Barbour County index. [volume] (Medicine Lodge, Kan.) 1880-current, 1900-05-09
and I'll bide here against Thorndyke's

himself to Clinton, and Lounsbury's on the
dawning chance to get his finger on my gold
still safe in the bulkhead. Presently the
cavalryman smote his knee with his fist and
broke out:
My God! why-why did l not spit the
| fellow while | had the chance two days
| since, or shoot him? Why did not know
| him for a spy! 'Twould have saved all this.
| Is there no trace of him.
None since he passed the lines an put
| Lowney to sleep. They tell me he killed the
| green sentinel with his fist. Faith, my head
aches at the thought o him, an ye may
thank God the ever was cracked, else
twas your skull that broke an not the
pitcher. By the powers above, l begin to
| fear him, an ye-"
Shut up" was the ungracious answer.
''IIand out the bottle and help me get on
| deck for air. | hate this mole. | have been
| buried three days." And with this Scam
nell struggled into a sitting position, reach
ing out his hand for the dram Lounsbury
was already pouring.
Now that | had these two at saber's
| length, it went against me to think of their
coming on deck and possibly spelling the
| plans | had already Matched in their behalf.
| Slipping from my cover, crawled over the
| cabin house and got to the door. There
was a lock on it, but the key had long since
gone and | had been used to make a shift
of fastening the companion by paddock,
hasp, and staple. As felt over it / missed
the paddock, though hasp and staple were
still intact. While fumbling for my knife
! to use as a bolt in the light from the cabin
window / caught the CLINT of a musket ly-
| ing along the deck under the tarpaulin, and
| quickly unshipping its bayonet, thrust the
steel through the iron loop, and the two be-
low were prisoners. There was another door
| in the cabin, but it opened into a small space,
or tween decks" and knew a mass of
lead had been piled aft and against it to
| give the vessel a proper trim, so that mode
of egress was blocked.
My scheme was simple enough l would
now go the whole pace and take with me a
| couple of prisoners, and if [ failed / would
be no worse off than before. In any event
there would be a sudden ending to my diff
culties if | was to be taken, and the kidnap-
ing would not hasten my final swing.
Still unshod and silent, l made my way
forward, and with some difficulty, owing to
the darkness and need of stealth, the scow
was emptied of her load, and at last we three
stood on the deck. So far all had gone well.
| My next move was to away the ground
tackle, leaving the boats painter still be-
layed to the cable As the last strand part
CO and the schooner shot away, leaving the
scow still fast, I fancied the astonishment
cf the guard on finding the Phantom had
dwindled to rusty, mud-spattered con-
| trvance but peg removed from a raft.
AS the schooner gathered force and fed,
now broadside to the ebb, told in whispers
what / had found and what done. / was
well aware that not many minutes would
elapse before those below would discover
something out of gear. Between the COW
| aH-1i0 i0ht re nd ha hau uo
no notion that the schooner was free, for the
water was as fat as ice, there being no more
apparent motion now than before. Unless
we fouled something, they could make no
guess at what had happened, but the door
would bother them, and in all likelihood
they would end in an attempt at breaking
il down.
To ball this led the way aft, bidding
.Ames be spokesman if it came to words, and
10 act as he saw fit if it came to blows.
: Placing Mistress Gertrude on the top of the
house. and so out of harms way, Ames and
/ bent our ears to the door, though / kept
my eye open for what might at any minute
confront us from out the depths of the FOG.
We had not long to wait ere hearing from
those within, for soon hand was placed on
the fastening, and the door ratified in the
! forcible shaking it received. It's failure tC
open was followed by round oath, and
We plainly heard the voice OF Scammell sug
gesting that it be broken down After
: parley betwixt them as 10 what was the
, probable cause of the trouble, another at
Y tempt was made to force the door by shak
ing, and then there was worked through the
joint of the companion way the blade of ;
t sword. This j could not see but felt the
L steel with my hand. and, thinking the stu
alton had better be known at once, pickeC
S up the musket and with blow of its stocl
l broke the protruding weapon close to tn,
d panel.
c To the two below this was the first in
1 timation that aught was going wrong, anC
A their CONSERVATION must have made fin,
Z, show. Possibly ten seconds elapsed befor
j they recovered from their surprise, anC
y then the voice of Lounsbury demanded
t Who's on the deck?" but on receiving NJ
answer, the panels were assaulted with
& force that well-ngh sprung them from thei
e frames. Now i bade Ames speak, and
n placing his head conveniently near dead
t light, he called out:
e Below there, Scammell and Lounsbury
a you two be prisoners in the name of tn
l. United Colonies, and demand the surren
!. der of your arms! If you force the com
e panion, it will mean death to both; you ar,
c outnumbered."
"Who are you?" came from within, th
n time from Scammell.
o Call me the ghost of Donald Thorndyke
e if you will, but pass out your arms" A
o which laughed outright, despite the stu
g alton.
e The laugh must have been heard by then
and my locality fairly well marked, for ther
J, came a volley of curses, and then through
!, the door two pistol shots in quick success
& sion.
d 1t was fortunate that was well at tn
IS side of the companion, else the assault woul'
s have finished me. 1t showed the temper o
b my captives, as well as the necessity for pro
lection against another similar attack, TO
l. should it come to our getting off and usin
d the sails the helmsman would be in sor
danger of being shot as he stood at tn
b wheel. There were no window opening
:, 10 the cabin fore or aft, and, save the door
t no possible weakness in the structure; bu
n this door exactly faced the helm and was il
It danger of being forced or so riddled wit
e bullets that it would become an outlook TO
il the two royalists who could thus comman
v the wheel and adjacent deck.
Il 1t would have been an easy matter +
V shoot either or both of the prisoners an,
d so put an end to our internal danger, but a
K this juncture l did not like the report O
e firearms, nor had yet arrived at blood
d thirsty mood. Moreover, felt that tn
bringing into the patriot lines OF brac
is os live tories would redound more to m