The Lamar register., 1912-05-01

spontaneously lights were flashing
out for and aft. A revolver spat ven
omously beside him. Somewhere a
man screamed and fell, whimpering
horribly. The revolver expoded sec
ond time There were confused
noises, as of furious struggle. rough
and tumble, and he suspected that one
or another of his companions had
been tackled bodily by one Of the
junk's crew. On his own part he
caught glimpse of a shadow moving
ghostlike against one of the lights,
and promptly exercised 1t with a shot.
By this time the vessel seemed to
be caught in the grip OF pandemon-
Jun; shouts and shots Wed with
screams, groans, confused padding
footsteps, to make the moment one of
a nightmare. The boarding party stood
at bay not daring to venture from the
spot on which they had landed. firing
steadily but with discretion.
Huddled together like children in
fear of the powers of darkness. the
three held their fire against the inev-
liable assault in force, handicapped
fearfully by their absolute ignorance
of the lay of the deck, of the number
of their opponents, and of from which
quarter they had to expect the attack.
And the silence and the suspense
wore upon their nerves until the final
struggle came in the shape of boom
to save them from madness. And 1t
came with rush and a will. cyclonic.
nv
weight of human flesh the Europeans
were pinned against the rail. fighting
at handgrips with a cruel and cunning
foe far better prepared for such bus.
ness than they. For at such close
quarters pistols were practically
worthless save as clubs. while knives
could slip to slay through almost any
however straitened.
O'Rourke had no time to think of his
the silent. unrelenting fury Of his as.
no was conscious of
the white-hot agony of a knife-thrust.
one penetrating the flesh of his side
and scraping his ribs. the other biting
deep into his thigh-he fired until he
had but one cartridge left in his re-
volver, and expended that blowing out
the brains Of an extraordinarily per-
sistent coolie. then dropped the USE
less weapon and trusted to his naked
strength.
1t served him well for a little. One
man, precipitatsd by the weight Of
those behind him into the adventur-
er's arms. he ssised by the throat and
throttled in twinkling: then lifting
him from the deck, he exerted his
power to the utmost. and cast the
body like q log into the midst of the
melee. Thus clearing q little space. he
found himself able to step aside and
let another run past him into the bull
wark: and seeing the sheen of a
swordblade In the fellows hand. be-
fore he could recover seized his wrist.
twisted 1t savagsly, and wrenched the
weapon away.
The finale came Q moment later, sig
nalized by . binding flash of light
more bright than that of day, which
fell athwart the deck and Illuminated
every inch of the
fighting ground. Fervently be blessed
ehS w vOoOoA Sool ndu tuTueu us
ON the Junk. The scene
it revealed beggared the experience of
a man whose trade was fighting; 1t
Tell upon decks slippery with blood
and Uttered with the bodies of dead
and wounded; II silenced a confusion
Upon that insane turmoil
the light fell with the effect of thun-
1erbolt from . clear sky.
Screaming shrilly in their panic, the
. inese scattered and fell away, leav-
ng O'Rourke beside Couch, Wheeler
being down and buried beneath three
Chinese corpses. And instantaneous
grated harshly against the
starboard side Of the junk. and a man
mis- figure stark black against the cold
white glare. leapsd upon the rail and
inboard. Others to the num-
Der of a dozen followed him. swarm
ng over the decks. Couch reeled to-
wards them, babbling orders and in
The second launch had arrived.
Sick and faint. O'Rourke slouched
back against the rail, watching with
ack-luster eyes the end of the chap
ter. 1t was simple to the point of
farcica1 in comparison with
hat which preceded 1t. The dazed and
now outnumbsrsd Chinese offered no
further resistance. Disarmed and put
under guard, they disappeared from