THE IRON PIRATE
A Plain Tale of Strange
Happenings on the Sea
By MAX PEMBERTON
CHAPTER IV. (Continued.)
The helm went over, and the yacht
loomed up black, as our own light died
eway; and passed us within a cable's
length. What lift of the night there was
showed us her decks again ; but riey were
not deserted, for as one or two aboard
.gave a great cry, I saw the white and
horridly distorted face of a man who
-clung to the main shrouds and he alone
wias the guardian of the wanderer.
That vision of the man 1 had left well
and hopeful and strong not three days
since was terrible to me. A brave man
had gone to his death, but to what a
death, if that agonized face and distorted
visage betokened aught ! And I had prom
ised to aid him, and was drifting there
with the schooner, raising no hand to give
him help.
"Skipper," I cried, "this time we'll risk
'getting a boat off; I'm going aboard that
vessel now, if I drown before I return."
Then I turned to the men and said : "You
saw the yacht pass just now, and you
.saw that man aboard her he's my friend,
and I'm going to fetch him."
As the good fellows gave way and our
boat rode easily before the wind, I no
ticed for the first time that the clouds
were scattering; and we had not made
another cable's length when a great cloud
above us showed silver at its edges, and
opaquely white in its center, through
' which the moon shone. Anon it dissolv
ed, and the transformation on the surface
; of the water was a transformation from
. the dark of storm to the chrome light of
a "summer moon. The deserted yacht
was beating. up to us, and we stood right
iii her track.
"Get a grapnel' forward, and look out
there," -cried the man in command.
As if to help us, the wind fell away as
the schooner came up, and she began to
hake her sails. Suddenly there was the
aound as of fierce contest, of the bursting
of wood, and the spread of flame; and in
that instant the decks of the yacht were
ripped up, and sheets of fire rose from
them' to the rigging above.
"Give way," roared Dan again, for the
men sat motionless with terror. "Are you
going to let him burn?"
The words awed them. They shot the
long boat forward ; and I stood in her
atern to observe, if I could, what passed
en the burning decks. And I saw a sight
the like to which I pray that I may never
Bee again. Martin Hall stood at the main
shrouds, motionless, volumes of flame
around him, his figure clear to be viewed
by that awful beacon.
"Why doesn't he jump it?" I called
aloud. But Martin Hall never moved,
his gaunt figure was motionless the
flames beat upon it, it did not stir; and
we drew near enough anon and knew the
worst
"He's lashed there and he's dead,"
:Baid Dan. "Easy! for a parcel of stark
tools! Would you run alongside her?"
There they lay, for any nearer ap
proach would have been perilous, and even
in that place where we were, twenty feet
-on the windward side, the heat was nigh
unbearable. So near were we that I look
ed close as it might be into the dead face
of Martin Hall, and saw that the fiends
who had lashed him there had done their
work too well. But I 'hoped in my heart
hat he had been dead wheh the end of
the ship had begun to come, and that it
were no reproaoh to me that he had per
ished ; for to save his body from that
holocaust was work no man might do.
So did we watch the mounting fire, and
the last tack of the yacht La France,
Saucily she raised her head to a new
breeze, shook her great sail of flame in
he night, and scattered red light about
her. Then she dipped her burning jib
as If in salute, and there was darkness,
As we neared our own ship Roderick
took my hand, giving it a great grip. Then
we came aboard, where Mary waited for
us with a white face, and the others stood
'ailent; but we said nothing to them, going
, below. There I locked .myself in my own
cabin, and though fatigue lay heavyvon
me, I took Martin Hall's papers from my
locker and lighted .the lamp to read them
through.
But net without nwe, for they were
message from the dead. :
CHAPTER V.
The manuscript, which was sealed on
Its cover in many, places, consisted of
several pages of close writing, and of
sketches and scraps from newspapers
Italian, French and English. The sketches
I looked at first, and was not a little
surprised to see that one of them was the
portrait of the man known as "Roaring
John, and there was wit hthis a blur
red and faint outline of the features of
the seaman called "Four-Eyes." But
what, perhaps, was even more difficult to
understand was the picture of the great
liull of what I judged to be a warship.
howing her a-bullding, with the work yet
progressing on her decks. The newspaper
cuttings 1 deemed to be in Borne part an
xplaiwtlon of these sketches, for one of
them gave a description or a very note
worthy battleship, constructed for
South American republic, but in much
secrecy.
. All this reading remained enigmatical.
Lot course, and as I could make nothing of
it'to connect it with the events I have
narrated, I went on to the wrjting, which
V 'flue "inwull, M-M yxt of an
exact man. And the words upon the
head of it were these :
SOME ACCOUNT OF A NAMELESS
WARSHIP.
Of Heb Crew, and IIeb Purpose.
Written for the eyet of Mark Strong, by
Martin Hall, sometime hit friend.
From that place the story was in great
part autobiographical. -It was, as you
shall see, the simple narration of a man
sincere in his dreaming, if he did dream ;
logical in his madness, if ho were mad.
And this was his story as first I read it :
"I was born in Liverpool thirty-three
years ago, and was educated for a few
years at the well-known institute in that
city. They taught me there that con
sciousness of ignorance which is half an
education ; and being the son of a man
who starved on a fine ability for model
ling things in clay, and plaster moulding,
I went out presently to make my living.
First to America, to get the experience
of coming home again ; then to the Cape,
to watch other men dig diamonds; to
Rome, to Naples, to Genoa, that I might
know what it was to want food ; to South
America as an able seaman ; to Australia
in the stoke-hole of a South Sea liner;
home again to my poor father, who lay
dead when I reached Liverpool.
"I was twenty-two years old then.vand
glutted with life. By what chance it was
I cannot tell, but I drifted lik a living
log into the detective, -force ., of my city,
and after working, up . for' a few years
through the grades, they p'ut'ine on the
landing-stage at Liverpool, to watch for
men who wished to emigrate. Jt was mis
erable employment, but educating,-for it1
taught me to read faces that were dis
guised, old men become beardless, young
men made old. I suppose I had more
than common success, for when I had
been so employed for five years I was
sent to London by our people, and there
commended to go to the Admiralty and
get new instructions. . Regard this, please,
as the first mark in this record I am mak
ing. Of my work for our own people I
may not tell even you, since I engaged
upon it under solemn bond of secrecy ; but
can indicate that I was sent to Italy
to pick up facts in the dock yards there,
and that our people relied on my gifts
of disguise, and on my knowledge of Ital
ian. In short, I was expected to provide
plans and accounts of many things mate
rial to our own service, and I entered on
the business with alacrity, gained admit
tance to the public dock yards, and knew
in a twelvemonth all that any man could
learn who had his wits only to guide him.
It was in Italy during my second year
of work that I had cause to be at Spezia,
inspecting there a new type of , gunboat
about which there was much talk and
many opinions. It was an evening late
in the year, and the sun was just setting.
I watched the changing hues of the peaks
as the light spread from point to point
upon the castle roof, upon the steel hulls
of great ships. And then I saw a strange
thing, for amongst all the vessels I saw
one that stood out beyond them all, a
great globe, not of silver, but of golden
fire. There was no doubt about it at all ;
I rubbed my eyes, I used the glass I al
ways carried with me; I viewed the hull
I saw lying there from half a dozen
heights; and I was sure that what I saw
was no effect of evening light or strange
refraction. The ship I looked on was
built either of brass, or of some alloy of
brass, as It seemed to me, for the notion
that she could -be plated with gold was
preposterous; and yet the more I exam
ined her, the more clearly did I make out
that her hull was constructed of a metal
infinitely gold-like, and of so beautiful a
color In the reddened stream which shone
upon It that the whole ship had the aspect
of a mirror of the purest gold I had ever
seen.
The dark fell. I returned to the town
quickly. I went straight to the sea front
and began, if I could, to find where the
water lay wherein this extraordinary
steamer was docked. I had taken the
bearings 01 it trora tne Mils, ana I was
very quickly at that spot where I thought
to have seen the strange vessel. There,
truly enough, was a dock in which two
small coasting steamers were moored, but
of a sign of that which I sought there
was none. I should have had the matter
out there and then, searching the place
to its extremity ; but I had not been at
my work ten minutes when I knew that
I was watched. A man, dressed as a rough
sailor, and remarkable for the hidcousness
of his face and a curious malformation of
one tooth, lurked behind the heaps of sea
lumber, and followed me from point to
point. I returned in a good disguise of
a common English seaman on the follow
ing evening, and again entered the dock
yard. The same man was watching, but
he had no suspicion of me.
"'Any job going?' I asked, and the
question seemed to Interest him.
" 'I reckon that depends on the man,'
he replied, sticking his hands deep into
his pockets. 'What's a little wizen chap
like you good for, except to get yer neck
broken?
" 'All In my line,' I answered Jauntily,
having fixed my plan; 'I'm starving
amongst these cutthroats here, and I'm
ready for anything.' , ...
I chatted with him, and later on with
his companions, about as fine a dozen of
selfjstamped rascals as. ever I wish, to
lee.." fteit' day, I cauieVgaln td the dock
yards, convinced that I was at the foot of
a mystery, and, to ni delight, I got em
ployment from the "chief of the gang,
named 'Roaring John' by his Mends; and
was soon at work on the simple and matter-of-fact
business of cutting planks. This
gave me an entry ,to the dock yard all
I wished at the moment.
"I had got admission to the dock, but
had learnt nothing of the vessel., I was
admitted only to tho outer basin, where
the coasting steamers lay, and 'Roaring
John' threatened me if I passed the gate
which opened into the dock beyond. Min
ute by minute and hour by hour, I wait
ed my opportunity. It came to me on
the morning of the eighth day, when I
reached the yard at four o'clock ; and the
gate being tinopen, I lurked in hiding
until the first man should come. He was
no other than the one who had engaged
me ; and when he had gone in he did not
close the second , door after him, there
being no men then at their work. I need
not tell you that I used my eyes well in
those minute. Thore, sure enough, lay
the most remarkable warship I had ever
beheld a great, well-armed cruiser, whose
docks were bright with quick-firing guns,
whose lines showed novelty In every Inch
of them. More remarkable than anything,
however, was the confirmation of that
which I had seen from the hills. The
ship, seemingly, was built of the purest
gold. This, of course, I knew could not
be; but as the sun got up and his light
fell on the vessel, I thought that I had
never seen a more glorious sight. She
shone with the refulgent beauty of a
thousand mirrors ; every foot of her deck,
of her turrets, of -her upper house made
a sheen of dazzling fire ; the points of her
deck lights were as beacons, all lurid and
a-gold. So marvellous, truly, was her as
pect, that I forgot all else but it, and
stood entranced, marvelling, forgetful of
myself and purpose. The flash of a knife
in the air brought me to my senses to
know that I was in the grasp of the man
'Roaring John.;
A bad mishap befell me. The best of
my disguise was the thick, bushy black,
hair I wore about my face. As the ruffian
went to take a -firmer hold of my collar,
he pulled aside a portion of my beard, and
left my' chin' clean shaven 'beneath as nat
urally it was. - The Intense , surprise of
this discovery seemed to hit him like a
blow; He stepped back with a murderous
look In his eyes. . .But I cheated him,
and,' turning on my' heel, ' I-fled" wifh all
the speed I possessed, . and got into the
street with twenty ruffians at my heels,
and a hue and cry such as I hope never
to hear again.
"The escape was clever.. I reached my
hotel. I was sure that I had cut off all
hone of returning to the yard ; and what
Information I was to get must come byl
other modes. The nature of these I knew
not, but I was determined to set out upon
a visit to Slgnor Vezzia, who was the
builder to whom the docks wherein I
worked belonged. To him I came as the
pretended agent of a shipping firm In New
York, with whom I had some little ac
quaintance, and he gave me audience
readily. He was very willing to hear me
when he learned that I was in quest of a
builder to lay down steamers for the
American trade with Italy; and some
while we passed in great cordiality, so I
ventured the other business.
'"By the by, Signor Vezzia, that's a
marvellous battleship you have In your
second dock ; I have never seen anything
liko her before.'
"I spoke the words, and read him as
one reads a barometer. He shrank visibly
into his bulb, and the tone of his conver
sation marked a storm. I heard him mut
ter under his breath, and then the mer
cury of his conversation mounted quickly.
" 'Yes, yes ; a curious vessel, quite a
special thing, for a South American re
public, an idea of theirs but you will
extend me the favor of your pardon, I am
busy' and in his excitement he put his
spectacles off and on, and called 'Giovan
ni, Giovanni !' to his head clerk, who made
business to be rid of me. I mounted to
my hill top again; and spent the morning
looking down upon the golden ship which
was built for 'a South American repub
lic' That tale I never believed, for the
man's face marked It a lie as he gave it
to me. I resolved In that hour to devote
myself heart and soul to the work of un
ravelling the slender threads, even If I
lost my common employment In the busi
ness. The reverie held me long. I was
roused from it by the sight of a dull va
par mounting from the funnel of the
nameless ship. She was going to sail
then at the next tide she might leave
Spezia, and there would be no more hope,
I hurried to my hotel.
"Here was a problem at this stage as
It then appeared to me: Item (1), A ship
built of some metal I had no knowledge
of. Item (2), A ship that shone like a
rich sunset on a garden lake. Item (3),
A ship that was armed to the full, as a
casual glance told me, with every kind of
quick-firing gun, and with two ten-inch
stuns in her turret. Item (4), A ruffian
lv blackguard, to whom the cutting of a
throat seemed meat and drink, with ten
other rogues no less deserving, from a
murderous point of view, put to watch
about the ship that no strange eye might
look upon her. Item (5), The confusion
of Signor Vezzia, who made a fine tale
and said at the same time with his eyes,
'This is a lie, and bad one ; I'm sorry that
I have nothing better ready. Item (0),
My own adamantine conviction that
stood near by some mystery, which was
about to be a big mystery, and whicn
would pay me to pursue. Instinct told me
to go on in this work, if I lost all other,
if I starved, if I drowned, If I died at
it. And to go on I meant,
(To be continued.)
Yenrs nun the French eovernment of
fered 300,000 francs ($00,000) to any
one who would give a remedy for the
phylloxera, but the prize has never
been awarded, because no remedy has
been discovered. It Is easy enough to
kill the pest with a poisonous spray,
but that same spray kills the grape
also.
Ilome-Made Drill.
On our farm we have a shop for re
pairing machinery. It Is an essential
factor in farm management to bo nblo
to repair breakoges uud keep the ma
chinery In good working condition,
writes a contributor In Orange Judd
Farmer.
The accompanying Illustration shows
a drill made to drill holes for repair
ing purposes. This machine will drill
a hole through steel or wrought Iron
us quickly us a drill we have Unit cost
several dollars. The main piece upon
which the drill rests Is a 4 by 4
2 feet 0 Inches long mounted upon four
legs made of oak 2 by 4 materials.
The legs are worked down to two
inches square at the bottom to secure
neatness and make the drill as light
as possible.
Tlie main standard Is a 2 by 4 two
feet high mortised Into the main 4 by
4. The stub standard Is also a 2 by 4
eight inches high and mortised In the
same 4 by 4 (in Inch from the end and
two and a half Inches from the main
standard. The shaft to which the large
wheel Is attached Is a three-quarter-Inch
bolt fifteen Inches long. At the
head a hole Is drilled Into the holt, heat
ed and then squared In order that Jtie
HOME-MADE DRILL.
drill may be securely held. To feed the
drill a steel spring sixteen Inches long
Is bolted to the top of the main stand
ard and attached to the drill bolt by a
slot In the spring. The small wheel at
tached to a threaded bolt does the feed
ing. The piece upon which the pressure
Is put while drilling Is a 4 by 4 mor
tised into the main 4 by 4 In the form
of a sliding slot in order that any dis
tance can be procured according to the
size of the Iron Intended to be drilled.
A bolt passes through this piece from
underneath the 4 by 4. By loosening
the bolt It can be moved to any re
quired distance.
The General Purpoae Farm Home.
Very many of our farmers get the
Idea that all they have to do Is to breed
their nondescript mares to the leggy,
coarse type of so culled coach horses
being peddled through the country to
get the genoral purpose farm horse. I
have seen hundreds of colts from this
kind of breeding and must say that not
5 per cent of them are even fair speci
mens of the general purpose horse,
while 50 per cent or more are failures
from every point of view.
I have seen much better results
where the coach stallion has been a
finer and more compactly built one or
where a hackney or American trotter
'of a compact, smooth, muscular type
has been the sire. These observations
have led me to the conclusion that this
latter plan is the surest one to bring
some measure of success in producing
the general purpose farm horse. Geo.
McKerrow, Wisconsin.
OatM for Hoga,
Oats may be a portion of a ration for
hogs, but they are much more satisfac
tory if they are ground. Mixed with
corn, oats and shorts, they add materi
ally to the value of any hog feed. They
should not constitute more than one-
fourth of the grain ration. A mixture
of oats and peas ground and fed as a
swill Is exceedingly valuable. Ameri
can Agriculturist.
Curing for Turkeys,
The young turkeys suffer more than
do other fowls at this season of the
year If they are not looked after and
carefully fed. The supply of nature's
food which so largely sustains them
during the summer and early fall be
gins to dwindle and lessen with each
coming day.. The young turkeys and
the old turkeys as well should be plen
tifully provided with a grain supply to
guarantee their continued growth with
out being stunted or retarded when
they should be growing every day.
Country Gentleman.
Value of a Jool Vow.
What are the cows worth thut pro'
(luce 400 pounds of butter per annum?
Hero I am going to make a statement
and undertake to prove It correct, says
a writer In Successful Fanning. When
a cow that produces 200 pounds of but
ter per annum at a food cost of $IiO
and a labor cost of $12.50 Is worth $115.
the cow that produces 400 pounds of
butter annually Is worth $100, and tho
owner can make net $11 more from her
after paying Interest on tho $100 than
he can from the cows that produce 200
pounds of butter. There Is no more
labor connected with the 400-pound
cows than there Is with the 200-pound
cows. The price at which butter has
been credited, namely, 20 cents a pound,
Is the net price from the creamery after
the making has been paid for. In this
herd the Increased cost of feed for tho
400-pound cows was more than offset
by the Increased amount of skim milk,
so we have tho 200 pounds Increase of
butter ns net profit over the 200-iKund
cow. Two hundred pounds of butter nt
20 cents is $10. Wo have $400 Invested
In these cows, which at 0 per cent In
terest Is $24, which we will deduct
from tho $10, and we have left $10 to
the credit of the 400-pound cow.
The Km 11 1'lowlnif. ,
The question of fall plowing Is a de
batable one In the minds of most fann
ers. The practice seems to grow more
common upon trial in some neighbor
hoods and to fall Into almost total dis
favor In other sections. Upon the roll
ing lauds which are so common there
Is little question that' it Is justly con
demned, If,. Indeed, it is good practice
anywhere, says an exchange. Some loss
of plant food from washing and blow
ing of the surface soil upon fall-plowed
ground Is Inevitable, although its me
chanical condition may be Improved
somewhat 'by' the action of the frost
upon the freshly plowed ground. Of
course, the condition of the labor mar
ket affects the amount of fall plowing
undertaken or accomplished to a very
considerable degree, but Independently
of any and all of the factors mention
ed, fall plowing may be expedient in
some cases, The writer has done very
little fall plowing during recent years,
but this year the plow will be kept go
ing as long as the weather will permit
after the crops are all secured.
Bent Not to Sell Earlr.
For years farmers have been grow
ing sheep In a small way, and general
ly have sold their lambs wheu they
weigh GO to 70 iwunds for from $2 to
$2.50 each. Even at these prices one
makes a nice profit out of his sheep.
It has cost little to grow them and so
he is well paid, but It Is possible to do
better. For several years Western
lambs weighing from 50 to 00 pounds
have sold at from $2 to $2.50, and after
being fed sixty or ninety days,
or up to 80 to 90 pounds, they
sell for almost twice as much. As a
rule the farmers who sell the young
lambs have feed enough to finish them
and get the additional price. Although
this extra feed had to be bought at
market prices there would be no loss,
for feeders are buying both sheep and
feed and making a profit. More profit
Is made from, farm products when ani
mals are properly finished, and lambs
are In this class.
' Salting the' Batter.
For those who prefer to salt out of
the churn the following Is the best
method: Remove the butter when In
the granular state, weigh It and place
It upon the worker, spread evenly and
salt to suit the taste. Sift the salt
evenly over the butter, pass the work
er over It, then run the butter and
work again or until the salt Is thor
oughly worked 4n, It may then be set
away, for a few hours, after which it
should be given a second working.
American Cultivator.
Chemical Weed Killer.
A chemical weed killer has been de-,
veloped or tested by the Wisconsin ex
periment station In attempts' to kill
wild mustard, cocklebur, yellow dock,
etc. The peculiar thing claimed for this
poison Is that when sprayed on a grow
ing grain crop infested by weeds It
kills the weeds without Injury to the
cultivated crop. " The solution used
consists of 100 pounds of Iron sulphate
dissolved in fifty-four gallons of water,
wnicn nuiuuiu win wyiuy uu ucie.
Kill Free Seed DUtrlbntlon.
The free seed distribution by the gov
ernment costs $242,000 a year, besides
the cost of handling in the malls, which
costs about as much more, or half a
million dollars a year, total. This sum
of money wisely used would teach
farmers the correct plan to market and
build the machine for marketing, which
will compel a profitable price for ev
ery farm crop grown anywhere in the
country. The machine once built will
not cost tho fanners anything directly
to run It, but will pay great dividends
every year. -Up-to Date Fanning.