The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-10
CHAPTER Ii.

~ NE night l was riding alone to-
ward Horton Pen. A large moon
~ hung itself up above me like an
enormous white plate. Finally the
sloping roof of the Ferry inn, with one
disheveIed palm tree dropping over it,
rose into the disk. A mass of objects,
picked out with white globes, doomed
in the high shadow Of the inn, standing
motionless. They resolved themselves
into a barOuche, with four horses
steaming a great deal, and an army of
negresSes with bandboXes on their
heals. A man in European. clothes
was silhouetted against the light in
the doorway He held full glass very
carefully and started to descend. Sud
denly he stopped emotionally. Then
he turned half-right ana called back.
"Sir Charles! Sir Charles! Here's the
very man! 1 protest, the very man"
There was an interrogative roar from
within. 1t was like being outside a
lions cage.
1 was hurrying off the back of my
horse when the admiral came out on
to the steps. Someone lit a torch, and
the admiral became 4 dark, solid fig
ure, with the flash of the gold lace on
his coat He stood very high IN the
leg; had small white whiskers, and a
large nose that threw a vast. shadow
on to his forehead in the upward light;
his high collar was open, and a mass
of white appeared under his chin; his
head was uncovered. A third male
face, very white, bObbed up and down
beside his shining left shoulder. He
kept on saying:
What? what? what? Hey, what?
= That man7" He appeared to
1e halfway between supreme content
and violent anger. At last he deliver
ed himself. Let's duck him
hey? Let's duck him!"
I suddenly saw, halfway up, labori-
Ously ascending the steps, a black fig
ure. indisringuishable at first on &C
count of deformities 1t was David
Macdonald. Since his last, really ter
rible comments on the failure of the
bOat-attack, he had been lying hidden
somewhere. 1t came upon me in a
flash that he was making his way from
one hiding place to another. In MAX
ing his escape from Spanish Town,
either to Kingston or the Vale, he had
run against the admiral and his party
&
Sir Charles turned on the man at his
side, and said, Here, Oldham, you
lend a hand 10 duck the little toad"
1t was the sort of thing that the thirsty
climate of Jamaica rendered frequent
enough. Oldham dropped his glass
and protested. Macdonald continued
silently and systematically to climb the
steps; now be was in for it he showed
plenty Of pluck. No doubt he recog-
nized that, if the admiral made a fool
Of himself, he would be afraid to issue
warrants in sOberness. 1 could not
stand by and see them bully the
wretched little creature. At the same
time I~ditfn't, most decidedly, want to
identify myself with him.
I called out impulsively, "Sir Charles,
surely you would not use violence to a
cripple?"
Then, very suddenly, they all got to
action. I saw three men were falling
upon a little thing like damaged cat.
l couldn't stand that, come what might
of It,
Iran hastily up the steps, hoping to
be able to make them recover their
senses.
There was a sort of undignifed
scuff1e, and in the end 1 found myself
standing above a CHASTITY white gen
tleman who, from a sitting posture,
was gaping out, I'll commit you!
l swear Pu commit youi
I helped him to his feet rather
apologetically, While the admiral be-
hind me was asking insistently who
the deuce [ was. The man I had
picked up retreated a little, and then
turned back to look at me. The light
was shining on my face and he began
to cab out, i know him. 1 know
him perfectly we'll. He's John Kemp
I'll commit him at once. The papers
are in the barouche' After that he
seemed to take it into his head that
I was going to assault him again. He
bOlted out of sight, and l was left
facing the admiral. He stared at me
contemptuOusly. was streaming
with perspiration and upbraiding him
for assaulting a cripple.
The admiral said, ooh, that's what
you think? 1 will settle with you
presently. This is rank mutiny"
1 looked at Oldham, who was the
admiTal's secretary. He was extreme
ly disheveled about his neck, much as
If a monkey had been clawing him
Whereabouts. Half of his roll collar
tapped on his heaving chest; his stock
hung down behind like a cue I had
seen him kneeling on the ground with
his head pinned down by the hunch-
back. I said loftily:
What did you set him on a little
beggaT like that for? You were three
to one. What did you expect?"
The admiral swore. Oldham began
to mop with a lace handkerchief at a
damaged upper lip from which a
stream of blood was running; he even
seemed to be weeping a little. Finally,