The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1926-06-04
Porto Be11O Gold

struck the waves. In two minutes she
was gone.
"That was well-contrived, Silver"
remarked my great-uncle. "'Sdeath,
but you are man Of parts. Give way,
lads!'
He nodded the length Of the boat
to me.
II trust you perceive the significance
of that, Nephew Robert. A certain
young man, we will say, disappears
| from New York. A certain brig dis
appears simultaneously. Some might
| go so far as to associate the two dis
appearances. Frigates put to sea In
search of a certain brig-but the brig
| is no more"
The men at the oars laughed loudly,
and made no answer. What could
| say? / felt very hopeless.
| The bulwarks of the James were
lined with heads and faces as we
pulled under her counter and made
| fast, and even at that distance the
| completely Of her crew was apparent.
| saw Portuguese, Firms, Scandinavia
ans, French and English cheek by
| jowl with negroes, Moors, Indians and
slant-eyed yellow men. But what i'm
| pressed me the most was the absolute
| silence which greeted US. silence all
| the more impressive because the wind
| carried to our ears the bedlam or
| shouts, cheers, oaths and imprecations
| with which the Walrus was receiving
Bones boat several hundred yards
| away.
Murray waved me to the ladder as
he set foot on the first cleat.
up with you, Nephew! Peter also.
The rest go to the Walrus."
Darby snatched at my hand as /
rose.
"Whirra, whirra, but there's an ache
In my heart to be parted from We,
Master Bob" he cried "And II we
was to be pirates it do seem we might
be together on the same ship!"
He made to follow me, indeed, but
| Silver pulled him back.
"You stays WI us, Darby" growled
the one-legged man. BLAST We, lad.
you're our good luck. Flint'll douse
the ship in rum after one look at ye.'
We'll meet again. Darby" ] said.
Never you fear"
He was still jabbering in mixture
of grief and joy when I climbed over
the bulwark and dropped beside my
great-uncle into the midst of another
T, world
Fore and aft from poop to fo'csle
| stretched the wide deck from which
| the lofty spars rose like forest giants.
| The massive bulwarks were shoulder
high, and inboard everything was
painted red exactly as in kings ship.
The hundreds Of men who had
watched us from the bulwarks had all
| sifted for'ard. We stood in the midst
of an open space, with only three
others.
| One Of these three was very small
| old man with wispy gray hair and
deeply bronzed face, from which his
eyes peered intensely blue and child
| ishly simple. He had gold rings in
his ears, and his dress was neat and
| plain.
"My sarvice, captain" he greeted
Murray. "Ship's in order, hope -
my eyes if we've had so much as a
- o. genuine wind since the -
hussy bore away from ye off the
| Hook"
The effect of !. the unspeakable BIAS
| phemies which poured with mild in
donation from his lips was ridiculous,
but nobody appeared to notice it, and
| l learned afterward that his habit of
| swearing by the anatomy of the
| twelve apostles and various saints and
sacred figures was the Quaintest of
several quaint characteristics of an
unusual personality.
"We won't complain about that.
| Master Martini" replied my great
uncle. 81 have brought back my grand
nephew TO be the mainstay of my old
age. Here he is-Master Ormerod
| Martin. All, and this is a friend of
| his and an old enemy of mine, Peter
| Corlaer," as Peter rolled over the ton
of the bulwarks. "He is more to be
reckoned with than you might sun
| pose, is Peter.
Master Martin, Nephew Robert. is
my mate, and as such, my right hand
| and arm"
Martin stepped back, and the second
of the three men confronting MS
| touched his cap. This was a square.
heavy-built fellow with a dour CLINT
to his eye, who wore decent blue
cloth coat and small clothes.
"And here Is Saunders, Master
Martins second" continued my great
uncle. "a Scot like myself. Nv
nephew should make fine Scotsman :.
eh, Saunders?"
seemin'," Saunders agreed cautiously.
"Your meaning is that we must
prove him?" responded Murray.
"Quite true. We shall. Hola, Cou-
peau"
And he ratified into a string of
French which / could not follow as the
third man met him with bow and a
scrape of one foot. Coupeau was as
brutal in looks and manner as Black
Dog or Bill Bones, but without the
sinister implications of speech and ac-
tion that made me shudder whenever
the blind man Pew approached me or
spoke in my hearing. He had been
branded on the cheek, and an attempt
to obliterate the brandon perhaps
twas the superimposed scar Of
wound-had made that side of his face
very nightmare. His wrists and
forearms showed gouges that wound
upward like snakes and suggested
what other torrents his gaudy cloth
ing concealed.
"Coupeau," remarked my great
uncle. turning again to me, is our
gunner. / saved him from the French
paI1ovc opd ba ,S nnt x.,g+ho,,t doro