Show cju COUNT a TN T LUCK LUCKNER NIER THE SEA DEVIL by losell thomas copyright ht by doubleday doraa se co realizing afat tt at their presence nc in the south atlantic would br be known as toon soon as their coriner prisoners made port part the raiders of the started with all speed p rd for the tb south pacific hoping to get around cape cap horn wars to far the ih british cruisers could intercept them off the th horn horb they ran into st that th were extraordinary even for or that stormy and nil were tr forced forrd so 0 o far to the auh bluit they narrowly escaped dimiter mong among the icebergs in the midst of 0 hurricane they sighted lighted a big auxiliary cruis ir r but evaded it by running before the wind until a rainstorm nin lomi blotted diem from lr its view turning north into the Pc Poci fiCe ic they threw overboard their extra lifeboats lifeboat end nj hr hi s preservers preserver hoping dmn some would be picked up and nd lead to the lilt belief that the Seea Se eider deir bad goni goat down off the tb horn this th wu was just full what happened CHAPTER X continued 1 14 this left the way clear for or us and now we stilled sailed out to continue 0 our or adventure on the greatest of all the seven seas fourteen days after rounding the horn born we picked an interesting and ir puzzling wireless out of the air Se idler eadler gone down with flags fy ing in commander and part of crew talen pilson ers and on their way to in montevideo that I 1 thought by joe johnny bull Is telling a whopper now when whan old john bull tells a fb you can bet by joe that he has gloo reason tor for it it we tried to fig figure ure it t out and tame come to the conclusion that it and to do with the scare me MC had created tile the news that our prisoners had given out at RIO nio had sent lloyds rates skyward nod and caused ninny ships tolie to lie in harbor until the donger danger from the german raider tild hid blown over the british in order to brinn bring lloyds rates down and to liba liberate r all the shipping that had bad been ud up took pains to spread a alg highly ily cot c 1 ored report of our disaster dressed ip with suitable imaginative trimmings to make it more convincing well johnny bull I 1 thou phout lit well fix you our wireless operator a very cul able fellow biked out a scheme with me sparks sent out the follow ig message purporting to come row roia a british slit ship SOS SOS german sub he rut cut the message short as if interrupted to make it seem as if at that moment the phlp bad been torpedoed d I 1 I 1 after a suitable interval hs be sent out another nother ti call tills this one merely repot ing german submarines off oct the corsi corst of chile did lloyds rates go up again aad did those ships that were grillis gettling ready to put fut to sea put back bach to thi thair ir berths well you can bet your notts boots they did and we sent out marine warnings every so often lost just tol keep our little joke alive these were all small injuries but we had been sent out to harass the enemy and tills this was one way of doln doing 0 it what more could you expect of a lone windjammer and then its these injuries fill all added together that more often than not cot win the day it was good sport tor for us anyhow our course was northward with the chilean coast find and ahe aie andes almost basight in la sight we steered almost to the galapagos islands Islai ids and at 11 crushes Cru island san juan fernandez we trimmed our sail sand turned mir bow west we sailed tor for weeks on in the broad expanse of the pacific with out st sighting a ship except for the occasional cr crocello oello of tile the wireless we were alone in the world our wireless antennae kept us in touch with the latest phase of the international ter national nor was it particularly pleasant on those long ion idle days at sea to sit and meditate on the fact that the united states was waa going into the he war against us musj we suite bailers bailors ra knew better than dmn anine of t aur our people at home the tremendous pow er of the great republic of the west there here closeted statesmen an and d generals who might talk be as they pleased about the american lack of military preparedness find and the imps of american troops be being ding mus mug and sufficiently trained in ill time to be of say any service to in the ertl crIt cal leal hour of the war we 5 sailors had iriv irav led many of us as had been in the united states and had bad served edoll on american ships all line technical points aside we had bad had bad opportunity unity to sense tile lie might ot of the north anica loan lean giant with its ard virile population and its e wealth with will such strength behind it een an awkward poorly mined thrisi was enough to push almost st anyone 0 er r we caught one radio dispatch that caused us to sit alt aud gaze hopelessly into the sky it t told of tile the famous zimmermann note what madness had dictated that extraordinary state pa per which pro proposed poised to blie eclie join germany to in the war and re belve in return a slice of american territory including texas I 1 had served as a soldier in the Alex mexican army and knew something thing of its probable prowess in a war A few ew allier ainer loan aregim regiments ats on the rio grande could hold bold baik back tile the mexican army as easily as I 1 coo can hold a cliff clil clillie lil and did our statesmen think tile the Alexi mexicans caus were mere such feils the folly was one abut could enrage ahe people of if the bowd states and inake the mex blex lenng laugh liidi lii ui we ve of fit the fhe fight frici in ff ireeta could ont T curse ilic file luck that had given our country au burh auh h di dai plu mucy all ali it succeeded to la Del deltito titi sting was new enemies and fewer ewer friends the american declaration of war come came as a blow expected but bard nevertheless nevert ueless some of the mure more pessimistic si of us could spell the doom of germany la IL it it uttered the position of our buccaneering bucca bacco expedition somewhat what too foo ll it reduced the number of neutral ports into chica we ve might sall sail it also increased the number of cruisers we had to look out for however neutral ports did not enter enier ier into info our calculations much all ports really were hostile anyhow neutrals would us ug to a short inhospitable stay the wireless stations nearby would bron broadcast denst our presence find and the he cruisers would come hocking flocking tile the american naval ships mean much either they would doubt doubtless lebe toe lie kept nearly all of them to guard the atlantic shipping lanes tor for athe the passage of american troba van Rn sports and leave what hat patrol of the pacific was necessary to the british and japanese cinese the principal change of circumstance eu cum tor for us was that now we could take american prizes we steered arross the pacific past tile the Marque sas arr to the south of Fl ri awall we road madi the waters near christmas island our cruising ground there near dear the equator the enst east bound and westbound west bound routes for sailing ships crossed we salted sailed backward find and forward crossing the equator two tire and three limes each day we captured three american ships in these waters the A B johnson the slade and the manila our prisoners forty five men one woman and a pet opossum the captains were not halt half so as toni shed and bewildered as the former captains when we unmasked ourselves as a buccaneer bucci neer they knew th that lit the sailing ship raider wo was so we were deprived of souie some of our fortier amusement of n astounding and befuddling officers slid and crows crews by suddenly suC sue denly hol hoisting sting the german flag unmasking our cannon firing a machine jun on into their ringing rigging and similar pleasant pleasantries ries ri erS erstling thIng went meat off uce idling to routine on one occasion we ran into a most intricate compiles ion we had ex pecked the corolli coro salons of war and piratical strategy that was part of the game rut put at theotime the time to which I 1 refer we were faed fa ta ed fed with a new dew and tender complication a aromatic complication lies iles got its his wl e dilong along boarding bo arding officer nicer ireless aed me ile he referred to fro n officer of one of 0 the ships indeed we had noticed a woman moman aboard the captured ship the officer in question presently in introduced i me line ti to hs bs helpmate a and 0 d a 1 knockout she as pretty petite and well just a bit roguish rom I 1 ey cy toe joe I 1 thought the sailors of lot these days ar are marvelous fellows inhere where to do they get these swell lookin looking wives nives when I 1 was in the forecast tie tic it was dif different 11 in mose days davs an officers wife was something to run away from usually I 1 fat usually savage and always sloppily dressed Irps sed I 1 thought of all the I 1 windjammer captains under whom had sailed and I 1 dut think of one who hud had a wife that looked like i a chorus girl gigi well times do change cli angel I 1 there ans the captain we had bat captured in the Atlantic wb who had find su sucha cefi i pleasant little bride and now here was ves this officer and t r ills bli spi apt lightly bent beauty ity ii gnass I 1 can also ad myself to i 0 the list here 1 I an alo skipper of a peace ful windjammer now taking my waster the waterland ya terland around like orld all and I 1 have my wife along I 1 have already described irnia irma tile fairy princess it i my green island in the canaries fin aries ves sailors wives have improved in i looks these days aboard the Se eadler we greeted the pretty little lady col our former fair company had been so pleasant that we ana IP 1 1 d a an other oilier similar brightening of the lie dull monotony mimi mon stony tun aboard the mono monotony tolly woe was indeed broken somewhat ii i but in a decidedly differing diff differ erint cut way than we had expected tile officer hud had not been lous n aboard before lie he took me aside handmade and made nn at avil awkward ward and some nhai confession ue ile hat had beet been thin thinking klug things oer I 1 I 1 count he eaid cold in your reports you may say something about my hav ins ing toy my wife along a yes I 1 replied well by joe tie be continued 1 I wish you yon nay may anything about it dont say bay anything about my having baving a wife along my aly real wife might find it out and then there would be h b 11 II to pay oho obo I 1 exclaimed so the way the wind blows ell eh 1 I said she was my wife he con tinned lamely because I 1 thought it might help to save her from dour our sailors cut but I 1 dont want my wife to find it out all right sir air I 1 said gald 1 I wont report it and I 1 wont let my off officers liceri or crew know anything about it that will be best treat the girl as your wife ife I 1 will keep my mouth shut and you keep your bour mouth shut it was a difficult plot of morals aboard ship it if me hie delors found out that the girl was not the officers wife but only a kind of stowaway they would lose all respect ton fori her and there was no telling what they might try to do sailors are not angels but usually in fact a lot of rogues but they are highly respectable they have bae a very tine fine code of honor better and a woman who Is olt tolie tie line Is simply off the line to them certainly I 1 did not dot want them to know that the officers wife was not he be officers wife one of my prisoners turned out to be an acquaintance of the officer of tile the I 1 told him that the boffl c er of the had his bis wife along and introduced him to the girl ile ie laughed so hard be nearly tell fell over he wanted to tell the joke all around it was awkward tor for a moment but I 1 got the two men aside ant aal tallied talked earnestly to them we must be gentlemen in this matler te I 1 said she Is a girl we are men we must protect tier her the sailors must not know about it you must both give me your word of nf honor that you nill ill kepp keep mum and tell nobody they both promised they would obey everything went all right until this other prisoner took it a shine to the girl too it was tunny funny business she kind of liked him I 1 kept an eye on the whole and saw what was waa happening here was more worry and trouble I 1 took tooh the two men aside find said to them 1 I dont core care what arrangements you two fellows make with your fair playmate but it has got to be kept quiet the sailors must think that she Is the wife of the officer ot of the and that Is only a friend they made some kind of change I 1 believe I 1 1 never could figure just liow how it was I 1 never was much good at mathematics or at figuring out anything for that matter at any rate they kept it quiet the other oilier prisoner was married too and he dit anit avant anything of the complicated romance to get around either I 1 had bad come to expect my prisoners to tie be good company our former captains club lud had been one of tile lie most delf delightful gotful social organizations ever formed these two sentimental however were not much good for comradeship it was difficult to get to together ether with them tor for a pleasant dint chat or game of cards they were ere alloys thinking about the girl and although they were acquaintances in captivity their feelen feelings 0 toward each other had bad become slightly strained there Is something about tile the air down there in the south seas I 1 guess one of lie hie captains made up for or the companionship that had bad been lacking lie ile was a fine fellow ile he was lovial jovial slid and intelligent and a thorough seaman if there ever was one we became fast friends and had many a long and sympathetic talk about the A ar I 1 weeks passed and we did not see another ship the idle days become became very bore soine it was broiling hot and we had little exercise our writer water turned stale ond and we had no fresh provisions our prisoners did not find their stay with lis as so pleasant now but we could not find a vessel on to still ship them one decided that he be c could 0 old not dot stand it u any y longer lie ile w wanted anted to put ills his feet fed on land at any price lie he came caine to me with a strange idea would I 1 not land him on a desert island and leave film there a castaway anything was butter better than shipboard but the principal part of tile his plan dna more sul subtle tle ile he would be reckoned dead si at home and his people collect his insurance money perhaps Ier haps I 1 would be so at kind as to 10 make it seeni seem certain that he was lost yes no on oil the island he could live as it a Itt ibInson crusoe a klad of existence which lie he fatic fancied ted would be quite ceabe unfortunately for him I 1 felt obliged to decline I 1 was not interested te in sw Ind linc In insurance companies TO BE CONTINUED 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