Putnam patriot. [volume] (Putnam, Conn.) 1872-1962, 1915-03-26

Copyright. 1912. by
mo, sir Perhaps description
"A schooner rugged steam Yacht" 1
explained briefly. clearing from New
orleans for Santiago She il en- route
TO Spanish Honduras. with munitions
of war"
Exactly. under command OF a man
named Henley. Smith. this sounds
TOO good to be true
He walked across the cabin twice.
thinking. not even CHANGING up as he
passed us. Suddenly he stopped. fac
ing me.
Where did he get you two?"
lin a bayou off the Alabama coast"
And you got away last evening
how?"
He walked back and forth as re-
viewed the events swiftly. | hardly
think he asked so much as a single
quesuun, MS eyes upon my ruce ana
then upon the face of the girl.
"A rather strange tale" he COM
mented when | had concluded, land
perhaps the whole is not told How
ever, that is none of my affair. Now,
listen. This is a revenue cutter. We
were ordered out of Pensacola four
days ago to intercept this boat ON
which you two We're prisoners. We
haven't even sighted the vessel, and
if we did would be perfectly helpless,
as she can steam three knots to our
one. Only some streak of wonderfully
good luck would ever enable us to
capture her. half believe you are
the good luck, if you do what l sug-
gest."
"What7' asked. 81 will be willing
Would you need Mrs. Henley also?"
Yes" and he. turned to the officer.
at is not very. complicated plan,
but we will try it. l don't think Hen
ley will leave these waters without an
effort to recover his boat and prison
-ers. He will want those papers and
revenge on Craig here. He has no
warning that we are after him. l be-
lieve the fellow will cruise about in
the same neighborhOod until daylight
All we have to do is lay trap-the
boats the trap"
You mean conceal squad of men
in the bottom and send it adrift
again?'
Exactly; lower the mast, as though
Craig here had been unable to step
it, or, better still. heave it overheard
The loss of weight will give room for
another man. Then cover the lads
over with the canvas. They will never
suspect the ruse on the Sea Gull or
study it out through glasses They'll
simply recognize their boat and steer
for it,"
THE fighting odds win be pretty
heavy. sir" said Smith soberly.
I'VE must trust to surprise and get
the crew below fastened down before
an alarm is sounded on board. \ doz-
en- armed men ought TO clear the
decks. How do you look at the affair.
Craig? VIII the plan work.
y am not sure | understand exactly
what is proposed, sir
MY thought is that this man Hen
ley will be sufficiently anxious to get
hold of you two again and regain those
papers, so that he will steam about
SioNiy IuShi- nOl'iiiS " get SiSul
of the missing boat at daylight. He
has no means of knowing that the
revenue officers are after him. IL he
sights us at dayb he'll make a
run and show us q clean pair Of heels.
He'd be hull down in five hours, for
this is slow old tub. Now, what /
propose is this" and the captain count
ed off the points on his fingers. There
is about an hour of darkness left-suf-
ficient to enable me to run this cutter
in behind Cosmos Island safely out of
sight. In the meanwhile we'll dis
mantle that small boat a bit, slip
dozen good men under the canvas and
turn her adrift."
And you wish me to go also?"
Yes; if you WILL
And Mrs. Henley?"
That would be the only way to al
lay suspicion on the Sea Gull"
l hesitated, half turning so as to
look at her.
You wish to say yes?" she asked
quietly You believe the plan will
succeedT'
1T sounds feasible"
She glanced toward the waiting cap
tain and then back into my face
Then l will go, of course" she said
smilingly- LET us not discuss it any
more"
The captain stepped forward, bow
ing, bare headed.
Most braveIy spoken" he said sob
erly- Il owe you debt, madam. Mr..
Smith, have the boat prepared at once
TO carry out my idea"
To leave the impression that an in
competent seaman had been in charge
of it through the night, sir!'
Exactly. The mast overheard and
the canvas slowed badly
Yes, sir; big sheet
Bunch it so as to leave all the space
possible; leave the jib set; it will help
conceal the men. Send Lieutenant
Hutton here"
He will have command of the
party?"
Yes; let him pick his own men ami
then report to me; arm them with
revolver apiece. Be lively about it"
The dawn broke gray and desolate.
! sat nj the tiIler, graspins one Of her
hands ia mine and staring anxiously
about the broadening circle. The boat
ia which we rode. while buoyant
enough. still bore the outward appear
ance of wreck, the broken stump OF