The Tucumcari news and Tucumcari times., 1919-10-02
CHAPTER XVII.
A Murder on Board.

To be certain Of free space extend.
ed one hand and my fingers came Into
unexpected contact with the back of
a chair. without moving my body
grasped this welcome weapon Of de-
fense and swung II above my head.
Whoever the invader creeping upon
us might prove to be, he was certain
ly an enemy, actuated by some foul
purpose. and no doubt armed. To
strike him down as quickly and silent
ly as possible was therefore the plain
duty of the moment. I had no other
thought.
The slowness with which he groped
his way forward indicated unfamiliar
ity with the apartment, although his
direct advance proclaimed some spe-
clal purpose. Clearly he had no fear
Of attack. I could determine almost
his exact position as his advancing
foot felt cautiously along the deck.
He came forward inch by inch. I
measured the distance as indicated by
faint. shuniing sounds.
could not see but knew. With all
my force struck Blindly as It had
been delivered the blow hit fair; there
was thud. an inarticulate groan, and
the fall of body upon the floor-be-
yond that nothing. l waited breath
lessly listening for the slightest move
ment. felt Dorothy touch my shoul-
der and caught the sound of her voice
trembling ut my ear.
"What Is It? What did you dor
~ struck him with n chair; he lies
there on the deck. Wait where you
are"
l bent over and touched him. The
fellow lay In n heap with no percep
tible heartbeat, no semblance OF
breathing. My fingers sought his face
and I could scarcely suppress cry Of
surprlse-he was not Estada. Who,
then. was he? What could have been
his purpose In thus invading this
stateroom? All / could grasp was the
fact that the fellow was not the Por-
tuguesc-he possessed a smooth face,
long hair, and was much smaller
man. I dragged the body where the
light illumination from the after port
fell directly on the upturned face. The
features revealed were unfamiliar
those unquestionably Of half-breed
Indian. Dorothy crossed to my side.
her foot striking n knife. which came
glimmerlng into the narrow range of
light. She stared In horror at the
ugly weapon. and then ut the ghastly
countenance.
ale came to murder! See, his knife
lies there. Why should he have sought
to kill me-"
ut Is all mystery" admitted.
What shall be done with the body1
1t cannot be left lying exposed here;
no one would believe you killed him.
and my presence must not be suspect
ed"
"Could It," she suggested, "be
dropped through the port?"
She shrank back from touching tho
inanlmate figure, yet 1t required the
combined efforts of both to force tho
stlffenlng body through the portfolio.
We could distinguish footsteps on the
deck above. but these were regular
and undsturbed-the slow promenade
from rail to rail OF the officer on
watch. Clearly nothing had been
heard or seen to awaken suspicion.
"If you should be questioned tomor
row you had best know nothing" !
said gravely. ~ do not think you will
be, for surely an attack can be no plar
Of Estada's. 1t could gain no advan
tage. The fellow was pillaging on his
own account; II he Is missed II will
be supposed he fell overheard, and nc
one will care. You are not afraid tt
remain here alone"
mo; am not greatly frightened.
but shall try and bar the door with a
chair. ] have no key"
"Thcn I'll leave you; half OF my
watch below must be gone by now. I'll
take the fellows knife along as II
must not be found here"
We parted with clasp o! hands. as
opened the stateroom door ana
slipped out into the cabin. TO my sur
prise the light over the table had
been extlnguIShed, rendering the cabin
so black | had to actually feel my way
forward. The lantern must have been
put out since then by some confcd-
crate. After moment of hesitation
found my way across to my own
sta,eroom and pressed open the door.
CTo RE CONTISIIEDl