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Show BEAR RIVER VALLEY LEADER DISTRESS AMONG THE POOR CLASSES OF SALONIKI I WOLVES OF THE SEA By RANDALL PARRISH Cupyriglu, by A. C. JUcClurg & Co. Is safe enough to leave CHAPTER XXII. 15 The Crew Decides. Except that many of the men remained armed there was no suggestion of violence. But for the gleaming trained on the main hatch, and the small group of gunners clustered about It, the scene was peaceable enough, resembling the deck of some merchant sliip. LeVere stood motionless at the poop rail, staring down and his attitude and expression of face aroused within me a doubt of the man, a determination to put him to the test. Evidently he had held aloof and refrained from taking even the slightest part in our activities. The men themselves were mostly forward, grouped together and still excitedly discussing the situation. "Stand by to reef topsails," I shouted. "We're all one watch now. Go at it lively, lady, and when the job is over we'll eat, and decide together what's our next move. Two of you will be enough to guard the hatch and one of you go into the cabin and relieve the girl there. Keep your eyes ' I'll be down presently. Aloft open. with you and see how quick a job you can make of it." Watkins led the way up the mainmast ratlines, and Cole was first Into the fore shrouds, the others following eagerly. I watched them lay out on the yards and was heartened to hear the fellows sing as they worked, the canvas melting away as if by magic. I climbed the ladder to where LeVere stood on the poop, but carefully ignored his presence, my gaze on the scene aloft. Twice I gave orders, changing the steering direction slightly, and commanding the lower sails reefed. The mulatto scowling, joined me at the rail. "What's all this about?" he asked. "That's no storm cloud yonder." "There is always danger in fog," answered coldly, "and besides there is no use carrying on until we know wfiere we are bound. My purpose Is to keep the men busy, and then talk the situation over with them,- - Have you any criticism of this plan, Senor LeVere?" He hesitated, but his eyes were nar rowed, and ugly. "You'll do as you please, but you told me we sailed for Porto Grande. Was that a He?" "Not necessarily," and I smiled grimly. "Although I should not have hesitated to tell one under the circumstances. I mean to leave that decision to the men themselves. It is their lives that are in danger." "That scum! half of them are English and French. All they want is to get away; they will never go back to Porto Grande without you make them." "How make them?" "By false observations; there is no navigator forward. It is a trick easy enough to play with a little nerve. I would never have taken part in this mutiny if I had supposed you meant to play into the hands of .the men." "It is very little part you took Senor I saw. You LeVere, judging from-wha- t seemed quite content to stand aft here and look on. However you are in it just as deeply as I am, and are going to play the game out with me to the end. Do you understand that?" "What- j'ou mean, senor play it out?" "Go on with the rest of us; take your chance with the men and d ) your duty. I am captain here. The first sign of treachery on your part will send you below with those others. I don't trust you, and all I want is an excuse to put you out of the way so be careful what you do." I turned and walked away from him toward the forward rail. .The men were still aloft but coming Infrom off the yards. Below me in the door of the companion, stood Dorothy, her eyes peering curiously about the deserted deck. She glanced up and saw car-rona- - me. "May I come up there?" she asked. "Certainly let me help you. Stand here beside me, and you can see all that Is being done. That's all, lads; breakfast is ready; lay down all except the lookout." We watched while they streamed down the ratlines and gathered forward of the galley, squatting In groups on the deck. To all appearances the fellows had not a care in the world, or any thought of the stirring scenes just passed through. The girl's hand touched my sleeve, and I turned and looked into her face. "Have you- considered Captain Sanchez?" she asked. "Why no," In surprise, "he Is helpless below, badly wounded." "Not so badly as you suppose," she snld swiftly. "He Is able to be up and about his stateroom. I heard him moving, and I believe the steward has told him what has occurred on board, nnd endeavored to bear a message from him to those men amidships. I held my pistol to his head and locked him In the pantry. He Is there now, with the sailor you sent on guard. That Is what I came on deck to tell you." . "IN Is a danger, of course, hut not a one." I nnld confidently. "II blra undis- turbed at present The first thing I need to do is to satisfy those men. I'll attend to that now, and then see to the proper securing of Sanchez. Remain here with LeVere while I go forward, and watch that he does not attempt to go below." The fellows had not finished mess, but I felt the danger of further delay, and talked to them as they sat on deck, explaining briefly the entire situation, and the causes leading up to the I dealt with the matter in mutiny. plain terms, making no apparent effort to influence them, yet forcibly compelling each individual to realize what would be the result of our recapture. They listened earnestly, asking an occasional question, and passing comments back and forth freely among themselves. I sent Watkins to the cabin for a roll of charts, and spreading these out, endeavored as well as I could, to make clear our probable position and the nearest point of land. When I had completed the explanation, and stood before them awaiting decision, it was Haines who acted as their spokesman. "This yere Is Cape Howarth?" he asked, a grimy thumb on the point indicated. "An' yer say it's 'bout a hundred and fifty miles west?" "Yes, about that?" "An' thar's no settlement?" "Some colonist3 fifty miles north is all." "That's 'bout right." He turned to the others. "Say mates, this is how I figure. We can't go on no long cruise with all those bloody rats in the hold. They're bound ter find some way out if we give 'em time 'nough. Fer, as I'm concerned, I'm fer dividin' up whut we've got, and ter hell with piratin'. What 'er yer say, mates? Shall we run the ol' hooker ashore, an' leave her thar, while we tramp the coast? We're just a shipwrecked crew. What say yer?" There was a chorus of approval sufficient in volume to satisfy me, and I accepted this as a decision. "All right, lads," I said briefly. "In my judgment" your choice is a wise Then there was but one to susSanchez! - I flung open the pantry door, but one glance inside told me that had vanished. On the deck lay the strands of rope with which he had been secured they had been severed by a sharp knife, the ends discolored with blood stains. I held these out to Watkins. "Cut since the murder," I said, "and by the same knife. What do you make of it, Tom?" "Well, sir, the thing he'd most likely try fer wud be ter release them lads amidships. My idea is, sir, he thought he'd have time ter git the bulkhead door open, before anybody cum bewi low he an' the steward, who'd know whar the tools wus. That wus the Among the poorer classes of Salonika and the rest of the Balkan towns typhus found easy victims. These people, scheme, only we busted in too quick. That's whar they both are skulkin as our photograph shows, negligent as to personal cleanliness, unable to get even changes of clothing due1 to great tex. back in them shadows." tile shortage, were practically at the mercy of the disease. . , He fitted the smoking lantern back onto the shelf to have his hands free "BIG FOUR" ROOSTERS AID GOOD ROADS CAUSE for action, and drew a cutlass out of the arm rack, running one leatherly thumb along the blade to test its sharpness. His eyes sought mine deed. pect Gun-saul- ... "Probably your guess is the right one," I said soberly. "We'll give It a trial." Murder had been committed for a purpose it was the first step in an effort to retake the ship. If we were to retain our advantage there was no time to be lost; we were pitted now against Siiva Sanchez, and he was a leader not to be despised or temporised with; no cowardly, brainless fool. , The passage leading forward was wide enough- - to permit of our advanc ing together and for a few. steps the light dribbled in past us, quite suffi cient for guidance. I had been down this tunnel once before, and knew the bulkhead was not far away, but the few steps necessary plunged us into profound blackness, through which we advanced cautiously with outstretched hands. No slightest sound warned of danger and I was already convinced in my own mind that the refugees were not hiding there, when it happened. Within an instant we were fighting for our lives, fronted not by two men, but by a score, who flung themselves cursing upon us. Their very numbervjind the narrowness of the passage was our only salvation. At first our resistance was blind enough, guided only by the senses of touch and sound. - We could see nothing of our antagonists, although their fierce rush hurled us backward; I fired into the mass, as Watkins slashed madly with his cutlass, both managing in some way to keep our feet. Hands gripped for us, a bedlam of oaths splitting the air; yet, even in that moment of pandemonium, I was quick to realize the fellows were weaponless; seeking only to reach and crush us with, bare hands. The same discovery must have come to the mind of the sailor, for he yelled it out defiantly, every stroke of bis blade drawing blood; I joined him, striking with the butt of the pistol. We killed and wounded, the curses of hate changed into sharp cries of agony, but those behind pressed the advance for ward, and we were Inevitably swept- back into the light of the cabin lamp. Then I saw faces, hideous in the glare, demoniacal in their expression of hatred a mass of them, unrecognizThe Stricken Sailor Told the Whole able, largely of a wild, type, with here and there a bearded Story. white. Nor were they all one. I'll have an observation as soon in many a grip flashed a knife, and as the fog clears and we'll head in for directly fronting me, with a meat the Cape?" cleaver uplifted to strike, Sanchez "When do we divide the swag?" yelled his orders. Ignoring all others "Fifty miles off the coast. That's I leaped straight at him, crying to fair enough, isn't it? And my share Watkins as I sprung. "Back lad; dash out that light; 111 goes to you." There was a straggling cheer, but I hold these devils here a minute!" broke it up with a sharp order. I did God knows how I It was like "Now stand by for work, all of you. no fighting ever I hadi done before, a Watkins and Carter, I want you aft." mad, furious melee, amid which I lost all consciousness of action, all guidCHAPTER XXIII. ance of thought, struggling as a wild brute, with all the- reckless strength-oThe Prisoner Escape. insanity. It Is a dim, vague recollecThe two men followed me silently as tion; I am sure I felled Sanchez with far as the companion, where we one blow of my pistol bntt ; in some paused a moment staring blindly about way that deadly cleaver came into my us Into the fog. Even the guard at hands and I trod a his body, swingthe main hatch was Invisible. ing the sharp blade with all my might "Carter, guard this after deck until Into those scowling faces. They gave Watkins and I come back. Under no sullenly backward; they had to, yelpcircumstances permit LeVere to enter ing and snarling like a pack of wolves, the cabin." hacking at me with their short knives, With the door closed, we were I was cut again and again. I stood on plunged into a darkness which ren- - quivering flesh, crazed with blood, and Ldered the interior Invisible. I won seeking only to kill. I saw faces dered dimly w'hy the man on guard crushed in, arms severed, the sudden had not lighted the swinging lantern. spurting of blood from ghastly wounds I stumbled over something on the Oaths mingled with cries of agony and deck, as I groped forward, but did not shouts of hate. Then in an Instant the pause until I had lighted the lantern. light was dashed out and all was darkIt blazed up brightly enough, Its yel- ness. - (TO BF CONTINUED.) low flame Illuminating the cabin and the first thing I saw was the outMends '.iranlte Ware. stretched figure of the sailor nlrvwt The government suggests we econobetween my feet. We needed o t.sk no questions, imagine nothing the mize on kitchen utensils. To mend a overturned chair, the strlcketr sailor hole In granite ware work a piece told the whole story. He had been of putty until perfectly soft, then take treacherously stuck from behind, the a piece of the putty large enough to blade driven home oy a strong hand, cover the hole nnd put one piece on and was dead before he fell to the either side of the metal, pressing to deck. It had been silent, vengeful gether Inside and out, smoothing down murder, and the assassin had left no the edges. Place the vessel In a slow trace. Who could U have been? Not oven nnd bake until the putty Is a Ounsaules surely the steward lacked deep brown. For containing water till both nerve 'and strength for hucIi a vessel will be os good us half-India- n The celebrated "big four" roosters, purchased in Frant:e and presented to Alabama by President Wilson, Clemen---ceaLloyd George and Orldhdw in aid of good roads in the United States. These aristocratic birds were auctioned off as an aid to the raising of a sum of $250,000 for this There Is also in the photograph an American bird; that Mr. Wilson purchased' for $10 and "threw in" the contribution. pu-po- RESCUING THE DROWNING r LIFEBOAT SAVER ADOPTED BY THE NAVY a. -. A' 8 friiwesiern newspaper umunv.y.:x:-:fr:.;- . bare-hande- d; iv. Capt. Frederick C. Mills, field agent, section, Atlantic division- of the American Red Cross, and1 naval aviators at various points have- been giving demonstrations on the swimming beaches to spread the knowliedge f Ked Cross methods of resuscitatirag-icrsonalmost drowned. The pfioto-ri-ap- h shows the "lock hold;'" applied o a person rescued from life-savi- s i i To Recover Sunken Logs. To recover from the bottom? of Canadian streams the sunken log that are lost while on the way from' the logging camps to the mills a newly organized corporation will employ machinery specially ndaptedi to the purpose Instead of the ordinary devices used for moving timber; tt was .announced In Popular Mechanics Magazine. Compressed air and1 high pressure water streams wilt be used to loosen the logs. As 10 per cent or the logs cut sink and remain embedded for various periods without losing their value by deterioration, the business of raising them should prove to be one of great commercial Importance to lumbermen. i With the adoption of the Hyland lifeboat saver by the United States navy; and passenger vessels, 95 per cent of the- lives now lost, thf'owgli the Inability to lower lifeboats promptly and! where a ship ia badly listed will! be overcome. The device' prevents th lifeboat from bein smashed against of the vessel and at the same- time enables heavier,- loads to be loweiadi with great ease and speed.- - tiro-sid- - STORM RUINS PLANES AT MINEOLA -- Quite So. tr "Now this sleeping beauty slept twenty yeors." "If there's anything in the benty nap theory, that long n sleep ought to make anybody beautiful." LoWsvltle Courler-Journu- l. Their 8upply. "I suppose the men who were fightrisk ing In Chnmpngne never ran the of running out of ammunition." "Why should they?" "Wasn't there plenty of grnpyshot there?" .'. wlll nve airplanes ou me Mineoin fleid, Including three of the largest In th United States, on of which was the Martin bomber which was, to nuike a WW vee. wrecked by. a, terrifo wind stop flight from New Iforfc to Pa?. Francis. and thunder Utorta . |