The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-03-28

Whit .WuS tfI UN uyht u ttbuis Oiky
Jose he went through his pockets an
found three bottles n rum. We took
d few drinks an hid whit wus left In
the boat locker"
S thet's how yer got It! Who
wus the party?"
ssrhet's more'n TIL ever tell yer. I
never got no sight o. him. 'cept in the
dark. 'Rout all l know is he wus
white. an likely a sailor. Enyhow.
when Manuel got back he told US to
haul the lad forrard out O. the way,
an fetch him along. So W. pulled
ont with the Teller cuddled up in the
bow"
81 never seed nuthin' more Of him
after he vas hauled aboard. Whut
become O the iad?"
"Himr Oh, Jose an me carried him
inter the ~for'casSei. an showed him
inter q berth ter sleep OF his liquor.
Tibet wus the last | eyer see er hear
o. him fer bout six hours, when this
we're Teller mGst \ woke up in the for
easel SUM crazy. He cum q chargin'
out on deck, -whoopin'~ like an Indian.
wavin' a knife In his hand, intendin'
fer ter raise HI. Well. 1t happened
tibet the fu'st felier he rum up against
wus L.eVere. who wus cumin' fOrrard
fer sumthln'. an fer about a minute
thar was o HE v 4 fight. II was
so dark I couldn't tell whut did hap
pen. but it wus tsts mostly. till the
mate drove the poor devil, cussin' like
mad, Over agin the rail-, an then
heaved him out inter the water long
side. l heerd the feller splash when
he struck, but he never let out no
yell"
"What did Levere do"
"Him7 He didn't do nuthin'. Just
stared down over the rail a bit, an
then cum back, rubin his hands.
Never even asked who the Teller wus.
Thar amt nuthin' kin skeer that black
brute"
"He amt got no human in him. IT'S
hi when English Saiiormen hes got
ter take orders from a ID Niger.
an be Knocked round il they don't
jump when he barxS. He's gOin' Ter
get a knife in his ribs sum day."
Maybe he is: hut yer better hold
fer tibet talk. an hes back o. Levere.
Let's go in; them gaskets will hold all
right nOw-cum long"
1 could o perceive now clearly the
character 1 was destined to assume
when once safely aboard the Namur.
Such an assumption would involve but
slight danger of discovery. 1t "a as
though a miracle had opened the way,
revealed to me By the unconscious lips
OF these two half drunken. gOssiping
sailOrS. The story tOld fitted my ne
cessitieS exactly. Had | planned the
circumstances myself nothing could
have been better p~rearranged. No one
on board had seen ne missing man by
daylight; he was believed to have
sunk without a struggle. Yet NJ n
knew positively that this was so. be-
cause no one cared. The death of the
lad had simply been taken for granted
when Leyere had failed to see his
body rise again to the surface. Yet it
was quite within the realm OF posi-
bility for the fellow to come up once
more in that darkness. beyond Lee
Vere's range OF vision. and even to
have remained afioat, buOyed up by
clingiug Il the anchor hawSer. until
strong enough TO return on board. At
least there was no one aboard the Ma
muir able to deny that this had been
done.
Satisfied by this reasoning OF being
able to pass myself of as the dead
man, l began slowly aud cautiously to
drag myself up the taut hawser. I
had chosen a fortunate for my
effort: ma one needed the little noise
I made. and, when l finally topped the
rail and was able to look inbOard 1t
WAS to discover a deserted fore deck,
task amidships. l crept down the fore
castle ladder and worked my way aft
beneath the black shadow Of the port
rail, until able thus to drift unnOticed
into a group taiiin. onto a mainsail
haiyard. The fellow next to me, with
out releasing his grip. turned his head
and stared, but without discerning my
features.
"Whar did yer cum frum?" he
growled. and | AZ Instantly recognized
Fill HaineS. Been sOjerin', have yer?
Well, now, lay to an pull"
Before l could attempt an answer
a tall figure lOO,ned up before is. the
anne high-pitcfed voice l had noticed
previously calling out sharply:
"There, that's enough, men! Now
make fast. We can head the old girl
out from here in a jiffy, If it really be-
gins to blow. Jose, you stand by at
the wheel, in cas- you're needed; some
Of the rest ship the capstan bars, and
remain near for a call"
"What are We swingin' the yards
fur, anyhow. LeVere?" asked Haines