The Washington times., 1911-04-16

4 rasping and scraping against the pier
\ In all its pomp and majesty, lay the
navy Of the republic of Anahuac. The
admiral was proud of his navy, ever
boat, aged; but it was its armament
that brought joy into his heart. He
took personal interest In the main bat
| terry OF six six-inch breech-loadtng rines
and he loved dearly his secondary pat.
| rapid-fire guns, the TWO Hotohkiss re-
volving cannon. the two Gatlings. He
| cared for them as mother cares fof
| her children: he supervised their daily
grooming. saw that they were ever IN
perfect order. There might not be
coal enough in the Don Juan's bunkers
| to get up steam, there might not be
enough men aboard ship to man the
guns, there might not be sufficient am
munition In the magazines to fire two
rounds-and all Of these things had hap
pened with frequency which would
have distressed less equable soul than
Hennessy's; but be assured that the
batteries were ever ready for service.
The admiral stepped up the gang
plank unchallenged; the anchor-watch
usual: he had expected nothing better.
1t was for his own satisfaction. merely.
that he kicked the man awake and ST.
fenced his excuses with good Anglo
Saxon words-for the admiral disd9tned
anything SO emasculated as a Ca
ramba."
The native shouldered his unloaded
carbine and began to pace the deck
drowsily, waiting for the admiral to go
below ere resuming his nap. The latter
OWNED the mans intention, and IN
suited him.
I'VE can kape on walkin'," he added.
Its meseIf that'll see that ye do, II l
have t be stayin' here the night
He made a round Of the deck and sat
This he patted tenderly; quite lately he
had received a fresh supply Of fixed am
muntion for his ordnance Malone.
thought the admiral, was scenting
trouble and providing against It: there
might be a bit of fighting before very
"Ye're cool now, me beauty" he told
the cannon, t'but there's no tellin' how
soon ye may be hot an foul wild the
firin'. What fer, dunno; but m
thinkin'. there's a fight brewin'. Hivea
be praised. I've taught me min to
He produced a short. black clay pipe
and filled II with rank navy plug. Smok-
ing serenely, he kept an eye on the
sentry; he had no inclination toward
fellow a lesson. Furthermore, there was
Just the suspicion of a breath of air
stirring: the deck was cooler than his
berth would be. Mentally, he re-
viewed the presidents parting instruc-
Presently the sentry gave pause TO his
train OF thought. He halted suddenly
and grounded his carbine with heavy
thud.
vet with a certain curious break In his
The admiral had heard no footsteps
on the pier. He turned his head i'm
What ails that naygur7" he de-
The sentrys knees were shaking un..
der him: his mouth dropped open, and
he gasped as a landed trout.
"Qui vive?" he managed to say again,
with obvious effort.
The admiral followed the mans gaze.
Abruptly the sentry let fall his gun and
fled to the forecastle, screaming. Hen
messy himself was conscious OF brts-
Ting sensation at the roots Of his hair.
The starboard gangway was out, over
hanging the waters. Upon this there
appeared, without sound, the shadowy
form of a man, swaying unsteadily on
the upper grating The figure moved
slowly forward upon the deck until the
glare Of an arc lamp fell full upon II,
making II stand out distinctly against
the dark background.
The admiral sat watching with eyes
that protruded. .s ...,,u
his lips uneasily. ITS wet pink
The apparition justified his remark.
II was wet, extremely so; little streams
of water poured from it, making dark.
damp pools upon the planks. II was
also pink, being clothed slightly In pa
stout, and trembled painfully as 1t
moved. The face was of certain
nasty, pasty white, from which eyes
cleaned like spots of black light; above
in wet, sodden, matted locks. The lips
were puffed, and seemed to move cease
lessly in an unbroken monotone Of NUT
tering.
rising, "spake up and tell me yer busi-
ness wild met
The figure halted and stared vacantly
at him. The lips kept up their continual
murmur.
;Aet sInstDIe," . advised the the admiral
The figure wheeled and padded
swiftly across the deck. making for the
gangplank that gave upon the pier. The
admiral heard the patter of the bare
feet.
we're no ghost, be the mise av
that" he said, running to forestall the
figure. He reached the gangplank just
in time, and threw himself across 1t
with arms outstretched. How'd on!
TIL law av tn poort says that no wan
can go ashore widout a permit. and
that costs ye half a dollar. Have ye
so cints about ye7 Ye don't look"
With an inarticulate cry the figure
flung itself upon the admiral and with
maniacal strength. At that It was no
match for the gigantic Irishman. He
caught and held 1t at arms length with
ease.
"Oho! It's drunk ye are. is it7 Drunk
an disorderly. I'll have 4 run ye in!"
He closed in with a quick. dexterous
movement, tripping the madman-for
such he Judged the apparition to be. The
fellow continued to struggle, wriggling
cunningly in vain effort to escape. The
admiral gripped the two wrists firmly,
casting about for a bit of rope where
with to bind them. There was none at
hand. He saw, however. rising from
the coamirig of the hatchway the bulg-
ing eyes and forehead Of the frightened
Come hither, little wan. Be not
afraid, We scum! 'Tis noght but the
ghost av yer gran'father come to punish
We fer bein' a poor sintry. Come quick
ly afore I let him go!'
(The Continuation of This story "iD
BE Found I'm Tomorrow's Issue
of he