Sioux County pioneer. (Fort Yates, Sioux County, N.D.) 1914-1929, 1918-02-21
CHAPTER xxIx-continued.

came next, and l explored the latter
myself. as there was scarcely room in
the narrow space for even one to creep
about. Pushing the lantern before me,
every nerve singing like II copper wire,
! crawle' out at last, dripping with
perspirntion, and as black as though |
had been for half u day in the coal
hole. To Lcuyord's inquiries l could
only shake my head.
"Wcl, sir" he said Obstinatcly, I'm
Il sailo"Inan, but l never did believe in
ghoSt. an amt a-goin' fer ter believe
IL 'cn. now. 1t wurn't no Spouis what
mi this job. This yere Buscom was IL
sure enough human the last time put
eyes ON him. an l don't reckon he's
changed much Since 'crpt maybe in his
line o brains; do you, siri"
lies flesh and blood, all right, If
that is what you mean; only insanity
makes them cunning"
'"rhats what sed to- Red here while
you waa crawling round in the fore
peak, laipin' up bilge-water. lie recll-
rncd 1t might O. bin Il ghost dom
these things; but claimed tibet ghosts
don't shove knives into sailormen
Irnstways l never heard o none that
did. So IT. naturally stands to reason,
Elr, that this bloOmin lunutic is still
aboard s0Lncwhere."
He leaned forward, striking one hand
0n the other to better express his urgl-
mcnt. was thinking, paying little at
scntion to his words, my eyes UNI
consciously viewing the ship aft. The
deck was so wrapped in gloom that
outside the radius of our lantern l
could perceive no movement, not even
determine the presence of the two men
left on guard. The two masts, with
their heavy spars, cast all below into
tt"nsc shadow, but beyond, on the poop.
the faint rays of the pinnacle lamp re-
hecled softly on the face of the girl at
the wheel, making her appear almost
rs Il vision. The sight for an instant
fascinated me-
"Ain't tibet so. sir?"
"Why, yes, Leayord: am unable to
Sec it any other way-but where?"
"Well, there amt but one place
aboard uneXplored, sir. Hanged If 1
know how he ever got there, but he's
either there, overheard, or aloft; or
rlse I've got to take off my hat to Red
acre, an acknowledge it's real ghost
Nc'vc got aboard the old hooker"
''Thr cargo hoId?"
aye aye; I'm fer takin' off the
matches, and letting man or two creep
down there; we've got to find out
whcre THAT devil is"
There was no answering his logic,
md Il determination to complete the
;ob was already in my own mind.
"Get the tarpaulin out of the way,
Liverpool" l said sharply, throwing
the lantern where the light was need
ri. "Cut it loose. man; don't waste
time with the lashings; there's plenty
OF spare canvas in the sailrOom. What's
slowed first below. Mr. Leayorl?"
"That's the devil Of 1t. sir" he re-
piled sobcrly. II never told you, for
didn't see no cause. There was II lot
a. boxes come on board, sir, maybe n
thousand of 'em, the ends clampcd with
iron, an they was almighty heavy. We
had to load 'em with the donkey en-
CINE, an most of 'em were dumped in
list below the main latch."
''Do you know what they contained?'
"Mr. Bascom told me they was army
stoves. sir. and maybe he thought they
vas. fer he seemed sure about it; bu
along ut the last the hook slipped of
one OF them, an the box dropped abou
thirty feet, smaslin' the whole end il
1T was plumb full O. loaded shells"
"Loadcd shells?"
"That's what; there was powder
enough scattered about there ter blow
the whole ship to Hades an back"
"No doubt other explosives ar
aboard. The greater reason for us t.
lay hands on Bascom. Take holt
there with Red and help rip up tina
tnrEmulin; now get the point of thi!
capstan bar under the hatch clos
ings; here's your lever-itll take TIL
weight CT the three of us to move TIL
irOn--now, heave hot"
We bent to 1t. exerting every ounce
of strength. encouraged by the fac
that the heavy hatch yielded to GU
combined effort, and began to move, t
lift over the grooves, and shove bac
slightly. With no other thought but t
gain opening enough for another inse'
ton of the lever: we bent to the tasl
f;omethlng caught. rendering the gre:
Iron lid immovable.
"White," called. "come over here
and give us a hand"
heard him patter across the dec
In his bare feet, but before he reaclle
the bar, the fellow stopped, staring q
the narrow opening, and shifting like
pointer dog.
LAY hold" called out angril.
"The weight is breaking our backs"
"But there's fire below, SIR" h
roared excitedly. "That's smoke
rlsin' out the hatch-the cargo's afire
saw it now, and so did Red, and til
mate-a thin, circling vapor barely pc
ceptible in the night, curling u
through the hole we had succeeded
forcing. For an instant hardly kne