wwrnvrw" RED CLOUD, NEBRASKA, CHIEF "w'wwrf i .m H i m. m JJ 11 i :- P i' The QREEN PEA PIRATES By PETER B. KYNE Copyright, by Peltr D. Kyne CHAPTER XIII Continued. 14 A Jacob's Inddcr was hnnglng over the side of tlie schooner as the ennoo shot In under bcr lee quarter, and hnlf a minute later the expectant Nells stepped upon her deck. A toll dark man, wearing nn undent polralcnf hat, sat smoking on the hatch conm Ing, nnd hltn Nells Halvorscn ad dressed. "Aye bane want to see Cap'n Scraggs," he said. The tall dark man stood erect and cast a quick, questioning look at Nells Halvorscn. Ho hesitated before he made answer. "What do you want?" he asked de liberately, and there was a subtle menace In his tones. As for Nells llnlvorsen. thinking only of the sur prise ho had In store for his old em ployer, ho replied evasively: "Aye bane want Job." "Well, I'm Captain Scrnggs, and I haven't any Job for you. Get off my boat and wait until you're Invited be fore you como aboard again." For nearly a minute Nells Ilalvor sen stored open-mouthed at the spuri ous Captain Scruggs, while slowly there sifted through his brain the no tion that ho had happened across the track of a deep nnd bloody mystery of the sens. There was "something rotten In Denmark." Of that Nells llnlvorsen wns cortnln. More ho could not bo certain of until he had paved the way for n complete Investigation, nnd as u preliminary step toward that end ho clinched his fist nnd sprang swiftly toward the bogus skip-. per. "Ayo tank you bane d n llnr," he muttered, nnd struck home, straight and true, to the point of the Jaw. The man went down, nnd In nn In stnnt Nells wns on top of him. OIT enmc the sailor's bolt, the hands of the half-stunned man were quickly tied behind him, and before he had time to realize what had happened Nells bad cut n length of cord from it trailing halyard and tied his feet securely, after which he gagged him securely with his banduuu handker chief. A quick circuit of tho ship con vlnced Nells llnlvorsen thnt the re mainder of the dnstard crew were evidently ashore, so ho descended to the cabin In senrch of further evi dence of crime. lie was quite pre pared to find Captain Scrnggs' mus ter's certificate In Its familiar oaken frame, hanging on the cnbln wall, but ho was tlumfoundcd to observe, hnng Ing on the wall In n similar and equally familiar frame, the certificate of Adclbert P. Glhney as first mate of steam or snll, any ocenn nnd any tonnage. But still n third framed ccrtlilcate hung on tho wall, und Nells again scratched his bend when he rend tho wording thnt set forth tho legal qunllllciitlons of Bartholomew McGuffey to hold down n Job ns chief engineer of coastwise vessels tip to 1,200 tons net register. It was patent, even to the dull witted Swede, that there had been foul play somewhere, nnd tho schoon er's log, lying open on the table, seemed to offer the first menns nt bund for n solution of tho mystery. Kugcrly Nolls turned to tho last en try. It wns not In Captain Scrnggs' handwriting, nnd contained nothing more Interesting than the stereotyped reports of dnlly observations, cur rents, weather conditions, etc., In cluding n notntlon of arrival that day nt Honolulu. Slowly llnlvorsen turned the leaves backward, until at Inst he was rewarded by u glimpse of n different handwriting. It wns tho Inst entry under that particular hand writing, nnd read as follows: "Juno 21, 13. Took an observation at noon, nnd find that wo nro In SO 15 B 17S-4 W. At tills rate should lift Tuvatia tholo early this afternoon. All hands well and looking forward to the fun nt Tuvana. I3ent a new tlyltifr Jib this morn lnc and had the kltuc and Tabu-Tabu holystone tho deck. A. I. CIIBNEY." Nells Halvorsen sat down to think, nnd after several minutes of this un tisual exercise It apponred to the Swede that ho hnd stumbled upon a clue to the situation. Tho last entry lu tho log kept by Mr. Glbnoy wns under date of Juuo Ulst Just eleven days ago, and on that date Mr. Glb noy had been looking forwnrd to some fun at Tuvann-tholo. Now where wns that Island and what kind of u place was It? Nells senrched through the cabin nntll he enmo ncross the book that Is the bible of every South sea trading vessel the British admiralty reports. Down tho Index went tho old deck band's calloused finger and pnuscd nt "Friendly Islands pngc 177;" where upon Nells opened the book nt pnge 177 nnd after a fire-nil nu to senrch discovered that Tuvann-tholo was n bnrrcn, uninhabited Islnnd In latitude 21-2 south, longitude 178-10 west Ten days from tho Friendly Islands, the papor said. That mennt under power and sail with the trades abaft tho beam. It would take nenrer tlf teen days for the run from Honolulu to that dosort Islnnd, nnd Nells Hal verstn wondered whether the mn rooned men would still be alive by tb time uld could rmch them. For by some sixth sailor senso Nells llnl vorsen became convinced that his old friends of the vegetable trnde were marooned. They had gone nshore for some kind of u frolic, nnd tho crew hnd stolen tho schooner nnd left thorn to their fate, believing thnt the cust nwayn would never bo heard from nnd tlint dead men tell no tales. He rushed on deck, curried his pris oner down Into the cnbln, nnd locked the door on him. A minute Inter ho wns cllnglug to tho Jncob's Inddcr, tho canoe shot In to the side of the vessel at bis gruff command nnd passed on shoreward without missing a stroke of the paddle. An hour inter, accompanied by three Knnnka snllors picked up nt random nlong the wnter front, Nells llnlvorsen wns pulled out to the Maggie II. Her crew had not returned und the bogus capliilu was still triced hard and fast In the cabin. The Swede did not bother to Inves tigate In detail the food and i water supply. A hnsty round of the schoon er convinced hltn that she had at least a month's supply of food and water. Only one thought surged through his mind, and that was the awful necessity for haste. Tho an chor came In with n rush, the Ka naka boys chanting n song that sounded to Nells like a funeral dirge, nnd Nells went below and turned the gasoline engines wldo open. The Maggie II swung around and with u long stronk of opalescent foam trail ing behind her swung down the bay and faded nt Inst In tho ghostly moon light beyond Diamond head; after which Nells Halvorsen, with murder In bis eye nnd a tarred rope's cud In his horny list, went down Into the cabin und talked to the man who posed as Captain Scruggs. In the end he got n confession. Fifteen minutes Inter he emerged, smiling grimly, gave the Kanaka hoy at tho wheel the course, nnd turned In to sleep the sleep of the conscience-free und the weary. Darkness wus creeping over the beach at Tuvana-tholo before Mr. Glbney could smother the despair In his heart sufllclcut to spur bis Jaded Imagination to working order. For nearly un hour tho three custawuys had sat on the beach In dumb horror, gazing seawnrd. They were not alone In this, for u little further up the bench tho two FIJI Islandors sat huddled on their haunches, gazing stupidly first at the horizon nnd then nt their white captors. It wns the sight of these two worthies that spurred Mr. Glb ney's torpid brnln to action. "Didn't you say, Mac, that when wo left these two cannibals alone on this Islnnd that It would develop Into a enso of dog eat dog or somethln' of that nnture?" Captain Scraggs sprang to bis feet, bis face white with n new terror. However, he hnd endured so much slucc embarking with Mr. Glhney on a life of wild ndventuro that his 3 Prisoner Cabin. Down Into tho nerves had become rather Inured to Impending death, and presently his fear gave way to nn overmastering rage. Ho hurled his hat on the sands und Jumped on It until It wns a mere shapeless rag. "Let's call a mcetln' of the Itobln son Crusoe syndlcnte," said Mr. Glb ney. "(Second the motion," rumbled Mc Guffey. "Carried," said tho commodore. "Tho first business before the mcetln' Is tho organization of u expedition to chnso these two cannibals to tho other end of tho Island. I ain't got tho heart to kill 'em, so let's chnso 'em uwny before they get fresh with us." "Good Idea," responded McGuffey, whereupon he picked up n rock and threw It nt the king. Mr. Glbney fol lowed with two rocks, Captain Scraggs screamed defiance at the eti- mmmmskHm WJU Carried His oAuthor of ii ii "WEBSTER-MAN'S MAN," "THB VALLEY of the GIANTS," Etc. cmy, and the enemy (led In wild dis order, pursued by the syndicate. After n chase of half u mile Mr. Glbney led his cohorts back to the beach. "Let's build a lire not that wo need It, but Just for company and sleep till morula'. By thnt time my linugluatlou'll be In work In' order und I'll scheme a breakfast out of this Godforsaken hole." At the first hint of dawn Mr. Glb ney, true to his promise, was up nnd scouting for breakfast, llo found some gooneys on n rocky crag and killed half u dozen of them with a club. On his way hark to camp be discovered a few liundfuls of sen suit In a crevice between some rocks, and tho syndicate breakfasted un hour later on roast gooney. It wus oily nnd fishy but un excellent substitute for nothing nt nil, and tho syndicate was grateful. The breakfast would have been cheerful, In fact, If Captain Scruggs had not made repeated ref erence to his excessive tlilrst. Mc Guffey lost patience before tho meal was over, and cuffed Captain Scrnggs, who thereupon subsided with tears In his eyes. This hurt McGuffey. It wns like salt In u fresh wound, so he put ted the skipper on the back und humbly asked his pardon. Captain Scraggs forgave him and murmured something about death making them nil equal. "The next business before the syn dicate," announced Mr. Glbnoy, "Is n search of this Island for water." They searched all forenoon. At In tervals they caught glimpses of the two cannibals skulking behind sand dunes, but they found no water. Toward the center of the Islnnd, how ever, tho soil was less barren, nnd here a grove of coconut palms lifted their tufted crests Invitingly. "We will camp In this grove," said the commodore, "nnd keep guard over these green coconuts. There must be nearly a hundred of them nnd I no tice a little taro root here und there. As those coconuts are full of milk, that Insures us life for a week or two If we go on n short ration. By bath In' several times a day we can keep down our thirst some nnd perhaps it'll rain." "What If It docs?" snapped Captnln Scraggs bitterly. "Wo ain't got noth In' hut our huts to catch It In." "Well, then, Scraggsy, old stlck-ln-tbe mud," replied the commodoro quizzically, "It's u cinch you'll go thirsty. Your hut looks like a cul lender." Captain Scraggs choked with rage, nnd Mr. Glhney, springing nt the near est palm, shinned to tho top of It In the most approved sailor fashion. A moment later, Instead of coconuts, rich unctuous curses began to de scend on McGuffey and Scraggs. "Gib, my dear boy," inquired Scraggs, "whatever Is tho matter of you?" "That strlppln' hound Tnbu-Tnbu's been our coconut grove," routed the commodore. "He must have spent half the night up In these trees." "Thank the Lord they didn't take 'em nil," said McGulToy piously. "Chuck me down n nut, Gib," said Captain Scrnggs. "I'm famished." In conformity with the commodore's plans, the castaways made enmp In thu grove. For a week they subsist ed on gooneys, taro root, coconuts nnd coconut milk, nnd n sen-turtlo which Scraggs found wandering on the beach. This suggested turtle eggs to Mr. Glbney. and a change of diet resulted. Nevertheless, the un accustomed food, poorly cooked as It was, and the lack of water, told cru elly on them, und their strength lulled rapidly. At the end of n week, nil bunds were troubled with Indigestion und McGuf fey developed a low fever. They had lost much flesh und wero u white, haggard-looking trio. On tho afternoon of the tenth day on the Island the sky clouded up nnd Mr. McGuffey predict ed a wUllwuw. Captain Scraggs In quired feebly If It was good to eat. Tlmt night It rained, und to the groat Joy of the marooned mariners Mr. Glhney discovered, In the center of n big sandstone rock, a natural reser voir that held about ten gallons of wai ter. They drank to repletion and felt their strength return a thousand-fold. Tabu-Tabu and tho king canto Into camp about this time, and pleaded for a ration of wnter. Mr. Glbney, swear ing horribly nt tjicm, granted their re quest, and the king, In his gratitude, throw himself nt tho commodore's feet nnd kissed them. But Mr. Glbney wus not to be deceived, and after furnish ing them with n supply of wnter In coconut calabashes, bo ordered them to their own sldo of the Island. On the eighteenth day the last drop of water was gone, nud on tho twenty- second day tho lupt of tho coconut? disappeared. The prospects of more ruin were not bright. Tho gooneys were becoming shy and distrustful and the syndlcnto was experiencing more nnd inoro dllllculty, not only In killing them, but In eating them. McGuffey, 'who had homo up uncomplainingly, was shaking with fever and hardly ablo to stagger down tho beach to look for turtln oirus. Tho svndlento wns side, weak and emnclated nlmost bo- yond recognition, and on tho twenty - fifth day Captnln Scrnggs fainted twice. On tho twenty-sixth dny Mc Guffey crawled Into tho shadow of n stunted mimosa bush nnd started to pray 1 t It was the finish. The commodore knew it, nnd sat with bowed head In his gaunt arms, wondering, wondering. Slowly his body began to sway; he mattered something, slid forwurd on his face, nnd lay still. And as ho lay there on the threshold of the unknown he dreamed that the Maggie II camo Into view around the headland, n bone In her teeth nnd every stitch of canvas flying. He saw her luff up Into the wind and hang there shivering; a mo ment Inter her sails came down by the run, nnd he saw a little splash under her port how us her hook took bottom. There wns a commotion on decks, and then to Mr. GIbney's dying ears came faintly the shouts and songs of the black boys as n whaJohoat shot Into the breakers and pulled swiftly toward the beach. Mr. Glbney dreamed that a white man sat In the stern sheets of this whnlchoat, nud as the boat toiiched the beach It seemed to Mr. Glbney that this man sprang nshore and ran swiftly toward him. And Mr. Glbney twisted his .suffering lips Into a wry smile ns he realized the oddities of this mirage It seemed to hltn that Mils visionary white man bore a striking resemblance to Nells Halvorscn. Nells llnlvorsen, of till men I Old Nelis, "the squarehead" deckhand of the green-pea trade! Dull, howlegged Nells, with his lost dog smllo anil his Mr. Glbney rubbed bis eyes feebly nnd half staggered to his feet. What was that? A shout? Without doubt ho bad heard a sound that was not the moaning of their remorseless prison keeper, tho sea. And "Hands olT," shrieked Mr. Glbney nnd struck feebly nt the imaginary fig ure rushing toward him. No use. He felt himself swept Into strong arms and carried an Immeasurable distance down the beach. Then somebody threw wnter In his face and pressed n drink of brandy and sweet water to his parc'icd lips. Ills swimming senses rallied a moment, and he discovered that ho was lying In the bottom or a whalehoat. McGuffey lay beside him, and on u thwart In front of him sat good old Neils Halvorsen with Captain Scruggs' head on his knees. As Mr. Glbney looked nt this strange tableau Captain Scraggs opened bis eyes, glanced up nt Nells Halvorsen, and spoke: 1 "Why If It ain't old squarehead Nells," ho muttered womleringly. "If It ain't Nells, I'll go to hades or some other seaport." He closed his eyes again and subsided into a sort of leth argy, for he was content, lie knew he wns saved. Mr. Glbnoy rolled over, and, strug gling to his knees, leaned over Mc Guffey nnd peered Into his drawn face. "Mac, old shlpmnte! Mne, speak to me. Are you alive?" B. McGuffey, Esquire, opened n pair of glazed eyes and stared at the com modore. "Did we lick 'em?" he whispered. "The last I remember the king wns puttln It nil over Scraggsy. And that Tabu boy was no slouch." McGuf fey paused, and glanced warily around the boat, while a dawning horror up peured In his sunken eyes. "Go buck. Nells go bnck for God's sitke. There's two niggers still on the Islnnd. Bring 'em some wnter. They're cnnnlbnls Nells, but never mind. Get them aboard the poor devils If they're living. I wouldn't leave n crocodile on that hell hole, If I could help It." An hour Inter the Robinson Crusoo syndlcnte, Including the man Friday and tho Goat, were safe aboard the Magglo II, and Nells Halvorsen, with the tears streaming down his bronzed cheeks, wns sparingly doling out to them u mixture of brandy and water. And when tlio syndicate was strong enough to be allowed all the water It wanted, Nells Halvorsen propped them up on deck and told tho story. When he had finished, Captain Scrnggs turned to Mr. Glbney. "Gib, my dear boy," ho said, "make a motion." "I move," said the commodore, "that we set Tabu-Tabu and the king down on the first Inhabited Island wo can find. They've suffered enough. And I further move that we readjust the ownership of tho Maggie II syndicate and cut tho best Swede on earth in on a quarter of the profits." "Second the motion," said McGuffey. "Carried," said Captain Scraggs. CHAPTER XIV. Tho lookout on the power schooner Maggie II had sighted Diamond head before Commodore Adclbert I Glbney, Captain I'hlnens P. Scruggs nnd Kit glneer Bartholomew McGuffey were enabled to declare, in all sincerity (or at least with as much sincerity ns one might reasonably expect from this hand of roving rascals), that they had en tirely recovered from their harrowing experiences on the desert Island of Tuvana-tholo, in the Friendly group. At the shout of "Land, hoi" Mr. Mc Guffey yawned, stretched himself, and rat up In tho wicker lounging chair where he had sprawled for days with Mr. Glbney and Captain Scraggs, un der tho awning on top of the house. Uo flexed his biceps reflectively, while hl companions, Btretched nt full length In their respective chairs, watched him lazily. "As a member o' tho Maggie syndi cate an' ownln' an' volln' a quarter In torest." boomed the engineer, "I here by call a meetln' o' the snld syndicate for tho purpose o' trniisactln' any an all business that mny properly come before the meetln'." "I'nss the word for Nells Ilalvor- j sen," suggested Mr. Glbney. 1 his squarehead soul," he added Bless "We got a quorum without mm, nn' besides this business la Just between us three." "Mcetln'll como to order." The commodore tapped tho hot deck with Jils bare heel twice. "Haul away, Mac." "I move you. gentlemen, that ' be the sense o' this mcetln' that B. Mc Guffey, Ksqulro, be on' ho Is hereby npp'lnted u committee o' one to lam the everlastln' daylights out o' that sinful former chief mate o' ouro tor ubundonin' tho syndicate to a hotrlble death on that there desert Island. Do I hear a second lo thnt motion?" "Second the motion," chirped Cap tain Scraggs. "The motion's denied," nnnounced Mr. Glbney firmly. "Now, looky here, Gib, thnt nln't fair. Didn't you fight Tabu-Tabu an' didn't Scraggsy fight the king o' Kan davu? I ain't had no flghtln' this en tire v'yage an' I did cal'lato to lick that doggone mate." "Mac, It can't be done nohow." "Ob, It can't, eh? Well, I'll Just bet you two boys my Interest In the syndl cnte" "It nln't that, Mac, It ain't that. No body's doubtln' your natural ability to mop him up. But It ain't policy. Vou wnsn't sore ngln 'em cannibal savages, was you? Vou made Nells Commodoro go back an' save 'em, nn It took us two days to beat up to the first In bnldted lsJnnd nn' drop 'cm olT " "But a cannibal's like a dumb beast, Gib. He nln't responsible. This mate knows better." "Ah!"' Mr. Glbney leveled a horny forefinger at the engineer. "That's where you hit the null on the head. , He's too fly, and there's only two ways to keep him from flyln' away with us. The first Is to feed him to the sharks and the second Is to treat him like a long-lost brother. I know be ought to be hove overboard, but I ain't got the heart to kill him In cold blood. Consequently, we got to let the villain live, an' If you go to ben tin him up, Mac, you'll make him sore an' he'll peach on us when we get to Hono lulu. If us three could get hack to San Francisco with clean hands, I'd say lick the beggar an' lick him for fair. But we got to remember thnt this mate was one o' the original filibuster crow o' the old Maggie I. The day we tackled the Mexican navy an' took this power schooner away from 'em, we put ourselves forty fathom plumb outside the law, an' this mate was present nn knows It. We've changed the vessel's name an' rig, an' doctored up tho old Maggie's papers to suit the jjuggie II, an' we've give her u new dress. But nt thnt, It's hard to dis guise n ship In a live port, an' the se cret servlco agents o' the Mexican gov ernment mny bo a-layln' for us In San Francisco; and with this hero mate agin us an' ready to turn state's evi dence, we're pirates under the law, an' It don't take much Imagination to see three pirates swlngln' from the same yard-arm. No, sir, Mac. I ain't got no wish, now that we're fixed nice an' comfortable with the world's goods, to be hung for a pirate In tho mere shank o' my youth. Why, I nln't fifty year old yet." (TO UK CONTINUr.D.) SALT WATER MORE BUOYANT Fact That Is Well Known to Mariners May Be Mews to Some of Our Readers. A boy dropped a ball Into a smnll bole and could not get It out, so be poured wnler Into tho hole, thinking tho hall would float to the surface. As tho ball was slightly heavier than tho wa ter It remained on the bottom. Then the boy thought of mixing salt with the water, since ho knew suit water would float heavier objects than fresh water would. Ho tried this nnd was reward ed with the flouting ball. This particular fact Is demonstrated at the moutha of rivers. Objects roll ing nlong the bottow of a river, too heavy to eome to tha top, will rise when carried nut to sea. The rulo also applies to boats. A ship with a cargo on the sea will sink sometimes a foot or two on entering a fresh water port. If she leaves tho port with her cargo, she will rise on entering the ocean. For thnt reason a ship may be landed apparently too heavily at a pier and still be all right on the waves. In building a data, tho fnct of pall water's being iicnvW': than fiesb inusi bo remembered. 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