The silver messenger. (Challis, Idaho) 1890-1912, 1900-05-15

gag hin; and IL this WIZ. After sx.
amining his pistols. he repoaed sxa~x
nisnt aiterward while On board.
by ]lnsol ! thought the killing n
lhep birds would lead to bad Inck
somehow said Henry Warren an
Ola foremast man. with a reproachfuI
glance at me, as he threw the txo al
batrosses overheard.
We now held solemn conference 70
meet the emergency which was certain
10 come anon, and to consider the best
means Of subduing and disarming the
eulprit.
whoever goes nigh him in the
cabin, either by the door or the sky
ilght, risks being stabbed or shot"
SAID Tattooed Tom; so we must 90 to
WORK some other way, shlpmates, and
mat other way must be considered"
We might close and batten the sky
light and eompanionway and then
starye or smoke him out" suggested
one OF the crew, Francis Probart. our
carpenter.
Smoke him out?" echoed Tom.
Yes, as we do rats"
"By what?"
FIJI a bucket with spun yarn and
creased fax, with sulphur and bilge-
water-aint that the medical com
pound for rats?"
Nonsense" said Tom; you would
burn the ship"
"As he has often threatened to do"
said Carlton, "and may do yet"
A most extraordinary scheme was
proposed by one man-that we should
launch the longboat, throw into her
some bags of bread and gang casks of
water, unship the compass, double
bank the oars. and shove off for the
coast of South America, after scuttling
the brig and leaving Antonio to his
fate.
We were in horrible state of per-
plexity, and l seemed to see constantly
before me the gashed bodies of my
two kind, brave and hospitable friends
Captain Weston and Marc Hislcp-
lying in their berths dead and I'M
avenged, with their destroyer beside
them
We had the capstan-bars, and with
these it was proposed to assail him
when next he came on deck Then we
had the carpenters tools, among
which hand-saw, an auger, an adze
and a Ratchet, made very available
weapons, and these, with the old cut
lass and harpoons which figured on
the night we crossed the line, we're
speedily appropriated. l was armed
with heavy clawhammer, and, VOW
ing firmly to stand by each other, we
resolved to lynch Antonio the mo-
ment he came out Of his den.
While we were thus employed in
devisins the means of punishment, the
dark shadows Of night passed away;
the morning sun came UP in his trop-
ical splendor, and the blue waves of
the southern sea rolled around us in
light, but not sail was visible on
their vast expanse.
The crew seemed pale and excited,
as they might well be, and with buck
cts of water we cleansed the deck
from the blood that stained it.
The morning advanced into noon,
and the vessel was steered her due
course, for the wind was still fair. Ned
Carlton was at the wheel and the men
were all grouped forward when sud
denly Antonio appeared on deck with
knife in his sash and a revolver in
each hand
He was so pale that his olive face
seemed almost a pea-green, and a
black crust upon his cruel lips showed
the extent of his potations in the
cabin. He glanced into the pinnacle,
and perceiving that the brig was still
being steered her old course, he cried
in a hoarse voice:
"Hombres, allegarse a Ia cuesta!"
(men, bear toward the land) and
pointing to the direction in which he
knew the vast continent Of South Am
erica-from which we were probably
four or FIVE hundred miles distant
must be, he added orders in English to
shape the briggs course due west, and
stamped his right foot on the deck to
give his words additional force.