Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1917-05-02
CHAPTER Xv-tContinued

vr,tIEpE was a moments silence.
L "Bascom." he repeated at last. you
learned this from the ships papers!
"r learned It from his own lips-the man
himself is on board
lie breathed heavily from surprise the''
laughed, ,,.u,." he
,,,anaged to calculate, but surely you
hardly expect me to be sympatne''o' Wv
you?" .A,o 20 dis
ruise my intense disgust at ms tone,
hardly expect you to exhibit ordinary ue,
noncy under any circumstances but ]
Thought I would give you a chance, HOW
ever philip Bascom is here. ruined py your
persecution. crippled for HE ny the Gu"
ardly bullet
..>oy look here, Hollis" he broke In
"if YOU think ! am going TO STAND tor your
bullying any longer you're mistaken II
my "yours, @ What will you talk with
money!" ,s ,,.,,, MAN
"perhaps" he sneered, land with men
also In the first place. | might as well tei'
YOU, | don't give damn VINO owns 'n,s
shin OF course, you gave me Jo't oy
saving that this man Bascom was on board
hut efter all that's nothing to me. We
mad our fight, and he learned the same les
can others have that Fergus Mccain Is
perfectly able to take care or hlhlsen. Wv
I'm ready to teach the same thing 10 MT
Robert Hollis of Chicago
listened TO him quietly, and my silence
seemed to bolster up his courage CONSIDER
ably.
"'rhose are the facts" he went on, as !
made no reply, his tone assuming more
marked buster This is no small boat In
mid-Atlantic where you can bully me be-
cause of YOUR physical strength. You made
| a mistake, Hollis. playing me for FOOL
I've got your number already
"You are quite sure of that?'
"You bet l am, but I'm not going to say
anv more about it tonight. Tomorrow III
talk with you again"
He turned away, the shrug or MS
shoulders picturing contempt and STUDIED
insolence which set my blood boiling. With
| the grip of one hand ! hung MN bacR
against the rail, and held him there,
"No we'll discuss it right now" l said
| sternly. but I'll do the talking In your
place You haven't anything to tell me.
know what your plans are already Wher
| YOU came aboard you learned that there
were men forward ripe for any dirty WORK
| ~ they could only be paid we'll for 1t. Tha,
| Is YOUR long suit-money The trouble with
| YOU, McCann. is that you have been brought
lin 10 believe that money Will buy you any
| thing. You get along very nicely on thai
| theory in New York probably. but this IL
| New YORK. just idSt uHlcTtHCt
Won are not at present Mr. Fergus Nc
| Cam, stock broker and multimllionaire
| YOU are a mere passenger, picked up a
sea by the freighter Indian Chief. That IL
| your exact status. on the other hand. l an
no longer Robert Hollis, of Chicago. al
| idler and one of your own set / am Cap
tain Hollis. in command of this vessel, re
sponsible for its safety. l know what yol
| are attempting TO accomplish, and / know
| vour purpose. You have found few ruff
| fans forward, who will take your dirt,
gold, To gain control of the others 20,
have played up the war scare. You thinl
now that the time has come when you car
| acts that so?"
| He wrigged in an effort to break fre,
of my grip, and / let go Of him in ute
| contempt.
"You would find out" he snarled angrily
| ..if called for help"
.But you are not going to call for help
| for IL you even open your lips for that pur
pose, you are going to die right where yol