The Saint Paul globe., 1904-06-26

and the air of being piece of worn
and dirty furniture of his court, had
snapped at-me when l tried to speak:
Keep your lies for the Admiralty
Session. I've only time to commit you
Damn your Spaniards; why can't they
translate their own papers," had signed
something with a squeaky quill. tossed
II TO his clerk, and grunted. Next
case"
had gone back to Newgate
The turnkey, man with the air OF
an lnnkeeper, handy legged with a
dubious. purple-veined nose and water
ing eyes, slipped out of the gatehouse
door whilst the great hollow sounding
gate still shook behind me-
hadn't heard anything for months
and months of solitude of darkness
on board the admirars ship. stranded
In the guardship at Plymouth bump
ing round the coast, and now here in
NewSate- And it had been darkness
all the time. JOve! That Cuban time,
with its movements, its pettiness, its
intrigue, its warmth, even its villainies
showed plainly enough in the chill of
that blackness. 1t had been romance.
that life.
Little, and far away. and irrevocably
done with, it showed all golden. There
wasn't any romance where l lay then;
and there had been irons on my wrists;
gruff hatred, the darkness, and always
despair
On board the flagship coming home
had been chained down in the cable
uer-a place where 1 could feel every
sTaining of the great ship. Once these
had risen to a pandemOnium. a fright
TlImFTlf Tx-~aS l.
outside. sailor came down with
Ianthorn, and tossed my biscuit to me.
You ID pirate" he said, "rnaybe
It's you saving US from drowning"
He muttered-and the fact that he
spoke to me at all showed how great
the strain of the weather must have
Deen 10 wiring any words out of him.
Bad-there's large Indiaman gone.
We saw her one minute and then
He went away, muttering
and suddenly the thought had come
Ito me. What if the Indiaman were the
Lion = the Lion with Seraphina on
BOARD? The man would not speak to
me when he came again. No one would
speak TO me; l was a pirate who had
Tired on his own countrymen And the
thought had pursued me right into
Newgate-if she were dead; if l had
taken sherNfroTh that security. from that
peace 10 end there. And to
end myself
Swingi" the turnkey said: you'll
swing right enough" He slapped the
great key on his fiabby hand you
can tell that by the signs. You, being
an Admiralty case, ought to have been
IN the MarShalSea. And you're ordered
solitary cell, and I'm tipped the straight
Wink against your speaking a blessed
word to a blessed soul Why don't
they let you see an attorney? Why?
Because they mean you to swing"
L said, Never mind that Have you
heard of a ship called the Lion? Can
you find out. about her?'
He shook his head cunningly, and did
not answer. If the Lion had been here,
must have heard. They couldn't have
left me here.
1 said. For Gods sake find out. Get
a shipping gazette"
He affected not to hear
There's money in plenty I said.
He winked penderously and began
again. 'Oh, you'll swing all right. A
man with nothing against him has a
chance, with the rhino he has it, even
II he's guilty. But you'll swing. Char
lie, who brought you back just now.
had chat with the 'torney generals
devils clerk, while old Nog O. Bow
Street was trying to read their Spanish.
He saySits gov'nme matter. They
wants TO hang you bad, they do. SOS TO
II
were a mob, a nobby nob.' $50 you are,
aren't you? One uncle an earl and
tother dean, if so be what they saws
true.) He were a nobby mob and we
swung i'm. Go you'n do likewise
IN Iney wa want a striking example t keep
Find out about the Lion" I called,
as the door closed.
1t cleared the air for me. that
speech. l understood that they wanted
TO hang me, and 1 wanted not to be
hung. desperately, from that moment.
had not much cared before; 1 had
can 1t, moped. I had not really be-
neved, really sensed it out 1t isn't
easy TO conceive that one is going to
De hanged, l doubt If one does even
with the rope round ones neck I
hadn't much wanted to live, but now
wanted to fght-one good fight be-
fore I went under for good and ali
condemned or acquitted. There WASN'T
anything left for me TO live for. Sera-
phlna could not be alive The Lion
must have been lost.
But l was going to make a fight for
1t; curse 1t, 1 was going to give them
trouble. My them was not So ;n1lch
the government that meant to hang
me as the unseen powers that suf-
fered such state Of things, that al
lowed number of little meannesses
accidents, fatalities, to hang me. I
said 10 the turnkey again and again:
Man, l will promise you a thousand
pounds or a pension for life. If YOU
VIII get letter through to my mother
or Squire Rooksby, of Horton"
He said he daren't do it; enough was
known Of him to hang Aim if he gave
offense. His 1abby fingers trembIed
and his eyes grew large with success
sive shocks of cupidity. He became
afraid of coming near me; of the strain
of the temptation. On the next day
ne did not speak a word, nor the next
nor the next. 1 began to grow horrf-
bly, afraid of being hung. The day be-
fore the trial arrived. Towards noon
he flung the door open.
Here's paper; here's pens," he said.
you can prepare your defense You
may write letters. Oh, hell why didn't
they let it come sooner. I'd have had
your thousand pounds. I'll run letter
down to your people fast as the devil
could take it. know man. a gentle
man of the road. For twenty pun
promised, split between us, he'll travel
Eastern Turpin did to York" He was
waving a large sheet of newspaper
agitatedly.
What does it mean?" 1 asked. NV
head was Whirling
Radicle papers got a-holt of it." he
said. Trust them for nosing out.
And the governments answering them.
They say you're going to suffer for
your crimes. Hark to this .
un1, um The wretched felon