Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1894-03-21
!, =, s5oat 1nala, Arabia anu our compan.

US a5o10 fndla, Arabia anu our cofnPan'
ions. :, VT, :,
said once. Aren't they pretty set:
Haven't they the look of having been born,
bred, trained, educated, for the special pur>
pose of wallowing in crime? Without ocu,
lar evidence could you lmaglnet tnat so much
rascality could be condensed within n few
skins? They are the very essence Of vii
lains, sir, or rather the dregs, with not m
honest or honorable instinct among them
verify believe old Nick would be ashamed
of them, for he, if reports be true, is IN
artist and gentleman, but they-they are
mere butchers. If justice were any more
than thing of courts and fine talk, ther1
isn't a man of them that shouldn't long
ago have adorned gibbet."
".And how in the name of wonder do they
come to be on MIR. Matheson's ship"
asked. MI Watson screwed his face know
ingly and winked.
".Ah, ha! there you are" he laughed
"How comes the purse to rule the con
science? Mr.. Matheson was born ayont the
Tweed and knows the value of bawbecs
These rinsings of creation are got cheap be
cause they're flying from the scaffold."
"Flying from the scafIoldl How do you
know"
"From experience and the modicum o.
wit heaven gave me. ssespectabilty's &
thing we don't care to pay for on East In
dia traders. And ohat reminds me, are you
armed, Mr.. Kilgour?"
las nature armed me-" l rejoined. ~
did not think it was necessary to come or
board Mr.. Matheson's ship armed"
"Necessity's just rs you take it," he said
significantly. 'In this golden cline il
might not be necessary to wear clothes, but
you do it all the same. A pistols not
heavy, and sometimes it's very handy.
always carry one, and this little thing be
Sides" and turning up the edge Of his
waistcoat he revealed the handle of a dag
ger:n
thought of progging me-" he exclaimed
"I have found it useful at close quarters
more than once Come this way, Mr.. Xii
golr."
He led me to his cabin, which was Office
and bedroom in one When we were inside
he carefully closed and fastened the door
then getting upon his knees he unlocked q
heavy iron box, which Notwithstanding its
immense weight was fixed to the floor with
iron rivets
"This is for the ships papers" be ex
planned, looking up with smile of intel
ligerfce, but you can put more than hats
in a baadbox. Here, take your choice Of
these" and he lifted an armfu! Of pistols
7 i !, ,,I- s.+o Wit |, r,,ipl-
ton OF chilliness. The startling gdiscOvcrics
were crowding too closely upon each other
for my nerves
"Oh, you'd better have one" he said il
bis matter Of fact way. Its nasty to bi
caught unprepared. | dare say you know
something about firearms"
- know more about fowling pieces than
pistols" l answered, taking one with 4
trembling hand.
well, well, you'll soon get used to it.
Nothing trains man with the pistol like
knowing he may be turned into target at
less than moments notice"
And do you really mean to say there's
danger?"
That's just as you look at it, If the
risk of being killed without prayers is
danger, then we are not in the safest place
on earth. That's good one, Mr.. Kilgour
take it with you"
I slowed the weapon away while he rum
mayed in the box.
r 1.Here, will you have one of these?" he
asked moment later, holding up sheai
of daggers But they were too suggest
i've and I declined the offer.
h. ~ l,o IL II
ting back daggers and pistols into theil
place. "Since you won't have dagger,
suppose it's no use Offering you sword
No, l thought so. Well, now for the cope
stone Of the COUNSEL" he continued, stand
ing erac5 and looking me straight in the
eyes. Don't let any one get too familiar
The moment you smell trouble, draw and
blaze away. If you don't kill, you will be
respected; if you do kill, it's but insticc
anyway. If you deliberate you're lost. And
now, lest they should suspect plot, let's
go out,n saying which he opened the door
and we went on deck.
For the rest of that day was hot, nerv.
Gus, depressed and i'll at case yet with a
certain feeling of consequence. Firearms
give courage us the saddle confers author,
ity. The touch of my pistol hilt thrilled
me, and many time did l surreptitiously
slip in my hand just to gain assurance by
grasping it.
I kept, as you may think, keen eye on
the crew, for though there was not a whit
more danger now than there had been from
the beginning l detected treachery and a
murderous intent in every act and look of
the men. l expected bloodshed and tried
to convince myself was prepared for it,
But indeed it was to matter little to me
whether were armed or not. The feeling
of heat and depression grew upon me hour
by hour. At first naturally referred it to
my conversation with Mr.. Watson. But in
this ! was mistaken. went to bed deadly
sick, to toss in feverish paroXysms through
the long night, and next morning | was SO
giddy that on attempting to rise l stag.
gered and sank to the floor. When / gath
cred myself together, the room was whirl-
ing like huge spinning wheel, carrying
me with it in its gyrations. Steadying my.
self little, managed to crawl back to my
berth on hands and knees, my eyes well
nigh sghtless and my brows throbbing as
if there were steam machinery inside. My
skin burned with prickly heat, and my
throat and tongue were parched, sore and
swollen.
II am in for it," I groaned. "God in
heaven, and in such hole as thisp'
And presently when Mr.. Watson looked
in to see why / was not getting up my
worst fears were confirmed.
'I'm devilish sorry to see this" he said
after examining me and hearing my symp.
toms. you've got the fever that Portu
guese chap died OF. You brought it on
board with you. 1t was raging in some
quarters of the city. Pm deyilish sorry,
we're so i'll of for medicine or indeed for
anything that sick body needs. But we'll
do our best. I'll make you comfortable
and then I'll send the captain to see you"
In the course of half an hour or so the
captain came in, looked at me for mo-
ment rs he would at sick beast, asked some
perfunctory questions and left me. A lit.
tie later the mate, too, came in, and his
kindness was, if possible, more cruel than
the captains caliousness.
"There's no saying how this may go, you
know, Mr.. Kilgour," he said, after lying in
his throat by saying he was sorry for me.
"Fcvers on board ship are bad at any time
They're doub.y bad on East India traders-