Evening journal., 1904-06-25
vi O r . n
Of the
Lady Lefty
CHAPTER xI.

il WIS uO iNAANA NANAtNH '-' t"r-- -
initiative-who was the leader. The
brief hght upon the shore had changed
an that 1t was Wilbur who was now
the master; it was Wilbur who was
aggressive. He had known what it
meant to Kill lie wasno longer afraid
OF anything longer hesitating. He
had felt a sudden quadrupling of all his
strength moral and physical.
All that was strong and virile and
brutal in him seemed TO harden and
stTon In the n oment after he had seen
the beachcomler collapse Imply on the
sand under th1u last strong knife blow
and a sense OF triumph. Of boundless
self confidence. ileapod within him. so
that he shOutcdtaloud In very excess
Of exhilaraton. and. snatchng up a
heavy cutting-in spade that had been
dropped in the fight near the burning
cabin. tossed ittigh into the air, catch
inc it again asNit descended, like any
exutant savage.
"Come oar he cried TO Moran.
''Nherc are the beachcombers gomez
I'm going TO setsone more before the
show is over
The two passed out of the zone of
smoke aud reached the other side of
the burning cabin just in time TO see
the last of the strugglc The whole
affair had not taken more than quar-
ter of an hour I'm the end the beach
combers had been beaten. -Four had
led into the waste Of sand and sage
that lay hack of the shore ard had not
been pursued. fifth had been almost
hamstrung by one of the Beriha's
coolies and bad given himself UP, a
sixth. squealing and shriekng like a
tiger eat had been made prisoner. and
Wilbur himself had accounted for the
seventh
AS Wilbur ana Moran came around
the cabin they saw the Bertha Mill
ners Chinamen in a group not far
from the waters edge. reassembled
after the fight, painting and bloody
soma of them bare to the belt their
weapons still I'm theiThands. Here and
there was a bandaged arm. OF head.
but their number was complete-or, no,
was Il completel
"Ought TO be one mo-e' said vii.
bur. anxiousiy Fastening forward.
AS the two came up the coolies part
ed, and Wilbur saw one Of them. his
head propped up on rolled up blouse,
Tying ominously still on the trampled
sand.
Its Charliew exclaimed Moran.
"Where's he hurty cried Wilbur to
the group of coolies "Jim-wheres
Jimf where's he hurt. Jim"
Jim, the only member Of the crew
besides Charlie who could understand
OF speak English, answered:
"Kai-gingh him fin pistol. you pis
toll Charlie him fight plenty. Bimeby
when he no see. one piecee Kaighlne
he comeup benin. shoot um Charlie In
side savvyw
'Did he xiii him? Is he deadT
''No l tlnkum die plenty soon. Hin
no savvy nuttin' now. Him all sam,
sleep. Plenty soon bimeby him sleei
Tor good. / tink'
There was little blood to be seer
when Wilbur gently unwrapped tho
torn sleeve Of blouse that had beer
used as a bandage Just under The
armpit was the mark Of the bullet, ;
small puncturo already closed, hal
hidden under a clot or two Of blood
Tie cooly lag quite unconscious, hi
eyes wide open drawing a faint quicl
breath at irregular intervals.
"What do you think, mater aske'
Moran IN a low voice.
Il think he's got It through tn
lungs" answered Wilbur frowning Il
distress and neplcxity. Poor oil
Charliew
Moran went down on knee an
put n finger ON the slim, corded wris
yellow as old ivory.
"Charlier she called. "Charli'
Herel Don't You know me2 Wake N
old chapl It's Moran. You're not hun
so very bad, are youT
Charles eyes closed and opened
couple Of times.
"No can tell" he answered feebl,
"Hurt plenty big Then he began
cough.
Wilbur drew a sigh OF relief "He
all rightw he exclaimed.
''Yes. I think he's all right" assent'
Moran
"First thing to do now is TO get hi
UIndIu lHt NNIN0uilf rllu W liUN
"Well take him right across in Il
heachcombers' dory here. BY Jove
ne exclaimed ON a sudden. "Ihe al
bergrisl I'd forgotten all about II
His heart sank. In the hideous conf
sion Of that mornings work all thong
of the loot had been forgotten III
the battle been for nothing, after a
The moment the boachcombers n
been made aware OF the meditated
tack il would have been an easy m
Ter for them to have hidden the amb
girls destroyed it even.
In two strides Wilbur had reacl
the beachcombers' dory and was gr
ing in the forward cuddy. Then
uttered a great shout Of satisfacti
The -stun' was there all of it, thor
the mass had been cut into quart,
three parts of it slowed in tea fla
the fourth still reeved up in the hs
mock netting.
"We've got itr' he cried TO Nor
who had followed him. We've got
Moran. over 100000, We're ric
rich rs boodlers. you and i! Oh, it :
worth lighting for, after all, wasn't
Now we'll get out OF here-now "
cut for home"
ITS only Charlie I'm thinl
about" answered Moran. hesitat
III 1t wasn't for that we'd be
right ! don't know whether we