Heppner gazette., February 14, 1907, Image 2

CIIAPTER XV.
During some days I saw no more of the
doctor, or of anyone about the ship save
an old negro, who became my servant. lie
was not an uukindly looking man, being
of great age, and somewhat feeble in his
actions ; but he never opened his lips
when I questioned him, and gave a plain
""Yes" or "No" to any demand.
It must have been on die fourth day
after xny capture that the nameless ship,
which hitherto had not been speeding at
tin abnormal pace, began to go very fast.
Tinally, by the consciousness that the
ship had stopped, and that there was
much agitation on deck, I looked from
my window and observed the cause of the
confusion, for there, ahead of us a mile
or more, was one of the largest icebergs
1 have ever seen. I watched intently, hop
ing to see other bergs that should tell me
Low far we had gone towards the North,
but the night fell suddenly. I had a no
tion that Captain Black was running to
hiding ; and his hiding place lay to the
north, far above the course even of Canadian-bound
vessels.
The time passed, the weather growing
colder day by any, the bergs more fre
quent about my windows ; until on the
vening of the seventh day the ship stop
ped suddenly. The work of mooring was
not a long one. On the next morning I got
up at daybreak, and looked eagerly from
my spying place; but I could discern only
a blank cliff of rock, the ship being now
moored against the very side of it. The
negro brought a note with my breakfast ;
and I read an invitation to dine with
Captain Black that evening. I welcomed
the prospect of change, when the old man
threw open the door and said, "The Mas
ter waits !"
He led the way up the .companion lad
der, which was, in fact, a broad staircase.
elaborately lit with the electric light; and
so brought me to the deck, where there
was darkness save in one spot above the
fore-turref. There a lantern threw a great
volume of white light which spread out
upon the sea, and showed me at once that
we were in a cove of some breadth, sur
rounded by prodigiously high cliffs; and
the light being focussed straight across the
bay, iisclosed a cleft in these rocks lead
ing apparently to a further cove beyond.
I had scarce lime to get other than a
rough idea of Ihe whole situation, for a
boat was waiting at the gangway. The
men gave way at once, keeping in the
course of the searchlight, and rowing
straight to the cleft in the cliffs, through
which they passed; and. so left the light
and entered a narrower fjord. This sec
ond cove opened after a while into a
lake, above whse shores I observed many
twinkling lights, which seemed to come
from windows far up the face of the cliff.
There was a rough landing stage, cut in
the rock, and an iron stairway led thence
to the chambers which evidently existed
above.
' When we had come to shore, and had
been received there by several men who
held lanterns, the negro pointed to the
iron stairway and told me to mount ; he
following rue to the summit, where there
was a platform and an iron door. The
6oor opened as we arrived before it, and
there standing by it I found the young
doctor.
"Come in," he said, "they're waiting
for you."
We were in a broad passage lit by the
electric light a passage cut in a crystal
like rock, whose surface had almost the
lustre of a mirror. The passage led up
to a second door this one built of fine
American walnur ; and we passed through
it at once into a rom where I was as
tounded to see indisputable evidence of
civilization and of refinement. The whole
chamber was hung round with superb
skins, the white fur of the polar bear pre
dominating; but there were couches cush
ioned with deep brown seal ; and the same
glossy skin was laid upon the floor in
so many layers that the footfall was
noiseless and pleasantly luxuriant. The
furniture otherw.se was both modern and
artistic.
The room had a solitary occupant. One
glance assured me that 1 was face to face
with Captain Black the Captain Black I
had seen in Paris ; but yet not the same,
for all the bravado and rough speech
which which then fell from his lips was
wanting. When he stepped forward and
held out his hand to me, I had the mind
almost to draw back from him. for I
knew that the man had crime heavy upon
him; but a second thought convinced me
of the folly of making a scene at such a
moment : so I t ok the great hard hand
ard looked him full in the face.
"I am glad to soe you," said he; "din
Tier waits us:" and with that we passed
Into another chamber containing a dining
table laid for four persons in a very ele
gant manner. The only servant was a
giant black, and the guests of the Cap
tain were the young doctor, the Scotsman
known as Dick the Ranter, and myself.
The captain made no attempt to con
ceal information from me. The first oc
casion of his speaking during dinner was
in answer to a remark of mine that I
found tb room very pleasantly warm.
"Yes, he said, "you must feel the
change. You know where you are, of
course. This is the west coast of Green
land, and there is a Danish settlement not
fifty miles from you although we don't
leave cards on our neighbors Well, I
won't have you harried, and you're my
truest until I put a certain straight ques
tion to you. When that happens you
won't think twice about the answer."
"This pleasant party must disperse,"
he said to me later; "you can go to the
quarters we have provided for you, unless
you would like to see more of us."
"I should l.ke to see everything you
can show me," I replied, being aflame
with curiosity to know all that the strange
situation could' teach me; and then he
made a motion for the others to follow,
and we passed from the room.
The way from the dining room was
through a long paaaaga lighted with arc
It might have been a mad hope, but
yet it was a hope. Unless the man "Four
Eyes" deliberately deceived me, Black
would connive at the murder of fifty
British seamen before another twenty
four hours had sped. These men would
have all the anger of desperation to drive
them to the attack; and I felt sure that
if I could get some arms into their hands,
the attempt would at least be justifiable.
During the remaining hours of the day
1 engaged myself in searching the houses
on the beach ; but, although I looked into
'many of them, I found no sign of armory.
Then I remembered that Black had a
stand of Winchester rifles in his study.
I had hopes that they would suffice, with
knives and any revolvers I might lay
hands upon, to hold a ring of men against
the company. This thought I hugged to
lamps at intervals, and having the doors ' me all day, going often to the iron plat-
THE IRON PIRATE
A Tlain Tale of Strange
Happenings on the Sea
By MAX PEMBERTON
of many rooms on the right-hand side
of it. Several of these doors were onen ;
and I saw the interiors of well-furnished
bedrooms, of smaller sitting rooms, and
of a beautifully' furnished billiard room.
At the end of the passage we descended a
flight of stairs to another landing. This
proved the way to a small stretch of
beach, and here I found several substan
tial buildings of stone, evidently for the
use of Black's company. The largest of
the houses seemed to be a kind of hall,
well lighted by arc lamps. Into this we
passed, lifting a heavy curtain of skins
and seated there, on all sorts of rough
lounges and benches were the men I had
seen in Paris, with fifty or sixty others,
no less ferocious looking.
"Men," said Black, "I want to tell you
that we've got a stranger with us; but
he s here to stay, and he's my charge."
Has he jined?" asked a blear-eyed
man, who had eyed me with much curios
ity ; but the captain answered :
"That's my affar, and you keep your
tongue still if you don't want me to cut
it out ; he'll join us by-and-by."
"That's agen rules," said Roaring John,
"Agen what?" asked Black in a tone
of thunder. ,
"Agen rules," replied Roaring John ;
"his man broke my jaw, and I'll pay
him, or, you guess."
Maybe you re right. No stranger
stays here unless he joins, except them
from the mines tut I've my own ideas
on that, and when the time comes I'll
abide by what's done. If any man would
like to dictate to me, let him step out."
The fellow slunk away under the
threat. Black was master beyond all
question, and he protected me.
We went back with him to the long pas
sage where I had seen the doors of bed
chambers, and there he bade me good
night. The doctor showed me into a room
cut in the solid rock, but with a-indows
towards the sea. But first he said :
"You must have been born under a
lucky star ; you're the first man to whom
Black ever gave an hour's grace."
CHAPTER XVI.
The bed in which I lay was wondrous
soft and downy ; and the cold gave me
deep sleep, so that I awoke at a late hour
to find the sun streaming through my
rock window, and the negro telling me
that my bath was ready. When we re
turned to my sleeping place, I found the
bed curtained off, leaving a commodious
apartment, with books, armchairs, a writ
ing table and a fireplace, in which a coal
fire burned brightly. But the greater sur
prise was the view from my window
over a Bunlit fjord, away to mountain
peaks, snow-capped and shining; and be
tween them to a vista of an endless snow
plain, white and dazzling.
The doctor came to me while I was at
breakfast. "The captain sends you his
compliments," he" said. "The men are in
clined to resent the exception that has
been made in your case. I am afraid it
will lead to trouble unless you choose to
close with the offer that Black makes to
you."
"How has an exception been made in
my case, and what is the offer?"
"Captain Black has brought thirty or
forty Englishmen of your position to this
place within the last three years ; not one
of them has lived twenty hours from the
time he set foot in the rock house. The
time will come when you must sign an
agreement such as I have signed, and
these men have signed and I don't be
lieve that you will refuse."
"Y'ou lay it all down very clearly," I
replied, "but you can have my answer
now if you like."
"Black won't hurry you. You can't do
better than take things easy, and see the
place."
The idea of inspecting the place pleased
me. I followed Doctor Osbart to the
beach. The coast-line was lofty and awe
inspiring. I stood entranced with the
vigor born of the life-giving breeze. At
last he touched me upon the shoulder, and
pointed to where the nameless ship lay
snugly moored.
"Look," he said, "at the instrument of
our power. Is not she magnificent? With
her we defy the world. Aboard her, we
are superior to fleets and nations; we
laugh at the fastest cruisers and the big
gest warships."
He spoke with extraordinary enthusi
asm. The great ship was indeed a beau
teous object, lying there golden, yet swan
like, the guns uncovered as the men work
ed at them.
"She is a wonderful ship," said I, "and
built of metal I never met with."
"Her hull is constructed of phosphor
bronze," he answered, "and she is driven
by gas. It was one of Black's inspira
tions to choose Greenland for his hole;
it is one of the few comparatively unin
habited countries in the world where coal
is to be had."
"Who are your miners?" I asked.
"Honest British seamen whose voyages
have been interrupted. We give them the
alternative of work in the mine, or their
liberty on the snow yonder.
"But how can they live in such a place?"
"They don't live," said he. "They die
like vermin."
form above the creek to know if there
were any sign of the release of the min
ers, or of preparation for getting rid of
them.
Towards evening, when I was weary
with the watching, there was the sound
of a gunshot below in the creek ; and I
went to my window, and saw the whole of
a cruel scene. Some twenty of these sea
men, black as they had come from the
coal shaft, were going ashore from a long
boat, while an electric launch was bring
ing twenty more from the outer creek
where the nameless ship lay. But the
men who had first landed were surround
ed by the others of Black's company ;
and were being driven towards the hills,
and so to the great desolate plain of
snow where no human thing could long
retain life. The pirates hit lustily with
the butt ends of their pistols ; the honest
fellows used their fists, and many a man
THE IRON PIRATE
A Tlain Tale of Strange
Happenings on the Sea
By MAX PEMBERTON
CHAPTER XVII. (Continued.)
His anger was fierce, terrible ns a tor-
ando. His teeth gnashed, his hands shook,
he rolled in his chair like a great wounded
beast; but when he saw that I was un
moved, he fell quiet again, and said in a
tow. coaxing voice :
"Don's compel me, lad, to do what I
have meant not to do. Y'ou're here for
good or ill. These men are nothing to
you ; they're lazy hogs that the world's
well rid of let 'em die, and save your
own carcass. You've been here days now
the first man that ever lived among us
without signing our papers. You've a
straight notion that my hand's agen Eu
rope, and, for the matter of that, agen
the world, too; those that share with me
shall swing with me. It Isn't of my ask
ing that you're amongst us, or that you
took up the work of Hall, who put the
first nail in his coffin that night he came
to my bed at Spezia. I snw him there,
they laid his length upon the rock. Inch though he thought me sleeping; and that
by inch they gave way, were driven to- night I wrote death against his name, as
wards the ravines and the countless miles j I wrote it against yours when you entered
of snow plain ; and as the battle raged, ' my room in Paris. There's reasons why
the armed began to shoot with murderous I've broken my word in your ense, though
purpose. Death at Inst wns added to the j you'll never know 'em ; but there's no
horrors, and, as body after body rolled , reason why you shouldn't swear to go
down the rocky slope and fell splashing through it with me. There's my papers,
into the water, those unwounded took , Sign 'em now, or you lie a corpse before
panic at the sight and fled with all possi-1 an hour on the clock."1
ble speed away up the side of the glacier He leaned over his writing table and
mount, and so to their death i that put into my hands a rough sheet of parch-
frozen refuge beyond. ment. But my eyes were dimmed with
At 7 o'clock I dined as usual I dosed the restless excitement of the situation,
my own door, and for three hours or more The silence of the room was terrible to
I paced my chamber, the fever of antici- bear ; it was as though I struggled for
pation and of design burning me as with ( life while already in the tomb. My
fire. j thoughts went hurriedly to Europe, to my
Of the doors about, the majority were home, to- my friends. I took heart for a
-O0O-
closed ; but the Doctor's was open. I be
gan to feel my way in the blinding dark.
My first proceeding was to run upon some
slight article of furniture and to overturn
it. Twice I went round the room, and
step which was the last mad design of a
driven man.
"Give me the pen ; !" I said suddenly,
ne put the pen into my hands, and
leaned back with a chuckle of satisfac
could not put my hand upon the rifles ; tion ; but the movement cost him the
but at the third attempt I found them,
and gave a sigh of relief. Then an over
whelming terror struck me chill and pow
erless. My sigh was echoed from the cor
ner by the window ; and a low chuckle of
laughter followed it. I stood as a man
petrified, my hand upon a gun, but my
nerves strained to a tension that was hor
rible to bear.
In another moment the electric light
flooded the chamber, and I saw Black
sitting at his writing table, observing me,
a jeer upon his lips, and all the terrible
malice of his nature written in his keen
and mocking eyes. He had a revolver
cocked at his left hand, but a pen in his
right ; while manuscript lay before him,
so that he must have been in the room for
some time, and had extinguished his light
only at my coming. He leaned over the
table, and drew near to it a lounge on
which the skin of a polar bear was spread.
"Sit here," he said, and at the bluff
word my nerve came back to me. "You're
a smart boy, and have ideas, but, like
all little boys, your ideas don't go far
enough. I was just the same when I was
your age, always trying to climb perpen
dicular places, and always falling down
again. Silly laa, to pux jour iieau imo a
business which never concerned you.
"I came here to-night to stop your
murdering fifty Innocent men," I said,
but he started up at the words and raved
like a maniac.
And who made you judge? Who
set you to watch me, or give your opin
ions on what I do or what I don t do 7
Who asked you whether you liked it or
didn't like it?"
(To he continued.
CHAPTER XVII.
For some days I saw no more of Doctor
Osbart or of Captain Black. Once or
twice I saw the man "Four-Eyes," and
from him rained a few answers to my
questions. He told me that Captain Black
kept up communication with Europe by
two small screw steamers disguised as
whalers.
There were fifty prisoners in the mines.
If fifty men were to be turned free, then
surely I could count on fifty allies; and
fifty-one strong hands could at least make
some show even against the ruffian of the
rock house. Give them arms, and a
chinos of surprise, and wko knows? I
said.
game. 1 clutched his pistol witn a ugnt
ning grasp, and covered him with it.
"If you raise a finger I'll shoot you like
a dog," I cried.
Then the man, who was no craven, sat
motionless in his chair, and his face might
have been cut from marble.
"If you raise your voice to call out, or
if anyone come to this room, you die
where you sit," I said.
"Boy, you're the first that's bested
P.lack," he said. "I'm caugtjt like a rat
in the hole. What do ye want? Name
it, and I'll know how we stand !"
"I want my life now that I refuse to
sign that paper. You can give the order
that no man's to lay a finger on me, and
you will?"
lie thought a moment, looking straigt
down the barrel of the Colt. Then he
said :
"Y'es, I can't avoid that I'll give you
that."
"And my liberty on the first occasion
offering."
"No," he replied very slowly and stern
ly : "they'd te .r me to pieces
There was no doubt that he had right
in this. I put the pistol down; then I
offered him my hand, and he jumped up
from his seat, grasping it with a great
clutch.
"Y'ou're a sound plank of a boy.'
The sound of firing, rapid and oft re
peated, came to us from the shore of the
cove below, lie went to nis winuow ano
I saw the whole bay lit with silver light
from a full-risen moon, and the distant
neaks as grim beacons above a land of
rest Out on the snow there was a hun
gry crowd of starving souls, crying for
bread ; and those to wnom iney cnt-u an
swered them with their muskets, dyeing the
flittering white with many a red stream
"For heaven's sake, help 'those men, if
vou have anything but the instincts of a
brute in you !" I cried.
There was a pause before he answered
me. Then he snatched a rifle from a
case and said :
"Take that pistol and come on. There's
blood to let
I followed him down the passage to the
beach, where be blew a whistle sharp
and shrill.
"That'll wake 'em on the ship," he ex
plained. "I'm not afeard of these, but
thorp'n firhting to be done now don't
show till you're wanted."
He advanced towards the snow plain
and sang out:
"John, you there, Dick hands to quar
ters, do you hear me? Move right quick,
or I'll move you !" .
They put down their arms from their
shoulders in blank amazement, and list
ened to him as he went on :
"There's enough down for one night, I
reckon, and ' I'm not going to be kept
awake by your firing.
They came round him slowly and sulk
ilv and be drove them to the big houses
with fine round phrases. I lurked near
him, but an American saw me and cried :
"Say, Cap'en, hev ye took to adoptin'
that boy ez ye seems so fond of?"
"Shut your jaw, or I'll shut it for
you !" replied Black. "Is the boy your
affair?"
"I calcerlate, an' some of us wishes to
know particler if he's signed or no."
"Oh, you want to know, do you? Let
them as makes complaint step right here."
Only four joined the leader; but the
Captain suddenly snatched my revolver
from me, and fired four shots : and for
each shot a man dropped dead on the
Talking Shop. beach I but the American stood untouch ;d.
"It took you year to learn all about The appalling brutality of the action
the business in which you were so sue-! seemed to awe the rest of the crew. They
I stood motionless, dumb with their rage;
I u , . .
awful, instantaneous. As the men fled
towards the hills, Black called after them :
"Bring to, you carrion, or I'll wipe you
out, every one of you ! Any man who'll
save his throat, let him come here !"
At these words they turned back to a
man, and came cowering to the water's
edge. Thirty of their fellows lay dead
or wounded on the stones.
"Where's your leader?" asked Black,
and chey pointed to the American, who
lay with the blood pouring from a wound
in his left thigh.
"He's there, is he?" screamed the infu
rialed man. "Well, I'll cure him like a
ham. Get torches, some of you, and ice
him in."
All helped him In his ghastly work, and
brought shovels and picks, which they car
ried to the highei plane of snow.
"We've got to die, both of us," said the
American at last ; "you en me. Black, en
there isn't much ez we kin look for. Go
on, lay me right here as I lay now ; but
III rize agen you, and the day'll come
when you'd give every dollar ye're worth
to dig me up. en give me life agen."
I touched Black on the arm and was
nbout to plead with him ; but at the sight
of me he raised his fist, and I moved
away. He stood foaming and muttering,
his hands clenched. The haste of the
men was not half haste enough for him ;
and when they began to dig he hurried
them the more, until a great pile of snow
had been thrown out.
I watched them roll the man over into
the trench and shovel the snow quickly
npon him. He watched them, silent In
his terror; but when his head only was
uncovered he gave a shriek of agony,
which rose like the great cry of a man
going before his God. and censed not to
echo from height to height until long min
utes hnd passed. Black gave a great
start, and shivering as a man struck
down with a deadly chill, he passed from
the grave to the beach.
Another Scandal Spoiled.
"Oh, yes," said Miss Kidder, "Mrs.
llenreek set a trap for her husband last
night, and "
"Y'ou don't say?" exclaimed Miss
Gaussip. "Why, I always thought him
too harmless and timid "
"Just so; too timid to set a mouse
trap. That s why she had to do it for
him." Philadelphia Press.
Helping Him AlonR.
Chnpleigh I say, old man, I wish
you would Intercede for me with that
pretty cousin of yours.
Haverly -Sure, I will. Only the oth
er day I told her you had more money
than brains.
t'hiipleigh What did she say?
Haverly She wanted to know if you
hud us much as 30 cents.
Hurrah for Widow.
Tom I hear Fred Is married. I al
ways thought he was too timid for any
thing of that kind.
Jack Oh, he married a widow.
Tom A widow ! Where did he meet
her?
Jack He didn't meet her at all ; she
overtook him.
Good for Him.
Ascum Mark ley has a very bad
memory, hasn't he?
Borroughs It depends on the way
you look at It. I consider It very good.
Ascum You do, eh?
Borroughs Yes; he loaned me a
"flver" last spring and he's forgotten
all about It Philadelphia Press,
"Yes," answered Mr. Cumrox, "and
but when they recovered themselves they
v i ...inn ntt nith wild fprorirv. I
mother and the girls say it is going to heard a ghout from the water and. look
take me years more to forget about If , jng there, I saw Doctor Osbart in the
Washington Star. inunch ; and there was a Maxim gun in
ti, ramn i ..I the bows of her.
in
late George W. Chllds, of the Phila-1 ,i ! . Td instantly, a, he dron-
delphla Ledger, which cost blm ovef nat and I imitated him, there was
$1,000,000, Is to be transformed Into an a hail of bullets, and the main part of
aoartment house. th crowd fell shrieking. The victor was
CHAPTER XVIII.
It was on the next afternoon, near to
the setting of the sun, that Doctor Osbart
came to my room with great news for me.
"This business with the men has com
pletely upset oor plans," snid he. "Black
hoped to winter here; and to let the hub
bub in Europe quite subside before he
put to sea again. Now he can't do that.
There's only one thing that will keep the
hands quiet, and that's excitement. He
has determined to snil to-night ; but, be
fore we talk of that, we must have the
conditions."
"What have you to ask?" said I.
"Simply this," he answered. "You
shall give your word, ns a mnn of honor,
that you will make no attempt to leave
the ship without permission.
"I accept."
Then slowly the great engines begin
their work, and we swept out to the open
sea. we d.neu that night in the saloon
upon the deck, a commodious place light
ed by electricity, and in every way luxuri
ously fitted. The walls of it were paneled
in white and gold, and were covered with
curious designs, old heroes fighting, old
gods drawn by lions at their chariots;
Jason seeking the fleece in a golden
barque; Orestes fleeing the Furies. The
long seats were covered in leather of ft
deep crimson, and there was a small
piano. The dinner itself was admirably
served, and was partaken of by the deaf
and dumb engineer, by the doctor, the
Scotsman and myself. Black talked with
out reserve before me, knowing well that
I could do him no injury. He relied
mostly on the doctor for advice, and dis
cussed everything with him in the best of
tempers.
"My plan Is this," he said ; "we're short
of oil, and Karl here is beginning to get
uneasy. I shall knock over a couple of
whalers in these seas and fill the tanks.
Then, as they're looking for us in mid
Atlantic, w'll get south of Madeira, and
run again: two or three of the big ones
making foi Rio or Buenos Ayres. We
shall pick ..p a good bit of money ; and
it'll be a month before they get on our
course that way, for I mean to let 'era
down light when it's not a case of saving
our own skin."
We passed the Danish settlement of
Godthaab early on the next morning,
though so far out at sea that I could
make nothing of it; while we lost the
coast of Greenland altogether before the
day had passed, a hazy shower of dust
like snow greeting our coming to the
Atlantic and to a perceptibly warmer lat
itude. During this day, and until we
sighted the Shetlands, the small screw
tendr kept our course, and we exchanged
signals with her every morning.
Finally we sighted the coast of Ireland,
and I know not if I have ever had a
greater pleasure than that distant view.
It was as though I had passed from a
dead land to the land of man. from the
silent ways of night to the first break
ing of the day.
"Give It him for'ard," roared Black;
and the shot that answered his command
struck the quivering hull not twenty feet
from the windlass and you could see the
splinters carried fifty feet In the air, while
the shrieks of terror came over the sea
to us.
! Screaming like wild beasts,' the men
: turned the handles of the Maxim guns;
the balls rained upon the defenseless liner
as hail upon a sheepfold. I saw strong
men reel and fall their length as death
took them ; the breeze bore to me the
wailing of women, and the sobs of chil
dren. The flag dropped and the signal was
made to us to come aboard.
"Lower away the launch, you John!"
cried Black, "and take every shilling y'ou
can lay hands on, and hang up that skip
per for a thin-skinned fool."
"Y'ou'd better go." said Osbart to me,
"you'll, be amused;" and suggested it to
Black.
"Yes, he shall go," he cried; "if we
swing, he shall swing. Let him get
aboard."
I might as well have put a pistol to my
head ns to have refused. They bundled
me into the launch ; but they would not
leave me when they came alongside, and
"Roaring John" himself drove me up the
ladder. Seven of us nt last stood on the
bridge, and were face to face with the
captain of the Bellonic, and four of his
officers.
The deck was a very babel of sounds,
of groans, of weeping. The ship's surgeon
himself seemed paralyzed before the sight
of the carnage( around him. But above
all this terror, I know of nothing which
struck me with such fearful sorrow as the
sight of a fair young English gfrl lying
by the door of the great saloon, her arms
extended, her nut-brown hair soaked in
her own blood, while a man knelt over
her, and you could see his tears falling
upon her dend face, and his ravings were
Incoherent and almost those of a maniac.
Meanwhile another scene was passing on
the bridge between the man John and
the captain of the Bellonic.
"What do you want nbonrd of my
ship?" cried the latter; and "Roaring
John" answered him with a mocking
leer :
"We've come aboard to hang you, to
begin on !"
The men with the young officer cocked
their revolvers at this, and I snid in a
mad frenzy which would not brook si
lence :
"You scoundrel. If you touch another
soul here I'll shoot you myself;" for I
had my revolver on me. "Do you mnke
a business of killing children?" I cried
again, and pointed to the dead body of
the girl-child. I don't know who was
more surprised, the captain of the Bel
lonic, listening, or the man John.
"Y'ou cub," he cried; "if you talk to
me I'll skin you alive!" but I said quick
ly: "Gentlemen, these men want every
shilling on this ship. Give it them now
and save your lives, for you have no al
ternative. If you give the money up, you
have my word that they won't touch you."
"As there's a heaven above," exclaimed
the young captain, "they shall pay for
this day's work with their lives. 1 hand
my specie over under this protest; but
don't deceive yourselves half the war
ships in Europe shall follow you within a
week."
He turned away, and presently the ruf
fians with me had lowered money to the
value of a hundred and fifty thousand
pounds into their launch. When at last
we put off again, and the launch was full
of the jewels and the money, it seemed
that I hnd passed through a hideous
drenm.
On the second dny nfter the robbery
of the Bellonic, we stopped a second and
then a third ship; though I saw nothing
of it, ns all the fighting was on the star
board side, and my cabin was to port;
but there wns a sharp fight on the third
morning with a Cape-hound vessel, and
again towards the afternoon with one of
the North German Llloyd boats home
ward bound to Bremerhaven ; Osbart,
coming to my rooms, delighted to give me
the details of these captures.
(To be continued.)
CHAPTER XIX.
It was not until daybreak on the fol
lowing morning that we reached the track
of ocean-bound ships ; but our voyage was
altogether in favor of Black, for the sun
had scarce risen when Ioctor Osbart got
me from my bed to see what he called my
first Introduction to business.
"There's the Red Cross Line's Bel
lonic not a mile off on the starboard
quarter," cried he exultlngly, "and we're
going to clear her.
I dressed anyhow, almost as excited as
he was, and stepped on to the gallery.
All eyes were turned to the north, where.
now almost abreast of us, there was the
long and magnificent hull of the great
liner. She went at a tremendous pace
and was rapidly leaving us, when the
great gun forward sent a shell ploughing
the sea fifty yards ahead of the Bellonic.
The effect of the call was seen upon the
great vessel, whose decks were soon dot
ted with black objects, while three more
men appeared on the bridge, and the sig
nal flag ran uo.
Handicapped.
The obese citizen who was bonded to
ward the depot six blocks away paused
to look at his watch.
"Have I time to catch the next train
for St. Louis?" he asked, addressing a
policeman on the corner.
"Y'ou have the time," replied the offi
cer, "but you don't seem to have tha
speed."
Joyful A(te.
"Yes," admitted the maid, "I have
Just celebrated the twenty-eighth anni
versary of my sojourn on earth."
"I congratulate you." rejoined the
old bachelor. "At that age a girl ceases
to worry about her Inability to acquire
n husband and begins to have a good
time."
Prnmlne of I m prorrment.
"Edith," exclaimed her mother, "I'm
sorry I brought you to the shore at all.
Here five days anil you're engaged to
two young men. It's disgraceful!"
"Y'es," admitted the summer girl, "it's
pretty slow work, but give me time, ma,
give me time." Plillaelphla Press.
Snarl of Knvf,
"Meeker's good luck seems to be
coming in bunches." remarked Enieek,
as he laid aside his paper.
"How's that?" queried Mrs. Enpeck.
"He lias just got ?.",000 from a man
who has alienated his wife's affections,"
replied Enpeck.
Hla Identity.
"Papa, wha Is a 'gentleman of the old
school'?"
"One, my son, who insists on bavin?
Brlght's disease when he can abundant
ly afford appendicitis." Puck.
Urate.
Ills Wife What do you think of my
new photographs, John?
Her Husbatid They flatter you, my
dear. The man must have hypnotized
you Into looking pleasant
It In Even So.
Elderlelgh There are two things a
man never forgets.
DeYoung What are they?
Eldelelgh Ills first love affair and
his first share.