Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-30
CHAPTER XII.
A good lickin's the only text some men
can understand sermon trom-Ihe
Log Book of The Lyddy.

of the men he ordered them 10 90 loi MIN
without the least hesitation thereafter
and they did II.
1t can, indeed, scarcely be said that the
new situation was wholly without a GER
tain curious enjoyment for Parton. He
had been coward in his flight from Lon
don, and he knew it, but that flight had
not been from any individual or any clear
" defined danger. 1t had been from
great, indefinite thing; his fear had been
born of a vast lowering, confusing danger
of attack by loathsome enemy-lnJus-
tice Now, when he had a human enemy
to fight, when the wrong that he resented
was a deffnable one, and when he felt that
he must match wit against wit, muscle
against muscle, courage against courage
he felt almost elated by the struggle. he
had faced death many time IN A1rlca'
and his nOstrils dilated at this direct pres
ence of tangible danger
The mate was wholly his inferior, men.
tally and physically. He treated him as II
he had not ever dared to dream hlmself
that he was anything else. He spoke 10
him when they met upon the deck, put ne
smoke calmly and indifferently, as one
might speak to a servant deserving u
courtesy, and no more.
That the mate felt it and was Infatuated
he could not doubt. The man showed tne
strain of his position every day a DIT more
plainly and he made the great mlstakS ol
drinking in an effort to overcome II. lhde
heIped to lose for him the respect of the
men The entire crew guessed that some
thing had happened between their accl-
dental commander and Parton, and recoS.
nized that Parton had won victory VI
parton took complete charge of the sick
man Once or twice the mate gave orders
concerning him which Parton quickly coun-
termanded-and the men obeyed nm; Altei
that the mate interfered not at all Win
him and rarely showed enough interest IN
oI5 q condition even 10 inquire
Parton ate his meals as he had before the
captains affection, at the captains tapie.
There was further suggestion that ne
should have them on deck.
Somehow the trouble with the mate
seemed to have cleared a good many cop-
webs out of his brain. 1t had reused MN
from the fear of being caught, that mad
hung over him with the depressing erect
of pail ever since he had first started on
his flight. 1t had restored him to the same
spirit of adventurous Willingness TO take
his chances in his battle with the world
which had won for him all that he had won
in South Africa.
1t had changed his mental attitude toward
himself and toward the world, and 1t had
changed it for the better. He regained the
mind control which he had lost during the
nightmare of his flight from London. Brave
men and strong men sometimes suffer from
panic and Parton had been panic-struck.
He was so no longer. He felt amply
strong to stand up and fight whatever bat
ties might lie waiting for him In the future.
And with the return of this more normal
frame of mind came something else. in
fnitely sweet and very puzZling to him.
For the first few weeks of the voyage he
had forced back the thoughts which came
TO him about the big-eyed, graceful-limbed
Irish girl who had flashed SO suddenly into
his life and then flashed suddenly out of
1t again. He took from his pocket dozen
times day that advertisement which he
had cut from the newspaper, and which
CHI tlh tn hfYNl lnr chn of co. in
sympathy with him and did not question
the right of the course which he had taken.
His heart beat little faster, and he went
to the rail and leaned over it, gazing at
the Lydia's wake, and thinking about
Norah.
Parton had never been in love before, but
1t seemed to him that this passion must
have lain unsupported but still existing in
his heart ever since that heart had first had
power to love. The fact that he had not
known the object upon which it now poured
itself out until that day when he went daily
TO his mothers house in London made no
difference. 1t was a part of the arrange
ment of eternal things.
The love for her had been there-waiting.
He reflected that the rose does not know
the bosom which God fashioned it to adorn:
but that it grows for it. and waits for it
and blooms for it. and yields it's fragrance
for 1t just the same, beginning with the mo-
ment when the first seed is dropped into the
ground And he felt now that that love had
been growing in his heart not bestirring
Itself and making itself known. even to him
but growing ard waiting calmly and peace
fully but with unalterable certainty for her
-Norah.
He knew that many difficulties lay in the
path which might eventually take him to
her again; but he could find in his mind no
doubt whatever that they would be over
come. and that he should go TO her and find
her waiting for him
From such pleasing reflections as these
he turned to go below to the cabin. His at
tendance on the captain had been almost
all that the old man had had-the mate
gave him none and while the sailors I'M
questonably felt desire TO look after him
there was also the feeling among them that
the mate would resent it if they did and 50
they kept away from him unless ordered To
60 something for him by either Parton or
the mate.
When Parton entered the cabin he though,
that there was no one there except the cap
TAIN. The Iatter's presence was at once
mace manifest by that ceaselessly reiterat-
ed INSTRUMENTATION" which
came from his lips as regularly as the tick.
ing of a clock.
him He had made no effort to be especiaI.
~ quiet in his entry into cabin; but as a
matter OF fact he had made no noise So
loud that it was not overcome by the pentl[
swishing of the water along the sides of thf
vessel ana the monotonous creaking of the
timbefs which every ship gives forth wher
at sea, and which to those who love to WOW.
age becomes pleasant sound.
For moment Parton bent over the sicl
man. Then a sound. louder than anv tina
had before reached his ears, came to him
1t was the half-suppressed voice of tn,
mate curSing to himself
Parton wheeled about and looked ont int,
the cabin There was no one in sight bu
again he heard the sound of the cursin,
and also the fall of some object not yer,
heavy, to the deck
The sounds Enthusiastically ca me from his
own small cabin on the other side of tn,
ship and scarcely fifteen feet away from
him. He stepped toward Il, and through
the half-open door saw the mate bendine
over his berth and pulling and hauling III
sheets and blankets about in eviden
search.
Parton's rage was quick and furious III,
stopped not i single moment to consider
what he was about to do; but with TIVE
bounds cleared the space which intervenet
between him and the STOPPING man.
In an instant he had the astOnIshed mat.
by the collar and had dragged him back
ward out of the state room to the floor o.
the cabin itself. The mate at first too as
tonished to eXclaim, was prevented from
doing so later by the tight grasp of Parton:
fingers on his windpipe.
For a moment or two the men rolled OF
the cabin flor. The mate struggled va
llantly. Neither made any sound-the mat,
could not if he had wished to and Parton
was too thoroughly engaged to feel tina