The Bottineau courant. (Bottineau, Bottineau County, N.D.) 1895-1929, 1913-07-11

| the ways OF the yelIOW mdn. anu uO
realized that such an elaborate plot a.
the roundabout method OF stealing
stun from the hulk must appeal to
the stratagem loving Chinaman.
A Mot OF such magnitude necessitat-
"a the employment Of many confed-
crates, and when each grade. Of VII
lain had received his share there must
be q goodly portion for the chief plot
ter: hence business must be done on
Z large scale.
AZ Philip pondered these things his
ears were strained toward the upper
landing, where q confused murunur
rose and fell. Presently It increased
to q roar, and 1t was apparent that
whatever had been t%ranspiring in the
fog had been interrupted and intense
excitement. was rampant among the
coolies and boatmen.
Then there was silence for several
moments while they sat listening.
Suddenly philip uttered : warning
cry:
LET her 90, Peter! Great Scott,
we're in for It! Look outE'
There was a hurried rush down the
stone steps, the dull thud Of many bare
running feet, and then . OF phan-
tom hands seemed TO take possession
Of the launch and its occupants.
While the two men In the launch had
expected an attack Of some kind IL
their presence In that vicinity should
be discovered, they were ~unprepared
for such a sudden and fierce onslaught.
For an instant only were they dis
concerted: then they sprang to meet
their assailants halfway-nay, three
| quarters way-for that IL = n Ameri-
can trait.
Peter Cook grabbed 4 wrench and
laid about him Justify among heads
and hands that he could only guess
were bobbing about in the darkness
which surrounded the launch.
Philip was wrestling silently with q
pair Of strong, half naked coolies, who
had seized upon him and were endeav-
oring to pinion his arms.
Az he struggled Philip was conscious
that numbers were being added to the
attacking party. He heard the breath
ing of men, and he was aware Of the
presence of many human beings about
HMM the water, on the stone steps
and On the whaEf above him.
Philip knew that he and Peter would
soon be overpowered by the increasing
numbers, and 30, with q great and des-
perate effort, he thrust aside the cling
ing hands that were menacing him
and. bending down to the engine, open
ed the valve and in a breath's time had
returned to his fight, and now he found
three coolies to deal with instead Of
two. and the lighting vas hard.
With q sudden swish the launch
backed violently away from the land
ing, overturning the swarming coolies
and cutting q swath through the crowd
which had gathered in the water about
them.
Philip struggled with his three A.
s~ailants, expecting every moment to ~
ceive a knife thrust or to feel 4 gar
roter's cord encircle his throat. The
| odds were much against them, but It
was evident that 1t was the intention
of the attackers to take the foreigners
| alive-to make them prisoners. but not
to harm them.
The launch cleared herself from the
swarming coolies, leaving q wake Of
broken heads and angry yelps.
With a final effort Philip dealt q Wig
orous blow through the darkness to
the man on his left. The coolie dou-
bled Imply, poised on the gunwale and
then disappeared into the inky black
ness. As he struck the rail the boat
lurched. and this sudden shock knock
ed the two remaining coolies from
! their feet, and, with j~abbering shrieks.
they. too, vanished.
Then Philip turned his attention to
Peter Cook, whose PROSTATE form he
could dimly discern in the bottom Of
the boat.
He took q small dark lantern from q
locker and turned It's ray on the face
Of the boy.
Peter opened his eyes, blinked and
stared curiously at Philip.
Are you all right. Peterr' asked
Philip ~enxiously.
"Sure thing!" said Peter briskly %
he struggled to his feet and took the
wheel. II hope I wouldn't squeal for
q burned chink. Whe-e-e. but that
fellow gave me . clip! I expecss tn
be~dixxy the rdst Of my life."
The lantern disclosed q mobilize
bunch on the back Of the boys head.
II am glad It's no worse."' said Phil
ip a. he dipped his handkerchief In
the water and applied It to the injured
spot. Whats thati" be asked sharply.
THAT Wal the crack Of q revolver
and, together with the sharp spat o6 q
bullet In the water lear BY. testiAeA
that they were still pursued.
They were dashing through the W
tar q top speed now Apds aide1 bys1he
current would . Is xbfS1Sk u ~
foreign quarters. Although the th1ok
fog still encircled them. the blurtod
dimness Of housebost iighta a3oas the
shore indicated that they were ven IN
the middle Of the stream.
80 atE 49, 49, LA& $780,