The Mellette County pioneer. [volume] (Wood, Mellette County, S.D.) 19??-1971, 1919-08-01
CHAPTER XxxHH.
Before the Governor.

Before the Governor.
The sound startled me; l imagined
l heard the keel slipping, yet before we
had reached the door opening on deck
the slight movement ceased. My hand
gripped the frightened Haines.
"Tell them in the boat to do as !
said then come back here"
my God, sir, she's a goin' down"
"Not for some minutes yet. There
are thousands of pounds in that chest !;
you've risked life for less many a
time. Jump, my man."
The boat lay in close, bobbing up
and down dangerously, yet held firmly
beneath the opened port. The box
was heavy enough to tax the strength
Of two men to handle it, but of a size
and shape permitting it's passage.
Sanchez had raised himself again, and
chung there to the edge of the bunk
watching us.
"Now let down easy, lads" / called:
mo, place 1t amidShipS; get it even, or
| you go over. Fix 1t to ride steady, and
stand by-weIl pass a wounded nan
out to you"
stepped across to Sanchez. He saw
me coming, and drew back, his CHASTITY
face like a mask.
mo you don't, Carlyle! !" he snapped
angrily. Keep your hands Off me.
So you want me to die with my neck
in a moose. do you? I was born a gen.
tleman, and, by God I'll die like one
and go down with my ship. Get out Of
here now! You won't? You will, or
else die here with me! I'll give you a
minute to make your choice"
He left no doubt as to his meaning.
From beneath the blanket, the black
muzzle Of a pistol looked straight into
my eyes. The hand holding it was
firm, the face fronting me savagely
sardonic.
I'D like to kill you, Carlyle" he
Kissed hatefully. by God, l don't
know why / shouldn't. Every time i
look at you I see her face. If you take
a step nearer I pull the trigger-go"
1t was a hard pull back to the Santa
Marie. Dorothy greeted me first, and
we stood close together at the rail as
the men hoisted the chest on deck.
She said nothing, asked nothing, but
her hands chung to my arm. and when
ever / turned toward her our eyes met.
There was a sudden cry forward,
and a voice shouted:
There she goes, buckles! That's
the last o. the Namur!"
I turned swiftly. my hand grasping
her fingers as they chung to the rail.
The battered hulk slid downward, the
deck breaking amidships as the stern
splashed into the depths; then that
also toppled over, leaving nothing
above water except the blunt end OF a
broken bowsprit. and a tangle of
wreckage tossed about on the crest
Of the waves. I watched breathlessly,
unable to utter q sound; / could only
think Of that stricken man in the cabin,
those wild eyes which had threatened
me. He was gone now-gone!
I yet held Dorothy's hand tightly
clasped in my own, and the depths OF
her uplifted eyes questioned me.
"We will go aft, dear, and l will tell
you the whole story" I said gently
"for now we are homeward bound"
l write these few closing lines a year
later In the cabin of the Ocean Spray
a three master, full to the matches
with a cargo Of tobacco, bound fol
London, and a market. Dorothy Is on
deck, eagerly watching for the first
glimpse Of the chalk cliffs Of old
England. l must join her presently
yet linger below to add these final sen
fences.
There Is. after all, little which needs
20 be said. The voyage Of the SAINTS
larie north proved uneventful, and
after that. first night of storm. the
weather held pleasant and the sea
fairly smooth. I had some trouble with
the men. but nothing serious. as Wat
kins and Haines held Us ] did. and the
pledge of Dorothy's influence brought
courage. i refused to open the chest
believing our safety, and chance Of
pardon. would depend largely on 'OuI