Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1918-04-19

ward unobserved, he was never to be
permitted to return aft again unseen.
would, first of all, see to 1t that the
decks were guarded, and then the rest
Of us would hunt him in his hole.
"White, you remain here in front OF
the cabin, and keep your eyes open.
Don't let shadow get past you aft;
you understand
AYE, sir"
"Give me the lantern. There is no
knowing what that fellow may do; he
might fire the ship, or wreck the en-
gines, unless we get him in time"
'You think he's forward, sir?"
"Where else can he be? I'll put an
other man at the mainmast, and then
| run him down."
Leayord, attracted by the CLEAN Of
the lantern, leaned out over the poop
rail.
"That you, captain? Have you got
Bascom yet?'
mo; he has managed to escape, and
| get forward, but not without leaving
another victim behind. Tony Rapello
is dead in the stokehOle."
"The bloody villain! How did he
ever get out of there?'
(Which is more than can figure
| out; stole on deck, probably, and then
| slipped along in the rail shadow.
| Where is McCann?"
"Just gone forward to fix the ridin'
lamps"
.All right; sing out to him to keep
his eyes on the deck. There doesn't
| seem to be a great deal of wind, or
sea, Mr.. Leayord; do you imagine Miss
| Darlington could hold the wheel for
half an hour?"
81 don't see no reason why she
shouldn't, sir; I've seen her do it In
worse weather"
"Then ask her, please; I'm likely to
| need both of you if we round up that
fellow. He's crazy and armed, and sure
to fight hard. Pick up any weapon you
| can find, and come down here"
| They were beside me almost instant
| ly, eagerly questioning as to what had
occurred below, their faces expressive
of the deep horror both felt at the stu
| alton in which we found ourselves. I'm
der other conditions I know should
have felt sincere sympathy for the sud
| denly stricken Bascom. His former
| friendship with Vera, what knew Of
| his misfortunes, the very conception
of the mans character which I had
formed myself during our brief ac-
| uuaintance on board, all tended to
make the man an object of pity. The
murders he had committed were but
the, result Of diseased brain, the sud-
den swapping of responsibility. !
could not hate the man, or seek him
| evil-but could dread him. That was
the whole of thread! Here was
/ man crazed, murderously insane, who
had safely tasted blood, whose insan-
ity had been caused by fear, and brood
ing over great wrong. In his disor-
dered brain mad, desperate desire for
revenge had Overshadowed all else. To
obtain this no deed was impossible, no
crime too hideous. And this creature
was hidden somewhere between decks,
| and. unless discovered and made cap
| tive, held in his hands the fate of every
| soul on board. The thought of what he
might do during the black darkness of
| the night terrorized me. At any cost
we must have him within our control;
we dare not even wait to hope that the
man might reveal himself-we must
go after him, crawling in the dark,
feeling within crevice and cavity, until
we uncovered his hiding place.
/ I explained this quickly to the two
men, hiding none of my own fear, but
making them comprehend the des-
perate need of thorough and ceaseless
search. The look on their faces evil
denced that my words had gone home.
"He'ss forward, sir; that's clear
enough" insisted Leayord. 'We'll nah
s )Esa8|A V3g.