The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1904-04-03

and regarded him with a naughty
stare.
He whistled and walked away
Carlos muttered something that
did not catch about spies of that
pestilent Irishman," Then:
Il will not selfishly take you into
any more dangers" he said. but life
on a sugar plantation is not 1T for
YOU
felt glad and fattered that a per-
sonage so romantic should deem me
fit companion for himself. He went
forward as if with some purpose.
Some days afterwards the second
mate sent for me to his cabin. He had
been on the sick list. and he was lying
in his bunk, stripped to the waist, one
arm and one leg touching the floor.
He raised himself slowly when l came
in, and spat.
"Hallo!" he said. "See heeyur. young
Kemp. does your neck just itch to be
stretched"
looked at him with mouth and eyes
! agape.
He spat again. and waved a claw
towards the forward bulkhead.
They'll do it for yeh," he said.
you're such a green goose, 1t makes
me sick a bit. You hewitt reckoned
out the chances, not quite. It's a kind
of dead reckoning yeh havn't had call
to make. EhT'
What do you mean?" I asked, be-
wildered.
He looked at me, grinning, half nak-
ed, with amused contempt, for quite a
long time, and at last offered sardoni-
cally to open my eyes for me.
/ said nothing.
do you know what will happen to
you,' he asked, "ef yeh don't get quit
| of that Carlos Of yours ?'
was surprised into muttering that
I didn't know
Il can tell yeh," he continued. "Yeh
| will get hanged"
By that time 1 was too amazed to
get angry. I simply suspected the Blue
Nose of being drunk. But he glared at
| me so soberly that next moment 1 felt
| frightened.
Hanged by the neck" he repeated:
and then added, Young fellow, you
| scoot. Take a fools advice, and scoot.
! That Castro is a blame fool, anyhow.
! Yeh want men for that job Men, I
| tell you" He slapped his bony breast.
L had no idea that he could look
| SO ferOcious. His eyes fascinated me,
and he opened his cavernous mouth as
/ If to swallow me. His lantern Jaws
snapped without a sound. He seemed
| to change his mind.
Il am done with yeh," he said with
| a sort of sinister restraint. He rose
1 ~ AAAo ACCtS MS DaCk
me, began to shave, squirting into a
| broken looking glass.
L had not the slightest inkling of his
| meaning. l only knew that going out
| OF his berth was like escaping from
| the dark lair of a beast into a sunlit
| world
| We were entering harbor. A great
ship, floating high on the water, black.
| and girt with the two broad yellow
| streaks Of her double tier of guns,
| gllded out slowly from beyond a clus-
| ter of shipping In the bay. She passed
without a hail, going out under her
! topsa1ls, with flag at the FORE Her
! lofty spars overtopped our masts i'm
/ mensely, and I saw the men in her
| rigging looking down on our decks.
| The only sounds that came out of her
! were the piping of boatswains' calls
and the tramping Of feet Imagining
her to be going home. 1 felt a great
| desire to be on board. Ultimately, as
! 1t turned out, / went home in that
! very ship, but then it was too late. I
| was man by that time with much
! queer knowledge and other desires.
Whilst / was looking and longing I
heard Carlos voice behind me-. asking
| one of our sailors what ship it was.
Don't you know a flagship when YOU
see IT." a voice grumbled surlily. "Ad-
mlra1 Rowley's,' it continued Then it
rumbled out some remarks about "pi-
| rates, vermin, coast of Cuba"
| carlos came to the side and looked
| after the man-of-war in the distance.
You could help u.s." I heard him