Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1910-06-09

saws YOU. Don't "NO CRIMSON PIRATE
you believe ii. CAN BLOW BRIT
n bor. , ia, 1su sHIr OFF THE
more to come i"h shAS'
yet. take my tip-a devil of a lot OF
I'm the biggest unatc within Ter.
mile circle IT Were I'm stannin'. whic
Is givin long odds to any other Gran
IN the who'll creation"
And Coke was light. though he lit
tie guessed then why he was so thor
DuGhly justified in assuming that he
md the other survivors Of the Androm
eda had not yet gone through half or
quarter or more than Il mere curtain
raising prelude to the strange human
drama in which they were destined to
Ne the chief actors.
CHAPTER VII.
sErwEEN TIE BRAZILIAN DEVIL AND
THE DEEP ATLANTIC.
"NHERE was an awkward pause.
III Coke. rascal though he was
III and corpulent withal. was no
Falstaff. Rather did he sug.
Eest the present day atavism Of some
robber baron of the middle ages whose
hectOring speech bubbled forth from a
stout heart But the ragged ex-president
decided him not After moment of
placid scrutiny of his enraged counte-
nance by those bright, watchful eyes
Coke might have been nonexistent so
Far as recognition Of his outburst was
apparent during the sonorous discus.
Won that ensued between Dom Corria
Antonio de Sylvia and the Senior Cap.
ltano Salvador de San Benavides.
The latter, 1t Is true, betrayed ex-
eitement. At first he favored Iris
With a deprecatingly admiriug glance,
IS one who would say. Dear lady, ac'
rept my profound regret and respect.
full homage" But that phase quickly
passed. His leader was not a man tC
waste words. aud the gallant cap
tain's expressive face soon showed
that he had grasped the essentia
facts. They did not please him. In
fact, he was distinctly cowed, almost
stunned, by his companions revela
lions.
1t fell to De Sylvia to explain mat
ters to his unexpected guests.
MY friend agrees with me that II
Is only fair that the exact position
should be revealed to you" he said
1.-THE situation is not so simple as yor
seem to imagine The loss Of youl
ship cannot be dealt with here. ],
raises issues of international law which
ran only be settled by courte and gov
ernments. You know, | suppose. tina
nothing will be done until complain
Is lodged by a British minister, an(
that hinges upon the very doubtful
fnct that you will ever again see you
own country"
The ex-president certainly had thu
knack of expressing himself clearly
Those concluding words rang like ,
knell. They even called Watts bacl
from the slumber OF Inconsistencies
De sylvia continued speaking in thu
same balanced tone:
1T happens by idle chance that m.
enemies have become yours. The mel
who destroyed your ship thought the,
We're injuring me. | have just pointe,
precise outcome of this attack. Unit
few moments ago we shared the de
fusion that the troops on Fernando d.
Noronha believed we were now on on
wav 20 a BRAZILIAN port. We wer
mistaken. More than that. we know
now that they have obtained news
probably through traitor to our caus
of the Andres y Mela's voyage The.
were prepared for her coming. The,
had made arrangements to receive he
almost at the place decided on by on
friends in Brazil. 1T Is more tina
likely that the Andros-yMela is nov
lying under the guns of some coas
fortress. since the presence of troop
and cannon on this side Of the islan'
il unprecedented"
81 don't see wot all this as TO d
with me-" blurted out Coke deter
minedly
mo. 1t would not concern you 4
.he least II you We're safe at sea. l'u
since YOU are here it does concern 20
you served my cause well by preparin
10 lower boat. You misled my perst
tutors as to locality ut least q
course | saw you aud thought yo
we're mad, but your action did bel
10 conceal from the soldiers the secre
If my true hiding place. ! wish to b
candid with you. Ii my friends an
had realized that you were here b
accident We ought to have taken y