Show I f t. t A i A DERELICT f f f t LETITIA A ED EDWARDS By t I h Captain said tb the tir t Ul mate te of ot ofle ott I t. t k t the le Swallow Vallo leaving laving a Ing aIng come aft to the I quarterdeck with a n marine glass lass in his bis 7 f hand that vessel essel off olT on the port bow Is either disabled or a derelict I dont don't see any signal of distress so soI Jj I suppose she Is u a derelict t The captain of the the- Swallow gave r JI orders to the quartermaster to put r 1 the vessel essel off olI her course in order tot to toy t y l visit The disabled ship and when the oI flatter flatter was reached a boat was lowered tand and the mate mute was pulled to her He tie a found her In teT very good condition except ex ex- that she was balf full of at water She would She have l had bad not air sunk got confined In the cabin tinder under the main deck which up b What the thet t cargo was could not be learned on account ac ac- f count of the water Having Inspected i c l her hen r th the mate was back to the ld Swallow Swallow and r reported to his captain w LL s s t kr n r. 3 1 I I l i tb the brig Susan Crane of New J Bedford Bedford- half halt full of water and no 1 signs signS' of or having hating bc been n disabled by fJ t t fi t. t str stress s of weather Er My op opinion nl n is that rt she se was was scuttled to beat the underwriters under t S- S writers and tb the the sinking of her was wasa t.- t. a air failure air having bating been held between bes be be- s l tween teen t de decks ks' ks kh S 4 t At this Captain Dutcher of the theOf the Of 1 Swallow looked grave lIe He was was ayoung a ayoung young man mun sc scarcely thirty lived when at home home at t New ew Bedford Ledford and knew e all about the Susan Crane and her captain f fI I I 1 Has Hns she beets abandoned a long a while he asked i I i think replied the mate that she has hns I IThen T Y Then she must have a e drifted Is she II worth saving t f r t i j- j 1 Yes sir air the es ese el M Ms w d be l lWell e all allright I right If it pumped out s Well said Raid the he captain evidently i with willi reluctance I 1 suppose well we'll have e i ito i ito 6 1 I IThe to take her ber in In S The Susan Crane was taken ln in tow tom tow 1 and the Swallow continued on aD her h. h a course to yew New ni Bi Bedford i ord But the p n next tt I S I du the Is ht to tu fall rapidly gut n Do you think sir Ir said the mate that we Will be Ie able to hold bold our tow through h a n storm I fear not not If Jt we part company with her hr shell she'll he ho a n dam danger er to navigation nn Perhaps w we had better bette sink her r said the captain drawing a sigh of at r relief lIef Go 11 aboard of her and let the theair theair air put out of per her er A boat bont with a 1 couple of axes in her bottom was wn sent lent to the Susan Crane holes were Werf hopped chopped In her upper deck dek nn bud l the men had scarcely re regained the Swallow before the derelict sank Captain Dutches Duther stood leaning over the looking at her till be he saw her po go down then turned his attention attention attention atten atten- tion to his own n ship Havin Having weathered weathered ered a 11 three days days' storm he was nearIng nearing near near- Ing port when IJ he be called his crew together together to to- gether on rl deck I and Mid to them It lt Is evident Ident that we overhauled o a case of rascality in the derelict and when we w make port well we'll find that whoever whop directed her hr has got there before us 18 and told a story of ship shipwreck wreck I wish each rh and all nil of you to promise me to keep the matter in your YI kno knowledge lockers till I give you the word to speak If you tell you'll make nothing for since we didn't brIn bring berIn her ber herIn herIn In theres there's no salvage salvaJE for us If you keep cep mum those who scuttled her hermI mI might ht pay you ou something to keep flU quiet juet let Of Ot course we cant can't permit the Insurance companies to be swindled In any event nt Anything you OU orders sir goes said ill nn an old salt who took it upon himself himself him him- self to reply for hl his mates as well as as himself the men returned to tn the forecastle re p I When the Swallow wallow was docked Captain Cap tain tamn went uptown and stopped at nt a dwelling house bouE and rang the bell The rue d door oT was tuns opened by a young worn worn- nn in n two twenty or twenty three years old At t seeing Dutcher her to face lit up with pleasure They The went inside together to to- gether all ami Dutcher asked Has lIas the Susan u an Crane trot gut In InT No 10 She was wrecked but the crew I were vere all ted shed Has the Insurance been collected I INot Not yet I believe theres there's some trouble trouble trou ble hIe In proving the loss of the ship Tell Ten Ben I wish to see him at once Why so flO asked the girl turning pale Keep I l t tell you von a secret e ret HI Ills His ship was not lost I 1 overhauled herand her herand and was tow towing In Jr her ber in when a storm came up and I 1 was obliged to sink her Why should I l keep this a secret He hesitated then said Margaret I would wron wrong you by refusing you a reply You may not have made a mistake mistake mis mis- take In refusing me but you erred in accepting Ben Den And he be told her of his dl discovery ery co of at the fact that Ben Hawkins Haw kips kins captain of the Susan Crane was wall a criminal The shock stunned her Dutcher lefther left lefther her ber to re recover oter from it and sought the theman th tb man who had bad supplanted hImOn himOn himOn him On Margarets Margaret's account be saidI said I 1 have hatE arranged this matter BO so that you can g get t out of ot It without being prole prosecuted Withdraw your claim for Insurance and make each one of my crew a present and they will not trou trouble trouble trouble ble themselves to Inform against Y you iU As A for tor me you yon know you have e nothing to tp fear r Hawkins Dawkins acted on Dutcher's advice ranking making no claim and pa paying each member member mem memo ber of the crew 1110 presumably for their Attempt tt to save his ship Mar Margaret Mar Mar- Margaret garet Earle dismissed her betrothed and married Dutcher Hawkins left lett New Bedford and was never neTer seen there I again |