The copper country evening news. [volume] (Calumet, Mich.) 18??-1907, 1897-02-18

600 AND THE ANT" Ere. ISS
BY Do00 MEAD AND COMPANY.
borhood OF Soulhend, the chances were
that he was somewhere Oh board boat
To take house Of any sort would ne
cessitate the giving of references and
might lead TO inquiries, and, on the
other hand, the keepers Of hotels and
lodging houses are often inconyeniently
inquisitive, and their servants are apt
to gossip and pry. If Mullen had a
small yacht lying off the town, and
lived on board, as men with the yacht
ing craze sometimes do, the only per-
son who need know anything about his
movements would be the paid hand, or
skipper, and it would be comparatively
easy to find suitable man who was not
given to gossip and to engage him un-
der some explanation which would eff
fectually prevent his entertaining any
suspicion as to his employers identity.
Before commencing my search for
Mullen | thought it advisable to look
up an old friend Of mine, Hardy Muir,
painter, who lives mile or two out
of Southend.
was sure he would join heart and
soul in an enterprise which had for its
object the hunting down of such an en-
envy of the race as Captain Shannon,
but to have taken him into my conf
denoe would have been i'll advised, for
had we succeeded in laying hands upon
that archconspirator no one could have
pounding the monster into pulp. Per-
sonally l had no objection to such pro-
ceeding, but as / considered that the
ends of justice would be better served
by the handing over to the authorities
Of Captain Shannon's person in the
whole, rather than in pieces, decided
to withhold from my impetuous friend
the exact reason for my being in South
end.
AS matter of fact, it was not his as
sistance that | needed, but that Of
very quiet tongued, shrewd and reliable
man named Quickly, who was employed
by Muir as skipper of his yacht. 1t oc-
Cured to me that Quickly would be the
very person to find out what l wanted
to know about the boats, concerning
which / was unable to satisfy myself.
Men of his class gossip among them
selves very freely, and inquiries made
by him would seem as natural as the
curiosity of the servants hall about the
affairs of masters and mstresses, where
as the same inquiries made by me,
stranger, would be certain to arouse
suspicion and might even reach the ears
Of Mullen himself were he in the neigh
borhood
"All serene, my boy" said Muir
when told him that wanted Quickly's
help for few days on a matter about
which was not at liberty to speak for
the present. you're just in time.
Quickly was going out with me III the
boat, but I'll call him in.
Quickly" lie said when the skipper
presented himself, "this is my friend
Mr.. Max Rissler, whom you know.
Well, Mr.. Rissler's very particular
friend Of mine, and by obliging him
you'll be obliging me. He's to be your
master for the next day or two and
want you to do just as he tells you and
TO keep your mouth shut about it. Now
Mr.. Rissler's going to have some lunch
with me. In the meantime you go into
the kitchen and play Rule Britannia
on the cold beef and beer and be ready
to go into Sonthend with him by the
next train, as he's in hurry and wants
to set to work this afternoon. "
And set TO work we did that very aft
ernoon, the plan pursued being to make
out list Of all the vessels lying off the
neighborhood and to ascertain the own.
ers and whether there was any one else
on board. The task was not difficult, rs
Quickly seemed to know the name and
history of almost every craft afloat, but
the result was disappointing, for not all
our inquiries could discover any one an
swering to Mullen's description or in
deed of any one whose presence was not
satisfactorily accounted for.
Even the More lightship, which lies
several miles out at sea, was not forgot
ten, for the very first idea which occur
red to me in connection with Southend
and Mullen was what snug and out
Of the world hiding place the vessel
would make were it possible to obtain
shelter there.
Had there been only one man in
charge it was not inconceivable that he
might-like the jailer who assisted the
head center, James Stephen, to escape
from Dublin Jail in 1S65-have been a
secret sympathizer with the conspira-
tors, or at all events in their pay, and
that fugitive who could offer suffi-
GENTLY tempting bride might succeed in
obtaining shelter and the promise Of
silence
found on inquiry, however, that
there was quite crew on board, and
that the lightship is frequently visited
by the Trinity House boats, so the
chance of any one being concealed there
was ont Of the question. But though /
dismissed the lightship from my consid-
GRAFTON l could not help asking myself
If there might not be some similar place
in the neiRhborhood of Southend to
which the {. lection which rendered the
tcf.t n h