| Show I f Q sty 0 I 1f YlCPl j Copyright tans by Dally Story Pub Co Lt Let him go To hades with Ills qr bloomln knife Lot the dago loose ti and Tom Braid struggled to freo himself him-self from the grasp of two brawny aallors who hold him Mr Buck tho i lean sinewy mate had His arms Interlaced I In-terlaced about Nicolas waist utterly > unmindful of the cruel looking stiletto I shaking In tho powerful Italians hand It wan tho setting of u tragedy an Interrupted one Its true but llko flesh h j violently chafed tho blood was so near t tho surface that another touch and I 1 T It would begin to flow ff i Captain Nowton advanced to tho 1 i main hatch his long patriarchal heard I rI 1 falling to his waistband Ills shaven r t upper lip twisted as ho talked very c llko unto that of a dog when ho r ° I snarls Stop It gall darn yo stop It hoi J ho-i thundered Im short handed now 1 > 144 and I wont havo any man killing ont on-t t 8 this hero hooker Batten down your j feellns you two fellers till you get to H Rio Grande and then you can chop 311 each other Into bits and devil take r whats left hut theres to bo no clioppln on tho Apollo i 7 1 His words were unheeded and tho i two bloodthirsty men still struggled J to pet nt each other 2 i Now mark you continued tho captain o cap-tain If youro bound to fight mako jll iI a twoman killing of It for by tho + ft 1 Lord Ill throw tho man thats left l I 1 alive over with tho man thats killed f t r < i I shall never forgot that scene I fIj7 Strlfo incarnate threatened on that Y I little chip of wood on tho mighty oceans ocean-s ill and all around utter peace The sea t was barely rippled by tho soft trade 41ri I wind which distended tho sails as If Nj caressing them and above a sky unblemished 11 un-blemished by the tiniest cloud I was fl new to the sea and Its ways and marveled nI t mar-veled that Captain Newton did not Itr 4 iron tho men and confine them In tho peak but ho seemed to feel ain r confidence a-In his management which fl 1 U I was proved of weight by tho result r j t for his coldblooded declaration had 1 + i tho effect on the two wouldbe combatants i rritj I com-batants of a bucket of cold water ont on-t JI a two fighting dogs The skipper meant fn I what ho said and would carry out his At s meaning to tho letter Tho law In t Ij I those days was all In favor of tho officers and Jacks statement was asa Ii M j r as-a feather against an anchor Captain 1 Ff y Nowton would not hesitate to carryout X + I carry-out his threat for fear of legal punishment punish-ment 1 The two sailors released Bradd who recommenced tho work ho had stopped I t to fight NIcola and tho Italian finding i t find-ing himself free from tho mates hold I s walked dlgnlficclly forward and went k t below The crisis had been passed temporarily at least Ik What began the feud between tho men no one know It existed when Ih j they shipped In Now York and they f I had spat hate at each other during the s I fl voyage but this was the first tlmo f 4 f an actual collision had been threatened threat-ened I I Its only put off remarked old Ned oracularly bloodll fly yet I h t If Tom ever gets past the dagos Itnlfe goodby Italian said a sailor fi 5 t But hes got to get by it retorted 1 f r t t r H 1fil tl j j t a I f fi I I j 1 I 1 I a 1 1 Let the dago looseNed loose-Ned and Its ten to ono hell have n < holo in him before ho does Bradd was a stocklly built man and a good sailor While ho done d-one as a goodnatured man ono could lace that 1r would make an ugly foe < when nrowsed ONeill very graphically graphical-ly I expressed tho crews sentiment us t to Bradd Toms a good fellow to A have on the jj rt t aim wld ye in a gale l and a bad c 10 havo igln yo in a fight Its an uncomfortable thing to have en enemy 01 cUlpbuniU On land one con avoid him but aboard ship ne rrit I 1 I V n cats Bleeps and works with him day after day and may feel the knife slipping Into his ribs some dark night But Bradd treated Nicola with contempt con-tempt and made no effort to keep out of his way night or day despite the crows warnings There were several days of bright sunshine calm sea and cloudless sky and on one of these mornings the mate was watching tho washing down of tho deck from tho break of the poop Tho holystoning finished ho ordered Nicola to some duty on the foretopgallant yard Tho Italian looped a lino about his neck and grip i Lb > < = > = b = o > o = c 1 = f i = c > I < 5 1 1 r > I 7 < L 3 = t = s t GG7sfJ Seemed seized with convulsions ping a tnarllno spike In his teeth climbed tho weather rigging Just as he swung himself over the top he lost his hold and fell like a plummet into the seaMan sea-Man overboard yelled ONeill who was at the wheel and he Hung a life buoy over tho rail The skipper was on deck In ono jumpHeave Heave her to ho shouted Braces came sharp and curt from the mate and tho men hurried to obey casting glances aft The brig was making good headway Tho wind was fair and Captain Newton was making all the use ho could of It having out studding sails and bringing her to the wind with all this canvas flying took time Two men started to lower tho boat but It was full of wood and that took time I glanced over tho taffrall and saw no trace of Nicola Nic-ola Hes a goner exclaimed Mr Buck No there ho Is d said sharpeyed ONeill pointing over tho leo quarter quar-ter and there sure enough was a black speck the head of Nicola He was swimming but slowly and laboriously labori-ously ouslThe The brig had been brought to and tho boat unloaded when a cry came from tho poop HI hll Shark see him Abeam was tho triangular fin of a shark cutting tho water as It made a straight course for Nicola Its all up muttered tho mate nothing can save him now There was a splash and to our astonishment as-tonishment Brudd had leaped overboard over-board and was swimming fiercely Ho lay a course which must bring him between the shark and Nicola Gall darn ltd snarled the captain two men Instead of ono gone and whod have thought of Bradd going over tho rail for tho dago I never saw a man swim as did Brndd Ho seemed to grasp tho water and pull himself along but when our eyes fell on that ominous Meeting fin we felt It was merely the sacrifice of ono mans life to save anothers Having Hav-ing laid a right angled course Bradd gained on tho shark which was Ewlmmlng In a straight line for tho Italian and was a cables length ahead of the fish when ho reached a line with tho slowly swimming Nicola and then ho seemed seized with convulsions con-vulsions Ho splashed tho water with his hands and legs reminding ono of tho actions of a duck which has reached a pond after a long dry land journey Ills motions were so violent that tho sea frothed about him and tho shark was evidently as surprised at these evolutions as was the crow of tho Apollo Obviously they wero not tq his taste for ho darted off In an opposite direction By this tlmo tho boat had been lowered and In a halt hour both men were aboard tho brig I didnt think you wero that big a fool to risk your life for a dago whos hungry to put a knife In you remarked re-marked Ned reproachfully Risk exclaimed Bradd there lit wnsn1 any If youd been In the Indian In-dian ocean youd know the shark Is the biggest coward that swims and any man cnn scare em off who makes a big splutter In tho water and then I halo tho bloody things and Ill balk em of a meal any day Not n word had Nicola spoken to any one since ho had been brought onboard on-board but now he came out of the forecastle and approached Bradd Ho hold out to him the stiletto with tho hilt towards his enemy I never saw such a grand gesture of utter surrender surren-der as that If the Italian had filled the air with an eloquent speech it could not have been half as impressive Impres-sive Hough as was Bradd old beachcomber beach-comber of twenty years ho appreciated appreciat-ed It ItKeep Keep your bloomln knife he said and tho broad freckled face broke Into a smile In that most monotonous and very dirty Brazilian town Hlo Grande do Sul two very drunken men walked arm and arm down towards tho quay One sang a roster song In n deep bass and the other In a screechy tenor a barcarole They were Bradd and I Nicola and the sea feud was at an end I |
