Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1898-01-27

Mate" he was saying, it's because
l thinks gold-dust OF yo'I-goid-dust,
and you may lay to that. If hadn't
took to you like pitch, do you think I'd
have been here a-warning of you? ATS
up-you can't make nor mend; it's to
save your neck that I'm a-speaking,
and if one of the wild 'uns knew it,
where 'ud I be, Tom-now, tell me.
where 'ud I,be?"
/ silver" said the other man-and
l observed he was not only red in the
face, but spoke as hoarse as a crow, and
/ his voice shook, too, like q taut rope
Silver" says he, you're old, and
/ you're honest, or has the name for 1t;
, and you've money, too, which lots OF
I poor sailors hasn't; and you're brave,
/ or I'm mistook. And will you tell me
! You'll let yourself be led away with
! that kind of a mess of swabs? not you!
/ AS sure as God sees me, I'd sooner lose
! nv hand If turn again my dooty-"
/ And then ell of sudden he was inter
! rupted by n noise. 1 had found one OF
/ the honest hands-well, here, at that
same moment, came news of another.
! Far away out in the marsh there arose,
! all of a sudden, a sound like the cry of
/ anger, then another on the back. of it;
| and then one horrid, long-drawn
scream. The rocks of the Spy-glass re-
echoed it score of times; the whole
troop of marsh-birds rose again, dark
ening heaven. with a simultaneous
whir; and long after that death yell
was still ringing in my brain, silence
had reestablished its empire, and only
! the rustic of the redescending birds
J and the boom of the distant surges dis
! turbed the languor of the afternoon.
Tom had leaped at the sound, like a
horse at the spur; but Silver had not
winked an eye. He stood where he
was, resting lightly on his crutch,
watching his companion like snake
about to spring.
"John." said the sailor, stretching
out his hand.
Hands oft" cried Silver, leapfng
back a yard, as it seemed to me, with
the speed and security of q trained
gymnast.
Hands off, if you like, John Silver"
|
that can make you feared of me. But,
| in Heavens name, tell me what was
that?"
"That?" returned Silver, smiling
away, but warier than ever, his eye a
mere pin-point in his big face, but
| cleaning like a crumb of glass.
| THAT? Oh, reckon that'll be Alan"
And at this poor Tom flashed out like
n hero.
"Alan!" he cried. Then rest his
soul for a true seaman! And as for
you, John Silver, long you've been a
mate of mine, but you're mate of mine
no more If die like dog. I'll die in
my dooty. You've killed Alan, have
| you? Kill me, too, if you can. But
defes you"
| And with that, this. brave fellow
turned his back directly on the cook,
and set off walking for the beach. But
| he was not destined to go far. With a
cry, John seized the branch of tree,
whipped the crutch out of his armpit,
| and sent that uncouth missile hurting
through the air. 1t struck poor Tom
point foremost, and with stunning
violence, right between the shoulders
in the middle of his back. His hands
flew up, he gave sort of gasp, and
| fell.
Whether he was injured much or
little none could ever tell. Like enough,
to Judge from the sound, his back was
broken on the spot, but he had no time
given him to recover. Silver, agile as
q monkey, even without leg or crutch,
was on the top of him the next moment,
| and had twice buried his knife up to the
bilt in that defenseless body. From my
place of ambush could hear him pant
loudly as he struck the blows.
l do not know what it rightly is to
faint, but l do know that for the next
little while the whole world swan
away from before me in a whirling
mist; Silver and the birds and the tall
Spy-glass hilltop, going round and
round and topsy turvy before my eyes,
and all manner of bells ringing and dis
tant voices shouting in my ears.
| When | came again to myself, the
monster had pulled himself together,
his crutch under his arm, his hat upon
his head. Just before him Tom lay
motionless upon the sward; but the
murderer minded him not a whit,
cleansing his blood-stained knife the
while upon whisp of grass. Every
thing else was unchanged, the sun still
shining mercilessly on the steaming
marsh and the tall pinnacle of the noun
tain, and 1 could scarce persuade my
self that murder had actually been
done, and human life cruelty cut
short moment since before my eyes.
| But now John put his hand into his
pocket, brought out whistle, and blew
upon it several modulated blasts, that
rang far across the heated air. / could
not tell, of course, the meaning of the
signal, but it instantly awoke my fears.
More men would be coming. l might
be discovered. They had already slain
two of the honest people; after Tom
and Alan, might not 1 come next?
Instantly l began to extricate myself
and crawl back again, with what speed
and silence could manage, to the more
open portion of the wood. AS did so,
l could hear halls coming and going be
tween the old buccaneer and his COM
|
wings. AS soon as 1 was clear of the
| thicket 1 ran as 1 never ran before,
scarce minding the direction of my
flight, so long as it led me from the muir
derers; and as 1 ran, fear grew and
grew upon me, until it turned into a
kind of frenzy.
Indeed, could anyone be more entire
ly lost than 1? When the gun fired,
how should I dare go down to the boats
among those fiends, still smoking from
their crime? Would not the first OF
them who saw me wiring my neck like
a snpe's? Would not my absence itself
be an evidence to them Of my alarm,
and therefore of my fatal knowledge
1t was all over, | thought. Good-by
to the Hispaniola; good-by to the
squire, the doctor and thecaptain. There
was nothing left for me but death by
starvation or death by the hands of the
mutineers.
All this while, as | say, | was still
running. and, without taking any no,
tice had drawn near to the foot of the
little hill with the two peaks, and had
got into a part of the island where the
wild oaks grew more widely apart, and
seemed more like forest trees in their
bearings and dimensions. Mingled
with these were Il few scattered pines,
some so, some nearly 20 feet high. The
air, too, smelled more freshly than