Pagina 48 de 416

Well, everything was over now, he told himself. He could take his

defeat since Nellie did not care for him.

Then he suddenly recalled Burns's actions and manner of speaking

during the harrowing moments of the fire.

"I wonder if Nat really loves her?" he asked himself. "And if

not, why did he become engaged?"

CHAPTER V

STARTLING NEWS

The home-coming of Captain Bijonah Tanner and his wife did not

provide the thrill looked for by the more morbid inhabitants of

Freekirk Head. In the excitement of the fire all hands had

forgotten that cable communication between Mignon and the

mainland was unbroken.

The operator, in the pursuance of his duty, had sent word of the

fire to Eastport, and then concocted some cable despatches for

Boston and Portland papers that left nothing to be desired from

the viewpoint of sensationalism. In his zeal for filling space

and eking out his slender income, the operator left nothing

standing on Grande Mignon except the eternal rocks and the

lighthouse.