The Mena weekly star., 1919-05-22
Continued from Last Week.)
 CHAPTER x.
on the beck of the Namur.

elung desperately to the wet hawser, sny eyes were able to trace the bow sprit, the rather loosely furled up lib fapping ragged edges in the gusts of wind. Suddenly, as I stared upward, 1 became aware that two men were
 working their way out along the foot ropes, and, as they reached a point al-
 most directly over my head, became busily engaged in tightening the gas kets to better secure the loosening sail The foot of one slipped, and he Aung dangling, giving vent to a stifr
 English oath before he succeeded in hauling himself back to safety. The
 other indulged in chuckling laugh, get he was careful not to speak loudly. M Had one drink too many Tom?" be asked. "That will pay yer fer fin
 lshin' the bottle an never givin' me another SUD-
 You, h-ll Yer he'd the fu'st ov It.
 Thars no sorter luck yer don't git ger fair share of, Bill Haines-trust ger fer thet What I ain't got straight set is whar thet stuff cum from so,
 easy"
 "That wuS part O the luck, Tom.
 Did yer git eyes on thet new feller
 Banuel Estevan brought back with
 him in the boat?'
 "The one you and Jose carried
 aboard?"
 He's the lad. Thar want nuthin'
 the matter with the cove, 'cept he wus dead drunk. We wus waitin on the
 beach fer Estevan, an three fellers 8be he'd taken along with him inter town ter cum back-the nigger, Jose sHan' me-when this yere chap hove
 'longside. He never hailed us, 1er
 nuthin'; just clim over into the boat,
 an' lay down. I shook him, an kicked
 him, but 1t want no use; so we just
 left him lie thar fer Manuel ter say
 Nhut wus ter be done with him. Only
 Dose he went through his pockets an
 found three bottles O rum. We took
 a few drinks an hid whut wus left in
 The boat locker"
 "So thet's how yer got itl Who
 wus the party?"
 "Thets more'n I'll ever tell yer. #never got no sight O him, 'cept in the
 dark. Bout all l know is he wus zwhite, 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"
 T never seed nuthin' more of him \ after he was hauled aboard. Whut
 become O the lad?'
 4 Him? Oh, Jose an me carried him < inter the for'casseI, an showed him
 inter berth ter sleep off his liquor. { &I'het wus the last I ever see CT hear So' him fer bout six hours. when this
 yere feller must woke up in the for
 cassel sum crazy. He cum chargin' out on deck. whoopin' like an Indian, wavin' a knife in his hand, intendin' fer ter raise h--l. We'll, 1t happened thet the fu'st feller he run up against wus LeVere, who wus cumin' forrard fer sumthin', an fer about minute thar was one h-l ov fight. It was
 so dark 1 couldn't tell whut did hap pen, but 1t 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. I heerd the feller splash when ne struck, but he never let out no yell"
 What did LeVere do?" Him? He didn't do nuthin'. Just stared down over the rail bif. an then cum back. rubbin' his hands. Never even asked who the feller wus Thar ain't nuthin' kin skeer that black brute."
 He ain't got no human in him. It's h--l when English saiIormen hes got ter take orders from a d-d nigger, kan' be knocked round if they don't Jump when he barks. He's goin' 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 go in; them gasGets will hold all right now-cum 'iong."
 could now perceive now clearly the character I was destined to assume when once safely aboard the Namur. Such an assumption would involve bur Slight danger of discovery. IL was as though q miracle had opened the way, revealed to me by the unconscious lips or these two half-drunken, gossiping sailors. The story told fitted my ne- ceSSltieS exactly Had I manned the circumstances myself nothing could nave been better prearranged. No one on board had seen the missing man by uaylight; 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 iad had simply been taken for granted when LeVere had failed to see his oooy rise again to the surface. Yet 1t was quite within the realm of possi- piilty for the fellow to come up once more in that darkness, beyond Le- Vere's range of vision, and even to have remained afloat. buoyed up by chnging to the anchor hawser. until strong enough to return on board. At least there was no one aboard the Nh inur able to deny that this had been done.
 Satisfied by this reasoning of being able to pass myself off as the dead