The Detroit times., 1912-12-03
d. The Marriage Of a.
H. H. ! Captain Kettle *
IETH A ROMANCE OF THE SEA M
IrrAll% -%I
lSA. Copyright 1912 Bobbs Merrill Company 246{~1
Copyright 1912, The Bobbs-Msrrill Company

thing that moves or rustles. aud SO
long as bis gun does not burst. ne
is apt 10 40 on shooting. once he Is
warmed up 10 IL. as long as his am
munition holds out.
by James," snapped Captain Ket-
Tile. Rngrily, If those careless scoun-
drels don't look out they'll be plas-
ltering me- The trouble Is where
to move out OF their way. They're
shooting all round the compass.
lie crossed out OF the corn Patch
he was In toward another which
seemed less disturbed But as he
stepped out into the path, n wild
boar at the same instant seized the
opportunity TO dart across IT,. An
lnseen sportsman n little farther on
was on the watch and pulled q
prompt trigger. The gun blazed and
roared. The assorted pellets whlstled
past the end OF the pigs tail. and
tain Kettles jellab. and the sailor
heard the plop OF a cork as the
sportsman opened his powder-horn to
pour out q fresh charge
The Winchester itched in Captain
Kettles hands, and that Berber
missed Paradise by a narrower mar
gin than he guessed But In q nash
came the reflection. "re doesn't
know I'm me. lie thought II was
one OF his own pals he was blazing
into. and II kick against the Gus
tom OF OF the country and waste time
with side scrap. l shall be neglect
ing the owners work I'm paid for.
and neglecting Miss Dubbs.
ought" he told himself with sigh,
Ito he kicked for forgetting those
things even for a moment"
Once again the stalks OF the corn
gave him harborage, aud three times
more these devil-possessed swine
charged in his direction and were
pursued by whistling showers OF pot
leg. But the luck OF the adventurous
stood by him. and by no contrivance
II his own, the little sailor came
Through the metallic showers un-
scathed.
At last the sportsmen either fred
away all their powder. or decided
that the pig had escaped. and In
noisy chattering bands went away
homeward down the valley. Captain
Kettle followed disgustedly In their
wake. 'If that's sport in this coun-
try" he told himself. I'D prefer good
plain war. It's safer Now wonder
liz I can keep along at the heels OF
these ducks till they get close Up
home, and then slip In through the
front door while they are swapping
lies about the bag"
But rs they went on down the val
Hey, and the great black mass OF the
fortress rock doomed higher and big
ger against the Milky Way. even
Captain Kettles bra1en self-sssur-
ance began to be streaked with hest
tation. This was not some cluster OF
tumble-down huts belonging to u
handful OF robbers. and perched on
an easy crag that birds nesting
boy could scale. Dislike for Sidi
Mahommed Bergash had made him
believe that the man Dragged when
he told about his ancestral strong
hold, and here when 1t camc to the
point. the fellow had told good
deal less than the truth
II was q fortress indeed, and meas
luring thoughtfully with his eye, Ket-
tie reckoned that II might well be
packed with as many as eight or ten
thousand people. The sailor was a
man OF braIen courage, but he was
no mailman; he had ordinary pru-
dence; and he saw that to march
into this great hive OF enemies
would end his usefulness This must
be case for strategy, and for tho
present he must keep clear OF the
fortress walls, till he knew moro
about the lay OF the land and its
possibilities.
When they came up to the rock,
the Berbers bore of to the right.
working up steep rise OF the
ground TO where the causeway came
out on TO the edge OF the spur. Ket-
tie left them when they turned. and
went himself to the left, keeping
close in TO the edge of 'be little
scree OF fallen fragments that rr,nged
the foot OF the rock. and craning his
neck backward 40 az TO take in every
foot OF the face.
He did not In the least expect to
find a row Of crevices or lodges by
which he could climb TO the top: by
this time he was very thoroughly i'm
pressed by the accuracy with which
the saint and his predecessors in the
saintship had kept up their defenses;
but he had. az ] have pointed out be-
fore, very clever eye for tho detail
u a countryside. and so he examined
liz automatically and stored up men
tai notes OF what he saw without
effort
In this manner, then, he made q
complete circuit OF the rock as far
as the other side Of the entrance
causewRy, and SO far noted nothing
OF any interest, and having also
found no hiding-place for himself. he
turned back again to make fresh ex.
animation. and this time increased his
speed
Time was getting Of value: dawn
impended; and IL he was caught In
the open when day dawned, even
though hidden among the corn, he
would be within easy range OF any in.
curing eye that looked down from
the fortress above, and subsequently
a simple target for the crudest marks
man.
Nowhere could he have picked more
unpromising ground for finding a hid
ing-place than the skirts OF this great
island OF stone The rock slabs which
/ formal - NJ l.