The Norfolk weekly news-journal., 1901-06-14

pirates, that's what y'arc. Our mates
Ia all swalley'd up by the wilderness
or took by spaniards. Sheer of, I tell
ye"
you've n black cat aboard there"
bnwied Willie Trchalion impatlently;
"a black cat sailing under the name o.
Nep, haven't your
"Mebbe we have, mcbbe we haven't.
I baln't a-goIn to argy WI yc. Sheer
Off an ha' done. There's n Spaninrd
away there through the fog. Go an
plumber him. We amt got the value
o. a jack o. ale among u.s."
"Walt n minute" said Willie Treha-
lion. "See II Nep won't remember his
old masters call" And the boatswain
repeated his low whistle.
"Ma-a-e-ow! Me-ear-wa-owl" came
shrill and distinct across the water.
"Weil I'm blamedf' exclaimed n
fresh voice. "Ef that amt Willie Ire
halion. cts his ghost. Nepll answer
to moan o. us, Ill conditioned ole var
mint es e Is"
'Ncp don't forget his old master II
his old masters s%hlpmates do. Now
I'm telling you true. There's Captain
Ireland here an Master Topp nm just n
han'ful o. others, all that Is escaped out
o. this numbering land. An now blest II
our own mates will own U.s., though
we've got gould enough stored up to
buy Bristol city with"
"Pull n stroke or two nearer" bawl-
ed the first speaker. and then added to
those beside him: "And We lads blow
yer matches up ready to fire. There's
witchcraft enough In that blamed old
cat to get the whole lot O. us into trou-
BILE yet. Boat ahoy, there! Rest on
yer oars again. nm advance nearer at
yer peril. Strike n light an let's look
at yer faces"
1--WE have nothing to strike a light
WITH" broke out Alec angrily. "Man
alive, the boats not provisloned for a
voyage. She's M bare as Willie Ire
halion's head. We've Just escaped
from the Spaniard yonder and are alb
solutely unnrmed. Come, know you
we'll enough; you are Martin Snale,
whom l left In command"
"Mebbe I be, m mebbe l bain't," re-
piled the man cautiously. mo disre-
spect to We, Captain Ireland, IL We be
Captain Ireland, but I'll just make sure
before We come any nearer that n Ian
terms light won't shine clear through
We. The voices Is all right, but they
say that sperrits keeps the voices after
the body's shelled off on 'em, an
amt a-goin to ave no ghosts aboard
me-"
Alec stood up to be inspected. A
great horn Widowed lantern was
thrust out on the end Of n boat hook,
and Martin Snale, climbing into the
main rigging, made n penthouse Of his
two hands and peered at us from under
them. The fog was thick, the tallow
dip ilckered badly and Martins wits
were sluggish; consequently he was
very long In coming to a decision. A,
the end Of nearly ten minutes scrutiny
he stepped down from his perch and
bidding us remain where we were, dis
appeared for awhile. Presently he re
turned and, scrambllng into the shrouds
again. bawled out afresh:
lie lOOkS ul Ii8utS SoHu SAooSh
too, l don't deny. But when a mans
been a mariner all the years have ht
learns that looks Is sometimes deceiv
In. So I'll just make SO bold as tt
heave this orange ut n O ye to sec
whether 1t hits anything solid enough
to burst. If it does, We can come
aboard"
He lifted his hand and threw. Thu
yellow fruit, flying through the air
was stopped by Willie Trehalion's bale
pate. The boatswain never WINGED
and apparently the sight q the scat
tered pulp and Juice-the orange Wa
an overripe one-streaming down hi
stolid face was sufficient. Martin Snail,
demanded no more tests, and we climb
ed up the round barrel side Of our owl
old brig, the Bristol Merchant.
There was but one thing which less
ened u delight ut meeting in freedom
our old shipmates once coult
not have the satisfaction Of lettin,
| Don Miguel know how we had fooled
him.
ITO be continued next Friday.)
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