| Show i NO I 1 by SEWARD W HOPKINS bor of jack robbins of america in tin I 1 china sea two of 1 I i hawaii on a pals puts S V I 1 cl arge etc copyright 1895 by I 1 a 80 CHAPTER IV it t would be a useless waste ot of I 1 irgy ir gy and a needless tax on patience r me to relate in detail the manner which we passed the days imme abely following the disappearance ot of align and nita barlotti Barlo but the III 11 of the pursued was greater than at of the pursuers malign nita imbo and were gone abed L ted vart vanished shed as completely as ough they had never existed in new ork at all we communicated freely id d constantly with other cities and d every thing that could be done prevent their departure from the 12 lilted states without detection one day two weeks after malign a id d disappeared I 1 nervous and fret U I 1 eat sat in the office of 01 the board of irk ark commissioners of which major immons ammons was now president pouring ut t to him my bitterness of spirit over a failure to trace malegni while I 1 was there a heavy footstep I 1 is as heard outside and we both look up knowingly the door opened I 1 id d the lion tamer entered it was at once evident from the ex r of his face that he had e el arned something well uon lica tamer said the major hat Is new today to day the hunt Is ended so far as this 0 Is concerned w was as the reply as he quietly sat down le ar us ended I 1 I 1 exclaimed excitedly it lave ave you found them no but have traced them he a id d with a grim sort of satisfaction n his tones and nita are a board the steamship la gasciogne Gas cogne aich lea sailed from this port three days go of course they are en route to t aly ly or more particularly speaking the island of sardinia where ma g ant nl intends to make nita his wife I 1 have fust just left police nead Dead re rs the lion lamer tamer went on the perin was about to send tor for you u and me when I 1 arrived there the he police explain their failure to find while be he was in new york if py saying that he was aided by his lellow ellow here to outwit all pursuers pursuers even when he sailed he did p 0 under the name of luigi Ba barilati Bari loti the I 1 e record of passengers so the su perin erin says shows the names julat gi bartlomi Bari Bart loti and his daughter sig lorina barilati Bari Baxi loti and mariana the at enfant ot of the signorina from varl iua us descriptions gathered by the po ice fee of these people from the company hey concluded at once that they were he e persona sought and I 1 am inclined agree with them true enough I 1 said the search 3 ended now the chase begins of urse you will follow them mr wilberton said ix tending hie his right arm as long as here Is to one drop of blood flowing brough my veins it flows tor for nita berlotti ter lotti there Is an erm that has wore been raised in her behalf and velch will be again and there la is nother ther like it equally quick to strike tri ke and anil these two arms working gether will tear limb from limb that an who injures nita Barlo barlotti or arries her against her will be he n america italy or at the comers f the earth I 1 shall follow boodt I 1 said we e can get away it 1 once when shall we sail looked at me in surprise rhe e major wheeled bis his chair around lad d faced me we we wel he ejaculated are wi ou gobs going to italy 1 I am going wherever maligno boea oes I 1 replied he ile has something aaa h at I 1 want as much as arants is nita the red box we will SO 0 together lion tamer and hunt the ico co C undrel down think mink well over this mr air wilber on said before you deside do d e finally to go hunting a man in sardinia ardin ar la where malegni Is 1 certainly going I 1 ie Is very different form hunting im in new york where here you have the I 1 istance of 0 a great police force ere c are dangers to be met with here or ere that cannot be imagined once a 11 S sardinia malign can kill the man zaan who ah h 0 follows him and will not suffer or r the crime it if anything happens me you would be at the mercy t f the most dangerous lot of brigands a the world I 1 laughed at this brigands brigande Bri gands there may be ut all sardinia Is not given over to he Is industry of brigandage I 1 am de to follow malignly and obtain hat red box or wring from him the secreta it contained when he got it rom Barlo barlotti then I 1 will say no more said the ion on tamer it if you insist upon going hen en go with me I 1 thought only of own safety personally I 1 shall e glad to have you for a companion so it was settled and after a little nore talk the lion tamer and I 1 started it was with a feverish haste and that I 1 made my final ar ange ments to leave new york our program was laid down by mau keek who naturally assumed the eader eldership ship IP of our expedition and as he had said bald in the presence of the major and once since that he knew something of sardinia the place of eader leader seemed rightfully to belong to him of course the purpose of our journey was known to no one but the major dickins and myself and even dickins had not been let into the ull full significance of my share in the hunt for his tongue could not be trust ed when the hour of departure had come major simmons and dickins were at the wharf to bid us adieu it would be foolish for me to say that I 1 was perfectly calm at the moment of leaving at that moment I 1 began to feel some misgivings as to the wisdom of my resolve and almost wished that I 1 had not engaged pas bege sage thia this feeling however waa was but momentary I 1 shook it off as unworthy of 0 me and resolutely set my face to thi the future and gave no sign to my friends heads that I 1 had weakened even bior or the moment was nas like a man rn of iron his ills countenance N w as im mobile and the I 1 een stern eye and set jaw boded III for the enemy who fell within the range of his giant arms at last the bell rang and the tog fog I 1 horn om voice of a gold braided officer or dered all hands not going to sea ashore the major and dilkens shook hands with us once more and I 1 felt 9 a pressure in the major s grip that wall wa warmer than usual with this last grasp they hustled over the gang plank and stood on the wharf shouting their aarem ells at us while the queen slow ly swung off and her screaming tug churned the water into foam when we had passed through the channel the tug had been released the pilot returned to the swiftly gliding boat that bore a number on her sail and the queen was vas plowing along con scantly gathering headway I 1 began to thoroughly enjoy the sensation of my first ocean voyage and the exhilarate ing eff effect act of the salt air made me feel like a new man our out first day out passed without event and in the evening we sat on deck and smoked marbil eck near me lying back in a deck chair his eyes fixed on the stars that shone brightly above us nis als face unchangeable his jaw set his whole appearance being that of a mysterious man of nowhere everywhere and particularly here I 1 sat and N watched him furtively at first and then seeing that he was paying no attention to me openly something in my scrutiny must have touched him or an electric current from my brain to his must have brought a response for as vie a were separating for the night he turned to me and said mr air wilberton Wll berton you perhaps tank I 1 am a strange and uncommunicative man and so I 1 am compelled as I T have been by circumstances to with withhold hold from persons I 1 cannot trust all anfor matlon mation concerning myself but it Is dug due to you who have thrown your for tunes in with mine in this pursuit ot of maligna and the girl I 1 love that I 1 make aou a acquainted with me rne not as I 1 seem but as I 1 am but my story Is long and I 1 will not weary you with it now to marrow I 1 will tell you who and what I 1 am I 1 do not seek i 5 our confidences mau bibeck I 1 ab answered if it there Is any thing in your life that you wish to conceal that is your business not mine had I 1 for one moment doubted your honor as a man I 1 would not h have ave accompanied you on the other hand if there Is anything you wish to tell me I 1 shall be glad to listen thank you he said simply tomorrow I 1 will tell you the story of my life then bidding me good night he went to his stateroom and soon after J left the deck and retired to my own 7 CHAPTER V during the night the wind gathered force and the queen pitched ana atilt rolled with the waves beating against her bows the result to me was inevitable I 1 was as seasick as mortal man had ever been my illness effectually drove from a mind and my own all thoughts of the confidences he had pop poppe propos pd to unfold to me on that day in fact about the only thing that could have been said that would have been pleasing to me was the promise that I 1 would speedily die and end it all but this the ship s physician refused to give so two days and part of the third passed and I 1 was still unable to leave my berth in the evening of the third day of in my y illness the lion tamer sat near me looking over some papers I 1 had brought from new york now and then he would glance at me to see it if I 1 was in need of his attention the worst of illness was over but I 1 was very weak I 1 said almost smiling at the weakness of my own voice why do you sit in this close stateroom iou ou have been wo wonderfully good and kind to me I 1 can never for get it but I 1 am over the worst of it and you need not trouble with me any more go on deck ana get got a whiff of f fresh resh air smiled the air 0 o be had on deck he said is not so invigorating as you think there Is a dense fog we are creeping along barely keeping headway noth ing can be seen it Is a damp chilly evening the sea Is running high and altogether it Is uninviting on deck I 1 will sit here awhile and then go to bed he resumed his reading and I 1 lay still listening and thinking suddenly there was a shock and crash a cry of horror a shout of an ger and the ship seemed to be driven by some tremendous force and shiv ered and trembled like a frightened animal leaped to his feet there has been a collision he said stay chere you are wilberton I 1 will come back he ile rushed from the stateroom and I 1 fell to wondering what the result of this nea horror would be I 1 was so weak that I 1 did not fully realize my own position it Is true I 1 felt and knew the danger but my senses were so benumbed by my illness and this new shock that at first I 1 was almost indifferent to my own fate but the sounds of excitement had their effect on me and I 1 was soon groping for my clothes and struggling to get them on before joining the frantic mob on 04 deck I 1 succeeded in getting myself clad as regards shirt and trousers at this point I 1 became panic stricken and feeling that I 1 was surely doomed if the ship sank I 1 breathed a prayer and edith s name at the same time and sank on the floor just then the door of my stateroom was flung open and appeared he ile picked me up from the floor v rapped my overcoat around me and taking me in his arms as it if I 1 was a child he hurried out and up the companionway onto the deck here aas mas a scene of almost indescribable confusion the lights on the deck glimmered but dimly through the tog fog and the whole scene was enveloped in a dense blackness yet I 1 could dis ting the forms of men rushing madly to and fro cursing shouting and crying having no aim except to save savo themselves theine elves regardless ot of the late fate of others but hov hwa grantly different was the lion tamer IV th me in his arms he sped over the slippery uphill up hill deck U t a place at the rail where a boat wat was being lowered I 1 saw aw the forms of women omen ia in it and realized that the queen s officers had insisted upon the rule rille at sea of saving the women first was about to step into the boat stand back there some one shouted there s room for only one more in here you go I 1 said nita needs you keep still he said sternly and as calmly as it if nothing stood in the way of our safety calling to the in charge of the boat the lion tamer said here if there Is for one more ta e him this is mr air wilberton of the lotus club new york he ile Is ill do your best tor for I 1 him I 1 felt myself tal en by other hands and gasped out a thord ord of gratitude to my preserver listen he said if you are saved and I 1 am not save nita from malegni I 1 will save her at any cost I 1 an at the same time thinking that my promise amounted to little fo 60 i weak was I 1 and so poor a stick in thia this emergency but there was no time for further the boat that I 1 was in plunged out into the darkness and all I 1 could see was the great black hull looming up in the fog her bows now almost under water and through the thick black night came the agonized cries ana shrieks of those who had been left behind and as I 1 heard them I 1 thought of maubine C k that noble stalwart hero standing there I 1 could almost see him so clear was it in my mind peering out into the darkness to watch it if possible the progress of our boat and not a murmur nor a sound of tear fear over his wn probable fate other boats had been put off and the hope of those in our boat was that their loved ones might be in one of the other boats and might therefore be rescued by some passing ves sel set it was unanimously agreed that for those who remained on board the queen there was no hope all night we were buffeted by waves and chilled by the damp cold air that swept around us and from i aich we had no protection night seemed interminable it time could be measured by misery then it was nigh unto eternity before the morning broke the sailors were weary and nearly exhausted by their labors at the oars the murmuring and sobbing of the women had given way to a condition of mute despair but even misery ends sometimes without being relieved by the great destroyer to be continued |
