Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-08-06

/ by George, I'll tackle this lynn impostor
by the light of the moon. Wen have a .
O'Clock tea. Wen do it all deliberate"
lie drew his flask and took a drink-a
large one. Wilmington O'keefe stood silent
| He kept his brain busy.
The captain grabbed him once more by
the arm. with firm grip. Take holt of
him. Bullitt," he commanded. We'll take
him down an tie him in his bunk-an' wei
leave i'm there until were good an ready
f'r him. See?'
O'Keefe did not resist. They took him
down. The mate produced some heavy rope,
and the captain tied him with his own
hands. Then they left him. 1t was about
dusk, and the moon was due in a couple or
hours. The captain and the mate then re-
| tired to the captains room for supper.
| Each ate and drank with a keen anticipa-
| tory relish of the coming affair.
Now. for the last few days both the mate
and the captain had been winning and din.
ing to extraordinary extent in honor or
their guest whom they had supposed to be
Constitutional Smith. And, though intoxi-
cants invariably aroused the captain S
pugilistic instincts and put into him the
strength and holiness of two men, they
dulled his caution with reference to other
things.
In his present condition he could fight
almost any man to a finish, provided there
was man to fight; But he ought not 70
have attempted to tie rope. He had I'M
dertaken too neat a task when he had
tried to bind OKeefe.
OKeefe lay in his bunk and submitted
without a murmur to the binding; he had
dealt with drinking men before, and he was
counting on slip somewhere-he knew not
where. But he soon found out He FOUND
| that jerks had been too over-conhaent:
jerks had bound him. but he had not
bound him we'll enough. And he had not
| left a man on guard
While the captain and the mate were
feasting up above, O'Keefe was struggling
! silently in his bunk below. The rope was a
Nd cd and bV dint of much
wriggling he succeeded In starting one or
| the knots in 1t. Finally he was complete
| ly successful The rest was comparative
| ly easy work.
| bunk and leaped silently upon the floor,
| free man, so far as the rope was concerned
| He climbed stealthily up the ladder and
| reached the floor above. There he found
| small piece of lumber and with this in his
| hand, and his heart in his mouth, he crept
| aft He passed the captains stateroom.
! and heard the hoarse shouts of laughter
that proclaimed that the captain was just
| getting into condition. Still travelling to-
| ward the stern. he reached the deck. The
| dusk had deepened into darkness. OF on
| the horizon the moon was just beginning
| to make itself visible.
| Forward, here and there, he could distin-
/ guish the figures of one or two of the crew.
| But aft, fortunately for himself. he was
alone. This was highly necessary to his
| plan. Ellington O'keefe, from one stand
| From his own standpoint. he was doing the
| only thing that there was left to do He
did not doubt for one instant, that behind
him was q man who, ir his drunken frenzy
would stop at nothing short Of murder
And he did not relish standing UP to be
made the victim of another fierce onslaught
| He was determined to take his chances
| with old father Neptune. He had gathered
| on his way one or two hard, mouldy crusts
| OF bread and he had saved up a small store
Of provisions shortly after he had come
| aboard He had done this with the idea Of
| ultimate escape.
| He reached the extreme stern. Out be-
| hind, over the water there hung a fair
| sized dingy pair of oars lay in her Bill
| linSton O'Keefe seized the rope that held
her in the davits and noiselessly released
| 1t, hand over hand. The boat gently low
| cred itself to the surface of the ocean.
and Ellington O'Keefe leaped over the tan
rail and followed suit. He was no sailor.
but necessity, like experience. is a first
| class teacher
There was a strong breeze and the "arah
Margaret was scudding along under full
sail.
Ellington O'Keefe reached his row boat,
cast on the blocks, seized the oars and
adjusted them in the oar locks Then, with
a few strokes. he swung his boat about.
Then, half raising himself In his seat, he
turned and shook his fist vindictively in the
direction of the Sarah Margaret" 1t was
goodbye forever. so he hoped. He grasped
his oars and rowed for dear life He didn 1T
| know where or how to go. But he knew
one thing. The Sarah Margaret" was
scuddling away In one direction, and he
was rowing steadily. but surely, in the
| other.
Below. the captain had sent Bullitt on
deck to take a squint at the moon Bullitt
squinted. He saw more than one; he saw a
multitude of moons-all Of them full Just
as he was himself. He went back and re-
ported.
The captain poured out two more large
! drinks He drained one himself and passed
the other over to Bullitt
Now" roared Captain jerks of the
Sarah Margaret" II feel as fit as a fiddle
Let's go and get that son of q seacook, and
I'll knock him into the middle of next week
In two shakes of a lambs tall BY George.
| will"
They went below to nnd Ellington
| OKeefe, impostor. Naturally they did not
find him. The bird had flown. The captain
swore and yelled with disappointment. He
and Bullitt searched the ship without sue