The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1919-12-20

know"
Did he:' inquired Marie with
sheer. And who are YOU miSter:'
I'm Wallen-Stacey Wallen the
first mate, you know" said Wallen
earnestly. I'm the sole survivor; left
the bark in q boat and what's wrong,
Mr.. Marle?"
The florid face, miserable fear
stamped upon it, and Il grayish color,
and the man, jaw-sagged, was staring
across the table. A fierce joy swept
Wallen-and then uneasness. Per-
hapS, after all, his strategy had been
faulty.
Drink-House Sam was evidently
placing n far different Interpretation
on Ting Wah's dying message than he.
Wallen, had intended And then, to
Wallens amaZement, as abruptly as
fear had come into the others face 1t
was gone. and in its place was sud
den relief, genuine enough for all the
shreWd, cunning CLEAN of the eyes
that accompanied il.
iou say sNh tllt w stIitll, SAl luc
first mate? asked Marie craftily.
Yes" said Wallen composedy.
Then you're liar!" Marie shouted
instantly and sprang up from his seat.
There was an echoing creak of
chairs as they were showed back all
over the room. the Scuffle of heavy
boots as men rose to their feet. Wal
len, suddenly hard-faced, taken by sur
prise, hastily pushed his own chair
back and stood up.
Marie was laughing brutally now,
but in strangely hysterical way, in
which relief again was dominant. 1t
puzzled Wallen-but there was little
time to think of that. The men from
the nearest table We're pushing for
ward.
What do you chaps say to that?"
Marie bawled out, pointing toward
Wallen. This ERE cove says he's Wal
len. the first mate of the Upolo, the
bark you've all read about as bein'
picked up by the Phyllis"
A chorus OF derisive ieers. oaths and
outlaws greeted the announcement.
Wailen's hand slipped into his coat
pocket and closed over his automatic
They were crowding down the room,
closing In around him now.
He glanced quickly over his shoulder
to locate precisely the position of the
rear door, should it come to row
and instinctively stepped back a pace
as hulking rawbOned fellow, half
drunk and carrying his liquor bellig-
erently, lurched forward.
"Hif e says that. wot we says Is
that 'e's bloody himpostOrr an
nOunced the man truculently. AN
wOt's more, we doesn't like the looks
of i'm when he comes in--does we,
mates? An wot's more-tyke that y
Wallen'S face.
A yell of applause greeted the act.
But the blow never reached its mark
Wallen had dealt too long and too in
timately with the forecastle not to rec
ognize the breed around him that was
the forecastle's curse and the curse of
the better men who honored it. With
a quick sidestep he evaded the blow,
whipped his left in n lightning drive
to the others chin, end, as the man
staggered backward into the crowd
Wallen leaped for the rear door be-
hind him.
He reached it. but not before they
were upon him like pack of wolves,
snarling at him. tearing at him their
breaths in his face, pounding nj him,
trying to trip him up, to throw him to
the floor.
The place was now in pandemOnium.
Again and again Wallen's dubbed re-
voIver rose and fell, again and again
his fist shot in and out and still he
kept his feet; but he could not free
himself long enough to get the door
open-and then something seemed to
lend him added passion, added
strength
The face of nk-House Sam! 1t
reach.
He flung two men from him and
lunged forward. If he could only
mark that face! A below of fright
from Marie greeted the savage on
slaught-and Wallen's fist had smashed
straight between the red little blink
ing eyes. The suddenness of the at
tack brought an instant's pause-and
in that instant he had reached the door
and this time wrenched it open.
And then Wallen laughed, not pleas
antly. and his revolver. not dubbed
now. swept the crowd.
"Tll be out here somewhere in the
darkness" he told them grimly as he
backed away, land the first man that