Lincoln County leader. [volume] (Toledo, Lincoln County, Or.) 1893-1987, 1906-05-04
for The Term of Ills Natural Life
BY MARCUS CLARKE


|
the watch. The Moocher, close at the
giants heels, flung himself upon the
nearest soldier, and. grasping his wrist,
struggled for the cutlass. A brawny,
! bull-necked fellow next him dashed his
clinched fist into the soldiers face, and
the man, maddened by the blow, let go
the cutless and, drawing his pistol, shot
his new assailant through the head. 1t
was this second shot that aroused Maui
rice Frere.
| As the young lieutenant sprang out
upon the desck, he saw by the position of
the guard that others had been more
| mindful of the safety of the ship than
he. There was, however, no time for ex-
PLANTATION, for, as he reached the hatch
way, he was met by the ascending giant,
VINO uttered a hideous cry at the sight
OF this unexpected adversary, and, too
close to strike him, locked him In his
arms. The two men went down togeth
er. The guard on the quarterback dar-
ed not tire at the two bodies that twined
about each other, rolled across the deck,
and for moment Mr.. Frere's cherished
existence hung upon the slenderest
thread imaginable.
| The Moocher, spattered with the blood
and brains of his unfortunate comrade,
lad already set his foot upon the low
est step of the ladder, when the cutass
| was dashed from his hand by blow
from a clubbed frelock, and he was
dragged roughly backward As he fell
upon the deck, he saw the Crow spring
out of the mass of prisoners who had
been, an instant before, struggling with
the guard, and, gaining the cleared space
at the bottom of the ladder, hold up his
hands, as though to shield himself from
a blow. The confusion had become sud-
denly stilled, and upon the group be-
fore the barrlcade had fallen that mys-
terious silence which had perplexed the
inmates of the prison.
| They were not perplexed for long.
The two soldiers who, with the assist
ance of Pine, had forced to the door of
the prison, rapidly unboted trap door
in the barricade and, at signal from
Vickers, three men ran the loaded how
itzer from its sinister shelter, and, train
Ing the deadly muzzle to a level with
the opening in the barrcade stood ready
| to fire.
"Surrender!' cried Vickers, in a voice
from which all humanity" had vanish
ed. E.. Surrender, and give up your ring
leaders, or I'll blow you to piecesw
There was no tremor in his voice, and
though he stood, with Pine by his side,
at the very mouth of the leveled can
non, the mutineers perceived, with that
acuteness which imminent danger brings
to the most stolid of brains, that, did
| they hesitate an instant, he would keep
| his word. There was an awful moment
of silence, broken only by a skurrying
| noise in the prison, as though q family
| of rats, disturbed at flour cask, were
scampering to the ships side for shell
\ ter.
The entrapped men looked up the
| hatchway, but the guard had already
| closed In upon 1t, and some of the ships
crew were peering down upon them. Es-
cape was hopeless.
"One minutew cried Vickers, conf
dent that one second would be enough
lone minute to go quietly, Or"
Surrender, matesv' shrieked some un-
of the prison. "Do you want to be the
death of us?'
Jenny Vetch feeling, by that curious
sympathy which nery Gus natures pos
sess, that his comrades wished him to
act as spokesman, raised his shrill tones.
"We surrender" he said. Its no use
getting our brains blown out" And,
raising his hands, he obeyed the motion
of Vickers' finger, and led the way to-
ward the barrack.
Bring the irons forward therew
shouted Vickers Fastening from his per-
ilous position; and before the last man
had filed past the still smoking match,
the clink of hammers announced that the
Crow had resumed those fetters which
had been knocked off his dainty limbs
month previously in the Bay of Biscay.
In another moment the trap door was
closed, the howitzer rumbled back to it's
clearings, and the prison breathed again.
In the meantime, a scene almost as
exciting had taken place on the upper
deck. Gabbett, with the blind fury
which the consciousness of failure brings
to such brutelike natures, had seized
Frere by the throat determined to put
an end to at least one of his enemies.
But desperate though he was, and with
all the advantage of weight and strength
upon his side, he found the young lieu
tenant a more formidable adversary than
he had anticipated.
Maurice Frere was no coward. Taken
by surprise as he was he did not lose
his presence of mind. The convict was
so close upon him that there was no
time to strike, but, as he was forced
backward, he succeeded in crooking his
and thrust one hand into his collar.
Over and over they rolled, the bewil-
dered sentry not daring to fire, until the
ships side brought them up with violent
Jerk, and Frere realized that Gabbett
was below him. Pressing with all the
might of his muscles, he strove to resist
the leverage which the giant was apply
ing to turn him over but he might as
we'll have pushed against stone wall.
With his eyes protruding, and every