Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1917-12-05
The Daily
Short Story
THE MOONS WARNING,
By Alan Hinsdale.

In
ocean voyages was mate on harts
rugged ship running between the Ara.
bian coast and New York.
: One night when we were ancho-.a
/ off small town not far south of Raj
rut, the captain, fearing a mut,nr
concluded to take the crew ashore -,
amusement. He left me In charge =,
the ship with two men, but he Lad ma
sooner disappeared than they took
boat and followed him. / knew th..
in their present mood could not nrs.
vent them, and did not try to do 40
1t was very hot, and taking Of nv
clothes I sat on the deck smoking !.
cigar. The moon was near the fn,i
but was obscured by the clouds. Pres
entity there was break In them. ana
looking over the water In the direr.
ton Of the land, saw tiny flash
This led me to strain my eyes on ths
point where l had seen 1t, but cou,s
discover nothing except repetition
Of the fash at stated intervals OF tvo
or three seconds.
Had I not been familiar with tina
region and the people I might haya
wondered till doomsday what It meant
But ! knew the Arab well, and | was
mot long in coming to the conclusion
that what I saw was the glitter Of tha
moonlight on a knife in the grasp NJ
one Of these Arab devils swimming
hand over hand
Ny first thought was TO arm uoyself.
but at once remembered that the can.
tain, fearing mutiny, had locked nm
every weapon on the ship and had the
key with him. l confess this fright.
ened me, for I was absolutely defense
less. I looked about for some sort
Of club, but saw nothing handy. Be-
sides, If the robber could get on the
ship without my being at his point Of
boarding he probably would be 50
agile that I could not hit him.
An Arabs clothing is easily thrown
of, and for purposes of defense they
keep their bodies oiled. Remembering
this, hurried to the gallery, where I
found bottle Of oil used for cooking
and in two or three minutes had
ismeared myself from head to foot.
, Then l ran on deck and concealed N.Y.
self behind lifeboat, hoping to take
! my enemy unawares.
Although my supposition that a thief
/, was coming was based entirely upon
seeing a succession of flashes in the
, moonlight, was correct in my reason
; ing in ever particular. Presently from
+, my conceslment I saw black object.
floating without the slightest sound on
the port side Of the ship. There were
no flashes, for the mans hands were
! under water. Indeed, 1t was SWIM
| ming hand over hand that betrayed
him. Then l saw q black head seem
= ingly resting on the gunwale. The
: fellow was looking over the deck for
a guard. His body next appeared and
he dropped to the deck with no more
: sound than would have been made by
cat
There was nothing on deck for him
Il TO steal, and I knew that he would 60
Il down the companionway tc look for
loot below. To do this he must pass
within few yards of the boat behind
u which ! was concealed.
He first satisfied himself that the
. ship was deserted, then made for the
:, companionway Just as he was about
u TO descend jumped for him from be-
= hind, making it my principal object 70
. get hold upon his right wrist. whers
. l presumed he carried his knife
= jumped upon him from his right All
Z caught his wrist. Despite The fast
. that it was oiled, held It for q It's
Il minutes. But l felt a blow on IL
:: arm that held it and warm blood run
u ming down above my elbow. Tbs dag
II ger was in his left hand.
q l had an advantage in being beh;s.
. him. With my chest against his bacE
y l had an arm on each side OF him an
q secured his dagger wrist with my lei
,e hand. He had by this tina freed HI
II right hand, but before he could tui'
!, himself TO oppose me had his RICH
u wrist IN my grasp and with my rign
o. knuckles dealt the back Of his LEI
1 hand blow that forced him 10 drol
his dagger. He made a dive to take !
up with the hand that was free, hp
: before he could do so I had kicked
ie into the port scuppers.
Then followed wrestling mattel
u between two men. both of whom wer
d stripped and oiled The fight depends
70 on which could get the knife. 70
~ perhaps 10 minutes first one then III
= ether got the upper hand We drifte'
to where the weapon lay, and | mad
a grab for it and seized it, But a
IN this time the thief had me under, an
u before I could put the blade into hin
u he freed himself and in an instant wa
= over the gunwale and into the water
- | was so enraged at his escape thai
= like foal. / threw the knife at hin
70 All he had to do was to dive for it. re
III turn and kill me. He went down, bu
III luckily as he came up with the knife
heard the sound of oars. The cree
was returning. The thief swan ava
" as fast as he could.
" When the crew came aboard the
/ found me besmeared with blood tia
~ had come from a flesh wound in N
~ arm. While the captain was hindi9
Is up the wound I recited my adyentur
% to an attentive audience. The ere
le were much displeased at the deseruo
o of the men who had been left VII
10 me Indeed, my adventure change
the whole situation. and from that TN
every man behaved himself as becanl
IA a true sailor.
eunort local cornrnittea of the federi