Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1903-08-25
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st Candie MenzieS, tt
II ~ Chief Mate !.
y Copyright e. asss sss Han by OWEN HALL II
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CHAPTER l


CHAPTER 1.
ga IA. ne, sir; Am no sayin' its
nj no bonny IL 1t wad please
the Lord tae sweep ava q
hantle O. pirates that's for
ever hangin' aboot the islands"
Mr.. Menzies, who was the speaker,
was standing beside me on the poop
deck of the Crusader on her voyage
from China to London with tea, and at
the moment we were running along
the windward side of large tropical
island to the south Of the Philippines.
The first mate of the Crusader was
tall. powerfully built man, with the
high cheek bones and hard features OF
the lowland Scot. which were not sof-
tened by bushy whiskers of dull red
color. crowned by tangled mass OF
brighter red on his head that seemed
to defy every attempt to keep 1t In Or
der. He had shaggy red eyebrows, un-
der which there looked out pair of
keen gray blue eyes. occasionally light
ed up by passing CLEAN Of sardonic
humor. which. however. never went far
enough to move the hard lines Of his
face to anything like smile. His
Sllnven upper lip and chin showed q
square jaw and determined mouth
which never opened unless for speak
Ing or eating and then closed again
with as little delay as possible.
WHY. there's no danger from pi-
rates ut this time of day. Mr.. Menzies,
is there?" replied. little startled.
Nae danger?" he said thoughtfully.
"Weel. Am no sayin' but they're
scarcer noo-the Lord be praised for
that same-but Am thinkin' even ane
or twa may be plenty for Quaet folks.
There" he added suddenly in differ
ent tone as he gripped me by the arm.
"See till yon moo"
I looked. and. as II by intuition, l
understood what he meant. 1t was
low vessel with two masts and square
lateen sails that had just made Its ap-
pearunce from behind high wooded
point of the island. There was some
thing easy and graceful in the way she
SKINNED the water. and she might
have passed for fairy ship in the yel-
low glow of the evening light, and yet
she gave an impression Of danger.
There was something threatening
about her black hull, something
stcalthy and treacherous in her swift,
gliding motion.
What is she?" asked. looking at
her with suspicion of danger.
"Weel." the mate answered slowly,
"Ah canna jist say. but Ah misdoobt
she's no vera canny by the looks O her.
All jist gle the skipper a bit ca" he
added us lie turned away.
| don't know that ever saw love-
lirr evening or II more beautiful piece
of island scenery. but already that
creeping black spot had spoiled 1t for
me. AS | stared ut it my mind ran
over the tales had heard Of the fe-
roc,y of the barbarous pirates Of the
eastern archipelago. Till then indeed
they had been us unreal to Inc us the
adventures Of Ali Baba. but now. as l
looked at the broad sails fattened
against the mnsts and the low, snaky
iooking hull that crept out from the
shore. | S!iuddcred. In a few minutes
the mate came on deck again with the
captain. and the first anxious glance
the la,ter Gust at the schooner was not
reassuring He had Il glass in his
lund. however. and after he had ex.
amined her for Il minute he turned to
his companion with u half laugh.
"Oh. she's ull right" he said. little
impatiently. There aren't a dozen
men on her. You shouldn't alarm
yourself about triiles, Mr.. Menzies."
"Ah dinna ken what ye may consid-
er tritie. sir" and noticed cold
CLEAN in the mates eyes US he spoke.
but Am thinkin' there may be mair
haun's abOOrd than ye can see through
that glesS. an II it doesna please the
Lord tac gle us breeze she'll be
a!angslde in half un 'oor. An may the
Lord hae mercy on OOr sinfu' sauls!
iir added In Il lower tone.
The skipper shrugged his shoulders.
"I've often heard about these pirates"
he said contemptuously, but In eight
cen voyages in these seas l never met
with one. My education must have
been neglected. l suppose"
"Weel. captain" the mate answered
coolly. "Ah wudna wonder gin that de-
fec micht be remedied the moo. for 1t
wudna surprise me If We were tae meet
| wi twa this time. Div ye see yon"
The captain started as his eye fol-
lowed the mates hand and caught
sight Of second schooner. hardly dis
| tinguishablc from the first. coming In
to sight from behind another point
farther along the coast. AS near an ap-
pronch to n smile M | had yet seen
lighted up the depths Of Menzies' eyes
us he watched the shippers startled
expression. but he only added In the
same matter Of fact tone:
AN. as All was sayin'. captain, It's
no a'tegither unlikely that ane or bath
o them II be alangside In half an
'oOr."
Heavens. man" the skipper ex.
claimed in quite new tone. III 1t
should be. what's to be done"
Menzies glanced coolly up ut the sails.
"Weel." he said compOsedly. "Ah
dinna see that we can pit ony mair
| canvas on her the moo. sac Am think
in we micht be gittin' oot the guns an
cutlasses. for II wudna be jist becom-
in tae gi' In withoot bit fecht."
stared ut the man. but look was
enough to convince me that he was
speaking seriously. fancled there
was even an unusual look Of interest
in his cold eyes. rs II he rather en-
joyed the prospect. The captain
turned away with an oath and begar
to give lasty orders for the better
trimming of the sails. The mate
watched him for a moment. Then ht
turned. 10 me.
eve m.cht as weel be seein' what
HOOD EARM -
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