The Washington times., 1913-01-04
THE TINES DAILY SERIAL STORY
A DAUGHTER % Of Tie ARMADA
By Stephen Chalmers
ig FrankA. MunseyC
By Stephen Chalmers
Copyright. 1872. Frank A. Munsey Company,


door OF the castle found the old laird
and Mistress Mary and young Jamie,
packed by a throng of gawing vassals.
They, too, had seen the ship through a
py-noIe' and they, too. were full Of
Jamie caught sight of me as 1 came
splashlng along, and cried:
s:Look; Rorie Maclean! Yon's the
,,,Is "sps1ish~ ian III snesred the laid; who had
Spanish. then Heaven have mercy on
the Armada, for Howard'll have none"
mistress Mary stood with her hand
shading her eyes. that she Nigh. see
better through the dusk. ! mind well
the bewilderment on her bonny face,
and the lace falling back from her
smooth arms as she looked at the ship
which, all unknown, was bringing much
orief Joy and sorrow to her.
But there will be something wrong!"
this
Are ye feared. woman?" cried the
laird. "Hech. sirs. they are not here
to fight. They will have had their bally-
full OF fight, I'm thinking. and that's
what brings them here. but where is the
rest Of the heather breed? Ha, And
wnat Will be wrong with you boat? 1
tell ye. they are drunk as pipers. Ha,
fe hear that'-as a roar Of laughter
travelled from the sea. What was 1
We could now distinguish the creak-
ing OF the vessels gear and the dunt!ng
OF the oars, one against the other, she
was 80 close to land.
Above every other sound rose laugh
ter and singins:--not like our Scottish
a gay wickedness of tune. The singing
suddenly ceased. and a long womanish
scream skirled through the stiil dusk.
Heaven forgive usr growled the
laird. his eyes peering fiercely. from un-
der shaggy brows and his underlip pro-
truding hourly. Hear yon heather.
will ye? Drunk and disappearing, and
they sailing to their graves"'
All at once a great sheet Of flame leap
ed up from the high pop of the Spanish
stopped moving, save for a slackening
and slapping as they fell. unnamed. In
to the sea, and scores Of blackamoors
suddenly appeared and ran about the
decks. The ribald laughter changed to
shrieks of fright as the flames leaped
higher and spread rapidly to other parts
Of the ship.
] remember the rapidity Of that fire
with cold chill in my hair; how the
flames lit up the many. little windows,
at first with a sputtering of dimness,
then with a steady glow that Frightened
and glared until the hot panes burst
outward and fell, chinking and kissing.
into the sea.
Ihe Spanish snip was doomed. The
crowds Of men aboard her seemed to
be casting about to save themselves.
To me that was a simple matter. as
the ship could no. have been more than
100 yards from the shore, and I was
puzzled when saw the Spaniards point
landward and then throw up their
hands or cross them on their breasts
turned to look at the laird and, cruel
man as / had heard he was, do not
think ! ever saw an expression Of such
hyrt al frfh <xll L.. =
dour face. He was not over tall. hut
very broad and heavy. With his plaid
and philabeg fastened at the shoulder
with big silver brooch, with his bare
knees and his hands clasped over his
claymore hilt showing hairy and gnarl-
ed, and with his shock of gray, coarse
locks struggling around his ears and
scowling brow, he looked like one OF
those ogres had pictured In the tales
my father told me Of winter night.
as he saw the Spaniards point despair
ingly at the shore. where the men Of
the elachan were adding fuel to sud-
den bonfire. ES ''.1
Aver chuckIed Black jamie, nod
ding his head at the burning ship. AYE.
aye, ye heather gommerifs. Ye may
well put the sign OF the cross on your
breasts. The whole clachan's sitting
on its hunkers waiting for ye, and all
skreigh, ye heathen! Skreigh!-as
heart, he .s'a broken cries came from the Span
"oh. my fatherr" cried Mistress Mary.
eIln easpes HaSs tSs s waah en1
Mercy" roared the laird. In sudden
fury. Mercy, is It? Then let them
blde where they are Mercy. IL It?
Ha"' Black Jamie chuckled. What
for have they come here, but as ene-
on. Aundria, wen see tot that they
have mercy!"
Reckoning to a big killed vassal who
had been standing with q body Of serv-
ing men, the laird flung back his plaid
from his claymore hilt and started for
the shore, grinning and slowering and
muttering:
Mercy. lie #? Heeh. aye,"
happened to look at Mistress Mary.
She took young jamie by the hand
without andother word, and pushed
through the gaping vassals and in the
castle hall. sobbing So that we could
hear her outside.
BY this time darkness had set in,
and a fine night II was. The stars
came out white and clear, except where
the smoke from the ship blurred them,
or they paled a wee to the vivid bursts
of fame. For the Spanish vessel was
now all ablaze.
The blackamoors who had come on
deck after the oars stopped were
skreighng like lost souls. but there
we're others OF fairer color OF face who
were still trying to restore order
lhere was something very far wrong
on that ship. ] could See them trying
10 let down a boat, but their hands
seemed to be all thumbs. Two men
tumbled into the sea and another
laughed loudly and jumped in after
them. Not one OF the three came up.
A Costinuation of This story VIII
BE Enund In Touarran,a