The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1891-02-25

/ had intended, caught in his gap
/ ing mouth and saved his life, al
! though it served temporarily as a gag.
With a superhuman effort Moriarty
/ struggled 10 his feet and as be put out his
/ hand il fell on a belaying-pin at the side
+ of the mask. Jerking this loose from it's
/ rack he struck his assaiant over the head
and knocked him senseless. Then the
Irishman discovered that be had been
attacked by Notice, who, finding his
enemy unconscious and the deck deserted.
had embraced the opportunity for gratify-
ing his revenge.
Believing that he had killed the Hindoo.
Moriarty's first impulse was 10 pitch the
body overheard At this moment he dis
covered the presence of the fshing-smack,
and, as the second mates whistle calling
the bOatswain broke the stiffness, he
passed quickly down the ships ladder and
hid himself in the hold of the smaller yes
sci, determined. If necessary, to appeal to
the generosity of the fishermen. The ne
cessity did not arise, however, for by
dawn the smack was moored at her wharf
in one of the fishing hamiets on the Eng
glish coast and deserted by her crew.
Although his clothes and other luggage
were left on the Renown, Moriarty car
ried his little hoard of money with him,
way to friends in Ireland.
Having arrived there he remained for a
dozen years, finding work on farms and
in gardens about his native place. Then
spirit of unrest and adventure possessed
him and he shipped as cook on a sailing
vessel. From that time he bad drifted TO
all parts OF the world, falling deeper in
degradation. until he had reached the low
/ est strata of bummerhood.
-. fl l.. ~
| seen Notice since that last night on the
! Renown. and twice had the Hindoo tried
! 10 take his life. First he had run across
Notice in a sailors boarding house at Liv-
! erpool, where, according 10 the Irishman,
the dusky HindOO had put poison in his
tea, the fortunate discovery of the plot by
another sailor alone preventing its con-
summation. Notice quickly disappeared,
! TO reappear next at row in a Havana
dive, where Moriarty was badly stabbed.
| The knife, he assured me, was held by the
same dark-skinned avenger.
The other right" said my guest. with
sudden earnestness, bringing his chair
forward with q bang, and smashing his
pipe on the floor, the other night l saw
the divil down by the wharves. He's
looking for me now. It's three tonnes
an out We say over here, an the third
time, Mke-Sergt. Moriarty---of the For
ty-seventh will be out"
The fire in the caverns OF the soldier
iramp's eyes died away and his head
dropped for a moment Then he rose,
gathered up his hat and other coverings,
and, as ] forced some money into his
hand, started TO leave the room. Sud-
denly he stopped, clutched at the door
post and staggered back. Looking
through, / saw a dark-hued man, in sailor
clothes, drinking at the bar. He was
stouter than Notice had been, and
thick beard covered his face, but his
features were those of an East Indian.
He finished his glass, cast glance around
the room as if looking Tor some one and
went out
l followed for il was late. Moriarty.
when l last saw him, was standing in the
doorway of the little room where he had
dined.
A day or two later my attention was at
tracted by an item in an afternoon paper,
headed: "Thuggee in the Sums" 1t de-
scribed the finding OF the body of tramp
in an alley of Baxter street. He had ev-
identity been strsngled, said the reporter,
after the manner pursued by East Indian
thugs, for narrow strip Of cloth, appar-
emily of foreign wool was knOtted about
his neck. The part OF the item describ-
ing the body and speaking of one of the
hands as being badly deiOrmed startled
me.
AT the morgue found poor Moriarty's
body. Around the neck was dark blue
mark, such as one sees on the necks of
persons who have been hanged. There
were bruises on his face, as if he had been
attacked from behind and pitched forward
upon the rough ground. The police sur
geon said the man's neck had been broken.
/ told the police that l suspected muir
der, but they pooh-pOohed the matter,
and made no effort 10 find the assassin. IL
was unQuestiOnably a suicide, they said,
with the usual astuteness. A clever news
paper reporter, however. discovered that
an East India sailor answering Notices de-
scription had been in New York for sew
eral days before and on the night OF
Sergt Moriarty's taking Off and had
sailed the following morning on a ship
bound for Calcutta. The fellow was not
an entire stranger among the sailor board
ing houses of the east-side, it seemed, and
had the reputation of being cruel and vim
dctive, while the propensity which he
had shown in the drunken atfrays to
choke the person with whom he was fight
ing had given him the local nickname of
"The Stranger"
Claiming the body of the old soldier, !
had it buried in consecrated ground, q
friendly priest reading the burial service.
A modest headstone that rises over the
grave bears the inscription:
! SERGEANT MORIARTY-OF THE 47TH.S