The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1911-02-01
she was GSrnched 10 the skin.


/ selves. The ScHnty resources visible
! in the cave. the intense anxiety of ;hr
! elderly Portuguese 10 avoid observe
! ti0n from the chief island OF the 9. ...,l..
/ the very nature Of the apparently H.. =
! cesSible CTag in which he and his as
! Sociates were hiding-each and all of
/ these things spoke volumes.
1 HcZicr did not attempt to disturb TIN
! girl until the dapper officer produced
4 4 gOatskin ana poured a small Quanti-
! ~ ot wine into tin cup. With Gu
rious ea1serness he anticipated the 9th
Hr's obvious intent.
: pardon me. monsieur" he said. seiZ-
/ ing the vessel, and his direct Anglo
| Saxon manner quite robbed his French
"f It's polteneSs. Then his vocabulary
| broke down. and he added more suaye.
Y in Engllsh: 81 will persuade her to
drink little. She is rather hysterical
! you know"
The Portuguese nodded as though he
understood. Iris looked up when Ho-
zier brought her the cup.
"ls there no water?" she asked plain
lively.
we have no water. mademoiselle."
the officer said. Then he glanced at
.he group of bedraggled sailors. And
very little wine." he added.
"Be quick. please" put in the elderly
Portuguese with a tinge of impatienca
| we have no second cup. and there
sre wounded mem
Give 1t TO them," said Iris, lifting
Aer face again for al instant. II DO
not need it. | have told you that once
already. suppose you think 1 should
not be here"
Il am sure our friend did not mean
that said Hozier. looking squarely
into those slngularly bright eyes. He
caught and held them.
Il did not mean that the lady should
be left TO die. if that is the interpre-
tation put on my remark" came the
| quiet answer. But Ii was an act OF
the utmost folly to bring a delicate
girl on such an errand. 1 cannot imag-
Inc what your captain was thinking
OF when he agreed to it."
"Wots that, misterT demanded
| Coke. Now that his tit of rage had
passed the bulky skipper Of the An
dromeda was red faced and imper-
turbable as usual. The manifold perils
be had passed through showed no more
lasting effect on him than a shower of
sleet on the thick hide of the animal
he so closely resembled.
Are you the captainY said the
other.
Yes. sir. An I'd like to 'ear wy
my snip or er present trip wasn't fit
for emmy young Teddy, let alone"-
THAT is a matter for you to deter
mine suppose you know best how
to conduct your own business. My
only concern is with the outcome of
your rashness. Why did you deliber-
ayely sacrifice your ship in that man-
nerY'
"Wot are you a-drivin' at. mister?"
Coke growled.
DO you deny. then. that you acted
like madman? DO you say that you
did not know quite well tie risk you
ran In bringing your vesse! to the is.
land in broad daylight?"
Then Coke found his breath.
''Risk!' he roared. Risk in steam
In to an anchorage an sendin' boat
ashore for water? There seems to be
| lot of mad folk loose just now on
Fernando NOronha, but I'm not one of
'em, an that's as much as ! can say
for emmy of you dammP if it amt"
"Who are you. then: Who sent you
here?''
I'm Captain James Coke of the
British ship Andrompda-that'S 90 |
am-an' ! was sent ere. or leastways
to the river Plate. by David Verify &
! Co. Of Liverpool"
1t must not he forgotten that Coke
| shared with his employer a certain un-
classical freedom in The pronunciation
| or the shipS name. The long ''e' ap-
| rarentl> puzzled the other man.
"Andrnmeda he Gluitered. Spell
| it,
MY godfather. this 1t an asylum for
sure" grunted Coke. in a Spasm Of fu-
| riouS mirth. "A-n-d.r-o-m-e-d-a. Now
| you've got It,"
You are unlucky. Captain Coke.
most unlucky." the other said IL re-
gret my natural mistake, which. it
seems. was shared by the authorities
OF Fernando do Noronha You have
blundered into a nest of hornets, and
as result you have been BADLY stung
Let me explain matters. / am Dom
| Corria Antonio de sylvia. ex-president
OF the republic of Brazil. There is at
this moment Il determined movement
on foot OH the mainland to replace me
In power. and with that object in view
efforts are being made 10 secure my
escape from the convict settlement in
which my enemies have imprisoned
me. ! and TWO faithful followers are
here in hiding. My friend Capitano
Salvador de San Benavides," and Ec
bowed with much dignity toward the
uniformed officer. came here TWO