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About Lexington wheatfield. (Lexington, Or.) 1905-19?? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 24, 1907)
4 THE IRON PIUATE A Vlain Tale of Strange Happenings on the Sea . By MAX PEMBERTOS oo- CHAPTER X. (Continued.) "We must act now," said Roderick, "be fore they miss- their man. They've stopped the engines, and we shall"' drop behind the others. There's only one chance, and that is to surprise them. Let's rush it, and take the odds." "If I went," said Mary, "what could they do to me? I'm going now; while I'm talking to them they won't be looking for you." She Tan up the companion-way, stand ing at the top; while we cocked our pis tols and crept after her. Then we lay flat to the deck, as she ran noiselessly amid ships, and into the very center of the five men. To our astonishment, they gave a great howl of terror at the sight of her for she seemed but a thing of shadow hov ering upon the ship and bolted headlong forward; while we rushed in a body to the hurricane deck and faced Paolo. He turned very white. Dan served him as the other, and hit hira with his pistol, so that lie rolled senseless off the narrow bridge, and we heard the thud of his head against the iron of the engine room hatch. He lad scarce fallen when Mary, with the laugh still upon her lips, reeled at the ight( of him, and fell fainting in my arms. The skipper got the whole situation at the first look. He came co us with a cou ple of rifles. We were now all crouching together by the wheel amidships, . for Mary had recovered. By the full moon we aw dark shadows across the hatch. The men were behind the galley. The skipper tailed them. "You, Karl. Williams are you coming cut now, for me to flog you, or will you swing at New York? You've got a couple of planks between you and eternity. . I'm going to fire through that galley." He raised his rifle at the wprd, and let go straight at the corner of the light wood erection. A dull groan followed, and by the shadow on the deck I saw one man fall forward; his blood ran in a thick stream out to the top of the hatchway, and then ran back as tae ship heaved to the seas. "There's one down amongst you," said the skipper ; "but that's the beginning of it; I'm going to blow that shanty to pieces, and you with it." He raised his rifle, but as he did so one of them answered for the first time with his revolver, and the bullet sang above our heads. The skipper's shot was quick in .reply ; and the wood of the shanty flew in splinters as the bullet shivered it. A sec ond man sprang to his feet with a shout, and then fell across the deck, lying full to le seen in the moonlight. "That's two of you," continued the eklpper, as calm as ever he was in Ports mouth harbor; "we'll make it three for luck." But at the suggestion they all made a run forward, and lay flat ight out by the cable. ' There we could hear them blubbering like children. They fired three shots as ,we rushed on them ; but the butt ends of the two mus kets did the rest. Three of them went down straight as felled poplars. The others fell upon their knees and implored mercy ; and they got it, but not until the skipper, who now seemed roused to all the fury of great anger, set to kicking them lustily, and with no discrimination. We had the other hands up by this They got them below at the first break f dawn, and the dead they covered; while Paolo, who lay groaning, we carried to a cabin in the saloon, and did for his broken head that which our elementary knowledge of surgery permitted us. As the day brought light upon the ris ing sea, I looked to the far horizon, but the rolling crests of an empty waste met my gaze. Again we were alone. The right's work had lost us the welcome company. CHAPTER XI. It was near noon when we had buried the two stokers shot by the skipper, and more on in the afternoon before the decks were made straight, and the traces of the scuffle quite obliterated. But Paolo lay all day in a delirium, and Mary went in and out, bearing a gentle hand to the wounded, who alternately cried with the pain of it, and begged grace for their In sanity. After the hour of lunch the skip per called Roderick and me into the cabin, "One thing Is. clear," he said; "you've brought me on more than a pleasure trip, and while I don t complain, It will be nec essary at New York for me to know some thing more or, maybe to leave this ship Last night's work must be made plain, of course; and this second oflicer of yours must stand to his trial. The men I would willingly let go, for they're no more than lubberly fools whose heads have been turn ed. But one thing I now make bold to claim I take this yacht straight from here to Sandy Hook; and we poke our noses Into no business on the way." "That's qnite right," I said ; "there's no reason now why we shouldn't go straight on If we don't meet with anyone to ask questions on the way." We all went out on deck after we had agreed to let him have his will. We found the first officer on the bridge, looking away to the southeast, at the black hull of a steamer. I noticed that she steamed at a fearful speed, and she showed no smoke from her funnels. "Skipper," I said, "will you look at that hull? Isn't the boat making uncommon headway?" "You're right. She's going more than twenty knots. I've seen that ship be fore," he said. ' "Where?" asked Roderick laconically. "Five days ago, when she fired a shell into the Ocean King." "In that case," said I, "there isn't much doubt about her intentions ; she's chasing us !" "That may or may not be," he replied, as he raised his glass again, "but she's the same ship, I'll wager my life. Look at the rake .of her and the lubbers, they've left some of their bright metal showing amidships !" He indicated the deck house by the bridge, where my glass showed me a shin ing spot in the cloak of black, for the sun fell upon the place, and reflected from it as from a mirror of gold. There was no longer any doubt; we were pursued by the nameless ship. "What are you going to do, skipper?" asked Roderick, as gloom fell upon the three of us ; and we stood together, each man afraid to tell the others all he thought. - "What am I going to do?" said he. "I'm going to see the boats cleared, and all hands in the stoke-hole that have the right there;" and then he sang ,out, "Stand by!" and the men swarmed up from below, and heard the order to clear the boats. They, had all the grit of the old sea dogs in them. The thought of a brush-up put dash and daring into them ; they had the boats cleared, the water barrels filled, and the life-belts free, with an activity that was remarkable. Then they stood to watch the oncoming of the nameless ship ; and when we hoisted our ensign they burst again into a hoarse roar of applause which rolled across the water waste, and must have sounded as a vaunting mockery to the men behind the walls of metal. But they answered us in turn, running up an ensign, and a cry came from all of us as we 'saw its color, for it was the blue saltire on a white ground. "Russian, or I'm blind," said the skip per, for the nameless ship, which five days ago showed her heels under the Chilian mask, now made straight towards us In Russian guise. I turned my eyes away to the crimson arch which marked the hun's decline; I looked again to the east, whence black harbingers of night hung low upon the darkened sea; I searched the horizon In every quarter, but It lay barren of ships, and soon the last light would leave us, and with the ebb of day there was no se curity against an enemy whose intentions were no longer disguised. I say no longer disguised. The skipper pointed to the mast on the nameless ship, where the Rus sian ensign had hung ten minutes before. It was there no longer; the black flag took its place. "Pirates!" said the skipper; and then he whistled long and loud and shrilly as a man who has solved a sum. "Gentle men, I said I would resign this ship at New York; with your permission I will withdraw that. I will sail with you wherever you go." He shook our hands heartily, as though the discovery of our purpose had uncloud-l ed his mind. But we had no time for full-. er understanding, for at that moment the air Itself seemed torn apart by a great concushion, and a shell burst In the water no more than fifty yards ahead of us. Old Dan fired his gun into the air with a great shout. Yet we knew that all this was the cheapest bravado; and when the skipper touched the bell to stop our engines, I was sure that he was wise. The great vessel rode still some quarter of a mile away from us; but the glass showed me the men upon her decks, and conspicuous amongst them I saw the form of Captain Black standing by the steam steering gear. Soon their launch was making for us. The boat came so near that I could see the faces In it ; and three of the five I recognized, for I had seen them in Paris. The man who was in com mand was the fellow "Koaring John ;" and when he was within hail he stood and bawled : , "What ship?" "My ship!" roared back the skipper, again looking at the mist-clouds, and my heart gave a bound when I read his pur pose; we were drifting into them. "And who may you be?" bawled the felt low again, growing more Insolent with ev ery advance. "I'm one that'll give you the best hiding you ever had, If you'll step up here a minute I" yelled the skipper. "You're com ing aboard, are you? And which of you shall I have the pleasure of kicking first?" "Oh, you're funny, ain't you, and pret ty with your jaw. But it's me that you'll have the pleasing of speaking to, and right quick, my mate, oh, you bet I" said Roar ing John. "In that case," said the skipper, with his calmness well at sero : "In that case you, Dan! Introduce yourself to tie gen tleman. Dan's reply was Instantaneous. He had up with his shot gun, and the long ruffian, who had reached forward with his boat hook, got the dose full in his face. At the same moment the skipper called "Fire 1" and the heavy crack of the rifle and the sharp report of the pistols rang out together. The very launch itself I earned to reel under the volley. "Full steam ahead!" roared Captain York, as the nameless ship replied with a shell that grazed our chart room. Then, slinking his fist to the warship, he almost screamed: "Bested for a parcel of cut throats !" There was no doubt about It at all. The moment the yacht answered to the screw the fog rolled round us like a sheet, in thick wet clouds, steaming damp on the decks; and twenty yard ahead or astern of us you could not see the long waves themselves. Shot after shot hissed and splashed ahead of us, behind us ; now dull, heavy, yet penetrating, and we knew that the ship lay close on our track ; then farther off and deadened, and we hoped that she had lost us. When I left the bridge it was midnight. I was soaked to the skin and nigh frozen, and the water ran even from my hair; but a hot hand was put into mine as I entered the cabin, and then a thousand questions rained upon me. "I'll tell you by-and-by, Mary. Were you very much afraid?" "I was a bit afraid, Mark a a little bit ! I oh, I nursed Paolo he's dying." The man truly lay almost at death's door ; but his delirium had passed ; and he slept, muttering in his dream, "I can't go to the city Black; you know it let me get aboard. Hands off! I told you the job was risky;" and he tossed and turned and fell into troubled slumber. And I could not help a thought of sorrow, for I feared that he would hang if ever we set foot ashore. "Gentlemen," said the skipper later, "you owe your lives to the Banks; and, please heaven, I'll see you all in New York before three days." And he kept his word ; for we sighted Sandy Hook, and harm had come to no man that fought the unequal fight. CHAPTER XII. It was about 6 o'clock in the evening when we brought the Celsis through the Narrows. Then the greater harbor be fore the city itself rolled out upon our view; and as we steamed slowly Into It the customs took possession of us, and made their search. It was a short busi ness, for we satisfied- them that Paolo suffered from no malignant disease. For ourselves we went off to dine at the Fifth Avenue Hotel. When dinner was done I suggested that' Roderick should take Mary through the city awhile, and that I should get back to the Celsis, there to secure what papers were left for me, and to arrange, after thought, what my next step in the following of Captain Black should be. I was driven to the wharf very quickly, and got aboard the yacht with no trou ble. There was a man keeping watch upon her decks. I went to my own cabin, getting my papers, my revolver and other things that I might have need of ashore. As I was ready to go back to the oth ers I looked In Paolo's cabin, and, some what to my surprise, I saw that he was dressed, and seemingly about to quit the yacht. This discovery set me aglow with expectation. If the man were going ashore, whither could he go except to his asso ciates? Was not titat the very clue I had been hoping to get? This thought sent me forward into the fo'castle, where Dan was. "Hist, Dan !" said I, "give me a man's rig-out a jersey and some breeches and a cap quick," and, while the old fellow stared and whistled softly, I helped to ransack his box; and in a trice I had dressed myself, putting my, pistols, my papers, and my money In my new clothes ; but leaving everything else In a heap on the floor. As I came on deck, I saw a shadow on the gangway. The man was leaving the yacht at that moment, and I followed him. Once out into the city, and having turn ed two or three times to satisfy himself that he had . no one after him, Paolo struck for Broadway, and thence with staggering gait he made straight for the' Bowery. At last, after a long walk, and when the man himself was almost falling from the exertion of it, he stopped before an open door in the dirtiest of the streets through which we had come, and disap peared Instantly. I came up to the door' almost as soon as he had passed through, and found myself before a steep flight of steps, at the bottom of which through a glass partition I could see men smoking and bear them bawling uncouth songs. It was a fearful hole, peopled by fear ful men ; all nations and all sorts of vil lains were represented there; low Eng lishmen, (Frenchmen, Russians, even Chinamen ; yet Into that hole must I go if I would follow Paolo to the end. I pulled my cap right over my face and passed through the swinging door. The room was long and narrow ; bank ed Its whole length by benches that bad once been covered with red velvet, but now showed torn patches and the pro truding wool of the stuffing. ' I passed quickly to a bench near the door, and there sat wedged against a fair-haired seaman, whose look stamped him to be a Russian. (To be continued.) Came of the Stoop. The Portrait Agent One notices a great many stoop-shouldered' men In this vicinity. Due to hard work, I sup pose? Tlie Storekeeper Nuthln' else, b'gosh. Totln' around the average crop uv whiskers peculiar to these here parts ain't no sinycure, I tell you! Puck. EENOWED JAPANESE SOLDIER. General Baron Nogl, who was thrown from his horse nt Toklo and BorloiiRly Injured, won undying fame through his capture of Port Arthur from the Rus sians. He Is a Sumural, and Jh 57 years of age. He first achieved mili tary renown In the war with China In 1894, when ho also figured In the cap ture of Port Arthur from the Chinese, the men under his command storming successfully the famous Itzeslmn fort. After he had wrested Port Arthur from General Stoossel, In the Inst war, he marched north with his troops, and materially assisted In the capture of Mukden, and the utter defeat of Kouro patkln. Baron Nogl Is noted as a strat egist and organizer, and has Berved as Governor of Formosa. Before taking i GENERAL NOOI. Fot that Dandruff There is one thing that will cure it Ayer's Hair Vigor. It is a regular scalp-medicine. It quickly destroys the germs which cause this disease. The unhealthy scalp becomes healthy. The dandruff disap pears, had to disappear. A healthyscalp means a greatdeal to you healthy hair, no dan druff,noplmples,no eruptions. The best kind of a testimonial "Sold for over sixty years." A Md by J. 0. Ayer Co., Lowtll, Mma. hw BMuuiNiuriri vi 7 SARSAPARILLA. PILLS. CHERRY PECTORAL yers command at Port Arthur he participa ted In the brilliant Japanese victories at Kinchow and Nausuan Hill. After the war opened he is alleged to have expressed the hope that none of his three sons would survive ; and, strange to say, all fell victims to Russian bul lets. - AN INDIAN MOSES. More than Likely, John Kendrlck Bangs was discussing In a New iork club a case of plagiar ism, says the New York Tribune. "The man admitted that plagiarism was suspected of him," said Mr. Bangs smiling, "ue almost admitted It was proved. He reminded me of a Yonkers boy I used to know. "This boy said to his chum one morn ing: "'I hid under the parlor sofa last night to hear what young Softlelgh would say to my sister.' " 'Well, what did he say?' the other boy asked. " 'He only talked religion and poll tics, and he kicked me about thirty times on the head.' 1 " 'He knew you were there, I guess,' Bald the second boy. I " 'I'm afraid he suspected It' " FITS rrve Creek Chief Would Lead Hit Follow er to Settle Mexico. Chltto Harjo, better known as Crazy Snake, a full-blooded Creek Indian, Is planning to become the Moses of his people. All his life he has been fight ing the government In a vain endeavor to prevent the ab sorption o. his home and the lands of his people by the whites and now old and bro ken In spirit he sees the uselcssness of the struggle and would flee from the long-dreaded In evitable. For Ave years he has teen the leader of the more discontented and resentful Indians of the Five Civ ilized Tribes. Now he Is trying to dis pose of all the land In the Creek na tion that Is held by his followers and lead them to Mexico to colonize there. There he believes they can lead a nat ural primitive life undisturbed by the white man. Crazy Snake is 70 years old, so that the task before him, even if neither the United States nor Mexi co Interposed objection, would be an arduous one. fit. Vitus' Dance and all Nervous Distance nermaiiently cured br Dr. Kline's (treat erv Reaiorer. Kend fur KKEE 12 trial bottle and treatise. Dr. H. ILKllne, Ld., 931 Arch BU, Pulla.,?, CBAZT SNAKE. Quite a Difference. "What!" exclaimed the angry mo diste. "You mean to say that Mrs. De Flasher used all the samples we sent up to make a fancy quilt? Why, she Is an old crank." "But Mrs. De Flasher' Is worth a hundred thousand. " "Really? Well, In that case I sup pose she Is eccentric." "And she will Inherit half a million by the first of the year." " .. i V "Half a million? Why, write the lady a note at once and tell her she can have another bundle of samples and compliment her on being so de lightfully bizarre." TO CURE A COLD IN ONE DAY Take LAXATIVE BROMO QUININE Tablots Druggists refund money if It fails to cure. E, W GROVE'S signature is on each box. 25c. The Imperial Board of Health in Ger many has issued a statement that "total abstinence from strong drink, is not inju rious to health." Unmentionable. "Let mo see," said she. "What Is It you call these men who run automo biles?" "Pardon me," replied the gallant man, "I'm too much of a gentleman to tell you what I call tbem." Philadel phia' Ledger. If men were relatively as" strong as beetles' they could juggle with weights of several tons. Protected Proverb. "You can't Judge by appearances." Can't you, though! How else can you Judge an actor but by his appearances? "Never say die." Nice, prosperous undertaker you'd make with that mot to, wouldn't you? "Give the devil his due." What's the use of bothering, he's sure to get It "Seeing Is believing." Not always. Your wife sees you when you come home late from "sitting up with a sick friend," but she doesn't believe you. "Faint heart never won fair lady." Well, what of It? Ours is a brunette. Boston Transcript. Christmas Adam.: Mamma You have addressed your letter "Mr. Santa Claus Adam." Why did you put the Adam there, dear? That isn't Santa Claus' name. Edbble Well, who Is the Christmas Adam, then? "What Christmas Adam? I never heard of one." "There's a Christmas Eve, and there ought to be a Christmas Adam, I should think." Kansas City Journal. How's This? We offer One Hundred Dollars Reward fot any case of Catarrh that cannot be cured bj Hall's Catarrh Cure. F. J. CHENEY A CO., Props., Toledo, 0, We, the undersigned, have known F. J. Cheney for the last 15 years, and believe him perfectly honorable in all businesa transac tions and financially able to carry out any ob ligations made by their firm. W kbt & Truax, Wholesale Druggists, Toledo, 0. Waldino, K inn am & Mabvin, Wholesale Drug gists, Toledo, O. Hall's (Jaiarrh Cure Is taken internally, act ing directly upon the blood and mucous sur faces of the system. Price 75c. per bottle. Bold by all Druggists. Testimonials Ires. Hall's Family fills are the best. The leopard is the most cowardly ol animals. Onlr Teat. "Is there any known test for true1 love?" asked the very young man. "Nothing except marriage," answer ed the home-grown philosopher. "If that doesn't evaporate it you have got the real thing." .. . TERRIBLE TO RECALL. Flret Prayer in Congrem, The first prayer In Congress was made, in 1777 by the Rev. Jacob Duche, rector of Christ church and a man of considerable learning. He afterward turned traitor to the cause of Inde pendence. The Sunday Magazine. The Hldeona Dreaa Coat. ConBlcence, which makes cowards of us all, Is being abolished, but the dress coat, which makes waiters of us all, persists. Puck. Many a rich man Is unable to offei anything better than a poor excuse. Five Weeks In Bed With Intensely Painful Kidney Trouble. Mrs. Mary Wagner, of 1367 Kossuth Ave., Bridgeport, Conn., says: "I was so weakened and generally run down with kidney dis ease that for a long time I could not do my work and wag five weeks in bed. There was continu al bearing down pain, terrible back aches, headaches and at times dizzy spells when every thing was a blui before me. The passages of the kidney secretions were irregular and painful, and there was considerable sediment and odor. I don't know what I would have done but for Doan's Kidney Pills. I could see an improvement from the first box, and five boxes brought a final cure." I Sold by all dealers. 60 cents a box. I Foster-Milburn Co., Buffalo, N. Y.