Williston graphic. (Williston, Williams County, N.D.) 1895-1919, 1898-07-01

had been SO foolhardy as to come ashore
with these desperadoes, the least I
could do was to overhear them at their
councils; and my plain and obvious
duty was to draw as close as l could
manage, under the favorable ambush
Of the crouching trees.
could tell the direction of the speak
ers pretty exactly, not only by the
sound of their voices, but by the be-
havior of the few birds that still hung
in alarm above the heads of the in
truders.
Crawling on all-fours, l made
steadily but slowly toward them; till
at last, raising my head to an aperture
among the leaves, could see clear
down into little green dell beside the
marsh, and closely set about with trees,
where Long John Silver and another
of the crew stood face to face in con-
versation.
The sun beat full upon them. Silver
had thrown his hat beside him on the
ground, and his great, smooth, blonde
face, all shining with heat, was lifted
to the other mans in a kind OF appeal.
"Mate," he was saying, ITS because
l thinks gold-dust of you-gold-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? AIS
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 l be, Tom-now, tell me,
where 'ud I be?''
"Silver," said the other man-and
observed he was not only red in the
face, but spoke as hoarse as q crow, and
his voice shook, too, like taut rope
"Si!ver," says he, you're OLD. and
you're honest, or has the name for it;
and you've money, too, which lots of
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 mess Of swabs? not you!
AS sure as God sees me, I'd sooner lose
my hand. If turn again my dooty-"
And then all of sudden he was inter-
rupted by noise. 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, 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 a 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
and the boom of the distant surges dis
turbed the languor of the afternoon.
Tom had leaped at the sound, like
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 a snake
about to spring.
"John!" said the sailor, stretching
out his hand.
Hands off" cried Silver, leaping
back yard, as it seemed to me, with
the speed and security of a trained
gymnast.
Hands off, if you like, John Silver"
said the other. Its black conscience
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
a hero.
"Alan!" he cried. "Then rest his
soul for a true seaman! And rs for
you, John Silver, long you've been
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 l
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 60 far. With
cry, John seized the branch of tree,
whipped the crutch out of his armpit,
and sent that uncouth missile hurting
through TIE DIR. ~ OIL uCA pun AoAAi,
point foremost, and with stunning
violence, right between the shoulders
in the middle of lis back. His hands
flew up, he gave a 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
monkey, even without leg or crutch,
was on the top of him the next moment,
and had twice buried his knife up to the
hilt in that defcnseless body. From my
place Of ambush l could hear him pant
loudly as he struck the blows.
1 do not know what it rightly is to
faint, but I 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 I came again to myself, the
monster had pulled himself together,
his crutch under his arm, his hat upon
his head. Sust before him Tom lay
motionless upon the sward; but the
murderer minded him not a whit,
cleansing his blood-stained knife the
while upon a whisp of grass. Every
thing else was unchanged, the sun still
shining mercilessly on the steamina