Ismay jumped back, mouthing curses; the girl had already slipped out of the room. Turning, he saw her flying through the hall toward the main door. In a fit of futile, childish spite, unreasonable and unreasoning, he whipped out his pistol and sent a bullet after her.

She heard it whine near her head and crash through the glass panes of the door. And she heard herself cry out in a strange voice. The next instant she had flung open the door and thrown herself out, across the veranda and down the steps. Then turning blindly to the left, instinct guiding her to seek temporary safety by hiding in the wilderness of the dunes, she blundered into somebody's arms.

She was caught and held fast despite her struggles to free herself: to which, believing herself to be in the hands of Mrs. Clover or her husband, she gave all her strength.

At the same time the first-floor windows of the hotel were illumined by an infernal glare. All round her there was lurid light, setting everything in sharp relief. The face of the man who held her was suddenly revealed; and it was her father's.... She had left him inside the building and now ... She was assailed with a terrifying fear that she had gone mad. In a frenzy she wrenched herself free; but only to be caught in other arms.

A voice she knew said soothingly: "There, Miss Searle—you're all right now...."

Staff's voice and, when she twisted to look, Staff's face, friendly and reassuring!

"Don't be afraid," he was saying; "we'll take care of you now—your father and I."

"My father!" she gasped. "My father is in there!"

"No," said Iff at her side. "Believe me, he isn't. That, dear, is your fondly affectionate Uncle Arbuthnot—and between the several of us I don't mind telling you that he's stood in my shoes for the last time."

"But I don't," she stammered—"I don't understand—"

"You will in a minute," Staff told her gently. At the same time he lifted his voice. "Look out, Iff—look out!"

He strove to put himself between the girl and danger, making a shield of his body. But with a supple movement she eluded him.

She saw in the doorway of the burning house the man she had thought to be her father. The other man, he whose daughter she really was, had started to run toward the veranda steps. The man in the doorway flung up his hand and, clear and vicious above the crackling of the flames, she heard the short song of a Colt automatic—six shots, so close upon one another that they were as one prolonged.

There was a spatter of bullets in the sandy ground about them; and then, with scarcely an appreciable interval, a second flutter of an automatic. This time the reports came from the pistol in Iff's hand. He was standing in full glare at the bottom of the veranda steps, aiming with great composure and precision.

The figure in the doorway reeled as if struck by an axe, swung half-way round and tottered back into the house. The little man below the veranda steps delayed only long enough to pluck out the empty clip from the butt of his pistol and slip another, loaded, into its place. Then with cat-like agility he sprang up the steps and dived into the furnace-like interior of the hotel. A third stuttering series of reports saluted this action, and then there was a short pause ended by a single shot.

"Come," said Staff. He took her arm gently. "Come away...."

Shuddering, she suffered him to lead her a little distance into the dunes. Here he released her.

"If you won't mind being left alone a few minutes," he said, "I'll go back and see what's happened. You'll be perfectly safe here, I fancy."

"Please," she said breathlessly—"do go. Yes, please."

She urged him with frantic gestures....

He hurried back to the front of the hotel. By now it was burning like a bonfire; already, short as had been the time since the overturning of the lamp, the entire ground floor with the exception of one wing was a roaring welter of flames, while the fire had leaped up the main staircase and set its signals in the windows of the upper story.

Iff was standing at some distance from the main entrance, having pushed his way through the tangle of undergrowth to escape the scorching heat that emanated from the building. He caught sight of Staff approaching and waved a hand to him.

"Greetings!" he cried cheerfully, raising his voice to make it heard above the voice of the conflagration.

"Where's Nelly?"

Staff explained. "But what about Ismay?" he demanded.

Iff grinned and hung his head as if embarrassed, rubbing a handkerchief over the smoke-stained fingers of his right hand.

"I got him," he said simply.

"You left him in there?"

The little man nodded without reply and turned alertly to engage Mrs. Clover, who was bearing down upon them in the first stages of hysterics. But at sight of Iff she pulled up and calmed herself a trifle.

"Oh, sir," she cried, "I'm so glad you're safe, sir! I was asleep in the kitchen when the fire broke out—and then I thought I heard pistol shots—and I didn't know but somethin' had happened to you—"

"No," said Iff coolly; "you can see I'm all right."

"And Eph, sir? Where's my husband?" she shrieked.

"Oh," said Iff, at length identifying the woman. "You'll find him down at the dock—dead drunk in the motor-boat," he told her. "If I were you I'd go to him right away."

"But whatever will we do for a place to sleep tonight?"

"Help yourself," Iff replied with a generous wave of his hand "You've all Pennymint to ask shelter of, if you can manage to make your husband run the boat across."

"But you—what'll you do?"

"I've another boat handy," Iff explained. "We'll go in that."

"And will you rebuild, sir?"

"No," he said gravely, "I don't think so. I fancy this is the last time I'll ever set foot on Wreck Island. Now clear out," he added with a sharp change of manner, "and see if you can't sober that drunken fool up."

Abashed, the woman cringed and turned away. Presently she broke into a clumsy run and vanished in the direction of the landing-stage.

"You've accepted the identity of Ismay," commented Staff disapprovingly, as they moved off together to rejoin Eleanor.

"For the last time," said the little man. "Until I get aboard Bascom's boat again, only. It's the easiest way."

"How do you mean?"

Iff nodded at the blazing building. "That wipes out all scores," he replied. "What they find of Cousin Artie when that cools off won't be enough to hold an inquest over; he will be simply thought to have disappeared, since I won't return to this place. And that's the easiest way: we don't got any use for inquests at the wind-up of this giddy dime-novel!"



* * * * *

The light of the great fire illumined not only all the island but the waters for miles around. As Bascom's boat drew away, its owner called Staff's attention to a covey of sails, glowing pink against the dark background of the mainland as they stood across the arm of the Sound for the island.

"Neighbours," said Mr. Bascom; "comin' for to see if they can lend a hand or snatch a souvenir or so, mebbe."

Staff nodded, with little interest. Out of the corners of his eyes he could see Iff and his daughter, on the opposite side of the boat. Iff was talking to her in a gentle, subdued voice strangely unlike his customary acrid method of expression. He had an arm round his daughter's shoulders; her head rested on his....

Staff looked away, back at the shining island. He could not grudge the little man his hour. His own would come, in time....

THE END



Popular Copyright Books

AT MODERATE PRICES

Ask your dealer for a complete list of A. L. Burt Company's Popular Copyright Fiction.

Abner Daniel. By Will N. Harben. Adventures of A Modest Man. By Robert W. Chambers. Adventures of Gerard. By A. Conan Doyle. Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle. Ailsa Paige. By Robert W. Chambers. Alternative, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. Ancient Law, The. By Ellen Glasgow. Angel of Forgiveness, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Angel of Pain, The. By E. F. Benson. Annals of Ann, The. By Kate Trimble Sharber. Anna the Adventuress. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Ann Boyd. By Will N. Harben. As the Sparks Fly Upward. By Cyrus Townsend Brady. At the Age of Eve. By Kate Trimble Sharber. At the Mercy of Tiberius. By Augusta Evans Wilson. At the Moorings. By Rosa N. Carey. Awakening of Helen Richie, The. By Margaret Deland. Barrier, The. By Rex Beach. Bar-20. By Clarence E. Mulford. Bar-20 Days. By Clarence E. Mulford. Battle Ground, The. By Ellen Glasgow. Beau Brocade. By Baroness Orczy. Beechy. By Bettina von Hutten. Bella Donna. By Robert Hichens. Beloved Vagabond, The. By William J. Locke. Ben Blair. By Will Lillibridge. Best Man, The. By Harold McGrath. Beth Norvell. By Randall Parrish. Betrayal, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Better Man, The. By Cyrus Townsend Brady. Beulah. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans. Bill Toppers, The. By Andre Castaigne. Blaze Derringer. By Eugene P. Lyle, Jr. Bob Hampton of Placer. By Randall Parrish. Bob, Son of Battle. By Alfred Ollivant. Brass Bowl, The. By Louis Joseph Vance. Bronze Bell, The. By Louis Joseph Vance. Butterfly Man, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. By Right of Purchase. By Harold Bindloss. Cab No. 44. By R. F. Foster. Calling of Dan Matthews, The. By Harold Bell Wright. Call of the Blood, The. By Robert Hichens. Cape Cod Stories. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Cap'n Eri. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Captain Warren's Wards. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Caravaners, The. By the author of "Elizabeth and Her German Garden." Cardigan. By Robert W. Chambers. Carlton Case, The. By Ellery H. Clark. Car of Destiny, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Carpet From Bagdad, The. By Harold MacGrath. Cash Intrigue, The. By George Randolph Chester. Casting Away of Mrs. Lecks and Mrs. Aleshine. Frank S. Stockton. Castle by the Sea, The. By H. B. Marriot Watson. Challoners, The. By E. F. Benson. Chaperon, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. City of Six, The. By C. L. Canfield. Circle, The. By Katherine Cecil Thurston (author of "The Masquerader," "The Gambler.") Colonial Free Lance, A. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Conquest of Canaan, The. By Booth Tarkington. Conspirators, The. By Robert W. Chambers. Cynthia of the Minute. By Louis Joseph Vance. Dan Merrithew. By Lawrence Perry. Day of the Dog, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. Depot Master, The. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Derelicts. By William J. Locke. Diamond Master, The. By Jacques Futrelle. Diamonds Cut Paste. By Agnes and Egerton Castle. Divine Fire, The. By May Sinclair. Dixie Hart. By Will N. Harben. Dr. David. By Marjorie Benton Cooke. Early Bird, The. By George Randolph Chester. Eleventh Hour, The. By David Potter. Elizabeth in Rugen. (By the author of "Elizabeth and Her German Garden.") Elusive Isabel. By Jacques Futrelle. Elusive Pimpernel, The. By Baroness Orczy. Enchanted Hat, The. By Harold McGrath. Excuse Me. By Rupert Hughes. 54-40 or Fight. By Emerson Hough. Fighting Chance, The. By Robert W. Chambers. Flamsted Quarries. By Mary E. Waller. Flying Mercury, The. By Eleanor M. Ingram. For a Maiden Brave. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Four Million, The. By O. Henry. Four Pool's Mystery, The. By Jean Webster. Fruitful Vine, The. By Robert Hichens. Ganton & Co. By Arthur J. Eddy. Gentleman of France, A. By Stanley Weyman. Gentleman, The. By Alfred Ollivant. Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford. By George Randolph Chester. Gilbert Neal. By Will N. Harben. Girl and the Bill, The. By Bannister Merwin. Girl from His Town, The. By Marie Van Vorst. Girl Who Won, The. By Beth Ellis. Glory of Clementina, The. By William J. Locke. Glory of the Conquered, The. By Susan Glaspell. God's Good Man. By Marie Corelli. Going Some. By Rex Beach. Golden Web, The. By Anthony Partridge. Green Patch, The. By Bettina von Hutten. Happy Island (sequel to "Uncle William"). By Jennette Lee. Hearts and the Highway. By Cyrus Townsend Brady. Held for Orders. By Frank H. Spearman. Hidden Water. By Dane Coolidge. Highway of Fate, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Homesteaders, The. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles. Honor of the Big Snows, The. By James Oliver Curwood. Hopalong Cassidy. By Clarence E. Mulford. Household of Peter, The. By Rosa N. Carey. House of Mystery, The. By Will Irwin. House of the Lost Court, The. By C. N. Williamson. House of the Whispering Pines, The. By Anna Katherine Green. House on Cherry Street, The. By Amelia E. Barr. How Leslie Loved. By Anne Warner. Husbands of Edith, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. Idols. By William J. Locke. Illustrious Prince, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Imprudence of Prue, The. By Sophie Fisher. Inez. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans. Infelice. By Augusta Evans Wilson. Initials Only. By Anna Katharine Green. In Defiance of the King. By Chauncey C. Hotchkiss. Indifference of Juliet, The. By Grace S. Richmond. In the Service of the Princess. By Henry C. Rowland. Iron Woman, The. By Margaret Deland. Ishmael. (Illustrated.) By Mrs. Southworth. Island of Regeneration, The. By Cyrus Townsend Brady. Jack Spurlock, Prodigal. By Horace Lorimer. Jane Cable. By George Barr McCutcheon. Jeanne of the Marshes. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Jude the Obscure. By Thomas Hardy. Keith of the Border. By Randall Parrish. Key to the Unknown, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Kingdom of Earth, The. By Anthony Partridge. King Spruce. By Holman Day. Ladder of Swords, A. By Gilbert Parker. Lady Betty Across the Water. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Lady Merton, Colonist. By Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Lady of Big Shanty, The. By Berkeley F. Smith. Langford of the Three Bars. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles. Land of Long Ago, The. By Eliza Calvert Hall. Lane That Had No Turning, The. By Gilbert Parker. Last Trail, The. By Zane Grey. Last Voyage of the Donna Isabel, The. By Randall Parrish. Leavenworth Case, The. By Anna Katharine Green. Lin McLean. By Owen Wister. Little Brown Jug at Kildare, The. By Meredith Nicholson. Loaded Dice. By Ellery H. Clark. Lord Loveland Discovers America. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Lorimer of the Northwest. By Harold Bindloss. Lorraine. By Robert W. Chambers. Lost Ambassador, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Love Under Fire. By Randall Parrish. Loves of Miss Anne, The. By S. R. Crockett. Macaria. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans. Mademoiselle Celeste. By Adele Ferguson Knight. Maid at Arms, The. By Robert W. Chambers. Maid of Old New York, A. By Amelia E. Barr. Maid of the Whispering Hills, The. By Vingie Roe. Maids of Paradise, The. By Robert W. Chambers. Making of Bobby Burnit, The. By George Randolph Chester. Mam' Linda. By Will N. Harben. Man Outside, The. By Wyndham Martyn Man In the Brown Derby, The. By Wells Hastings. Marriage a la Mode. By Mrs. Humphrey Ward. Marriage of Theodora, The. By Molly Elliott Seawell. Marriage Under the Terror, A. By Patricia Wentworth. Master Mummer, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Masters of the Wheatlands. By Harold Bindloss. Max. By Katherine Cecil Thurston. Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle. Millionaire Baby, The. By Anna Katharine Green. Missioner, The. By E. Phillips Oppenheim. Miss Selina Lue. By Maria Thompson Daviess. Mistress of Brae Farm, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Money Moon, The. By Jeffery Farnol. Motor Maid, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Much Ado About Peter. By Jean Webster. Mr. Pratt. By Joseph C. Lincoln. My Brother's Keeper. By Charles Tenny Jackson. My Friend the Chauffeur. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. My Lady Caprice (author of "The Broad Highway"). Jeffery Farnol. My Lady of Doubt. By Randall Parrish. My Lady of the North. By Randall Parrish. My Lady of the South. By Randall Parrish. Mystery Tales. By Edgar Allen Poe. Nancy Stair. By Elinor Macartney Lane. Ne'er-Do-Well, The. By Rex Beach. No Friend Like a Sister. By Rosa N. Carey. Officer 666. By Barton W. Currie and Augustin McHugh. One Braver Thing. By Richard Dehan. Order No. 11. By Caroline Abbot Stanley. Orphan, The. By Clarence E. Mulford. Out of the Primitive. By Robert Ames Bennett. Pam. By Bettina von Hutten. Pam Decides. By Bettina von Hutten. Pardners. By Rex Beach. Partners of the Tide. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Passage Perilous, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Passers By. By Anthony Partridge. Paternoster Ruby, The. By Charles Edmonds Walk. Patience of John Moreland, The. By Mary Dillon. Paul Anthony, Christian. By Hiram W. Hays. Phillip Steele. By James Oliver Curwood. Phra the Phoenician. By Edwin Lester Arnold. Plunderer, The. By Roy Norton. Pole Baker. By Will N. Harben. Politician, The. By Edith Huntington Mason. Polly of the Circus. By Margaret Mayo. Pool of Flame, The. By Louis Joseph Vance. Poppy. By Cynthia Stockley. Power and the Glory, The. By Grace McGowan Cooke. Price of the Prairie, The. By Margaret Hill McCarter. Prince of Sinners, A. By E. Phillis Oppenheim. Prince or Chauffeur. By Lawrence Perry. Princess Dehra, The. By John Reed Scott. Princess Passes, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Princess Virginia, The. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Prisoners of Chance. By Randall Parrish. Prodigal Son, The. By Hall Caine. Purple Parasol, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. Reconstructed Marriage, A. By Amelia Barr. Redemption of Kenneth Galt, The. By Will N. Harben. Red House on Rowan Street. By Roman Doubleday. Red Mouse, The. By William Hamilton Osborne. Red Pepper Burns. By Grace S. Richmond. Refugees, The. By A. Conan Doyle. Rejuvenation of Aunt Mary, The. By Anne Warner. Road to Providence, The. By Maria Thompson Daviess. Romance of a Plain Man, The. By Ellen Glasgow. Rose in the Ring, The. By George Barr McCutcheon. Rose of Old Harpeth, The. By Maria Thompson Daviess. Rose of the World. By Agnes and Egerton Castle. Round the Corner In Gay Street. By Grace S. Richmond. Routledge Rides Alone. By Will Livingston Comfort. Running Fight, The. By Wm. Hamilton Osborne. Seats of the Mighty, The. By Gilbert Parker. Septimus. By William J. Locke. Set In Silver. By C. N. and A. M. Williamson. Self-Raised. (Illustrated.) By Mrs. Southworth. Shepherd of the Hills, The. By Harold Bell Wright. Sheriff of Dyke Hole, The. By Ridgwell Cullum. Sidney Carteret, Rancher. By Harold Bindloss. Simon the Jester. By William J. Locke. Sliver Blade, The. By Charles E. Walk. Silver Horde, The. By Rex Beach. Sir Nigel. By A. Conan Doyle. Sir Richard Calmady. By Lucas Malet. Skyman, The. By Henry Ketchell Webster. Slim Princess, The. By George Ade. Speckled Bird, A. By Augusta Evans Wilson. Spirit in Prison, A. By Robert Hichens. Spirit of the Border, The. By Zane Grey. Spirit Trail, The. By Kate and Virgil D. Boyles. Spoilers, The. By Rex Beach. Stanton Wins. By Eleanor M. Ingram. St. Elmo. (Illustrated Edition.) By Augusta J. Evans. Stolen Singer, The. By Martha Bellinger. Stooping Lady, The. By Maurice Hewlett. Story of the Outlaw, The. By Emerson Hough. Strawberry Acres. By Grace S. Richmond. Strawberry Handkerchief, The. By Amelia E. Barr. Sunnyside of the Hill, The. By Rosa N. Carey. Sunset Trail, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis. Susan Clegg and Her Friend Mrs. Lathrop. By Anne Warner. Sword of the Old Frontier, A. By Randall Parrish. Tales of Sherlock Holmes. By A. Conan Doyle. Tennessee Shad, The. By Owen Johnson. Tess of the D'Urbervilles. By Thomas Hardy. Texican, The. By Dane Coolidge. That Printer of Udell's. By Harold Bell Wright. Three Brothers, The. By Eden Phillpotts. Throwback, The. By Alfred Henry Lewis. Thurston of Orchard Valley. By Harold Bindloss. Title Market, The. By Emily Post. Torn Sails. A Tale of a Welsh Village. By Allen Raine. Trail of the Axe, The. By Ridgwell Cullum. Treasure of Heaven, The. By Marie Corelli. Two-Gun Man, The. By Charles Alden Seltzer. Two Vanrevels, The. By Booth Tarkington. Uncle William. By Jennette Lee. Up from Slavery. By Booker T. Washington. Vanity Box, The. By C. N. Williamson. Vashti. By Augusta Evans Wilson. Varmint, The. By Owen Johnson. Vigilante Girl, A. By Jerome Hart. Village of Vagabonds, A. By F. Berkeley Smith. Visioning, The. By Susan Glaspell. Voice of the People, The. By Ellen Glasgow. Wanted—A Chaperon. By Paul Leicester Ford. Wanted: A Matchmaker. By Paul Leicester Ford. Watchers of the Plains, The. Ridgwell Cullum. Wayfarers, The. By Mary Stewart Cutting. Way of a Man, The. By Emerson Hough. Weavers, The. By Gilbert Parker. When Wilderness Was King. By Randall Parrish. Where the Trail Divides. By Will Lillibridge. White Sister, The. By Marion Crawford. Window at the White Cat, The. By Mary Roberts Rhinehart. Winning of Barbara Worth, The. By Harold Bell Wright. With Juliet in England. By Grace S. Richmond. Woman Haters, The. By Joseph C. Lincoln. Woman in Question, The. By John Reed Scott. Woman in the Alcove, The. By Anna Katharine Green. Yellow Circle, The. By Charles E. Walk. Yellow Letter, The. By William Johnston. Younger Set, The. By Robert W. Chambers.



* * * * *

Transcriber's Notes:

Spaced contractions in the original publication have been joined except where they would probably have been pronounced as two words.

The following changes have been made for consistency: page 132, "downstairs" changed to "down-stairs" page 136, "desklamp" changed to "desk-lamp" page 151, "stupified" changed to "stupefied" page 205, "up-town" changed to "uptown" page 212, "bell-boy" changed to "bellboy" page 239, "newel post" changed to "newel-post" page 269, "kitchen-porch" changed to "kitchen porch" page 272, "strongbox" changed to "strong-box" page 298, "P. M." changed to "P.M."

page 92, "Manver's lips" changed to "Manvers' lips".

page 126, "How-d-'you-do" changed to "How-d'-you-do".

page 127, closing single quote changed to double quote: "But he can't have left the ship!"

page 150, period added at end of sentence, "and came hastily over to the table beside which he was standing."

page 206, ";" added in "this morning; Jane".

page 284, missing " added at end of note.

Book list at end: Apparent typesetting errors noticed by the transcriber were fixed as follows: "Bar 20" changed to "Bar-20" "Mulfird" changed to "Mulford" (for Bar-20 Days) closing quote added to "Uncle William" (for Happy Island) "Ellery H. Clarke" changed to "Ellery H. Clark" (for Loaded Dice) "Get-Rick-Quick-Wallingford" changed to "Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford" 'author of the "Broad Higway"' changed to '"author of "The Broad Highway"' (for My Lady Caprice) "Louis Joseh Vance" changed to "Louis Joseph Vance" (for Pool of Flame)

End of Transcriber's Notes