The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-02-23
CHAPTER XII,
~ a YELLw exclaimed Wilbur at
A" length, the excitement Of
the fight returning upon
CHAPTER XII.

1ulllallFe-WnO was the leauef. Lie
brief fight upon the shore had changed
all that 1t was Wilbur who was now
the master; it was Wilbur who was
aggressive. He had known what it
meant to kill. He was no longer afraid
of anything-no longer hesitating. He
had felt sudden quadrupling OF all his
strength, moral and physical.
All that was strong and virile and
brutal in him seemed to harden and
stiffen in the moment after he had seen
the beachcomber collapse Imply on the
sand under that last strong knife blow,
and a sense of triumph, Of boundless
self confidence, leaped within him, SO
that he shouted aloud in a very excess
of eXhilaration, and, snatching up a
heavy cutting-in spade that had been
dropped in the fight near the burning
cabin, tossed it high into the air catch
ing it again as it descended, like any
exultant savage.
"Come on" he cried to Moran.
'Where are the beachcombers gone?
I'm going to get one more before the
show is over"
The two passed out Of the zone of
smoke and reached the other side of
the burning cabin just in time to see
the last Of the struggle The whole
affair had not taken more than a quar-
ter of an hour. In the end the beach
combers had been beaten. Four had
fed into the waste of sand and sage
that lay back of the shore and had not
been pursued, fifth had been almost
hamstrung by one of the Bertha's
coolies and had given himself up, a
sixth, squealing and shrieking like
tiger cat, had been made prisoner and
Wilbur himself had accounted for the
seventh
AS Wilbur and Moran came around
the cabin they saw the Bertha Mill
ner's Cinnamon in group not far
from the waters edge, reassembled
after the fight, painting and bloody,
some OF them bare to the belt their
weapons still in their hands Here and
there was a bandaged arm or head,
but their number was complete-or. no,
was it complete?
Ought to be one more" said Will
bur, anxiously fastening forward.
AS the two came up the coolies part
ed, and Wilbur saw one Of them, his
mead propped up on rolled up blouse,
lying ominously still on the trampled
sand.
Its Charlier' exclaimed Moran.
'Where's he hurt?' cried Wilbur to
the group of coolies. "Jim-where's
Jim? Where's he hurt, Jim?"
Jim, the only member of the crew
besides Charlie who could understand
or speak English, answered.
''kai-gingh him fin pistol, YOU pis-
tol. Charlie him fight plenty. Bimeby,
when he no see, one piece Kaighing
he come up benin, shoot um Charlie in
side-savvy:'
did he kin him? Is he dead:'
mo. tinkum die plenty soon. Him
no savvy nuttin' now Him all same
sleep. Plenty soon bimeby him sleep
for good tink''
There was little blood to be seen
when Wilbur gently unwrapped the
torn sleeve of q blouse that had been
used as bandage. Just under the
armpit WAS the mark Of the bullet, a
small puncture already closed, half
hidden under a clot or two of blood.
The cody lay quite unconscious. his
eyes wide open. drawing faint. quick
BREATH at irregular intervals
"Nhat do you think. mate?' asked
Moran in a low voice.
Il think he's got it through the
lungs; answered Wilbur, frowning iH
distress and perplexity. Poor old
Charlie!''
Moran went down on a knee and
yellow as old ivory.
"Charlier' she called. Charlie!
Here! Don't you know me? Wake up.
old chap! It's Moran. You're not hurt
so very bad, are your
Charles eyes closed and opened Il
couple Of times.
mo can tell,'' he answered feebly.
"Hurt plenty big::' Then he began to
cough.
Wilbur drew a sigh of relief. Hes
all rightr he exclaimed.
Eyes, think he's all right" assented
Moran.
First thing to do now is to get him
aboard the schooner" said Wilbur.
well take him right across in the
beachcombers' dory here. BY Jover'
he exclaimed on a sudden. 1.-THE am
bergris! I'd forgotten all about it,
His heart sank. In the hideous confu-
sion of that mornings work all thought
of the loot had been forgotten. Had
the battle been for nothing, after all?
The moment the beachcombers had
been made aware of the meditated at
tack it would have been an easy mat
ter for them to have hidden the amber
gris-destroyed it even
In two strides Wilbur had reached
the beachcombers' dory and was Crop
ing in the forward cuddy. Then he
uttered great shout Of satisfaction.
The "stuff" was there, all of it, though
the mass had been cut into quarters,
three parts of it slowed in tea fails,
the fourth still reeved up in the ham,
mock netting.