Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 12, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 April 1893 — In Sheep's Clothing. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

In Sheep's Clothing.

By Capt. Ormond Steele

CHAPTER Xlll—Continued. Off Montauk Point It was discovered that one of the middle chains was broken, and the better to repair it sail was taken in, and the Wanderer came to anchor. Capt. Denham and every man on board the ship, with the exception of "Fox and Frenauld. believed that the break in th'e'middle chain was the result of accident. Capt. Fox and his Lieutenant arranged the accident in advance, and they even knew the point where it was to happen. “The Wanderer needs overhauling, and 1 hope to be able to do so in New York," said, Capt. Fox, coming down to the cabin ‘where Ralph Denham was reading. * .< “How longwiß. tne break detain you?” asked Ealph, who was naturally anxious to report in advance of the timo named in the Governor’s order. “It is Worse than I at first supposed, but we shall be under way again early in the The only way is to have patience." “Patient 4« very essential to the sailor. But this is not a bad place to be Imprisoned for a few extra hours, ” said Ralph, looking admiringly about the luxurious cabin.

“Consider it all yours, my dear Capt. Denham. We shall have dinner in an hour, and If you feel like turning in after that, Don,” nodding in the direction of the bright-looking cabin boy, “will show you to your .cabin; by the way, it was occupied for a week by an Indian princess, the daughter of the King of Oude.” “That certainly will not be an objection,” laughed lialph, his thoughts going back to tds own beautiful princess, to whom, he felt very confident, all the rest,of the world could not produce an equal. It was the custom in Ihis era, on land and sea, when the elements permitted, to dine at high noon. Promptly at 12, Don came to announce dinner. It was served in another cabin, with plates for three. At the fete given on board the Wanderer, Ralph Denham was amazed at the lavish display of costly plate, and the extravagant libations of rare wines. He then supposed that this was the grand effort of a great occasion; considerable then was his surprise at finding the'eabin table as richly set as at the fete, while the dinner itself was such as the Governor of the province j could not duplicate with all the re- [ sources of.the city at his command. “I am afr«,i£i,” said Ralph Denham, : when he, Fo£and Frenauld were seated i at the board, that if I were to remain ' long with you, that I should be wholly j unfitted for service on board a ship where the officers were forced to depend on their rations for subsistence, and their own small pay for luxuries.” “You would soon get used to it, and like it,” said Captain Fox, refilling Ralph Denham’s glass from a flagon, of which neither he nor Frenauld tasted. “A sailor’s, life, the best, is one of danger and privation, and my motto is to make the best of it. Thanks to my ancestors, I have a large estate in England, and the question with me, when I first got command of a ship, was, ‘shall I let that property go on accumulating on shore till I retire, and am too old to enjoy it, or shall I spend i a goodly portion of it for the enjoyment of myself and shipmates?’ I decided on the latter course, and so far I have no reason to regret it. ” “You hive, no doubt, acted wisely, but had- I been in your place,” said Ralph, “I think I should have dreaded to make the experiment.” “Why so?” “Luxury would demoralize me, perhaps because I am not used to it; and then my men, who are provincials, and, outside of duty, think themselves just as good 5.31 am, would growl unless I Shared with them. ” “My men have their share of the Captain’s good things. If the authorities knew of it, of course there would be no end of trouble, and they would accuse me ol injuring the service; but whenever the time comes for hard work, in storm or battle, my men are not found wanting. ” “They certainly behaved admirably well while in Sag Hi-rbor,” said Ralph; and he uttered no compliment, for the crew of the Wanderer, though as fierce a looking lot of desperadoes as ever put foot on shore, behaved themselves in a way that excited tnanflmiration of the settlers.

This was the result of the strictest discipline and constant watching. There was not a sailor on the Wanderer who did not'understand the true, character of his ship, and who did not appreciate the for caution. And then, had one of them broken the rules, that were kept In their minds morning, noon, and night, he well knew that the penalty would have been chains and the lash, and for the second offense death. “When it oan he dene with safety to the ship and without dishonor to the service, I relax and let the men go ashore and get rid of their excess of spirits. They are devils here, sure enough, but they come on board thoroughly exhausted and as tractable as tame lambs. Try a little more of this wine. Captain Denham. 1 I will guarantee that there is not a headache in a cargo of it,” said Fox, again raising the particular flagon. “But I am not accustomed to wine,” replied Balph, who did not like it; neither did he wish to appear indifferent to the conspicuous kindness of his host. “You cannot cultivate the taste for this particular brand, I am sorry to say, for I don’t think there are ten gallons of it in this hemisphere. There, one more glass will not affect you, unless,, indeed, it makes you feel sleepy, and if it should, I promise you that you will rise refreshed, and there is your cabin,” said Fox, pointing to an open door. Before-Ralph could refuse a second time, Frenauld reached out his glass, and said: “I diftrk to you, Capt. Denham.” Asitwouid have been a discourtesy to refuse the pledge thus offered, Ralph 1 raised his glass, bo we 1 to Frenauld, eed then drank down the deliDinner over; Ralph felt exhilarated. He went oupjft and it seemed to him - 'that ire was walking on air. He felt, very happy, and inclined to laugh every little Incident that ordi r nutty wdula not have attracted his I resized that he was in danger of himself ridiculous, so he made hht way—lt seemed to him he was float'WTould yen Uke to lie down, sir " «*•* Don, the cabin boy. opening the

door of a splendidly furnished apartment, which, to the excited imagination of Ralph, appeared to be one of more than Oriental magnificence. “Yes; I will, though I do not feel sleepy. That was rare wine, boy, that you served me at dinner,” said Ralph, nodding and laughing, yet fully aware that he had said nothing provocative of hilarity. “It sometimes makes one sleepy,” said Don, taking the Captain's coat and preparing to remove his pumps. “Very well; Jet me rest for a short time. If I should go to sleep, which I rarely do in the daytime, wake mo in an hour or so.” Ralph Denham threw himself on the luxurious couch, and as Don closed the door there Was an expression of minged pity and admiration on his face. Captain Denham, though fully aware that the ship was at anchor in a calm sea, felt that he was being rocked and swayed by gentle, Invisible hands. Through the open port-hole that admitted light and air to his room, he heard the splash of the rippling water against the ship, but it was transformed into music, moro soothing than was ever blown from the shell of a triton or fell from the seductive but treacherous lips of the fabled mermaid. The music and the swinging kept on till the cabin expanded into a gorgeous arcade, down which he floated to music of increasing rapture, while maidens of exquisite form, with golden tresses that shimmered in the rosy light, beckoned him on, and Lea Hedges led them; he could not be mistaken in the cornelian lips and teeth of pearl. What cared he now for earth? He was in an elysium more refined and glorious than Mahomet promised to his iaithlul followers.

1 The earth had sank beneath him; it had rolled up like a vesture and passed away, and he had become a part of that illimitable space, about which he had often thought, and the new life on which he had entered was bounded by eternity. “Is he asleep?” asked Frenauld, coming into the cabin on tiptoe about the middle of the afternoon, and addressing Don, who had been ordered to remain in attendance on Captain Denham. “Yes, sir, dead asleep,” was the reply. “Then,” said Frenauld, "goon deck and tell the captain to come down. ” CHAPTER XIV. captain* pox and lieutenant frenauld PUT THEIR HEADS TOGETHER. “Asleep, did you say?” said Captain Fox, when he joined Frenauld in th 9 cabin, and made sure he could not be overheard by the unconscious man in the next room. “The hasheesh ha 6 had its effect,” replied Frenauld, “and he is as indifferent to life as if he were lying down there beside the anchor.” “Good; the,point is to keep him in that condition till I am ready to act ” “That can be easily done. While in that sleep he will obey. If I were to tell him to get up, go aft and leap overboard, he would do it.” “But the effect will soon wear off. I had an opportunity to look into the workings of the drug, as given in that wine, when we were in Bombay; but I bad no idea that I would ever need to emDloy it. Confound it. I am as wicked as the next man, but I dislike sneaking methods. I’d rather knock a man on the head than drug him to death,” said Fox, as if he felt that he was saying something rather commendable. “That is a matter of taste; I look at the end rather than the means. If you desire to carry out Colonel Graham’s plan we could toss him into the sea through an open port to-night, and that would be the last of it”

“But, Frenauld, I told you that Ido j not intend carrying out Colonel Gra- ; ham’s plan. Tou know the whole story of my first interest in Denham? ' “Yes; when he was a little boy and his father was drowned you saved him, and, with the uncle, took him off to another Long Island. Oh, I could sit down and tell you all from Ato lzzard, or put it all down in the log as straight. as one of them lawyer sharks. ” “Yes; well, my heart was tonder then —it’s tough enough now,” said Fox, i with a laugh that told he felt no sense of degradation at the change in his ; feelings. “Then it is not a feeling of humanity that leads you to save his life?” “Did I say I was going to save his life?” | “I so understood you.” “I told you, Frenauld, that I would save him until I had drained Graham of his last ducat, or exhausted his last vestige of power.” “You don’t like tho old Colonel?” “Fudge, Frenauld, you know with us it is not a matter of like or hate, but of success. We want to win, and when we are rich enough to retire, we can sink the ship and go home to England, and live in luxury and all the glory that wealth brings, to the end of our days,” and Fox’s blue eyes flashed at the picture he had conjured up.

“But if you carried out Graham’s wish and got rid of this fellow,” Frenauld nodded towards the room in which Captain Denham was sleeping, “don’t you think you would make him more securely your friend?” “My friend?” “Yes, he has the power.” “I know he has, but he never has and never will use his power, or his wealth, from a sense of friendship. If Graham were sure that Ralph Denham was dead now, he would hasten to give warning that I was a pirate in these seas, and he would exhaust every power to destroy me.”

“He does not like you, then?” “Men never like men they cannot ; trust, and we can never trust our part- | ners in crime. I see, Frenauld, you look as if you thought this remark had a decided personal bearing, and I confess it has. Now, what keeps the officers and crew of this ship together, as closely as if they were bound by the strongest ties in the world?” “Interest, Captain.” “There you have it It is all interest, all self. Now, take away the hope for : gain which is the interest, or let a greater gain be held out to those who would betray or turn queen’s evidence, [ and every man and officer in the ship j would be breaking his neck in order to | bo the first to reap the reward, and in- > sure himself the safety of the law. I j have looked into the question from all j sides, and I have come to the conclu- j sion that it is self-interest that rules | the world. I know my knowledge of this j fact enables me to rule this ship." “I think you are right,” said Frenauld. “There is no doubt about it.” “But if Denham were dead and Colonel Graham betrayed you, could you j not then retaliate by telling all about I the murder of his brother and the ab- j ductlon of his nephew?” “I could do so, but it would not save me. It is the first successful blow that tells in a fight A pirate in chains makes but an indifferent accuser of the man who brings him to justice. The accusations of incarcerated criminals have but little power to defame a char- 1 actor. ” “Bat a« Ralph Denham, as he Is-call-ed, is believed to be dead, I cannot see how his existence comes into the case at all,* said Frenauld, who, though a

man of large intelligence, had not the intellectual grasp to seize his superior’s plans, or the penetration necessary to see through them. “His being alive or dead forms important factors In the case. There has long been a belief in England that Colonel Graham is criminally responsible for his brother’s death, and there is a very general belief that the child was not drowned. The mother, a wealthy lady in her own right, has never ceased her exertions to find her boy. and I am informed by the Colonel that she is now in the new world prosecuting her search." “Has Graham children?” “He is not even married. I doubt ts he could get any one, even among the peasants of his estates, to marry him.“ “Could you not make more money by communicating with the lady?.’’ “No; and then a man who was privy to her husband’s death would not be apt to find continued favor in her sight, even if he restored to her her son. Now, as to Ralph Denham living or dead; let me say that with him alive I could prove my case beyond all dispute, for not only is his old nurse Dinah alive, but he is as like his father, as I remember him, as it is possible to conceive.” “Thatls an important point.” “A very important point, Frenauld.” “But when you have accomplished your purpose, what is to be Denham’s fate?” “I will leave him in the hands of the Indian, Uncas, who pledges himself to keep him secure and concealed for six months. At the end of that time the chief will be more than ready to slay the man who has provoked his jealousy, and I think I shall be willing, for, as I believe, he has provoked my jealousy,” said the Captain, laughing lightly, and going over and opening the door of the room in w.iich his victim slept. Closing the door again, he came back with a pleased expression on his face, and said: “He sleeps like a child.” “And I will show you how to keep him asleep.” “Ah yes, Frenauld, I was going to ask you how that was done.” “I told you that people in this state obey those who speak to them; all their own will power being deadened by the drug. ’’ “I see.” “Then, you can see, it is an easy matter to feed him, and keep him in that condition as long as you please. ” “So it is. Now, let me give you instructions.”

Suddenly Fox’s manner changed from that of an equal to that ol a superior, giving an older which he expected to have implicitly obeyed. “Get together whatever food and clothing you will need for five days, for yourself and two men, whom you can select from among the craw. To-night, when I see a signal fire burning this side of the beacon hill, on Montauk headland, I will send you ashore. Uncas will not join you till to-morrow night, but ho will send a messenger, and for this messenger I will give you a note that will announce to the chief your arrival. In the meantime, you can spend your time examining the coast, with a view to secreting the greater part of the treasure now on board. ” “I understand, sir,” said Frenauld, who rose to his feet, and stood, while the captain gave his order; “but permit me to ask how I am to know of your return?" “Should I come back by day, you can see the ship. Should I return by night, keep a fire burning at the same point, and I will come ashore to you in the gig-” “And bring him, sir?” Frenauld jerked his thumb in the direction of Ralph Denham. “Yes. if I can keep him alive on your prescription. ” “Follow it out, sir, according to directions, and you can’t fail,” replied Frenauld. |TO BE CONTINUED. I