The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1900-05-05
DICK RODNEY;
) Or. The Adventures of
; An Eton Boy.
; A ny JAMES GRANT.

BY JAMES

CI1Af Ell
"The poor lad is dying from lack Of a
doctor" said old Tom. who knelt be-
side Hislop, handling his wounds with
the tenderness of a roman; and if
the whole British navy hove in sight,
we haven't a rag of bunting to shake
out as a signal, since that rascally plea
room, the Cubano, has cast every color
and signal overheard"
well, Tom, he shan't die this bout"
said Ned Carlton, hopefully. LET US
tie up his wounds as best we can, to
Delay the bleeding, and give him some
thing as a reviver."
Its a blessing his old mother in
Scotland don't see all this" added
rough Tom Lambourne, with a tear
in his eye; poor Marc Hislop is her
only support, and a sisters. too"
/ thought now, with conjunction,
how often his theories and pedantry
had bored me, and | resolved to be
unremitting in my care of him.
The united medical skill of those
honest souls, our crew, was very small;
however, the wounds were carefully
washed in clean water; their best
shirts were torn into bandages or fold
ed Into pads to stop the bleeding; and
In this they were quite successful.
A beaker Of New England rum was
hoisted out of the forehold, and it's
head was instantly started. The liquor
was very redolent of ~treacle, but a
glass of it mixed with water-the read
lest stimulant that occurred to the
minds Of the seamen-was poured be-
tween the parched lips of the sufferer,
who at last slept, in the pleasant at
mosphere formed by the awning
which shaded him from the fierce sun,
and in the breeze that whistled past
the bows as the Eugene still bore on
her new course, close hauled, with all
her ~fore-and-aft canvas set, and the
white, glittering spray flying over her
cat-heads and dolphin striker.
The terrible Cubano still kept pos
session Of the cabin. His two six-bar-
relied revolvers gave him twelve shots.
and we were but nine in all, as the
captain, Roberts, and Will White had
already persisted by his hand, and
Hyslop, to all appearances, was dy-
ing; thus Antonio kept us all in sub
lection by his weapons, just as half
a dozen well-armed soldiers may con-
troll a moi Of thousands.
So passed the night; the crew group
ed forward, full of schemes for venge-
ance, and he aft, full Of triumph,
ferocity and cornac.
Next morning / was on the quarter
deck, and when day broke I became
aware, by a splashing sound astern,
that We were towing something In the
dead water Of the briggs wake. On
looking over the t~affrail, what were
ny emotions on beholding the body of
my kind ~friend-our good and hospi-
table captain-towed by the neck at
the end of a line!
Around the poor corpse, which was
In its n~ightdress, the green waves
danced merrily in the golden light of
the morning sun that was now beam
ing over the sea-, refreshing the dis
tant shores and reviving all but him"
Antonio in the night had cast it from
one OF the cabin windows on the port
side Of the rudder-case, and through
that aperture the line to which it was
attached was now run.
BY the smoke OF a cigar, which as
ceRded to the taffrail at times, I dis
covered that the atrocious Cuban was
sitting at the open cabin window be-
low me, watching and waiting to see
the body devoured by the sharks: and
l knew that he would shoot all who at
tempted to cross his purpose or who
came within reach of his pistol. This
prevented any man from lowering
himself over the stern, either to haul
in the line or cut it adrift.
"Demonio!" We heard him exclaim,
when by a sudden lurch of the shin
the line parted and the poor cornse
went rolling and surging to leeward.
There he goes, and God bless him
although he's cut adrift without a
prayer or a sailors winding-sheet,"
said Tom ~Lambourne, taking off his
hat, as the body bodied like a fish
erman's float on the waves for a little
space and then disappeared in the Ions
white track made by the Eugene
through the dark apple-green of the
morning sea-.
All the stories I had heard or read
Of Spanish revenge seemed eclipsed nv
the atrocities of this fendish Cubano.