The times., 1897-08-08
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The Black Ship
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her crew could be seen washing downdecks
and moving about, but never man, 80
far aswe could makeOut even glancedat us
Later on her captain came On deck, but
ne also ignored our existence, and We
| could not make out that there We're any
but her regular crew aboard The crew
/ OF the Rambler were full OF wonder and
spec culation, but they held their peace
until the day was done. All day long the
craft pursued their way, side by side
making no signals and appearing Unaware
or each others presence Hall was on
deck much OF the time. but disguised as
8 before, while the girl stuck close 70 the
cabin. At sIDd0wn, after talk among
themselves, the men came aft in a respect
ful manner headed by the boatswain and
Capt. Smith was asked IL he thought the
Black Ship was a pirate, who meant us
harm. Tile fact that she had overha u ell Vs.
refused 10 answer our signals and stood by
US so grImly and determinesiIy for such a
long stretch had put queer thou ghfs into
the sailors heads
THAT craft is the j Primrose, Of London"
answered the captain, ''but what her bush
ness is / do not know. There are no pi
rates in these days. and you have no call
to be afraid OF having your throat cut
II she Is here to speak Us her business win
be with those aft instead OF forward, and
in time you may come to know all about
it."
/ think this speech gave the men the
clew, even if they did not have IL be-
fore, eor saw them casting many glancs
at Hall. and indulging in many a wink
and grin. He still affected to carry him
self as at first. but there was no question
about his being worried and anxious. That
night at l o O'Clock be sought another In
terview with the captain, and this tina
| he thought 1T best to state facts though
| 1t took him a long time to get around it.
| The girl was not his sister, but he loved
| her her people objected 70 the marriage.
I and they Tad eloped and would be married
at the Cape.
Ia Some way her father had learned that
/ they were aboard the Rambler and had
| followed on in the BLACK Ship" III the
| captain would dodge pursuit he should be
! paid II 900 cash down; if he refused and
tie father was allowed to board the
Rambler he must permit Hall to protect
hisown. The girliovedhim and was willing
( TO marry hin. and he should defy III. father
to separate them. Had he been amana after
! the captains own heart don't know what
/ sort OF a job they might have put up to-
gether but as il was no one felt bound to
render him the sH ehtest favor The
Rambler would continUc her course and
IL boarded later on her captain would use
hisauthority to prevent bloodshed Whether
the girl should go or stay was d question
to come up later.
All that night, and all the next day and
! night the ships ran in Company before a
breeze wtiicn was almost gale. aud then
! the wind suddenly dropped and calm fell
upon the sea.
The BLACK Ship" had sometimes been al
! most q mile away, sometimes only half
/ that distance, but always mere than able
| to hold her own had We attempted TO
/ dodge. Thecalm was not an hour Old when
she dropped a boat with six men In it,
and it was steered directly for us- In the
boat wcretwo men we had not seen before,
/ and they proved to be the girls father
/ and brother. Both Were armed with lis
toIs and their faces were stern-set The girl
was not out OF her staterOom yet. but Hall
sat in the main cabin, fully dressed and
waiting, and though no one had told him
OF the boat, think 1t knew that il was
I approaching Every man Of the Rambler
was on deck as the Ioat hooked on and
the two men eianlered up her side The
father stopped to talk with the captain.
but the son, who was about twenty years
old, cun5inued straight on to the cabin
and descended the steps, He was scarcely
! out OF sight Y hen We heard a pistol shot,
followed ny a shout and CRY and a sec
ond shot, and a minute later the young
man Teappeared with bleeding cheek and
called for help.
Capt. Smith, the father and the first mate
hurried aft and down into the cabin and
there they found Hall lying dead on the
! floor with a bullet through his brain On
| the floor beside him was a revolver, from
which one bullet had been fired
He fired at me on sight" explained the
young man as he lifted his hand TO his
cheek, land I fired back and killed him.
Where is my sister,
An hour later. with father, son and
daughter aboard, the Black Ship left US
headed for London. and the body OF Hall
was being shrouded for burial We asked
but few questions and received but few
explanations 1t certainly was a runawa )
affaiT-a sweet and innocent girl pUttins
herself in the power of villain-but as Il
the particulars we had little care. wher
we had buried the body Of the dead uas
senger we went to work to forget what hat
| happened. and aftPI two OF three days tht
! | whole circumstances was reiegated TO oh
) scurity CHARLES B. LEWIS.