Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1894-11-27
A MAN OF PREY.

IA DlA1S= S45 l111I As
Toward Singapore, out of the sunset
glare, long, slashing schooner came
spanking in before the southwest mon
soon at pace which procured for her
from prahu. lorcha and sampang an un-
commonly wide berth. OF lPulo Pam
jan, however, the stranger put his helm
down, got in his square canvas and
went away, close hauled, west by north
along the coast.
.'See that, SamP'' and Proddy of
Proddy s. Newman let his cheroot go
out as he gaped after the flying schooner.
Proddy had been over to Bintang, and
Sam was skipper of his little steam
yacht.
''Aye, sir, see that, and see the rea-
son of it, too, /" and Sam pointed to a
streaming wisp of yellow at the top of
Schooner hauled her wind the instant
that bit o. bunting went alott.
Private signal. eh? And quarantine
colors tool Deyilish oddl Don't concern
us. thoughp' and Proddy, the pot bell
lied, lit another Manila.
Over the domestic establishment OF
Simon Proddy, Esq, presided lady
who rejoiced in stearine complexion,
velvety eye and hair for length and
blackness like unto horse's tail, but
who, despite French habiliments and an
English education, was a China woman
pure and simple.
ga wonderful woman, sirl'' would
Proddy say. Worth any half dozen
white women ever knewl And the
best of it is that her sisters and her
cousins and her aunts are God knows
wherel Couldn't quite stand them, you
howp
But, all unknown to Proddy, his
brevet wife possessed father-a sophis-
ticated old sinner, who dabbled with
dubious irons in mysterious fires and
carried about as much rascality to the
square inch as any in Singapore. And
little thought Proddy, when he one day
ordered off his premises a doddering,
old, specialized Chow, that into that
astute brain of Mrs. Proddy's respected
parent there had that very moment been
born scheme for the conversion into q
valuable security of his, Proddy's, sub
stantial person.
Well, up the old Singapore strait the
mysterious schooner had let go her
anchor. In here, between the back Of
the island and the mainland, the sou'-
wester came but family, and the Ra-
phael h Semmes, under lee of Tanjong
Belu, lay stirless and silent upon an ink
mirror. Her forestay showed no riding
light, nor through the tarpaulin blind
ed skylight could come any glimmer
from below, where lounged frock coat
ed and pot hated little man of slender
build and mild, reflective eye There
wasn't much to indicats the most reck-
less desperado the archipelago had ever
seen-a deserter from the famous Ala
bama during her visit to the strait in
1865. Crooly Dixon had since sailed slap
through many law of many nation,
and, though report perhaps exaggerat-
ed in asserting that he ought long ago
to have adorned yardarm, it was cer-
tain that he hadn't acquired his pleas
ing appellation for nothing. But now
the Crocodile, with black trichinopoly
in its jaws and a bottle of Madeira at
its elbow, appeared ga gentle beast
enough and of an excellent conscience, !"
fact which, to those who knew the
reptile best boded very ill for some-
body.
"At here, master, now come. Very
great thing to want to settle at now
quick.
Away among the jungle, toward the
back of the island, Proddy had gam
bier plantation, the overseer whereof
was Whang Lo, and Whang Los Eng
hsh, as above presented, Proddy under
stood we'll enough. But what he didn't
understanding he told the lemon tint
Cd
could be that required his presence In
such a hurryI If it was another cody
nRbbed by tiger, he'd wake the au-
thorities up to some purposei The brutes
were breeding ON the island like rab-
bits, and the reward wasn't quarter big
enoughl
About an hour after Proddy, growl-
ing thus, had departed into the dark
ness, Mrs. Proddy, idly turning over
Whang Los screed, discovered ON the
back thereof three tiny Chinese charac-
ters, of which-so far had English dis
placed her hereditary language-she un-
derstood but one. That one, however,
was enough-it signified ''danger''-
and in three minutes Mrs Prodigy was
ON her way to the nearest police tannah.
DO not comer translated the old
Javani -s'DangerAthe croco-
dilei The true word, this, ON backr, he
added promptly. bad men make he
write the other-this when nobody look.
he put, SO Missa Proddy no comelb And
then, with Mrs Proddy, the acute old
man sent of peon to the central ONCE.
Here she had short interview with the
superintendent. who, In turn, had, 90
minutes later, short interview with
the lieutenant commanding her maies-
ty's gunboat Tclller.
oh, that ruffian Dixonl'' Lieutenant
Dawson said. why, we're getting