The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1898-09-25

and his face turned white as he said
Boys in the rush to leave that lazaret,
left my knife behind. It's all up with us
now. Wen hang at the yard arm, or be
keel hauled, for it is too late to go back
The steward viii find that knife with my
name cut on the haft, within an hour
The rage of the captain knew no bounds
when the steward brought him Ralph'5
sheathknife. Whether he was angTiest at
the loss of his choice provisions, at the to
him accountable shrewdness of the sail
ors, or that the men who had been con-
demned to starvation had all the time been
enjoying square meals-it was hard to de-
eide. Whether to hang them all at once,
to keel haul them or to shoot them down
like dogs, was undecided.
But land had appeared off the stadboard
bow. The captain called all hands on
deck, to shift sail and bear away on the
port tack.
Mate" said the captain when the sails
were trimmed, chow did that knife find
its way into the lazaret and you on deck:
1t has been in there good many times?
| Were you asieep?'
Must have been spirits, Cap'n. I never
sleep on watch, and you know it No one
but spirits could have passed me-"
II don't like this dirty thieving bust
ness, and / feel myself as if for all this
| time witches had been at work. I'm afraid
to do anything with the young devils. I
| believe that I will turn them over to the
fendsh Spaniards. They are the rascals
| to doctor such vermin."
That's a terrible punishment, Cap'n-
| once in that old prison only the walls will
! hear the groans; no one outside will ever
hear the stories.
"They seem to be Internal smart, these
! thieves here; let EN- try their game on
| the imps of Manila"
They were fast approachiny the now
well-known Manila of the Philippines
where stood the famous or rather infa-
nous. prison in which political and other
! prisoners were kept, and whose story of
| starvation, torture and death seldom
reached the outside world.
1t was with dismay and horror that
| Ralph and his five shipmates saw that i'm
| mediate punishment was not given them
! The delay meant that something worse
| than common was in store for them. Ev-
cry sailor knew that no torture or cold
| blooded butchery could be invented equal
to the fiendish skill of butchers from that
| craftiest of all nations, the Spaniards.
Ralph and his friends, recognizing the
! harbor of Manila, surmised that the plan
| was to turn them over TO the tender mer-
cies of the constituencies tormentors of
| the island prison.
The old Neptune soon sprung proudly
up to the dock. There was the usual bus
tie and confusion attending the warping
up to the wharf of great vessel. Ralph
! and his friends awaited with blanched
! faces what they felt would surely hap
! pen. They had guessed right. squad
| of Spanish soldiers came to the vessel the
| six guilty men were heavily ironed, the
! commanding officer of the soldiers was
| paid by the captain for the butchery
| which they were to do and the miserable
| fellows were hustled away to their doom
| Soon they were at the entrance of the
dilapidated old castle, lofty iron gates on
| rusty hinges slowly opened to receive
| them and the doomed sailors were lodg-
| ed in narrow cells behind iron bars.
For two days, although In adjoining
| cells, they had no courage to speak to
each other. The guard who paced lazily
] back and forth in the damp corridor had
| brought them little old bread and a jar
| of stale water
| All that Ralph could discover in his cell
| deepened his dependency and confirmed
| him in the helplessness of their situation.
! There was plenty of evidence that other
| unfortunates had occupied his cell before,
| for in words dug out of the plaster with
! finger-nails or written in blood with sharp
! ened finger-nails, were stories of suffer-
| ing and torture. All the tales expressed
! hopelessness. There was one which told
| of an escape from the cell and of recap
| ture Ralph knew 1t was unfinished, for
| fingers stiff in death cannot write the
| news. So passed several days in doleful
| misery. Ralph had studied the walls care
| fully, bat had failed at first to attach any
| Importance to a string of letters on the
| wall. They were in this order:
| LPW f r 7 r o II " N o 1 c
| Grin e C N P X X e d r OES
AT first he paid but little attention to
them, thinking that they meant something
| In a foreign language. But seeing also
| the figure scratched in the walls a num-
| Der of times he began to think that there
might be some key intended by the figure
| for the solution of the meaningless let
| ters. After many attempts he began with
the eighth letter, and by taking each
eighth letter, gradually, and to his great
| surprise, there came tout the word tip"
| then "stone," and finally the phrase, Tip
| stone, In corner, find wire, pick lock" The
floor of his cell seemed even, but on try
1t tipped a little-he lifted it more and
found beneath it, hardly discernible at
first, rusty wire with a peculiar curve
at one end. When the guard was at the
other end of the corridor he thrust his
hand through the bars of his door, pushed
the wire into the lock, worked it this way
and then that, finally felt the catch: then
using all his strength as he turned the
wire he felt the bolt turning with IT, He
pushed his door open, went quickly to the
cells of his friends, ana told them the
news. BY the use of the wire he found
that he could turn back the bolt of each
clumsy lock. They knew that il was time
for the guard to be returning Ralph was
ready for him. Let's fool him boys All
follow me-" They followed him down the
corridor, then around TO the tier of cells
on the other side. Ralph opened one of
the cells and all entered. Breathlessly