The Charles Mix new era. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1???-1911, 1907-04-19
THE IRON PIRATE
A Plain Tale Of Strange
Happenings on fbe Sea
By MAX pEMBERToE
o1oO
By MAX pEMBERToH

He indicated the deck house by th
: bridge. where my glass showed me shir
! ing spot in the cloak OF black, for th
] sun fell upon the place, and reflected fror
| 1t as from a mirror OF gold There wa
, no longer any doubt: we were pursue,
by the nameless ship.
What are sou going to do. skipper !?
asked Roderick, as gloom fell upon til
three OF us; and we stood together. eacl
man afraid to tell the others all hi
thought.
What am | going to do?' said he
I'm going to see the boats cleared, ans
all hands in the stoke-hole that have tn,
right there" and then he sang ont
i Stand by!~ and the men swarmed vi
\ from below, and heard the order to clear
the boats.
They had all the grit of the old sea
dogs In them. The thought of brush-uI
/ put dash and daring into them; they had
the boats cleared the water barrels filed
and the life-belts free. with an activity
that was remarkable. Then they stood to
watch the oncoming of the nameless ship
and when we hoisted our ensign they
burst again into loarse roar cf applause
1 which rolled across the water waste, and
must have sounded az Wanting mockery
to the men behind the walls Of metal. But
/ they answered W In turn, running up an
ensign, and q CRY came from all Of US
~ we saw liz color, for II was the blue
satire on white ground.
Russian. or I'm blind" said the skip
per, for the nameless ship, which five days
ago showed her heels under the Gillian
mask. now made straight towards US In
Russian guise.
turned my eyes away to tho crimson
arch which marked the huns decline |
looked again to the east, whence black
harbIngers Of night hung low upon the
darkened sea: / searched the horizon in
every quarter, bur il lay barren Of ships,
and soon the last light would leave us,
and with the ebb of day there was no Sc
curity against an enemy whose intentions
were no longer disguised. say no longer
disguised. The skipper pointed to the
mast on the nameiess ship, where the Rus
sian ensign had hung ten minutes before.
+ was there no longer; the black flag took
it, place.
.'Pirates:s said the skipper; and then
he whistled long and Ioad and shriily as
a man who has solved sum. @Gentie-
men. ! said would resign this ship at
New York: with your permission win
withdraw that. will sail with you
wherever you 70"
He shook our hands heartily, as though
the discovery Of our purpose had unciond-
ed his mind. But we had no time for fall
er understanding. for at that moment the
air itself seemed torn apart by q great
roncushion, aud q shell burst In the
water NO mere than fifty yards ahead Of
Ms. Old DAN fired his gun into the air
with q great shout. Yet we knew that
all this was the cheapest bravado: and
when the skipper touched the beIl to stop
our engines, | was sure that he was wise.
The great vessel rode still some quarter
of mile away from Us /; but the glass
showed me the men upon her decks, and
conspicuous amongst them saw the form
Of Captain Black standlng ty the steam
steering gear. Soon their launch was
making for us The boat came 30 near
that | could see the faces IA Ii: and three
Of the FIVE recognized. for | had seen
chem In Paris. The man who was In com
mand was the fellow -koaring John I.
and when be was within hail hs stood and
bawied:
what shipr
my ship!. roarcd back she skipper,
again looking At the misf-ciouds. aud my
heart gave bound when I read his pur-
pose: We were drifting into them.
And who may you bs?" bawled the Tel.
low again. growing moro insolent with ev-
cry advance.
aI'm enc that'lI give ysu me best hiding
you ever had, II you'il step up here
minute r. yelled the skipper. You're com.
ing aboard. arc youf And which Of you
shall have the pleasure Of kicking first r.
..Oh. you're funny, amt you, and pret.
II with your jaw. But It's me thar you'll
havr me pleasing Of speaking to. and right
quick. my mate, a. you bet r said Roar.
inr John.
.In that case" aid the skipper. with
his calmness well 1t sero I'm that case
ron. Dan insrsduce yourself 70 the gen
tieman.
Dams reply was Instantaneous. He
had up with his shot gun. and the long
ruffian, who had reached forward with
his boat hook, rot the dose fun In his
face. At the same moment the skipper
called .sFire r. and the heavy crack Of the
rifles and the sharp report Of tho plsfsls
rang out together. The VERY launch itself
seemed 10 reel under the volley.
"Fali steam ahead." roared Captain
York, as the namelesz ship replied with
. shell that erased our chart room. Then.
shaking his Gst to the warship. he almost
screamed: .'Bested for parcel Of cut
fhroatn r.
Thers was NO doubt about Il q all.
The moment The yacht answered to the
screw the fog rolled round NJ IKE shesf.
In thick wet clouds. steaming damp on
the decks: and twenty yards ahead or
astern Of Us ron could not see the hong
waves themselves. shot after shot Kissed
and splashsd ahead Of us, behind us: now
duh. heavy. get penetrating. and we knew
that the ship lay close on our track then
farther Oh and de1dened. and We hoped
that she had lost Us.
when left the bridge Il was midnight.
! was soaked % the skin and nIgh frozen,
and the water ran even fren my hair /
hut hot hand was pnt ins0 mine as 1
sntered the cabin, and then th<asand
questions rained upon re.