Show tte A christmas stora Y ham avino gheem 7 T WAS upon one of those ss ea good old daya of nearly tour four hundred years ago when that prince ot of bold buccaneers bucca cortez was 1 grinding mexico under his iron heels beels and sending his ships back laden with treasures and while all spain was ringing like a bell to the tune time ot of his deeds that the beginning of the circumstances cum stances happened As to whether the ending was due du to a near miracle or pare chance each must take his choice but the way it all ha happened was like this carl carlos os de mont bar grown old and g gray ray as a silver fox in adventures upon land and sea and adventures upon land and sea and listening with his ear to the ground the better to hear beat the rumbles from afar arose saying to himself cortez corteal I 1 who then Is he to be a worker of marvels which I 1 cannot do true he has shaken the tree ef ct conquest first and many golden apples have fallen into his helmet but in his haste h has as he be riot lot left lef t as many more behind I 1 will follow in his steps and with much less trouble than befell him gather those he lias has left behind also becoming rich and famous I 1 will take my two ships summon my men and sail to this land of gold and thus having determined he be assembled his crews after which he sought out the good padre ferdinand father he said 1 I have two as good ships as ever broke brok a wave and Z there came a mighty tug upon the cable crews of whom even satan himself Is afraid we are to sail to the wonderful land of mexico and fill our holds with its treasures but there will be storms stories to ove recine dying comrades to minister to ani and proper prayers for our success to be said therefore we cannot sail without a priest be one of us as our boly advisor and your share shall te be next to mine the priest smiled up at him yes you will need a priest and therefore I 1 will go but it Is not the gold of these he athens that I 1 wish but merely their souls may I 1 claim clain them ithem as my share laughed loudly As many as you can caa get but how do you plan to snare such cunning things listen and I 1 will tell upon some mountain top croci arora whence it may be seen from afar your raen gaeu oust must build me a great miss loa in front of this mission I 1 will place a great lure so that all seeing it shall be drawn closer and once I 1 have live them before it I 1 shall talk to them thea of ts tiie e true faith until one oae ty by one they sha shall ln embrace it that christ nay may to receive them thus in my keeping will be their souls am I 1 not crafty also slapped ills his wondrous so rather father arl it Is a good bargain for both bota of us the souls sauls for you and the gold tor for me but u what tat Is to be the magic lure that my son you stall shall know la in good time you say you sall sail in a fortnight upon tho the morning of departure you must send me EC 40 of your men ro en to convey it to the th e ship you pronce promise that As many as you wish nasit agreed and when the day of sant sailing ng came and 40 straining men hauled aboard one of the ships a great cross made of iron walked about it in touch much swe we by nil all the father lie be said as he crossed hion himself self you yon alt come prepared to convert a universe if the better the day the better th deed why nay may it not as well le be the greater the emblem the greats great the good whereupon they made sail and dai fal appeared the western horizon and from that day nearly years ago until but a few months ago no ey of man saw sign or trace of the then Is 4 0 0 up the gulf of mexico the oil bar crescent came wallowing like a pig pi the trough of burly rough aej juall seas sea s that ran over her like the ielati cring tongues of monstrous brute gone mad deep down in her the ov ole engines clanked and wheezed ahli Mc mcardie Ardler the engineer scratch scratched ej to head dubiously as he watched thefil spasmodic and white while b ti the grace of the lord they nay may hg the trip out I 1 sometimes misdoubt IV it he be muttered for at any minute in they liable to fly to flinders like ea a wondrus old one horse shay 11 and fly to pieces they did vl the report of a gun a connecting afa snapped asunder and the next inseal its rod had jammed while with the rot roi of a cannon a cylinder lead ead veil crashing through a bulkhead la in in a instant the engine room was deluged with live vapor but with one of his arm the engineer shut olf off tit le steam and halt fainting from his scalds went working his way forward IK bt tween seas to the bridge where ob cei tain travers was clinging in a imotha of spume and its gone to glory abr tt have sir he reported avith ith a death head grin gria gray of face Travers point ed to the bar of madre de la laia with its spouting foam a few mite under their lee then so have we along with then our anchor will never hold on 25 bottom and well an all eat carts christen dinner tomorrow in davy Joce er reverently mcardle drew a cross from his pocket assed it aal replaced it while the captain looked m a silently it will take a bigger cross aku that to save us he be announce grimly the engineer til th pain twisted face that nay may be sir yet alg bl td sid small that same token has sari many a man and my belief it vs 13 save many another leastwise b to our only hope down to his on cabin he went creeping in searcha search oil and bandages all right eight long the crescent ing backward against her re cable as a wild horse bucks against lii lio tether dragged the anchor closer ad it closer to the seething bar where sli 41 must break her back casting them theada into a seething pot where nelt herrO nor boat could survive a minute il al dawn of christmas morning st ruction but an hour away capt travers summoned his men bafo him he pointed an ominous finger wa if the roaring bar now but a length away sly my friends said he in an taa NO from now it will all be over vi v i will tle be our last christmas day have but little tine time in which to a our last words therefore what a they be from somewhere a aab the despairing dozen the hoarse id of the engineer arose in a crook cro aUa tempt at song to the cross I 1 dine cling baek oa e one they joined their voices voice ragged accompaniment of ChO rust was torn from their lips by tte the bl cane to be lost in the veil tell of oattie oft chefe tie upon the bar and as their dinst la 0 ceased there came a mighty bugl A do the cable as it if some giant of c 90 depths inconceivably ly vast esq t had haa 0 the anchor and was holding we tb e fast against the drift and 89 cle w saw that it dragged no DO mok inore looked at each other first la in to ment then with the joy of M snatched from the very laws jaws of w c by a miracle the anchor has fouad folyd its 00 t Is holding they told each other othe bog I 1 C that lint such good fortune each had but little fait 1 t yet 24 hours later when t had calmed they still found P riding in safety then ie they gave pa ft tl s steam winch full power and anda 9 j the anchor came to the so hariw act holding in its grip I 1 t the e object wa 1 it had found and n fastened its litif y 4 w bu c desperately and its as the e cre crew go I 1 with curiosity bent over alie le ne gaze upon the mysterious ang fo irm and i 11 0 had preserved them 9 i by foot was being dragged da abro lok bed of sand they th saw S slog 1 the waters in th the anchors n or Is siv sted pit by y 64 object blac blackened kene an and inoru in 04 P k waters of the sea e IRL a on tro w 64 cross such as I 1 it might take w lj men to carry 1 ap western lea copyright 1916 1926 |