Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-05-21
CHAPTER ".

She pushed the heavy black CLOAK -
over her head and her white race appea.
above the dim black shadow Oh nei my
ing. She looked silently round her On 'no
mist the groups of rough men, the spa'.ei
tngs of light that were like Violence wv
She said nothing but rested her mana vi
my arm.
She had her immense griefs, and TINS was
the home offered her. She looked paeh 9"
the side l thought she would nave hneo
10 be in the boat again. / said;
THE people in this ship are my '''
friends You can trust them-aho me
Tomas Castro. clambering leisurey ove.
the side. followed. AS soon as MS lee.
.o,,obed the deck. he threw the corner OF
his cloak across his left shoulder, pe
down half the rim of his hat, and assumed
the appearance of short, dark conspii a. 49,
oyertopped by the stalwart saho, . "
mad abandoned Manuel to crowd, paIe-
armed, bare-chested, pushing anu
their necks, round us. a. T., nv, dutv
She said Il can trust you; IL is my ~
IN trust YOU and this is now my hoIHe'
She disappeared In the brlillant hshe Ia
,ba cabin The door closed. l remaineu
Standing there Manuel, at her disappear
ance. raised his voice to TREMENDOUS, ~,
cessant yell of despair, as IL ne eApeo'eu
TO make her near. -, o,nrir,i-
"Senorita protec'oh e ~ ,,
do: oh. hija re piedad Senorlta; .,o
HIS Iamentable noise brought nan the
ship round us; the sailors 1ell pacH 49,, of
the mate Sebright, walking at the eiDoM %
q ai'e stout man in loose trousers and jacket.
They stopped. o.o,, Will,
Jams - was all found to say TO MN
.sWhat shall we do with that yelplhg
Daeo? He's distressful beast to have
about the decks. -
put him in the coal hole l suppose, as
far as Havana. / won't rest I'LL see MIN
ON his way to the gallows. The captain
general shall be made sick of this business
or nv name isn't Williams. III MAKE d
breeze over it at home. You shail neIp ~, III
that Kemp. You amt afraid OF big-Wlgs'
Not y you You amt aff''0 Oh any 'I"
He's a devil of a fellow, and dead
shot" threw in Sebright. And Jolly it Icy
for us too. sir. It's simply marvellous that
YOU should turn up like this, Mr.. Kemp.
We hadn't a grain of powder that WASH
caked solid in the canisters. NothlngL take
II out of my head that somebody had got
at the magazine while we lay in Kings
ton 81
'And by the way, Kemp" Williams said,
with sudden annoyance, recollectlns MIN
self as 1t were, you never turned up Tor
ina ainner-sent no "0ro' n0f any '''iAs
The young mate OF the Lion stood by,
quiet. listening. with capable smile NO"
he said, in a tone of dry comment:
Jolly sight more useful turning up
here"
II was kidnapped away from Ramon's
back shop, if that's a sufficient apology
It's rather long story"
well, you can't tell 1t on deck, that's
very clear" Sebright had to shout to me-
Not while this Internal noise-what the
deuce's up? 1t sounds more like dog
fight than anything else"
As we ran toward the main hatch rec
ognized the aptness Of the comparison. 1t
was that sort of vicious, snarltng. yelping
clamor which arises all at once and sudden
ly dies
Castro! Thou Castrop
"Malediction . My eyelids ~
Thou! Englishman's dog!'
"Ha Porco.
The voices ceased. Castro ran tip-toeing
lightly, mantled in ample folds. He as
sumed his hat with a brave tap, crouched
swiftly inside his cloak. 1t touched the
deck all round in black cone surmounted
by a peering, quivering head. Quick
thought he hoped and sank low again.
Everybody watched with wonder this play,
as of some large and diabolic toy. For my
part, knowing the deadly purpose of these
preliminaries, l was struck with horror.
Had he chosen to run on him at once, moth
ing could have saved Manuel. The poor
wretch, vigorously held in front of Castro,
was far too terrified to make a sound.
With an immovable sailor on each side, he
scuffied violently, and covered by starts.
as II tied up between two stone posts. His
dumb, rapid painting was in our ears. L
shouted
stop. Castro! Stop, Stop him.
some OF you! ne means 10 MIL the Aei-
lowr"
Nobody needed my shouting. Castro
flung his cloak on the deck, jumped on 1t,
kicked 1t aside, all in the same moment, as
1t seemed, lodged to the right, to the left,
drew himself up and stepped high, paunchy
in his tight smalls and short Jacket, max
ing all the time a low, sibilant sound,
which was perfectly blood-curdling
He has blade on his forearm! / yell
ed. He's armed, ! tell you!"
No one could comprehend my distress. A
sailor raising lamp. had broad smile.
Somebody laughed outright. Castro plant
ed himself before Manuel, nodded menac-
ingly and stopped ready for spring. l
was too late in my grab at his collar, but
Manuers guardians, acting with precision,
put out one arm each to meet his rush, and
he came flying backward upon me, as
though he had rebounded from a wall
He had almost knocked me down, ana
while l staggered to keep my feet the ar
resounded with urgent calls TO shoot 10
fire to bring him down! XIII him,
senorT came in an entreating yell from
Castro. And I became aware that Manuel
had taken this opportunity to wrench him
self free. l heard the hard thud of his
leap. Straight from the hatch Gas / was
told later by the marveling sailors) he had
alighted with both feet on the rail. only
saw him already there, sitting on his heels,
jabberins and nodding at us Ike an enor-
nous baboon. Shoot, sir! Shoot! XIII!
XIII, senior, AS you love your life-kill!'
Unwittingly. without volition. as II COM
cries my hand drew the remaining pistol
out of my belt. / raised 1t, and found my
self covering the strange antics of an in
furiated ape. He tore at his TANKS with
both hands in the idea. 1 suppose. of strip
ping for a swim. Rags flew from him In
all directions; an astounding eruption OF
rags round huddled-up figure crouching.
wildly active. in front of the muzzle.
had him. I was sure of my shot. He was
only an ape. A dead ape. But why2
Wherefore? To what end? He sickened
me, and l pitied him. as l should have
pitied an ape.
1 lowered my arm an almost imperceptible
fraction OF second before he sprang up
and vanished. The sound OF the heavy
plunge was followed by a regretful clamor
all over the decks, and general rush to
the side There was nothing to be seen; he
had gone through the layer of fog covering
the water. No one heard him blow or
splutter II was as II lump OF lead had
fallen overheard.
Williams wouldn't have had this happen
for five-pound note. Sebright expressed
the hope that he wouldn't cheat the gal
lows by drowning. The two men who had
held him skunk away abashed. To lower
a boat for the purpose OF catching him In
the water would have been useless and
imprudent.
ssIIfs can't ba far off in the