Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1911-05-25

air"
1t was only an hour since they had
ascertained, beyond the shadow of a
doubt, that jeanne was not aboard the
Aurora. Until Tom had recovered
consciousness, the others had enter
little doubt that she was safely
hidden somewhere about the ship.
Cayley's warning, together with the
confession of the Portuguese, Miguel,
had caused them to- steal alongside
the Aurora as silently as possible. Not
a word had been spoken by any of the
party, and the sound Of the rising
wind had drowned the creak of their
oars. Half a dozen well-armed men
had stolen aboard over the bows to
reconnoiter.
Making out the unfamiliar figures
of the Walrus people on deck, and
knowing that they had a fight on their
hands, they had worked their way, un-
observed, to a position ~amidships.
Here, under cover of a brisk revolver
fire, they had made it possible for the
rest of their party to get aboard.
The Walrus people, several of whom
were below, came tumbling up on
deck at the sound Of firing, and their
whole party entrenched itself in the
after-deck house. They had found
arms of various sorts aboard the Au-
rora, and made a spirited resistance
before they were finally overpowered.
The Aurora's people, under the cool
headed command of Warner and the
elder Fanshaw, had proceeded in a
brisk, scientific, military style that
had spared them many serious casual
ties. There were a number of flesh
wounds when 1t was over, and n or
two of a more serious nature. None
of them had been killed.
The Walrus people, however, had
not surrendered until their plight was
wholly desperate. Only five of them
were left alive, and two of these were
mortally wounded when the struggle
| ceased.
The uninjured were heavily ironed
and locked up In the steerage, All
the wounded--friends and foes alike
were turned over to the "a of the
yachts surgeon and q couple of volun-
teer assistants from among the crew.
Altogether, 1t was two or three hours
after the Aurora's people had regained
undisputed possession Of the yacht be.
fore it was possible to form any def
mite idea of what had happened. In
the excitement and the necessity OF
everybody doing two or three things
at once, Tom Fanshaw and his serious
plight were not discovered, until he
himself, having partly regained con
seriousness, uttered a low moan fol
help, which was heard by a chance
passerby.
The gale, which had been raging al
this while, had gone screaming b!
unheeded, and 1t was not until dawl
that the Mortified conquerors of thu
yacht discovered that there was nj
land In sight.
1t was several hours after that, not
indeed, until the captain had worked
out their reckoning from an observa
tion, before they realized that the.
were 100 miles away from thei
anchorage Of the previous evening
and that their return vas hopeless.
Old Mr.. Fanshaw gave his arm Il
his son, helped him down from tn
bridge and thence to the now deserte'
smoking room, &rward. Tom sui
mitted to be led blindly along, and di,
not demur when his father halted be
side a big leather sofa and told hir
to lie down upon 1t. Since that me
mentary outburst Of his upon tn
bridge, the young man had been VI
naturally calm. His muscles, as h
lay there now upon the sofa, SCENE
!. relaxed; his eyes were fixed. almos
dull.
. Through a long silence his fathe
sat there watching him, but there wa
, no dawn Of a corresponding calmnes
: in his face. 1t had aged whole yeal
, over night.
!. !, "It's strange to me-" he said, "tht
!, we ever recovered possession Of tn
!, yacht at all, let alone that we wei
: able to recover 1t without 1t costin
, us the life Of a single man. This gar
! must have had a leader, and a clevt
! one. They way he Unanswered h
men to keep them out Of sight viii
! he drew away first one party and the
! the other from the yacht was a piec
: Of mastery strategy. He worked
:. out perfectly in every detail. He g.
: possession of the yacht without losiI
!. a man, without even firing a shot th'
! might give the alarm. And even wit
! the warning we had and with Il
!. help Of the fog, I don't see how v
! defeated a man like that. His succe'
:, must have gone to his head and MI
!. him mad"
"He was probably killed in the fir
: volley our people fired when they 8
: aboard" said Tom DULY. HE alol
= could have accounted for half a doz'
Z Of you, If he'd ever had a chance
] giant like that"
"A giant!"
Il Il think he must have been 7
leader" said Tom. HE was the fir
!. man to come aboard. certainly"
"But what makes you call him
= giant?"
Because he literally was. ]
d struck me down ~Ath Just n bio
r and as he raised hiss arm to strike
a saw that bis s~houlder-cap was abo