Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1898-11-30

he raised his right hand to his mouth,
showing the palm plainly. There in plain
view were the three stars and the letter G..
II reckon you've led a wild life, Gus"
said the mate, seating himself on a locker.
"Soems to me l heard something of that
yarn myself. Didn't you promise tomarry
her and do your best to make her set her
heart on you, and then leave her u letter
to say you were never coming back?'
"Why, yes. Perhaps l ought not to have
done it, but it was jolly fun to make love
to her. Marry her? l wouldn't do chat,
for | had wife in Bedford. But | didn't
tell her that-oh, no, mol"
And then he broke into a careless song,
such a one as a sailor loves, and tho mate
got up and went out, with such u look as
l never saw on a mans face before, and
never want to see again. He didn't say
anything to me, and 1 noticed he never
looked at Gus Williams again.
L knew evil would come of it, and l
didn't know how l could stop it, but if
Gus Williams had known the danger he'd
drawn on himself l think he'd have Jump.
ed overheard.
! Things went on all right until one Sep
, TENDER day when we were lying off the
Alaskan coast, the captain sent three boats
shore for some timber he wanted, and /
went in Toms boat. Gus Williams, who
was harpoon in the second mates boat,
went too.
saw Tom come up and speak to VIII
liams after they landed, and they went
away together, and something put it into
my head to follow them. There had been
., 1;rht er,p, ,,I ~ ,,o- o,rx 4u,a1;,.
them, and after I had gone a mile I heard
their voices in a little gully, and crept up
close.
"You told a queer story the other night
when you were drunk, Williams" the
mate was saying, "about a girl named
Mary Blake in Nantucket. Was it true?"
"Why, yes, as far as this: l made her
think l was a single man and made her
love me, and then ran away from her"
Didn't you know or didn't you hear
that she had a lover-a man that would
have died for her if she asked him?"
1T seems to me, now l come to think
of it, that l did hear something about a
tar that had a fancy for her. But what
did l care for that? wanted my fun"
"Did you never hear what came of it.
them"
mo; 1 never bothered myself about it
much. Two wondered sometimes if tho
tarry Jacket came home and married her "
III tell you tho end" Kissed Tom.
when she got your cruel letter, she
dropped and faded, and when the man
who loved her truly came home from q
cruise she was very near the grave. Then
one day when the burden of her life grew
too much for her to bear, she told him of
your deceit, and described you, and then
died with her head upon his bosom. Then
he took a VOW that if you and he ever met
he'd kill you"
"I'm glad we never met said Will
liams, laughing.
"We have metl' cried Tom. ''I'm the
man that loved her and took that vow,
and now l mean to keep my word. Down
upon your knees and pray, for you have
not five minutes to live.
Then 1 saw a spectacle such as l hope
never to sec again. as Tom SLOWLY drew a
revolver and waited. The harpooner fell
on his knees, weeping and begging for his
life, but that stern face never changed.
The self appointed judge and executioner
did not know the name of mercy. The
wretch crawled upon the ground and
buried his face in the snow at TOMS feet,
and l couldn't stand it, and stepped out
In view.
Don't come nearer, Jack Ratlin, cried
Tom, "or, as there is a God above, I'll
give you a shot. This man is doomed, and
he shall die"
20 Ratlin, beg for mel" cried the abject
wretch. II am not fit to die. cannot
die now until l have repented."
"Tom,' said, before you fire think a
moment. You say you loved Mary Blake?"
words cannot tell"
'Then listen tn me- They saw tha rood