Screenland (Sept 1922–Feb 1923)

SCREENIAND <Mi£~» 43 5 In this concluding installment is solved the mystery of— PIRATE A Story by the STARS T AH CHAPTER NINE. The Tide of Battle. _HE deck of the Stingaree, the little vacht that lay at anchor close to the Wasp, seemed to be swarming with men engaged in a desperate hand-tohand struggle. To the astonished gaze of Truesdale there appeared to be a score of them, wrestling, striking at one another fiercely or rolling on the deck in combat. Twice he heard the crack of revolvers and as he rushed down to the shore, he saw two or three men in the water, swimming desperately toward the Wasp. And as he reached the water's edge, where he gained a closer view of the amazing spectacle, he was startled to discern Vera Shelby and Eleanor Francis on the deck of the Wasp, clinging to one another in obvious terror. A cackling laugh close beside him startled the actor as he stared. He had forgotten old Goff, who was crouched on the sand, pointing off at the battle on the Stingaree. "Old Goff did that," he said. "They didn't count on' me— he, he! I stole the boat for the big man, and showed him where they were! Old Goff knows what he's doing ! He, he ! See 'em fight !" "Why, it's Grattan— and Lee— and the rest of the boys!" Truesdale shouted as he suddenly made out the members of his own organization among the struggling men on the yacht. "How can I get out there? I want to help! Is there another boat?" The old fellow cocked his head on one side as though considering whether he should trust Truesdale with a secret. Then he nodded and began to move stealthily across the sands in a half-crouching position, beckoning to the actor to follow him. Truesdale took one more look seaward. The swimmers had reached the side of the Wasp and were beginning IJSy the time the gentle reader has proccded thus far in this veracious chronicle of pulsequickening events, it will undoubtedly be apparent that it is much simpler to tie knots in a plot than it is to unravel one. When I launched this movie mystery there seemed to be comparatively plain sailing ahead to port in the final chapter. But the unsuspected literary talents of my distinguished collaborators (Betty Compson, Thomas Meighan and Eddie Sutherland) have gummed the compass, so to speak, and now I will have to steer by the stars — that is, I am obliged to handle a bunch of ''extras" they have added to the cast and gather up loose ends they have tossed around haphazard. Well, it might be worse. FRANK X. FINN EGA N. to climb aboard. Did their coming mean new dangers for the two terrified girls on the deck or were they members of the motion picture outfit, escaping from the desperadoes on the Stingaree? The question leaped to the front of Truesdale's mind, bringing an agony of doubt ; but he had no way of deciding it, and he turned to hasten after the strange, half-witted creature who had thus far served him so well. Old GOFF led the way along shore to where a rocky phomonotory formed a little cove as its base threw a protecting arm about an opening in the shore line. The old man disappeared from sight around this bend and Truesdale, following in his footsteps a few moments later, discovered him tugging at a dugout canoe, fashioned from a log, which had been beached well above the tide line. "Old Goff has a boat," he chuckled as the actor lent him a vigorous hand in getting the frail craft down toward the water. "They don't know it — but I'll get even with Gonsalves. I'll take you out to the fight." Fortunately the sea was quiet and they had no difficulty in launching the dugout. Each seized a paddle and vigorous thrusts carried them beyond the line of swells and out toward the Stingaree. As they approached, Truesdale was quick to observe that the situation aboard Gonsalves' yacht had wholly changed. The battle appeared to be over and, to his delight, it was evident that the motion picture people were the victors. Up forward he saw four or five men in a group, standing with upraised hands and thoroughly cowed by several armed men, the leader of whom he made out to be Captain Hansen. Amidships Grattan stood, revolver in hand, in front of Gonsalves while two men dexterously bound the arms of that swashbuckler. Glancing at the Wasp, twenty feet astern, Truesdale saw that the three swimmers were aboard, and as Vera and Eleanor had joined them in watching the proceedings on the other yacht it was evident that all was well there — they were members of the picture company. The old man brought the little canoe alongside the Stingaree and held it fast while Truesdale clambered aboard. So engrossed had the company on the deck been with their own matters that none of them had given him more than a glance until then. But as he climbed over the rail and approached Grattan, the swarthy prisoner glowering before the director's revolver started in new anger. "Aha ! He is here — the great hero !" he exclaimed, glaring at Truesdale. "Ask him! Ask him is it not truth I tell you that he was to be the hero of this great adventure! Ask Captain Hansen what this hero told him in