| Show A A MAT1TR Of JUSIK u V > I ff J k J N IN I TWO PARTS SVEY CDTCLIFFErHYNE Copyright ibCutcI1Ite Uyne PART I I was quite evident that the man wanted sumethfngr but Captain Kettle did not choose dlfnlely to ask for his wishes Overcuriosity is not a thIng that pays with OrIentals Stold indifference ference on the other hand may earn easy admiration J But at last the man took his courage In a firmer grip and came up from the 1 Parakeets lower dek where the hands I were working cargo and advanced under un-der the bridge deck awnings to Captain Kettles long char and salaamed low before him Kettle seemed to see the man for the first time He looked up from the accounts I ac-counts he was laboring at Well he said curtly SIt curty I was clear the Arab had no English 4 f I was alsb clear that he feared being I watched by his QIw countryman in I the lighter which was dlschar ng date bags ulKitifideJLIc incijereu till the I bro11 4l his bath covered his move I nent niAt rialiw srnjehow or other j a 1eri > of vil1 t JH at sme fold of his 1 burnowf OroRreg this in Kettles lap wirhoutJ apy pepsl1 he nr cv uint of either his arms or hanus and t t n govc another stately i salaaii ani utd away to the jilace from which he hud i come I I you are an outofwork conjurer I said Kettle to the retreating figure youve come tp the wrong place to get 1 employment here The Arab paspcil out of sight with his head and Kettle out or turning an Kette S glancril dot at the craj > of paper I whMi lay on hta knees and saw on it u scrawl of writing I Hullo ho said postman were i J oJI you Not conjurer 1 didnt expect any mail here IJovever lets sec Mur Iras I-ras writing by James he < das d-as he flattened out the grimy sf rup of I paper and then he whistled wth surprise I sur-prise and discus as he read Dear captai the letter ran Ive got into a deuce of a mess and if you I can bear a hand to pul m out it I would be a favo I should never forget for-get I got caugiit up that side streCv to the left puskfhe mosque but they covered i > ty h ad with 1 cloth directly I after and rfusOed me on fur halt an I hour and svlerfc I am now the dickens I only know Its a cellar But perhaps i bear I may knw whos got my watch I The trouble whs abbut a woman II pretty little piece whom I was photo aphing p see I relr i I And here Ui1ttt r broke off Thats he worst of these fancy I hightoned mate Kettle grunbled i i What does he want to go aliore for j at a oneeyed hole like this Tneie are no saloons and besides he isnt a drinking 10 man your newfashioned j j nite isnt There are no girls for him Ito I j that they are all Ma to kits seeing al la liomedans and wear a veil And as fdr I going round with that photography box of his I wonder he hasnt more I pride I iw > nt like to see a smart young fellow like him thats got his masters ticket all new and ready in his chest bringing himself down to fie level of 1 j eimmon dirtyhaired artist Well I Murrays got a lot to learn before he finds an owner fit to trust him with a ship of his own Kettle read the hurried letter through a second time and then got up out of his long chair and put on his spruce white drill uniform coat and exchanged lijs white canvas shoes for another pair more newly pipeclayed His steamer nrigM merely be a common cargo tail the town he was going to visit ashore might be merely the usual savage sav-age settlement one meets with on the II Arabian shore of the Persian gulf but the little sailor did not dress for the I admiration of fashionable crowds He out of was smart and spruce always wa deference to his own selfrespect I He went up to the second mate at the tally desk on the main deck below I and gave him some instructions Im going ashore he said and leave you in charge Dont let too many of these niggers come aboard at once and tell the stewards to keep all the doors to below snugly fastened I locked the chart house myself when I came out Have you heard aBout the mate No sir7 I I Au I thought the news would have been spread well about the ship before I it came to me Hes got in trouble I ashpre cme and I suppose I must go ands and-s e the kady and get him bailed out The second mate wiped the dust and perspiration from his face with his bare arm and leaned on the tally desk and shore boat passed a small fleet of J I < t grinned Here seemed to be an opportunity oppor-tunity for the relaxation of stiff official relations Whats tripped him he asked Skit or photographing He will probably tell you himself when he comes back said Kettle coldly cold-ly I shall send him to his room for three days when he gets on board The second mate pulled his face into seriousness I dont suppose he got into trouble intentionally sir Probably not But that doesnt alter the fact that he has managed i somehow some-how 1 dont engage my mates for amusements that kind Mr Grain Ive got them here t work and help me do my duty by the owners I they take up lowclass trades like artisting they must be prepared to stand the consequences con-sequences Youll remember the orders Ive given you I Im wanted jxmll say I shall probably be back to tea Captain Kettle went off then in a pearling dhows which rolled at their anchors and after 1 long pull for the gea was shallow and the anchorage lay five miles out stepped onto the back I ff a burly Arab and was carried the last mile dry shod Parallel to him I were lin > 3 of men carrying out cargo to the lighters which would transship I it to the Parakeet and Kettle locked upon these with fine complacency His I tramping for cargo had been phenomenally phenome-nally successful He was filling his holds at astonishingly heavy freights And not only would this bring him credit with his owners which meant promotion in due course to a larger ship but in th meantime as he drew his 2 per cent on the profits it represented rep-resented a very comfortable matter of solid cash for that muchneeded person per-son himself He hugged himself with pleasure when he thought of this newfound new-found prosperity That represented so many things which he would be able to do for his wife and family which through so many years narrow circumstances circum-stances had made impossible The burly Arab on whom he rode pickaback stepped out of the water I lit last and Kettle jumped down from his perch and picked his way daintily among the litter of the foreshore toward to-ward the white houses of the town which lay beyond It was the first time he had set foot I Irst tme thce So great was his luck at the time that he had not been forced to go tat asiore in the usual way drumming up cargo The shippers had come off begging beg-ging him to become their carrier and he had mulcted them in heavy freights accordingly So he stepped into the town with many of the feelings of a I conqueror and demanded to be let to the office of a man with whom he had done profitable business that very S morning Of course office in the western meaning of the term there was none The worthy Rill el Moussa transacted affairs on the floor of his general sitting sit-ting room and stored his merchandise in the bed chambers or wherever i I would be out of reach of pilfering fin i gars But he rceived the little sailor with fine protestations of regard and after some giggles and shuttling as the women withdrew induced him into the dark interior of his house and set before him delicious coffee and some doubtful sweetmeats Kettle knew enough about oriental etiquette nt to introduce the matter on which he had ceme at the outset of the ronveiatioii He passed and received re-ceived the necessary compliments first endured a discussion of local trade enlur prospects and thefn by an caY gradation grada-tion led up to the powers of the local kady He did not speak Arabic himself I him-self and Rad el Moussa had no English Eng-lish nut they had both served a lifes apprenticeship to sea trading and the curse of the tower of Babel had very little power ovef them In the memories memo-ries of each there vere garnered scraps from a score of spolten languages and when these failed they could always draw on the limited vocabulary of the gestures and the eyes And for points or which required that were real nbstruse I quired definite understanding there always charcoal stick and ways remained the stek remane the explanatory drawing on the face of I I a whitewashed wall When the conversation had lasted some half an hour by the clock and a slave brought In a second relay of sweetmeats and thick coffee the sailor mentioned as It v ere Incidentally that one of his officers had got Into trouble Iin the town Its quite a small thing I I he said lightly but I want him back sad lht as soon as possible becausetheres I I I vork for him to do on the steamer See what I mean I S Rad el Maussa nodded gravely Savey plenty said he the machinery I Now Kettle knew that machiner of the law In r these small Arabian coast towns was concentrated ArblanJ l I S SSt person of the kady who for practical purposes onust be madjeto move by 1ufo lubricant maqe palmoil and so he produced some coins from his pocket and lifted his eyebrows inquiringly inquir-ingly S 5 inglRd el Moussa nodded again and made careful inspection of the coins turning them one by one with his long brown finger and biting those he fa cied most as a test or their quality Finally he selected a gold 20franc piece and two sovereigns balanced and chinked them carefully in his hand and then slipped them into some private pri-vate receptacle in his wearing apparel I say remarked Kettle thats not for you personally old Untacks Thats for the kady Rad pointed majestically to his own I breast El la kady he said O you are his worship are you S said Kettle Why didnt you say so i before I dont think i was quite tintacks but perhaps I straight of you tntack I thats your gentle Arab way But I say whiskers dont you try being too I foxy with me or youll get hurt Im not the most patient man in the world I with inferior nations Come now Wheres the mate I Rad spread his hand helplessly See here its no use your trying that I S I n j1ifj 1 SW aMvv inUL MM ffi S I J i S 1 iIi iiu UiftihiLuilui t S > Ii I I s riiiaLf1r1 iiiI 111 i 1 I k S 5 < J 5 S S S AS TS > M 0 0 jOF ASTJBBKN1 TUT ECAHDING OF THE FLOOR SANK EEl KETTLES FET I I game You know that I want Murray my mate Savvy plenty Then hand him out and let me getaway get-away back on board Xo got said Rad el Moussa no can Now look here minter said Captain Cap-tain Kettle Ive paid you honestly for justice and If I dont have It Ill start In pulling down your old town straightaway straight-away Give up the mate Had and Kt us get back peacefully to my steamboat steam-boat or by James Ill let loose a wild earthquake here I you want battle murder and sudden death Mr Had el Moussa just you play monkey tricks with me and youll get em cheap Kady are you Then by James you start in without further talk and give me the justice that Ive bought and I paid for Though this tirade was in an alien gtal i dl eIm tongue Had el Moussa caught the drift from Captain Kettles accompanying I gesticulations which supplied a running I I run-ning translation as he went on Hal saw that his visitor meant business I and sigEcjl that he would go nut and fetch the Imprisoned mate forthwith No you dont said Kettle promptly prompt-ly If your worship once left here I might have trouble In finding you again I know how easy it is to hide in a warren like this town of yours Send one of your hands with a message mes-sage Now to convey this sentence the more clearly Kettle had put his fingers on the Arabs clothing when out fell I of pearls which came unfastened a bag II W I I ed The pearls rolled like peas about the floor and the Arab with gritting teeth whipped out a knife Promptly Kettle drew also and covered him with a revolver See here he said Im not a thief though perhaps you think I pulled out that jewelry purse on purpose I was a accident Rad to Ill forgive your hastiness But your worship mustnt pull out cutlery en me Ill not stand that from any man living Thats right put it up Back goes the pistol into its pocket and now were friends again Pick up the pearls yourself and then youll be certain I havent grabbed any and then send one of your men to fetch my mate and do as I want Youre wasting a great deal of my time Bad el Moussa over a very simile job The Arab gathered the pearls again into the pouch and put U back to its place amongst his clothes His face had grown savage and lowering but it was clear that this little spitfire of a sailor with his handy pistol daunted him Kettle who read these signs was i not insensible to the compliment they implied but at the same time he grew if anything additionally cautious He watched his man with a catlike caution cau-tion and when Had called a slave and gave him orders in fluent Arabic he made him translate his commands forthwith Rad cl Moussa protested that he had ordered nothing more than the carry tog out of his visitors wishes But It seemed t Kettle that he protested just a trifle too vehemently and his suspicions sus-picions deepened He tapped his pistol in his resting place and nodded his head meaningly Youve friends in this town he said and I daresay youll have a goodish bit of power in your small way Ive neither and I dont deny that if YOU bring up all your local army to inter touchish fight of fere I may have a touJhlsh fght It but whatever hapens to me in the long run you make take It a straight from yours truly that youll go tofyour own funeral if trouble start So put that In yOur hookah and smoke it tin tacks and give me the other tube Captain Ketllewas used to the dlla 1 tory ways of the east and he was prepared pared to wait though never doubting that Murray would be surrendered to him in due time and he would get his own way in the end So he picked up one of the snaky tubes Qf the great pipe and put the amber mouthpiece between his lips and there for ftn hour the pair of them squatted on the I divan with the hookah gurgling and reeking between them From time to time a slave girl came and replenished the pipe with tobacco or fire a was I required But these were the only interruptions in-terruptions and between whiles they smoked on in massive silence At the end of that hour the man slave who had been sent out with thy mes age reentered the room and delivered his tidings Rad el Moussa in his turn passed it on Murray was even then waiting In the justice chamber so he said at the further side of the house and could be taken away at once Kettle rose to his feet and the Arab stood betre him with bowed head and folded arms I Captain Kettle began to feel ashamed j I for having pressed this man ton hard I seemed that he had intended to act I honestly all along und the suspiciousness suspicious-ness of his behavior doubtless arose from some difficulty or custom of language So the sailor took Rails limp hand in his own and shook it cordially and at the same time made a handsome apology for his own share of the misunderstanding Your worship wor-ship must excuse me he said but Im always apt to be a bit suspicious about lawyers What dealings Ive had with them have nearly always turned out for me unfortunately And now if you dont mind well go Into your court house and you can hand me over my mate and Ill take him back to the ship Enough times been wasted already by both of us The Arab still bowed and submissive submis-sive signed toward the doorway and Kettle marched briskly out along the narrow dar passage beyond with Hads sandals shuffling in escort close at his ear The house seemed a large one and rambling Three times Rads respectful fingers on his visitors sleeve signed him a change of route The corridors cor-ridors too u is the custom in Arabia where coolness is the first considera tion were dimly lit and with the caution cau-tion which had grown to be his l second I nature Kettle Instinctively kept all his ltCrelYI I senses on the alert for Inconvenient i surprises He had no desire that Rad el Moussa should forget his submissiveness II submis-siveness and stab him suddenly from behind neither did he especially wish to be noosed or knifed from round any I of the dusky sudden corners In fact he was as much on the nut vive as he ever had been in all his long wild adventurous life amI yet I Tad d Mouss who meant treachery all along took him captive by Ihe most I vulgar of timeworn stratagems CfL I sudden the boarding of the floor sank beneath Kettle icct He turned and with a desperate effort tried to throtv hirrscf backwards whence he had come But the bnarfilncr behind reared up and bit han < violent blow or the I hands and head and lie fell into a pit I below j For an instant he saw through the gloom the facie rf Had c Moussa suddenly sud-denly tunica IiiiKiit spitting at him I in hate and then the swingfloor slammed up into place again and 1 i view of anything but inky blackness I was completely shut away Continued next week II I I |
