The citizen. (Frederick City, Md.) 1895-1923, 1895-05-03

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pines weakness overcame him and he
fell back in his cot and relapsed into a
state of coma.
A rev days more and and nv ship
/ mates We're fairly recovered and were
| able to come on deck. The vessel which
mad picked us up was a schooner which
hao peen altered from a trading vessel
into yacht but though nothing that
would conduce to comfort was La king.
the change had evidently been hastily
made, and the "Juniata," for that was
her name, still bore signs Of her pre-
vious employment. She was owned by
the elderly gentleman whom McAlpine
had called Donald. and who was in
deed his brother, though by the crew
ne was always called Don Pedro.
! Ihis meeting Of the two brothers was
most extraordinary one, and so was
their history, as they told it to me. The
real name of McAlpine and Don Pedro
IL would be unwise to give, but briefly
the!f story was as follows:
| They were the two eldest sons NJ q
! bonnet lard, and as his means were not
suiuclent for the maintenance of a
large family, they had managed to get
empioyment In a shipping office at
Lelth. Here they had both got on re-
nlarKaoly well, and McAlpine had, by
the time he was two and twenty, be-
come the clerk engaged in seeing to the
shipments of goods, which constantly
TOOK MIN down amongst the shipping
In Le1th Roads, and sometimes away to
I Aberdeen, Glasgow and Newcastle.
Donald was employed in the cashiers
department. and 1T was his duty, in
some cases, in the absence of those
senior to him, to receive payments and
give receipts for the same.
once, when McAlpine was away at
! Glasgow, news came that his brother
mad been arrested for embezzlement,
and the romantic idea came into his
head to sacrifice himself in his place.
He accordingly wrote to his employers
that he was the guilty person, and that
not being able to endure the disgrace
he had made up his mind to commit
suicide.
OF really committing suicide he had
no idea; burt making his way down to
Greenock he went to the quay side one
dark and rainy night, and having
dressed himself in a suit of sailors
slops. he put his own coat and hat,
another letter being in the pocket of
the coat. on the ground. and threw his
other clothes, weighted with stones,
into the Clyde.
! AS soon g he had done this he raised
an alarm that he had seen a man Jump
! into the river, and when a crowd had
collected he managed to slip away and
| get to crimp's den, who shipped him
! on board an outward bound timber
ship which was sailing for the st. Law
renee the next day. When he arrived
in Canada he left the timber drogher
and shipped on board Of an American
coaster, which landed him in New Bed
ford. Here he got a birth in an Ameri-
can whaler bound for the Pacific. For
! years he drifted about the world as
seaman, always carefully avoiding
British ports until just before the time
he shipped aboard ot the Vandal he
had ventured back to Leith in order to
try and find out whether his brother
was still alive, and if his sacrifice had
been of any use.
He could not find any trace of his
brother; even the firm which had en-
ployed them had disappeared. Disap-
pointed, he left Leith, and going to
Swansea he shipped aboard the VAN
dal. Though he had knocked about so
long in the forecastle of merchant
ship, he had always kept himself aloof
from the coarse dissipa tions which
Jack ashore unfortunately so often in
dulges, and had kept up a habit of
reading. taking a few well chosen books
to sea with him in his chest, so that he
was usually known as the Scotch
Scholar" nothing but a morbid sense
Of what was due to his voluntarily as
sumed character of a runaway GRIM
inal, though no one but himself knew
anything of 1t, prevented him from ris-
ing to be an officer, for he had ac-
quired good knowledge of navigation,
besides being as staunch and sterling
a seaman as II has ever been my lot to
meet.
His brothers history was a different
one. He had been innocent of the
crime imputed to him, which, shortly
after the letter which McAlpine had
written had been received was discov-
cred to have been committed by the
son of one of the partners In the firm.
Inquiries, of course, were instituted to
find out If the story of McAlpine's sui
eide was true, and the result was to
confirm his own story, so his brother
had to mourn his having thrown away
his life needlessly for his sake.
The members of the firm, who were
deeply affected, nevertheless thought
was an excellent opportunity to shield
the honor of the son of one of them,
and though Donald (or Don Pedro) for
a long time stood out firmly against
their proposals as wishing to clear the
memory of his brother, who had given
his life for his sake. after much insist
ence on their part, acceded to them.
The proposals they made were these.
yiz.:-That Donald should receive a
sum Of five thousand pounds and leave
the country, but in case his brother
should not be actually dead he made 1t
a point that he should be given a writ
ten declaration clearing them both OF
any imputation of guilt
Spanish South America seemed to
him the best place to employ his capi-
tai, and arriving there before 1t had