Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1901-07-03

Snall just imagine Iney are ADySSiui-
ans and shoot to kill
Under the black captive's guidance
the salvage steamer soon put a term
to her search. For two more hours she
threaded her way among surf which
broke over unseen reefs and swung
round the capes of rocky archipelago,
and then the pilot gave his word, and
the engines were stopped, and a rusty
cable roared out till an anchor had got
hold of the ground. A boat was low
cred away with air pump already
stepped amidships, and the boats crew
with eager hands assisted the diver to
make his toilet.
"Your chaps seem keen enough" said
Kettle as he watched the trail Of air
bubbles which showed the mans prog
ress on the sea floor below.
''They have each got stake in the
venture"
'I bet they have" was Kettles grim
comment to himself.
The kidnapped skipper of the dhow, IT
seemed, had done his pilotage with a
fine accuracy. The salvage steamer
had been anchored in a good position,
and between them two divers in two
boats found the Grecian's wreck in half
an hour.
They came up to the air for quar-
ter Of an hours spell. and made their
and then the copper he'll
NETS were clapped into place again. and
once more they faded away into the
depths. A gable Of excited Italians
kept pace to the turning Of the mir
pumps, and of that language Kettle
knew barely score Of words. Prac-
tically these people might have weayed
any kind ofa plot noisily and under his
very nose without his being any the
wiser, and this possibility did little to
quell his suspicious.
But still Tazzuchi was all outward
frankness. cts as well we brought
out this little steamboat just to skim
the wreck and survey her." he said. eff
they'd waited to fit out big salvage
expedition to raise her straight off, /
reckon there wouldn't have been much
left but iron plates and coal bunkers.
These Red sea niggers are pretty useful
at looting, once they start. The beg
gars can dive pretty nearly as well and
as long in their naked skins as their
betters can in proper diving suit"
Each time the divers came up from
the Opaque white water they brought
more reports. Binnacles, whistle, wheels
and all movable deck fittings were gone
| already. The chaTthouse had been loot
ed down to the bare boards. Matches
were off both forward and aft, and al
ready the cargo had begun to diminish.
The black men of the district had been
making good use Of their time.
News came from the cool, mysterious
water to the baking region Of air above
almost at the second hour of the search
that the Grecian could never be re-
foated. In addition to the holes al
ready made in two of her compart-
ments, she had settled on sharp jag
of rock, which had pierced her in a
third place, aft. This one piece of rock
was the only solid spot in the neighbor-
hood. All the rest of the sea floor was
pulpy white clay, and in this the unfor-
tunate wreck had settled till already 1t
was flush with her lower decks. There
were evidences, too, that the ooze was
creeping higher every day, SO that all
that remained was to strip her as quick
" as might be before she was swallow
ed up.
Tazzuchi asked Captain Kettle for
his opinion that night while in the
charthouse. "Tm to be guided by
you, of course" he said, "but my idea
is that we should go for the specie first
thing and let everything else slide till
that's snugly on board here. Birds
gave f5,400 for the wreck, and there's
! $4,000 in cash down there in room
they built specially for 1t over the
shaft tunnel. If we can grab that, it
will pay our expenses and commission
and all the other actual outlay, and
Birds will be out Of the wood"
EYES," thought Kettle; you want
those gold. boxes in your hands, you
blessed dago, and then. you'll begin to
play your monkey tricks. wonder II
| you think you're going to jam II knife
'ueo LIZ ny Way VI uuhluS tuiuSS SLUG
and safe?"
But aloud he expressed agreement to
Captain Tazzuchi's plan. He felt that
this was diplomacy, and, though the
diplomatic art was new and strange to
| him, he told himself that 1t was the
correct weapon to use under the cir
cumstances. He had risen out of his
old grade of hole and corner shipmas-
ter. He was a captain in a regular line
now, and wild flights and scrimmages
were beneath the dignity of his posi-.
ton.
Accordingly. as soon as dawn gave a
waking light the boats put out again,
and the divers were given orders to
put all their efforts Into getting the
specie boxes on to the end of the sal
wage steamers winch chain. A lot of
dhows were showing here and there
among the reefs, obviously watching
them, and Tazzuchi was beginning to
get nervous.
Were in for trouble. I'm afraid" he