Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1911-03-16
CHAPTER VI-Continued.

| O11Ax LIN uCV.
In the next and final act the villain
made supreme effort. He began by
staying the drummer boy-presumably to
keep his hand in-but on going through
his victims pockets in search Of certain
dispatches which that youthful hero
had undertaken to carry through the Rus
sian lines-where to. heaven knows!-the
unfortunate man discovered locket.
which instantly revealed to him the sur
prising but none the less distressing in
telligence that he had slain his own son.
His anguish was pitiful to behold. and
when the hero came on and began to rub
1t in by further excerpts from the Scrip
lures the audience to man decided that
if the villain brought it off this time no
jury would convict. but that he would be
bound over at the most. He certainly set
about the business with more gumption
than usual. Waiting until the hero was
we'll launched into secondly" with the
limelight full in his eyes. he once more
produced the glitteIing knife. Suddenly
the ubiquitous katinka dashed on. and in
| the most unsportSm3nlke manner shot
the villain in the small of the back, at a
range of about eighteen inches. He drop
| ped dead across the body of his son
| (Which must have hurt that infant
prodigy very much). All the other char
acters sidled from the wings and
| formed a grand concluding tableau, the
| hero. egregious to the last and entwined
in stained-glass attitude with the hos
pital nurse, prOnouncing a sort of benedlc-
| ton as the curtain fell.
| Doesn't this remind You of the drama
as it used to be dished up to the under
! graduates in the old barn at Cambridge"
| remarked voice.
| Hughie turned to the speaker. He found
beside him a man Of about thirty. with a
| fair mustache. which half hid a weak but
| amiable mouth and a recedinS chin. He
was dressed in the thick blue shores going
garments of the seaman. but he looked
too slight for an A.B. and too clean for a
| fireman.
Deck hand" said Hughie to himself.
| Gentleman once-nO. Still.''
| "Hallo.'' he replied. You seem to know
me. Forgive me if l ought to know you.
but / can't fix you at present. Odd thing.
| too. because / don't often forget face.
Il was up at Cambridge in your time,
said the man.
| Not Benedict's?''
| "No-Trinity | was sent down ulti-
matey. But / knew YOU we'll by sight.
Often saw you in the boat. and so on.
| You're Marrable, aren't your
Yes. Were you a rowing man."
| mo. / hunted with the drag and rode
at Cottenham-in those days" He glanced
philosophically at his present attire.
Come and have something" said
| Hughie.
The man interested him. lie might. of
course, be a mere longshove shark on the
make. or he might be what he looked-a
good-hearted. we'll born waster-an in
cOrrigible but contented failure. Anyhow,
| five minutes over friendly glass would
probably settle the question.
| Il wonder If it's possible to obtain a
decent British drink in this clam-ridden
hole, Hughie continued.
| THE nearest thing to product OF the
| british omnirp that Won III get here said
the man, lis Canadian Club whisky, and.
personally, 1 would rather drink nitric
acid. We had better stick to lager. Come
along; l know the ropes
| Presently they found themselves in a
| German beer saloon. where a stertorous
| Teuton supplied their needs.
by the way said the man. Il have
the advantage of you: My name is Aller-
| ton. Sorry I forgot
Thanks" said Hughie, rather lamely.
care you-living out here just now?"
No said Allerton. simply. I'm a
deck hand on a tramp steamer He
spoke easily and freely, as one gentleman
| to another. He had realized at a glance
that he was not about to be made the
victim Of offensive curiosity or misplaced
charity. ''she's lying at Hoboken, due
out on Tuesday for Bordeaux"
| French boat?"
| mo. American owned under the Brit
ish flag, by a fairly competent rascal. too.
| This "trip we are carrying a cargo Of
California wine of sorts. We took it last
| week from a sailing bark that had
| brought it round the Horn. She wanted
to start back at once, so turned it over to
us cheap
"And you're going to Bordeaux? What
does your astute owner want to take
Goals to Newcastle for?'
| Because everything that comes out of
| Newcastle is labeled coal whether it is
| coal or not. In other words, this poison
| will be carried by us to Bordeaux, bot
| tied and sealed. and shipped to England
as fine vintage Burgundy. John Bull will
drink it and feel none the worse. I'm
| told it's paying trade"
Il wish I were going in your boat" said
Hughie, rather regretfully. I'm booked
| by the Apuia.
! "Well. look out for the Ornoco on your
second day out
| The Orinoco? l remember seeing her
at Hoboken today, and wishing l could
make the trip on her.
| Il doubt if you'd be OF the same opin-
| ion after trying conclusions with Mr..
James Gates. our first 'greaser,'' replied
! Allerton. Still, l don't know" he con-
| tinued. regarding Hughes brawny form
| reflectively. II don't believe he could put
| the fear of death into you the way he
does into most of us You've knocked
about a bit in your time. l dare say, only
with more success than l. Perhaps You
| weren't born with holes in all your
, pockets"
i
it is difficult to confer favor upon a
man who is down without offending him
Twill YOU dine with me? Or sup, as it's
| getting late?"
| Il shall be charmed said the deck
hand. Shall I show you place?
know quite comfortable establishment
| close by here"
| Hughie said "RishtO." and presently
| they found themselves in the place of en-
tertanment selected by Allerton. Most
of the room was occupied by small tables,
at which various couples were eating and
drinking. At one end was a platform.
| upon which an intermittent sort OF va
| riety entertainment was in progress.
On the floor at the foot of the platform
was q piano. At the piano sat a girl, who
accompanied the performers and bridged
over the gaps in the program by Selec-
| tons from the less-reStrained works OF
American masters of music Not. far from
the stage an notwithstanding youth was
presiding over a bar. The atmosphere
was something between that of a smoking
| concert and Baker street station in the
days of the old Underground.
| Allertons lazy nonchalance lasted Until
| the first course was set before him by a
| smiling blackamoor. and then, with a
lhalf-apotogetic aside to his host on the
| subject of his last meal. he fell upon the
| fare in a manner which brought very
WILDLY home to Hughes intelligence tie
difference between an amateur casual like
himself. with money enough In his pocket
to make 1t possible to knock of when he
tired of the game, and the genuine article.
He was not hungry. having. in fact, dined
a couple of hours before. but he did his
h1-@ l>,-s %f,,l 49,