St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1908-10-03
THE JOLLY ROVERS

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tress rock of Monaco, looming up in
the darkness across the bay, was
aglow with it's rows of streetlamps,
while In the little harbor the mast
head lights of one or two yachts looked
like f1re-f1ies in the distance. The
deep-toned note of the clock on the
Palace Of Monaco struck II, and at
last, having passed the baths, my
friend stopped at the steps leading to
the water, and said:
Here we are!"
l glanced down in surprise, and then
saw in the gloom a boat waiting,
manned by four smart sailors, who sa-
luted. Without word l stepped in,
followed by my companion, and mo-
ment later the dip Of the oars sounded,
and we sped swiftly across the bay to
a huge, magnificent, white-painted
yacht, the only light showing being
the one at the masthead, which
cleaned white like a miniature search
light.
First, we'll see how much we've
relieved the Maison de Blanc Of this
time" he said, inviting me to seat;
and then taking handful after handful
OF thousand-franc notes from the peck
cts Of his shabby clothes, he piled
them together on the long table, after
wards counting them, an operation in
which / assisted.
Seven hundred and f1fty-two thou
sand francs" he observed, when he
had concluded. Gust 5000 more than
last Christmas"
Really, my dear sir!" cried. "You
ought to consider yourself fortunate. :"
Last Christmas I won $4,000 from
the internal trtpot," he observed, in
a strange, croaking voice, and opening
a box he took out some great packets
of French bank-notes, adding: "And
here they are!"
Then you never touch your win
nings?" 1 exclaimed, amazed, for l had
recognized that in the tiny cabin was
an enormous store of wealth.
'Never!" he answered. "You see
that row of boxes, each with the date
of year upon them. All my winnings
are there"
'You spend good deal of your time
yachting, | suppose?" said.
YES" he answered, 1--WE sailed
good many seas in the Garbino I run
either into Villefranche or here into
Monaco each December, cruise from
the Constant to Glib through the spring
and run up as far as the North Cape
in June. But you must be hungry"
and he touched the electric button
suspended over the table, whereupon
there appeared the ugliest and most
gigantic negro that I have ever set
eyes upon.
Grant chatted affably as we fed, and
| when referred to the gruesome decor
.ations of his saloon he merely laughed
saying:
Its whim of mine. When | bought
this vessel turned her inside out"
The cigar he had given me was un-
commonly strong. AS rule, I smoked
cigarettes; but this Havana had a sub
tie flavor which liked, therefore l
consumed it until in the smoke clouds
all seemed to become misty and indis-
tinct, and saw before me the strange
rather grotesque-lookin face of my
affable friend, the millionaire, and be-
hind him the black and silver hang
ings, the gruesome emblems of death.
The face seemed slowly to assume a
hideous, repulsive expression, with it's
thin lips parted in grin Of satisfac-
ton at the mysterious fascination
which that pair of dark eyes exercised
over me- There was tightness about
my chest, and held my breath, feel
ing that / must rouse myself. fought
against the curious, nauseating drowsi-
ness which crept over me, and tried
to announce my departure, but my
jaws seemed fixed, my tongue refused
to articulate, and with the sound of
strange voices In my ears a sudden
blank fell upon me and / knew no
more.
How long I remained unconscious
of things about me know not
/ rose unsteadily, shook myself, and
staggered upstairs to the deck. The
vessel was of larger proportions than
/ had believed, trim and well-kept,
the brasses shining in the sunlight, the
deck freshly washed down and the
ropes coiled evenly ready for use. A
fresh breeze was blowing; from the
yellow funnel came huge column of
black, curling smoke, which lay out
behind in long, straight line as we
headed at full speed, leaving a track
of white foam on the blue, sun-lit
waters. glanced round in abject sur
prise, for no land was in sight. We
were far out at sea.
A stern, harsh voice sounded, and
looking up 1 saw standing on the
bridge burly, black-bearded man, in a
captains uniform with gold braid on
his sleeves, peering through his glass
es at the distant horizon. At the same
instant three of the crew passed me,
dark-faced, ruflanly looking fellows
dressed in shabby, cotton suits which
had once been blue. Each carried a
knife in his belt, and as they passed
they eyed me with some curiosity.
One word I overheard, and by it
knew they were Neapolitans.
For vessel of that size the crew, /
found, was an unusually large one,
and at first / could not understand
what work was in progress; but very
soon the startling truth was evident
From below a number of quick-fring |
guns were being brought up and swift |
" fixed in position. while the fore and |