The Washington herald., 1911-02-10
CHAPTER ~.


Pirates and Private Secretaries.
was a little station made gloomy by
! s,hgie light. Once in SO often fast
train stopped. if properly tagged Fitz.
gerald. feeling wholly unromantic now
that he had arrived, dropped his hand
, bag on the damp platform and took his
bearings. 1t was after sundown. The
sea. but a few yards away, was a muir
muring, heaving blackness save where
here and there a wave broke. The wind
was chill, and there was the hint df a
storm coming down from the northeast.
ANY hotel in this place." he asked
of the ticket agent, the telegraph oper-
| ator, and the baGgageman. who was
| pushing crate of vegetables off truck.
Swans Hotel: only one
DO people sleep and eat there?'
IF they have good disestions.''
Much obliged
.'Whiskyts no good. either
Thanks again. This doesn't look much
like a summer resort
Nobody ever said it was. I beg your
pardon. but would you mind taking an
end of this darned crate?"
Not at all Fitzgerald was beginning
it?''
I'm here indicating the baggage
room. Thanks. Now, if there's any
thing can do to help you in return. let
| her 60
"IS there a house hereabou called the
top O the hill?''
Come over here" said the agent. See
that hill back there, quarter of mile
above the village: those three lights
Well, that's it. They usually have a car
riage down here when they're expecting
any one"
"Who owns it?''
"Old Admiral Killigrew. Didn't you
know it,
''Oh, Admiral Killigrew; yes. of course.
I'm not guest Just going up there on
business. Worth about ten millions. isn't
he?"
THAT and more. There's his yacht in
the harbor. Oh, he could burn up the vIi-
lage, pay the insurance, and not even
knock down the quality of his cigars.
He's the best old chap out None of your
red-faced. yo-hoing, growing seadogs:
just a kindly, generous old sailor, with
only one bee in his bonnet"
What sort of bee?'
''PirateS!' in ghOstly whisper
PIRATES? Oh, say. now" with pro-
test
"Straight as a die. He's got the finest
library on piracy in the world, everything
from The Pirates Of Penzance' to The
Life of morgan
But there're no pirates afloat these
days
Not on the high seas: no It's just
the old mans pastime. Every so often he
Goals up the yacht. which is seventeen
knotter, and goes of to the South Seas
hunting for treasures"
by George!' Fitzgerald whistled soft
ly Has he ever found any,"
Not so much as a postage stamp. so
far as I know Moneys always been in
the family, and his Wall street friends
have shown him how to double what he
has from time to time. Just for the
sport of the thing some old fellows go
in for crockery, some for pictures. and
some for horses. The admiral just hunts
treasure. Half-past SIX: you'll excuse
me. There'll be some train dispatches
in a minute
Fitzgerald gave him q good cigar. took
up his bag, and started of for the main
street: and once there he remembered
with chagrin that he had not asked
the agent the most important thing of
all: Had the admiral a daughter? Well.
at o'clock he would learn all about
that Pirates! It would be as good as
play. But where did he come in? And
why was courage necessary? His inter-
est found new life,
Swans Hotel was one of those monde
script buildings Of wood which are not
worth more than q three-line paragraph
even when they burn down. It was smell
~. The kitchen Joined the dining
ana the din1n9-room the once. which waS
half bas1oosn. Wlah' q NV boxes Of
saWdu1t Uatbowa&Sunlly asx1neo0 aapog