Show CAPTAIN CHAPTER XIII continued 16 rr could not stand wl wa ern em sir air they threatened me they have freed mr jarvis from the brig he found drink it once for cm jarvis I 1 mazarac was upon the companion stairs leaving them nil all in in n astounded silence the empty chair of the jester to de AImon Almon asters eyes seemed to hold a grinning ragged wastrel of the rue royale and beyond the health drunk to him the feast was untouched the admiral of cartagena hitched sword ber belt higher nodded to them and stole bove clark was athas at his heels and once aft took the wheel from old boboc now then said the master what 0 do o you know bohon it Is the strange silence sir the ship is 1 flat as a dead ship black michel bad charge or 0 the watch but it is as if every soul had vanished after they gave me the last sounding I 1 tad had the lead out oat because we made out a spit 0 land once at dusk you re member Ee beluche luche you will come with me to tee fee to this the older men surely the are not with the levee renegades rene gades we shipped alonga it Is plunder they came for sir grunted granted the admiral first we must get to the arms room they are watching that sir whispered clark they smuggled ten baskets from some concealment but they lack powder name or 0 the devill devil blustered the admiral cornel comel name with the old bullies 1 no more 0 this baza rac I 1 say de Al monaster was with the two its is they passed the mainmast then another figure slipped to them from the shadows it has come quick sir nez kez coupe whispered they must rid the ship or 0 the english woman they say and then ask you a fat fair word for a prize it if not that death to mazarac they need not wait laughed mazarac Saz arac come death to the first three men that show I 1 then a fair word to the rest I 1 monsieur de at al monaster your pistols ready come down the after companion comparion and to the arms room how many are there of us os to be trusted at the first brat 1 I 1 say eay you must be jean lafette litte xer lr growled Be beluche luebe jean 0 khz the black petral for this night old bullies will come roaring to Y yu wu once this clatter 0 mazarac and the english woman Is done amon among em deml well then lantto he smiled come you all with jean again 1 the arms room bohon moved like it shadow down the passage once sure 0 that clear ent cm to the deck and drive ent em howling burke and crack ley to be shot on sight eh aye retorted jo Joh honness anness then well have the older bullies they will talk balk once they see the mettle in la dittes men come said the commander in allenc A dlin dim lantern showed the deck beams over their heads as they crept along the oie waist the arms locker was on the starboard side beside the door a figure beckoned to them in the shadows it must be one of nez kez coupes coapes loyal ones the little band stole on past the stowage rooms monsieur mazarac had even turned to speak to the shadowy sentinel when there came a rush of bare feet from either side A hoarse shout broke steel rang on steel a pistol exploded in the narrow passage the rush caught R 1 was wa plain he H was W trying to enact the lh part of a swaggering frigate captain the party with an impact that left no chance for weapons A burly form hurled to acs aes shoulders another dragged at his legs de Al monaster broke his big rapier at a vain thrust and went down under blows blown and curses the affair was aus over with surprising there must have been thirty mutineers muti roaring struggling in 1 the passageway along alicy r dragged the prisoners and none fought back now BOW tor for it was wag useless the mutineers muti a howling disorderly disorder pack took the prisoners aft and there upon apon the quarter deck as one to have honor done him stood john jobi jarvis apparently ho he was drunk or 01 apparently he was wag posing I 1 it was of no moment monsieur shot hot him one black look 1001 and then would face him no do more mom by charles tenney jackson jackso n cc by br the bobbi company the commodore I 1 yelled relied the brawl ers the emperor 0 the bottle who swore he would yet sleep in old banys bedl bed I 1 turn in tot tolt mad john I 1 the jester raised an unsteady hand as if he would speak and then thought better of it it was wa s plain he was trying to enact the part of a swaggering frigate captain and making an absurd failure of it by a curious doleful humanness it appeared that the jester was about to speak to make effort at a leadership of abw the evil spew he had bad evoked and then his gesture died away lie he himself turned away a ghost figure by the port quarter rail for the english woman had come with clark the frightened english boy there was first a jeer and then a crowding to see her what Is this then the she cried we are taken mademoiselle returned the master quietly that is all there Is to it lie ile turned sternly to john brackley Cr ackley whose leer upon the english woman boded no good for her 1 I demand safety tor for this lady let her return to her cabin do you understand der stand me respect in all things eh grunted the other well seeto see to that mates he glanced at his big fellows upon whom there had come a curious silence at the captains assumption of authority even at this pass the woman now ills his voice was cut short by the tremendous explosion of a huge pistol upon the poop deck above them all A single figure was there an unkempt grotesque man who now was peering curiously into the muzzle of his smoking weapon every eye had been drawn to him with a start jarvis janis jan Is pale face framed in his long matted batted black hair turned down to them you see I 1 missed it he be said P plaintively aint ively jarvis Jarv ls burke the deserter croaked that the cabin skylight at ten paces name 0 god I 1 it if I 1 am to be commodore I 1 will aul need practice some of you kindly reload my pistol there was a shout of amazed laughter from them tile the deck lamp showed the english woman staring up at him behind her the prisoners of the herdeck ter deck he came to the low rail and looked down not at the lady who once looked back at him on the esplanade she might hare been an unseen spectator over the footlights and lie the chief player at the center of the stage taking his cue from an invisible prompter neither did his old friends of the rue royale and of the smugglers wine shops of years agone appear to exist la in his eye he shrugged with an open palm down to the conspirators ho commodore they bowled bawled up at him tile the word jarvis Jarv ls the eye of mazarac was coldly upon him but to this friend of his big old days as irredeemable as these he had bad the same blank stare as he had for louise Lp stron As if they were not there as if she was a mere ere ghost and he looking through her to the evil pack behind her mademoiselle lespron turned to the man she knew as gaspar caspar mazarac Saz arac the games gamester ter of chartres street and this has come to you because of me monsieur it Is worth a thousand mutinies never tear fear the spaniards hereabout are not all cutthroats cut throats you the ward of ca can who is the secret agent of their king why what have you to fear from them mademoiselle lespron Le stron but old beluche shook his head it might be well at the spaniards hands bands for mademoiselle lespron of quebec and for the count tie de Al monaster of new orleans descended from a line of castilian Castl llan viceroys vice roys of louisiana but for jean lafatte for beluche of the Carta Cartagen genian lan rebels hohanness Joh anness and the others who had harried the mexican trade routes for thirty years there was quick death in any port of new spain for them all I 1 but she could not know when the longboat was ready and the crew made way silently for her she turned to mazarac with a sudden timid softness monsieur something Is due you from mel me I 1 could I 1 not appeal to them could you not regain command and sail it with them if I 1 va maj put adrift he sint smiled led but it was as as if he did not ca care re to look upon her lie he wits was as one who had been alvin to see a beautiful vision and before it had come an evil jester a mocking voice to still the faint good he had sought do de Al monaster had been watching he followed her as the captain led the way near the rail the girl put her band to mazarac Saz arac acs sleeve 1 I am bewildered monsieur Monsie urt it la Is as if f you had given up much for me mel I 1 1 I have given much up tor for you he answered quietly the wreck of years wild evil infamy which god willing willin g you shall never knowl know I 1 she looked back at count de at al monaster hla his face woo was averted but he be must m have heard beard ile he was even a trifle cold to her its as he helped her to the ladder on his honor de Al Almonn monaster ster would not speak his old boys love to her when her ever questing eyes were going to tile the gamester mazarac the mystery of mazarac Saz arac the I 1 lure ure of prom promise ise that he be would claim what he had won across masseros Ma bla speros gaming gaining table she thought it very odd even eve a at tb this is moment the withdrawing of the two gentlemen gentled en from her in terest as if each was waiting wat ting watching tor for the other to conclude ills play piny two rapiers lapiers drawn but with withheld beld perhaps for the opponent to tie his shoe and with a sigh she followed but ner last glance back showed a glimpsy down through the open skylight to the cabin of the emperor the lamps were very bright there here she saw BOW a slouched figure in the chair of the host A pale tall man eating and drinking greedily as if with a rare appetite for the viands of the emperors stores ile he jammed ills his faded velvet cap closer over ill his eyes and then his fits hand found cometh something ng by the plate that had been next to aea acs her ovan IE was a bracelet which all she L remembered had become disengaged when she drank the health to the chair of the missing guest the man lifted the gold trinket examined it under the light and kissed it then he fell to eating with rattier rather the manners of the barroom 1 riff the th emperor of the th bottle was wa in the chair of mazarac Saz arac the emperor of the bottle was to III the chair of mazarac but after all as was the way with him when what he wanted was at his big grasp he could not take it it was the same case its as when he could not hit bit a window with his pistol at ten paces or swagger ills sword without the point catching in a liole hole of his stocking he never would atin aim carefully enough or wear III alg sword high enough or lov love ruthlessly enough outside he heard the epla splash sh of the oars waiting to take her away the lone guest in the emperors emper org suite could hear them descending to the longboat there was a mutter when hohanness Joh anness swung from the rail but ahen vi hen old gorgio the ton lan cutthroat of other days the most bloody minded of all the black Pet rals vanished crew strode to the ladder there was a yell the old alb he leaves us mates I 1 gorgio eyed them with fierce dl disdain 1 I sail with men he growled no pothouse lawyers I 1 who 01 0 ye all ever put foot across a bloody deck save black mike who 0 ye louts bouts sailed the old days with jea jean n and pierre Pl erre there was a mutter half amused half of resentment both from the exiles in the longboat and from tile the mu tinkers crowded at the rall it suddenly appeared oddly clear to de at AI monaster that not once during the affair had bad the name of jean lahitte been upon the lips of the most unruly of them all it struck the c count ir as very strange he glanced at the girl on the seat before him wondering why the air had not rung with the most notorious name of the decades jean lafitte himself standing upright in the bow silently watching the dim mysterious shore of savage camphe camp Cam peche he with its unconquered indians and still more ruthless spanish captains holding every point of refuge mug must t have wondered monsieur mazarac Saz arac the girl cried suddenly as if with her own courage to 0 o inspire hope in all the castaways casta ways waTs 1 I am glad to got go I 1 have a feeling that these are now true men all for or whatever venture lies iles ahead I 1 lave have no fearl the watching muti mutineer had been so silent that her clear voice carried far it t reached the lone banqueter at tilt th emperors table Saz arac he muttered still saz a rae rac 1 I too have my ay honor he be can still play mazarac the elegant and chivalrous mazarac to the end for in that one thing the jester had ruled the outlaw crew re lie had soberly and stubbornly pleaded and in stated he bad even pointed his big rusty empty horse pistol at their heads beads and ordained that the english woman must not be told the truth afi nl I 1 mazarac Saz arac he had bad sat nt in their council to plead for her life and the honor of his big friend when he knew the mutiny could not be averted ile he had won von and lie he had sent her away still under the spell of Suz arac act the th protecting arm of mazarac Saz Sitz arac TO BE CONTINUED |