Show 1906 by da ly story pub co let mm go to hades with his bloomin knife let the dago loose and tom bradd struggled to free him pelf from the grasp of two brawny ailers who held him mr buck the lean sinewy mate had his arms in terraced ter laced about nicola s waist utterly unmindful of the cruel looking stiletto shaking in the powerful italians hand it was the setting of a tragedy an interrupted one tt s true but like flesh violently chafed the blood was so near the surface that another touch and it would begin to flow captain newton advanced to the main hatch his long patriarchal beard falling to his waistband his shaven upper lip twisted as he talked very like unto that of a dog when he snarls stop it gall darn ye stop it he thundered I 1 m short handed now and I 1 dpn t have any man killing on this here hooker batten down your beelin s you two fellers till you get to rio grande and then you can chop each other into bits and devil take left but there s to be no choppin on the apollo his words were unheeded and the two bloodthirsty men still struggled to get at each other now mark you continued the cap tain if oure bound to fight make a two man kl ling ot it tor by the lord throw the man that s left alive over with the man that s killed I 1 shall never forget that scene strife incarnate threatened on that little chip of wood on the ocean and all around utter peace the sea was barely rippled by the soft trade wind which distended the sails as if caressing them and above a sky un blemished by the tiniest cloud I 1 was new to the sea and its ways and mar meled that captain newton did not iron the men and confine them in the peal but he seemed to feel a confidence in his management which was proved of weight by the result tor h s cold blooded declaration had the effect on the two would be corn batanus of a bucket of cold water on two fighting dogs the skipper meant what he said and would carry out his meaning to the letter the law in those days was all in favor of the officers and jack s statement was as a feather against an anchor captain newton would not hesitate to carry out his threat for fear of legal punish ment the two sailors released bradd who recommenced the work he had stopped to fight nicola and the italian find ehg himself free from the mate s hold walked forward and went below the crisis had been passed temporarily at least what began the feud between the men no one knew it existed when they shipped in new york and they had spat hate at each other during the voyage but this was the first time an actual collision had been threat ened its only put off remarked old ned blood 11 fly yet it tom ever gets past the dago s knife good by italian said a sailor but he s got to get by it retorted ned and it s ten to one he 11 have a hole in him before he does bradd was a stockley stock lly built man and a good ailor while he impressed one as a good natured man one could see that he would make an ugly toe when aroused 0 neill very graphical ly expressed the crew s sentiment as to bradd tom s a good fellow to have on the yard arm wid ye in a let the dago loose 1 gale and a bad one to have agin ye in a fight it s an uncomfortable thing to have an enemy on shipboard on land one can avoid him but aboard ship one eats sleeps and works with him day after day and may feel the knife slipping into his ribs some dark night ut bradd treated nicola wibb con tempt and made no effort to keep out of his way night or day despite the crew s warnings there were several days of bright sunshine calm sea and cloudless shy and on one of these mornings the mate was watching the washing down of the deck from the break of the pap the hoh stoning h 01 uc cj na ula to son e duty on the ore topgallant yard the italian looped a line abo it hi cek c ek and gr D ad ping a marline spike in his teeth climbed the weather rigging just as he swung himself avei the top he lost his hold and fell like a plummet into the sea overboard yelled 0 neill who was at the wheel and he flung a life buoy avei the rail the skipper was on deck in one jump heave her to he shouted braces came sharp and curt from the mate and the men hurried to obey casting glances aft the brig was making good headway the wind was fair and captain newton ss seemed seized with convulsions was making all the use he could ot it having out studding sails and bringing her to the wind with all this canvas flying took time two men started to lower the boat but it was full of wood and that took time I 1 glanced over the and saw no trace of nic ola he s a goner exclaimed mr buck no there he Is said sharp eyed 0 neill pointing over the lee ter bud there sure enough was a black speck the head of nicola he was wa s swimming but slowly and labora bously the brig had been brought to and the boat unloaded when a cry came from the poop hi hi shark see him abeam was the triangular aln of a shark cutting the water as it made a straight nt course for nicola it s all up muttered the mate nothing can save him now there was a splash and to our as bradd had leaped over board and was swimming fiercely he lay a course which must bring him between the shark and nicola gall darn it snarled the captain two men instein of one gone and who d have thought of bradd going over the rail for the dago I 1 never saw a man swim as did bradd he seemed to grasp the water and pull himself along but when our eyes tell on that ominous fleeting aln we felt it was merely the sacrifice of one man s life to save another s hav ing laid a right angled course bradd gained on the shark which was dimming wim ming in a straight line for the italian and was a cable s length ahead of the fish when he reached a line with the slowly swimming nicola and then he seemed seized with con he splashed the with his hands and legs reminding one of the actions of a duck which has reached a pond after a long dry land journey his motions were so violent that the aea frothed about him and the shark was evidently as surprised at these evolutions as was the crew oti the apollo obviously they were not to his taste for he darted off in an opposite direction by this time the boat had been lowered and in a hall hour both men were aboard the brig I 1 dian didn t you were that big a fool to risk your life for a dago chos hungry to put a knife in you re marked ned reproachfully risk exclaimed bradd there gasn wasn t any it you d been in the in dian ocean you d know the shark Is the biggest coward that swims and any man can scare em off who makes a big splutter in the water and then I 1 hate the bloody things and balk em of a meal any day not a word had nicola spoken to any one since he had been brought on board but now he came out of the forecastle and approached bradd he he d out to him the stiletto with the hilt towards his enemy I 1 never saw such a grand gesture of utter der as that it the italian had filled the air with an eloquent speech it could not have been halt as imbres sive hough as was bradd old beach comber of twenty years he ed it keep your bloomin knife he said and the broad freckled face broke into a smile in that most monotonous and very dirty brazilian town rio grande do sul two very drunken men walked arm and arm down towards the quay one sang a coster song in a deep bass ind the other in a screechy tenor a barcarole the were bradd and nicola and the pa td was at an nd |