Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-03-03
CHAPTER XVI. (continued.)

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"You near. Larry, that we have got
on their nerves and they can't stand us
any more. l shouldn't wonder"
Men like that never know what they
want, doctor. Those fellows yonder
o now what's the matter with
them, n they are going to cut up Inn
roth to see. / wish en- luck, but I'd
sooner be aboard here than eating
macaroons on their deck, and that's the
truth of IT. Ask Mr.. McShanus what
he thinks. Perhaps he'd like to put OFF
In q small boat"
/ looked at Timothy, and saw that he
was as white as the planks on which
he stood. Viewed from afar, the spec
tacie had been one OF fire n smoke
and imaginary fury. But proximity
made OF 1t q picture Of savage blood
shed, revolving in its fury and grue-
some In it's detail. Ono incident stands
out in my mind, horrible beyond others,
yet an example of many the day was to
show me. I recollet that just as we
brought the yacht TO, a man tried to
creep out OF the big cabin amidship,
which plainly sheltered many Of the
party on the Diamond Ship. The sea-
man by the fo'castle spied him immed-
lately, and one OF them fired a pistol
at hint was evident that the bullet
struck him in the shoulder. for he clap
ped his hand there quickly, and then.
trying to run to his comrades, he fell
heavily upon deck. Now began a scene
such as / hope never again to witness.
The wounded man lay upon the deck,
hidden from our sight of course, but
plainly the object of q violent combat.
On one side were his friends making
frantic efforts TO drag him to safety; on
the other, the frenZied Gamer shooting
blindly at the place where they be-
lieved him TO lie, and so at once pre-
venting his escape and the approach of
his companions. Baffed in their desire
to kill him out OF hand-for the corner
OF the cabin amidships prevented that
they, nevertheless, so frightened him
that he lay cowed like a wounded bird;
and thus afraid to rise to his feet. or
TO make any effort to sav himself, one
OF the hands from the ~fo'castle crept
round the superstructure presently and
deliberately cast a graphing anchor
over the poor fellows body. In an in
slant, now, the sailors had their VIC
tim. How the anchor had caught him,
whether by the flesh CIR by his clothes.
my position upon the bridge forbade
me to see; but | could clearly per-
ceive the hands pulling upon the rope,
and hear the ferocious exultation
which such success provoked. Yard
by yard they dragged the man to his
doom. A quick imagination could de-
VIZ ar ~ - 90 ~
ing Of the forward hatch, clutching at
the capstan and the windlass, contest
ing every inch of hat terrible journey
at whose end a score OF ~unclasped
knives awaited him. For myself, /
turned my eyes away when the mo-
menr. came, ana smut my ears 20 the
dying mans cry as 1t rang out In fear
full dread of death over the hushed
waters. They had killed him now;
and while their shouts OF triumph still
echoed in the still air, they flung the
body overheard, and Ii sank immed-
lately from our sight.
A great silence fell during the after
moments of this tragedy, as though
awe OF 1t hod compelled a mutual truce
between the combatants. l do not
know precisely at what moment Larry
gave the order, but certain it is that
the yacht began to steam slowly away
from the snip when the dead mans
body fell into the sea and having
made a wide detour. we raced at some
speed presently almost due south as
though pursuit of us had already be-
gun. This was a curse / could not
protest against. Let the rogues agree
and our position was precarious indeed.
Larry had perceived as much, and
wisely stood away from them.
They'll be kissing each other If they
spy us out" said he. II don't believe
they've any shell for the big guns. doc
tor. but they could do a power of mis-
chief with the monkeys on the tops. We
are as well off in the gallery as the
stalls, especially in between times. Let
us stand by where we shan't amuse
them so much"
The wisdom of IT forbade reply. We
had pushed rashness to the last eg-
tremity. and had come to no hurt. The
truce over yonder was unmistakable.