Show fttvr" 1 r 4:4 THE PEEP i O’ DAT— A LITER AKT MAGAZINE (Fro im the Ihnntcd House) and calm What little wind there was came in puffs off the laipd I CAPTAIN’S FLAT CANDLESTICK suppose we waited drifting a little to tlicvvestward made it out as A SAILOR’S STORY best part of an hour before anything happened— and then instead The narratoj was a mate cn of seeing the light on shore wc board llio “Good Intent” in the saw a boat coining towards us 1819 Ilis vessel was bound year rowed by two men only with ail immense quantity of gunWc bailed them and they anthe to of relief General powder swered “Friends! ” and hailed us his Bolivar and volunteers on that by our name They came on old fighting ground known to sea-- ’ hoard Ono of them was an Irishas the men Main faring Spanish man and the other was a d The possessions belonging to the native pilot who jabberSouth in America had Spaniards ed a little English The Irishbroken into mutiny against the old man handed a note toour skipper government years before and had who showed it to me It informed for the most part got the best of that the of 'us coast we the part it by the aid of General Bolivar were off then was not over safe for for whose benefit the brig was discharging our cargo seeing that speeding Xo one on board knew spies of the enemy (that is to say flic exact nature of our destination of the old government) had been except the Skipper aiid he did not taken and shot in the neighborhood seem half to like them The busithe day before We might trust ness altogether was of a very to the native pilot and lie the risky kind but our wages were had brig his instructions to take us to honestly paid and the men had to be satisfied In consideration of another part of the coast The note was signed by the proper parthe nature of our cargo we were ties so wc let the Irishman go harassed with new regulations back alone in the boat and allowwhich wc didn’t at all like relative ed the pilot to exercise bis lawful to smoking our pipes and lighting authority over the brig lie kept our lanterns and as usual in such us stretching off from the land till cases the captain who made the noon the next day: his instructions vdnt he regulations preached seemingly ordering him to keep didn’t practise Not a man of U3 well’ out of sight of the shore us wa allov’ ed to have a bit of lightWe only altered our course in the ed candle in his hand when he afternoon so as to close in with the went below-- exccp the skipper land again a little before midnight and lie used his light when lie This same pilot was about as turned in or when he looked over a vagabond as ever I saw his charts on the cabin table just a skinny cowardly as usual This light was a comquarrelsome mon kitchen candle or “ dip” of mongrel wlio swore at the men in the vilest broken English till they the sort that goes eight’ or ten to were every one of them ready to the pound and it stood in an old battered flat candlestick with all The skippitch him overboard the japan worn off and all the tin per kept them quiet and I kept them quiet for the pilot being givshowing through It would have en us bv our instructions we were been more seamanlike and suitable in bound to make the Lest of him every respect if he had had a lamp or Near nightfall however with the a lantern but he stuck to his old best will in the world to avoid it candlestick and that same old I was unlucky enough to quarrel candlestick ladies and gentlemen with him has ever afterwards stuck to pc lie wanted to go below with his pipe and I stopped him Wc sailed in the brig and of course because it was contrary shaped our course first for the to orders Upon that lie tried to in Islands the Indies West Virgin hustle by me and I put him away and after sighting them we made with my hand I never meant to for the Leeward Islands next and then stood on due south till the push him down hut somehow I lOok-odid He picked himself up as at the mast-heahailed the deck and said lie saw land quick as lightning and pulled out his knife I snatched it out of his That land was the coast of South hand shipped his murderous face America We all wondered why for him and threw his weapon the skipper didn’t anchor hut he said Xo he must first show a light overboard He gave me one ugly look and walked aft and wait at the didn’t for an answering light on shore think much of the look then but L remembered it little too well We did wait and nothing of the sort appeared It was starlight afterwards ' TH3 I - coffee-coloure- - f ii j I ' i ' f i d ’ foretop-mast-hea- I d - We were close in with the land again just as the wind failed us between eleven and twelve that night and dropped our anchor by the pilot’s directions It wras pitch dark and a dead airless calm The skipper was on deck with two of our best men for watch Tin rest were below except the pilot who coiled himself up more like a snake than a man on the forecastle It was not my watch till four in the morning But I didn’t like the look of the night or the pilot or the slate of things generally and I shook myself down on the deck to get my nap there and be ready for anything at a moment’s notice The last I remember was the skipper whispering to me that he didn't like the look of things cither and that lie would go below and con- suit Ills instructions again1 That is the last I remember before the" slow heavy regular roll of the old brig on the ground swell rocked me off to sleep I was woke ladies and gentle-- 1 men by a scuffle on the forecastle and a gag in Any mouth There was a man on my breast and a man on my' legs and I was bound hand and foot in half a minute The brig was in the hands of the Spaniards Tliey were swarming all over her I heard six heavy splashes in the water one after an- other — I saw the captain stabbed to the heart as lie came running lip the companion — and’ I heard a seventh splash in the water Ex- cept myself every soul of us had been murdered and thrown into the sea Why I was left I couldn’t think till I saw the pilot stoop over mo with a lantern and look to make sure of who I wast There was a devlish grin on his face and he nodded his head at me as much as to say' You were the man who hustled me down and slapped my' face and I mean to play the game of cat and mouse with you in return for it I could neither move nor speak hut I could see the Spaniards take off the main hatch and rig the purchases for getting up the cargo A quarter of an hour afterwards I heard the sweep of a schooner or other small vessel ' in the water The strange craft was laid along--sid- e of us and the Spaniards set to work to discharge our cargo into her They all worked hard except the pilot and he came from time to time with liis lantern to have another look at me and and nod always in the same devlish way I am old enoifgh now not to be ashamed of confess- ! |