The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-10
30 DCB-eS-}S~8~9- 8,-R-6CI1QQQ

bent together. The undaunted David
hoped in after him coolly.
The admiral said: 81 know your kind.
You're treasOnous dog, sir. This Is
mutiny. You shall be made an ex-
ample Of
All the same he must have been
ashamed of himself, for presently he
and the two others went down the
steps without even looking at me, and
their carriage rolled away.
Inside the inn 1 found couple of
merchant captains, one asleep with his
head on the table and little rings shin
ing in his great red ears; the other
very spick and span-of what they
called the new school then. His name
was Williams Williams, Of the
Lion, which he part owned; man of
some note for the dinners he gave on
board the ship. His eyes sparkled blue
and very round in round rosy face,
and he claWed effusively at my arm.
Well done!" he dubbed over. You
gave it them; strike me, you did! 1t
did me good to see and hear. wasn't
going to poke my nose in, not l. But
l admire you, my boy"
He was a quite guileless man with
a strong dislike for the admiraPs blum
dering-a dislike that all the seamen
shared-and for people of the Top
nambo kidney who affected to be above
L
burst upon those gentry roaring
like the Bull of Bashan. You should
have scent" and he drank my health
in glass of punch.
David Macdonald Joined us, looming
through Wreaths Of tobacco smoke. He
was always very nice in his dress, and
had washed himself into a state of
enviable GOODNESS.
They won't touch me now" he said.
hq
." He suddenly turned vivid,
sarcastic black eyes upon me. But
YOU" he said-'my dear KempI You're
in devil Of a scrape! They'll have a
warrant out against you under the
black act. I know the gentry
"Oh, he won't mind" Williams,
struck in, Il know him; he's a tramp.
Afraid of nothing"
David Macdonald made a movement
of his head that did duty for an
OminOus shake:
It's a devil of a mess" he said.
But I'll touch them up. Why did you
hit TOpnambO? He's the Spitefullest
beast in the island. They'll make it
out high treason. They are capable of
sending you home on this charge"
"Oh, never say die" Williams turn
ed to me, Come dine with me on
board at Kingston tomorrow night. If
there's any fuss I'll see what I can do.
Or you can take trip with me to Ha-
vana till it blows over. My old wom-
ans on board. His face fell. But
there, you'll get round her. I'll see you
through
Accordingly 1 did go down to Kings
ton. 1t happened to be the day when
the seven pirates were hanged at Port
Royal Point. | had never seen a hang
ing, and a man who hadn't was rare
In those days. l wanted to keep out of
the way, but it was Impossible to get q
boatman- to row me off to the Lion.
They were all dying to see the show,
and, half curious, half reluctant, I let
myself drift with the crowd.
The gallowS themselves stood high
enough to be seen-a long, very stout
beam supported by posts at each end.
There was blazing sun, and the
crowd pushed and shouted and craned
its thousands of heads every time one
heard the cry of Here they come"
for an hour or so. There was very
limpid sky, very limpid sea, a scat
tering Of shipping gliding up and
down, and the very silent hills a long
way away.
Finally, there was a roar, an ire
sistible Swaying, a rattle of musket
ramrods, rhythm of marching feet,
and the grating of heavy iron-bound
wheels. Seven men appeared in sight
above the heads, clinging to each
other for support, and being drawn
slowly along. The little worsted balls
on the infantry shakOs bobbed all
round their feet. They were a sorry
looking group, those pirates; very
wild-eyed, very ragged, dust-stained,
had the color, of unpublished mahogany.
Clinging still to each other as they
stood beneath the dangling ropes of
the long beam, they had the appear
ance of group of statuary to fOrlorn
misery. FeStOOns of chains completed
the composition"
There was a forward rush Of the
crowd, which carried me away. Some
one in front began to shout orders,
and the crowd swayed back again.
The infantry muskets ratified. The
commotion lasted some time. When
it ceased, L saw that the man about to
die had been kissing another man;
tears were streaming down the gray,
parchment cheeks. He had
the rope round his neck; it curved. up
wards loosely towards the beam,
growing taut as the cart jolted away.
He shouted:
"AdiOs, Vlejo, para siempre adj"
My whole body seemed to go dead
all over. I happened to look down.
ward at my hands; they were extraOr-
dinarily white, with the veins standing
out all over them. They felt as If they
had been sodden in water, and it was
quite a long time before they recovered
their natural color. The rest of the
men were hung after that, the cart
jolting little way backward and for
ward and growing less crowded after
every journey. One man, who was
very large framed and stout, had to go
through it twice because the rope
broke. He made a good deal of fuss.
My head ached, and after the invol-
untary straining and craning to miss
no details was over, 1 felt sick and
dazed. The people talked a great deal
as they streamed back, lOosening over
the broader stretch of pebbles; they
seemed to wish to remind each other
of details. l have an idea that one or
two, in the sheer largeness of heart