Show the two by W CLARK RUSSELL 18 by P F col e by dodd mead co chaper cont aued on the whole this mall booty was not disappointing pope kept the newspapers to read there was no 11 mature in the little shio and he be lilied these west indian journals lour nals would interest miss crystal when the bags had been thoroughly sacked very letter and parcel opened and flung away pope read out the figures he had entered and told the men how much more they were worth in solid money since eight bells had been struck are you satisfied 9 he said yes they were all satisfied mark now my hearts he ex claimed that thia is only the begin sing this cruise isn t up until I 1 m worth ten thousand pounds and ye 11 all be rich men when that s been brought about you can fill your cans and drink success this Is a good day s work going aft capt pope met laura ascending the companion way from her cabin lie stopped at once with his usual lo 10 v bow and flourish have you searched the she asked yes he answered leaning appo site to her against a bulkhead and laughing and adoring her hat did you finda certain things proper to enrich us he replied how can you have the heart to steal captain because besides my band I 1 must possess estate to lay at your feet thi was put in a rather irish way and there was a touch of the brogue in his delivery his accent amused her and she smiled and then looked up at crystal a lit tie niece of whom she could just catch a sight of as be sat on the edge of the skylight it you had been the owner of the I 1 should not find you an ad for piracy said miss laura who seined disposed to linger as though che enjoyed a conversation t with the heroic irishman while her cousin sucked his old pipe above I 1 dare not argue with you said pope your eyes drive the logic out ct my head miss crystal miss Laur aLaura he cried with a sud den passion which anybody might see be could not control you will be trite the piece of crystal that was show ing in the skylight disappeared his newspaper fluttered and vanished like a buHer fly it Is ridiculous she answered with nothing but a faint tremble of voice to mark loss of self control we are strangers we are scarcely bbown to each other you could not be better known to me he exclaimed approaching her and seizing her hand which she al lowed him to retain had we sailed round the world together just as he said this captain crystal came down the companion steps are you coming on deck laura bays he pausing why do you object to this young lady being in my company 7 said pope and he looked at crystal with dangerous eyes my wish is that my cousin should be left along by you while ashes aboard this brig replied crystal in a hash and savage voice pope without unfolding his arms with the same dangerous expression burning in his blue eyes eyed him critically for a moment or two as though hesitating to decide whether he was drunk or mad he then said pointing with a rapid menacing ture to the companion hatch go on deck sir and look after the ship come you with me called out crysal to laura and the girl with a single glance of entreaty and fear at captain pope at once arose and went up the steps after her cousin pope stood tor some moments lost in thought leaning with his hand upon the table I 1 who murdered ran his thought I 1 who at the risk of my life plundered the old woman not less in his interests than in my own but he continued to muse then pondering deeply he stepped into his cabin I 1 hope you have not asked me to come on deck to quarrel with me says laura fastening her eyes full of spirit and temper upon crystal s rug ged storm furrow ed face I 1 know my duty as your relation be answered and I 1 know what pope popes s duty Is as a gentleman mine so help me the gods and he 11 have to do his he answered stepping so as to oblige her to walk with him but he is doing his duty as a gen tieman exclaimed the girl with a mounting color he s kind to me and courteous it Is you who are bru tal lie looked sternly at her it father and mother were both on board thi saty they would find nothing la the behavior ot cupta n pope to object to however much they might abominate bis and our trade in a moment pope returned to the deck he was smoking a cigar he went to abe wheel and looked at the brigs course then with h s ly blue ees he narrowly ruled the horizon crystal leaned against the bulwark rail and laura a little at a loss took up the papers upon the sky 1 and seemed to read their ad drebes ses pope called down the corn panion hatch and the man who was preparing the table for that last early meal which at sea Is called supper brought up a chair which the captain placed against the skylight in the shadow of the miss laura seated herself captain pope i out a peni n fe and cut open three or four newspapers one of wh ch he handed to the young lady himself retaining another crystal sings out pope on a sud den what d ye say to thise the man came leisurely for ward with his newspaper in one hand and his pipe in the other here surely seems something in the shape of booty said pope with a little excitement the date of this he looked at it and read it aloud so by george jon athan we ought to fall in with her and ie read out of the body of the paper full particulars of a large west indiaman of seven hundred tons which acs to sail from kingston on a date that made it four or five days after that of the issue of the paper he haid she was a far richer ship ahan the thetis she was to carry welve thousand pounds in specie several valuable consignments were mentioned he put down his paper went below and returned in a few minutes with a large chart of the atlantic he put this chart down upon the deck close beside laura and knelt upon it and crystal likewise knelt A weeks ambling should bring us tr certa n things proper to ch us abreim said pope rising and crys tal also rose and the wiry chart colled huelf up like a thing of life it we can take her she should suf fice there will be another fight said laura folding and unfolding her pa per how dreadful both of you may ose your lives and all for a lit tie money which will not do either of you good because it will not be bon estly come by when I 1 get my fortune ashore says pope smiling at her I 1 will have it blessed and then the money will be as sweet and chaste as though earned by that sort of sweat which is as holy prayer CHAPTER the slaver the dusk glowed out of the east and overwhelmed the west it was loaded with stars and some clouds hovered over the edge of the sea crystal said pope speaking as though ahe unpleasant passage be tween them that afternoon had clean gone out of his mind what d ye say to heaving the brig to every nightfall for the nighta she s not to give us the goby go by in the dark john I 1 wouldn t heave to yet if I 1 was you answered castal we hant closed her by leagues we must fall in with her at all costs says pope for I 1 want to see an end to this jaunt miss crystal will you deimit me to conduct you to the plain supper table of a pirates with some ceremony be elapsed her band crystal walked away to the whee and took ait oit the binnacle lamp to light his pipe and replaced it b it contrived in so doing to throw the sheen of the flame over the helm man s face oure one of the thetis s men aint said he yes sir was the answer how d ye like this lifee said crys tal why I 1 ain t seen enough of it yet to make up my mind replied the man there s a bit of the swag below a coming to my share and if ane skipper was to knock off now it isn t would be the first to sing out crystal sucked a moment or two at his pipe in silence 1 beginning to think he said with an affected yawn that this life s out and away to risky for a man who values his neck ind reputation and though my friend captain pope makes light of the difficulty cuss me if I 1 can understand how we re going to dispose of the booty and not get nabbed avery mother s son of us and strung up I 1 appose said the fellow at the helm if any of us men want to go clear of thlu job the capan would be willin to transship us ay by sending ye adrift that ud be bleeding hard said the helmsman no capt n s got a right to force a man into beien a pirate phout his consent sound some of the men forward your 0 n shipmates particularly says crystal with a note of careless ness in his voice you men tion this conversation of ours keport to me privately if more than halt the ships company are willing to abandon the cruise then I 1 may induce the captain to give it up and make for safety while our necks are our own saying this he moved away and stood beside the skylight and un perceived looked down he witnessed a love scene and in voluntarily clenched his hands pope had murdered a blockader he had barbarously plundered an aunt he had killed robbed and scuttled and crystal quite understood that the handsome dog unless he cheated the law by his own hand or was collared by d sease and walked off must be banged he was enraged and mor rifled also by laura s indifference to his views and wishes she was al lowing pope to make love to her and jonathan ground his teeth I 1 aura who clearly listened with in teres often with a light of pleasure in her beautiful face and sometimes she would flash a look at hr wor chiper do he knew that her cousin was on deck but the infrequent glance she would shoot through the skylight sank into the dusk past the face gli mering to the skylight crystal took off his hat and wiped his bi ow the meteoric dust was very plentiful over the mastheads and the horizon opened northeast against a gentle play of violet lightning the square man was thirsty be was also hungry and grindal being too drunk to relieve him his ty increased because he observed that the couple in the cabin made no signs of coming on deck qu eting the skylight he walked slowly forward the gloom was deep betwixt the rails and all about the neighborhood of the caboose owing to the inky dye cast into it by the shadowing of the sails and the dusk was spangled with the glowing bowls of smokers who finding the tempera ture of the tween decks oppressive had cast themselves upon the deck and lay in groups to be continued |