The St. Mary banner. (Franklin, Parish of St. Mary, La.) 1889-1931, 1920-01-10
CHAPTER vli-Continued.
ID

And then he was conscious that ne
,ras looking into the nuZZle of Cap
tain Laynton's revolver; aid that Mott,
too. the second officer, was there.
1--WE were just going to send FOR
you," observed Laynton in an omlnous-
~ velvet voice. Come in !" And then,
A Wallen obeyed mechanically: well,
INV buckle. ! guess your game Is up!
Nice work, that private business of
yours ashore last night! They want
Won In Singapore for the murder at
that sailors boarding house. and I've
told Miss Mackay here TO tell EN- It'll
give us great deal of pleasure TO put
right back with YOU"
For an instant, stunned, taken Dy
surprise, he stared from one to the
other-and then. with understanding,
came cold, angry coniposure. 1t was
as Gunga had said last night-the
devils of this Ram Gulab Singh were
at work again.
There is some mistake" he said
calmly enough.
rs there?" sneered LayntOn. What
about you being so anxious to 60 to
Singapore and getting ashore alone,
and telling me to keep steam up ana
be ready to get away The minute you
came back? What about those wharf
rats Of yours? What about that blood
you had on your clothes? They've got
you dead to rights ashore, and you
might as well make q clean breast of
II. I've just sent a couple of men to
draw the fangs of that East Indian
snake of yours in the shape of any
firearms he may have. don't know
whether you picked up any weapons
ashore or not. Mott, have look-and
hand 'em over, IL he has"
Mott, with vicious grin. stepped
forward, and. under cover of the cap
tain's leveled revolver. took the a"''-
matte from Wallen's pocket.
you're rare bird. you areF
grunied Laynton as ce pocketed the
weapon.
Wallen's eyes went again to Helen
Mackay. Her head was still turned
away, and she was tapping nervousiy
with pencil on sheet of closely writ
ten paper-the message. presumably
that she had just received.
"Who is the message from? Walien
put the question to the girl. but she
ignored 1t.
THE authorities" Laynton an
sswered CURLY. And while you're dig
ging around in your mind for bluff on
the murder count, dig for something
else as well, you damned impostor!
We know you now! A proper fool
you were to try and palm yourself on
as Wallen ashore last night. Johnson II
be nearer your name than Wailen-
eh?"
johnson! What do you mean?"
cried Walien sharply.
what l say!" Laynton flung back.
what everybody in Singapore knows
since the Upolo was picked up. It's al!
there In The message. There were three
white men on the Upolo; eh?-Captaln
Mitchell; Wallen, the first mate. and
Johnson, the second.
"The bodies of two white men were
found aboard-the third unquestlon-
ably left the bark, for one or the BOATS
was missing. That'll be you. right
enough! But you forgot the log. my
buckle!
"Wallen evidently kept 1t, for the
CAPTAINS death is recorded; ana the
last entry is in quite another hand
which could only be JOhnson's." Cap
tain Laynton's eyes narrowed. do
you remember that last entry-John-
son? Died today, $. Walien, first
mate
"Oh. my God, is that it," Wallen
cried out wildly. 1t had burst upon
him now in a fash. That was what
they had meant in Drink-House Sans
last night! That was why they had
called him an impostOr there too!
Y He turned to Helen MacKay.
He was reaching out toward her.
leaning toward her-and then he drew
slowly back. Could womans face be
so pililessiy hard! She was standing
up. for an instant her eyes swept him
Northumberland then she walked
past him out onto the deck.
And Mott laughed jeeringly.
White to the lips, his soul atire. Wal
len whirled upon the man-but Layn-
ton was between them in an instant.
"Cut that out!" he snarled. Mott.
you shut that doorl And you, Wallen
or whatever you want TO call your
seIf-yOu sit down." He resumed his