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Show f By ARTHUR D. HOWDEN SMITH Copyright. 19:28 WNU Service ARTHUR D. HOWDEN SMITH .j TI I Mil II IIHlMMiiii in ii ! i i - II iiMiiBi iiiiiiiimMr"'M,"M'MIW,"M''""wM,M:iilia Fellowes looked at the duenna, dark, fat. iniiiiut.-ilile. Jetty eyes squinting from the folds of her mantilla. Cara suit! quickly: "The senora can help. too. She will oe much heller for having something to do. Come, sir. do not sentence us to the bold! Your wounded will be more comfortable fot what assistance we can render." She appealed to O'Shaiighnessy "You'll conlirm me. won't you. doctor?" The Irishman supported her gal lauily. " 'Tis short handed we are, captain, and wiih none hut the stewards for dressers I'll he In a bad way." It was a good argument, Fellowes admitted to himself He owed his men every chance foi life, and three extra helpers might turn the scale for the poor devils, whose bodies were maimed hy the Badger's carronades ''Very well," be agreed, "if you are certain 'twill not distress you. Once we are in action, you must remain here." "You speak ol being In action, Captain," Cap-tain," the girl exclaimed. "How soon -will It be?" "Within the hour," he answered curtly, and withdrew. Ascending to the deck, he rehearsed in his memory the fearful expectation mirrored in her face She knew what fore the wind, bow-on, In an effort to close, so that his heavy broadside batteries bat-teries could come Into play. But Fel-lowes Fel-lowes was alert "Steady all," the order came from the speaking trumpet. "Rake him, Cuffee. Mr. Spencer, bold your fire until I bid you loose." Working with frenzied speed, Cuffee had the Long Tom loaded and Bred almost before Fellowes had finished ! speaking. The shot struck the Badger on a level with the cat-heads. A sec- j ond shot drilled the hull under the sta'b'd fore-chains, tosslngs a shower of splinters In air. "Now. then, Mr. Spencer," Fellowes hailed the first lieutenant And the la b'd twelve-pounders roared as one.. All but two or three missed, but Fellowes was sure one shot had whistled through the fore-stays fore-stays and a second hit the bull. He was satisfied. "We'll go about, Mr. Noggle," be bade the sailing master. "On the sta'b'd tack." It was time. As the Centurion wore, the Badger's chase guns flung their shot Into the privateer's bulwarks bul-warks with telling effect. When the confusion had abated Fellowes saw one man dead on his deck, and two others wounded. The, Badger had teeth, and knew how to use them. "Carry those men below," be ordered. or-dered. "Bosun, where are your sand buckets?" The Badger pegged away with uer chasers, but the Centurion ran out of range quite easily and wore ship to give the Long Tom another chance. And an exultant yell greeted Cuffee's next performance the main topmast of the slop-of-war tumbled slowly from the fidds In a sprawling litter of spars and canvas. Momentarily helpless, the Badger flapped up Into the wind, and Fellowes swooped nearer for the benefit of his twelve-pounders. The broadsides roared as fast as the gun crews could swab, load and fire-But fire-But Collishawe was a seaman. Before Be-fore the privateer could smash another stick, he had the wreckage cleared from his deck, and the Badger manageable man-ageable and Fellowes must sheer off to avoid those bard-battering carronades carron-ades that would rend the brig to matchwood at close quarters. A half-dozen more shots from the Long Tom, and the Badger's foremast, probably weakened by the hit In the chains, went overside in a clutter that dragged the sloop-of-war down by the head. Fellowes stood on. making use of the predicament to gain a position astern of her, but by some Incredible effort, Collishawe was able to run both his long twelves affc and In the face of a scorching fire from the Centurion's Centu-rion's sta'b'd battery, actually succeeded succeed-ed in shooting away the brig's fore-topmast, blaiheting the Big Sarpent. killing kill-ing one of Cuffee's gun crew and drowning a pair of Sopher's marines. Fellowes, coolly determined to take no unnecessary risks, promptly retired out of range, cleared the wreckage from his fo'c's'le, and again ordered Cuffee to resume sharp shooting. The negro had warmed to his work, and the Long Tom hurled Its shot Into the crippled sloop-of-war witb appalling regularity. Fellowes called to Cuffee: "Take your time, gunner; but I want you to knock over another stick." Cuffee's response was a clean hit In the Badger's mizzenmast, which broke midway to the top, and swamped the whole waist with Its debris. The sloop-of-war broached to, all bul helpless, help-less, while the Centurion headed across her bows, broadside butteries flaming as she tacked back and forth, back and forth, the Long Tom adding Its resonant voice to the sharper detonations de-tonations of the twelve-pounders. The smoke was banked so densely around the privateer that the enemy was practically Invlsahle;- hut an answering an-swering broadside roared from the sloop-of-war, and the Centurion quivered quiv-ered under the Impact of the carronades carron-ades elghteen-pounder shot. "Sta'b'd your helm, Mr. Noggle," hailed Fellowes. "He's swung his bead around." (TO BE CONTINUED) CHAPTER XI Continued 20 "Oh. forget what 1 said." she cried, distressed. "Yet I meant well. 'Tis my fault that you have singled out James. Deny It not. Your ship was equipped to fight the Badger." "Sure, ma'am." Again a complexity of passions tormented Fellowes. He wanted to be kind. He wanted to tie cruel. He wanted to help. He want ed to hurt The sweat stood In Deads on his forehead, clammy as the sea mist, that dripped from the spars If he might take her In his arms, and comfort herl But no. cruelty would be more kind. "If I sink the Badger 1 do a service for my country, which should be your country If I happen to kill Captain Collishawe" he made a pretense at a shrug "why. I shall remove a dangerous enemy of my country and the man who flogged me." She regarded him with that small mournful look, her lips curved In pity "And I have done this to you I" she said. "1 should remember. Bur each time It hurts the same. I am so sorry, sor-ry, so very sorry 1 I've turned love into hate, and ruined two men's lives Ah, and brought my father to the gal lows I Isn't that sufficient? Oh. well then, we'll go helow. Anywhere I What does It matter? A few hours, a few days, a few months!" Her father led tier away, mumbling fussily, and Fellowes hurried for'ard to inspect Noggle's drag anything to occupy him. to aid him to forget her. She was In love with Collishawe. of course. The letter everything her words, her humors, her palpable anxietyproved anx-ietyproved It D n the Britisher, he must have swept her off her feet I But when? Before that night? Or after? He turned to Cuffee, his brain working work-ing simultaneously along parallel lines, to caution the negro to reduce his powder charges when the brig lost headway "1 don't want to reach him yet. No use in telling him we have a twenty four-pounder. Just tickle him up Cuffee Keep him hot after us." And Cuffee laughed uproariously. "Yah. yah. yah. Mars'r Fellowe'l Dat big fun. Oh. we fool biin Col lishnwe plenty too much." Pack on the poop straining anxiously anxious-ly through the mist. Fellowes recalled that last night on the True Bounty a swish of skirts, a warm, pliant body pressed to his. the touch of soft lips CHAPTER XII Battle Long before evening the two vessels were visible to each other, the Cen turion blocked clearly against the fad ing light In the east, the Badger a blurred lower of canvas In the radl ance of the sunset. The Badger gained slowly on the Centurion and under cover of dark ness the privateer cut herselt free ot the drag, shortening sail to maintain j ..' her position lust out of range of Col llshawe's twelve-pounders The men off watch were sent to their ham mocks, nnd those on duty hidden to lie down beside the guns. Fellowes himself, endeavored to set an exnm pie by curbing his excitement and toward midnight snatched a nap In one of the wnrdroom bunks. An hour before sunrise Fellowes was awakened by a messenger from Breed who had the watch. He came on deck to find the crew astir, the galley smnk Ing busily. Cuffee was crooning over the Big Sarpent. removing yesterday's powder stains from Its shiny barrel with a rae and polish Fellowes' first thought was t sec to the feeding of his men Thej were fv have a hot meal and .a special Is I ifye of grog "And don't forget the j prisoners. Mr. Breed We nuij he j Ibours at this Job Give them the saini- I meal as the crew, and then stow them lu the cnbU'tlers." Himself, he at ! tended O'Shn nghnossy to the cockpit Cara opened the door In response to his knock. "1 am loath to disturb you. ma'am.' he said; "but the doctor will he requlr Ing his quarters soon, and I'd nlnce you out of roach ot shot." She recardert him with the s:itne pitying expression which had Irked him the da; before i "Thank you." she answered q'lletly i "but If we may. sir. we'll st:iy here Doctor O'Sluiiighnessy will require as i slstanep." "Hut you don't realize I Round -shot wounds are hideous And crape!" "I'd rnrher see the worst rhinos than crouch below ami Imagine them And I'm not one ro faint and stew Cap tain Fellowes." "There's Mr. Inglepin," Fellowes v- gUL'gested. "ami your attendant?" "1 may be a tool " Ben Inglepin retorted re-torted tartly, "but I can wind a band ace or hold a b.isin -and I prefer any thins; to the darkness and stench of the orlop whl.-h. I suppose, is where you d put ns." "Tis nfe. nt least.' asserted Fel lowos. i,i:-lt(l "Win. ii if we trust ncllcve yon. we ure bj no nuiiiis sale, wherever we .ru.'' The Centurion Wore Handsomely. he planned for Collishawe, and dread ed It Well, he'd give her ample to weep over. When . be'd finished with the Englishman . The Centurion, at Fellowes' dlrec tlon. wore handsomely, and stood nor' east by nor' on the la'b'd tack. The Badger, apprehending the maneuver indicated the Yankee brig Intended to come to close quarters, commenced to take In her malns'l and clew op her after canvas. Fellowes studied their progress, as the Interval of blue water diminished with the persistent attempt ot the Badger to point up higher than the Centurion, and when he thought the range was right for the twenty-four-oounder he hailed Cuffee I "Ahoy, gunner! We'll try the Long Tom." Cuffee's first shot skipped the waves in front of the sloop-of-war's bow The next ricocheted over the enemj but the third was a clean hit for'ard of amidships, and the Centurion's com puny raised a lusty cheer. Colli sbawe, undaunted, yawed to bring his chasers to bear, the twelve-pounder shot splashing up the water perhaps a quarter of a mile short of the tar get. Cuffee tired a fourth time, and scored a hit In the waist "Come. come, lad, 'tis a spar 1 want." Fellowes called Impatiently. The next shot was an over, clean net wis t main and mlzzenmasts, and Collishawe, apparently appreciating the weight of metal against him, came about once more, and stood down be- |