The Ocala evening star. [volume] (Ocala, Fla.) 1895-1943, 1913-11-13
ChAP1 Err XIV.
A Startling Discovery.

heavenly peace. with the sails scarcely
touched and rustling softly before IN
unfailing breeze. In all there were
seven men forward. who might have
been seven authors. from the aSSidu-
GUS way they read-grave. oldish men
for the most part. always glued to
books under that tarpaulin in the
waist Herman was the only youth
among them-tall. whitley blond Her
man. who tried to make friends with
the passengers till he was squelched
by the mate.
Schwartz. though less of reader
than Brandeis or the others. very soon
ran dry as Il conversatiOnaliSt. He be-
came bottled up and uncOmmunicative
spending hours at Il time in bis cabin
or walking up and down the poop in ii
brown study none dared to disturb.
This was the only prerogative of cap
tain that he treated himself to. beyond
taking his place at the head of the ia
BILE. Mr.. Brandeis took all the ob>er
vations. gave all the orders. shortened
sail or ran up kites without even go
ing through the form of consulting his
superior. He was the virtual COM
mander of the ship and made very
little pretense that he was not Matt
noted that Schwartz stood no watch.
but allowed his to be taken by the sec
ond mate. a pOnderOuS individual of
sixty. with white side whiSkerS. who
was called KrantZ and berthed forward
with the men
This familiarity between officers and
men was new to Matt. Mr.. BrandeiS
was not above mixing with them I'M
der the tarpaulin and adding his cigar
and book to that sprawling circle
Matt had to admit that the mate did
not appear to lose caste in conSe-
quence On the contrary. he was treat
ed with great respect. and Herman in
particular never failed to spring up
at his approach.
The two japanese. Yonida. the stew
ard. and Fusi. the cook. were not be
midland. either. us readers.
An indefinable suspicion was begin
ming to creep into Mats mind that
there was something wrong -rith the
from an amiable. tHIkative. friendly lit
tie. man into the taciturn creature who
paced the poop or wrote for hours in
his cabin struck oddly on MATHS atten-
ton. The gruff mate was gruffer tina n
ever and showed an increasing diSin-
clination to let Matt see the chart AS
the vesSefS course was plotted from
day to day. And these white and
whiskered patriarchS? Was it a float
ing old mems home or what:
The humorous view with which these
things We're at first regarded changed
imperceptibly as time wore on. Who
was this strange Schwartz and this
strange Rrandeis. and what had been
the secret of the formers impulSive
good will in San Francisco? Nothing
now was heard of old south sea cap.
tainS standing together. The amazing
fact dawned on Matt that Schwartz
was no seaman ut all. but a landSman
maSquerading as the master of the YES
sci Was it possible that they We're
prisoners on this singular. Ship--com-
Portable. we'll fed. politely treated pris
onerS:
To increase MATHS miSgivingS. Chris
who was a lighter sleeper than him
self had been hearing "uniSps.' in the
middle of the r!yht She described
them as funny. Swapping sounds" tina
commenced after Schwartz had passed
their door and looked in. rs though f.
assure himself that they were asleep
She was 81 positive of this that Matt
determined to stay awake one night
and see and hear for himself If i,
We're fancy on Chris part the sooner
she was undeceivpd the better for she
was nervous and frightened and had
moments of pasSionatply wishing they
had never set foot on the Esmeralda.
Midnight Struck-eight bells Half
| after midnight-one bell. One o'clock
two bells. Half after three bells
He grew brewster and brewster. Sud
denly Chris clutched him.
He's coming" she whiSnnred. Matt
he's coming-l heard the door
Matt held his breath. Schwartz was
tiptoeing past their door. No. not past
it. for the man stopped on his way and
cast a quick glance within. He was
in his paiamaS. His face was a study
of furtiveneSS and caution Then he
tiptoed on and was seen no more
Didn't | tell yong" murmured Chris
In moment the noises will begin
''Sn-h-h"' returned Matt Ssh h.
1t was more than a moment how
ever. before the quiet was disturbed
There. there" exclaimed Chris
A peculiar EARRING sound became
family audible. as though some ma
chinery had been set in motion But
ii was too irregular for muchiEery
and had an indeScriha hIe. thrillin.
Il