The Brand of Silence

CONTENTS


I. IN THE HARBOR

II. THE GIRL ON THE SHIP

III. SOME DISCOURTESIES

IV. A FOE AND A FRIEND

V. THE COUSIN

VI. MURK--AND MURDER

VII. EVIDENCE

VIII. LIES AND LIARS

IX. PUZZLED

X. ON THE TRAIL

XI. CONCERNING KATE GILBERT

XII. BATTERED KEYS

XIII. A PLAN OF CAMPAIGN

XIV. MORE MYSTERY

XV. A MOMENT OF VIOLENCE

XVI. MURK RECEIVES A BLOW

XVII. MURK IS TEMPTED

XVIII. A WOMAN'S WAY

XIX. COADLEY QUITS

XX. UP THE RIVER

XXI. RECOGNITION

XXII. AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR

XXIII. A STARTLING STORY

XXIV. HIGH-HANDED METHODS

XXV. AN ACCUSATION

XXVI. THE TRUTH COMES OUT




THE BRAND OF SILENCE




CHAPTER I

IN THE HARBOR


Now the fog was clearing and the mist was lifting, and the bright
sunshine was struggling to penetrate the billows of damp vapor and touch
with its glory the things of the world beneath. In the lower harbor
there still was a chorus of sirens and foghorns, as craft of almost
every description made way toward the metropolis or out toward the open
sea.

The _Manatee_, tramp steamer with rusty plates and rattling engines and
a lurch like that of a drunken man, wallowed her way in from the
turbulent ocean she had fought for three days, her skipper standing on
the bridge and inaudibly giving thanks that he was nearing the end of
the voyage without the necessity for abandoning his craft for an open
boat, or remaining to go down with the ship after the manner of skippers
of the old school.

Here and there showed a rift in the rolling fog, and those who braved
the weather and lined the damp rail could see other craft in passing.

A giant liner made her way past majestically, bound for Europe, or a
seagoing tug clugged by as if turning up her nose at the old, battered
_Manatee_.