"Claire" is his first novel, and though he is still on the sunny side of thirty, this arresting story is a promising portent of what we may expect from the powerful pen of this blind man with an artist's vision.--THE EDITOR.
I. DISASTER. 256 II. THE WATER OF LIFE. 260 III. THE WAY OF THE PRIMITIVE. 262 IV. MUTUAL DISLIKE. 266 V. THE FACE OF DEATH. 269 VI. THE STONE THREAT. 274 VII. PLAYING WITH FIRE. 498 VIII. THE TIGHTENING NET. 501 IX. CLAIRE'S ABASEMENT. 505 X. HOW SIMPLE THE SOLUTION! 509 XI. THE MAKING OF A KNIGHT ERRANT. 513 XII. THE UNHORSING OF A KNIGHT ERRANT. 697 XIII. FAINT HEART AND FAIR LADY. 702 XIV. PHILIP TO THE RESCUE. 706 XV. UTTER EXHAUSTION. 711 XVI. THE QUESTION ANSWERED. 714 XVII. ANGLES OF A TRIANGLE. 151 XVIII. THE ROMANTIC REALIST. 155 XIX. THE LAST DISCUSSION. 160 XX. THE LAW OF LIFE. 164 XXI. INTO THE SUNLIGHT. 168
In the confusion Lawrence stood still. Over the howling wind and smashing sea, he heard thin voices shouting orders. Another mass of water swept over the deck. Near him a woman screamed piteously. Instinctively, the masculine desire to protect womanhood made him ache to help her, but he bit his lip and clung to the rail. If he could only see! Never before in his five years of blindness had he felt the full horror of it. He had taught himself to forget his loss of sight. It is useless to waste time in sentimental moping, he would say, but now--
"God, when will it end?" he muttered savagely.
The City of Panama lurched back and forth like a rocking-horse. Somewhere forward they must be lowering the boats. He stumbled along the deck, holding to the rail for support. The spray dashed in his face, and he could feel the water from his hair trickling into his ears. He shook his head and laughed grimly, but he could not hear his own laughter. The terrific noise of the wind drowned everything else. It became increasingly difficult to keep his hold on the rail. He was wet to the waist. Each time the wave struck him higher, and he noticed that the lurching grew heavier. He was strong, six feet of hard muscle, but the water was stronger. His mouth was filled with it, and his ears seemed bursting. His rugged features twisted into hard lines. As he struggled forward, he raged at the blindness that kept him from seeing.