Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-15

stood eyIng the excited man with level
| gaze
captain Billings" he drawied finally,
'if you will pardon my candor, ] might
remark that you are something Of an ass,
don't you know"
whereupon he turned and left the cabin
| with the same Indifferent ease that was
habitual with him. and which was more
surely calculated TO raise the ire OF
man of Billings class than a torrent Of
| invective.
SO, whereas the captain might easily
| have been brought to regret his hasty
| speech had Clayton attempted to con-
ciliate him, his temper was now irrevo-
cably act in tho mold in which Clayton
had left It. and the last chance OF their
working together for their common good
| and preservation of life was gone.
wei, Alice" said Clayton, as he re-
Joined his wife, III had saved my breath
] should likewise have saved myself a
bit Of a calling. The fellow proved most
ungrateful. Fairly Jumped at me like
mad dog
HE and his blasted old ship may go
hang. for auEht / care and until we are
safe off the thing shall spend my ener-
giles In looking after our own welfare
And ] rather fancy the first step to that
end should be to go to our cabin and
look over my revolvers.
"l am sorry now that we packed the
's'' HSi suns anu lllt ammunition Win tn0
stuff below
They found their quarters in a had state
of disorder. Clothing from their open
boxes and bags strewed the little apart
ment, and even their beds had been torn
to pieces
Evidently some one was more anxious
about our belongings than .we,r said
Clayton by Jove, wonder what the
bounder was after. Let's have a look
around, Alice, and see what's missing"
A thorough search revealed the fact
that nothing had been taken but Clay
toms two revolvers and the small supply
of ammunition he had saved out for
them.
Those are the very things most wish
they had left u.s." said Clayton, "and
the fact that they wished for them and
them alone is the most sinister circum-
stance of all that have transpired to en-
danger us since we set foot on this miser-
able hulk.
What are we to do. John?" asked his
wife. 81 shall not urge you to go again
to the captain, for 1 cannot see you
affronted further, Possibly our best
chance for salvation lies in maintaining
a neutral position.
''If the officers are able to prevent
mutiny. we have nothing to fear. while
II the mutineers are victorious our one
slim hope lies In not having attempted to
thwart or antagonize them"
Right you are. Alice. Wen keep in
the middle of the road
AS they fell to in an effort to straighten
up their cabin, Clayton and his wife
simultaneously noticed the corner of a
piece of paper protruding from beneath
the door of their quarters. As Clayton
stopped to reach for 1t he was amazed
to see II move further into the room
and then he realized that 1t was being
pushed inward by some one from without.
Quickly and silently he stepped toward
the door, but, as he reached for the knob
to throw it open, his wlfe's hand fell
upon his wrist.
mo, John" she whispered They do
not wish to be seen, and SO we cannot
afford to see them. Do not forget that
we are keeping the middle of the road"
Clayton smiled and dropped his hand
to his side. Thus they stood watching
the little bit OF white paper until 1t finally
remained at rest upon the floor just inside
the door.
Then Clayton stopped and picked 1T
up,n1t, was q bit of grimy. white paper
roughly folded into a ragged square
Opening II they found a crude message
printed in uncouth letters. with many
I evidences of an unaccustomed task.
Translated. it was a warning to the
Claytons to refrain from reporting the
loss OF the revolvers, or from repeating
what the old sailor had told them--to re-
frain on pain of death.
Continued in Mondays EUening
Ledger