The Washburn leader. [volume] (Washburn, McLean County, N.D.) 1890-1986, 1901-02-02

fall me unless I tried to bet,ay the
brethren, and, II I were to do this, the
very man whom I chose for a conf
dant might be one of the Ragged Thir-
teen.
I had already found one of Dor
ville's friends, and before w had been
out two days I discovered another in
the person Of the big-limbed James
Sweeney. When I first caught sight of
him he was pacing the main deck and
looking somewhat gaunt and cadaver-
GUS, by reason, I supposed, of his being
a bad sailor. He made no pretense of
Disgusting himself, since, from his point
Of view, why should he? He, no doubt,
knew n perfectly we'll, but how was ]
to know him?
We were on board a large trading
trading steamer, and as we were to
make straight for Auckland and not
call at any intermediate port, I had
not the remotest chance of writing to
Anguish or Nora, or Of communicating
with any of my friends. There were
eight saloon passengers besides my
self, and some fifteen OF sixteen in tie
second-class and the steerage, but as
nothing occurred on the run out that
has any bearing upon my story, l
shall omit any account Of h voyage,
neither need I enter into wearisome
details of Auckland. Scarcely was the
ship berthed than a man came aboard
and asked for me, and handing me a
letter, bade me come below with him
and read it. The instructions in this
letter were very simple. 1t ram
AS you are on your trial you must
accompany the bearer of this, who will
on no account lose sight Of you. and
any communication o may wish to
make to any person whatever must be
made through him. If you fail in this
particular you will bring upon your
self instant punishment. For the very
short time you are in Auckland you
will live with the companion we have
chosen for you. He will tell you your
destination, and 10Y you are to pro-
coed thither.
And most certainly the man who
than a brother for the twenty hours
during which we remained in town.
At the end Of this period we found
ourselves once more afioat in the trad
ing schooner Nightingale, bound for
one Of the Fiji Islands, at which island
I was to disembark, and where the OBJ
ject Of my journey would be fully FIX
planned, and I should begin to work
"for the cause" Could I possible have
shaken off my companion or given him
the slip I think I should have done so,
and nave found some speedier craft to
take me to Fiji, but he watched my
every movement, and looking through
the window as we sat at dinner to-
gether, I saw Sweeney and the other
man I knew walking slowly to and fro.
So I made no demur, but went aboard
apparently as cheerfully as though I
were on a pleasure trip, and I found
that Sweeney and the man with the
peculiar face were still voyagfng with
me; indeed the latter had told me,
when we were on the Shannon, that h
was going on to Fiji.
And so in this remote corner of the
earth Providence had decreed that
should meet the father from whom I
had parted in London; and h MEM
cries that came to me were more ten
der than I can we'll say, and I prayef
10 IOu LUZ SLISlASIA W pAAy AAS AAA~S
and to prove myself worthy Of my up
bringing and breeding.
The schooner had, in her day. been F.
trim enough craft Of about $50 tons
burthen, and with a favorable breeze
and as much as could be got
on her, we went bowling north with a
daily and hourly accompaniment OF
oaths from those who had to man the
pumps, for the Nightingale's seams
were Of the leakiest. But the weather
kept so fine that life would have beer
bearable had I not been in such a state
of anxiety. The man who had CONE
out Of England with me in the Shan
non messed with myself and the cap,
tain and mate. Sweeney lived for'ard
with some three or o other passen.
gers. and I saw very little of him.
Where was D'Orville, I wondered
and what was he doing? In all proba-
bility, he had already reached Fiji, and
knew where my father was. and, no
doubt, had so arranged matters h
in his opinion, he would be able to &C
complish, the sacrifice when the two
victims met. I felt a grim satisfactso"
when I reflected that the said victims
were already aware of his amiable In
tentions, and that one Of them at least
would have secured such help that the
tables would be easily turned. Still
the change that D'Orville had made
with regard to the meeting place had
completely upset my plans. n so
closely had I been watched that it had
been quite impossible for me to even
as much as secure a weapon.
And so, on and on we went, farther
and farther north, while every day
brought us nearer to the final scene.
"I don't like the look Of the weather."
said the skipper to me, n evening:
and, truth to tell, landsman as I was, ]
could read signs of ill-omen In h
gloomy red" globe that was droppine
behind a dark-gray bank Of clouds.
and in the moaning wind that blew In
puffs, driving us at racing speed Tor a
few minutes, to leave us drifting SLOW
" until 1t piced us up again.
well get some of the canvas off
her, Bates" said he to the mate, and
presently we lay under easy sail, with
everything snug allow and aloft, wait
ing for the first real buffet Of the, hur-
ricane.
"1'll carry on as long as I can," said
the skipper; land we ought to fetch
up at Totoya in a very few DAYS. II
we don't, we must lie to, or we'll run
slap on to it, when we shan't many OF
us get ashore"
And SO, when at last the winds OF
Heaven were let loose upon us, the
nightingale drove straight ahead and