Meade County news., 1918-01-03

iiAOo lllul AOPC1 anu hOlu Oh nav eohS
turn around that thwart amidships-
no don't make fast! Give Tony the
end; he has one hand yet. Now get
Dubois into the sling; d you, man,
you've got to-. we can't leave these
oars. Take grip there, Dubois, and
help yourself. That's better" He lift
ed his arm in signal. "All right, sir,
swing awayW
1t was good half hours job, and a
hard one; twice the boat nearly
swamped, and went down. Liverpool
was the last to leave the boat, already
half filled with water. AS he rose slow
ly, gripping the rope with his hands,
unable to get foot in the moose, the
deserted craft floated away, the dead
body Of Watson half covered with
water.
The four of them made sorry look
ing bunch on the deck, but now that
they were safe, my feeling of SYM
pathy had vanished. l could only re-
call their treatment of us, and the dam
ger we still ran in having them once
again aboard. Nothing was to be
gained by soft words with such as they.
1 stepped across to front them, and Oh
son and Dugan joined me.
"Now, look here" I said grimly.
"We've taken you aboard because
we're human beings; but there's going
to be no mistake as to your exact
status on this ship. You'll take your
orders from me, and I'll kill the first
man-jack of you who shows sign Of
| treachery. What became of Sachs"
McCann was still gasping from his
drop into the sea, and could not an
swer, although 1 addressed my ques-
tion to him. Liverpool replied:
"He knitted Watson, and Dubois
knocked him overheard with an oar |;
he never cum Ep."
"Was it in sae fight Dubois got
hurtf"
mo, ne Was hAk by the boom, an'
Tony there broke his arm when he fell
into the boat off the Sttip's ladde-,"
"All right; three Of sou are fit fer
work, and Tony can stand watch in tie
engineroom. Have you had anything
to eat?"
eyes, sir, in way; there was food
In the boat"
"Then you have Jared in that respect
better than we have. White, you go
below and hustle coal; you climb down
also Tony, and relieve Masters. Tell
him to lie down and get some rest
Move along now; I'll be down there
myself presently"
| 1 turned to Mccain. "Get up FROM
there; you are hand on board tfls
ship the rest of the voyage. Do y0u
understand? Answer me-do you?"
Eyes"
"Do better than that"
eyes, sir"
every well; now you and Liverp0ol
pick up Dubois, and put him in mum.
ber seven stateroom. Make him as com
Portable as possible, but don't be Iona
about it. Then report on deck to Mr.,
Olson; he'll keep you busy, and out ol
mischief. A word with you, Olson"
The second mate crossed the decl
with me to the rail; the drifting boat
had disappeared, having either sunk
or being hidden in the hollow Of the
great surges. The screw was begin
ming to revolve once more with power.
the planks trembling under foot and
bit Of sunshine was streaming through
the clouds overhead. stood silent o
moment, endeavOring to think out the
situation, and Olson waited patiently,
his eyes sweeping the sky and then the
sea.
"What do you think of our guestsT
I asked finally. "Can we trust them
at all?"
"Not so far as you could swing a
bull by the tail, sir" he answered
soberly. "They amt forgot the night
in the boat yet, but there's Just as
much devil in 'em as there ever was"
"Your. opinion Is, they will never
help sail this ship into st. Johns, II
any villainy will save them2"
"That's it, sir; they're so black now.
they won't mind little more"
"That's my judgment; we must keep
them apart as much as we can, anc
have an eye on them all the time.
How about DuganT
HE talks straight enough, and to
my notion means to play square,"
"That was my impression; he's
Irish, and hot-headed, but no criminal
We ought to be able to keep the feh
lows separated. Besides I'll be about
most of the time"
"How long do you suppose it viii be,
sirT"
"Today and another night likely; I
can tell better when I get an obsep
walton at noon. 1t will not give them
much time for plotting"
sent the two forward with Olson
when they returned to the deck from
the cabin, and he busted them gather
ing up the rifle about the forecastle
caused by the nights storm. McCanl
moved as though scarcely able to exert
himself, but Red took hold as If glad
to be occupied. Vera came down the
ladder, and we spoke together briefly,
about what had occurred. She finally
volunteered to get some food ready,
and 1 went below with her, rousing up
Dada and uniting him at work UndoF