Savannah courier. (Savannah, Tenn.) 1885-1979, 1895-08-29
FIVESBLACK MARKS.

- p'f''' lr' Macpherson one
1ay as ne sat chatting in his COW
drawing room was spent IN q gun.
boat off the coast Of thiipea / bcoan
my profcssianallife MS d. a.surpcoi, in The
navy, You know"
did pot know. But as the doctor
seemed intention telling the story did
not interrupt him by saying SO.
.b'Nc,had been cruising about in tho
Mepiterranean," he went on, "wlicn we
where unexpectedly ordered to tho
bay 'of Lagos to overawe some miser-
aoie little tribe near the coast which
haa not been behaving itself as n
properly regulated little tribe under
thc protection Of the British cmpirc
ought to DOR kakoga's tribe it was
called, and Kakoga cainc in for n rood
I bharo of honest abuse from the
{ officers and men Of tho Dragon-1v.
when our orders came. The worst of
IL was as far as the officers and men
were concerned, that we were not at
unity among ourselves. The engineer.
called Lashton, bad been disappointed
IN love, ana was naturally morose in
consequence. What made him more
so was the fact that his successful
rival was the sub-leutenant, an
sawfully nice fellow, and the only man
on board that / cared for. Lieut.
Gilby had met Miss Callan at Malta
and had become engaged to her with
out the least idea that the engineer
had intentions that way, not that it
would have made any difference to
him ii she had, 1 suppose. Lashtons
unconcealed cnmity against him made
life on board pretty unpleasant, anu
divided us into two cliques. The lieu
tenants clique, consisting of himself
and me, certainly had the livcliest
time of it, for the successful suitor of
Miss Callan was the merriest fellow on
earth, and while we were in the Med
iterrancan we suffered very little from
the cngineer's hostility. But directly
we steamed off for Lagos q most re-
marlkable change came over my friend,
and he turned as taciturn as Lashton
himself
1T puzzled me to discover the rea-
son, for though we were all sorry to
leave the Mediterranean still it was
not like Gilby to sulk over it. lie
could not see less of his tiancee than
he had been doing for two or three
months, and we had the prospect be.
fore us OF small fight, for which he
had beon wishing. Lashton suggested
to me in his sinister way that it was
the prospect IF fighting which caused
the change in my friend, and though
answered the suggestion in the tone il
deserved, still it seemed the only ex
planation.
''Gilby said, when asked him, that
1t was the weather, and the irritation
with which he answered prevented mC
continuing my inquiries, and made m(
more than ever convinced that it was
funk, and very severe form of Tho
disease, too. In fact, he took very lit
tie pains to conceal 1T.
81 hope to goodness that shall no
have to go on shore, he said, when W,
had nearly reached our destination. :
wish the commander would lead The
party and leave me here to look aftel
the ship e
4 Z" 1T is not likely answered, gruff
ly, and was glad that Lashton wa
not about to overhear him. l an
swered his next suggestion more gruff
ly still.
"'I suppose you would not like t.
certify that ought to be on the sicl
list, would you, Macpherson he asket
me, hesitatingly.
81 refused fatty.
III he had told me the true reason o
his fear might have acted differently
for he looked ill enough, poor fellow
His face had grown quite white ant
wan since we started.
ut looked winter still next day whel
he had to go in command of the land
ing party, which l accompanied, o
course.
.When we were fairly embarked ol
the enterprise, his one idea seemed t.
bo to get it over with faH possible
speed. and the haste with which he ad
yanced to Kakoga's country wonl'
have been impossible If the men upde
him had not themselves been so anx
ious to get into action, and introduce
little change into the monotony o
life on gunboat
"However, the change was less THAI
the majority OF the bluc-jaclSets hope'
ar the miserable little tribe did no
show fight, and our business was sooi
accomplished. In five days from th'
time we left the Dragon-fy we wer
back again, none the worse Tor ou
trip. except that we were all worn on
by' Glby's forced marches.
"The lieutenant seemed more ex
hausted than any Of us, and as soon a
he had received the congratulations o
the commander, he retired at once
h;s berth. What surprised me wa
that his spirits did not show any I'm
movement after the chance OF lighting
was at an end. 1t seemed to me as
he were still expecting some caiamit
70 happen to him, and ! began t
wonder whether there might not .
something seriously wrong with hi
health to account for all that had sur
nrised me in his manner. Inis cxpia
nation. which had not occurred to m
while there was any real danger
struck me forcibly, now that we wer
safe ON the gunboat, and, as soon as
had enjoyed the luxury OF path aite
INV five days of discomfort, l strolie
down to the lieutenant's cabin to hav
n look at him In the new light OF a pc
tient.
.sThc door of my friends cabin wa
niar as approached it, and when
Glanced into the room before knocking
was surprised to catch sight OF III
pineer Lashtou standing by the side c
the lieutenant's bunk.
The fact of Lashton's enmity &c
INV friend was SO undisputed that
the SIGHT of his figure in his enemy
- solt ouite justified in watchin