The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1912-02-09

closed about the WrlSt, ana, DTaclug
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 &C
complished. The murderer, hurled g
ward or more through the air, fell an6
slid along the deck into group o1
lascars, one Of whom, like nine-pi1
was knocked over and fell atop o1
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 to Illustration. With almost
inconceivable swiftness the group OF
lascars had become a mere tangle OF
arms and legs, melange Of strug'
Cling limbs and bodies. Where he
had thought to find a single prostrGte
form, there were six struggling in con-
fusion on the deck.
For a thought he stayed his finger
on the trigger, waiting to pick out the
undermcst and slay him first Of all,
unwilling. furthermore, to waste one
Of the four invaluable cartridges re.
naming 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 1ascars craWled
arose, or flung themselves away from
the sixth, who lay inert, prone, limbs
still tw1tching, a knife buried in his
back.
For a thought the tableau held,
there in the pure brilliance Of the
moonlight; the half a dozen standing
figures, O'Rourke a space apart from
the rest, and two bodies, the one face
down, Quick with face to the stars,
each with it's dread background;
black stain that grew and spread slow
ly upon the white, dazzling
planks.
Quietly the tal1est 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 a trenor, his eyes
afre, and wiped the blaze Of the kris
on his cummerbund.
"Do not shoot, sahib,' he said
smoothly in excellent English. "Do
not shoot, sahib, for it is who have
avenged. This dog" and with his toe
he stirred the thing at his feet, "ran
amok. Now he is dead"
This was the serang who spoke.
O'Rourke eyed him coldly through a
prolonged silence. At length, THAT
seems quite evident" he admitted
coolIy. "Pick up that body and throw
It overboard!" he commanded sharply.
In obedience to a sign from the Sc
rang, two of the lascars seized the
body. A subsequent splash overside
told the Irishman that his order had
been carried out. But he heard it
abstractedly, confronted as he was
with q problem whose difficulty was
not to be underestimated, the problem
embodied in the statuesque, impertur-
bable serang.
It was hard to know what to do,
what to believe. what action to take.
If he were right in his surmise, the Sc
rang should rightly be shot down in
stantly, without an instant's respite.
Yet the heartless brutality upon which
his theory was based made him hesi-
tate. 1t was difficult to believe that
the serang had been able to accom-
plish what O'Rourke was inclined to
credit him with; that he, the wielder
of the kris, the murderer Of Quick,
thrown off his feet by the Irishman's
attack, had deliberately involved his
fellows with him in his fall and profit
ed by the confusion to slay one upon
whom lie could throw the blame for
all that had happened
The weapon q1iveSed in o'Rourke's
grasp. More than once in that brief
debate he was tempted to shoot the
fellow on suspicion. Yet he held bis
hand; he could not be positive. With
every circumstance against him, he
might still be telling the truth. The
whole horrible affair might boil down
to nothing more than an insane crime
of crazy Malay, one who, as the Sc
rang claimed, had run amok.'
He had not made up his mind when
his thoughts were given new turn
by a new complication, in the shape
of Mrs. Prynne herself. That lady
came up the companion steps with no
apparent hesitation, no fear or appre-
hension; quietly and confidently alert,
on the other hand, she was yisibly
armed and prepared against danger In
whatever form she might have to en-
counter it.
She came directly to the adventurer,
Witnout SO much as glance for the
81 1o A1yi1hnaQG