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Show BEAR RIVER VALLEY LEADER WOLVES OF THE SEA range ! ass . er8 A :jrj By RANDALL PARRISH House jA Tlabshu Fe&e IS. Mane WidrtiEr CupyrisiU. by A. C. McClurg & Co. CHAPTER XVII Continued. 12 The hilt of the knife In my belt atmy attention, and I drew it forth, curious to learn if it bore any mark of ownership. My eyes were instantly attracted to a dark stain on both hilt and blade. I held it to the light it was the stain of blood, and my hands were also reddened by it. In that first instant of horror I, hurled the weapon out through the open port into the sea. Blood ! There had been murder committed on board, and the fellow I had struck down was seeking refuge, endeavoring to find concealment following his crime. Ay, but what about the light in the cabin? It had been extinguished after the fleeing fugitive had entered Dorothy's stateroom. Did this mean that the slayer had an accomplice? If so, then the killing was not the result of a mere personal quarrel amidships, or In the forecastle but the result of some conspiracy. I thought of Sanchez, and of Estada's plan to obtain control of the ship. Could this' be its culmination? And was the Spaniard already lying dead In his cabin? Nothing came of my thought only eonf usion ; nor did I dare investigate for fear of becoming more deeply In volved in the tragedy. No, there was nothing to be done; my safety, and the safety of the girl depended on our apparent ignorance of what had oc curred. Convincing myself of this, washed1 the blood stains from my hands and lay down In the bunk fully dressed: to await my call. When- called I exchanged 'but few words with LeVere. He went quickly to his room. Nothing of importance occurred during, my watch. The dawn came cold and gray but with clearing skies. I climbed into the main crosstrees and swept the horizon with a glass. Not so much as a speck rewarded my efforts, and I descended the ratlines, shouting to the boatswain to call the port watch. Watkins came aft to the wheel and I sent the fellow thus relieved down into the cabin to rout out LeVere. The two returned to deck together, the negro glancing about curiously without mounting the ladder. "You call Senor Estada l,yet?" he questioned. "No; I had no orders to do so." "He tol' me call him at, daylight Here you, Amada; go wake up the senor." The seaman disappeared, while Le Vere crossed the poop deck and stood beside me looking out across the expanse of sea. Amada emerged from the companion and stared up at us, shading his mouth with one hand as he spoke. "He answer nothing, Senor LeVere." "Was the door locked?" "I know not, senor ; I not try to open tracted -- it." "The swine," said LeVetfj, "I sup pose Til have to go 1 lyself." "We'll go down together, senor," 1 said quietly. "Estada must be sick; I could hear the rumpus Amada kicked up even on deck here. No man could sleep through that racket." CHAPTER XVIII. A New Conspiracy. The interior of the cabin appeared desolate In the gray light of dawn I led the way directly to Estada's It Was the Stain of Blood. stateroom. My heart pounded like a hammer as I rapped on the wooden panels and waited some response from within. There was no answer, no sound of movement, and I rapped again more loudly, my questioning eyes seeking LeVere's face. He was listening as intently as myself. "There Is something wrong, senor," he whispered, "for he was ever a light leeper." The door was unlocked, the latch yielding Instantly to the hand, and I stepped within. A glance told every- - thing. Estada lay in his bunk, with one leg dangling outside, and his head crooked against the side wall. His very posture was that of sudden death, even had it not been pictured by the ghastly face, and the dark pool of I heard an exclablood underneath. mation from Le Vere and stood for an instant utterly unable to move. I knew already what I should find, yet finally forced myself forward he was stone dead, pierced with three knife thrusts. I stood up and faced the mulatto, whose countenance was fairly green with horror. "What do you know about this, Senor LeVere?" I asked sternly. "The man has been murdered, knifed. Who did it and why?" He could scarcely answer, gripping at the table for support, and never removing his gaze from the face of the dead man. Yet I believed his words ; was convinced this was not the terror of guilt "My God! I cannot tell; I have never dreamed of this." "Had the man enemies. Anyone you would suspect?" "Enemies? Ay, plenty of them; we all have. We expect that in our trade. This ship is full of devils ready enough to do such a job ; but I could not name the one who did do it I know of no cause. I have heard noth- dozen men we can trust The others have nothing but their sheath knives. The1 buccaneers can be secured below, before these other lads ever realize what is happening. As soon as we have control of the ship we'll round them up forward. They won't dare face the guns. I'll give them their choice." "And what will you tell them, senor?" r I caught my breath, conscious of his meaning. My secret hope could not be revealed to this fellow. The answer came quickly to my lips. "The whole truth, Senor LeVere that Manuel conspired to seize the bark through a mutiny of the buccaneers; that these were to" be turned loose with license to kill anyone on board who opposed them ; that their real purpose was to divide among themselves all the treasure below. HAT is to be the fate of the house of Habsburg (or Hapsburg) ? Nine centuries ago the house of Habsburg had its beginning in Switzer- land. When the great war n began it was the Now the head of the house empire. of Hapsburg Is back in Switzerland Austro-Hungaria- on exile. In these days of the League of Nations, with the fate of the world hanging In the balance, probably the future of the house of Habsburg Is of But hissmall moment politically, torically it Is a most fascinating question. For the history of Austria Is unique that It is the history of a family and not ttie history of a jstate; it (s the history of a dynastic aiia not of & national power. It is unique also for many other things. Territorially the name Austria was attached from about 1000 to 1806 to an inconsiderable archduchy on the Danube. Dynastically it became connected in the thirteenth century with the house of Habsburg, then Insignificant, and its history since is simply the history of that house. There Is no Austrian nation, strictly speakThere Is no Austrian laning. guage. Historically there never was an "emperor of Austria." .'In 'the zone of perpetual conflict in Europe we're born the two states which In turn were to dominate Germany "Austria" Is Austria and Prussia. simply the Latin form of "Oestereich the "Eastern Mark" of the German kingdom, established by Charlemagne on the Danube, as its defense against the Magyar Invader. The importance of the house of Habsburg and of Austria begins with Rudolph of Habsburg Emperor Rudolph I of the Holy, Roman empire. Gun-traTo go back a few generations: the Rich was a count of Alsace who flourished in the tenth century. Warner, a grattdson of Guntram, became bishop of Strassburg and on an eminence above Windlsch, on the banks of the Aar, In the Swiss canton of Aargau, built Schloss Habsburg (Habichtsburg, "the castle of vultures"). This castle is still standing; the picture shows It to be an unpretentious affair. Werner I, nephew of the builder, was the first count of Habsburg. Albert ni, son of Werner H, Inherited extensive estates in Upper; - Alsace and "acquired" several Swiss districts about Zurich and The house of Habsburg began to grow at once. Rudolph III, son of Albert IV, was elected emperor of the Holy Roman empire in 1273 and thus figures in history as Rudolph I, Holy Roman emperor. The Holy Roman empire, it has been said, was neither holy, Its original Roman, nor an empire. basis was sort of a loose union of the crowns of Germany and Italy. Whoever was accepted as king by Germany was regarded as the potential emperor and assumed the imperial title when crowned by the pope at Rome. By the sixteenth century It was an anachronism ; yet it persisted at least in form and title until the nineteenth century. Rudolph I wr1? elected emperor because his possessions were small end it was supposed he would be an amiable figure-heaHe fooled the electors by reviving and increasing the Morepowers of the Imperial office. over, he used the powers for the aggrandizement of the house of Habs burg. Ottocar, king of Bohemia, refused to acknowledge him and was defeated and slain. Rudolph thereupon appropriated for his sons a part of the dominions which the Bohemian king had acquired, including Austria (then a duchy). The house of Habsburg thus became the house of Austria, and Its history from this time on Is the history of Austria. By marriage, by diplomacy, and by pressure the house of Habsburg plucked one by one the coronets of Tyrol and Carlnthla (1636) ; Franehe-ComtFlanders and the Low Countries (1477), the crowns of Spain, Naples, Sicily and Sardinia (1516) ; Bohemia, Including Moravia, and HunThese many crowns gary (1526). were never welded Into one, but were carefully distinguished as emblems of separate sovereignties, united in no in history in ing." "I believe you, LeVere," I said. "What can we do, senor?" "Do ! We must talk that over first. We cannot meet this thing until we are prepared. There is more danger in hasty action than anything else." I shut the door behind us and turned the key. It was a relief to get outside, even Into that dismal cabin, beyond view of Estada's dead face. LeVere, who had evidently lost his nerve, sank into a chair. "You fear an uprising, a mutiny?" I questioned, "when this is reported?" "What will prevent?" he asked. "The captain cannot stir; the mate is dead ; the men already crazed because we take no prizes. They will murder us also and take control. Those devils amidships." "And who leads them? Who would be captain?" "Manuel Estevan.'S he whispered. "I thought as much. Then it is Manuel. Estevan we must secure first before they know. Whatever his men may know of What has occurred they will make no move until they get his orders. We must stop the possi bility of his issuing any. Without a leader the advantage Is ours." "You mean to kill him?" "Only as a last resort. There is no good feeling between those quartered amidships and the crew?" "No, senor; it is hate generally, although they are not all alike. The real sailors are mostly captured men; they serve to save their lives, and only for these others on board could not be held long. Your plan, senor. is to set the one against the other?" "Yes, if possible. These sailor men are of all races. Can they be trusted?" "Some might be, sir; it Is hard to tell how many. It is not the race which counts so much, senor. There are those among them who would not care to return to honesty." "And you, LeVere?" He spread his hands and shrugged his shoulders. "There Is no hope of me; I was born to the free life." "What then is it with you?" "Hate, senor revenge," and his teeth gleamed savagely. "I would spit on this Manuel who seeks to be chief. I can never be no; I am of black skin, with negro blood in my veins, and white men would never have It so. But I can hate, senor. That is why I am with you now, if the devil so will. Your plan might work tell me more of it." "What are the odds, say you thirty to a hundred? Ay, but surprise will overcome that. My plan is this : First to secure Manuel as quietly as possible but at whatever cost. With him in our hands, or dead, the buccaneers have no leader. What then? There are men in the crew on deck and in the forecastle to be trusted Watkins Is one, and he will know others, a dozen no doubt. They will be enough. We will whisper the truth to these, and have them ready for a signal. The forward door from amidships is closed by Iron bars is it not?" "SI, senor," his eyes again sparkling with Interest "The men quarreled, and there was fighting." "Then there Is no escape in that di rection and It can be no great task to close any passage leading aft. Lower the deck hatch and we have those devils below caged like so many rats. There need be no fighting; star vation will bring them to terms." "But, senor, your dozen men cannot guard the buccaneers below and also manage the bark. The crew are not all lambs-- many will sympathize with those thus locked beneath deck. Is bad, and a friend of Manuel. He wir. fight, and there are others to bacic him." "I know that, LeVere. The whole plan Is desperate, but there Is no other possible. Here Is my scheme. There Is a gun rack In the cabin to urin the 1 "Who Did It and Why?" then wreck the vessel and escape with It. That to this etuMfi&stada had already been murdered. I shall explain that we discovered this conspiracy just in time to save them from butchery, and they must stand by us or else submit to those "And after that, senor?" "Why, Porto Grande, of course," I admitted heartily. "The men will understand what that means a handful of gold for each of them and a run ashore. Why, LeVere, they will make more apiece than by looting a half dozen ships, and with no fighting. - It will be a fortune for you and me." His somber eyes lighted up, startled by this new idea, and he sprang to his feet. . . "You mean that, senor! We divide what, is below and sail for Porto Grande? I hear you right? You not mean surrender? You stay pirate?" I laughed, my nerves tingling to the success of my ruse he had taken the tempting bait like a hungry fish. "Why, of course. I am not such a fool as to throw away thischance. This is our chance, LeVero. If we put the Naniur into Porto Grande, with Sanchez on board and alive, and those hellhounds locked below, we'll get anything we ask for. We'll be the cocks of the walk. If he shouldn't live through, why then we'll have a ship, and can run the game alone. Either way, if we win, the prize is ours and 3 if we stick together we win." My apparent enthusiasm caught the fellow. I could read the working of his mind in his face. This new view of the situation promised wealth, power, the total defeat of Estevan; everything he most desired. "You think Senor Sanchez live?" "What difference? If he lives he owes his life to us. If he dies the bark is In our hands, and the treasure. Once we have won we care nothing if he live or die. Are we together in this?" He thrust out a lean yellow hand, and I gripped it. "Si, senor; I am with you." "You pledge your word, Francois?" "I pledge it, senor." "Good! And. you have mine. Now to work first Manuel Estevun, and then the men on deck." ." . (TO BE CONTINUED.) m Lu-cer- ( e, The First "White Way." When William Niblo opened his new theater at Broadway and Prin street, back on Independence day. 1828, ne celebrated the double occasion by a patriotic display of irns GIRL'S WORK STIRS LONDON lights which flaunted the name of "Niblo" far and wide and immnrt.il. Thirteen Years Old, Ized It In stage as well as gns history. Pamela Blanco, Shows Strongly Marked IndividAn admiring public gasped from a re- uality in Drawings. spectful distnnce, watching the red, white and blue shadows cast by the London art critics express London rows of gas jets spellljg the propriastonishment over the drawings being etor's name. Gas had been used for the first :tma exhibited lit the Leicester galleries by ft thirteen-year-olgirt, Pnmolu Blanco. In New York city five yearn fefoce, She was hntn In England and now lives to the owner of NIblo's enrrtun hut goes the credit of first mng gas for in Italy. Musical cMld prodigies. It Is pointed HMimiiintlng a theater. Um Logic. out. iin; Dot llpfotumoa, but It Is doubt d Y way except by homage to a common ruler. The mixture of races under the Austrian emperors until the great war was the most extraordinary in Europe. Thus when Charles VI secured Inheritance to Maria Theresa by virtue of the Pragmatic sanction, he was "by election emperor of Germany ; by hereditary right sovereign of Hungary, Transylvania,, "ohemla, Austria, Sty-riCarinthia, Carnloia, the Tyrol, the Brisgau, and he had recently obtained Naples and Sicily, the Milanese and the Netherlands." In modern timas the Slavic peoples are predominant in numbers and the Germans are h of the whole; only about yet until recent year.5 the Austrian power in European politics figured chiefly as a German power and in Germany Stself. , At last Prussia rose up to proclaim a German nationality. Then Austria was thrown out from the Germanic circle and found her true level In the politics of Europe. In 1866 the headship of Germany was settled between Austria and 'Prussia on the fleld of a. one-fourt- Sadowa. This brought about the establishment of the dual monarchy of Austria-HungarInasmuch as the Austrian emperor's power could no longer be based on the theory of Austria's ascendancy in Germany Francis Joseph I ) had to submit to a re- arrangement of the relations of Austria and Hungary. So Francis Joseph was crowned In 1867 emperor of Aus tria and king of Hungary at Budapest the ruler of two sovereign states, each with Its own constitution, legislative bodies and system of administration, but having a Joint or common ministry. Here is why the title of "emperor of Austria" was an empty title, even before the great war. Archduke was the real title of the sovereign of Austria ; he always kept It, though he also called himself "emperor." When Napoleon became supreme In western Europe and a dictator In Germany, It was preposterous for an Austrian archduke to bear titles which purported to carry with them the rule of the In 1804 Francis n, head of world. the house of Habsburg, was emperor of the Holy Roman empire. He ceased to be king of Germany and he formally renounced his elective office of emperor of the Holy Roman empire. But he consoled himself by. assuming the tl- - y. (1S30-1916- ful whether other instances of such precocity In drawing as Miss Blanco's are on record. Already, the critics say, she has a strongly marked Individuality. Her power of design on a large scale Is regarded as remarkable. tie of emperor of Austria. "Formally-anhistorically," the historians say, "the taking of this title was a sheer and shameless imposture." Is there a curse on the house of Habsburg? During the reign of Francis Joseph the world talked much of such a curse, and many believed that it was being fulfilled. Certainly the private life of Francis Joseph was the most tragic. Though he reigned 68 years and died of natural causes, the hand of fate was heavy on the house. Francis Joseph married in 1854, after a romantic Elizabeth, courtship, daughter of Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria. Three daughters and one son were born to them. In 1867 his brother Maximilian, emperor of Mexico, In 1 SR0 the crown was executed. prince Rudolph committed suicide or was assassinated at Meyerling.' The same year the Empress Elizabeth was assassinated by an Italian anarchist. And then came the assassination on June 28, 1914, at Sarajevo in Bosnia, of the Archduke Francis Ferdinand, the heir apparent, and his wife. It was this assassination which formed the pretext for plunging the whole world Into the great war. Charles, the present head of the House of Habsburg, was born In 1887. He married Princess Zita of the Bourbon house of Parma and has two sons. He Is oldest son of Archduke Otto, the younger brother of the assassinated Archduke Francis Ferdinand, whose own sons were excluded from the succession when he married Countess Sophie Chotek, the daughter of a Bohemian nobleman. He succeeded Francis Joseph November He abdicated November 11, 21, 1916. 1918. Charles and family fled to Switzerland when his empire went to smash.. He first occupied Wartegg castle on The the shore of Lake Constance. Swiss government, however, suggested that he remove as far as possible So the from the Austrian frontier. former emperor of Austria is now oo , . I ni t i l raa, i uii. T? cupying uie iriuigins, This casabove the lake of Geneva. tle was once occupied by Joseph Bonaparte. It Is a charming mansion, with beautiful grounds altogether a very different looking place from the Castle of Vultures. The house of Habsburg was 900 years In building. It went down almost In a day. Will It stay down? Or will It rise again? 1 uui-ieu- Remarkable Restraint Dallas, Tex, S. G. Scott, civir war veteran, disputes the world's championship claim of a Pennsylvanlan who nte 42 eggs at one sitting. Scott says during the war he ate 47 and' stopped while still hungry "because he didn't want to make a hog of himself," Queen Writes Book. During her recent visit, the queen of Rounxania arranged for Cupid It Married. the publication e a book of fairy tales, Belleville, 111. Well, that's don; written by herself during the- durkest Cupid's married. David E. Odell of Portsmouth, O., and Miss Cupid Car days of the war, to amuse her mon of Chicago were married here. London. |
