Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1918-04-04
CHAPTER xxx.
The Work of a Fiend,

being, with murder in his craZed brain;
q being devoid of all impulse, save the
frenzy of hate. the desire for destruc-
ton, yet the sight of that cool, silent
deck, already darkened by the gath
ering shadows Of night, instantly
Gained me. and brought back my pow-
ers of reasoning. The man was not
aft; then he must be forward. 1T was
impossible to hide long on shiDboard in
the face of an intelligent search. Of
n thing I was decided-if the follow
had, indeed, succeeded in slipping for
ward unobservcd, he was never to be
I would, first of all. see to it 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 a 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?"
"No; 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 I 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"
Cali 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
nalI an NOuf!
81 don't see no reaso 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 We're 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 VIC found ourselves. I'm
der other conditions I know I should
have felt sincere sympathy for the sud-
denly stricken Bascom. His former
friendship With Vera, what I knew Of
his misfort1lnes, the very conception
Of the mans character which I had
formed myself during our brief &C.
' qunintance on board, all tended to
make the man an object of pity. The
murders he had committed were but
the result of a diseased brain, the sud,
den swapping Of responsibility. !
! could not hate the man, or seek him
evil-hut I could dread him. That was
the whole Of it-dread! Here was a
man crazed, murderously insane, who
; had safely tasted blood, whose insan.
ity had been caused by fear, and i. cd.
ing over a great wrong. In his disor.
dered brain a mad, desperate desire for
revenge had overshadowed all else. TIC
obtain this nc 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 no 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 evi.
denced that my words had gone home
"He's forward, sir; that's clear
enough" insisted Leayord. "We'll nah
the fellow in the fo'castle yonder ac-
cordin to my notion. What do yer says
Red?"
That's how I lay it out" conceded
the big sailor, clinching and unclin"h-
ing his hands. Gle sure amt aft thar
amt no way I know how he could git
into h hold With the matches down;
so thar amt nothin' left except the
fo'castle, an the forepeak. Wen find
the cuss thar all right, sir"
Their confidence had it's effect on
me.
Good; White and Mccain will
guard every inch Of the deck, while we
a h forecastle first. Bring the Ian
tern, Leayord."
The door was two-thirds shut, and
we slid 1t wide open to gain entrance,