Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury [Connecticut]) 1903-1917, 1908-03-17

W lduSu.
"They will be singing a dirge next
said he, with jaunty confidence.
Now. Elsie. of with you! Be sure
shall come and tell you when you may
appear on deck"
She hurried away. She rocked
naught Of the Aaculof challenge
Though the raucous notes OF the tune.
less lay could be heard plainly enough
they did not reach her ears. When she
raced down the salon companion she
found Christobal bending over the
small case of instruments he always
carried. He Strengthened himself In his
peculiarly stir way
What did the captain want?' he
asked, with a suspicious peevishness
which for once detracted from Ibis
habitual courtesy. The note Of dis
trust Jared Elsie back into her senses
"He wished me to translate Senior
Suarez's explanation Of another smoke
signal" she answered. ..
He told you himself. suppose. that
he wished you to stay here"
HE did more. He drove me away"
Against your willw
mo. Am not one of the ships CON-
pany? Is he not the centurion? lie
says to this woman. Co and she 60
eth, nor does she stand upon the order
Of her going. Oh. please don't look at
me as If were cracked! Surely one
may mingle the Bible and Shakespeare
in an emergency"
Zone may also tear linen sheets into
strips" said Christobal gravely. FL
sizes quip had saved the situation. He
attributed her flushed cheeks and spar
king eyes to the fever of the threat
ened fight. She applied herself eager
ly to the task. Already the fume and
agony of vain regret were striving to
conquer the ecstasy which had flooded
her whole being.
Courtenay meanwhile was examin-
ing the advancing fotilla His brain
was coming each detail of the Alaculof
array, but his heart was whispering
gladly:
I'm another moment you would have
kissed her and told her you loved her.
You know you would, so don't deny it.
All, kissed her and held her to your
breastn'
So Suarez spoiled q pretty bit of ro-
nance by his ruff!ing agitation over
some bawl Of savage frenzy, for Cour-
tenay Of course would have laughed
away the girls protests that she was
usurping another woman's place.
If the confident demeanor Of the pad
ding warriors in the canoes were des-
tined to be justified, the Kansas was
In parlous state. Her vast bluk and
sheer walls Of steel did not daunt
them. They came on steadily against
the rapid current and spread out into
crescent when within few hundred
yards Of the ship. Then three men,
crouching In the bows of different ca
noes, produced rifles hitherto invisible
and began to shoot The bullets rico
chetted across the rlpples, and Cour-
tenay saw that the savages did not I'M
derstand the sighting appliances. They
were aiming point blank at the YES
sci in so far as they could be said to
aim at anything. and the low trajec-
tory caused the first straight shot to
rebound from the surface Of the water
and strike plate amidships. The loud
clang Of the metal was hailed by the
tlaculofs with shouts of delight.
The long range firing was kept up
for several minutes, much to Courte-
nays relief. as Suarez was certain
that the Indians stock Of cartridges
did not amount to more than 400 at
the utmost. The canoes crept gradual
ly nearer. and bullets began to strike
the ship frequently. One glanced of
a davit and shattered couple of win
dows In the chart house. This Incl
dent aroused even greater enthusiasm
than the first blow Of the attack.
There was renewed activity among
the paddle wielders. Two canoes were
not fifty yards from the most souther-
ly floating mine. Courtenay com
menced to haul In the slack Of one
among the half dozen thin cords. He
turned to tell Suarez to be ready for
the duty which had been intrusted to
him when his glance happened to trav-
ell toward the mouth Of the bay.
Then he learned the significance of
that column Of smoke on the northern
point A feet of at least forty canoes
was advancing on the ship from the
sea. Tide and paddles were swinging
the small craft along ut a spanking
pace. They were already much near
er the vessel than the first batch of
Indians. who had very cleverly con.
trived to enlist the attention OF the de-
tenders while the real attack was de-
without let or hlndrance. 1t
was a smart ruse worthy of a race of
higher attachments than the tribe
which is ranked lowest In the human
scale. The newcomers abstained from
firing or stone singing. They were
gathering with the speed and silence
4 yultures.
Two mines protected the front Of the
and several canoes had passed
them. Indeed. Courtenay soon found
that some Of the assailants were al
ready screened by the sA1p's bows. but
the larger number were clustered
thlckly round Tollemache's internal
II was well that a cool I
headed sailor was called on TO deal 4
with this emergency. The captain OF
he Kansas even smiled as he appre4
afad the fuIi naaninr nj fha frfrt-