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Show fMCKRODNEY! ii or, The Adventures of An Eton Boy... 5 DY JrtmilS GRANT. 2 T(ltltl((llltllll 1jbl!APTKK V- (Continued) ln a moment his blue shirt was off anajpteced on the lift of tho forcyant Ibis meant, Mr lludney that as mer-cTnt mer-cTnt teamen we appealed to the man-o'ir man-o'ir for prttertlon, and wanted an Bjnied boat s crew Thank heaven, auch n apppesl l neer made In vain bj'a poor J k of any country to a Urjltsh mini) r but tho lubberly Fpnltin never noticed tho signal, or If io. never heeded It " jTTbe Asnkee skipper uttered a fierce liosh y'Dome that ihlrt and come down, you lf. he thundered out, 'down In-sliatly, In-sliatly, or 1 Mil shoot you like n coon." JBut, desperate with fear, the poor fellow now stood upon the yard, and while one hand grasped the topping lift, with the other he waved his shirt to the Spaniards I heard the crack of a pistol, and next moment lie fell a quivering mass upon the deck, stone dead, shot by the revolver "That will teach you to make slg-nsls slg-nsls from my ship, ou varmint, snivelled sni-velled the merciless skipper, giving the body a kick, 'and nt for you,' he continued, con-tinued, addressing me and ramming homo his words llh on oath, but before be-fore he could get further I leveled him on tho deck by a blow from a handspike, hand-spike, and tossed his knife and revolver overboard "Ills right arm was broken. There was a great row about all this before the Alcalde when wo cot Into harbor. our bell was unshipped and our canvas can-vas unbent by a party of Spanish marines, ma-rines, but the captain crossed the Alcalde's Al-calde's hand with silver or gold, and there was an end of It. There was an end of my engagement, too, for the Yankco weathered me about my salary selied my chet my quadrant, even an old silver watch which my mother gave mo to make me comfortable, when I first went to sea, and then turned mo out ot tho ship "So with nothing except a Mexican dollar In my pocket, but followed by my Newfoundland dog Hector, I found myself on a et and dusty evening on the great quay of Matanxas, which faces the bay that opens Into the Quit ot Florida "Low allko In spirits and funds, I bad to endure being Jostled by negro 1 porters, scowled at by alguatlls, or-1 Acred about by red-cappped and black-bearded black-bearded Spanish sentries, who were ' Ihlrtleas and tattered, and whose ,wii-wii,-,...wi,aiiA t4l,urtAfptt.4 litles talntcirttie'verrsea biV... with the odor of garlic and coarse tobacco. "The sun had set behind clouds as red as blood, The bay was all of a deep brown tint, and the shores wsre black or purple I was very sad at heart, and thought It bard that I, a llrltlih seaman, should bo there an outcast, and all my kit reduced to tho clothes on my back, In tho very -lace where tho same flag that 1'ococke and Albemarlo hoisted on Hatana, and brought all tho Don Spaniards on their knoes In old King Georgo's time "However, that would neither find ma supper or n bed. I lost or missed my Newfoundland dog Hector, and In the bitterness of my heart I banned tho poor animal for Ingratitude In leaving me. Just ns I was looking about for a humble posada, where a moiety of my dollar might procure me a bed, a man stumbled sgalntt me " 'Look alive, cucumber shanks,' said be, angrily, In English '"Do you take me for a negro!' I asked, fiercely. "'You are grimy enough for anything,' any-thing,' said he; and after being a night In the Alcalde's lockup house, I certainly cer-tainly was not the cleanest of men; but now It seemed aa If the voice ot the stranger was familiar to me. I examined ex-amined hla features. "'What,' I exclaimed, 'lllilop Jack M 'lop, Is this you!' ""TIs I, Jack Hlslop, certainly,' ro-i ro-i piled the other, who proved to be my old friend, Marc'a father, 'but who the I deuce are you!' i"'Your old shipmate. Bam Weston, who sallied with you for many a day In the Oood Intent ot Port alasgow ' "For a moment his tongue seemed absent without leave." I I " 'What, you Sam Weston EnglUh . Bam, ns wo called you adrift hero at Matanxas among theso Spanish land-crabsf land-crabsf " 'Aye, adrift euro enough,' said I, as we (.hook hands heartily, and then adjourned ad-journed to a taberna, when I told him all about my quarrel with tho Yan-keo Yan-keo and my present hopeless condition, oer a glass of nor'-nor'-west "I havo a brig hero on tho gridiron, grid-iron, repairing, for we lost some of her copper In scraping a rock near tho , Tortugas shoal. All my crew are of courso ashore, and at present I.au I residing with frWtH!tBtrltr"1nslop; I 'but I can find permanent quarters for you till you get a berth. Do you see that craft out there In the bay!' " 'Tho polacca brig, about a mllo ottt' " TTes. Well, sho Is consigned to my owner, but was found adrift, abandoned toy all bar crew except two, about fifty miles oft, bait way between this and the Bait Key Bank. I havo cbargo of her now, and thero you may aleep every ev-ery night if you choose. What say you to that?' "'That I thank you, old shipmate, with all my heart, but but ' " 'What!' " 'I havo heard ot that polacca, and that mo of her crew who remained on board ' " 'Were dead, yes, true enough. They wero found In their berths, ono on the starboard, and tho other on the port side ot tho cabin Hut what of that? I burled them oft the point of Santa Cms, and there they steep sound enough, bellovn me, each with a couple of cold shot at his heels Here Is tho key of the companion hatch, and take my revolver with you, for plcaros aro pretty common hereabouts ' "Thanks, Hlslop,' ssld I, 'but how am I to get on hoard?' " 'Scull over to her In the punt that Is moored beside the quoy When on board make yourself quite at home, for the agent and I left plenty of grog, beef, biscuits and tobacco In the cabin. On tho morrow I'll overhaul you, In the forenoon watch. Till then, good-by," and before 1 could say anything moro old Jack was gono. and 1 found myself my-self alone on the stone Kioto, with the key of the polacca's companion In my hand "There seemed pothlng for me but to accept the temporary home thus offered, of-fered, so In tho hopo that It might lead to something better, I stepped Into tho light punt, cast looso tho pilnter. and after a few minutes' vigorous sculling found myself on the lonely deck of the silent polacca "Her ramate was unlsnt; most of the running rigging had also been taken oft her and slowed away so her tall nnd taper spars stood nakedly up from tho straight flush deck, with a sharp rake aft. "Thick banks of dark-blue clouds wero coming heavily up from tho Oulf of Florida Tho air was hot and sulphurous, sul-phurous, somo drops of rain, warm and broad aa doubloons, began to Ijilash upon tho deck anil to make' circles on tho sea; while at the far edgo ot tho horlion n narrow streak of bright moonlight, against which the waiea were seen chasing each other, glittered through tho dying scud, tho bottom of which was uplifted In the offing, like a dark curtain that was battered bat-tered and rent "Then n flash ot red lightning, tipping tip-ping tho waves with fire, shone, but to be replsced by Instant darkness, and all became black chaos to seaward, saw where a pale-green beacon burned steadily at Santn Crux, on the western side ot the bay I "Theso signs prognosticated a rooih I night, but I was glad to perceive that A iiivo"wwWniorrrt at stem ' '.andlBtCTnr,X"miwnisAHktrimP? Ion door and descended,"not without i shudder. Into the dark and cold cabin, where the dead men had been found, and whero all was sllenco and gloom "I struck a Inciter match; my teeth chattered, aud while rroplng about for a candle, to make myself comfortable for the night, I began to wish I had remained re-mained on shore "I found a ship-lantern with the fag-end fag-end of a candlo In It, anil this, when lighted, enabled me to take a survey ot the cabin, which stood on the table and when looking about, found my eyes wander so Incessantly to the side berths In which the dead Spaniards bad been found, that nt last I almost fancied their pale sharp profiles and rigid figures wero visible In the flickering flick-ering light of tho candle. "'Come,' said I, 'Sam Weston wis will never do) Aro you a man, or have you become a child again!' "Another application a long one, too to the rum Jar, and I wrapped somo bunting, a rug, and a pea-jacket that lay on tho locker, round me, and lay down on the cabin floor to sleep; and scarcely had I stretched myself thero when the candle flared up, and, after casting somo strange kaleidoscopic kaleido-scopic figures on the beams overhead, through the perforated lantern-top went outl "I was In total darkness now, but more awako than over "I felt as If In a great Hosting coffln, but beard no sound except the gurglo of the sea under the countor, or tho splash of the stern warp, as It whip-ed whip-ed the water occasionally. "I kept my eyes closed resolutely, and determined, perforce, to sleep, and not to wako till morning, hut still I could not help thinking of the two poor fellows who bad died In the berths of that cold, dark, and silent cabin, and had been tossed to and fro so long upon tho sea beforo they received Christian burial "Which had died first tho man In tho larboard, " ll8 ln lh """hoard berth! Why were thoy thus abandoned! aban-doned! What had they said to earn other! What messages had they sont to wife, to father, or mother! What tale of lovo to repeat-ot jriIr-t'J--H' veal iyHttffiSy&t-hr the dead to OVf uead. and never delivered! These thoughts crowded upon mo till I almost Imagined the dead men lay thcro still, and that they might rise up and give their last messages to me. Then I heard a sound In tho forehold. It made my blood curdlal Wss It csused by rats? I'erhsps they had fed on the dead Spaniards and now were come to take a nibble at me, Hats ero bad enough, but ghofti were worse. I took a third and last pull at the Jamaica Jar, said my prayer" over again, with moro than usual devotion, adding thereto tho wish that I should toon havo a spanking craft ot my own. "Still the Idea ot the two dead men, H with their pale faces and unclosed eyes, would como before me again and again. and I could have groaned but for dread ot somo similar response that might H make my heart wither up and my jH flesh creep And creep It soon did, B tor, Just as this horrid Idea ot an over- IsLH strained fancy fostered by Imaglna- sLVR tlon and fashioned out ot tho sllenco bLBQ and darkness became strongest within HH me. what were my emotions how HR painful the throbbing of my heart on 9HHI beholding a strange, green, ghastly LvH(5 light glimmering about, and playing BttMb within each ot the side berths !fi?W "Whllo shrinking Into a cornet ot !9tsLul the cabin with eyeballs straining, I (BOB gaxed nt them alternately with n spe- "iMRicsKl cles of horrid fascination. Tho two jf&Hu lights were weird, wavering and pale; fiQjRKi they seemed to me aa two warnings UrjLnS from the land of spirits, for they play laKSlB al upon the curtain and In the recess lEflfirl of each berth port and starboard In ''HHxb which a dead man had been found Hfl And whllo these lights shone, there nHH came upon my ear the palpable sound lll ot a heavy breathing anil snorting, as f sLhsb from the oppressed chest of somo one, 1 H close by me kssLH "1 placed ray hnnds upon my eyes IJH nnd on my cars to shut out these hor il rid lights and sounds; but when I ril looked again the former had dlseap- ' H peared, and all was opaque darkness, H "On putting forth my hand to rise, a H cry of uncontrollable terror escaped H me a yell that rang In wild echoes B through the silent polacca when my H fingers came In contact with something H Icy, and then a cold, clammy, and wet H of halrl H "Then two glistening eyes seemed to IH peer and to glaro Into mlnet H "In horror and bewilderment, and H followed by something, I knew not H what, I sprang up the companion, and, H half fainting, reached the deck ot tho 1 polacca Then I turned to find that B the object which had excited so much dismay was no other than my poor dog BBBJ Hector, which had swam oft to the brig J In pursuit of me BBVJ "The eyes that In the dark seemed to J glare Into mine, were his; the Icy oh- HBVJ jeet, from which my fingers shrank, was his honest black nose; and what BBVJ seemed a wet head of hair, was his J own curly front: while the lights the BkVJ mysterious lambent lights that bad yBSJ fllcekered about tho dead men's berths, J proved to be nothing moro than the 1 green beacon on the promontory ot HBVJ Santa Crux, which shone at limes 1 through the two stern windows ot the HBJ polacca. ! "Being moored with tho chain cable t BBVJ ahead and a manllla warp from her t port quarter to a buoy astern, she I BH swung to and fro a llttlo with the ebb and flow ot the tldo; hence the BH oscillation which caused the moving BBBJ gleams that terrified mo. BBpJ "'Hal ha I' said I, on descending In .BBpJ to tho rabln, a wiser and a moro 1BBBJ I sleepy man, 'scared by my own dog 1-BBfl Hector! I have been ns great a gull BB as ever touched salt water.' .y"" "", BBS I "A fortnight afterwards I shitjpVST lH .vkh.oVl Jt.eltjltl.lopit.1, second mats, tBBB 'itth(ttitM.a.vI.w,mtrip.Vta-M,-. .,,.-Lj. ;JsH 1 beforo a smart topgallnnt1meiervKru"i,,wa',, the Oulf ot Florida, bound witn a car go of rum, sugsr and molasses' for the Bpl Bpfl "So that Is my ghost yarn. It con veys a moral, does It not? Or BSB der them to strike the bell forward. BBH Hlslop, call Ibe watch; seo how hor BBS head bears, and let us turn In," BH (To bo continued ) l |