The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-08-30

l
 That night the three warships sighted Le Feu-Follet and closed in on her, as
 they thought; but when morning came l they had only an empty space of sea l before them. Despairing of catching the | lugger without knowing something of her l hiding places Captain Cuffe invited Raoul
 to his cabin and hesltatingly-for it was
 disagreeable task to the honorable sail
 or-offered to intercede with Nelson for his life if he would tell where the lugger
 could be captured.
 l Raouls first words were enough to show I Captain Cuffe that he was not dealing | with a privateersman of the common 1 stamp. q pardon you if you can par l don yourself" said he, rising. An off 1 cer in an honorable service should think | long before he tempts a man to an act like this. But, l repeat, monsieur, I for ' give you if you can forgive yourself" Captain Cuffes face famed He could l hardly speak. When he gained some self control he begged Captain Ward tez for give him, and shook the hand which the generous privateersman rendered to him immediately. A tear escaped from his eye. As soon as he had seen the prison CT back to his cabin he sent for his mas ters mate and ordered him to sail post haste to Naples with letter in which he informed Nelson that the entire court
 was convinced that Raoul was no spy. He told the mate to beg Nelson to fire three guns as a signal to suspend the ex- ecution If he acceded to the request In the letter.
 During the long day that followed a general gloom settled on the ship. Apart from the wish to save a brave enemy from an ignominious fate, there was the general desire to prevent the Proserpine from having a hanging aboard, as 1t had been the boast of officers and crew that her yardarms had never been degraded to service as gallows.
 As the evening approached great
 silence settled on the ship, intensified by the silence that pervaded the sea, from 1 which every ripple had fled with the
 dying down of the wind. Captain Cuffe 1 delayed preparations as long as he could
 but at last, when it wanted only half ar hour before sunset, orders were issued al l most in whisper and the foretopmer began to reeve a rope at the foreyardarn
 while others rigged a grating under
 meath.
 Minue after minute passed. The cap
 tain had a short consultation with the
 surgeon, asking the minimum of time a
 man might live after being suspended
 with the idea of ordering the prisoner or
 deck at the last moment possible. l At last he could delay no more. He
 ascended the quarterback. Raoul was 1 brought out and placed on the grating
 amid a deathlike stiffness. The rope was
 laid around his neck and the men were l ordered to lay hold of the line and stretch
 1t on deck.
 Captain Cuffe said huskily to his first
 officer: Hail the foretop once more tc
 ask If they can see any signall
 A pause of minute elapsed. The fore. ] top man answered in low voice that he
 saw nothing.
 Another minute elapsed. Captain Cuffe
 was in the act of raising his hand wher i the dull report of a distant gun sounded
 in the direction of Naples. Stand fastr
 shouted Cuffe. Two more guns. Win chester and l am the happiest man iu Nelson's fieeti''
 1 A second gun sounded even as he spoke
 Then came the third.
 The captain waved his hand in triumph
 The rope was cut from the prisoners
 neck and he was led below between row
 of smiling faces.
 i It fell very dark that night. The frigate
 moved along slowly until she was off the
 isles of the Sirens, where 1t was pro- i posed to lower the yawl in order to SC; ] Ghita and her uncle free, they having in-
 dicated that part of the shore as their i destination.
 Raoul heard the boatswain's whistle 1 piping to lower away and then the gen. 1 tie splash as the light craft took the
 water. The next moment i voice whis-
 pered his name at the gun port opening
 into his cabin. It was Ithuel Bolt. Quick i ly he was informed that Ghita would hold i the boat alongside for an instant, trust 1 ing to the darkness to hide what was go 1 ing on. Raoul needed no more. In an In ! stant he was out of the port and, guided by Ithuel, he dropped softly into the yawl. The American followed. Ghita i tossed a cloak over them where they
 lay on the bottom. The yawl, deftly
 rowed by her uncle, sheered off and ir
 moment was lost in the night. l The escape was discovered almost al i once as sentry had been posted with
 orders to watch the prisoner closely. The
 yawl had hardly dropped astern before
 the noise of the boatfals was heard as i boat after boat dropped from the shiI l amid hurried orders. Soon oars were , sounding in all directions, but they served
 rather to guide the refugees than to
 alarm them.
 They had muffled their own oars hastily
 and now rowed calmly along in the wake l of the searching sailors till they neared l land, when suddenly several gigs seemed 1 to come toward them at frightening ve-
 they could not hope to outrow the we'll
 manned gigs; but at this moment, when l all seemed lost, Ghita's uncle steered sud l denly straight at some perpendlculal l cliffs. Raoul thought the craft was about
 to be smashed, when 1t glided into
 erotto and in a moment lay in hidden
 basin, safe from all possible search
 The landfall could not have been bet ! terri for 1t was not only near Ghita S 1 home but also near the spot where Le l Feu-Follet was to look for her captain l As soon as the sailor had seen his sweet l heart to her house he returned ana put
 ont again with Bolt Before dawn they
 were on the lugger's deck.
 1 A fayoring wind was blowing and tn c
 privateer had little trouble to rvade the | British cruisers, knowing as he did
 where they lay. As soon as the vessel l had made her offing he retired to rest 1 The sea was tranquil. The wind was 1 steady, and in that season could be de- ] panded on absolutely. There was little l occa sion for watchfulness on Le Ecu 1 Follet that night.
 The result was that the officer of the deck fell into a blissful state of dream 1 mess that might as well have been l sleep. He was startled out of it just l before dawn by the cry of his helms l man. But it was too late. I.e Ecu 1 Follet rose on a heavy ground swell l settled down with a shock and stopped | tight on cradle of rock.
 Raoul was on deck in moment. AS | he appeared the guilty officer cast him | self into the sea and sank. Raoul hard | ly looked, He ordered the sails down | and the pumps sounded. Then, seeing
 a felucca coming in the gray light, he l sent a boats crew away to seize her 1 while the rest of the men were set to | work Iiphtening the sh ip of it's arma