Show ak caicco aw M CHAPTER VII the lieutenant unmasked where the craft could be bound for what secret purpose it was afloat who were aboard were but so many unan sm s erable questions arising in my mind where could it have come coine from unless dunles from that strange dutch bark it if it really came from the namur of rotterdam had it been sent in answer to some signal by sanchez I 1 could think of nothing else I 1 determined to assure myself as to the identity iden city of these FA strangers rangers it if they had actually a landed it would require only a few moments to ascertain the truth the distance proved somewhat greater than anticipated because of the deep curve in tho the shore and I 1 hall had nearly reached the conclusion that the boat must ha haie e rounded the point and gone on when cud suddenly denly I 1 was brought to a halt by a voice speaking in spanish one of those harsh croaking voices never to be reduced to a whisper not the spot manuel of course it Is do you not suppose I 1 know this Is the place and now there is nothing to do but wait the eienor he will be here presently ay unless you misread the sIg signal nril a somewhat more discreet but piping voice replied doubtfully 1 I saw nothing of all you toll tell about estada the two men went on to discuss plans evidently communicated to estada by sanchez from england I 1 was about to creep nearer when alien a newcomer moved past me scarcely a yard distant along the narrow arrow in strip ot of sand directly opposite my covert he paused estada ne ile spoke the name cautiously tiou sly ay captain and another figure craer emerged ged noiselessly from the gloom we await you good I 1 rather questioned if you caught my signal I 1 was mas watched and obliged to exercise care ilow how many have you here four senor with manuel estevan quite sufficient ilow how is it here are there suspicious suspicions none senor we wc have cruised outside most of tile the time there Is no warships in these wate waty you said you were wing being watched on the sloop are you known A dog of a servant ervant who came over with us one of Mon mouths brood the fellow watches mv me like a hamic hak we had some words aboard and there is s hate between us may I 1 ask your plans senor yes I 1 am here to explain this planter fairfax has ban returned from kugland eugiane with a large surn sum it Is la in gold and notes it represents the proceeds of the tobacco crop of himself and a number of his neighbors without doubt it will be upward of fifty thousand pounds tiiu this still remains remain in ills his possession but a part will be dispersed tomorrow ow so if we hope to gain the whole we must do so now everything is ii ready and there Is not tile lie slightest suspicion of danger not even a guard set over the treasure then it is at tile house in au an ironbound iron bound cliett in the room assigned to pali fits for the night only two servants sleep in the main dollso tile cook and ft a maid both bath women fairfax Is vigorous and will vill put up lit a fight it if lie he has any chance lie ile must be taken care of before lie rice say travers Is an old man to be decked out with a 41 blow all we have to ti tear fear are those fellows on oil tile the sloop and they will mill have to be attended to quietly without any alarm the house bouse I 1 am going to leave that job to you its not your first the old sea orders captain ay that will be quicker and surer b tile the voice hardened to sudden ferocity but mark you with one exception tits thy a 0 Is not to be killed if lie can call be taken alive I 1 would deal I 1 with him then after that sanchez went on deliberately as though murder was of small mail recount account you will follow me up the bluff who are the others with you carl anderson pedro mendez and Co cochise chose well chosen mendez is the least valuable rind we me will mill leave liim him with the prisoner at tile the boat the big negro bochow Coch together with Mar manuel luel can attend to travers and the two ne greases they sleep below that will leave you and the swede to get the chest no fir firearms earnis if they can be avoided I 1 have been over the house and drawn dramn a diagram you can look it over in the he cabin of the sloop the stairs lead up from the front hall I 1 will go with you to the door of fair faas room and you senor the girls girl what know you ti ot any girl that was one on the deck of the sloop rin an english beauty it was when you turned to greet her that you gave me tile the signal I 1 merely thought that perhaps then stop thinking burst forth sanchez enraged thinking lias has nothing to do with your work if IE there Is a girl I 1 attend to her let that suffice dios atu am I 1 chief here or are you you have my orders now obey jhc thc tham m and hold your tongue bring the men up here the little band of men emerged from the concealment of the fog noiselessly I 1 could distinguish no faces scarcely indeed the outlines of their separate forms in the gloom but one was an unusually big fellow co chose lads lie he said incisively a sharper note of leadership in the tone it has been a bit quiet for you lately but now I 1 arn am back again and well try our luck at sea once more there was a savage growl of response a sudden leaning forward of dark figures well begin on a job tonight there are fifty thousand pounds fo for i us in that house yonder and I 1 wa waive lve my share estada will explain to you tile the work I 1 want done by daylight we shall be on OIL blue mater w ater with our course set for porto grande ilour how Is it bullies do you sniff at the salt sea ay ity ay captain and see the pretty girls walting waiting and hear the chink of gold ay senor then do ut not fall fail me tonight donigi it and remember it is to be the knife estada I 1 have forgotten one thin thing scuttle cuttle tile the sloop before joining me better to make all safe and now strong arms and good luck go to your task and if one falls fails me it wilt will mean the lash at the mast butt they moved off one by one estada loading leading along the narrow strip of sand five of them on their mission of murder the leader remained alone ills his back toward where I 1 crouched his eyes following their vanis vanishing bing figures until the night had bad swallowed them CHAPTER vil VIII I 1 A victory and a defeat I 1 arose silently to my feet fully aware that all hope of thwarting this villainy lay in immediate action san sam chez had turned and stood with mith his face toward the bay I 1 ian cn bared a cautious stop step for forward and stood on the open sand scarcely a yard to ills his rear soule some vague senze sense ot of my presence must have influenced the man tor for lie he swung suddenly about uttering littering a stifled cry of startled surprise as we met face to face for an instant we were mere locked so closely ench each others desperate grip his head bent beneath my arm with my fingers clutching at his throat to block any call for help that lie he posse possessed sRed no knOw knowledge knowledg led e of ills his assailants assal lants identity but the man was like a tiger the ahl sur surprise prie of attack was to my advantage yet almost before I 1 realized what was being behig done lie he had rallied broken my firt first hold and ills his eyes were nvere glaring straight into nil mine e then lie he knew me liis ills free hand grasping at his knife even as he be jerked it forth I 1 crushed ills his wrist within my fingers ur igers forcing ills his forearm bac back l there was no outcry no noise except aliat ahat of our heavy breathing and trampling feet personal hatred had cen dency in both our hearts I 1 doubt it if he ever thought of ought else but hie file desire to kill me there with ills his on dmn hands only once did he eyen utter a word hissing out the sentence us as though it were a poison to hell bell with you you sneaking english cur what followed has to roe me no clearness no consistency never have I 1 fought with deeper realization that I 1 needed every ounce of strength and every trick of wit and skill now I 1 knew the fellow Posse possessed sed d gre greater eater ter knowledge of the game than I 1 and a quicker movement I 1 excelled in weight of body and coolness of brain twice he pricked me deep enough to draw blood before I 1 succeeded in twisting backward the arm with which h he held the blade ile he met the game too late falling failing halt back upon one knee hoping thus to foil my purpose there was the sharp crack of a bione tione bone as ills his useless fingers let the knife drop a snarled curse of pain and then with tile the rage of a mod mad dog sanchez struck his teeth deep into my cheek with a thrill of exultation exaltation I 1 gripped the knife driving instantly the keen blade to its hilt into the mans side he made no cry no struggle the set teeth unlocked and he fell limply back on the san sand his bis head bead lapped by the waves the fellow lily lay motionless his face upturned to the sky but invisible except in dim outline I 1 rested my ear car over ills his heart detecting no murmur of response touched the veins of his bis wrist but found there no answering throb of life with the death dealing knife still gripped in my hand band I 1 raced forward along the narrow strip of sand reckless of what I 1 might encounter I 1 ran on until I 1 reached the sloop through the gloom concealing the leek deck I 1 could perceive only dim figur figures a riot of men battling furiously hand to hand yet out of the ruck loomed through ollga the darkness in larger outlines than tile the others Co cochise Coc liose chose the negro I 1 leaped at tile the fellow ind and struck nith the keen knife maling the heart hut but plunging the blade deep into the flesh of the shoulder the next instant I 1 was in a bears grip the very breath crushed out of me yet by some chance my one arm remained free and I 1 drove the sharp steel into him twice before ho he forced the weapon from my fingers I 1 thrust in an elbow beneath hie file brutes chin and thus forced liis ills head back until the neck cracked lie ile was too strong too immense of stature apparently by his rounds mounds the giant negro thoroughly aroused exerted ills his mighty muscles and despite my utmost effort at resistance thrust me back against the stern rail where the weight of his body pinned me helplessly with a roar of rage he be drove his huge fist into my face but happily was too close to give much force to the blow sly my own hands gripping the neckband of Ms coarse shirt twI twisted steil it tight about the great throat until in desperation panting for breath the huge brute actually lifted me in his arms and hurled me backward headlong over the rall rail I 1 struck something as I 1 tell fell yet rebounding from this splashed into the deep water and went down so nearly unconscious as to make not even the slightest struggle and yet 1 I came up once more to the surface S fir NOR made no cry no struggle arising by sheer chance directly beneath the small dory which my body must have struck as I 1 fell towing by a painter astern of the sloop and fortunately tuna tely retained sense enough to cling desperately to this first thin tiling my hinds hands touched and thus remained concealed the dory caught in some current floated at the very extremity of its slender towline tow linc and in consequence tho the sloop appeared little more than a mote moie smudge when my eyes endeavored to discover its outlines evidently the bloody work had been completed for now all was silent on board then came the voice of estada in a gruff inquiry so you are hiding here cochise Co Coc chose bose what are you looking for in tile the sea what why that d d englishman mon alon dieu lie ile fought me like a mad rat tile the Erig englishman lishman you say saya ile he was here then it was lie he you battled with what became of the fellow ile he went down there senor the ing dog stabbed tile me three times it was mas cither lie he or I 1 to go you moun mean you threw him overboard ay lis his ribs crushed in null and not a breath left in his d d body lies never come up even ive watched ind and there has not been so much as a ripple where he be sank |