Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-01-06
CHAPTER VII.

secret Of the Diamond Ship.
CHAPTER VII.
We stopped two days at Porto
| Grande, and after that, sparing our
engines as much as possible, despite
our impatience, we set a course al
most due north, and upon the third
day we were within so miles OF hat
island of our hopes, Santa Maria, in
the Azores. l am not likely to forget
either the occasion or the circumstance
of it. The month was November; the
hour, IL o'clock in the forenoon watch;
the morning, that OF Saturday, the 18th
day of the month.
The second officer sent down word
from the bridge hat he would like
to speak with me. Understanding that
he did not wish to call the captain
from the cabin, I went up Immediate
ly and discovered him not a little ex-
cited about a black object drifting
with the wind at q distance, il may
be, Of a third of a mile from the ship.
his he pointed out to me and hand
ing me the glass, he asked me what
I made of it.
IT'S a raft, Andrews" I said (for
that was the second officers name);
"a raft and there are men upon it."
LAdCllS DIS L lIlOuSll. SIT. II Is d
ra1t, and there are men upon it
but not living men, 1 fear. 1 hav
been watching it for a good 10 min
utes and / am sure Of what l say.
Yon poor fellows will never sail a
ship again"
That's a fearful thing, Andrews"
I exclaimed, returning him the glass;
"of course We shall go and see what
we can do
Be 1t said that we were steaming
some Is knots an hou by this time,
n had soon come almost within a
biscuit toss of the raft. The fore
ward lookout had been warned to say
nothing, and Abel, the quartermaster,
took hts cue from the officer Of the
passed by the dreadful spectacle n
remained, as a crew, almost ignorant
OF ii. Indeed, knowing now easily sea-
men are depressed, / was thankful
that 1t should have been so. Seven
poo fellows upon the raft must have
been dead for some weeks. Two of
them were little more than human
skeletons. The others were washed
by every wave thai broke over the
hellish contrivance OF ropes and
planks to which they had been
tied. Neither peril of the sea nor &C
cident of destiny had sent those men
to a death unnamable. 1 felt that
they had been foully murdered, and
that he who had thus dealt with them
was the man I had sat out to seek.
We had always intended to make
Santa Maria after SHUTDOWN, and ii
was quite dark when we espied the
islands lights, shining over the water
ike the lanterns OF a fishing fleet
A kindly breeze blew at that time
from h southwest, aid little sea was
running. AS we drew near to the
fa-l th1 r;lnn1n - n, rrzVNn1yn~ nt,~s
ostty fell upon the men. Some Whis-
per Of talk a gone about that the
master" would land at Villa do Porto,
and that only the Japanese Okyada
would accompany him. l knew that
the good fellows were itching to speak
out n to say that they believed me
to be little less than a mailman. So
much had already been intimated by
honest McShanus, and had been an
swered in the cabin below.
"Fabos, ye lave flo1e wits han the
common, and I'll believe no FOOLS tale
of ye,' he had said. Good God, if
| your own story is true, ye'd be safer
in a lions den than in yon menag-
erie of thieves? What's to forbid the
men accompanying we? IT'S my So
ciety that may be disagreeabIe to We,
perhaps. Faith, 1 want no man to in
suit me twice, nor will l stop in the
| yacht of the one who does SO, though
1T were as big as Buckingham palace
and the Horse Guards thrown n"
Timothy" / said, your cat is
picturesque, but I refuse to tread
q choleric ass. And understand,
man, that as long as the yacht
stands out to sea and has my good
friends aboard, 1 am as safe as your
maiden aunt in a four-wheeled cab.
Let any harm come TO me and you
anow waa. YOU are 20 SS. This snip
will carry you straight to Gibraltar,
where you will deliver my letters to
Admiral Harris and act thereafter as
he shall tell you. I do not p that
there will be the slightest necessity
for anything Of the kind. These peo-
pie are always towards. j have a
strong card TO play and 1t will be
played directly I go ashore"
He retoined a little savagely. Now.
don't you know that Joan Fordibras
L. ashore there?"
IT think 1t very unlikely. Tim
othy."
"Ah, to blazes with the pretty face
Of her. When shall we have the news
Of your"
pinnace be at the landing. II not that,
stand off for q signal. We Will ar
1t tomorrow night. You shall
come ashore and dine with me when
I know how the land lies. Tonight
I must go alone, old friend"
He assented with great reluctance.
The men had already manned the life
boat, and were waiting for rue. We
lay, perhaps, a full mile from the port.
and had no pilot other than the adj
miralty chart; but the kindness OF the
night befriended us. and when the half
OF an hour had passed / stood safe
and well IN the streets OF Villa de-
Porto. n my Japanese servant was
at my side This would have been
about the hour OF 8 o'clock. Know,
ing absolutely nothing OF the place. T.
turned to an ofiicer OF the customs for
guidance. Where was the best hotel,
end how did one reach itf His an