The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1911-02-23
CHATTER XVI. tcontinued.l


You mean, Larry, that we have goi
| 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 yondei
don't know what's the matter with
! them, and they are going to cut up I'm
roth to see. l wish 'em 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 of
/ in a small boat"
looked at Timothy. and saw that he
was as white as the planks on which
, he stood. Viewed from afar, the spec
tacle had been one of fire and smoke
made of it a picture of savage blood
shed, revolving in it's fury and grue-
some in its detail One incident stands
out in my mind, horrible beyond others
| yet an example of many the day was to
| show me. l rccollet that just as we
brought the yacht to. a man tried tc
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 pistol
| at hint was evident that the bullet
struck him in the shoulder, for he clap
| ped his hand there quickly, and then
/ tIylb6 W iuu " Ills Will ddCo, iC iCi
heavily upon deck. Now began scene
| such as l hope never again to witness
/ The wounded man lay upon the deck
| hidden from our sight Of course, but
plainly the object of violent combat
On one side were his friends making
frantic efforts to drag him to safety; Oh
the other, the frenzied seamen shooting
blindly at the place where they be-
iieved him to lie, and so at once pre-
venting his escape and the approach OF
| his companions Baffied in their desire
to kill him out of hand-foI The corner
of the cabin amidships prevented that
they, nevertheless, so frightened him
that he lay cowed like wounded bird
and thus afraid to rise to his feet. OF
to make any effort to save himself. one
of the hands from the fo'castle crept
round the superstructure presently and
deliberately cast graphing anchor
over the poor fellows body. In an in
slant, now, the sailors had their VIC
| tim. How the anrn Dr had caught him
whether by the flesh or by his clothes
Imy position upon the bridge forbade
me to see; but l could clearly per-
ceive the hands pulling upon the rope
| and hear the ferociouS eXultatior
which such success provoked. YARD
by yard they dragged the man to his
doom. A quick imagination could de-
pict him clinging madly to the comb
|
the capstan and the windlass, contest
ing every inch of that terrible journey
| at whose end score of unclaSpeC
knives awaited him. For myself
turned my eyes away when the mo-
ment came, and shut my ears to the
dying mans cry as it 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 1t sank immed-
lately from our light
A great sile re fell during the after
moments of this tragedy, as though
awe of it hod compelled mutual truce
between the combatants. l do moi
know precisely at what moment Larry
gave the order, but certain it is that
the yacht began to steam slowly away
from the ship 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.
lgun. This was course / could not
protest against. Let the rogues agre,
and our position was precarious indeed
Larry had perceived as much, anC
wisely stood away from them.
They'll be kissing each other IL they
lspy us out" said he. Il don't believ,
they've any shell for the big guns. doc
tor, but they could do power of mis-.
chief with the monkeys on the tops. W.
are as well off in the gallery as the
stalls, especially in between times. Lee
us stand by where we shan't anus,
them so much"
The wisdom of 1t forbade reply. WE
had pushed rashness to the last ex
ltremity, and had come to no hurt. TIL,
truce over yonder was unmistak able.