Jefferson jimplecute. (Jefferson, Tex.) 1907-1926, 1908-03-13

look at the 'clipse of the moon OF the
devils preacher!"
"W'at you maik heem, denw queried
Perdosa.
cts treasure, of course" said Handy
Solomon shortly.
"He, he, her' laughed the negro
without mirth.
whats the matter with you, doc
tori" demanded Thrackles.
Treasurer repeated the niger.
"You see dat box he done carry SO
cairful? You see data"
A pause ensued. Somebody scratch
ed a match and lit pipe.
mo, 1 don't see thatr' broke out
Thrackles finally, with some impa-
tience. 81 sabe how man goes after
treasure with box, but why should
he take treasure away in box?
What do you think, Bucko?" he sud-
denly appealed to me.
1 looked up from my investigation
of the empty berths.
81 don't think much about it," I re-
piled, Except that by the look of the
stores we're due for more than Homo
lulu, and from the look of the light
we'd better turn to on deck"
An embarrassed pause fell.
"Who are you, anyways? bluntly de-
manded the man with the steel hook.
"My name is Eagen," replied; "Tve
the berth of mate. Which of these
hunks are empty?"
tod
just trace of sullenness. 1 under
stood well enough their resentment at
having a ships officer CHARTERED on
them-the foc'sle they considered as
their only liberty when at sea and
my presence as a curtailment to the
freedom of speech. subsequently did
my best to overcome this feeling, but
never quite succeeded.
At my command the niger went to
his galley. 1 assembled to the deck.
Dusk was falling in the swift Califor-
MAN fashion. Already the outlines of
the wharf houses were growing indis-
tinct, and the lights of the city were
beginning to twinkle. Captain Selover
came to my side and leaned over the
rail, peering critically at the black wa
ter against the piles.
"She's at the food" he squeaked.
"And here comes the Lucy Belle"
The tug took us in charge and pulled
with US down the harbor and through
the Golden Gate. We had sweated the
canvas ON her, even to the flying jib
and huge club topsail she sometimes
carried at the main, for the afternoon
trades had lost their strength. About
midnight we drew up on the Faral-
ZONES.
The schooner handled well. Our
crew was divided into three watches,
an unusual arrangement, but comfor-
table. Two men could sail her handi-
ly in most sorts of weather. Handy
Solomon had the wheel. Otherwise the
deck was empty. The mans fantastic
headgear, the fringe of his curling oily
locks, the hawk outline of his face mo-
mentarily silhouetted against the phOs-
| phorescence astern as he glanced to
windward, all lent him an appearance
| of another day. 1 could almost i'm
agine l caught the CLEAN Of silver but
ted horse pistols and cutlasses at his
| waist.
I brooded In wonder at what 1 had
seen and how little 1 had explained.
| The number of boats, sufficient for a
craft of three times the tonnage; the
capacity Of the foc'sle with its
eighteen hunks, enough for passen-
ger ship-what did it mean? And this
wild, unkempt, villainous crew with its
master and his almost ridiculous con-
trast of neatness and filth-did DIR.
Schermerhorn realize to what he had
trusted himself and his precious expe-
dition, whatever it might be?
The lights of shore had sunk. The
+ Laughing Lass staggered and leaped
| joyously with the glory of the open
sea. She seemed alone on the bosom
of the ocean, and for the life of me 1
could not but feel that 1 was embark
ed on some desperate adventure. The
notion was utterly illogical. That
knew well. In sober thought 1, re-
porter, was shadowing respectable
and venerable scientist, who in turn
was probably about to investigate at
length some little known deep sea con-
ditions Of phenomena Of an uneXplored
island! But that did not suffice to my
Imagination. The ship, its surround
ings, its equipment, its crew-an read
fantastic. So much the better story, I
thought, struggling my shoulders at
last.