| Show PORTO BELLO GOLD by ell arthur D howden smith by arthur D howden hovden smith service SYNOPSIS CHAPTER L I 1 tho the story opens in new york about the middle of 0 the eighteenth century robert ormerod who tells tie the tale Is talking to peter corlzer Cor laer chief of 0 lur fur traders and man of 0 enormous strength when darby mcgraw irish bonded boy brings news that a pirate ship Is oft off the hook an old sea calta captain n announces s ho he has haa been chased by the notor notorious u s pirate captain rip rap the elder ormerod tells robert tho the pirate Is andrew murray his roberts great uncle commanding the pirate ship the royal james murray Is an ardent ja jacobite e obice CHAPTER II 11 next neit day robert and darby encounter a one logged legged sailor john silver whom darby conducts to a tavern robert meets a young woman from a spanish frigate who Is seeking her father colonel odonnell lie he takes her to the place sho she designates CHAPTER III murray with a force of sailors visits the ormerod house hous e ile he announces his intention of carrying g off robert by force if necessary promising him a great future the father la Is powerless peter corlzer insists upon accompanying robert CHAPTER rv IV robort robert and peter Pete rare are taken aboard a brig murray with colonel odonnell and darby mcgraw are also there odonnell goes ashore and the brig sails the take table was set and ready not with coarse crockery and steel forks knives and spoons but with dainty china heavy silverware and fine napery too I 1 commented on this when darby returned balancing smoking dishes and a jug of hot chocolate upon a tray the way himself his thumb indicated the starboard stateroom door will live the best of everything hell have and on his own ship slaves to serve him and they in uv liv erles eries like grand gentlemen have you seem to have experienced no 4 you walk like a blasted admiral no less trouble in becoming intimate with your new companions darby I 1 remarked its me head does it returned darby unabashed As I 1 told ye it brings good luck not to me I 1 retorted with a grin and dont ye be too sure he fl flashed asbed well maybe sail a long ways together and im your friend master blaster bob for ye were never on one e to let me be put upon in the counting loom humph said I 1 that Is to be seen where la Is himself as you call him asleep in his berth troth he be was up until dawn conning the brig through the harbor shoals are we outside sure were by and beyond hat ehat they call sandy book theres only the wide ocean in front im for the deck then I 1 answered the vl wan empty and I 1 met nobody until I 1 had climbed to the deck passing strange that I 1 ia so readily adapted myself to the sea bea and its ways seeing that all my life I 1 had never been beyond the waters of the inner harbor yet its the fact that I 1 had no discomfort or misgiving and even acquired instinctively the sailors tricks of standing and walking as was commented upon by no less an authority than john silver the deck was deserted for horard to rard ard one man was lashed to th the e main cross trees sweeping the entire circuit of the horizon with a spyglass aft there were only silver and another fellow at athe the wheel the one legged ma man waier waved to me with his crutch from his seat meat on the cabin skylight come and talk with long john master blaster Orme ormerod roV he called where did ye find them s sea alegs a legs 0 6 yourn youral you walk like a blasted admiral no less 1 I found them below I 1 answered r e lor OT k olife ot of me unable t to 0 resist t the hl e scoundrels rn ingratiating g g ff manner a un e r where tire are the rest of your company he laughed and winked at the man at the wheel an awful looking creature so heavy of shoulder dei as to appear deformed with a green shade over deeply sunken eyes that were all pitted around with tiny blue scars Is that forc fore full john asked the man with the green eyeshade eye shade in a voice that was singularly soft silver squinted aloft shell do he decided would you mind telling me howa how a blind man can steer I 1 inquired the man with the preen green eyeshade eye shade chuckled in a way to chill your blood so sardonic sardon re so overpoweringly evil was the caliber of the mirth it suggested dont go to makin up your mind pew ew cant see everything master blaster ormerod said silver shifting his crutch id hate bate to have him decide to take a shot at me steer well now needed in steer ln A strong arm says you and you says true also and likewise an ear for canvas lastly and leastwise an eye for the course any man can read a compass young gentleman but not every sall orman can feel how his big ship takes the wind and meets his rudder quick giilck when she wants pew can give him some one like me to play eyes for him and hell steer as straight a course as a packet boat wl a bonus on the voyage are there many cripples in your crew I 1 asked curiously cripples repeated sliver silver it all depends on what you might mean theres cripples and cripples some on ern em ye pays their screw their what I 1 interrupted their screw the what dye call it insurance money so much we get from the prize money extry for the hurt pew he got a thousand pounds which same he be in three nights in st pierre dye mind ezra I 1 got eight hundred pounds for my leg and fair enough if you asks me and that eight hundred pounds ill gamble you ha stowed away in a safe hole john said pew with a gentleness which gave the words a peculiarly sinister significance sliver silver nodded almost complacently what I 1 gets I 1 keeps im none 0 your tree free spenders rich today poor tomorrow some day ill be ret retiring irin from pl pi ratin and then ill alm aim to ta ride in my own coach and sit in parley ment have to sall sail your own ship first john said pew and the remark was fraught with implications that made me turn cold cold at the pit of my stomach it was as if you could see the trail of bloodshed and suffering silver would blaze to io possess that ship and to exploit her to advantage a and why not returned silver vigorously orous ly well name ro BO names ezi ezra a but captains cant live for ever some Is aged and some soaks in rum you never knowl you never know I 1 theres bill bones as has ideas on the remarked pew and he contrived to make me feel the horror of a long drawn out feud fetid and rivalry yes theres bill ruminated rumina ted silver flints mate Is bill flints best pal Is bill flints some says Is bill well well but we I 1 was ol 01 0 crip cripples ples and how a blind man can steer which Is a long way off from bill who neither crippled nor mind blind and maybe has hopes so go he has when he remembers that pew laughed so coldly with such demoniac inhumanity that I 1 experienced a sudden fellow feeling for master bones distasteful as I 1 had found him also a pronounced desire to change the subject the bare proximity to such whole heartless cruelty was unpleasant do you commonly indulge in exploits like yesterdays silver I 1 asked did you take this ship designedly sign edly to carry you into new york you might say truthfully she was the best fitted filled for it of several he be acknowledged blow my other stick oft off if she was good for anything else not forty pounds in her mumbled pew twiddling the wheel spokes her crew P silver raised his eyebrows and gave me a slow wink poor unfortunates 1 one time we take chances pews chuckle cli trickled icily from under the eyeshade eye shade which cast a green blur over his big whole lower fact face 61 1 I suppose there Is a hell for such as you I 1 said trying to keep my voice steady some says ERYS there lg in and some says there answered silver reasonably no use to worry says L I 1 I 1 was so wrought up that I 1 think I 1 must have come to blows with them but for a fortunate diversion bones and several other men emerged from the hatch batch yawning and stretching their arms evidently having just arisen from sleep at the same moment peter petee corlzer climbed from the cabin companionway lurched for a moment on his feet and then staggered precariously toward the bul bill barks I 1 started ferard to aid him and bones ran aft with a loud yell dont ye spoil my decks ye tat fat cowl he shouted poor peter regardless of both of us ns seized a stay and clung to it abjectly quite helpless bones reached him first and gave him a shove which sent him plunging into the sc uppers head first get up snarled bones and dealt him a vicious kick with a heavy sea boot peter groaned and I 1 caught bones i by the arm D p n you for a coward I 1 I 1 shouted captain gilr murray ady I 1 lade ad e you lii use si us gently Is this how you obey he snatched free of me and yanked out a knife obey ye lousy lub lubber lubberly berl 1 he howled im flints mate and ill show ye who can say obey to me get back there or ill cut your heart out and eat it afore ye I 1 looked about me for a weapon anxious to give him a lesson but there was not a sign of anything handy and I 1 backed away cautiously from the menace of his knife silver shouted to him to let us ua be as did one or two others but his hid only answer was a string ot of the curses la in which he was so proficient and he be continued to circle after me for myself I 1 was not greatly frightened for as it chanced knife kalfe fighting was an art in which I 1 was wag somewhat expert thanks to instruction from my fathers indian friends but I 1 was wag concerned lest the scoundrel make a dart at peter and slay the dutchman as he lay inert judge of my amaze int m ht nt then when peter swayed to his feet holding on to the bulwarks bulwa to pull himself erect his hia face was white but he abandoned his support without hesitation and advanced crooked legged across the deck toward us 1 I take him bob he said I 1 jumped between him and bones ln in time to stop the pirates rush dodging a knife thrust by the width of my coat sleeve keep away peter I 1 panted 01 1 I can handle hi him lm you cant 1 I take him repeated corlzer Cor laer ile he reached out his hand grabbed my shoulder and spun me from it his is path as easily as it if I 1 had been a child and I 1 did not attempt to return to his side for I 1 had felt the strength iri in his arm and knew that I 1 had no cause to his ability to take care of himself against any man however armed let him be bill called silver again was I 1 wrong in fancying his tone unduly officious provocative im d d it if I 1 do rasped bones if he wants it hell get it ile he sprang at peter with knife upraised aiming to slash his throat but peter moved with lightning speed to counter him one immense arm thick as a tree bough shot out wid aid imprisoned the wrist of the knife hand a twist and the knife pinged hinged on the deck the other arm captured a thigh and bones was reared above reters peters head peter gave him a preliminary shake ns as if to prove to him how completely lie was in his power arid and started to walk hack back to the lee bulwark bones shrieked like the lost soul he was certain that peter intended to cast him into the sea but halfway half way across the deck peter came to a loose halyard ile he lowered bones carelessly tucked him under one arm and proceeded to reeve a landsmann lands mans slip noose we all watched him with ut ter fascination and it Is an indication of the pirates code in such affairs that none of them intervened but peter was not to hang master blaster bones your object Is no doubt praiseworthy reter peter remarked my groat grisat uncle from the cabin companionway behind us but I 1 tear fear I 1 must request iou you to let the man go lie he Is of some value to a friend of mine peter regarded murray curiously he knifes robert and me ja 1 answered the dutchman he will not do it again murray assured him master bonesi bones 1 peter regretfully unhitched the noose from bones neck and administered a shove which sent ent him reeling across the deck to carom into the butt of the mizzenmast recoiling with the loss of a broken tooth and ending up in a battered heap bead at murrays Mur rays feet my great uncle regarded the fellow with obvious displeasure stand up master bones he said bones stumbled to his feet bleeding from several cuts and scratches ile he was very plainly frightened at what lay ahead of him master bones resumed my great uncle you are for the present under my command and I 1 happen to have somewhat old fashioned theories as regards discipline and the th carrying put out of orders you have recently disobeyed an order of mine sure I 1 master blaster bones my uncle went on without raising his voice did you ever know a man named Fo fothergill therill jack I 1 believe was the given name bones nodded unable to speak and what did I 1 order done to him master bones bones moistened his lips keel hauled lie he was correct agreed my great uncle keel haull it 1 A most expressive phrase robert hobert 1 he added to me technically I 1 should explain it in bolves drawing a nitin under the keel of a vessel it has shall we say unpleasant consequences he turned tc bones no man disobeys an order of mine more than once master bones that Is all you may go to fo rard the man started to slouch off wiping the blood from his cheek with his coat sleeve but peter stepped in front of him the dutchman took an oaken belay lag ing pin from the rack around the mizzenmast mizzen zen mast held it out toward bones end and the others and calmly broke it in two with his bare hands and tossed the fragments admirable 1 exclaimed my great uncle what words could hope to express so much as that gesture and it intrigues me to note that cor car laer has a distinct taste for the dia matic silver has the lookout SI sighted any vessel not a sall sail since we cleared sandy hook sir air the one legged man answered briskly very roo good d keep on this course and ca call 11 jt me ie tt nt conf e s should h gilld a sail gall gizi filinow w in any quarter and he be descended dencen ded with proper dignity to his breakfast CHAPTER VI tall ships and lawless men there was a noticeable tightening of discipline after my great uncles uncle s admonition to bones and peter and I 1 were let beverly alone except by silver who I 1 think thinly found satis fae flon in annoying the mate by the effusiveness fusi veness of his cordiality to us A second lookout was sent into the foretop and the watch on deck were continually on the alert my great uncle paced the deck with measured strides throughout the afternoon his head bent upon ills his chest not a word for anybody when night came he supervised the hoisting of two lanthorne lan thorns red and green ono one above the other to the main truck and he be ate very little of the excellent meal which silver cooked in the galley and darby served us in the cabin peter was almost himself again although he dared eat but little and suffered qualms when the brig rolled lit much uch from the perpendicular ile he was asleep as an soon as lie he lay down but I 1 drowsed lightly tor for some hours and all that time I 1 could hear overhead the tap tap tap of footfalls in even cadence as my great uncle strode from the stern stem railing to the cabin companionway and back again yet when I 1 went on deck in the morning it was to discover murray already there dressed with his customary immaculate precision his face fresh and he stood astraddle close by the wheel hands clasped behind him his gaze fixed upon the tossing waters ahead you seem perturbed I 1 said 1 I am he returned frankly 1 I have two problems upon mygind my mind 1 unfortunately I 1 see no signs of pur pursuit sult I 1 answered he smiled nor will you nephew robert no my problems are connected with the difficult task of attaining an imaginary ry spot in this trackless waste and puzzlement as to whether I 1 have correctly estimated an equation of human values u en you are not perhaps mathematical ma ali ah too baal there Is no mental exercise so |
