The Florence daily tribune., 1898-04-21
The Beautiful White Devil
Continued From Third Pagel

dldn try Tor hlBher game WDlle you
were about it, for even with that five
hundred you gave me your leader will
only get sop for her pains. You can't
force blood out of stone, can your"
He seated himself in the chair she
had occupied and lit fresh cigarette.
Having done so, he continued;
81 don't know that l quite follow
you
"Well, don't think could make it
much palmer without being absolutely
rude. The long and the short of it is,
Mr.. Walworth, if it's money you're
after-why not have gone in for pi-
geon better worth pluckingg'
"But then we're not after the money,
you see. Why should l have paid you
that $500 else? No. DIR. De Norman
vile, you need have no fear on that
soore-our motive was perfectly honest.
We are ON our way to the island now
where the smallpox exists, and, believe
me, when your work is accomplished
you will be conveyed safely back to
your hotel. / can't say more than that.
Play fair by us and Wen play fair by
you. In the meantime we shall hope to
make your stay with us as pleasant as
possible. "
i breathed freely again. / was not
abducted. / was only wanted in my
professional capacity after all. Well,
that was "a relief was in unique po-
sition, for it was evident l was not only
to be permitted the opportunity of max
ing the Beautiful White DEVILS ao-
quaintance, but was to be well paid
for doing SO. In the first freedom from
anxiety l began to look forward with
almost pleasure to what lay before me.
Don't you think you could get up
for little whilef" Walworth said,
when he had finished his smoke at
would do you good. Let me help you"
With his assistance / scrambled out
of the hammock into cane chair along
side the companion hatch. | was still
very weak and incapable Of much exer-
ton. There could be no doubt that l
had lost good deal more blood than /
had at first imagined.
Once seated in the chair, / looked
about me. was now permitted full
and uninterrupted view of the vessel
and was able to make good use of my
eyes. Roughly speaking, that is to say
as far rs could tell, not being nautic-
al man, she must have been topsail
schooner of about 800 tons burden, with
auxiliary steaming power, for l could
see the funrel, which was not in use
just then, lying along the deck. In
what part of the world she had been
built could not tell, but wherever it
was she did credit TO her designer, for
her lines were perfection, and nothing
short of it. If ever boat were built
for speed she was that one, and l said
as much to my companion, who laughed.
''There can be no doubt about that, "
he answered. "But then, you see, no
other boat but the fastest built would
suit her ladyship. Believe me, there are
times when even the Lone Star is pretty
well put to it to throw dust in her ene-
mics eyes. If you feel strong enough,
shall we take walk round and examine
her?''
There was nothing 1 should have
liked more, so, taking the arm he offer
ed me, we set off. The first thing that
attracted my attention was the spotless
neatness and cleanliness prevailing. The
decks, which were flush fore and aft,
were as white as curds; the brasses ON the
wheel, capstans, masts, skyliglts, be-
laying pins, shone till you could see
your face in them. Not detail seemed
to have been overlooked. Even the great
sheets of canvas bellying into balloons
above our heads, appeared at first sight
to have been lately washed, while the
very ropes were white and, when not in
actual use, flemish coiled upon the
decks. She carried SIX boats, an unusu-
ally large number for craft of her size;
two were surfboats, / found ON inspec-
ton; two were uncollapsible lifeboats;
one was an ordinary ships gig, while
the other was small steam launch of
excellent build and workmanship. For
craft of 300 tons her spars were enor-
nous; her topmast head must have
been $50 feet from her deck if an inch,
while from her rig for ard could guess
the amount of extra canvas she was ca
pable of carrying. Walking to the side,
discovered that she was painted white,
with broad gold stripe little above
the water line; below this she was
sheathed with copper, which shone like
gold whenever the water left it
Inside the bulwarls, and reaching to
within an inch of the scuppers, were
some contrivances that caused me con-
siderable amount of curiosity. At first
glance they looked like reversible shop
shutters more than anything else, being
about 6 feet long by wide, and were
attached to the rail of the bulwarks by
enormous hinges On my asking for
Al