The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1920-08-05
A VITAL
MOMENT
BY r. B. ANDERSON

He was not the man I was after,
yet l experienced glow OF satisfac-
ton as my eyes fell upon him. 1t was
In a slip Of the San Francisco harbor,
and he was working about the deck Of
trim little schooner. bearing the
name Neptune" The man | had
been seeking for the detective agency
with which | was connected was Ly-
man Britt, notorious criminal. The
man before me | recognized as his
close friend, Martin Brierly.
l did not think he noticed me as
strolled towards the craft, but he had
shrewd, alert character that he was,
as l was TO learn to my cost later
1t CHANGED that was acquainted with
the captain Of the Neptune. / went
aboard, but Captain Moultrie was alb.
sent until noon. l returned to the
Neptune about noon. The captain was
there, received me cordially and
asked about Brierly.
You call him Briefly" he said. 1--WE
know him as Matson, assistant to the
cook. But he gave up his Job two
hours ago. Said dying relative had
sent for him. Paid him of, and that's
ALL"
doubted not now that Brierly had
recognized me and had been scared
away by my appearance. ! wondered
at his being in the humble employment
of cook, for he was not given to
hard work. AS an expert colner he
had always been able to secure plenty
OF money.
1--WE are TO carry TO the island of
BarGnta, In the South Pacific, new
coinage for Its king amounting to
something over million" Captain
Moultrie told me. ut has been beads
and shells for current money there
heretofore. The coin is a thin silver
one Of small denomination, and while
they have no metals at Baranta they
have plenty OF diamonds, and we are
TO deliver the boxes of coins and re-
ceive back for The Goldsmlths Com
pany the pay In the sparklers."
Although the suspicion that Brlerly
was up to something was strong IN
my mind, / could not connect him up
In tangible way with the same.
was considerably put out, however, In
losing sight Of a man who In time
might aid me In finding Lyman Britt.
! was gratified the following day to
run across Brieriy entering drinking
place. ! had assumed disguise aud
felt safe In mixing in with the crowd,
keeping close eye upon him.
When he left the place l shadowed
him cautiously. He took round
about course to the waterside and
went aboard a trim little craft there.
j hung about the dock and observed
two men finally leave the vessel. They
passed me without paying any particu-
lar attention to me, but, turning
quickly. knocked me senseless.
! awoke close prisoner In a room
In the hold. The craft was afioat.
Water and food were brought to me
for ten days. / was fed. but left to
my own devices. One night heard
voices beyond my prison door. They
belonged to Britt and Brlerly and |
was fully enlightened as to their pur-
poses from what caught of their con-
versation.
Ii seemed that Brierly had been a
spy aboard Of the Neptune to learn
the details OF the coin shipment. He
and his confederates saw u clever OPP
portunity TO profit by what he had
learned. Expert coiners that they
were, they had duplicated the ordered
coinage, except that they had EN-
ployed a cheap baser metal, and with
way TO get first to Barata, Impose
themselves as agents OF The Gold
smiths Company upon Its king, receive
their pay, divide, and disappear. There
was not the slightest prospect of es-
cape for me. For five weeks l was
kept close prisoner. could trace
the arrival of the craft at Barata, the
unloading. a departure, and one morn
ing was apprized by the overhead talk
Of two of the crew In the hold that
we were at anchor at Proda, town
on the Chilean coast. The men were
dhdtA thS ihhuNhSS VI h4uoi uuu Out
of them, unlocking the doors of several
belowdeck apartments, by mistake
turned key in the door of my own.
1 waited until they had disappeared,
and then stole forth. After some eau
tious wandefngs finding myself at an
entrance OF the cabin. There, regal
ing themselves with liquor and gloat-
ing over suakesxin bag before them
which held ,he diamonds paid for the
coins, they discussed glowingly fu-
ture OF opuience.
acted oil a Wild impulse, hardly
knew how quickly and well, until
had sprung between them, snetcb I'd up
the precious treasure, was on deck,
then ashore then making for the busi-
ness part OF the town. was pur-
sued, but ] ran like a deer. sign
showed me the official police office of
the town. dashed In breathlessly,
told my story. saw the snakeskin de-
posted In n safe, several officers sent
out TO apprehend my recent captors,
collapsed.