The Fairmont West Virginian. (Fairmont, W. Va.) 1904-1914, 1909-03-09
The Two Of Us Were on the Sand,
Lstis Graphing Like Wild Cats.

Graphing Like Wild Cats.
OF the men. l could distinguish them
leaning eagerly forward, but the faces
were undecIpherable in the gloom,
"You understand clearly?" Il
GAY, ay. MIR. Stephens" and Tuttle's
nasal voice had completely lost all Its
former trace Of insolence.
Then pull away slowly and noise.
lessly; don't, hurry; we'll give you
plenty Of time to get In. Good.by, and
good luck to you" S
The balanced oars dipped gently
into the water. scarcely ripping It,
and the sharp.stemmed whaleboat
gllded away into the surrounding
blackness like a ghost, 81
"All right now, De Nova" ] whls.
pered. ri 80 forward into the bow.
Keep her head of about point and
watch out for signals"
We slipped through the water ST..
lently, the sound Of the dipping oar.
blades little more audible than the
suppressed breathing Of the oarsmen.
Confident that II any eyes were watch.
ing from the deck they were not like.
~ to be directed astern, We made wide
detour. creeping cautiously In beneath
the slight bulge Of the yachts side.
until the fellow behind me fastened
his boathook firmly into the after.
chains. Breathlessly We waited
listening, but no sound reached us
other than the slight hiss Of escaping
steam. II. z
Hold hard!" whispered. the word
passing back from man to man. TWO
remain with the boat, the rest follow
me-"
crept silently up into the chains
and neered cautiously over onto the
open deck. 1t was wrapped In dark.
ness and silence, the sole CLEAN OF
revealing light coming from out the
open maln.hatch, and that only the
merest glImmer slightly illuminating
the ship amidships. There was lamp
allght In the after-cabln, but the
shades were drawn SO closely ! could
scarcely perceive Its presence. be-
came aware that De Nova stood be-
side me.
There Is certainly no watchmnn
aft" | announced, softly. unless he be
found upon the other side Of the cabin.
Batten down the companionway while
] examine the deck. Two Of you men
come with me" 43 .g5 4.
We dropped over the low rail- TO-
gether, moving silently In our stock
lngfeet. The roof OF the cabin. form
Ing the quarter, deck, extended clear
10 the rail-. We CROPPED over this shad-
owed space as though exploring a
cave, encounterIng nothing except a
few camp stools, although my fingers
discovered a goodly sized boat swing
Ing from dayits across the stern. From
the opposite side we could peer for
ward toward the dim light streaming
from out the hatch. the deck being
thus fairly revealed as far as the fun
mel. Beyond all remained black and
impenetrablc: A man sat upon bench
against the side Of the galley. a dull
red showing from his pipe bowl. His
earliest knowledge Of our presence
was when the, two men closed on his
windpine, and pressed revolver
mazzle against his cheek.
mot a sound, Jack" I muttered
sternly In Spanish, "or else your lie
phys for It."
The pipe fell with click to the
deck, the fellows eyes staring up at
us. his opened mouth showing oddly
amid a surrounding gray beard. A
moment later. securely gagged and
bound. we rolled his body close In
against the rail.
II thought | heard a bit Of blow
and a yelp on the fo'castle Just now.
SIR" said one of the men, pointing
eagerly forward | stood still, intent
ly listening, staring, into the gloom.
"Qulet enough there at present.
Probably Mr.. futile has been attend
Ing to the for'ard watch. Come on,
lads, and well join forces with him"
Beyond all doubt the main deck was
clear as far as the bridge. and. provld-
Ing Tuttle's crew had attended to
their share Of the work, as far as the
focastle head as well. We advanced
cautiously, keeping close within the
denser shade along tho weather rail.
pausing a moment to peer over the
edge OF the open hatchway Into the
Illuminated space below Two Ka-
nakas. naked to the waist, their slim,
brown bodies glistening. each grasp
Ing the handle OF a coal scoop, were
backed up against a bulkhead con-
versing. while on a low stool, tipped
back to a comfortable angle. his feet
on the rounded crossplece, pipe IN
his mouth, bis hands buried deep In
bis pockets sat white man, with