Mineral Point tribune. (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1869-1938, 1897-09-23

stnttes Of surprise,
lie Vas looking down three s inch
barrels of three heavy Colt revoly.
ers, cooked and held by three Sowing.
sunburned men, each Of whom was
tucking with ~disengagcd left hand the
corner of a shirt INTO a waistband,
around which was strapped a beltful
of cartridges.
Hands upl'' snapped the tall man
Hands up, every one of you Up with
'em-oyer yer headsl That's right. -
The pistols wandered around the heads
Of the crowd and every hand was ele
waited
What's this What d'you mean? Put
those pistols down. Give them upl Lay
aft, there. some of you, and call the cap.
taIn'' clustered the mate, with his
hands held high NOT a man stirred to
obey The scowling faces looked deadly
IN earnest.
Right about face. commanded the
tall man March, every man Back to
the other end of the boat Laramie.
take the other side and round up any
body you see. Now, gentlemen, hurry :"
Away went the protesting procession,
and, Joined by the carpenter, sailmaker,
donkey man and cook. rounded up
from their sanctums by the man called
Laramie. it reached the main hatch be-
fore the captain. pacing the quarter
deck, was aware Of the disturbance
With Captain BelchIur 70 think was TO
act Springing to the cabin skylight,
he shouted Steward, bring up my
pistolsl Bear a hand! Lower your weap
ons, you scoundrelsl This is rank mutt
ny "
A pistol spoke, and the captains hat
left his head There goes your hat, F.
said 4 voice; now for a button " An
other bullet sped. which cut from his
coat the button nearest his heart.
Come down from thcre-come down.
said the voice he had heard Next
shot goes home Start while | count
three. One-two''- Captain Belchior
descended the steps Hands up, same
as the rest, Up went the captains
hands. Such craftsmanship was beyond
his philosophy Pache, - went on the
speaker, ''go up there and get the guns
he wanted The steward, with we
bright rcvolvers III his hands, was met
at the companion batch by a man with
but one, but that one was so big and
the hand which held It was so steady
that It was no matter Of surprise that he
obeyed the terse command, Fork over;
handles first The captain $ nickel
plated pistols went into the pockets Of
Pache's coat, and the white faced
steward, pokcd III the back ny the muz
zle Of that big hrearm, marched to the
main deck and joined the others
Go down that place, Pache, and
chase out any one else you find, called
the leader from behind the crowd
BRING ON all down here. 30 Pachc de
seconded and r|cappeared with 3 fright
eucd cabin boy, whom, with the man
at the wheel, he droye before HIM to
the steps. There was nc wind, and the
ship could spare the helmsman
Nov, then, gentlemen, y sand the
tall leader. Il reckon we're all here
Keep yen hands up Wen have a pow
WOW pache, stay up there, and you,
Laramie, cover EN- iroh behlnd rug
the first man who moves,
tie mounted the steps to the quarter
deck, and rs he replaced empty shells
with cartridges looked down ON them
with a serene smile ON his not II. look
ing face. HIS voice, except when raised
IN accents OF command, had III 1T the
musical, drawing, pIalntlye tone so re
culiar to the native TeNan-and so de.
coptiye The other two, younger AID
rougher men, looked as they glanced at
their victims through the sights Of the
pistols as though they longed for the
word of permission to riddle the ships
company with bullets
You'll pay Tor tins, you internal
cutthroats''' spluttercd the captain
This is riloc-
Don't call any names now. said
the tall man Taln't healthy We
don't want to hurt you but tell you Sc
riously you never were nearer death than
Won are now It's a risky thing and a