The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-06-09
Fair Margaret CaSteI
By n. RIDER HAdoARD.
Copyright, 1907, BY n. Rider Ho0Odrd.
Continued.

before morning Lost one OF their topmasts
1t was an anxious night. for they knew mo-
II they would live through IL; moreover,
the hearts OF Castell and Of Peter were tori
with fear lest the Spaniard should founder
and take Margaret with her to the bottom
Of the sea,
When at length the wild. stormy dawn
broke. however, they saw her apparently
in an evil case. laboring away upon their
starboard bow. and by noon came to within
q furlong Of her. so that they could see the
sailors crawling about on her high poop
and stern. Yes. and they saw more than
this, for presently two women ran from
some cabin waving a white cloth to them,
then were hustled back. whereby they
learned that Margaret and Betty still lived
and knew that they followed. and thanked
God.
Presently, also. there was a fash. and,
before ever they heard the report, a great
iron bullet fell Upon their decks and,
r~ebounding, struck a sailor who stood by
Peter on the breast and dashed him away
into the sea, The San Antonio had fred the
lombard which she carried. but as no more
shots came they judged that the cannon
had broken it's lashings or burst.
A while after the San Antonio, two Of
whose masts we're gone, tried TO put about
and run for Malaga, which they could see
far away beneath the snow capped noun
tains OF the Sierra. But this the Spaniard
could not do, for while she hung in the
wind the Margaret came right atop Of her,
and as her men labored at the sails every
one Of tho Englishmen who could be spared.
under the command OF Peter, let loose on
them with their long shafts and crossbows,
and, though the heaving deck Of the Mar
garet was no good platform and the wind
bent the arrows from their line, they killed
and wounded eight or ten Of them. causing
them to loose the ropes so that the San
Antonio swung into the gale again,
-- On the high tower Of the ~caravel, his arm
around the sternmost mast stood D'Aguilar,
shouting commands to his crew. Peter
fitted an arrow TO his string and, waiting
until the Margaret was poised for a moment
on the crest Of a great sea, aimee and loosed,
making allowance for the wind.
True to line sped that shaft of his, yet.
alas! g spar too high. for when a moment
later D'Aguilar leaped from the mast the
arrow quivered in its wood. and pinned
TO IL was the velvet cap he wore, Peter
ground his teeth in rage and ~disappoint-
ment; almost he could have wept, for the
vessels swung apart again and his chance
was gone.
Five times out of seven" he said. Bit
terly. "can l send a shaft through a bulls
ring at fifty PAGES to win a village badge,
and now | cannot hit a man to ave my
love from shame. Surely God has for
saken me-"
Through all that afternoon they held
- kzz.;n, Nth thair houa Uhanapor a
spaniard showed himself. and being shot
at in returd, though little damage was
lone TO either side. But this they noted
that the San Antonio had sprung a leak
In the gale, for she was sinking deeper in
the water.
The Spaniards knew it also and, being
aware that they must either run ashore or
sink, for the second time put about and
under a rain of English arrows came right
across the bows Of the Margaret, heading
for the little bay Of Calahonda, that Is the
port of Motril, for here the shore was not
much more than a league away.
Now said Jacob Smith, the captain
Of the Margaret, who stood under the
shelter Of the bulwarks with Castell and
Peter, "up that bay lies q Spanish town.
! know it. for l have anchored there, and
IL once the San Antonio reaches it. good-by
TO our lady. for they will take her to Gran
ada, not thirty miles away across the moun
tsins. where this Marquis OF Morella is q
mighty man, for there Is his palace.
Say, then. master, what shall We do?
In five more minutes the Spaniard will be
across our BOWS again. Shall we run her
down, which will be easy, and take our
chance Of picking up the m or shall
we let them be taken captive to Granada,
and give up the chaser
Never" said Peter. There is another
thing that we can do-follow them into
the bay and attack them there on shore"
ITO find ourselves among hundreds OF
the Spaniards, and have our throats cut. "
answered Smith. the captain. coolly.
III we ran them down. asked Castell.
who had peer thinking deeply all this while.
should we not sink also?"
1T might be So answered Smith, "but
We are built Of English oak. and very stout
forward, and I think not. But she would
sink at once, being near to 1t already, and
the odds are that the women are locked
in the cabin or between the decks out Of
reach Of the arrows, and must go with
her -,
sternly. "and that is TO grapple with her
and board her. and this will do
The captain, a stout man with a fiat face
hat never changed, lifted his eyebrows
ahich was his only way Of showing sur
prise.
WHAT he said. SIN this sea5 l have
fought In some wars, but never have l
known such a thing
Then, friend, you shalt know it now.
IL ! can but find a dozen men TO follow me-
answered Peter with a savage laugh.
WHAT Shall | zee my mistress carried
on before my eyes and strike no blow TO
save her7 Rather will ! trust in God and
do it, and IL I die, then die | must, as a man
should. There Ia no other way
Then he turned and called in a loud voice
to those who stood around or loosed
arrows at the Spaniard:
who will come with me aboard yonder
shlpf Those who live shall spend their
days In ease thereafter. hat I promise,
and those who fall will win great fame
and heaeen's glory
The crew looked at the wav running
hill high, and the waterlogged spanierd
laboring in the trough OF them as she came
around slowly in n wide circle, very doubt