El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-06-16

Iy around. flashing his white belly, and
dived into the blue depths. Cheer aft
er cheer rose from the passengers and
crew of the Empress
Salak regained his strength and
breath while the boat made it's way
back to the ship. and he kept his dark
eyes fixed on Quin. When he reached
the deck, he threw himself dramaticai-
ly at the feet of his gallant rescuer-
You are my preserver! You saved
my lifer' he exclaimed. "A Malay
never fOrgets, Sahib.'
pJin did not want any gratitude. His
sole idea at the present was to get into
dry clothing. So he hurried below.
pressing bashfully through the enthusi-
astic passengers and avoiding even
Captain Hunters greeting. He was
not seen again until lunch time, when
he entered the saloon and chose i seat
at 4 quiet corner. Meanwhile Salak had
quite recovered and was attending to
his duties as usual
An hour later the port of Bala was
reached, and here there was IL consid
cradle delay. 4 quantity of cargo and
IA native passengers were taken on
board, and it was nearly 4 o'clock in
the afternoon when the Empress
steamed out of the harbor and headed
across the strait toward Penang.
The new arrivals were all Achinesc,
wiry. sparely clad men, with the typ
zeal forbidding cast of features. They
were not confined to any particular
part of the vessel-a precaution that
was generally observed in such cases
but were allowed the freedom of the
deck. They wandered about with bland
and childlike curiosity, though 1t might
have been noticed by a keen observer
that from time to time, whenever the
opportunity offered, they exchanged
significant giances with Salak, the Ma
lay. Mr.. Menzies, the chief engineer,
ventured to give the captain a warning
hint
Don't you think you are trusting
those fellows a bit too much ?" he said
IAN Achinese is always n treacherous
beggar-thats been my experience"
"Oh. it's all right Captain Hunter
replied carelessly. They are not as
black as they're painted. l make
point Of being indulgent to them, and
they like me the better for it,
"a serpent" observed Mr.. Menzies,
oraculariy. will sting the hand that
fondles it," and with a grunt of disap-
prevail he went off to his duties.
Quin did not overhear the above con-
versation, nor did he concern himself
about the Achinese, for whom he felt
only contempt He smoked pipe on
the bridge with the mate and the
steersman. and at 5 O'Clock he went
down to his cabin. The day had been
very hot, and his eyes were heavy and
drowsy. Yielding to the inclination, he
stretched himself on his berth and was
quickly sound asleep
The clanS of the dinner gong reused
him with q start He sat up and look
ed at his watch. The time was Cos.
Then he noticed that his cabin door
was open several inches. He was sure
that he had closed it tightly, and the
circumstance made him feel vaguely
uneasy. An instant later he knew that
some intruder had entered while he
slept, for he discovered lying at the
foot of his berth coat of finely woven
chain mail. Attached to it was n bit of
coarse paper on which the following
message was scrawied in the Malay
language:
''Sahib. put this on. but say no word
to any man if you value your life"
Quin examined the coat of mail and
slowly translated the writing again.
He could not make up his mind wheth-
er he was the victim of n practical joke
or whether the warning was intended
seriously. He thrust his head into the
corridor. but no person was in sight.
Most OF the passengers had been on
deck when the dinner gong sounded.
Then he glanced carefully about the
cabin and peeped under the berth.
"Can it be a trick played by some
weakminded individual?" he mutter-
ed. mo. don't think so. My visitor
was undoubtedly Salak. He left the
coat of mail here and wrote the warn
ing. 1 can't understand his motive. OF
course it would be natural for him to
warn me if l was in any danger, since
saved his life this morning. But
what peril can threaten? BY Jove, 1
have it! Those rascally Achinesei They
have plotted to seize the ship, and the
Malay is confederate. That is the
most reasonable explanation and the
only one"-
Quin ended the sentence with a short
laugh
Il am a fool to get such an idea into
my head" he reflected 1T is absurd
nonsense-follyi Would IA beggarly
Achinese without firearms try to seize
a vessel whose officers, crew and pas ,
sengers run well toward a hundred?
OF course not. 1 am on the wrong
tack"
But the next instant he was serious |
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