Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-07-02
CHAPTER IV-Continued.


belt The young girl on the bench had net
lips parted and leant lprWdi"' "'i
little on one side.
said you won't swear l was the man
--Nikola Ell EscoCes?'
He looked meditatiVely into my eyes II
was duel between us.
81 won't swear he said. You had your
face BACKED and didn't wear beard.
A soft growth of hair had come out over
my cheeks while l lay in prison. rub
bed my hand against it and thought 'ha'
he had drawn first blood.
You must not say you. l said. /
swear | was not the man. Did he talk
like me-
Cant say that he did" Sadler an
swered moving one foot to the other.
Had he got eyes like me, or a nose. or
a MOUTH
Cant say" he answered again, His
face was BACKED
Didn't he talk Blue Nose-ln the Nova
well. he did" sadler assented, slowly.
But any one could for a disguise. Its as
easy as
Beside me- the turnkey whispered sud
denly, Pull him up; stop his mouth.
| said. Wasn't he an older man? Didn't
he look between forty and Nifty?
What do you look like?' the chief mate
asked.
I'm twenty-four,'' L answered; Il can
prove it,"
wen, you look forty and older" he an
swered neglieently So did he
His cool, disinterested manner over
whelmed me like the blow of an immense
wave; ii proved so absolutely that l had
parted with all semblanCe of youth. 1t was
something added to the immense waste OF
waters between myself and Seraphina; an
immense waste of years. / did not ask
much of the next witness, Sadler had made
me afraid. Septimus Hearn, the master of
the Victoria, man with eyes as blue
and cold as bits Of round blue pebble; a
little goats beard. irCn- gray, apple-colored
cheeks, and small gold earrings in his ears.
He had an extraordinary mournful voice,
and retrospective melancholy of manner.
He was Just such another master of a
trader as Captain Lumsden had been; and
1t was the same story over again. with lit
tie different touches. the hard blue eyes
gazing far over the top of my head: the
gnarled hands moving reSteSSly on the rim
of his hat.
"Afterward the prisoner ordered the stew
ard to give US a drink of brandy. a glass
offered me- but | refused to drink it.
and he said: Who is it that refuses to drink
glass of brandy? He asked me what
countryman 1 was, and If II an Ameri-
can"
Thee were two others from the rlnfortu-
nate Victoria-a Thomas Davis, boatswain,
who had had one of Nikoas pistol balls in
his hip and a sort of steward-I have for
gotten his name-who had scar of a cut
lass wound on his forehead
Suddenly the conviction forced itself upon
lie that the whole thing, the long, weary
trial, the evidence, the parade of fairness,
was being gone through in a spirit of mock
cry, as a mere formality; that the judges
took no interest whatever in my case. 1t
was a foregone conclusion.
tiny, fair man, with pale hair, oiled and
rather long for those days, and with green
and red signet rings on fingers that he was
forever running through that hair came
mincingly into the witness box. He held
for hong time what seemed to be an
amiable conversation with Sir Robert Gift
ford, tall, Notwithstanding man. who
had black. beetling brows. like tufts of
black horsehar sticking in the crannies of
cliff The conversation went like this:
You are the Hon. Thomas Oldham?"
Yes, yes
You know Kingston. Jamaica very
well?'
II was there four years-two as secretary
to the cabinet of his grace the Duke of
Manchester. two civil secretary to the
admiral on the station
You saw the prisoner"
Yes three times"
l drew an immense breath. | Thought for
a moment that they had delivered them
selves into my hands. The thing must prove
of itself that l had been in Jamaica not in
Rio Medic. through those two years NV
heart began to thump like a great solemn
drum like Pauls bell when the king died
solemn. insistent dominating everything.
The little man given an account of the
'baWmlnahle state of confusion into which
the Islands trade was thrown by the mis-
deeds of a pirate called Nikola ell Demonlco
Il assure you, my luds.' he squeaked
turning suddenly to the judges "the island
was wrought up into pitch of =
an almost disloyalty. The
an all planters were clam
oring for all senaratfon
And And to be e sure | trust you'll hang the pris-
Lord Stowell shivered. and said suddenly
with haste. Mr. Oldham, address yourself
to Sir Robert"
was almost happy; the cloven foot had
peered so damningly out. The little man
bowed briskly to the old Judge asked for a
chair sat himself down and arranged his
coat-tailS
times. II it does not overtax your memory
pray zen US And the little creature
pranced of in new direction.
Tax my memory! Cad, | like that You
remember a man who has had your blood
as near as could be. don't your
had been looking at him eagerly but
my interest faded away now. IL was going
to be the old confusing of my identity with
Nikolas. And yet l seemed to know the
little beggars falsetto, it was voice one
does not forget
"Remember.' he squeaked. God. gem
ltemen of the jury, he came as near as
possible You have no Idea what fero-
l was wondering why on earth Nichols
should have wanted to kill such little
thing.
AS near as possible murdered myself and
Admiral Rowley and a Mr.. Topnambo. a
most enlightened and loyal an
inhabitant OF the island. the steps of
l had 1t then. 1t was the little man David
Macdonald had rolled down the steps with
that night at the Ferry Inn on the Spanish
town road.
He lying in wait for us with a gang
of assassins l was stabbed on the upper
lip. lost so much blood had to be
invaded cannot think of horrible
episode without shudderng"
He had seen ne then. and when Ramon
Ca Spaniard who was afterward proved to
be a spy of FL Demonio's-of the prisoners
He was hung since) had driven me from
the place OF execution after the hanging of
the seven pirates; and he had come into
Ramon's store at the moment when Car
los Ga piratical devil If ever there was
one" the little man protested) had drawn
me into the back room, where Don BalthaS-
and o. Brien and Seraphina sat waiting.
The men who were employed to watch Ra-
mons had never seen me leave again, and
afterward a secret tunnel was discovered
leading down to the quay.
1t was as II few at the throat of that
little man. 1t seemed TO me that | must
be able to crush a creature whose malice
was obvious as the green and red rings
hot h.. al tod II