Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-02-03
The DIAMOND SHIP
MAX PEMBERTON
Author of Doctor Xavier" THE Hundred Days" etc.
Copyright by u. Appleton & Co.

ship shouts of laughter claim my at
tention and turn my steps to the spot.
The laughter is the laughter of honest
seamen. The victim is my friend Nc
Shanus.
He picked himself from the deck,
brushed his clothes ~methodically, and
told me that the game had been Jiu-
Jitsu.
tt the little yellow devil again and
me on my back like a turtle. Says he,
The honorable Irishman no puttee
Okayada on the floor Says ], 'Ye wisp
or hay, / could knock We down with my
thumb The honorable Irishman try
says he. So just put my hands upon
his shoulders and gave him a bit Of a
push. Sons OF Irelandi He dropped to
the floor directly l touched him, and
where is h relic Of Timothy McShan-
us? Sure, he caught me on the soles OF
his feet as l fell over him and shot me
20 yards-me, that has the blood of
kings In me veins. He grassed me like
a rabbit, sir, and there are those who
laughed. 'Risu inepto res inception nulla
est Let them hear Martial, and be
hanged to them!"
1 comIorted Timothy with what
words l could, and told him that they
were bringing breakfast up to the deck.
Il want a few words with Larry and
yourself" and /, 'and hungry men are
poor listeners. You nave amused the
crew, Timothy, and that is something
in these days. Be thankful to have
played such a noble part and come and
eat Immediately. There Is a capital
fish curry, and the loaves are hot from
the OVEN"
Faith" he replied, IF you make me
as warm inside as / am out, twill be
my clothes / am selling to the n~atives!"
And then he asked almost pitifully.
t not to say that we are going
back to Europe, Fan, me bhoy?"
THE very thing in my mind, Tim
othy. I'll tell you when we have had
our 'parritch.' We were not born to
spend useful careers in the doldrums.
Let us remember it after breakfast"
They had stretched a friendly avn
ing over the aft deck, and hereunder
we took our coffee and such food as a
man cared to eat in such a temperature.
When breakfast was done, and we had
lighted the morning cigaret, delicious
beyond words under such circum-
stances, l began to speak frankly to
Timothy n the captain of our present
situation and the impossibility of con-
tinuing in it longer.
THE obstinate man is about to sur
render to his friends I said. I'VE
have now been running to and fro be-
tween Porto Grando and this Styx of
an ocean for nearly a month. We have
sailed halfway to the Brazils and back
and discovered no more traces OF the
Diamond Ship than Of the bark which
Jason steered. When l consented to
quit Villa Da Porto I believed that
Valentine Imroth would be taken afloat
in the vessel we saw first we returned
from South Africa. l still believe It
but what Is the good of belief when
the ocean guards his secret and no eyes
Of ours can pry it out? He has escaped
us, vanished in a cloud, and left us to
grid at ourselves for the precious weeks
we " lost. 1t may be that my de-
auctions were wrong from the first;
that he has fed to Paris or to America,
and that the Diamond Ship is safely In
some harbor where no civilized govern
ment will find her. In that case, our
patrol is doubly futile. We are giving
him time to perfect his plans, while we
keen from the authorities that personal
account &c Investigations to which
they are entitled. These conclusions
compel me most reluctantly to assent
to your wishes and to return. We have
failed upon the high seas. Let us now
discover what the shore has to tell u.s."