The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1908-04-18
The Captain of
the Kansas.
By LOUIS TRACY,
Author of THE Wings of the Mcrnin n"
The Pillar of Light" Etc.
Copyright. 1906. by Edward ]. clode.

44uGY BuOOh 4uEy were uGdl-
err a real friendship then than either of
them thought possible, and the bond
which held them was love for the
same woman.
Courtenay. using his glasses again.
saw that number of Indians were
launching the canoes simultaneously.
He counted nine small craft, each
holding five or six men or men and
women. At the distance, nearly three
miles, he could not be certain whether
or not they all wore the distinguishing
headdress of feathers. Against wind
and current they could not possibly
reach the ship under half an hour, and
the smallness of the feet surprised
him.
The news that the Indians were adj
vancing ran through the ship like wild
fire. Including Mr.. Boyle, Frascueio
and those among the Chileans whose
wounds were not serious. there were
fourteen men available for the de-
Tense. Unfortunately the supply Of
firearms was inadequate. A shotgun
and five revolvers constituted the ar
DnOIJP anu OhC VI bAO R4obOl0 W 40 ALI
Christobal's pocket. The supply of
ammunition was so small that the re-
volvers could not be reloaded more
than three times, but Courtenay had
200 shot cartridges, and against naked
men an ounce of shot Is far more eff.
fective than bullet.
The captain hoped to terrify the In.
dams before they attempted to scale
the ships sides. II various ruses fail
ed and the attack was pressed, he had
decided not to split up his small force
In the effort to repel boarders. A scat
tered resistance would surely break
down at one point or another; there
would be a rush of savages along the
decks, panic among the Chileans, and
all would be ended. On the other hand,
when fighting collectively under Euro
pean leadership and well aware that
the Indians would XIII and spare not,
the half breeds might be trusted to ac-
quit themselves like men.
The canvas awning constituted a
himsy citadel In the center of the YES
sci. Six men were stationed on the
starboard side of the promenade deck
and six on the port side. Tollemache
and Chilean who said he could shoot
well were told to Illustrate any at.
tempt to climb the after part Of the
ship, while Courtenay, with his fowl
| ing piece, would have the lions share
of this work from the spar deck, as he
| undertook to keep the rails clear for
| ward and help the revolver practice If
necessary. With him was Suarez, who
knew what was expected of him, so
the language difficulty offered no ap-
! parent hindrance once the fight began.
Finally, if the Indians made good their
footing, the defenders were to rally to-
ward the salon companion, where
steam jets were ready to squirt with
ering blasts along the corridors.
1t was a good plan and might have
kept at bay an enemy of higher valor
than the Alaculofs, provided they were
not armed with rifles. Against mod
ern weapons Of long range nothing
gerate, therein lay the real danger.
Courtenay wished to make sure at the
outset of the number Of guns carried
by the savages. 1t was also important
to know whether their marksmen were
distributed or crowded together in one
or two canoes. If the latter, he would
give those warriors his special atten-
ton.
His binocular glasses were not strong
enough, so he walked back toward the
chart house to procure a telescope
Catching Joey under his left arm, be
climbed the short ladder leading tc
the spar deck and pulled it up after
him, the bolts having been already re
moved to permit Of that being done
Walker was screwing tight the door
Of the engine room in order to safe
guard the fireman in attendance on thu
donkey boiler. Now that the screw
driving was actually in operation 4
very unpleasantly reminded Courtenay
Of the fastening of a coffin lid. Nei
Their Walker nor the man inside could
guess the grewsome notion which helt
the captain in its chilly grip for an in
slant. Indeed, the engineer looked VI
with grin.
81 suppose it's twue, sir, the-aw'!
SOIu W DS uEuLE ne aSKeQ.
There's a fair chance Of one, Wal
kerr
Walker winked suggestively.
''That chap inside thinks he's out q
it." he said, 80 that's all wight" An
energetic turn Of the screwdriver signi
fed that the man from Newcastle held
, the opposite view. Much as he loved
his engines, be preferred to be on deck
when the trouble came.
1t happened that during this slight
delay Courtenay glanced at the north
ern headland, which Elsie had christ
ened Cape Templar owing to the some
what remarkable profile of knight II
armor offered by its seward crags
, Possibly had he gone straight to the
chart house he might not have noticed
| a signal fire which was in full BIAS