Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-30

uou u Sdlu KNOW that yOu
are scoundrel; but twas only through good
luck that l was fortunate enough to find a
witness who had actually caught you in the
act of stealing that money. You are not a
fool You would be, though, If you did not
do every single thing that 1 tell you to do
If you don't. III simply have you taken
in charge when we reach port, and with my
own testimony and with that of your own
sailor I'll send you to prison. And / pro-
pose to arrange matters. as soon as we get
ashore. so that you cannot at any future
time fail to act about as 1 tell you to act,
If l ever find it necessary to take the I'M
pleasant trouble of bothering with you at
all. am going to call that sailor in here
presently and you will tell me in his pres
enee that you have robbed me and then you
will also in his presence, return to me the
money which you stole"
The mates physical vigor had returned to
him now to large extent and he faced his
tormentor with face so flushed that it
seemed as If the mldest result must be
bleeding at the nose, while the muscles of
his hands pulled the thumbs and fingers
into fists and those on his bull neck swelled
in great anger.
But Parton changed that to fear with a
very simple threatening movement and a
complete change of manner. The movement
was a threat with his arm and the man.
ner was aggressive. 1t was accompanied
by few words which were quickly and
contemptuously uttered and which were
accompanied by the CLEAN of the eyes
which the mate so thoroughly disliked
NOW, see here, said Parton energeti-
cally, but calmly. You are a liar, thief
and a general blackguard. You are cow
ard and l can send you to prison. Under
stand all those things. Furthermore, I
can thrash you again and over again and
as often as is necessary. / have done it
once and l will do it again If it is neces-
sary in order to make you thoroughly I'M
derstand your position in it's relation to
mine
The mate looked at him with his small,
calculating eyes, and mistook the quiet of
his manner and his exceeding paleness for
evidences of weakness. He changed his
tone of subjugation and his attitude of
fearful aSqulescence somewhat.
Parton noticed the change and looked at
him in surprise. He had thought that the
man was thor oughly cowed. But the mate
was not without a good allowance of a
certain kind of animal bravery His fury
slowly returned to him, but he said moth
ing.
FINALLY Parton ended his remarks with
a dlrect question to whether the mate
would give his promise or not, and paused
waiting for a reply. 1t came quickly and
unexpectedly. The mate lunged at him
hercely and with a brutal oath. The blow
struck Parton full in the chest, and, as he
was not in the least braced for it, laid
him back across the cabin table
For the next three or four minutes the
men were again wrthing on the floor in a
desperate struggle, and at the outset the
mate had all the advantage of it, He evil
IDENTIFY appreciated the wisdom of the tao
tics which Parton had used with him a few
moments before, for his constant effort
was to get his fingers on the English
mans throat
one or twice they were there and were
nan CURED about it in grip that it would
nave been impossible to break If 1t had
been permitted to have gone an infinitest-
NAL part of an inch further; but by clever
work with his elbow Parton forced the
grasping hand away. =
Still he was at great disadvantage and
ny,,fr
whole weight of the burly sailor was upon
his chest and was sadly interfering with
his breathing. VI
His situation became desperate The
mate knew It, and on his face, which he
managed to keep pretty well out of Par
tons way, there was something which was
as near to an expression Of savage satisfac-
ton as its swollen and distorted condition
would permit. = ~
He lacked the self-corftrol that Parton
had shown, and heywished to triumph au-
dibly over his PROSTATE enemy. Also. he
wished to turn his temporary victory to
account.
Now, d-n you,' he gasped, now I've
got you. Now, d-n you, 1've got you Me
thief! Why, you jackass, don't you sup
pose know that you're running away from
the police yourself? Now, I'm going to kill
you, l reckon. Yes, I'm going to kill YOU
You've got to agree to give me half of
everything you've hidden on this ship or
I'll kill you. Hear me? I'll kill you.
Where are them diamonds? Where are
they? Where are they?"
The struggle had been a singularly quiet
one. Parton's breath was fast becoming
exhausted, and there was in him the feel
ing that the mate really meant what he
said and that he would kill him If he did
not tell him where the diamonds were.
The idea of gratifying this desire for in
formation did not however, even suggest
itself to his mind as possibility. He did
not answer at all. He was almost too ex-
han tod 70 OF prQl md a leo hn Ey,nxu
that struggling would be worse than useless
unless some change in their relative posi-
tons occurred.
He lay almost passive in the mates grasp
For what seemed to him a long time, but
what could not have been really more than
a part of one minute, the two men re-
manned thus on the floor of the cabin, al
most motionless except for the heaving of
their bodies caused by deep exhalations and
intakes of breath. Parton could feel that
the blood was being concentrated in his
head and face.
His hearing became preternaturally acute.
He heard eight bells sound on deck, al
though the bell was on the forecastle, quite
at the other end of the ship, and could not
ordinarily be heard in the cabin except I'M
der certain very favorable conditions of
the wind, which did not exist that day.
He heard the captains constant and by
no means loud reiteration of John, John,
john
He heard the step of a sailors bare feet
on the deck above MIN. he saw, with
impotent fury, the distorted face of the
mate leaning close over his and felt the
heavy and ill-smelling breath of the man
in his eyes and nostrils. He gave one con-
vulsive struggle, which he had made up
his mind must be his last.
This rolled them quite across the cabin
until they came up with a thud against
| the side of the captains berth The John,
| john" seemed to be interrupted.
Parton idly wondered with that wonderful
! rapdity of irrelevant thought which Is
| peculiar to human emergency whether the
| old man would be able to see them as they
| lay there and whether to his benumbed in
| telligence their positions. struggling and
| PROSTATE on the floor, would indicate to
| him that anything unusual was going on
| The pressure on his chest increased. He
| felt that his strength would give way ut
| terly in a moment. and that unconscious
| ness would come. and he realized this al
| most with pleasure. He felt his breath
| stopping and his eyes closing.
He saw the mates hand raised, clenched
| above his face. and waited for the blow
| which he knew would follow and which he
| felt certain would end the battle. He felt
| that it would be a relief to have it fall. 1t
| seemed long time in coming.
| 1t was at this crisis that a thing occurred
| so strange, so uncanny, so terrifying to
| both the men on the floor that the mate did
| not strike the blow, and Parton would not