The Saint Paul globe., 1900-05-07

seated himself, and with the weapon upon
his knee in his grasp sat hearkening, with
his eyes fastened upon the door.
The time slowly passed and still he
continued to sit, grasping the pistol upon
his knee, with his eyes of madness fixed
upon the door. His face was now revolt
ing with its look of burning expectation
and triumph. Suddenly a stream of sun
shine moved slowly, like a spoke of
softly revolving wheel, over the carpeted
deck OF the captains cabin, and any one
might have known by the motions of the
ship that she was not under command.
You heard faint, vague sounds of tramp
ing above, dim noise as of a sick
crowd poisoned by vapor and feebly strug-
Cling to escape, and in the midst of it
the captains door was struck; the blow
! was langufd and repeated three or four
times only, and no noise attended it.
The madman sprang from his chair and
stood erect with the revolver half raised
from his side, and his eyes sparkled in
his face that was dark with murderous
intent Then he stood whilst the spoke
of light through the port hole moved
gradually round the cabin until it van
| ished, by which time all was silent with
out. The unhappy man resumed his seat
and former posture, and thus it went fer
half an hour at least then, always grasp
ing his murderous weapon, he walked like
one in the chamber of death, carefully
opened the door and peered out
The first sight he witnessed was the
figure of the chief mate Hardy stretched
at its length and on its side within a
pace or two of the threshold, and upon
the locker on the port side of the table,
a cushioned locker as comfortable as a
couch, lay the form of Julia Armstrong;
her right arm hung down. and she lay
as apparently dead as Hardy The cap
| tain stepped across the body Of the mate
and looked with devouring sparkling eyes
at the girl while he seemed to listen for
| sounds above. Nothing was to be heard
| save the inner grumblng Of the ship as
| she sWayed helpless in arrest. Now and
| again the wheel chains clanked to the
! blow of the sea upon the rudder
! The captain went to the girls side and
| looked at her; her face was placid, pale,
CHASTITY, and her lips a bright red Thus
| exactly did Hardy's face show, and any
one experienced in the symptoms of poi
soning by laudanum iaorphia would
| have known that these two had been
! heavily drugged, even perhaps to death.
1t was the birthday of a madman in
search of his drowned child, and they
! had drunk his health and the little drum
| mers. His face took on an air OF hurry
and hustle, and, always gripping his re-
| voiver, he stepped nimbly to the compan-
I lOIl steps anu mounted them. He raised
| his head just above the companion hood
and looked he saw that the man who
! had stood at the wheel was lying mo-
! tionless beside it. Almost abreast of the
| companion was the curved form of Candy
| who seemed to have been doubled uD
and then reeled into lifelessness. A few
PROSTATE forms were to be seen forward
in the waist and about the -forescuttIe.
| They lay lifeless In the sleep or death
of the drugged draught in which they had
| pledged their captain In the forecastIe
| lay the rest, some 'on the deck some in
their hunks, and every face showed as
! Hardy's and the girls, placid pale and
| CHASTITY, and the lips a bright red All
| the symptoms had been expended. the
| nrst pleasurable mental excitement. then
! the WEAKNESS, the headache the fntoler-
! able weight of limb, the spinning and
| sickening giddiness. the drowziness, the
| stupor, and now insensibility or death.
| The captain rose in the hatch to his
| full height and stepped on to the deck,
| followed by the dog, which went to Can
I dy and smelt him, and then, with a low.
uneasy groWl, went to the figure basid
| the wheel and shifted at it. With a
dreadful smile of hope and rejoicing the
| captain thrust the pistol into side pock-
ct, and, going to the wheel, put the
| helm hard a-starboard, and secured it by
several turns of the end of the main
| brace.
This done, always preserving his horri-
| bic expression of lofty exaltation, he took
| the breaker out of the bow Of the port
| quarter boat, filed it from the scuttle-
butt, and replaced it, Gcd knows how
he was directed in what he did; the in
stincts of habit and knowledge must have
| governed him. it is cert4in that he
made his preparations for departure W tn
the sanity of a healthy brain. His dog
| closely followed him, and seemed afrdid
He then went below to the pantry and
| returned with his arms full of food
which he placed in the stern sheets alcng
with tumbler which he pulled out of his
pocket. He moved rapidly, and his ps
often worked and he'd flash his gaze
/ along the deck at that memorable trag-
ical picture of ship with Hfeless figures
| upon the planks, with all her white can
vas curving inwards, stirless in the
stream of the breeze. She seemed to have
been drugged, too, and rolled with kind
of stagger upon the soft folds of the
swell.
! He went below again, the dog at his
] heels and entered his cabin took n don,