The evening world., 1914-03-26

well, iook-what has happened
since we startedr'
Nothing that know Of"
"Think!-a man has been lost al
ready OF this ship"
'1ndeed?" said Sagesse, his hand
falling from his glass to the pocket
Of his coat.
Murdered. mordieu!" said the
other, who was now white to the lips.
Next moment he had flung himself
across the table. He was not 4 Sec
ond too soon. Sagesse had drawn n
revolver from his pocket; II was a
stupid act and unlike him, but his
strange character. so antagonistic as
a rule to anger and violence. had be-
come infected with the rage Of his
vis-a-vis: he felt, perhaps, that Cas-
pard In surprising his deed had now
a hold upon him, that tho crew,
bowed BY his will as they were.
would, IL brought before ono Of those
Internal examining magistrates, in
evitably break down. contradict each
other and give him away. Anger.
uppermost In his mind for . second.
dictated the attempt to destroy this
witness.
But Gaspard was too quick for him.
lie had seized him by the wrist with
an iron grip. the muzzle Of the re-
volver was pointing to the roof of the
deck house. The whole thing had
happened in q flash. with scarcely a
sound. and had you looked In through
the door you might have fancied tho
two men were larking. But a sec
ond glance would have shown YOU
that Gaspard. half lying across the
table, had seized a knife in his left
hand.
prop IT," said Gaspard. "or. sang
Dieu, 1 will drive this through your
heart--assassin!"
Sagesse, whose anger had vanished.
released his clutch on the revolver.
1t fell to the table. and Gaspard. sells
ing 1t. resumed his seat.
Sagesse, rising from his. went
quietly to the door. which was half
open, closed II. and turned TO his
companion.
I'VE are FOOLS" he said. "Sit down.
| am not coming near you. But to
quarrel like this-we are fools!"
81 may be a fool. but l am not q
murderer"
Sagesse pointed to the knife that
had fallen on the table, and laughed
as he retook his seat.
Maybe non, but II seems to mo you
were handy enough with that knife
moment ago. did not say you were
a fool alone; l said we were fools
Quarrelling In the afterguard. with q
crew like this and treasure ahead.
The bon Dieu only knows II We may
not be fighting together for our lives
before long. II we are lucky, and
II those black beasts choose to rise up
against US. DO you know that my
position hero Is not so much the mas
ter OF a ship as the master OF mem
hAt pH
a moment. ! did not intend to shoot
you. l drew In anger. l gave way
for q second to that child's passion.
That was q fault. but l mastered It.
But suppose-look you hete-sup-
pose one Of those animals had come
In and found us at grips, and you
holding me like that, where would my
authority have been? And, / tell
you, It IL by authority only that you
and l will live through this business
for the fellows forward have hell In
them, and they only want pricking to
let II out. !.
"You say man has gone overheard
Well, that Is my business. and 1t Is
better that one man should 60 than
that we should have our threats cut
That fellow was full Of mutiny. and
/ sent him where he'd got to 81
sooner or later. That's my business
And now hand me over thai revolver
Or stay" He went to his cabin and
came back in n moment with another
revolver. He handed 1t to Gaspard.
ITS loaded. l brought 1t for YOU
in case we had trouble with these fell
lows. You can take 1t now And give
me back mine"
Gaspard opened the breech 1t wal
loaded. lie handed Successes weapon
back to him, and Sagesse put It II
his pocket.
Now" said Sagesse. "let us b<
friends till this business Is over. THAI
IL to say, let us work together, for u
we do not. we will pull nothing out Of
the tire-and ! can tell you this. W.
have our work cut out for US"
lie held out his hand, and Gaspart
took It: but there was no friendship
in the grasp. only policy.