The Hartford republican. (Hartford, Ky.) 18??-1926, 1912-06-07
gained the deck-N beiIow u.

ending In. sickenlng gurgle.
ORourke in a fash swung on his
heel. simultaneously he came face to
face with Quick. He could have cried
aloud IN pity.
The captain swayed before him,
massively built figure clothed all m
white, huge arms trembling towards
his head, revolver dropping from a
nerveless hand. his chin fallen for
ward on his chest. a stupid, weary
smile on his face, and a dark and hid
eous smear spreading swiftly over the
bosom OF his shirt.
a cry of horror, despair and rage
stuck in the wanderers throat. Quick,
who had hailed his appearance on the
Rance at Alden as a haffJlnger Of good
luck, had been foully murdered His
dominant emotion of the moment, an
intense and pitiful solicitude for the
dying man. threw him off his guard.
Under It's influence he forgot the des-
perate case Of which this tragedy
brought all aboard the Rance. put out
his arms, received the falling body.
and let 1t gently to the deck.
But in trice he was alive again to
his own peril. In the twinkling of an
eye he saw a flash of light gliding to-
wards him with resistless impetus.
lntuitively he swung to one side. to
the right. and leart to his feet. At
that the knife. kris sinuOvs and
kaan RIM cold ,ppn tho fash ~ hia
chest. slit through his shirt, caught
In the thong that held the Pool OF
Flame. and tore out. leaving a tapping
hole and scraping hands breadth
OF skin from his forearm. Needless
Of this. only in fact subconsciously
to the deck. he caught at the hand
that had welded the kris; his fingers
closed about the wrist. and. bracing
himself. he swung the assassin Off his
feet. so doing. his fingers slipped on
the mans greasy skin and he STUN
bled OFF his balance.
His object, however, had been ac-
complished. The murderer. hurled a
yard or more through the air. fell and
slid along the deck into a group of
lascars. one of whom. like a nine-piu,
was knocked over and fell atop o,
him.
O'Rourke recovered and stepped for
ward. revolver poised to administer
the quietus to the murderer-an ami
able intention which was. however
doomed 10 Illustration. With almost
inconceivable swiftness the group OF
lascars had become n mere tangle OF
arms ami legs, a melange of strug-
/ Cling limbs and bodies. Where he
had thought to find a single PROSTATE
form. there We're six struggling in con
| fusion on the deck.
For a thought he stayed his finger
on the trigger. waiting to pick out the
undermost and STAY him first of all
unwilling, furthermore. to waste one
of the four invaluable cartridges re
manning in his revolver. And then
Unexpectedly the tragedy seemed over
and done with altogether.
From the bottom of the heap Of bod
les terrible cry of mortal anguish
shrilled loud and almost at once the
mob seemed to resolve into its orig
inal elements. Five lascars crawled
arose. or flung themselves away from
the sixth. who lay inert, prone. limbs
still twitchng, knife buried in his
back.
For thought the tableau held
there in the pure brilliance of the
moonlight; the half dozen standing
figures. O'Rourke space apart from
the rest, and two bodies, the one face
down, Quick with face to the stars
each with It's dread background; q
black stain that grew and spread slow
~ upon the white. dazzling
Quietly the tallest OF the lascars
moved forward, knelt and drew the
knife from the back of his dead fel
low. He Strengthened up. facing
O'Rourke without tremor, his eyes
afire, and wiped the blade Of the kri.
on his cummerbund.
do not shoot. sahib." he sale
smoothly In excellent English. dc
not shoot. sahib. for it Is l who have
avenged. This dog" and with his to,
he stirred the thing at his feet, "rai
amOk. Now he Is dead"
This was the serang who spoke
O'Rourke eyed him coldly through ;
prolonged silence. At length. "Tha
seems quite evident" he admitted
coolly. Pick up that body and throw
1t overboard!" he commanded sharply
In obedience to q sign from the Sc
rang. two of the lascars seized th'
body. A subsequent splash oversize
told the Irishman that his order ha'
been carried out. But he heard
abstractedly. confronted as he wa
with a problem whose difficulty va
not to be underestimated. the problem
embodied in the statuesque, impertur
bable serang
1t was hard to know what to dc
what 10 believe, what action to take
II he were right in his surmise, the Sc
rang should rightly be shot down In
stantly, without an instants respite
~. l. Ii.