Show A A 4 A A challes chal les X tennee by j I 1 COPY 9 ht by the bobbs derrll Comp cint i CHAPTER XV continued 19 nley stared at him unbelievingly he threw out an arm kicked the entangling scabbard from ills his knees and bl blustered uttered on Sj sixteen teen there must be of you I 1 six muskets ets Cr achley ackley gave to you and you have pistols and cutlasses cut lasses around I 1 sixteen Sl iteen calr armed and desperate I 1 and a longboat in the barkl if you remain here murillos Mu furl llos men will leave T you on sll all to the buzzards tomorrow 1 I know I 1 heard them say guy there were men of lafitte alive on this reef they know muttered the chief they guess I 1 I 1 say we can retake tile lie se schooner booner the prize guard on her I 1 Is i nothing the teniente ten lente tente in command can suspect not nothing hingl once they toy lay her astern aitern the frigate there Is no hope for any of you we were to send mademoiselle to the he frigate la in the longboat murmured raoul throw her to the sharks tinder kinder than murillos Mu merit men the spaniards think the schooner was bound to the rebel republics of the south they will spare none who had bad to do with her they blot out every life that could tell of her taking he swung an empty pistol holster bolster and tottered back and forth montleur monsieur mazarac tapped de almonaster Al monaster on the shoulder it Is the truth it Is a chance von monsieur leur our affair we shall have to postpone it it and d n your hot bead will you understand nothing ghe me this action act loril let me be the first to board the Seraph seraphine lne I 1 shall hall show you monsieur Ions leur mazarac Saz arac if I 1 am one to be sent away under the protection of a woman norn nom de dieu dieul I 1 and for that you would light met breathed the other softly then he turned away hastening to the outlaws down the sand spit jarvis had bad sat down again he watched the light fight in the south the 1 ya napoleon ship drawing slowly out on the ithe ebb tide with the spanish kings men at the tow lines it if they get a wind mumbled jar vf als a we are undone then I 1 might as well have stayed and died in the graas I 1 came to save you all john cried de Al monaster what madness seized you to turn upon him at the pinch 1 I saved you all grunted jarvis indifferently the dogs plotted to turn on mazarac arac from the moment she the v well el ell he seemed plaintively I 1 diffident rit at her name well the affair of the benaron Ge naron I 1 knew it they hardly kept it from me after the rum I 1 broached for them and once the she came aboard there was no hope to stop trouble I 1 planed placed the fool for them bem I 1 roared chanteys chante ys in the fo casle I 1 out drank the best 0 them I 1 made myself as you saw the blanket adviser to them i you let thom put her adrift from the ship said raoul sternly yes to save her from jolin john crack ley icy to save you all from walking the plank well P he grunted a absently gen 1 1 I see you are not grateful no one Is grateful I 1 play the part of a mazarac save that I 1 cannot walk it ith a sword between my n iv legs legg I 1 boast and pose aril an 1 swagger that Is I 1 try monsieur you recall the other night 1 I alone on the quarter deek deck quite had the stage to Iny myself self I 1 mus doln well until my dd d 1 d 1 I pistol went off quite by accident discomfited I 1 hurried b clow below and drank and ate everything that lied bad been spread for the four of tot you nt fit the emperors table kli aliat did the the she think of me SIon 1 she whispered raoul hurriedly apparently neer saw you that Is I 1 believe she laughed once at something name aine ol 01 0 G C d breathed bren thed the jet jeet er r all ali well of course slie site llin laughed glied when slie she aw faw f me hanging to tile lamppost lamp post on the staircase 1 well I elt I 1 could not see pl plainly almly in tact fact 1 I never see her plainly or slie he me e of course I 1 am the ghost I 1 try to strut out in the brave light but there seems laughter always lilt flit up the bottle raoul 9 give ive me the labit list if n Us ilk seemed sc suddenly startled to discover a milte cloak r so 0 close to him in fact lie to bustle uncertainly from it around to the outer edie of the group that gathered about gazaras and mademoiselle and it if the she saw him at all or divined divined that the fellow of the waistcoat alst coat was really t this h is bloody figure that lind find stag staggered to t them but a moment since it was plain that he be vanished from her shortly wily lie he had and indeed meent to tn stretch retch a hand of authority seeing that the mad plot was ills to ring out it swift and pregnant campaign woi wo thy of a pi mazarac bazara Saz arac c but now dow be tl he berf ly hung oft off in the grigs hummocks swamp mud anu and am his Is own blood dripping from him dangling an empty holster and listen lug ng with mouth agape she put this rell adell upon him it must have been that thai at once in her prentence pretence pre tence he became a ghost ot of a ma man n pursuing tits lila tattered mask of a mazarac Saz arac certain it Is that after the lea leader der had told of the thing to be done a and nd of jarvis coming to them there was such a puzzled and then a shouting acclaim for the plan that every one forgot the author of it by blackboard blackbeard himself roared bohon bobon it Is a scheme that jean lafitte would have loved VI they scattered to the bushes for their few arms and ammunition boxes others were working the longboat boat from the shoals to where the adventurers could wade as slit settled with the load of them in deeper water there was hustled hushed laughter grim confidence fi a jousting nudging loyalty to the quiet leader two huge fellows carried mademoiselle lespron from the sands gands to the bout boat in a chair formed of their brawny arms then they pushed the longboat EI slowly stealthily out to catch the run of the ebb tide badarac Baz arac whispered de almonas almona ter lie he was on a mid auld thwart with mademoiselle lespron at his side bide his hia hand band sought hers in the close press of the adventurers crowded in the longboat she did not resist but she did not return his pressure she was merely calm watchful trusting to the skill and courage of mazarac Saz arac theres her above the trist mist hissed the catalan lookout ease off I 1 4 ca 0 arid up and to the Sera phines dec k there slid a dozen silent figures A wind a touch of air Is fatal to us I 1 n lads I 1 hear their haul boats above us Is come theres her bulk bulb in the fog 1 I de Al monaster felt a pressure on his hand ile he hent bent his big head Illon monsieur your pistol give it to me 1 I will not tall fall in their hands alive it we fall fail I 1 we N wll wil not fall lie whispered moodily wily why with mazarac Saz arac she wondered it if the silent leader nt at the stern had bad caught this bitter tribute there was no more speech for any of hem the girl was staring now between the press of crouched figures ut tit the great limp disorder of the snowy stills sails 11 seemed but another moment inocent when the mu muffled billed OR conr r blades shot the longboat fair under the schooners ners stein old hands trembled td on long unused weapons there seemed a turtte of heads beads and nodding a ing ng and then a all blight ailt pir jar the snap of ft a hook on a wooden rail and up and to the slid gild a dozen leek deck there Sera phines cutlass cords in teeth silent fiat res fingers to triggers de almonaster Al monaster writhed with impatience r awaiting his turn A herrl it ed howl bowl had arisen from some wounded woun 1 d ed sailors lying in the wa waist I 1 S t caught sight of the swarming in g who ijo first brud mist mast in ill the figu figures res hohanness Joh anness was the first to T the ile huge brige the two officers of wheel beef deac reach h the had hardly turned the U king ing 0 faces at the footfalls ere tf Y surprised poised bull under his VAO two cut cutlass aas 8 gasping died swings the helmsman cried out and crashed to his teeth an iron pike and amidships a battle was arising frightened howls incoherent commands oft officers leers while fleeing petty mands fro from m wild yell of the above ltv it now came in other days and d the ab gulf buccaneers bucca evil A barataria A B ar ataria La kanttel lafitte I 1 to that cry these castaways casta ways ays had swarmed chains tin and d shrouds of many long missing in the ports por ts a 2 ship now of the world obscure figure the lonee save tor for one boat held none non except mademoiselle she be shrank lower closing her lespron Le stron against the screams and a shots hots of oars ears had thickened f forward or the battle which the towing oats boats b had bad turned on were coming back they the bawer kingg men aboga aro so at th the the tb spanish bows attempting to climb and sit bine lo 10 their helpless heiple s col rades the shots and cries crien and trampling went on and the girl shuddered nt at th the e sounds who was as winning what list lind happened to her friends she could not tell nut but slowly there was a stir in the bow thiv thwarts arta A tall man arose rub mug tits his eyes as it if a wakened from a di spiriting sleep he stared about six she could just see him dimly in the starlight and then he climbed awkward ir with frantic haste but slowly after all all to the boarding ladders lie ile got over the rail with wilh some dall difficulty and then stopped as it if considering what he should do next Lo louises ulses startled eyes could not make out hla his face but his uncouth movements seemed f familiar if she could only see his eyes whether they were light or dark or the contour of ills face perhaps site ghe could know then he be staggered and fell tile the girl up started the cries and imprecations seemed growing in volume coining nearer us ns if the attackers were being driven bock bach but she began to climb the nearer boarding 9 ladder when she ghe came over the rail she saw first an indistinct group of struggling men forward with here and there the hash flash of fire and then near her on the deck under the dim light by the main companionway a man crawling rion along at the companionway he got to his feet with some trouble and disappeared below the girl ran baek back of the after housing to get au an ny ay from a dying spaniard at her feet there she found three jtb other er bodies and the smooth planks were ere slippery under her feet slie she fled w the other way from these horrors and then found herself by the open skylight of the main cabin it was brilliantly lighted there apparently patently ly all the fury of the two battles for the seraphine Seraph lne had bad never penetrated to the heavy splendor of rosewood silken tapestries and ormolu encased mirrors of the emperors suite for at the emperors table sat the ragged man she had seen there once before he w as in the huge carved pretentious tent ious chair at the head of the board ne rather shone with blood from a scalp wound under his matted hair also she saw that he be appeared to be picking over the bones of some remnants of a dish that must have been prepared for Crack leys lieutenants earlier in the day at any rate the lone guest showed ds disappointment appointment ue ile i reached cached for the cognac and then tit lit a long reed pipe he be found on the board then lie he sat back and smoked listening to the distant sounds of the battle forward and above on the decks of the napoleon ship mademoiselle lespron turned away with fearful curiosity she encountered a hurrying group coming past the mainmast main mast panting stumbling smoke grimed men among whom she saw the tall mazarac Saz arac ile he sprang to the side BS as if to see to the safety of the english woman left in the long longboat bont monsieur 1 she cried and run ran to him there Is no man of them left in arms he shouted with a brightening eye the port watch went overboard at our rush swimming for their boats beluche Is tumbling their wounded to a yawl that remains mademoiselle he be bowed to her you will go below away from these abominable sights come the seraphine Seraph lne Is no no I 1 she gasped in horror still no not yet mazarac turned rom her for an instant to the wheel where an altercation seemed arising old Domin dominioue loue had bad taken it lie he was wag shouting alib its his eyes aloft she Is drai drawing ing at the top the fat seaman bawled A ruhn man to her shrouds A man give me one man roana I 1 A silence had come strangely silent after the fury A groan or two a coughing fellow forward in the lee lea sc uppers dominique was aas howling once more D n ashes drawing well be on the sands with this A seaman for dominique where are ye stir all the count de Alwo naster suddenly opp appeared eared past juist the tangle of cordage along the starboard rail where dead men were mere twisted misted into rope and grimed sail fall cloth he H threw away a broken small surd and came cam on mademoiselle 14 1 I am not hurt she said sald faintly you monsieur 1 the roaring of dominique the alderman of now new orleans cut him off curse me ajel fat heavy as a lout and here a sea fight such as my old eyes have dren dreamed nied A ship 0 blood 1 A ship 0 deatle jatee in one day has she been cleared 0 the dead lout loutel fallen on her forward indeed a man was hearing corpses to the phosphorescent waters yet the ship seemed curiously still she was drawing on with IomInI domenique que hauling at the te wheel heel slowly and with a sighing fill of limp canvas a weary clatter of 0 blocks xa falling tiling somehow tn in like ilke disorder but out of the rippling shallows and to the west went a heavy gun broke brok with a spurt of fire they heard the shot ride sullenly into the sand spit on the port quarter A man aloft 1 bawled dominique break out wl at stays 1 the tb matter wl ye alit two had gone aloft dark clark the young english lad and gorgio the catalan the latter was crawling up flolly a hand to shroud and catuna cat eat una by the light they could gee ee blin taint faint ly grim bloody faced responding to t his last order TO BE BB CONTINUED |