Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-02-20

losing violence. l began to hear the ;
bIasphemies, ferocious cries, screams
of anger hurled against the cave walls !
grew stronger, the light seemed to !
grow DINNER, as though it could not
burn in that fetid air. A seal came
and looked up at me. big tears rolling
from her eyes. Then she fiippered
'aimlessly away, out of her poor wits
with terror. The sight finished me.
1 staggered down the length Of the
black tunnel to the boat.
Afte- a long interval a little three
months pup waddled down to the wa
ters edge, caught sight of. me ana.
with a squeal of fright, dived far.
Poor little devil! 1 would not have
hurt him for worlds AS far as 1
know, this was the only survivor of
all that herd.
The men soon appeared, one by one,
tired, sleepy eyed, glutted, walking in
a catlike trance of safety. They were
blood and tatters from head to foot,
and from drying red masks peered
their bloodshot eyes. Not word said
they, but tumbled into the boat, push
ed off, and in moment we were float
ing in the full sunshine again.
We rowed home in an abstraction.
For the moment Berserker rage had
burned itself out. Handy Solomon
continually wetted his lips, like an ami
NAL licking it's chops. Thrackles stared
into space through eyes drugged with
| killing. No one spoke.
We landed in the cove and were sur
prised to find it in shadow. The after
noon was far advanced. Over the hill
we dragged ourselves and down to the
| spring There the men threw them
| selves fat and drank in great gulps
| until they could drink no more. We
built a fire, but the niger refused to
cook.
"Some one else turn" he growled.
81 cook aboard ship"
Perdosa. who had hewed the fuel, at
once became angry.
Il cut heem de wood" he said. 81
do my share. Eef l cut heem de wood
you mus cook heem de grub
But the niger shook his head, and
Perdosa went into an ecstacy of rage.
He kicked the fire to pieces. He scat
tered the unburned wood up and down
the beach. He even threw some of it
into the sea.
"Eef you no cook heem de grub you
no hab my woodr' he shrieked, with
enough oaths to sink his soul.
Finally Pulz interfered.
Here, you foreigners. said he
"quit it, Let up, l say! We got t.
eat You let that wood alone or you'll
pick it up again.
Perdosa sprang at him with 8
screech. Pull was small, but nimble
and understood rough and tumble
fighting He met PerClosa's rush Will
two swift blows, a short arm jab ant
an uppercut Then they clinched an(
in moment were rolling over ant
over just beyond the wash of the surf
The row walked the niger from hi.
sullen abstraction. He seemed to come
to himself with a start; his eye fel
. surprisedly on the combatants. then Iii
up with an unholy joy. He drew hi:
knife and crept down on the fighters
: 1t was too good an opportunity to pa!
off the Mexican.
But Thrackles interfercd sharply.
"Come OFF, he commanded. Non,
o. that!'
$50 to h-l"' growled the niger.
l A great rage fell on them all, blin(
!, and terrible, like that leading to tn,
, slaughter of the seals. They tough
indiscriminately. hitting at each othe
2 | Il II
\ to tell who was against whom. Th
l sound of heavy breathing, dull blows
the tear of cloth and grunts of punish
l ment received; the swirl of the sand
l the heave of struggling bodies, all riy
eted my attention, so that l did no
: see Captain Ezra Selover until he stoo
almost at my elbow.
stop" he shrielled in his higl
l falsetto voice.
' And would you believe it, eve
through the blood haze of their con
{ bat the men heard him and needed
s. They drew reluctantly apart, got t
their feet, stood looking at him throug
e reeking brows half submissive an
: half defiant. The bullheaded Thrackle
;, even took half step forward, bu
froze in his tracks when Old Scrut
looked at him.
2 II hire you men to fight when te
e you to and only them" said the capital
e sternly. what does this mean"
re He menaced them one after anothe
II with his eyes, and one after anothe
re they quailed. And their plotting
a their threats, their dangerousness di
Z sipated like mist before the comman
lie of this one resolute man. These pirate
H. who had seemed so dreadful to n
y now were nothing more than cringin
y schoolboys before their master.
d And then suddenly to my horror
ne watching closely, saw the captain
er eye turn blank. l am sure the me
ID must have felt the change, though ce
NJ tainly they were too far away to 81
u it, for they shifted by ever so lit
ID from their first frozen attitude. II
u captains hand sought his pocket, al
g they froze again, but instead Of II
Ut expected revolver he produced ha