The Grenada sentinel. [volume] (Grenada, Miss.) 1868-1955, 1919-08-08

there any more of you fellows who
take a chance with US? This is my
last offer.1
what's the gamer" asked a sullep
voice in English, and a bearded fellow,
burned black, pushed his way to the
front. II used ter be Scotch; now !
don't know what / Am. One flag ID
rs good as another ter me-only j
want to know what sOrter game I'm
playin' in. Who are yer? An WIZARD
yer cum frum?"
II am an English seaman" l an
swered shortly, land how / came
aboard makes no difference. Right
now i am the only navigator on the
Namur. Estada is dead-knifed last
night by one of the buccaneers. Man.
uel Estevan had a hand in the bust
ness, and he's safely locked in a state
room aft. Captain Sanchez is wound
ed and helpless, and those ~cut-throats
amidships are battened down below
matches. LeVere and / are h officers
left. and we control the deck"
Eyer mean those fellers were Amin
ter take the ship?'
Exactly that; now where are you
lads? With Manuel and his bunch of
pirates? Or with us?"
What er yer going ter do with US,
an this ship? That's the fu'st ques-
tion."
/ had not decided that even in my
own mind, but the answer came
promptly enough.
Il an going tt leave that to the crew.
AS soon as we have all secure, IL
have every man on deck, and then
we'll talk it over. That's fair enough
isn't it,"
1T looks fair. Come ON, mates; I'm
fer the Englishman."
Only u followed him, however, a
sheep-faced boy; the others remained
sullen and defiant. / had no further
time to waste in explanations. 1
! glanced up at Carriers face framed in
the scuttle hole.
Garter, pass these men up and take
them forward. with the others. Turn
them over to Watkins. Then come
back here, and report to me-
They went up the ladder n by
one, and disappeared onto the deck
above. Carlson and l watched the
others until Carter stuck his head
once again through the opening.
"Alf safe, sir-they was like lambs"
Every well; stand by to help. Now
! you lads. lift this black and shove him
up to where they can get hold above"
They hoisted the unconscious form
up the ladder and forced it through
the hole INTO the deck. At my stern
command they crawled forth into the
sunlight. There they picked up Co
chose and carried him aft.
l went to the main hatch, and had
| the cover slipped to q side, the
armed sailors gathering close about
the edge, as l peered down. 1t was a
scene Of pandemoniIm, revealed in h
i yellow fame IF s!uSh lanterns, a group
of white face showing clearly, as n
prisoners below struggled forward.
gesticulating ard shouting. Ignoring
| their r4ad roaring, and the threat of
leyeled guns, l stared down at the in
furiated faces. until the clamOr ceased
sufficiently to let my voice be heard.
"What are you men trying to do,
frightcn ne? You might as well stop
that. This opening is lined with guns,
| and if one of YOU fire a shot We'll pour
lea.: into you. More than that if you
attempt to climb out there is a brass
| carrorade trained on the hatch. So
listen. We are in control of the ship
and mean to keep il. The old officers
| are either dead or prisoners. What We
do with you will depend on your at
| tons. but we're ready to kill if neces-
sary. If You keep quiet down there,
and obey orders, you'll be fed, and
| treated d~ecently enough. Pass up your
arms"
There WAS no movement, only a
glare Of hostile. eyes. an indistinguish-
able growi Of voices.
"K.neei down. lads and cover those
fellows, j ordered sterniy drawing my
own pistol. Nov you below thu"
Santa Marie adrift! the crew dead
from cholera? And the captain-Para-
dllla. Francis PAradllia-Wnat OF
him?"
ne lay alone on a divan in the
cabin-dead also"
He tried to speak, but failed, his
fingers clawing at his throat. When
he finally gained utterance once more
IT was but a whisper.
Fell me-" he begged, "there was no
wonlan with himY"
There was no woman" | said
gravely, ION deck or in the cabin"
What mean yop by saying that2
There was one on board! Don't lie to
mel In an hour / am dead-but first
tell me the truth. Does the woman
liver"
mo, she died before. We found her
body in q chest, preserved by some
devilish Indian art, richly dressed and
- u A~-~y-n - 1