Martinsburg herald. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1881-1920, 1898-06-11

"1he shore part must lie entirely with
you, sir" said Captain Kettle. ITS
mixed up with the foreign enlistment
act and the Alabama case and dozen
other things which may mean anything
between Jail and confiscation, and my
head isn't big enough to hold it. If
you II be advised by me, sir, you'll see
a real first class solicitor and stand him
a drink and pay him down what he asks
right there ON the bar counter and get
to know exactly how the law of this
business stands before you stir foot Ia
IL The law here in England, = said the
little man, with reminiscent sigh, lis
a beastly thing to fall foul Of It's new
er done kicking you, once it's got fair
start, and you never know where it will
shove out its ugly hoof from next. No,
Mr.. Gedge, give me the States for nice,
comfortable law, where a man can buy
it by the yard for paper money down,
and straight pistol shooting is always
remembered in his favor.
The young man who owned the
steamship Sultan of Borneo tapped his
blotting paper impatiently. "Stick to
the point, Kettle. We're in England
now and have nothing whatever to do
with legal matters in America. AS for
your advice, am not fool. 'You can
lay your ticket on it know to an inch
how / stand. And | may tell you this
the shipment is arranged for.
"Id like to see us cleared, said Cap
tain Kettle doubtfully.
mo one will interfere with the clear
anoe. The Sultan of Borneo will leave
here in coal, consigned to Havana. A
private yacht will meet her at sea and
transship the arms out of sight of land !"
Tyne coal for Cuba? They'd get
their coal there from Norfolk or Welsh
steam coal from Cardiff or Newport.
1T seems not. This contract was
placed long before ship was asked for
to smuggle out the arms. y
well, it looks tishy, anyway"
II can't help that, . said Gedge irri-
tably. 81 IN telling you the naked truth,
and if truth, as usual, looks unlikely it's
not my fault. Now, have you got any
more objections to maker
mo, sir, 4" said Captain Kettle.
None that can see at present.
Very we'll, then, +" said Gedge "Do
you care TO sign on as master for this
cruise or are you going to cry off?'
They'll hang me if I'm caught, !"
said Kettle.
Mot they. They II only talk big, and
the British consul will get you clear.
You bet they daren't hang an English
man for mere smuggling in Cuba. And
besides, amt l Offering to raise your
screw from Gl2 a month to Gl4 so as to
cover the risk? However, you won't get
caught You'll find everything ready
for you You'll slip the rifles ashore
and then you II steam on to Havana and
discharge your coal in the ordinary
humdrum way of business. And there's
$40 bonus if you pull the thing off
successfully. Now, then, captain, quick.
You go or you don't!''
~ co. said Kettle gloomily. I'm
a poor man, with wife and family,
Mr.. Gedge, and can't afford to lose a
berth But it's that coal l can t swal
low. / quite believe what you say about
the contract Only it doesn't look nat
ural. And it's my belief the coal will
trip us up somewhere before we're done
and bring about trouble. f"
(which, of course, you are quite
stranger to, " said Gedge slyly.
Don't taunt me with it, sir, F" said
Captain Kettle. II quite well know
the kind of brute / am Trouble with, a
crew or any other set of living men at
sea is just meat and drink to me, and
I'm bitterly ashamed of the taste. Ev-
cry time 1 sit underneath our minister
in the chapel here in South Shields /
grow more ashamed, and if you heard
the beautiful poetical way that man
talks of peace and green fields and gold
en- harps you'd understand. "
eyes, yes, " said Gedge, "but l don't
want any of your excellent minister's
sermons at secondhand just now, cap
tain, or any of Your own poetry, thanks
I'm very busy Good morning Help
yourself to a cigar You haul alongside
the coal shoots to get your cargo at 2
O'Clock, and I'll be on board to see you
at 6. Good morning And Mr..
Gedge rang for the clerk and was busily
debating letters before Kettle was clear
of the office.
The little sailor went down the grimy
stairs and into the street and made to-
ward the smelling Tyne The black ci-
gar rested unlit in an angle of his
mouth, and he gnawed savagely at the
butt with his eyeteeth He cursed the
fates as he walked. Why did they use
him so evilly that he was forced into
berths like these? As a bachelor he
told himself with sneer, he would
have jumped at the excitement of it.
AS the partner of Mrs. Kettle and the
father of her children he could have
shuddered when he threw his eye over
the future. For week or so she could
draw his half pay and live sumptuously
at the rate Of e. month. But after
ward, if he got caught by some angry
Spanish war steamer with the smuggled
rifles under his matches and shot or