The San Juan islander. [volume] (Friday Harbor, Wash.) 1898-1914, 1907-03-16
THE IRON PIRATE
A Plain Tale Of Strange
HoppeninfS on tbe Sea
Bv MAX PEMBERTON

| ton that came to him In his dreadful
| dream. But at the last he grew almost
| incoherent. I was nigh dead with want
| Of sleep and fatigue, for l had not rested
| during the fight with the ironclads, and
went to sleep at last.
When l awoke for the third time, the
dinghy was held firmly by boat hook,
| and was being drawn towards jolly
boat full of seamen. 1 rose up, rubbing
| my eyes as a man seeing a vision; but,
when the men shouted something to me
in German, had another exclamation on
my lips for I was alone in the boat, and
Black had left me.
Then l looked across the sea, and 1
| saw a long black steamer lying to mile
away, and the men dragged me into their
craft, and shouted hearty words of en-
couragement, and fell to rowing with
great joy. Yet l remembered dreaming,
and it seemed to me that the voice I had
heard in my sleep was the voice of Black,
who cried to me as he had cast himself to
his death in the Atlantic.
Was the man dead? Had he really
ended that most remarkable life of evil
enterprise and Of crime; or had he by
some miracle found safety while I slept?
Had the man gone out of my life wrap
ped in the mystery which had surrounded
him from the first? Or had he simply cast
himself from the dinghy In a fit of in
sanity, and died the terrible death Of the
suicide? l could not answer the tremen-
dous question; but had not reached the
shelter of the steamer which had saved
me before l made the discovery that the
belt of linen which had been about
Blacks waist was now about mine.
found that it was filled with some hard
and sharp stones. Instinctively 1 knew
the truth; that in his last hour the mas
ter of the nameless ship had retained his
curious affection for me had made over
to me some of that huge hoard of wealth
he must have accumulated by his years
of pillage; and l restrained myself with
difficulty from casting the whole there and
then into the waters which had witnessed
his battles for it. But the belt was firm
ly dashed about me, and we were on the
deck of the steamer before my benumbed
hands could set the lashing free.
1t would be idle for me to- attempt to
describe all I felt as the captain Of the
steamship Hoffnung greeted me upon his
quarterback, and his men sent up rounds
OF cheers which echoed over the waters.
l stood for some minutes forgetful of ev-
erything save that l had been snatched
from that prison Of steel; brought from
the shadow of the living death to the
hope of seeing friends and country and
home again. Aud then there came great
IF nh f,,lr NJ h~S
up in my eyes, and fell upon my numbed
hands. With many encouraging pats on
the back, they forced me down their COM
panionway to the shippers cabin, and so
to bunk, where I lay inanimate, and
deep in sleep for many hours. But I
awoke As another man, and when had
taken a great bowl Of soup my strength
seemed to return to me with bounds, and
l sat up to find they had taken away my
clothes, but that the belt which Black had
bound about me lay at the foot Of the
bunk, and was unopened.
1t was not heavy being all Of linen
finely sewed but when at last made up
my mind to open it, l did 50 with my
teeth, tearing the threads at the top of
it, and 80 ripping it down. There fell
upon my bed some twenty or thirty da-
monds of such size and lustre that they
lay sparkling with a thousand lights
which dazzled the eyes, and made me utter
cry at once of surprise and of admira-
tioi. White stones they were, Brazilian
diamonds OF the first water; and when
l undid the rest of the seam, and opened
the belt fully, found at least fifty more,
with some superb black pearls, fine en-
erald, and a little parcel Of exquisite
rubies. To the latter there was attached
paper with the words. '.Take these
they are honestly come by. And let me
write while l can that l have loved you.
Remember this when you forget Captain
Black" That was all; and I judged
that the stones were worth five thousand
pounds if they were worth a penny.
The Hofnung was bound to Konigs-
berg, but when the skipper and I had
come to understand each other by signs
and writing he, with great consideration,
offered to put into Southampton and leave
me there. I put off in his long-boat with
a deep sense of his humanity and kind
ness, and with hearty cheers from his
crew.
should have gone to the quay at once
then, but crossing the roads saw a yacht
at anchor, and I recognized her, as my
own yacht Celsis, with Dan aboard. To
put to her side was the work Of q mo-
ment, and I do not think that l ever
gave a heartier h<n than that "Ahoy,
Daniel! I" which then fell from my lips.
"Ahoy!" cried Dan in reply. "Why,
Il 1t amt the guy !'nor r.
And the old fellow began to shout and
to wave his arms and to throw ropes
about q though he were smitten with
lunacy.
CHAPTER XIV.
haA ~rr,,n~ khA 1od1np h~Ao-> r.