Evening journal., 1904-06-11

lie, pointing 10 1OdnSs
And we are better armed" assent
cd Moran. "We've got the cutting-in
spades"
"And the Revolver. if it will shoot
any farther than It will kick"
"rheyl give Us all the fight we
want" declared Moran.
ooh, him Kai-gingh, him fight all
same devil"
Give the men brandy, Charlie" com
manded Moran. "We'I rush that camp
right away"
The den1john Of spirits was brought
down from the BERTHA and passed
around, Wilbur and Moran drinking
from the tin cup. the coolies from the
bottle. Hoang was fettered and lock
ed in the Bertha's cabin.
Now, then, are we readyp cried
Norm.
II tinl all light" answered Charlie.
The party set or down the beach.
The moon had long since gone down,
and the dawn was whitening over the
eastern horizon. Lahdward, ragged
blankets of morning mist lay close in
the hollows here and there. 1t was
profoundly still The stars were still
out The surface of Magdalena bay
was smooth as a sheet Of gray silk
Twenty minutes passed, half an hour,
an hour The party tramped steadily
forward, Moran, Wilbur and Charlie
leading, the coolies close behind car
rying the cutting-in spades over their
shoulders. Slowly and in silence they
made the half circuit of the bay. The
Bertha Mlllner was far behind them by
now. n vague gray mass in the early
morning light
did you ever fight before?" Moran
suddenly demanded of Charlie.
zone time l fight plenty much in
San Flancisco in Washington stleet
Fight um See Yups"
Another half hour passed. At times
when they halted they began to hear
the faint murmur of the creek, just
beyond which was the broken and
| crumblng shanty, relic of an old
Portuguese whaling camp, where the
beachcombers were camped. At Char
lies suggestion the party made a cir
cult, describing a half moon, to land
waFd, so as to come out upon the enc
my sheltered by the sand dunes.
Twenty minutes later they crossed the
creek about 400 yards from the shore.
Here they spread out into a long line
and. keeping an interval Of about fif-
/ teen feet between each of them, NOV
ed cautiously forward. The uneven
ness of the sand breaks hid the shore
from view, but Moran, Wilbur and
Charlie knew that by keeping the
creek upon their left they would come
out directly upon the house.
A few minutes later Charlie held up
his hand, and the men halted. The
noise of the creek chattering into the
tidewater Of the bay was plainly au-
lible just beyond 4 ridge Of sand
covered thinly with sagebrush and a
! faint column of smoke rose into the
/ mir over the ridge itself. They were
close in. The coolies were halted, and
dropping upon their hands and knees
the three leaders crawled to the top OF
the break. Sheltered by a couple OF
sagebushes and lying fat to the
ground. Wilbur looked over and dowr
upon the beach. The first object he
made out was crazy, roofess house
built of driftwood, the chinks plaster
ed with adobe mud, the door fallen in
Beyond. on the beach, was a fiat bot
toned dingey. unpainted and foul witt
dirt But all around the house tbs
sand had been scooped and piled t
form a low blrricade, and behind thi;
barricade Wilbur saw the beachcOmb
ers. There were eight of them. They
were alert and ready. their hatchets
in their hands The gaze of each OF
them was fixed directly upon the SAM
break which sheltered the Bertha Mill
ners officers and crew. They seemed
to Wilbur to look him straight i'm the
eye They neither moved nor spoke
The silence and absolute, lack of mo
ton on the part of these small, hall
naked Cinnamon, with their apelik,
muZzles and twinkling eyes. were ON
inous.
There could be no longer any doub
/ NAltAN AAAt bttANNNolAlhtAo Auu klOMu Ol
their enemies movements and wer,
perfectly aware of their presence be
hind the sand break. Moran rose tC
her feet. and Wilbur and Charlie fol
lowed her example.
There's no use hiding" she said
"They know we're here"
Charlie called up the crew. The twl
parties were ranged face to face Owe
the eastern rim of the Pacific the blu
whiteness of the early dawn was turn
ing to a dull, roseate gold at the core O
the sunrise. The headands of Magda
lena bay stood black against the pal
glow. Overhead the greater stars sti
shone. The monotonous, faint ripple o
the creek was the only sound. 1t wa
about $3.50 o'clock.
(To be Continued.)