The White Moll

第43章

Shewasrunningattopspeed。Halfwaydownthelengthoftheshedshetrippedandfelloversomeobject。Shepusheditasideassherose。Itwasanoldironcasting,morebulkyinshapethaninweight,thoughshefounditnonetoolighttoliftcomfortably。

Sheranon。Awharfprojectedout,shefound,fromthisendoftheshed。Attheedge,shepeeredover。Itwasquitelighthereagain;awayfromtheprotectingshadowsoftheshed,theraysofthearclampplayedwithouthindranceonthewharfjustastheydidontheshed’ssidedoor。Below,sometenortwelvefeetbelow,andatthecornerofthewharf,aboat,or,rather,asortofscow,foritwaslargerthanaboatthoughoarslayalongitsthwarts,wasmoored。Itwaspartlydeckedover,andshecouldseeasmallblackopeningintotheforwardendofit,thoughtheopeningitselfwasalmosthiddenbyaheapoftarpaulin,orsailcloth,orsomethingofthekind,thatlayinthebottomofthecraft。Shenoddedherhead。Theymightallofthemusethatboattoadvantage!

RhodaGrayturnedandranback。TheSparrow,withagruntofsatisfaction,wasjustopeningthedoor。Shesteppedthroughthedoorway。TheSparrowfollowed。

“Closeit!“saidRhodaGray,underherbreath。Shefeltherheartbeatquicken,thebloodfloodherfaceandthenrecede。Herimaginationhadsuddenlybecometoohorriblyvivid。Supposethey-theyhadalreadygonefartherthan……

Withaneffortshecontrolledherself-andtheround,whiterayofherflashlightswepttheplace。Amomentmore,and,withalowcry,shewasrunningforwardtowhere,onthefloornearthewalloftheshedoppositethesidedoor,shemadeoutthemotionlessformofaman。Shereachedhim,anddroppedonherkneesbesidehim。ItwastheAdventurer。Shespoketohim。Hedidnotanswer。AndthensherememberedwhatDanglarhadsaid,andshesawthathewasgagged。

But-butshewasnotsurethatwasthereasonwhyhedidnotanswer。

Theflashlightinherhandwaveredunsteadilyasitplayedoverhim。

Perhapsthewhitenessoftherayitselfexaggeratedit,buthisfaceheldadeathlypallor;hiseyeswereclosed;andhishandsandfeetweretwistedcruellyandtightlybound。

“Givemeyourknife-quick-Sparrow!“shecalled。“Thengoandkeepwatchjustoutside。“

TheSparrowhandedherhisknife,andhurriedbacktothedoor。

Sheworkedinthedarknessnow。Shecouldnotusebothhandsandstillholdtheflashlight;and,besides,withthedoorpartiallyopennowwheretheSparrowwasonguardtherewasalwaysthechance,ifDanglarandthoseofthegangwithhimwerealreadyinthevicinity,ofthelightbringingthemallthemorequicklytothescene。

AgainshespoketotheAdventurer,assheremovedthegag-andafearthatmadehersickatheartseizeduponher。Therewasstillnoanswer。Andnow,assheworked,cuttingatthecordsonhishandsandfeet,thelovethatsheknewfortheman,itsrestraintbrokenbythesenseofdreadandfearathiscondition,rosedominantwithinher,andimpulsethatshecouldnotholdinleasttookpossessionofher,andintheda

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