Marshall County Independent, Volume 5, Number 23, Plymouth, Marshall County, 19 May 1899 — Page 6

! DICK ( t I?

RODNEY

OY

JYES GRANT.

CHAPTER XX. -I Continued.) He took us so suddenly by surprise, that, although we had been waiting and watching for him since dawn, his resolute aspect and the arms he wielded rontrolled us all. and we stared at each other with irresolution in our purpose anil in our fa-es. No man. apparently, cared to act as our leader. "Presto!" roared the Cubano: "obey and keep quiet, or. demonio! as there are so many. I have a great mind to hoot one-half, that 1 may control the rest. Cast loose those top-sails, and up with the royals again set the flying-gib and main trysail quick, perrcs. or I'll make shark's meat of some more of you!" The crew seemed to lack either resolution or the power of combination, und no man appeared anxious to incu the sure penalty of instant death 1 . . ! by acting in opposition to Iiis perenip- j tory orders in setting an example to j the rest. So, sullenly and silently the fail trimmers stood by the tacks and braces; the wheel revolved in the unwitling hands of Ned Carlton, who was compelled to obey, for the cold muzzle cf a six-barreled revolver, capped and uicked. was held dose to his left temple. The head ol the Eugenic payed off j In obedience to her heliu. the yards swung round and were braced sharp t:p; and with the starboard tacks on board, in three minutes we were steering as due westward as her head would lie for the coast of South America. I The alteration of our course fur our course itirnished the crew- with a new source of j speculation. It was evidently the in- j tention of Antonio, if he could reach j the coast of Seguro. or that of Bah. a. to escape with all his valuables and Lis vengeance; and to this end. if fhlps passed without succoring or overhauling us. and if we did not deetroy bini. he might certainty destroy us. by wnttliug the brig, or settiDg her on fire. The noon passed over without an "beervatiou." for there was no one to work it, to estimate the latitude cr longitude, to keep a reckoning, or take tiote of our variation and leeway; and iest we should signal any passing ship. Antonio, who was a most thoughtful scoundrel, threw every color overboard. He did not come on deck again for borne time, as he had plenty of epirits and provisions below, and the tell-täle compass in the skylight afforded him constant information as to whether the brig was steered in the direction he wished. He was constantly drinking, but never became so intoxicated as to be unwary. And so the fated brig glided over the hot sea, under the blazing sun. The albatrosses came round us again, with tripping feet. Happing wings and open tills; but no one molested them now we had other things to think of; uod as I s-at on the anchor stock in the weather bow, watching them floating in the water, or skimming over it with their vast wings outspread, I thought of the "Ancient Mariner," and &11 that he had suffered for killing "the bird of good omen." I felt a strange dread creeping over me while these verses seemed on my tongue they were so descriptive of the atmosphere and of the situation: "All in & hot a-nd copper sky. The bloody sun at noon, Kight up above the mast did stand, No. bigger than the moon. "I doted my lids, aud kept them dose, And the balls like pulses beat. For the sea and sky, and the sea and sky, I-ay like a load on my weary eye, And the dead were at my feet." CHAPTER XXI. I Confront the Cubano. From the wild thoughts and fancies rhich the horrors of that early morning, our strange situation, and my own rather active imagination, were suggesting. I was roused by Ned Carlton, who. on being relieved from the wheel, a me forward to the bows, where most of the crew were seated on the windas, or were lounging against the bltts, speculating on what might turn up r.ext. In an excited and impressive manner, h reported that he had heard, from tim to time, the sound of moann, I? from some one in great pain in the fabin: that he believed that either the captain or mate yet survived; and If we coui1 get down by any mens we might be in time to save one or the other. If he wa bleeding to death, the victim eoirid not last long a little time, and we should be too late! This information increased our anxiety, and gratly excited us. Remembering the manner in which Aatonio first came on board the mystery o' his being alone in the bloodtalned bout Iii drear the disappearance of Robert! tue occurrence rt the morning and though last not least. th rongh treatment to which the crew had subjected hiia oi tfce night we pasued the line none were very willing to enter the cabin where this savage Cubano. flushed with brandy, bloodshed and ferocity, kiit with loaded pistols in bis hands. But ill Mt that something must be done: that, while a doubt remained, it tbcttid le solved, and life kti im-

Op. The Adventures of An Eton Boy...

portant to ?ts saved, even though others be risked for it. I volunteered to become the envoy of the crew. "No. no. Master Rodney." said Tattooed Tom: "this will never do! What, do you think we will let you venture into that murderer's den while so many able-bodied fellows hang astern?" "But I know his language, which none of you do." "He peaks the Queen's English now as well as any of us," said Carlton, "and if I had only a pistol or a musket to give me but one chance for my life. I would have made it speak to him long ao. in the lingo such pirates know best." "Moreover, as I did not molest him rm the n i v Vi t .-t irncurl tVio lino no . , , ... has no particular grudge at me. I urged. "There is some sense and truth in that." muttered several of the crew. "I'll go it is settled," said I. anxious to solve the mystery of the groans, whiie feeling a glow of triumph at the applause I should gain for the risk I ran, which assuredly was not a small one. "It is a shame for us lubberlv fellows to stand by here aml see that la(1 risk his life." said Probart, one of the crew; "and if so be that creole picaioon falls foul of him " "If he does." exclaimed Tom Lnrabourne through his firmly set teeth. while striking his clenched right hand on the hard pain, of the left, "may I never see England again if we don't attack hiru at stem and stern at once! y drop down the skylight, with as many as will follow me, while you. Ned, will dash down the companionway with the rest, and then at him with hatchet, handsaw and capstanbar. He can't kill us all, shipmates, that' one comfort he can't kill us all!" The prospect of an early demise was neither soothed nor encouraged by this promise of the bloody scene that was to follow. The carpenter gave me a small but very sharp tomahawk. I concealed it in my breast, and resolved to use it to some purpose if molested in the cabin. The idea fla.sb.ed upon me that by one determined blow I might disable him forever, and perhaps do an act of justice by dispatching him outright. With a vague sense that I was about to face a terrible danger, and that the sooner it was faced and past, the betler, I walked hastily aft. and on descending the compauionladder, paused when halfway down, and after knocking on the bulkhead called out distinctly and boldly "Antonio! Hallo. Cubano!" "Well, what do jou want?" asked he, sulkily. "To speak with you; inay I come down?" "Enter, companero; you have not yet harmed me, thus I bear you no malice." Putting a hand in my breast to ascertain that my little hatchet was secure, I entered the cabin, where the Cubano, with his broad back placed against the ruddercase, was seated on the stern-locker at the table, which he had covered with bottles, biscuits, cheese and polonies while papers, dockets, broken desks, and boxes lay scattered about him. He was clad, as I have stated, in the poor skipper's best shore-going suit of clothes, which he wore open and loose, for the atmosphere of the cabin, notwithstanding the shattered skylight, was oppressively hot, as the sun was now almost vertical the flies were in noisy swarms, and the cockroaches were crawling over the beams and bulkhead panels. On first hearing a foot on tbe companion-ladder, he had evidently snatched up a revolver, and cocked it; but on finding that his visitor was only me, he put it down, threw away the fag-end of a cigarito, and said, with a ferocious grin and ironical politeness "Buenos dias (a good day), senor; to what am I indebted for this visit?" It was the first time I had ever looked in the face of a man who had coolly destroyed a fellow-being as he had done, and my flesh seemed to creep with an Indescribable loathing; but I had a purpose to achieve, and determined to do it. I was about to enter Weston's stateroom, when the Cubano cocked his revolver and cried, in a voice of thunder "Come back, or I will shoot you as dead an he is! Ha, ha! por grado" (by degrees) "I shall get rid of you aii." I paused and looked at him; my young heart beat wildly; I felt that I waa faciug death, and what would I not have given had my hatchet been a pistol, even with one barrel, though my opponent was master of twelve charges. "He is dead, then?" said I in a husky voice. "Who-which?" asked the Cubano, witfa a fresk cigarito between his stroag white teeth. "Captain Weton." "Aye, dead as Judas!" said he, laughlag hoarsely. "üt I understand that Bislop " I stammered. "El coatra-runefctre well?" At that moment a low moan which went through my heart came from the stateroom or littlw side tabin of Marc HWop.

"Wf 11. hombn-. what cf him?" prowled Antonio. "He is bleeding to ca!h, and I wish to r.rnove him." "Do as you pleae; he will be food for the fish before the sun sets!" "Ycu will allow me to take him on deck?" said I, earnestly, almost imploringly.

"Yes: you have done me no harm" (he repeated this very often); woe to those who have done so!" A gleam of suspicion flashed in the eyes of Antonio as he said: "True; but not a man shall enter here, and leave alive. The ship-boys may assist you; but I will shoot the whole crew down like dogs if they venture to approach me: so I give you five minutes to carry the contra-maes-tre to the forecastle bunks, or to pitch him overboard, whichever you please, though the last would please me." "Five minutes?" "Yes. five by this watch." he added, pulling out of his fob a gold repeater, which, even in the excitement of the moment, I recognized to be mine, the same which my mother gave me when I first left home for Eton, and of which I had been robbed at Tenneriffe. There was no doubting the little rings and charms which my sisters. Dot. Sybil and oue of their female friends had appended to it; and thus 1 discovered another black link in the life of Antonio. I dared not appear to recognize it when his s:rong brown hairy hand, the bloody spots on which made me shudder, held it toward me. lest he might shoot me down, but summoned Billy Wilkins, the cabin boy. by desiring tbe man at the wheel "to pass word forward for him and another apprentice." The boys came, but not without graat fear and reluctance: and while Antonie proceeded leisurely to make another paper cigar, keeping his ears open for every sound, and his black eyes fixed keenly on us the while, we entered the it tie stateroom of Marc Hislop and beheld a sight which tilled us with the deepest commiseration and dismay. CHAPTER XXII. I Hexue the Mate. Pnle as marble, with his lower jawrelaxed and his eyes almost closed, motionless as if dead, but, nevertheless, still breathing slowly and heavily, poor Marc Hislop lay in his bed. the clothes and pillows of which were saturated with blood, for be seemed to be covered by wounds, and the crimson current had flowed over the piles of his favorite books, which rvere scattered upon the cabin floor, where they had been trod under foot by Antonio while overhauling the repositories of the unfortunate proprietor. Shuddering. j4nd in haste, we lifted him from tbe bed. muffled him in a blanket and conveyed him. passive as a child In our hands, from the cabin. As we passed our. for a moment it seemed as if the ruffianly Spaniard repented of his temporary clemency; for when he saw the pale, bloody and insensible form of the poor fellow trailed past, he made an ominous stride toward us, and threateningly clutched the haft of the Albacete knife in his sash. Then wuving his hand, almost contemptuously, he said: "Pasta go. go it matters little now, either to him or to me. Demonio! I always strike deep." Alarm and pity endowed us with unusual strength, and we bore the speechless victim of Antonio up the steep stair to the deck, where our crew, with muttered oaths of vengeance, and expressions of commiseration, bore him into tbe forepart of the vessel. There a bed was made for him on deck; for coolness, an awning was rigged over it, and we had his wounds examined. We found a deep stab in the neck, most dangerously near the jugular vein; a second in the breast, a third between the bones of the right forearm and a fourth in the left thigh; all had evidently been dealt through the bedclothes, and with a savage energy of purpose. (To be continued.) HIGH TEMPERATURE. How It Afreta tti Mortality or CI t lew SaflTerkiff from Sanatroke. It will not now be difficult to understand in what manner high temperature affects the public health of larg cities. Evidently in the direct action ol heat upon the human body we have the most powerful agency in the production of our great summer mortality. While sunstroke represents th maximum direct effect of .solar heat upon the human subject, the large increase of deaths from wasting chronu diseases and diarrhoeal affections, o! children under one year of age anä persons upward of 70 years of age shows the terrible effects of the prevailing intense heat of summer upot all who are debilitated by disease oi age and thereby have their "heat-regulating power" diminished. The fad has been established by repeated experiment that when solar or artlfk-U' heat is continually applied to the animal the temperature of its body will gradually rise until all of the compensating or heat-regulating agencies fall to preserve the equilibrium, and the temperature reaches a point at which death take place from actual combustion. In general, a temperature of 107 degrees F. in man would be regard -id as indicating an unfavorable terwisatioQ of any disease. Is persons suffering from sunstroke thi temperature often ranges froui IOC degrees K. to 110 degrees F the hlgatt temperature appearing just before a fatal termination Popular ßeiene Monthly. "Pluck is tbe secret of success on the stock excfcatjge," "Well. I'll give you 15,000 If vom'11 teach ine your method of plucking "

A STORK THAT H

Baron Stein ol Poppelsdorf, near Ponn. Germany, Is an amateur animal tamer, and has for his amusement a small menagerie in a park adjoining the old summer residence of the Cologne Electoral Princes in Poppelsdorf. Among other wild beasts he owns five African lions, from two to six years old. They were raised with hyenas, with whom they live on good terms, though occasionally one of the big cats knocks a hyena down and scratches its face just to show who is boss of the cage. Having taught these animals all that he could, the baron decided to introduce a novelty into the performances which he is in the habit of giving bebird. He looked at Fritz for a second or two and then tried to crawl back to his family, tail first; hut finding the means of egress locked, he raised himfore an admiring circle of friends. An old white stork named Fritz has lived for years on the highest tower of Poppelsdorf castle, and. as he was reared In the baron's poultry yard, never has indulged in the migratory habits of his kind. I Fritz, who is four feet tall and has a bill more than seven inches long, was kept in the big training cage alone for a week to accustom him to it. On the tenth day of his imprisonment the lion cage was rolled up to the cage. Fritz viewed the lions with healthy curiosity, but without the least alarm. Zampa, a two-year-old lion, was the first to be driven into tbe cage with the HUNTING SPRUCE GUM. U( of Uie Adventurou Malur Woodsmen Who Collect It. Although chewing gum of various kinds pepsin and special digestion aids can be procured at every city corner from the penny slot machines, nothing has ever taken the place of the genuine spruce, and it still sells at a high price. It cannot be imitated, nor is there any counterfeit which is anything like it. Some of the druggists in eastern Maine have contracts for spruce gum aggregating thousands of dollars. Some of them have "staked" gum hunters and sent them into the woods. Most of the Maine gum finds Its way to the city markets that demand for consumption the round, red lumps that gleam with inner fire like the bloodstone. This choice gum is readily sold by the Maine wholesalers at $1.50 a pound. Guni hunting has many elements like rubber cutting in tbe tropics, the men burying themselves in the wilds for mouths. The expenses of the hunter are almost nothing, and the receipts from his quest are likely to be in th? nature of a small Klondike find. Some tobacco, a few bushels of beans, some coffee, Hour aud fat meat, with tne game he kills, furnish him bodily fuei for the season, while he will frequently in a single day secure gum that ill nut him 10 in the market. He is independent, too. with his canoe, his snowshoes and his gun. His canoe will be laid up during the winter, but when tbe rivers open he will bring down his winter's finds. He is n?t likely, however, to work any too industriously in gum hunting, but rather to make short days and fish and hunt the balance of he time. A few days' hard work will furnish him a cu xy shack in the deep forest near the bank of a stream, and with wood unlimited and a sharp ax he is not likely to suffer, and when a storm Is on he does not leave his comfortable camp. The solitude of the thing would drive many men mad. but the northern woodsman is different from most men.

AS VANQUISHED FIVE LIONS.

self to his frj'.l height and uttered a defiant roar. At this the stork's neck feathers bristled. He lifted his bill in protest, "clappering" as only a stork can. The strange noise upst Zampi's self-control, and he stood -Still and dropped his tail slowly whea tae blood of his fathers rose in him again and, whipping his fianks with aid tail, he cautiously advanced on th enemy, cowering occasionally, aa if preparing to spring. The stork viewed these warlike preparations with increasing anr. and his bill worked like castanets. Standing for a second on his strong middle toes, he raised his wings and aimed as if about to hit the lion in th1 ey-. The Hon hesitated again, aal to.? lost. The stork flew at him and bored his sharp beak into his adversary's nose, which began to bleed As the bin! stepped back to prepare for another onslaught Zampa turned swiftly and. forgetting in bis bewilderment from which side be had entered, jumped to the other side of the cage and cowered there. Fritz had no taste for pursuing his vanquished foe. leaving the rear part of the cage to the lion, he marked off the extent of his own territory by walking up ami down a straight line which limited his sphere of influence tu about three-quarters of the total area. Within this space he strutted, a conquering hero. Zampa's brother, 3 3-ears old. then lie carries a pack with him at all times, even when hunting, so that should he run across an old gum scar he can take advantage of it without making another trip. When spring opens be returns to civilization, tough, rugged and hard as seasoned oak. and he may have a pack of gum to the value of several hundred dollars; but long, long before the next season the money Is all gone, and probably some one will have to "grubstake" him If he is to go for gum again. New Yoric Tribwue. Mow Nw Invention lteneQt WjeKarner. Cashier's Magazine gives some figures that show in a striking manner how new inventions benefit wage earners by providing employment in new lines of industry. In 1S80 there were no electric street -ars. less than 12,000 men operated 2.050 miles of street car lines then in existence. There are now over 13,000 miles of electric lines, employing 160.000 men. In 1870 the census reported only 154 shorthand writers In the United States. Owing to the invention of the typewriter there are now about '35. 000 stenographers and typewriters. of whom 21,000 are women. Crie for Vrngeunce. A clergyman, who was investigating London's slums, found the body of a child occupying the only bed in the one room where a large family lived. At night tbe body, so he was told, was placed on the shelf, where the small supply of food was also kept. In another family the children took turns in sitting up at night to protect the rest of the family from the rats. World' IToduet of NUte. Great Britain produces half the slate quarried in the world, France and the United States a little less than onequarter each. Production in the United States hs recently increased, owing to the demand for export.

was sent into the cage. He showed ia turn astonishment, a disposition for flight and half-hearted defiance. Tha stork, on his part, tried to keep out of a fight as long as he could, finally turning his back upon his foe. The lion couldn't let that opportunity pass without trying to profit by it. He was about to spring upon the stork, when the latter wheeled about with incredible swiftness and hit the lion in the face, drawing blood. Zampa's brother ran at once. He had enough. Lion No. 3 fared no better than his predecessors. The two remaining lions, however, had more perseverance. Each returned to the attack after being punished once. and. in consequence. Fritz bled each twice, after which they ran away as fast as the others had donOn the next day the two biggest lions

were sent into the stork's cage again. Frit, awaited them with his back against the wall, and each had to retire, bearing the mark of his bill on his countenance. For the last wek the lions have spnt their days with Fritz in the training cage. The bird still holds tbe front half or' the cage and the fiv cowed lion.- occupy the rear. The two contending parties take their meals separately and seem to pay no attention to each other. Only the fact that Fritz always walks with his tail to the bars indicates that there has been trouble. HUB'S "SHAKESPEARE" CHAIRS Lrfndou Finding Some ijalet AnoMotat la the Matter. With reference to the chairs and other furniture mids from the oil pews of the parish church at Stratford-on-Avon. Miss F. H. Stearns of 3) Poylston street. Boston, Mass., sends me au interesting letter for the purpose of setting at rest any doubts ad to the authenticity of the articles, says the London Truth. Miss Stearns states that she is the party who has been offering the furniture for sal in Boston, and that she recently signed a contract for the entire number of pews taken from the church last spring (1C8). She states, on th authority of various writers, that these pews were placed in the church in 1840. at a cost of 1.300 pounds. The previous pews, which were supposed to have put in at the time of Shakespeake. were of bark oak, and without ornamentation of any kind. Miss Stearns goes on to state that the modern pews are being made up Into arm chairs and settees, which will be offered, not exactly to the public, but to the elect of Boston. Far be it from me to say anything which may depreciate their market value, but why woodwork which was only put into Stratford church in 1S40. and was taken out in 1898. should be more valuable than woodwork taken from any other church in the world, I do not perceive. Swfecnarda. "The cashier informed me," said the president, "that he was strongly tempted to skip with the funds, but that he. locked himself up with them ad prayed over them all night and overcame the temptation." "I know it." said the chief director. "I had a detective at his door, one at each window and one on the roof at the chimney flue while he was praying." Atlanta Constitution. Carmel faith leads to Carmel victory.