on the horizon or far beyond. At such times his cavernous eyes would fill with poignant hunger and his sensitive lips would form silent words and tremble. Then doubt would shadow the fine face, and he would take from the black leather portfolio, a worn and frayed manuscript, turn hastily to some passage, often consulting the charts during it's perusal. For hours daily, since leaving Singapore, he had done this, though now of late becoming restless with suppressed emotion. This day, after some calculation, and the taking of sights for position, he called the skipper to him, and in the manner of one consumed with impatience, though holding it in check, said, "We anchor tomorrow. Hold your present course, the next island we come to is our destination." The skipper without answering for a moment, leaned over to look at the chart, but with a 22 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE frown, and a movement so quick that Blackton drew back in surprise, Markham rolled the chart. "You agreed to let me lay the course and figure all positions. Do you remember?" said Markham. The skipper nodded, then, after a momentary pause said angrily: "Well, look here, Markham, I think it's about time you told me something about this game. Insurance is all right, but it only covers the boat. It doesn't cover my loss of time waiting to have another built. I'm not going to have the Say- onara piled on a reef in these God-forsaken waters." Steve looked aft from the wheel at this, his face a picture, commenting to himself — "Well, I'll be damned." "Blackton, I covered the schooner for all they'd put on her, you know that, also you forget that I know these waters. You agreed to sail her on my reckoning. The terms of the charter are THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 23 very clear on that point. Further, my desire to visit this island is of concern to no one but my- self. The box I left there is of great — " here Markham hesitated, then rapidly continued, "value to myself, but valueless to others. I have very good reasons to hide the identity of this island until such time as I recover the box and restore it's contents to the rightful owner." "It's just as I thought" was Blackton's mental comment, "I'm going to learn a little more about that box." His face lost it's look of anger, an expression of disinterest supplant- ing it. Markham continued. He misread Blackton's face. "Captain Blackton, my advice is to get every knot possible out of the Sayonara before ten tomorrow, for the island is surrounded by a reef of coral, and passing the entrance to the shelter of the bay is ticklish business in a blow. Once inside the bay or lagoon the boat will be safe in any ordinary storm. The glass has been acting 24 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE queerly for two weeks. Tonight, we will have weather, if I be any judge." "It was that that worried me just now," re- plied Blackton, and he glanced around the hori- zon, sniffing as he did so. "It will be more than wind I think," said Markham. "I was thinking too," resumed Blackton for he glimpsed Lois under the after awning play- ing with the cat, "that a storm in these waters would not be a pleasant experience for your daughter. I have her to worry about as well as the boat, — a passenger in my care." "Don't worry about me, Captain Blackton, I'll be well taken care of," called Lois. Black- ton looked at her in surprise at being heard, answering: ■ ? i "No doubt of that, Miss Markham," and he smiled. It was a smile that might have meant several things. » * » * » Steve 's watch. With the evening breeze came TEE LAGOON OF DESIRE 25 vague whisperings. The reeflines on the main- sail tapped a warning, for the sky ahead and on both quarters was of leaden gray. Sitting near him, hair in what she termed a fright, was Lois in a deck chair. Twice she opened her lips to speak to him, and thought better of it. Finally, after the vessel had slowly righted down from the pressure of an unusually stiff gust, she leaned forward and in a voice carefully modulated so as not to reach the skip- per further down the deck, said "Steve, I'm worried." "T 'won't be much of a blow, Miss Markham," he answered, ''We'll just catch the tail end of it." Her tone became more serious. "It isn't that I mean, Steve, it's something else I don't know how to express." She paused, then as though with mind decided, "Steve, have you a sister?" Steve nearly dropped the wheel. 26 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE **Yes, Miss Markham, that is — I had one once." A wistful look crept into his face. Noting his expression, her intuition telling her that here was something very wrong, she rose and went to him, laying a soft hand upon his arm. "I didn't mean to hurt you, Steve, I'm sorry. Tonight when you are of£ watch, I want to tell you something, or perhaps ask something of you. Will you help me if I need you?" A sixth sense told Blackton that he was miss- ing something. He was too late to catch the hand upon Steve's arm, but he caught the ap- parent friendship in their manner, and that the couple had something in common. Lois had never evinced the slightest desire to converse with him, and he was somewhat piqued at her aloofness, biding his time, however. Just at this- moment it was apparent to him that Lois was making the advances, which to Blackton meant only one thing, — personal interest. His face suffused with anger, mixed with covert curiosity. THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 27 Steve, he deprecated, for to him Steve typified bland rusticity. But the girl? — He eyed her in callous appraisal. He watched them in silence, his tongue moistening his lower lip the while. "I sure will help you if you need me, Miss Markham," replied Steve. Thanking him only with a look, Lois turned to go below. Blackton's look of anger turned to one of covetousness as her lithe figure passed him by the transom. He watched her down the steps, then glancing around the deck to see if Markham were near, rose and strode to the wheel. '*Well, 'Cupid', is the love affair coming on nicely?" Steve turned in surprise and colored to the roots of his hair. He was startled into in- coherency. "Why, I — . What do you mean Captain?" Blackton laughed coarsely then, with face hardening, and in a tone of not to be thwarted assurance, he playfully patted Steve upon the 28 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE arm saying, "Look here, Son, as a Lothario, you're a wooden Buddah," then the hand tight- ened on Steve's arm, "If there's any love mak- ing done on this ketch, I'm going to be the one that does it, understand? Take my advice and lay off the lady, don't let a rank amateur's bung- ling disconcert the lady when there's an expert around. ' ' He nudged Steve in the ribs as he said it, then his voice roughened. "Remember what I've said, young fellow, I never allow anyone working for me to mix with the passengers. " Blackton turned away. Steve turned to watch him go. Had Blackton seen the look Steve wore, his untroubled air would have changed to vigilant watchfulness. "Sooner or later, there's bound to be fireworks here," was Steve's comment to himself. With the exception of two lascar hands whom he had called to shorten sail, Steve had the deck to himself .for the next two hours. The captain, whose next watch it was, was snoring in his cabin unmindful of the fallen glass. A long wall of THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 29 darkest gray crept slowly down the port quarter, while the wind now whistling through the rig- ging, heeled the Sayonara at an uncomfortable angle. Steve, however, braced himself and after a critical glance aloft, decided that she could carry the spread of sail that he had left her and fell to wondering what strange errand he was on. "She asked me if I had a sister, I wonder if — ." These transient thoughts of Lois were driven from him by the exigencies of his duty which were becoming more engrossing as the moments sped. The angry crests and curling billows that slid hissing at the forefoot of the schooner lost their violence. The wind now came in a steady blast, beating flat the surface of the water. Blackton came on deck twenty minutes late, to take the wheel. He glanced aloft and noted the trim of the rigging. "Good work, Steve. You're a 'puka' sailor.'' Steve smiled a knowing smile and after re- 30 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE peating the course walked away. As he entered the cabin Hell broke loose. - Though ready for the blow, the Sayonara staggered like a stricken bird, then, with the pride of a hundred just such battles behind her, lifted her foot and crushed a mighty swell be- neath it. From the galley came the crash of fall- ing tinware and invective of Ah Wing. Came the rain, not the pattering of the tem- perate zones, but the torrential cloudburst of the tropics, filling the scuppers on the instant. Had the skipper time to leave the wheel, and look down the waist transom, he might have seen in whispered conversation over the little saloon table, a couple talking earnestly. As he put his weight to the wheel that strug- gled against him, his mind visualized the con- tents of the box and into the picture crept thoughts of Lois, who until attained, would be lovely beyond words. His active mind became busy in planning that attainment. Steve had just entered the saloon. She had THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 31 been awaiting Mm. Raising a cautioning finger, and indicating the door of her father's cabin, she warned him to talk low. When he was seated opposite her, she said, "Steve, I have much to tell you. More depends upon you than you know. I know because I feel it. Something tells me that you will be able to see us through it. You told me that you do not know what island we are bound for. I can tell you that, though Captain Blackton does not know. I shall, also, tell you what we are going there for." Lois paused, "The wreck and total loss of the ship Bent- nida is the cause of the whole thing, possibly you remember hearing of it years ago. I don't, for it was when I was a baby almost in arms! Father was the captain of the Bentnida. Some very, very valuable papers or something, I don't really know the exact nature of the thing, were intrusted to father's care. He was to bring them to America. There was a terrible storm, and the vessel struck a reef, for they were blown far put 32 TEE LAGOON OF DESIRE of their course. Father was the only one saved. He was thrown ashore on an island. On the island there lived a tribe of people that, though savages, cared for father and tried to nurse him back to health. After several months with these people, whom father describes as the most stalwart and just natives he had ever seen, he regained enough strength to build himself a hut apart from the native village, which was very dirty and into this he moved all the things that had floated ashore, and been taken care of for him by the natives. It seemed that years before some mis- sionary had befriended the tribe during a scourge of sickness and they in turn befriended the white men in trouble. One of the things that had floated ashore was father's sea chest, in which he had placed the little black box containing the things intrusted to him. Whether it was money, bonds, or what, he has never told me, but it was a great joy to him when he found the box still intact. THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 33 Things went on uneventfully for some time, when a pearling lugger put ashore for water and departed again without father seeing it. When the natives told father of it, he had been on the other side of the island at the time it was there, he began to worry and brood over not having seen it, for he could have gone back to civiliza- tion on it. From the disconnected things he has told me of what followed, he must have lost his mind, for shortly afterward another pearling vessel stopped and they found father. He only dimly remembers rushing out into the surf in his eagerness to get on board. They took him to Thursday Island where, after a time in the hos- pital, he was sent bade to America. He arrived at San Francisco, where an in- quiry was started and father was exonerated for losing the ship, but some sharp tongued people, those who had been waiting for whatever it was that father had been intrusted with, started whispering and soon father heard little things dropped that hurt him. 34 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE The little that he had saved before the wreck was enough to keep us. Mother had died while he was on the island, and I was left with an Aunt in Oakland, He continually worried about not being able to repay the people for their loss, and when Uncle Ned died and left his insurance to me, father grew more morose than ever. He felt that the people thought that he had stolen their inheritance, and was living on it. Then one time I overheard a conversation in which I was described as the daughter of that 'old crook,' and I determined to change things. I went home and asked father all about it, and he told all. I told him he must go back to the island and recover the treasure. He refused at first, because he did not want to touch my money, but I showed him where my happiness depended upon it, and he finally agreed. The expenses of the trip would take nearly half of the money left me. Then there followed several months of search in all the out of the way corners of the pearling waters for someone that remembered THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 35 father's arrival on Thursday Island, and the boat that brought him there. It was when we had nearly given up hope of ever finding where the island was, that word came from the old diver in charge of the lugger that had rescued father. He sent some charts and father and I sailed for Singapore. That is all there is to that part of it, Steve. That much of it don't worry me. What does worry me is Captain Blackton." "Captain Blackton!" echoed Steve. "Why Captain Blackton? Has he been bothering you?" "No, Steve. It is not for myself that I am worried but for father. I hated the Captain from the minute I first saw him, and he follows me everywhere with his eyes, but I am not afraid of that. This afternoon I saw him coming out of father's cabin. I was on deck at the time, and was looking down this transom." Lois looked up at the transom above her head as she said this. "I thought nothing of it at the time. 36 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE but later I remembered that father had been sitting on the back end of the boat all afternoon, in fact ever since tiffin. In order to be sure about it, I asked father if he had been in his cabin since tiffin, and he said that he had not, so I told him what I had seen." "What did he say?" whispered Steve. "He seemed startled at first, but after think- ing it over for a moment, he put his arms around me and said that I was all fussed up, and that the Captain was probably looking for him, and then finding him out had closed the door of the cabin, and left the saloon. But Steve, — the Cap- tain came right on deck and didn't look for father at all. I just know that he is up to something." Steve leaned back lost in thought. "Well, Miss Markham, I don't know what is in the wind, but I do think that the Captain mil bear watching. You needn't fear anything serious happening. I'll be on the lookout for any funny business, and I'll be handy if you need me." "Thank you, Steve, I will count on you." TEE LAGOON OF DESIRE 37 There was a new note in her voice. Steve looked full into her eyes. There was a quality there that awakened something that he had thought dead within him. He paused, groping for words with which to express what was in his heart. "Miss Markham, this afternoon you asked me if I had a sister. I said 'Yes,' that I had had one once. I want to tell you of her. " He pronounced the word "her" so softly that it became reverent. "She was the dearest girl in all the world and after mother's death she and I became insepar- able. I left the sea when mother died, intending to settle down ashore and look after Sis, and then some old friends of the family got me into the wholesale rubber business. The firm I was with sent me on a trip to the Federated Malay States to look after some of their interests. I went and stayed upon their request to straighten out a tangle that a former manager had left. I saw that I would be there for some time, so I cabled Sis to come and spend the year out with 38 THE LAGOON OF DESIBE me. I thought it would be a nice chance for Sis to see the world. She cabled me of leaving Frisco, and also of her arrival at Singapor«». The boats were pretty well filled up with war business, and her wire from Singapore said that she had engaged passage upon a coast- ing schooner for Penang, where I was to meet her. That , schooner never reached Pen- ang. I was terribly worried when it didn't show up. I made allowance for rough weather and waited two weeks. In those two weeks I nearly went insane. Then I went to Singapore. I haunted the water front making inquiries, but could find no trace of her. One day while sitting in the Raffles lobby, a boy brought in the paper and I read this," fumbling in an inner pocket he brought out a small bill fold, from this he took a short newspaper clipping, which he handed to Lois. Taking it from his trembling hand, she read: Batavia Spl. SUICIDE IN BATAVIA HOTEL Miss Gloria Maitland found dead hy THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 39 self inflicted gunshot. Police investi- gating mysterious aspects of case. De- ceased left unaddressed letter to brother. Holding body for identifica- tion. Straits papers please copy. Gloria Maitland! Lois let fall the slip of paper. Steve 's hand closed over it. Before her startled mind there flashed the vision of the fly- leaf of the book she had read. The book which at that very moment was lying upon her trunk in her cabin. The truth engulfed her leaving her for the moment speechless in a chaos of emo- tions. Blackton was the man. It was he whom Steve wanted to meet of all men. Through her mind there raced with lightning speed the con- sequences should she tell him what she knew. Her judgment told her that here, Blackton was the master. It told her that her father's mission was to be considered and there came fear with the thought that Steve might be injured in a fight with Blackton and the thought was strangely disquieting. She clasped her hands, 40 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE arms resting upon tlie table and closed her eyes in an agony of indecision. Came the picture of what must have happened right on this very boat, the picture of Steve, bareheaded beside the open grave in Batavia, and the memory of the Eosary played with unearthly sweetness that first night of the voyage. Rising, her eyes filling, she slowly walked around the table to his side, laying her hand upon his shoulder. A long moment passed in silence save for the drumming of the rain on the deck above. "That afternoon I caught a steamer for Java," continued Steve, "and reported to the police immediately on landing at Batavia. They took me in the office and handed me the letter. The moment I unfolded it, I knew it was no mis- take, for it was in her handwriting. They kept the note, but it told me what had made her do it. The skipper of that boat had ruined her. She fought him like a fury, but what chance had she, a girl?" THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 41 Lois passed tlie oath unnoticed. It was a plain statement of fact and so was not profane. With tears falling, her hand stole up and rested on Steve 's hair above his ear. * ' Steve — Steve ' ' was all that she said. "I went back to Singapore," continued Steve, "to keep my promise that I made her when the clods fell on her coffin — Miss Markham, I'm looking for that man, and when I find him — ." The brown hands slowly closed.  at the lead, broke the silence with the welcome news that there were twenty-eight fathoms of water beneath the keel of the Sayonara. His sinuous arms swung the twenty-five pound lead for another sounding. A mile ahead was the island. Between the Sayonara and it's shores, there was a long line of breaking water. This was the reef. Within it lay a quiet lagoon of crystal sapphire. 42 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE Slowly working the schooner toward it, chary of hidden sharptoothed reefs, the skipper stood glass in hand, while Steve was forward with the anchor gear. Markham, with Lois close beside him, leaned upon the rail, tortured with impatience. The air was potent with suppressed feeling, the silence broken only by the monotonous chant of the leadsman. Thus the next half hour passed until, when near the narrow entrance, the lasears dropped the dinghy and towed her through the opening in the reef. Steve dropped the anchor in the middle of the lagoon. He watched it till it struck the snow white bottom. Circling round the chain there passed a shadow. Fringing the dazzling beach, the silent cocoa- nuts nodded their heads in somnolent apathy. Beneath them, hidden in the deep shade of the ferns were two peering eyes. The hoarse rumble of the anchor chains shattering the tranquil stillness wakened into life the dozing denizens of the jungle. Far back from the edge of the THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 43 simmermg beach, beat the torn toms of the island people. It was the time of the yearly offering, the nuptial ceremony of Hui, the spirit father of the people. Kalom parted the giant fern fronds the better to see the Sayonara as she gently swung to the lowering breeze that made her tug gently at her anchor. This was a different ship than the ones that customarily touched for water. The boats he knew were pearling luggers, and the men on them he had found by sad experience were best let alone. Kalom, before being startled by the rasping of the chain, had been brooding. Atel, the flower of the tribe, chosen by acclaim, was dressed in nuptial garlands. She was to become the bride of Hui, the spirit God of the island people. For a year was she to remain apart, unseen by man- kind, in the deep recesses of the labyrinth of the Dead. They had parted the night before, and Kalom with sorrowing heart, had spent the night alone in miserable foreboding. Seldom did the 44 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE wives of Hui return to the kampong with the bloom of their youthful beauty. The sweltering air of the abode of Hui made them old before their time. Now the tom toms were beating in the council clearing before the cavern entrance, where the rumble of Hui's impatience made the people tremble lest he be displeased. In the center of the hollow mountain where the rose colored fires were tossing in their an- nual turbulence, stood the carven image of the God. Atel, his golden skinned Atel, whose cheeks glowed with the warmth of the crimson hibiscus, was soon to pass from his hungry arms to live amid the fires. The thought sickened him. Then had come the schooner. It was a further dark- ening of his sky. Had not the last white man who had come brought sickness upon them. His people must be warned. He must fly to them and warn them of the coming. He gazed with narrowed lids across the swel- tering beach where the heat devils danced madly up and down. The white men on the schooner THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 45 were getting into a small boat. They were com- ing ashore. With the silent stealth of the jungle born, Kalom gently let the ferns swing back to their places and noiselessly threaded his way to the thickets. When in their friendly cover he ran to the council clearing. The ceremony was just beginning and the chant of the sacred offer- ing, swelling in melancholy cadence, died in soft- ening diminuendo as he burst from the green wall of the undergrowth. Maktil, the venerable servant of Hui, turned from his place before the cavern entrance and with lowered arms, de- manded to know the reason of the sacrilegious interruption. He noted it was Kalom who had burst upon them. Kalom the lover of Atel! Kalom opened his lips to speak, but Maktil, his face terrible with wrath, bade him be silent. This was no time for earthly love to claim it's own. It was the hour of the offering. From the dark recesses of the vaulted cham- bers of the cavern came a grumbling roar. Hui ever thus, voiced his displeasure for he W£is the 46 THE LAGOON OF DESIRE God of the Fires. The people threw themselves in prostrate trembling upon their faces. It was Maktil, who saved them from the wrath of Hui. Turning to the now smoking opening, he threw his hands aloft and in wild vehemence, plead that Hui forgive the sin of Kalom. The roar slowly subsided, and the people breathed again. .Petrified with fear, Kalom kept his eyes upon Maktil, never daring to look at Atel, who stood within the high arched entrance, radiant with the full bloom of her voluptuous beauty. In her hair glowed the red hibiscus, vieing with her cheeks to rival the glow of her golden body. From her shoulder tentatively hiding the full breast, drooped a single garland of the mauve moonflower. A golden Venus that stood motion- less before the rose reflection of the eternal fires that burned at the carven feet of the idol in the inner cavern. When the dinghy had drawn alongside, Lois went below for her sun hat. Markham was al- ready overside, when she returned on deck. THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 41 Turning to talk to Blackton, who stood at the rail, he said, "I think I can go directly to the place. Captain. If so, I will return immediately, and we can get away with the next tide." To Lois he said "Hurry, child, can't you see that I am waiting?" Lois smiled at his im- patience. "I brought some water. Daddy," this, as she swung the nickeled bottle to him to catch. Lois was always practical and Markham smiled in turn. "Send the boat back to the ship" said Black- ton as the lascars pulled away. I'll send the boys ashore for fresh water for the schooner." "All right," answered Markham. Blackton watched them land and disappear in the green shadows of the jungle. His eyes wandered to the cliffs that overhung the sea fur- ther down the beach. Over these there wheeled in planing flight, the giant fish-hawk of the island dotted seas. As Blackton watched, the ha,wk poised momentarily, then, dropping like a 48 THE LAGOON OF DESIBE plummet, disappeared in an eruption of glisten- ing spray only to rise a moment later, a gleam- ing silver something in Ms talons. "That's the way to do it," murmured Blacl^- ton, "Grab, when they're not expecting it. I'll let him find the box, and then — ^well, thank you 'Burong ikan' (fish bird) for the tip, I'll play it, and right soon too, if the old man finds the treasure. ' ' The return of the dinghy interrupted further cogitation, and Blackton swung down into it, telling the boys to hasten to the shore. Steve watched him go over a thoughtful pipe. Telling the lascars to remain at the waterline, with the dinghy, Blackton strode into the tall tapa grass that grew along shore, his thoughts busy with Markham's evident desire to keep the nature of the contents of the black box from him. He was following the broad trail of trampled grass where Markham and Lois had passed, when he heard, bourne to him down the breeze, the beat of the tom tom^. He stopped. The THE LAGOON OF DESIRE 49 sound came from the jungle ahead, but a little to his right. Markham and Lois had turned to the left at a point a little farther on. He could hear the chant of the people rising now to wailing crescendo, then fading away to a soft murmur, as Maktil went on with his prayer to Hui. 