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Show "Tuttle Sneak Up Benin' You, Like He Would Hit You in Ze Back." a SYNOPSIS. The story opens with the introduction of John Stephens, adventurer, a Massachusetts Massa-chusetts man marooned by authorities at Valparaiso, Chile. Being interested in mining operations in Bolivia, he was denounced de-nounced by Chile as an insurrectionist and as a consequence was hiding. At his hotel his attention was attracted by an Englishman and a young woman. Stephens rescued the young woman from a drunken officer. He was thanked by her. Admiral of the Peruvian navy confronted con-fronted Stephens, told him that war had been declared between Chile and Peru and offered him the office of captain. He desired that that night the Esmeralda, a Chilean vessel, should be captured. Stephens accepted the commission. Stephens met a motley crew, to which he was assigned. He gave them final instructions. in-structions. They boarded the vessel. They successfully captured the vessel supposed to be the Esmeralda, through strategy. Capt. Stephens gave directions for the departure de-parture of the craft. He entered the cabin cab-in and discovered the English woman and her maid. Stephens quickly learned the wrong vessel had been captured. It was Lord Darlington's private yacht, the lord's wife and maid being aboard. He explained the situation to her ladyship. lady-ship. Then -First Mate Tuttle laid bare the plot, saying that the Sea Queen had been taken in order to go to the Antarctic Antarc-tic circle. Tuttle explained that on a former voyage he had learned that the Donna Isabel was lost in 1763. He had found it frozen in a huge case of ice on an island and contained much gold. Stephens consented to be the captain of the expedition. He told Lady Darlington. She was greatly alarmed, but expressed confidence in him. The Sea Queen encountered a vessel in the fog. Stephens attempted to communicate. This caused a fierce struggle and he was overcome. Tuttle finally squaring the situation. sit-uation. Then the Sea Queen headed south again. Under Tuttle's guidance the vessel ves-sel made progress toward its goal. CHAPTER XIV. Continued. "I would like to have talk wiz you, Mons. Stephens," he said, quite respectfully, re-spectfully, swaying to the wild leaps of the vessel. "Maybe if we go to ze lee of ze cabin here we'll be out of ze win'." I followed him in silence, wondering what could be coming now, yet ready enough to take, advantage of any opportunity op-portunity which might present itself. De Nova braced his back against the rail, his cap drawn so low that I could perceive little of his face but the glitter glit-ter of black eyes. "We're a little bit bozzered w'at to do, Anderson an' me," he began, evidently evi-dently ill at ease and scarcely knowing know-ing how to express himself, "an' so we talk it ovaire, an' decide maybe we bettah speak wiz you about it now, before be-fore ze mattaire get mor' bad, or ze men forward catch on to ze facts an' get ugly. Maybe it come out all right, maybe not, but, by gar, it "ain't no nice job to go sail 'bout zese seas under un-der a madman sacre, non!" "A madman!" I echoed in amazement. amaze-ment. "Do you mean Tuttle?" He nodded gravely, his expression devoid of all merriment.' " 'Tis ze way it was. We not know sure w'ezzer you see it zat way or no, hut, damme, Mons. Stephens, if ze fellow ain't mad as ze March hare. He was ze fine sailor all right oui, zat was true nobody get more out of ze Sea Queen zan he get. Saore! he drive ze sheep hard; it make my hair white ze way he hoi' on. Maybe I not be 'fraid to take ze chance of ze voyage voy-age if it just be all men on board. I not care zen, for I risk my life wiz ze ozzers. But, monsieur, I keep myself to sink of ze ladies down below, an' how zat fellow was gettin' more crazy all ze time. Sacre! it makes me crazy, too. Zere's no knowin' w'at he do w'en he zat way; he take spells w'en maybe he murder. I hear him mutter it; I see it in ze man's eye. He was much afraid of you, monsieur, an' zat is ze time w'en such fellows get . w'at you call it? ze dangaire." I stared into the mate's face, barely able to comprehend this quick justification justi-fication of my forebodings, brought so closely home. Tuttle was odd enough to be sure, eccentric in both word and action, cracked undoubtedly in matters mat-ters of spiritism, but that he was a really dangerous lunatic had never once entered my head. I shivered at sudden realization of the peril we were in. but remained only partially convinced. con-vinced. "What reason have you to think the man as bad as all that?" "Well, monsieur, I watch him for long time; Bill, he watch him, for we not like ze way he act siuce we first sail. Maybe he be luny before zen, but he get worse on ze voyage. Bill an' me, we talk it all ovaire, an' ze mate not tell ze same story ze way he did in Valparaiso. He forget some, he add more. By gar, I lose much my faith in it. If zat ship show up, or ze island, either, I be mighty surprise'. Oui. oui! Ze man Tutile, he crazy all riejit; we know zat for sure. Do he not talk wiz you, monsieur?" "No. not lately; indeed, he has scarcely spoken, to me since our trouble." trou-ble." "Zat was it: zat was w'y you not notice. Well, he taik much w'at you call ze blue s;tvaU to l'ill au' me. ' S.iinle A nop. how lie talk! He have new talk eery day, an' ze notions he -reak make a dovr sick, by gar! Lis-. on: I toil some tiugs. I was on watch. v 11 ho comes up from ze cabin: he! a-t half dross, but it cold as hell." Do j i.i s!.;,r.l: "vet he wall; back an' AT The man was undoubtedly right from his point of view, and I compre hended fully the utter uselessness ol any further argumenL I was still practically alone; yet now I had an understanding which greatly strengthened strength-ened me. "Then why did you speak to me about Tuttle?" "To warn you take care of yourself monsieur; to have you keep your eye on him." "That, then, is all you expect me to do?" "So I sink; zat will be all so long as he sail ze ship right, an' keeps away from ze ladies." Ay, but would he? The vagaries ol a crazed man were beyond all guess ing, and to be cooped up in the confines con-fines of a narrow cabin with one, and he in virtual command, was anything but a delightful position. I no longer doubted Tuttle's mental condition; in a way I had suspected it long before, but now I possessed positive proof. Even as I gazed down over the rail at the white foam rushing past us, it was to perceive the appealing eyes of Lady Darlington. De Nova's voice aroused me. "Would you min' to giv' me ze present pres-ent position of ze ship, monsieur?" I glanced around at him, startled by so unexpected a question. "Our position! Don't Tuttle prick off the day's run on the chart?" "Maybe he do, but he keeps ze map in his own room. He get ver' mad w'en I ask him to see w'at it was. Zat was w'at he have agains' you ze takin' of ze observation. He not seem to want us to know. I understan' not w'at he be up to, but I have to guesa w'ere we was for maybe two week'." I gave him our position according to my latest figures, and we went forward for-ward to the charthouse, hunting among the maps there until we finally discovered an old one partially covering our course. By means of this I indicated with some accuracy about where we were, and the point toward which we were driving the Sea Queen. I left him studying over it and descended the companionsteps, unwilling longer to remain out of sight of those I guarded. My lady met me in the dim light of the cabin, her lips smiling welcome. "I have just found the music you were so anxious to hear," she exclaimed, ex-claimed, triumphantly. "Shall I play it for you now?" And so we sailed on iuto.the pitiless piti-less ice, through the cold, gray seas of the Antarctic, under a mad skipper, and I looked down at her smooth cheek, breathed the faint perfume of her hair, and strove vainly to forget. CHAPTER XV. In Which the Ghost Appears. Difficult work it was keeping sealed lips while we conversed upon matters far away, each endeavoring to avoid any reference to present surroundings. I knew I could fully trust this woman, could safely confide in her, yet surely there was no immediate necessity lor telling her this latest development in Tuttle's case. Already she had burden bur-den enough to bear, and the manner in which she bore it awoke my sincere admiration. Whatever of despair, of womanly shrinking her private cabin may have seen during those weeks of loneliness, she brought nothing outside out-side its doors but courage and inspiration. inspi-ration. Once I remember she lingered beside the rail with me. clinging lo my arm for support against the yacht's tumbling, her loosened hair flapping in the wind, her cheeks tingling tin-gling from the flying spray which occasionally oc-casionally lashed our faces. It was, my look of inquiry that unlocked her lips to confession. "I cannot help it, Mr. Stephens, but the spectacle of the sea awakens all that is divine within me," she naiil, her lips smiling, her eyes grave. "I j must have been born with I ho love j of it in my heart. I know that, sounds j fanciful, like the speech of a school- 1 girl, yet that is the fascination the sea 1 exerts upon me. 1 never tire of it, ; and It must be that I possess the soul ; of the sailor." "Was it because of your innate love 1 for such things that Lord Darlington took to yachting?" I questioned, curiously, cu-riously, always eager to observe her swift changes in expression. She j laughed, with a queer little indrawing ' of breath and uplifting of Jash'-s. "Oh, no; far from it. He was an enthusiastic yachtsman hint; before we first met, but had content' dly confined his cruising to the Krmlh-h roast, and the Mediterranean waters. No doubt it. was my eni husiasm which indue 'I him to attempt lo!;;:er voya""s and stranger seas. I lark i : 1 1 1 in or- dinary soc ial life, and was far ha.;.i"r j on hoard the yacht than in London drawing roon.s. Jiis Ir.i i:r.IiSj was wa3 aiwrys most eon.- hh ra ' e." IT' . J;:; CONTJ N U :!..) Man's Fate In His Cra:ic cr. Mabie: A man's l.r, 1 n 1. haracter. and to! in b forth, back an' forth, across zare in front of ze cabin, like ze lion in ze cage, talking wiz himself, an' wringing his hands. Maybe he keep it up two hour, an' I sink he freeze. Ze cook's cat was 'sleep in ze longboat. I watch w'ile he come up an' see ze poor devil. Quick he grab her by ze tail an' fling it way overboard, like zat. I hear ze cat yell, an' zen go splash. Zat seem to make him feel bettaire, for he laugh, an' zen go below." The mate changed his position, and I noticed his eyes looked sleepless and tired. "Las' night he take another turn. He dog you all ovaire ze deck, monsieur, mon-sieur, like he haunt you maybe. I was on ze bridge so I not see very much, but Bill, he tell me how it was. He say Tuttle sneak up behin' you twice, like he would hit you in ze back. Once, w'en you was right by ze rail, Bill, he sung out to you, so as to make you look 'round. Maybe you will remember remem-ber zat, monsieur?" I nodded, beginning now to grasp the full gravity of these revelations. "Bill he not got mooch use for you, Mons. Stephens," the speaker went on, smiling grimly, "an' won't have w'ile his head ache, but he was no dam fool. He know w'at it mean if you was knock' out. By gar, it be hell! If Tuttle was off his nut, you was ze only navigator on ze ship, an' it not do for us lose bce. Zat was w'y Bill he care; he not want to die in zis sea; by gar, non! Well, after w'ile you go below, an' zen ze first officer did ze damnedest sing ever I saw on ze ship. He busted into ze fo'c'stle, monsieur, wizout any invite from any man Jack o' 'em, an' plumped down on his knees by Snyder's bunk, an' begun to pray. Mon Dieu, I vonder zey not murder him. Larsen come out, an' beg Bill an' me to take him out, but he pray all ze time till we dump him in his own cabin. He not fight, he jus' pray. Sainte Marie! it make me sick; an' ze men zey talk, an' ask question." He paused, passing one hand across his eyes. "But zat not ze worst, monsieur mon-sieur sacre, non! he see ze ghost." "De Nova," I said, quietly, "you have said I was an educated man. Well I have some reason to believe you are, also, and first of all I should like to know why you pretend otherwise? other-wise? Why do you endeavor to talk like a fo'c'stle hand?" He hung in the wind, surprised both by my direct question and the sudden change of topic. Then the old smile came back to his lips. "Maybe it was habit, monsieur, from 12 year' passed in zat sort of company." com-pany." "I was correct then in believing you have received more than an ordinary education ?" "1 took ze classical course in ze. college col-lege at Martinique, an' zen two year' 1 of ze train' for ze priesthood. Oui. ' monsieur." His eyes wandered on; ; over the empty waters. "Zen ze sea rail me, an' maybe ze devil also. Zat was ze whole of it." ; "Yet you believe in ghosts?" 1 The creele crossed himself. j "Sacre. I know not w'at I believe. But it make ze blood chill to hear Tuttle Tut-tle tell w'at he see down zare in ze cabin. Ze question not w'at I believe, monsieur; it w'at we do wiz him?" I struck the rail with my fist, vexed at my own inability to take the initiative. initia-tive. "Yes, that's the issue, De Nova," I returned quickly, "but I'm not the one to decide it. I've known what I would do from the first, if I had the power. Tuttle's insanity was not necessary to make me act his brutality to those women below, his shanghaiing me into this fool scheme, were enough. I am for taking possession of the vessel, even if we have to lash him to his berth." "Zat was not to be done, monsieur." "And why not? Must we sail with a madman? This is no regular voyage; voy-age; not a man aboard has signed papers. pa-pers. Tuttle is no better than a pirate, and to overthrow him and assume as-sume control of the yacht would not be mutiny. We might sail straight back to Valparaiso and not a thing could be done with us." The mate shuffled from one foot to the other, his black eyes hardening. "Now, see here, Mons. Stephens," he burst out, "zat was only ze half of it. Sure we not reg'lar crew, but we partners. part-ners. Zat ws ze way it is. We take ze big chance for ze profit. Zose sailor-men for'ard have nossing agains' zis Tuttle. Zey sink he tell truth. Maybe May-be zey sink him a bit queer in ze head, maybe zey not like his praying, or his talk of ze spirits, but so long he sail ze ship all right, zey stick wiz him. Zat all zey know how sail ze ship; dam ze rest! Zey believe w'at he tell, zey divide zose pesos every watch below. be-low. Zat's it. If we lay hand on ze mate, by gar, ze lads fight for him till zey drop. Zey will do it, monsieur, an' no pretty talk you put up will make zem sink anysing but zat you try rob zem of zeir share. I know sailor-men, an' in case like zis, you got to go dam slow." "You are speaking for yourself and Anderson as well as the men, I take it?" "Maybe so, monsieur; w'y not? We have long voyage, an' now we not so very far from zat place we aim at. Zen w'y not take look 'long zat latitude lati-tude before we turn north again? W'y not, monsieur? Sure you not blame me for feel like zat?" "No, De Nova, I don't blame you," I replied, honestly, although disappointed disap-pointed at his confession. "That's natural enough. Still, 1 hoped there was a little French girl down below who might be worth more to you than even that fantastic dream of money." He did not meet my eyes, his own paze out over the gray tumbling waters, wa-ters, i-ut ho smiled good naturediy. "I nevaire suppose, Mons. Stephens," he returned quieiiy, "z.-.t a girl rare ess for man if he have flinty ze chir.k. A few days more not mak n.uc'a tii a'. rer.ee io z-t ladies b low. '.' y have ;.hr:;y eat. ze coal to) burn. Mtybo zare be tru'h in ze mate's ' story; ai.yway. it worth ze tiy. My i share of ze ,..-sos be b' t'aire s a sailor-man's Lay. Oui. why 00;?" |