Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-01-25

There was moments silence.
"Bascom," he repeated at last. you
learned this from the ships papers?"
81 learned it from his own lips-the
! man himself is on board
He breathed heavily from surprise !;
then laughed.
Lord, this is some news, Hollis" he
managed to calculate, "but surely you
hardly expect me to be sympathetic,
do your
mo, | hardly expect it," unable to
disguise my intense disgust at his tone.
However, Philip Bascom is here, ru
/, ined by your persecution, crippled for
| life by the cowardly bullet"
"Now, look here, Hollis he broke
in, eff you think am going to stand
for your bullying any longer, you're
mistaken. It's my turn to talk"
"Yours! What will you talk with
money!"
"Perhaps," he sneered, "and with
men also. In the first place, 1 might
as well tell you, don't give a d
who owns this ship. OF course you
gave me jolt by saying that this man
Bascom was on board, but, after all,
that's nothing to me. We had our
| fight, and he learned the same lesson
others have, that Fergus Mccain is
perfectly able to take care of himself.
Now I'm ready to teach the same thing
to Mr.. Robert Hollis of Chicago. This
Is no small boat in mid-Atlantic, where
you can bully me because of your phys
lcal strength. You made a mistake,
Hollis, playing me for fool. I've got
your number already"
"You are quite sure Of that?"
"You bet I am, but I'm not going
to say any more about it tonight. To-
morrow I'll talk with you again.
He turned away, the shrug Of his
shoulders picturing contempt, and a
studied insolence which set my blood
boiling. With the grip of one hand [
flung him back against the rail, and
l-held him there.
mo, we'll discuss it right now" I
said sternly. ''but I'll do the talking
In your place. You haven't anything to
tell me. l know what your plans are
already. I know what you are attempt
Ing to accomplish, and [ know your
purpose You have found a few ruff
fans forward who will take your dirty
gold. To gain control of the others,
you have played up. the war scare.
You think now that the time has come
when you can acts that 500"
He wriggled in an effort to break
free of my grip, and I let go of him
In utter contempt.
"You would find out" he snarled an
grily, "if called for help"
But you are not going to call for
help, for If you even open your lips for
that purpose, you are going to die right
where you stand. Take that seriously,
Mccain. You are endeavoring to in
cite mutiny on board, and under the
law of the sea, I can kill you for it.
Now, I confess my feeling toward you
is not a tender one, but there is going
to be no bloodshed if | can avoid it.
Where have you bunked?"
"Amidship."
"Petty officers quarters. Well, l
prefer having you aft. There is a va
cant stateroom below Walk ahead Of
me to the cabin, and go down the
steps,"
You'll pay for this in the morn
ing"
"Do not worry about the morning,
my man. Trust me to take care OF
your friends forward when the time
Move on!''
Sullenly he left the rail, and crossed
the deck to the companion, with me
trailing a step behind. | was aware
that Olson was leaning out over the
poop-rail watching our dim figures,
wondering, no doubt, what was occur
ring below. I did not venture to glance
upward, or remove my eyes from the
prisoner.
Below there" the mate called,
gruffiy, whats going on?'
'It is all right, Mr.. Olson," l an.
swered, speaking quietly. 'Ill explain
later. Open the door, Mccain, and go
straight down."
He must have realized the utter flu
tility of resistance, for he never even
turned his head, marching before me
down the stairs, and across the de-
serted cabin. | threw open the door
next to Bascom's stateroom, switched
on the light, and glanced within, keep
ing my grasp hard on McCann's arm.
His eyes met mine, black with
towards hatred.
"By God if you wasn't armed"
/ I swung him about in sudden disgust,
f1inging him forward, and he fell
/ sprawling on the deck, overturning the
STOOL The next instant | had closed
| the door and locked it, dropping the
key into my jacket pocket. There had
been little noise, scarcely enough to
arouse the sleepers below, and it was
with feeling of decided relief, that
! I returned to the open deck.
/ I climbed the ladder, joining Olson
at the port rail. Two men were al
the wheel, which bucked sufficiently
1 tO keen them bIISy