The Lamar register., 1919-04-16


English oath before he succeeded in
hauling himself back to safety. The
other INDUCED In chuckling laugh,
yet he was careful not 10 speak loudly.
Had one drink too many, Tom?"
he asked. "That will pay yer fer I'm
lshin' the bottle an never givin' me
another sup"
"You, HI! Yer he'd the fust ov 1t.
Thar's no sorter luck yer don't git
yer fair share of. Bill Haines-trust
yer fer thet What | alnt got straight
yet is whar tibet stun cum from so
easy"
Did yer git eyes on thet new feller
Manuel Estevan brought back with
him in the boat?"
1.-The one you and Jose carried
aboard?"
Hes the lad. Thar want nuthin'
the matter with the cove, 'cept he wus
dead drunk We wus waltin' on the
beach fer Estevan. an three fellers
he he'd taken along with him inter
town ter cum back-the nlgger. Jose
an me-when this ycre chap hove
'longslde. lie never hailed us, ner
nuthin'; just elm over into the boat.
an lay down. l shook him, an kicked
him, but 1t want no use; so we just
left him lie thar fer Manuel ter say
whut wus ter be done with him. Only
Jose he went through his pockets an
found three bottles o. rum. We took
few drinks an hid whut wus left. In
the boat locker"
$50 thet's how yer got I'll Who
wus the party?"
'Thets more'n I'll ever tell yer. l
never got no sight o. him. 'cept In the
dark. Bout all l know is he wus
white. an likely sailor. Enyhow.
when Manuel got back he told US to
haul the lad forrard out o. the way,
an fetch him along. So we pulled
out with the feller cuddled up In the
bow"
81 never seed nuthin more OF him
after he was hauled aboard. Whut
become o. the LADY,
Him? Oh, Jose an me carried him
inter the for'cassel. an showed him
inter a berth ter sleep OF his liquor.
Thet wus the last i ever see er hear
O. him fer bout six hours, when this
yere feller must woke up In the for
cassel sum crazy. He cum a chargin'
out on deck. whoopin' like an Indian.
wavin' u knife In his hand. intendin'
tibet the fu'st felier he run up against
wus Levere. who wus cumin' forrard
fer sumthin'. an fer about a minute
thar WAS one HI ov a fight. II was
80 dark / couldn't tell whut did hap
pen. but It wus fists 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. ! heerd the feller splash when
he struck. but he never let out no
yell"
what did Levere dor
"Him7 He didn't do nuthin'. Just
stared down over the rail q BIT. an
then cum back. rubbin' his hands.
Never even asked who the feller wus.
Thar aln't nuthin' kin skeer that black
brute"
He amt got no human In him. It's
HI when English sallormen hes got
ter take orders from "a id niger,
an be knocked round II they don't
jump when he barks. He's goln' ter
get a knife In his ribs sum day."
Maybe he Is: but yer better hold
yer tongue. Tom. Sanchez don't stand
fer thet talk. an he's back o. Levere.
Let's 90 In; them gaskets will hold all
right now-cum long"
could now perceive now clearly the
character I was destined to assume
when once safely aboard the Namur.
Such an assumption would involve but
slight danger Of discovery. IL was as
though a miracle had opened the way,
revealed to me by the unconscious lips
Of these two half-drunken. gosslplng
sailors. The story told fitted my ne
cessities exactly. Had planned the
circumstances myself nothing could
have been better prearranged. No one
on board had seen the missing man by
daylight; he was believed to have
sunk without struggle. Yet no one
knew positively that this was so, be-
cause no one cared. The death OF the
lad had simply been taken for granted
when LeVere had failed to see his
body rise again to the surface. Yet II
was quite within the realm OF posi-
billty for the fellow to come up once
more In that darkness. beyond Lee
vere's range of vision. and even to