St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1919-07-05

AIIa GA@CpL GAANAS
this side. AS / returned to the cabin,
Gunsaules came out Of the captains
room and crossed the deck. At sight
of me he stopped instantly.
"Gunsaules," / said, 'you are to re"
main In this cabin until / give the
word. The lady here has a pistol, and
orders to shoot if you attempt to
either enter this passage, or approach
the door of Manuel's stateroom. How
did you find Sanchez?"
"Sitting up in his bunk, senior, and
able TO eat"
"Does he know what is occurring on
board?"
"No, senior. He questioned me, but
/ only told him everything was all
right, so far"
IN my heart / believed the fellow
deliberately lied. but there was no OPP
~portunity to question him further, for
at that moment the door of the COM
panfon opened and a miscellaneous
group of men thronged down the
stairs. They were a rough hairy lot,
here and there a sturdy English coun-
tenance meeting my gaze, but the
faces were largely foreign, with those
of two negroes conspicuous.
"Twelve here, sir; / couldn't get
HARDWOOD down from the foretop," said
Watkins.
"And there are others below who
will join us?"
"Yes, sir; six more I count on"
(Which means lads, that with Har-
wood, Senior LeVere, and myself, we'll
total twenty-one in this shindy. Now
I'll tell you what is up. Watkins gave
you some Of it no doubt, but a word
from me will make it clearer. I'm no
pirate; I'm an English sailor, shang-
hied. Estada named me first officer
because / understand navigation"
/ stopped speaking, staring at one
of the faces before me-; all at once it
appeared familiar. "What is your
name. my MANI"
"Jim Carter, sir"
"You were on the Sinbad, three
years ago?"
81 was that, Mister Carlyle" he an
swered grinning. II know'd you the
minute I cum down yere."
'Then that is all / need say OF that
line. Here's one of your mates, lads,
who win vouch for me. Now, as I've
been told, you are all of you in the
same boat-you are prisoners on
board, Luck has given us a chance to
] make a break, and get away. Captain
Sanchez is wounded and helpless.
Pedro Estada is dead, and I've got
Manuel locked In that stateroom. His
cut-throats are all below, and now all
we've got to do is clap on the hatch
and keep them there. Now, what
want to know is are you fellows with
mel"
Watkins answered up promptly
then Carter the others joining in with
less heartiness, the different accents
revealing their nationalities. / knew
sailors well enough to feel assured
they would follow their leaders once
the game started.
That's good enough; we've got
to hit hard and quick, lads. There are
six men on deck who are not with us
Watkins will take care of them with
those fellows I don't assign to other
work. Jones, you and Carter make
straight for the forecastle and don't
let anyone come up the scuttle. One
Of you had better drop down below
and prevent any of those lads from
unbarring the door leading a~midships
Who is the best for that jobY"
LET Carlson do it."
"All right-Carlson it is then. You
Frenchmen, and the two negroes, your
part will be to ship the main hatch.
Do a quick job, and clamp it down
tight"
"TTl come down to you Carlson, as
soon as we have the deck. 1t ought
not to take more than five minutes to
handle those lads, and slew around a
carronade. Watkins, you and Carter
hand out the cutlasses from the rack
you boys will handle those better than
firearms. Good; now are you all
readyY"
There was a low murInur OF voices,
the faces watching me showing their
increasing excitement and eagernesS.
Our little talk had served to arOuse
their confidence in my leadership, and
with cleaning weapons in their hands
they, became self-reliant volunteers.
Once turned loose my greatest diff
Guilty might be to restrain them, rather
than urge them on. Revenge for past
wrongs was in each heart, and they
welcomed a chance to strike.
I whispered a parting word Of adj
monition into the ear of Dorothy, re
ceiving in return a glance from her
eyes, which gave a new throb to my
heart; then Strengthened up, and pis-
tol In hand, pushed my way through
the throng of sailors to the foot of the
stairs.
"Foilow me, lads" I said quietly.
We emerged through the companion,
and / stepped aside as the others
rushed by. There was no shout, no
cheer, the fellows seeming to realize