The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-20

choking TIC life out Of her. For thanks, the pair
turned on me; but I managed to dress them
% nSWn And Isdnf Z can Ff tell y yoS,y lsS SS M"rdinS,
pausing in his story and rising to, %coniuro again
E " ons the % kfti nTe sES oi lItiic 'a Td % and d' a sro sTo
nock fsll IL you're not careful isn't as funny as
Having replcnishcd the glasses and rcnllcd
and III his pipe. Harding proceeded,
We'll, after this, I could see that the two had
sSnSp heartily q dGys sick SpS OF the %SSi whole %SS as sq d Sn city, IPtaoEitdi
tho officer who commanded, the Bitten, next
tho sooner s%S eT'i he found mnsd a su6stitutc the better
should be pleased, For answer he t called n,n me Gan an
that there / should stay. Also. that he'd make
It his business to sec that I didn't got away.
co %ses eli e. that %at GscT Wss f Sst t To ss tS %n u 4 6 PfeA III.
put that out Of the question, I determined to
banked river emptied itself just below tho light
house. and this, one day started to follow up.
mile before l was mother:naked and nearly bit
ten and stung to death. Every bush and shrub,
And what with flrcants, mosquitoes, lcechcs,
centipedes. stinRing flies, and. worse than
all. q blamed caterpillar that drops on to-
that break Off in your flesh and tester. / can as
sure you it was the toughest picnic l ever had.
tors chuckling as made home again. Certainly
Peter laughed for the first time since we'd been
mates on Monkey Island when he saw the plight
"A day or so after this tho ,eunboat sent her
gig ashore again, and, from the hammock had
detailed my adventure; heard also illusions
talk about tho light and bearings, the gist OF
which. for want OF moro intimate knowledge
IN 'h 1 's sang Pete e'c m%srehi ms' of fea along %o the
s narr %;ts strip OF 9Hnk that separated teSdd6gss from ron
fhnnDh u-nnIprinu ntDhfi1v Nghnt hn rnn1d ha
tailblock, BY the way, i ought to tell you, Is the
only TO one end Of It is attached a long tall Of
plated :, stuff. usually, by which II can be made
aas' 10 @ e ff pod G FOR p thought sl1T in Gr a ihosc days sssy and nt''f Z
puzzled over this till Peter came back. and.
rummaging among the stores, walked oil once
more with q coil of now ratline line. and in the
He did not appear at dinner. and. as I An
goes, ! said &c. the bag: What has become of
peterr He's gone to set a trap for an
Of fi the iaddeTss; y wsHsS syl's she ne re pie a. e rim aHSs
and leering.. And added she sarcastically, If
you don,t believe me. go and look, only leave
your clothes behind, most misbeRotten OF FOOLS
" Peter came home that evening, and in the
interest created by a new visitor in those
some means of making, the incident OF the tail
block was completely forgotten.
found so unreliable as to bring a good few Brit
ish vessels to grief, that Government, charac-
teristically enough. had despatched a vessel to
correct them without giving the Dutch notice
or saying, by your leave or anything else.
And although We, or rather l, was unaware
Now she appeared of Nat Rris busy. in n sporting
10 the disgust Of the iatter's officers, whose
speciality, II they possessed one, was supposed
The Badger was a p~addle-wheeled. brig
rugged old tub. sure enough. But she was Brit
ish; and as ! stared and stared through the
r1n1nna n = Tho hit nutO and fha -nNI rAl
cross flying from her peak I was tempted often
to swim off to her as she pulled and churned
away; fussing around after her boats like an old
"Bu when l looked at the black. three-sided
o onf p piiiles1 / lels up my at to aash iin Masef and 5aF tho al9nff bete
ter Of it, trusting that some day she'd send a
boat to give US a call. when d~ctermined that go
! would tal the Dutch in the East Indies were
THAT Peter guessed my thoughts and notions
ming face Of him. And I'd try to get his dander
up, sometimes. Look at that, Peter I'd say.
d ensas my It's s0n foldsy, sW Tes g nae aed no ioi finEe' h %ni
starved and taxed TO deaths doors, like there is
under yours. Hip! hip! hooray! Rule Britain:
mia and God save the Queen! and to hell with all
half-breeds.' He didn't understand all OF i, OF
course. but he used to shake his fist at the Bad
Twice while / was on watch-as we used to
call the intermittent. sleepy lookout we kept at
could hear the officer and Peter each time hav-
ing a long confab together, During, the night
the old hag always used d to have &C coffee ground
our own II we wished for a drink.
One night. shortly after the Dutch officers
his watch. i brewed myself a cup before turning
IN. 1t tasted very bitter, and I didn't finish it.
dead to the world. I woke in a fright,
dripping with sweat and shaking all
lime juice I'd brewed myself; my. throat was as
dry as the lubricators of "A Golfers engines. and
mazda lhift tn crawl ont Df my hammock and
stagger along tho bridge to the little house where
also was a .chatty' Of cold water,
tered: and, half choking, felt for the water bot
that the floor was soaking wet. Putting up my
hand to the wicks: they only fixed and sput-
lantern that we always kept ready trimmed had
Stepping outside on to the platform, I stared
around. heGdachy and very shaky still. The
night was black as pitch-one OF those nights
you often get out there that feel almost like
star to be seen, as sometimes happens at the
change OF the monsoons. The jungle, too. was
the sea. The whole world seemed fast bound in
sleep and darkness. Presently my eye. rowing
along shore. came to the CLEAN Of a light some
should have been. only much further inland-a
big light l saw it was. as my eyes got the sleep
all at once heard the sound Of mutied %snorting
hhu CluEhlllR lam III inc ulslintt-u NOISE as III
a shoal of grampus were coming down the
straits.
Listening and staring, there suddenly rose to
mind fragments of the first talk I'd heard be-
tween Peter and the D~utchman about lights and
bearings, Then. somehow, came a connection
between that and the tail. block and the coil OF
ratlino stuff. Then. l don't know how il hap.
psned, but IN a secondI,perhaps you've expert;
cleared of cobwebs, as II a broom inside had
swept across 1t sharply. and the whole plan
ay before, me plain as mud in n wine
glass. And laughed; yes. sir, I assure You. /
did for saw my time had come at last. The
nearer; and. looking steadily and hard into the
distance. could sec n long way up the straits a
shower OF sparks like a swarm OF frehics, but
which / know marked the whereabouts OF the
Badger. burning NagasaKi coal.
She was approaching obliquely, over from
the Colebes side. heading about west-sou'west 10
pick up Nat Aris light; then, according to tho
west 'by'sou'., keeping the light four points
on her starboard bow to clear. the reef.
Now, with tho light in its present
position. she would, II unsuspicious and
It was, tho merest chance that anybody
on board observed tho change-crash right on to
the outermost edge of the reef, and go down in