Show ro 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 WO law avi V 11 LV K vr Y E 4 1 S lih rrb jl TH naff 1 I 1 la H IF T 4 SEA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 0 0 0 0 0 by RANDALL PARRISH 0 0 cupy copyright right oy I 1 A L C cv cu carlyll far lyle sees one chance and takes it synopsis geoffry carlyle master of sailing ships ut at awen ty sl six r Is sentenced to 20 years servitude in the american col conlen for or participation in ili the rebellion in england among the passengers in board the ship on which lie Is sent across acres are roger fairfax wealthy maryland Iti ryland planter hla his niece dorothy fairfax and lieutenant sanchez a spaniard who became acquainted with thofile the fair faxes in london carlyle meeta dorothy who informs jilin tier her uncle hns has bought boffi lit hla his services sanchez shows himself tin nd enemy of carlyle the F fairfax party now on its own sloop in tho the chesapeake hay bay encounters a mysterious bark the lie namur of carlyle discovers that sanchez planning to steal the fairfax gold and abduct dorothy lie ile fights sanchez and leaves him for dead in a battle with sanchez followers however he be Is I 1 overpowered and thrown into US the e bay CHAPTER vill VIII continued 5 tile the two roust must have hung in silence over mer the roll rail staring down I 1 dared not advance my load to look nor even move a muscle of 0 my body in the water w anter how came you aft here because fellow leaped tile the rail from the wharf harf I 1 saw him and wo we met at the wheel from the wharf you say no he was not aboard then maria 1 I 1 know not what that may mean yet what difference so he be dead anderson mendez throw that carrion overboard no bullies never mind let them lie ile where they are and sink tin an finger auger in the sloops bottom what Is that out yonder cochise Co chose A small boat senor adory a dory I 1 make it lt locut cut the rope ani and send it adrift now come along with me tho the darker loom of the sloop ann imbed slowly ns As the slight current sweeping about the end of the wharf drifted the released boat to which I 1 clung outward into the bay there was scarcely a ripple to the sea and yet I 1 felt that the boat was steadily drifting out into deep water I 1 was still strangely weak barely able to retain my grasp finally I 1 mustered every ounce of remaining energy in n one supreme effort and succeeded i in dragging my body up out of wa water t e r Y devising some means meana for attaining the deck over the boats stern sinking helplessly forward into the bottom the moment this was accomplish eil every sense deserted me and I 1 lay there motionless totally unconscious I 1 never know how long T r remained thus yet this time could not have been great As though awakening from sleep a faint consciousness returned then the sharp pain of my wound accented by the sting of suit salt water brought me swift realization of where I 1 was and the circumstances bringing me there I 1 had evidently lost considerable blood yet this had already to flow and a very slight examination served to convince roe me that hat inife slashes were none of them serious my other injuries were merely cercle bruises to add to my discomfort the result of blows dealt me by sanchez and Co cochise Coch chose aggravated by the lie bea hug of the giant negro indeed I 1 awoke to tit the discovery that I 1 was far from being 11 lend man roan and by this linow knowledge ledge chii he various incidents of the lie night back into roy my mind no gleam of light appeared in any direction no sound echoed across the tie dark waste of witter it was clearly impossible for tile 1110 to attempt tiny any return to the wharf through the impenetrable black curtale which shut me ine lit in what then could I 1 do what might I 1 still hope to accomplish those fellows had swept the sloop clean and had doubtless long ago scuttled it they would suddenly find themselves leaderless unguided would that suf flee to toll stop them ilicin would tile the discovery CON of ills his body halt his followers follow PIS ond and send them rushing back to the their r hoot boat eager to get safely away anway this did not seem likely estalla knew of my boarding tile the sloop front from the wharf find and would at once connect the alie fact of my ashore with the killing of sanchez this would satisfy jilin him there was tie no further danger besides these were wera not men to flee in panic surely not with that hatada yet alive to lead them find and the knowledge that fifty thousand pounds was onder in that unguarded house with no one to protect the treasure hut but two old nien men asleep und the women tho the dorothyl dorothy 1 what would lie ile rome come of tier her into whose hands would fhe fall in that lint foul division of spoils Ks Bs tadas and 1 I afloat and helpless in this boat what could I 1 do ca CHAPTER capter IX A swim to the namur all was black hopeless with head burled in rny my hands brinds I 1 sat on a thwart lazed dazed before III me pleading expressive s I 1 ve of agonized despair arose tho the tweet sweet face of dorothy Dorot liy fairfax no doubt by this time little all was over the dead end body of sanchez discovered the tha projected attack anthe on the house carried out the two old men loft left behind either dead or severely wounded anti the girl borne off a helpless prisoner ay but this I 1 knew there was only one place to which the villains might flee with their booty the namur of rotterdam only on tho those leeks decks and well at sea would they be safe are or able to enjoy their spoils the thought came to me in sudden revel revelation atlon why not was not here a chance oyen oven yet to toll foil them with sanchez lead dead no man aboard that pirate craft could recognize me I 1 felt assured of this I 1 had fought the giant negro in the dark lie he could not during that fierce encounter have distinguished my features tiny more clearly than I 1 had lils ills own there was no one else to fear if only I 1 might once succeed in getting getling safely aboard slightly disguised perhaps and mingle unnoticed among the crew the chances cli ances were not bad for me to pass undetected such ships carried large crews and were constantly changing in personnel A strange face appearing among them need not arouse undue suspicion and I 1 felt convinced I 1 could locate the ilia namur but could I 1 hope to attain the ship in advance uh ance of the returning party of raiders god helping me I 1 would try I 1 my aly brain throbbed with fresh resolution the call to action there were oars in the boat I 1 shipped the useless rudder inboard pid and chose my course from the stars my boat lind had drifted considerably farther out into the buy bay than I 1 had supposed and it required a good half hour of steady toll at the oars before I 1 sighted attend ahead of roc me the darker outlines of the shore at firpo I 1 could identify nothing but finally there suddenly arose clearly defined the gaunt limbs of a dead tree bearl bearing tig a 1 I faint resemblance to a Ci auntie gantle cross that had been pointed out on the sloop this peculiar mark was at the extremity of the first headland lying north of the point itself and consequently a straight course across tile the bay would land me within five hundred yards of where the namur had last been at anchor to a degree my immediate plan of notion action had been definitely mapped out ut within my own mind while gillie tolling nt at the oars I 1 would beach my dory and strike out on foot directly across the narrow neck of land the namur was not so far out from shore ns as to ninke to her a dangerous tent feat and I 1 could approach and board tier with far less chance of discovery in that manner than by the use of a boat the greater langer danger would corne come after I 1 had attained the deck wet to the skin sidn the sharp bow of the ho dory ran up on n the soft sand rand of the beach and I 1 stopped stepped fi ashore shore then there come came to me the first real consciousness of tile ho reckless nature of this nol adventure venture As I 1 faced then tile the probabilities thore scarcely seemed one chance in a hundred and yet I 1 must admit there was the one chance and in no other action could I 1 per belve even that much encouragement if dorothy Dorot liy fairfax was already in the hands of these men ahrn my only opportunity port unity for serving her lay in my being close st rt land hand no alternative presented lt ittai Kelf no other effort could bo be effective it wits was already too late to attempt the organization of a rescue party no the only choice left was for roe me either cither to the girl or else alin abandon adon her bee entirely to lier her captors I 1 I 1 knust either cither face the possibility of discovery nud and capture which ns surely mount meant torture find and death or otherwise play tile coward tind remain impotently behind so I 1 drove the temptation temp tafton to falter away and strode on oil up ilia batik bank into tile tho black shadow of the trees I 1 found extrom extremely ply hurd walking tie ns I 1 advanced through tangled underbrush fortunately the distance was even shorter than I 1 luid hold anticipated it IL was not until after I 1 luil hao advanced cautiously into the water and then thell stooped low to thus gain clearer vision slon along the surface that I 1 succeeded in locating the lie vessel sought esven then alio llio lie namur appeared only as a more lucre shadow without so much as a light slowing showing aboard yet apparently an 1 bored in the nine position as when wo we lind swept past enst tho the previous afternoon I 1 waded straight out through the lines of surf until all excepting tile liend became completely submerged III if I 1 were to reach the b bark ar k at all this was the one opportunity I 1 stood there resisting tile the undertow tugging at my limbs anti and barely able to retain my lay footing intent upon my purpose full strength had come back to my muscles and my lead head was again clear with strong silent strokes I 1 swarn swam forward directly breasting tile force of tile the incoming son sea yet ranking making fair progress settle unconsidered current must lieve lave swept me to the right for when the outlines of the bark again became dimly visible through the night I 1 found myself well to starboard of 0 the vessel stroking well nell under water and with only my eyes exposed above the surface I 1 changed my course to the left and slowly and cautiously drew in toward the starboard low A few moments later unperceived from above and protected from observation by the bulge of tile the overhang and density of the shadow my hands clung citing to tho iho anchor hawser my mind busy in devising some means for attaining the deck CHAPTER X on the deck of the namur it was here that fortune favored me strengthening my ny decision and yielding a fresh courage to persevere foi forking icing out directly over where 1 I clung citing desperately to the wet hawser my iny eyes were able to trace tile the bowsprit tho the rather loosely furled up jib napping flapping ragged edges lit in the gusts of wind suddenly as I 1 stared upward I 1 became aware that two men were working their way out along the foot ropes and as they reached a point almost directly over roy my head became busily engaged in tightening tho the gaskets to better secure the loosening pall the foot of one slipped and ho he hung dangling giving vent to a stiff ln english glish oath before lie succeeded in hauling himself back to safety the other indulged in fit a chuckling laugh yet lie was careful not to speak loudly had one drink too many tom lie naked that will pay yer for in fin hlila the bottle nn an never givin roe me another sup you h I 1 11 I 1 yer hod hed the fust fulst ov it athars no sorter luck yer dont git yer fair share of bill trust yer for fee thet what I 1 aint got straight yet Is whar thet stutt stuff cum from so easy that part ol 01 0 the luck tom did yer git eyes on thet new feller mnnuel manuel brought back with lint him in the boat tho the one you and joso carried aboard lies iles the lad ind want euthin tile the mutter matter with the cove icett copt lie he was lend dead drunk we was on the beach for Ei estevan stevan tin an three fetters fellers lie tied hed taken along with him inter town ter cum back the digger jose tin an mv jewhen alien tills this yero yere chap bovo ito never hailed us ner ncr nuth thin ln just dim clim over into tho the boat tin nn lay down I 1 shook him an kicked him but it wiant want no use so wo we just left him lie liar for fer manuel ter say what ter be done one with him only jose he went through his pockets an found three bottles ol 01 0 etim rum we tool took A few drinks an hid wua left in the boat locker so taets how yer got iti it I 1 who tho the party 4 moren morell ill ever tell yer I 1 never got tie no sight ol 01 0 ittin copt in the dark bout nil all I 1 know Is lie ho WAS white nn an likely a n krilor sa llor anyhow when got back lio lie told us to haul the lad out ol 01 0 the lio way an fetch lint him along so we pulled out with the feller cuddled up in the bow 1 I never seed euthin nuth lii more of ilia him after lie ho was hauled aboard become 0 tile the lad once on board tha namur carlyle knows he may have lave a chance to aid dorothy it Is 1 a desperate det chance but he Is will ing to tika tak it but how to get aboard without being seen can he avoid detection which will mean Illean certain death TO OC BE conta bontly UD |