El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-10-22
through half closed eyes.

through half closed eyes.
| Then he extended his cigar case pro-
| posed a game OF euchre. and the sub
ject was dropped. / don't claim that I
was suspicious OF Jimmy or that l was
disturbed 10y the gang in the steerage.
| On the contrary. / was perfectly easy
| In my mind in all respects. l had read
in the Australian papers that the
Ocean Queen was carrying home more
| than n million dollars in gold. In fact.
/ had seen most of the boxes brought
aboard and taken down TO the strong
room. All other passengers must have
been aware Of the treasure. but there
was little or no talk about it. / think
the sleek. slick man was the only one
l heard say anything about it. AS We
sat smoking and EARNING one day he
carelessly mentioned the treasure and
then wondered how much all the gold
and silver lost by shipwreck would
amount to.
1t is wide eNpanse of ocean be
tween the Cape and Australia. and at
the end of week we had all settled
down into grooves and fallen into q
monotonous routine. Early one morning
a sail was sighted dead ahead. and al
most as soon as she had been made out
1t was seen that she had distress flag
flying. The news went over the ship.
and I'm 4 moment everybody was inter
ested and anxious. The ship In dis
tress was Il brig. and. so far as any of
he
allow and aloft. If she hadn't sprung
or mutiny. or perhaps she had run
short Of water and provisions. Jimmy
stood beside me as we bore down on
the brig, and. although I twice asked
him what he thought about it, he did
not seem to hear me. | turned to look
at him as he closed his glass and found
a smile on his face.
You don't think it joke do you?"
] asked rather brusqucly.
''Oh. no. nor he replied, smiling and
chuckling at the same time. No: its
no joke. There will be no laughing
over it
His tones We're sarcastic. and for an
instant there was look of triumph in
his eyes. Then he turned away. and l
gave the brig my attention. We ran
down To within half mile of her be-
fore our engines Were stopped. Only
three men were visible on her decks.
and she hadn't boat in sight The
trio beckoncd and motioned that we
should send boat. and the captain
gave orders that one should be lowered
1t Will Ike n case OF fever he said
with all the officers and most of the
men down" and the surgeon was sent
of with the boat. which was in charge
of the second mate. Eight of our crew
were thus taken. The boat had pulled
half the distance TO the brig when we
had something nearer home to attract
attention. The sleek. slick little Jim
my suddenly held a cooked revolver
to the captains ear and marched him
Into his statcroom. Fourteen of the
railroad men from the steerage. each
armed with n pistol and knife. sudden
ly appeared among us, and il wasn't
three minutes before the whole crowd |
of us were in the cabin and a guard |
over us. The engine room was taken !
possession OF ut the same time and |
the Ocean Queen had been taken pos
session OF without shot being fired |
The brig was lying broadside to us |
She had two boats down on the far |
side, with Is men in each boat and |
as soon AZ they had pulled around and |
our yawl one boatload of the |
rascals came aboard the Queen. and |
the steamer was worked down along
side the brig. The sea was smooth.
and the fellows could lash the craft |
without fear of disaster
We had been taken completely by
surprise and had no show. They had
the gold out and transferred within an
hour. 1t is to the credit of the rascally
gang To say that they were under good
control and insulted no one After
the gold was disposed of they robbed
the ship of n lot OF bedding and pro-
visions. and ut the last the sleek. slick
man came down into the cabin to- say
a few words. He was smiling and
good natnred. He patted the children,
bowed 10 the ladies' and waved his
hand tn the men.
"My dear friends he said in that
soft. silky voice of his. Il hope that |
have given you no trouhlr. Rather let
me hope that you will look upon il asI
an incident To break the monotony of
the voyage. | do not wish To search
you one 10y one. like II fooipad or 4
bushranger. hut will trust to your hon
esty to hand over your money andl
Jewels. | have figured on about the
amount l should get. If | get il, mol
one will be further disturbed. If III
don't get ii, there will be room aboard
the brig for most of the ladies'"