Show I 1 THE PROMOTION OF THE ADMIRAL aea AND COMEDIES OTHER by morly roberts author of the tho keprta 1 1 aises by jh 1 0 aurtis publishing company L ibos by bv L 0 fafe paire t f Comp Coin fany siny I 1 continued I 1 don aon t care if its lipchin sa sit d smith help or get I 1 isa m bossin this job which is it and billy seeing that he was to play second fiddle concluded to help and he said to himself it we get nailed III split calls himself a con si boss well shanghai smith hai has a gall gallt which do you reckon is the worst 4 alp ship inside the gate now asked smith after he had savored his cun ning fling revenge for a few minutes the harvester al at it 11 due I 1 r a month sir smith lo looked oled melancholy no she ain t that s a fact its a olid solid pity sant woud have suited his dunn first class he ile was the molt most notorious blackguard of a ship master yet ana the tact fact that smith and he were bitter enemies never blinded shanghai to the sur passing merits of his brutality there a the cyrus G hake smith shook his head contemptuous ly dye P ye think I 1 want ant to board this ad miral at the palace ho ITO ea why john son chasn t hurt a man serious tor for two trips oh well ell I 1 though as he it d sure break out soon said bill but there a s the president they do say that her new mate Is a holy terror I 1 won it go on hearsay said smith decidedly I 1 want a good man you and I 1 kno wone one thatis that 11 handle thia this dicky dunn duna from the start now what a in th the e harbor with officers that can lick me well I 1 always allowed as you knowd know mr smith that simpson of the california was your match smith 8 face softened well debbe he Is ri 4 at any other time he would never have admitted it and the california will sail in three days said smith simpson is a good tough man and so is old baker bill the california will do but its it s an almighty pity the harvester aint here I 1 never knew a more unlucky thing but we must put up with the aest best but bow how 11 you corral the admiral sir asked bill you leave that to me replied the boss ive got a very fruitful notion us to will fetch him if it he s halt the man ae ile was next evening smith found occasion to run across a couple of the tri TO a crew and he got them to some nine into his house for a drink Is the admiral as dead keen on fightlin with his fists as he was asked smith rather said tha first man I 1 oh no he a tired said the second E allows e cant can t find no one to lick im E never could oh that 9 his complaint Is 1 if it said smith and Is he be as good as he was I 1 heerd him tell the first luff on Y the other day as a is e reckoned to be a better man now than he was twenty years ago and I 1 believes im ard ardt oh my I 1 I 1 do believe it e ran agin a lamppost lamp post bed he d fight through it il it was enough tor for smith to know that the admiral was still keen on fighting to draw a man like that would not be so difficult when he bad had turned the two naval seamen into kato the street he called tor for the run eer ner have you found out what I 1 told you rou yes replied bill he lie mostly omes down and goes off at eleven Is he alone mostly he has a young chap with him I 1 reckon they calls him the flag lieutenant a kind of young partner he seems to be but that a the only one so tar far and the california sails day after ter bright and early t be better said smith after baitin all these sears i I 1 cant afford to lose no time this yer rack et cornea comes aff tonight to night 1001 I ool out mr bully admiral dimou im on our trac tracK and the trouble did begin that night u W mr say it and mean it smith laid lor for admiral sir richard dunn K C 41 II 11 I 1 11 11 I 1 V A I 1 I 1 I 1 to the house in the barbary coast B etc etc from ten 0 clock till half past eleven and he was the only man in the crowd that did not hope the victim would come down with too many friends to be tackled it a a penitentiary job so it Is said bill and yet when hen the time arrived his natural in instincts got the better of him the admiral came at last it was about a quarter to twelve and the whole waterfront water front was remaria remarkably bly quiet the two policemen at the entrance to the ferries had by some good luck or better management found it advisable to take a drink at johnson s q lust just opposite and the ad miral was only accompanied by his flag lieutenant that s him said smith I 1 it d know the beggar anywhere now keep together and sing he broke into down on the th suwannee river and advanced with bill and bills t two 0 mates right across the admiral admirals s path they pretended to be drunk and as far as three were concerned there was not so much pretence about it atter after all but smith had no intention of being boing the first to run athwart atha art the admiral admirals s hawse when he came close enough he shoved the youngest man right into his arms the admiral jumped back and landed that unfortunate individual a roun round darm arm blo blow that nearly unshipped his hi jaw the next moment every one was on the ground tor for bill sandbagged the adm ral rat just as he was knocked down by the lieutenant As sir richard tell fell he reached out and caught smith by the ankle the boardinghouse boarding house master got the lieutenant by the coat and brought him down too and as ra 10 los 01 V did you ship as a a dead man f luck would have it the youngsters head hit the admiral admirals s with such a crack that both lay unconscious do we want the young un too toot asked bill when be he rose to his feet swinging his sand sandbag bag savagely and smith for once lost his head leave the swine and karow the admiral he said and indeed it was all they could do to carry sir richard without exciting any more attention than bouk fouk fou semi intoxicated men would as they took home a mate who was quite incapacitated but they did get him home to the house in the barbary coast when he showed signs of 0 coming to he was promptly dosed and his clothes were taken off him As he slept the sleep of the drugged they put on a complete suit of rough serge and he became tom deane A B 0 they do say that jae Is the rough est eat toughest hardest nut on earth said bill so we wellsee well 11 see what like he shapes in the california I 1 bessay he hes one of that lot that lets on how sall ormen have an easy time its it s my notion the california will cure him of that by tour four 0 clock in the morning tom deane who was as hi lit new shipmates allowed a hard looking man who could and would pull his weight lay fast asleep in a forward bunk of the california a foe ale as she was being towed through the golden gate and his flag lieutenant was inquiring in hospital what had become of the ad miral and nobody could tell him more than he himself knew so much he told the reporters of the chron chronicle I 1 cle and the morning call and flaring head lines announced the disappearance of a british admiral and the wires and cables fairly hummed to england and the world orld generally at the same time the san francisco police laid every water front rat and tough by the heels on the chance that something might be got out of one of them what did I 1 tell youa asked bill in great alarm as he saw several antl inti mate friends of his being escorted to jail are you weakening wea kenin on it ita said smith savagely it I 1 thought you was I 1 it d murder you give me away and when I 1 get out I 1 11 chase you three times round the world and knife you my son and though bill was so much of a terror he could not face smith a eyes well I 1 aint alla t in it anyhow he swore fertaly but certainly tom deane A B was in it and was having a holy time when the admiral woke which he did atter after half an hour hours a shaking ad ministered in turns bj b three of the california s crew who were anxious to know where he had stowed his bottle of rum he was still confused contused with the dope given him ashore so he lay pretty still and said send mr selwyn to me I 1 but selwyn was his flag lieutenant and was just then the center of inter est to many reporters send hell rouse out old son and turn to said one of his new mates and the admiral rose and rested on his elbow where am 11 non n aca board it the california to be sure I 1 m dreaming said the admiral that s what it is to be sure I 1 im in dreaming there was something in his accent as he made this statement that roused curiosity in the others no you ain aln t not much said the first man who had spoken and even it if you was I 1 guess simpson will wake you on rouse up before he comes along again he was in here an hour back inquiring for the trumpet of the day of judgment to rouse you come along deanea now then my name s dunn said the ad d miral with contracted brows devil 11 r doubt W i said this its friend and who done youa you was it shang hai hat smith ala the admiral admiral sat up suddenly and by so doing brought bs ms head into violent contact with the deck above e him this n woke him thoroughly ju just 6 t I 1 in t time ime to receive mr mir simpson mate of the call tornia fornia who came in like a cyclone to inquire after his health did you ship as a dead man mant asked mr simpson tw for if U you did III you ysl and with that he h yanked the ad d miral from his bunk and dragged him by the collar out upon the deck at t a run mr simpson was bucko to hi finger linger tips and had never been licked upon the high seas bat but for that mat ter vice admiral sir richard dune dunn K C B had never hauled down his flat flag either to any man it surprised him as it would hare have surprised any of his crew to find that he took thi this handling almost meekly but then no one knows what be he would do if the sky fell and as far as the admiral kaa concerned the entire world was an absurd and ridiculous nightmare he ile rose at the end of his undignified progress and stared at the mate who who are youa you he be said mr simpson gasped who am I 1 oh ob who am I 1 ia well III oblige you by statin once tor for all that I 1 m mate of this ship and you re my dog but the dog shook his head nothing of the soro sort 1 he said as he staggered with the remains of the opiate I 1 im M a british admiral and M my Y name a sir richard dunn where a my ship any ordinary kind of back answer or insubordination received only one kind of treatment on board the call fornia and when a man had been beat en to a jelly he rarely recovered enough spirit to inquire why he had been hammered but this was a new departure in backtalk back talk oh you re an admiral an admiral heh said simpson of course said sir richard and a sudden gust of rage blew the lat list opium out of him 1 why damn it sir air what the devil do you mean by laying your filthy paws on me wheres where a your captain sir by all that a holy III I 1 II 11 smash you if you so much as its look at me again now it is a remarkable fact that tea the utterly and entirely unexpected will sometimes shake the courage of the stoutest heart it is possible that a tiger would itself turn tall it if a lamb rushed at him with open mouth and though wr mr simpson would have tackled a prizefighter prize fighter knowing he was a prize fighter the fact that one of the kind of men whom he was ae ac customer cus tomed to wipe his boots on now turned upon him with entirely strange language and a still stranger air of authority for a moment daunted him utterly he stood still and gasped while the admiral strode aft and went up the poop ladder he was met there by the captain m ho had been the terror of the seas as a mate A narrow escape of a conviction tor for murder had partially reformed him he had also become religious and usually went below when simpson or the second greaser was hammer ing any one into oblivion and obedi ence to be continued |