The Sauk Centre herald., 1908-06-04


the one doorway in the ship which he
could not enter, trotted back to find
Elsie. She greeted him with enthu.
| siasm.
Hail, friend" she said. "You al
least are not jealous If speak to your
master, wherein you show your ex.
ceeding wisdom. Now, since you and
| I are persons of leisure, tell me, Joey.
what we shall do to make ourselves
| useful"
| The dog was accustomed to being
spoken to. He awaited developments.
1T seems to me, joey" she contin.
ued, "that GuglielmO Frascuelo is the
one person on board who claims our
attention. There is a mystery to be
solved. Bound up in it are my poor
Isobel, that beast Ventana and q
drunken coal trimmer-an odd assert.
ment to rub shoulders, don't you
thinkY'
Joey still reserved his opinion. When
the girl went to the forecastle by climb
ing down the sailors ladder to the low
or deck he thought she was making a
mistake, but she held her arms for his
spring, and all was well. She had not
previously visited the quarters set
apart for the crew. Puzzled by the
large number of small cabins with
names of subordinate officers painted
on them, she paused and cried loudly:
Are you there, Frascuelo? May !
speak to you2"
An exclamation of surprise, some
what forcible exclamation, too, answer
ed her from an inner berth. Fras-
cuelo had heard from the Chilean who
brought his meals that there was an
Englishwoman on board, but he did
not know that she spoke Spanish flu-
emily.
Frascuelo was reclining on lowel
bunk. His injured leg was well on the
way toward recovery, but the wound
and its resultant con6nement had
chastened him. He hadflost the brig
andish swagger which was his most
cherished asset.
After acknowledging inquiries as to
his progress he showed such eagerness
for news that Elsie told him briefly
what had caused the latest uproar.
She cheered him, too, with the an
nouncement made by the engineer and
then led him to the topic on which she
sought information.
I'm some ways I regard you as most
unfortunate" she said. Il have been
told you are here by accident; that you
never meant to take the voyage at all.
Is that true"'
Frascuelo, delighted to have secured
a sympathetic listener, poured forth
his sorrows vOlubly. He bore no Ill
will against the captain, he said. He
knew it was wrong to draw a knife on
the chief officer, as his tale was an
unlikely one, and he ought to have
trusted to a more orderly recital Of the
facts to obtain credence.
"But was that mad, senorita, just
saw red, and the drink was yet surg
ing up in me. felt must fight some
body, whatever the consequences"
"Can you tell me why any one had
such grievance against you that you
should be thrown into the hold and
nearly killed? That was a strange
thing to do. especially as you came
aboard too late for your work."
"Ah, that is the point, senorita. You
zee, we trimmers work in gangs, and
the man who flung me through the
batch was the man who had taken my
place. see no reason to doubt that it
was he who made me drunk the previ-
GUS evening, and know who did
that"
"What was his name?"
"J0se Anacleto-'Jose the Winebag'
we call him on the plaza. l ought to
have smelled mischief when Jose paid.
Never before had seen him do such
4 thing. And good liquor too. Dios,
1t must have cost him dollars"
what object had he in coming on
board instead Of your
"Ah, there you beat me, senorita.
have twisted my poor brain with think
ing Of that. We only earned a dollar
q head. and bunkering a ship from a
nat Is hard work while it lasts, where
as one would expect Jose to ride TWEEN.
ty miles the other way to escape such
q task. But he was in the plot, and he
shall tell me why orr
BY force Of habit Frascuelo put his
right hand to his belt, but his sheath
knife had been taken from him. He
smiled sheepishly. yet his black eyes
twinkled.
PILOT! Why do you speak Of a plot?''
asked the girl. hoping that the word
betokened some more promising clew
than she could discern thus far.
"Why did the furnaces blow up?
Tell me that and I can answer you.
Good, honest coal isn't made Of gun
powder. Jose or some one behind him
meant to sink the ship, and as
might have proved awkward they were
willing that should 60 down with
her. Maybe shall meet Jose II we
get out Of this rat trap. Then we shall
have a little talk"
Despite the mans shrewd guess as
to the cause of the accident In the
stokehold Elsie was at q loss to con-