Courier Democrat., 1918-03-14

1clL dlOllC Ill llS SODlu " WulSu ONCA
Miss Vera, and myself, was evidence
that he needed every seaman to carry
out the work on deck. The measure Of
his confidence, his conceit, was what
gave us this opportunity to act My
hand, fumbling for the lock encoun-
tered bar, stout wooden bar, ex-
tending from jamb to jamb, and my
heart bounded madly. This was the
placel 1 had found it already, and the
men I came to release were impris-
oned exactly as I had been. tapped
gently on the panel.
"Who is it?" Low as the whisper
was, 1 felt convinced the speaker must
be Leayord.
"Hollis. Stand by now; are you
alOneY
Eyes; Olson and Masters are to-
gether in the bosun's quarters
Masters! when did they lock him
| up?"
"About an hour ago; he made quite
fight of it-that's how l knew what
was going on, sir. Can you get me
out?"
"Aye! I'll rip this bar off in a jiffy.
Have you light in there?"
"Black as the inside of whales
belly, SIR"
I got purchase with my iron lever,
and put my full strength to it. The
bar was of oak, but the jambs soft
pine, and the nails drew out, creaking
slightly, but making no noise to create
any alarm. 1t was so intensely dark
could not even perceive the outlines of
the mans figure, yet felt aware that
Leayord fronted me in the open door.
He found my hand somehow, and
gripped it.
"I'm sure glad to meet you, captain"
he exclaimed heartily, "and get out O.
that hole. What's the word, sir?"
"Release the others, and get busy {;
minutes are worth hours now Mccain
and his gang are deserting ship; they
have the boats provisioned, and along
side already; that is why the guards
have been withdrawn"
"They were going to leave us aboard
locked in?"
"Aye, and with the sea-cocks open ;
dead men tell no tales"
He whistled, his fist shifting the
wood Of the door.
"The dirty hound! And where are
we, sir?'
: "Off the Newfoundland coast; they
think less than fifty miles, but there's
nearly q hundred miles of blue water
| 10 h1 of Hora'S, "a ~
it in nutshell: I was locked in my
: stateroom the same as you. It was
/. Miss Darlington who gave us Oul
chance. She became friendly with Nc
Cam, and agreed to go with him. She
was left free on board, and managed
to release me while the crew were al
v on deck. The steward was left or
e him with this iron"
/: "She did, Lord, I'd never have
: thought it of that slip Of a thing
/ What's become O. the girl?"
e "She's in her room, waiting for Nc
D Cam to come down for her. She'll de
, lay him all she can. Is this the door?
}. "Aye, aye, sir; and give me the iron
+ it required scarcely longer to acquain
). the other two released men with {
q knowledge OF the situation. Olsor
4 picked up the bar of wood for {
g weapon, asking simply:
e "Vat we do now captain? Iss it t.
e fght?'
|, 'Hush!" whispered Masters, "there:
cOn)nOnO oOO1pr I'm tho 1o11nr "
q Wo crcpt back into the bosum's state
room and waited breathlessly. Their
|. was scarcely room for the four Of us
s. and the door caught, and would no
v wholly close. A dim light reflected
along the walls Of the passage, maxim!
A me aware that the fellow who Wal
slowly climbing the iron ladder from
below, had lantern with him. Lea
yord retained the iron leg, and I drcl
my gun, holding it tight gripped in on
hand. The mans head and shoulder
emerged through the round opening
and the dim light enabled me to recog
n nize Tom Dugan. He paused on tn
edge, looking down.
"All quiet enough up here" he called
u
\ ''No use O. that" answered a sullel
N voice from a distance. "The waite
u will fix EN- in half an hour; there's tw
n cocks open. I'm goin' on deck; tha
Il crooked millionaire don't git no chanc
a ter drown me-"
i Dugan laughed.
Z always thinllin' how to git out o
4 a scrape safe. Yer got yer price, didn'
8 yer?"
n Enough ter make me want ter liv
u long 'nough ter spend it, anyhow Ar
d you comm down this way agin, Du
81 GAM"
q mo; I'll have look at the cabin O
Il my way up; the boss doesn't want an
mistake made. There's nuthin' let
ter do aboard this hooker; she's tick
!. eted for Davy Jones'"
He stared below minute, as thoug
tO make SIRE of what TONY was dOn