The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1916-01-15
SIXTH INSTALLMENT
THE CAVERN OF DEATH
CHAPTER XIV.
A Secret Service MESSAGE.


Neal turned to Annette. Good" he
exclaimed, you're safe at any rate.
Where is my mother-where are the
rest?"
In the wireless room," returned An
nette. She laughed bit Historically.
Even Joe Welcher is quite safe," she
said.
Neal held her for a moment, shield
ing her body with his own. He looked
about him.
"This mutiny is over" he said, in a
tone of relief.
|~*-~ He~-was-auite right. The mutiny
was over, but with disastrous results.
Meals commanding officer lay on the
deck with a fractured skull. The cap
tain and the mate of the fruit steamer
Coronado were dead or nearly so, and
the decks were strewn with disabled.
bleeding mutineers.
"Now come with me-" said Neal. He
waved his hand and a small squad of
his companions joined him. He sought
and found his mother and her fright
ened companions, Joe Welcher and
the Castro girl-known to the rest as
Irene Courtier. He led them aft and
placed a guard over them.
"Now," he said warningly, "stay
where you are, mother, and all the
rest. You, too, Annette. I've got my
work cut out for me for some hours. :"
Annette shook her head. mot until
dress your ARM" she said.
Neal nodded to one of his compan-
ions. Mate" he said, "shoot the first
person who .disobeys. I've got other
fish to fry"
He went back to his work. He wig
wagged to the Jackson for his orders.
The orders were brief and to the
point:
you take charge of the steamer.
We are sending help"
He took charge of the steamer, not
only because he was ordered, but be-
cause he had to.
| Inside of. half an hour he had his
own lieutenant's wounds carefully and
scientifically dressed-had all his
own companions we'll attended to-dn
short, in few hours he had righted
the ship completely.
He signaled for further orders, for
the Coronado was now resting quietly
at anchor, and he got his orders:
Put into the nearest port"
BY midnight they had reached the
nearest sport-hads locked. By mid
! night he had landed all his Messengers
and had reported considerable prog
ress to his commander on the Jack
son. BY midnight something else
happened-a secret service message
| filtered through space and got the
wireless operator on the destroyer.
Reduced from cipher, it read about
like this:
American citizen said collecting
arms and ammunition at Martinique
or Porto Rico for Dolores insurrec-
tlon. Follow at once. Investigate, ar
rest, prevent. Report.
| Next morning this news had filtered
into Neal. He took it to the homely
little hotel where Annette and his
mother and their party had been har-
bored for the night. He dropped into
| q chair.
"Now," he said, II can talk and
listen to some talk. Gee whiz, but I'm
dog tired"
| Annette pouted; then she smiled. Il
love to talk" she said. And then she
added two significant words. "Scar.
face"
| Nealsleaped to fleet. "Scar- face, y >
ne cried. "Where? When? What?"
"On the Coronado" said Annette.
Il saw, him twice-Scar-face and his
two companions, the big man and the
other" "a
~" Tell me severything,"i said Neal.
She told him. He waited impa-
tiently until she had finished, then
darted down upon the wharf again.
He boarded the Coronado and gave Or
IN