January 24, 1904
TITE ILLUSTRATED BEE.
15
an you've got about whnt I was then.
Hut It don't last Ion. Still, I'm glad them
di'mond of yours Is lild. Did you git 'em
put away all right?"
"Yes," paid Parton, still regarding him
anxiously. "Bhall I toll you where they
are, captain?"
"Not if I was a-dyln' for the need o
hpw," said the captain. "They're hid.
That's all I want to know. 1 want 'em to
ho Jest ax well hid from mc as from any
body else."
Ho had gradually recovered from his at
tack of dizziness and sat down on a coil of
rope.
"I didn't re'lly pit you hack here to show
you my patent log," he said. "I reckon
you know that. I got you hack here to
have you tell me what yo've just told me,
and I tell you that It takes a weight off
my mind to hear you say It. Now 'f you've
got 'em hid, you're feetin' pretty comf'taMo
yourself, ain't you?"
"Very," said Parton.
The captain grinned weakly.
"That's good," said he. "I'm alius glad
to have th' folks on my ship feel comf'ta
ble," Parton was about to say something In
reply when he was again alarmed by a
quick change In the expression of the cap
tain's face. Again the old man's hand
went, with that wavering, bewildered move
ment, up to hla forehead, where he gently
rubbed the skin on the right side. It was
fully a minute before he spoke again. The
strange look of Indefinite mental worry
which accompanied the rubbing of his fore
head was. It seemed to Parton, even more
acute than It had been on either of the
other occasions.
Parton did not for a moment suspect the
nature of the very serious trouble of which
the gesture was prophetic; but he was full
of sympathy for the honest man who
showed distress by means of It. The mem
ory of the captain's outbreak when he had
once before expressed sympathy for him
prevented him, however, from saying any
thing about it. He thought that the cap
tain looked at him gratefully for a mo
ment In recognition of this forbearance,
but of that he was not certain.
The captain turned toward him for a
moment with a forced smile on his Hps, and
then let his eyes slowly wander out over
the foaming wake of the ship, which
atretohed far astern across the blue surface
of the waters.
"She's makln' pretty good headway," said
the captain. "Guess I'll try the patent log,
after all."
The captain threw the little brass pro
pellor out In the water and mado the other
end of the line fast to the ship. He let the
Black of the rope slip slowly through his
fingers, and for a long time Parton cou'd
boc the blades of the toy propeller flashing
In the sunlight at the surface of the water.
Then they sunk far enough so that they
were no longer visible, but by placing one's
fingers on the line Just beyond the ship's
rail, over which It was drawn taut, one
could feel the vibration of the line due to
their whirling.
"It feelB like a magnified troll-flshlng
line," said Parton, "with a spoon hook on
the end big enough to catch whales with."
"Yes," said the captain. "Don't It?
That's Just what It does feel like."
He stood leaning on the rail with his
gaae tlxed on the wake of the veseel, which
stretched away a silvery line, reaching to
the horizon.
"I don't believe I'll be watchln" the' foot
prints of Uie Lyddy for many more v'y
ages," he said finally. "Ain't they dainty?
Did you ever see a school miss that left a
prettier markln' through th' mornin' grass
than th' Lyddy leaves here on th' sparklln"
Bea? But I shan't watch 'em for many
more v'yages. Not many more. Not many
more."
There was a mournful cadence In the old
man's voice that touched Parton deeply.
"Nonsense, captain," he said, "you're hale
and hearty enough to take her across for
many a voyage yet. I wouldn't wonder If
you outsailed her, and she seems to be a
pretty staunch ship, too."
"No," aald the captain, "and that was
why I was so anxious to have you git them
stones hidden away sotne'rs. I uin't a-goln'
to laet this v'yaga out. I tell you, Mr. Par
ton," and here the captain turned toward
the young Englishman and put his hand on
his shoulder, looking mournfully Into his
eyes as he did so, "I tell you. Mr. Parton,
that 1 ain't sola' to last this v'yage out
sure!" Parton gaaed at Mm In astonishment.
"I'd know whether I'm golrt' to die or
not," the old man went on, after having
turned back to the rail and resumed his
sorrowful contemplation of the Lydla'a
wake, "but I do know thut somethln' or
other is a-happenln' to my head. Sure as
John Quincy Adams was president of the
United States, somethln' a-happenin' on th'
Inside o' my head. Inside o' my head; way
Inside o my head. Somethin'a a-happenln'
In there!"
When he turned Uttk again and again
looked into Parton's eyes that great Changs
had come Into his face again. The skn
seemed to have pulled away from his eyes,
which looked pretematurally large. Ills
features were strained and drawn. His
lips were pulled back from his teeth and
these showed In double and alnfully grin
ning rows.
"TV John Quincy Adama." said the cap
tain slowly; "b' John Quincy Adams, It's
it's It's come!"
He renched out his arms to Tarton, who
grasped at them hurriedly and held out
his own to him, but the old man slid be
tween them and down to the deck before
Parton could catch him. If there had been
anything to get hold of the younger man
might have saved the elder one from
actually falling prostrate, but tin re s om tl
to be nothing. Kvery ounce of solidity, of
firmnens, of power of resistance had gone
from hini, and his body was In Parton's
grap like some Foft, flabby, elusive, half
liquid thing. It seemed to slip between his
fingers like Jelly.
The captain's eyes were clesitl now, a
Parton tried to lift him. 111m face had be
come a ghastly n.shen color. Only his lips
moved, and from between them came softly
In constant repetition:
"IV John Quincy Adams! IV John
Quincy Adams! IV John Quincy Adams!"
Parton picked him up and carried him
up the three steps which led to the llttlo
wheel d-ck of the ship. He had not
thought to call for help, and the captain's
limp lMHly lay dead weight In his arms.
The ship was bowing slowly and grace
fully to the long Atlantic swells, and he
staggered under his burden. A man was
standing at the wheel, but no one else was
on the little deck which formed the roof
of the cabin. Parton called to him, and
he turned to see what was wanted. He
gave one glance at Parton and his burden
and set up a shout for help.
"I'll lush the wheel," he said, but before
he had done this two or three sailors came
running and took the captuln out of Par
ton's arms. Nearly the entire watch had
assembled before anyone called the mate.
The sailor roused him from a sound sleep
In the cabin and he appeared at the top
of the companlonway In a towering rage
and swearing vigorously.
Parton explained what had happened to
the old man as well as he could he by
no means understood It himself and the
mate helped him to take the captain down
stairs, while one of the sailors followed
with the captain's hat, which had fallen
off and which had been found lying on the
deck near the place where they had been
standing when the attack had come.
They laid him In his berth, and Parton
started to take off hla clothes, so that he
might rest more easily. For a moment the
mate did nothing to interfere. Then he
thrust him roughly aside and glanced at
him wickedly, and with a look In which
there seemed to be Borne malicious satis
faction. "Here, now none o' that," said he. "I
ain't goin' to have no thieves overhaulin'
the captain's clothes. Go on deck, sir, an'
don't come back till I send for you. I'm
In command of this ship now!"
CHAPTER XI.
One sore-headed officer, five feet high and
fourteen Indu s thick can make a wh le
ship seem crowdud. Tlio L.og Hook of
The Lyddy.
For u moment after the mute hud given
his extraordinary order Parton had invol
untarily shut his huts and thought of re
sistance, but sober second thought told him
thut thut would be worse than UHelejs.
He knew enough about the rules govern
ing life on shipboard to know that the com
mand, which the mate aucceedtd to In case
of the captain's Incapacity, wag as com
plete us that of the captain himself. He
went slowly to the deck without a word,
but with a look on his face which was un
pleasant to see and a feeling in his heart
which was unpleasant to experience.. The
last sound which he heard as he passed
up the companlonway stairs was the cap
tain's voice, saying, slowly:
"IV John Quincy Ad! B' John Quincy
Ad!"
He wondered why he did not finish out
the word.
The whole ship showed tho signs of de
moralization. Uttle work was done on
board during the next five or six hours,
during all of which time the mate remained
in the cabin with the captain. Once, Pur
ton, anxious to have news of the sick man,
ventured below again, but was roughly
ordered out by the mate, who added that
wliilo he was In command of that ship, pas
sengers as well as crew should do as they
were told, particularly as to disturbing the
peace and quiet of the sick man.
"Bear In mind this, Mr. Mr. Carter," he
said, "that while I am In command of thlt
vessel you will do what I say or you will
get yourself Into trouble. If I had been in
command back there In the channel you
wouldn't be here now you'd have gone
ashore with the man who came out to get
you. It was a slick game that you worked
on the captain and that police Inspector;
but you couldn't have worked It on me.
You can't work any game on me. Remem
ber that. You can't work any game on me!
You'll stay on deck where you belong If I
tell you to, and If you come down here
again to bother this poor, old sick man I'll
have you put in irons, by God! And now
you understand how we stand."
Parton could guess without much hard
thinking what his object was In keeping
him out of the cabin. That he really
feared that Parton's presence might do
harm to the captain was, of course, too
absurd an idea to be worthy of considera
tion. That he was anxious to have the
Whole ship know what Parton's standing
was with tho new commander wm certain.
That he was taking advantage of the sit
uation to provide- an uninterrupted oppor
tunity for searching the cabin for tho
Jewels was probable. Tho captain's feirs
had been prophetic, and If he should ever
see his diamonds again It might be wholly
owing to the old man's foresight.
His afternoon on deck was very unplois
ant. To add to his discomfort a light rain
began to fall at about sunset time. This
forced matters to an issue In Ms m ini.
The captain had lent him a vast yellow
oilskin coat, which smelted horribly of
fish. It was hanging In his berth Ho
made up his mind that he would get It or
liavo his trouble then. Ho was keyed up
to a pilch which would have carried him
to any length of asault and battery upon
tho person of the new commander of the
ship when he went below to get the ccat,
Hut, greatly to his surprise, the mate made
no objections.
He met Parton Willi as near a pleasant
smile as his face watt capable of and told
him, with his finger on his lips that tho
captain was asleep. After Parton had
taken what he wanted from his little stats
room the mate went with him to the deck.
Parton tried to avoid his company by going
to the after rail, but the mate walked with
him and leaned against it, as if they were
tho best of friends. He was evidently 11
at eaw. Finally he spoke.
"I'm sorry thut 1 simke that way to you
today," he said awkwardly, "but I was so
upset by the captain's Illness that I didn't
quite realize what I was doing or saying.
It's a big responsibility to have the com
mand of another man's ship shoved onto
your shoulders 'out here to sea, andit
mnde me nervous. Not thut I'm fruld that
I can't take the old hooker Into port all
right I can do that, I guess, about as well
as he could; but It it ain't pleasant. I-I
hope you'll excuse me, Mr. Mr. P Carter."
Parton said nothing for a moment. Tho
mate's face was, If jMwsible, a little more
disagreeable In Its expression of apology
than it had been In that of aggression, and
he did not like the hesitation before the
pronunciation of the assumed namo. HUH
his common senso told 4ilm that It would be
better to get along without an open rupture
If he could.
"I don't blame you for feeling soro about
It," added the mate before Parton spoko at
all, "but you'll admit that things wus a
little more than urual worrying, and that,
perhaps, I had an excuse for being flus
tered." "Oh. I fancy that It wl'l be all right,"
said Parton with no cordiality In his voice,
and as if ho were accepting a disagreeable
but necessary situation as well as he could
be expected to. "I presume that we shall
be able to get along until we get Into port
without coming to blow."
It was evidently the mate's desire to take
thin remark as If It were Jocularly meant,
for ho smiled us he said:
"I guess so. Of course, you wl'l keep
your own quarters."
Then ho held out his hand.
"Shall wo shake and call bygones by
gones?" he said.
Parton shook hands with him and sail
that he supposed that they might as well.
He was anxious to change tho subject and
he was anxious to ask utiout the captain.
"How Is he now?" he asked.
"Just about the same," said the mate.
"There doesn't seem to be much change.
It's the strangest thing l evor heard of.
When we first got him down here ho was
busy with that funny cuss word of his,
you know, only, apparently, he couldn't
remomlier all of it. All he could say was
'By John Quincy Ad.' He couldn't seem
to say tho "ams.
"Well, he kept saying that over until
he went Into the sleep he's In now, only
every once In an hour or two, he'd lose a
syllable. Finally he got It down to plain
'By John'. That was the last he said
before he went to sleep."
"Has he any fever?" aaked Parton. "I
don't know very much about Illness, but I
know thit fever Is a bad sign."
"You can see him, if you like, and try
If you can tell. I don't know anything
about such things," said the mate.
That Brown was badly frightened was
revealed by the color of his face and his
evident nervousness. Parton figured that
he had begun to wonder If, 'when they
reached port, there might not bo something
about the course which he had taken
which would be regarded unfavorably by
the courts. While a vessel Is at sea her
officers ara supreme In her oommand, but
that by no means relieves them from re
sponsibility for wrongdoing after they
have readied shore.
Parton went to the captain's bunk and
pulled back the curtains. The old man lay
silent and without movement. His face
showed that strange pallor which is so
uncanny In the countenances of men who
have been In health deeply bronzed by sun
and weather. The eyes were only partly
closed and a strip of yellowish wlilte
showml. The hands were not clenched,
but the arms were spread straight along
the sides of the body outside of the cover
let, with -the fingers held wide apart and
rigid. The pulse ran slowly and un
steadily at, as nearly as Parton could
count with his watch In his hand, about
CO. Tho old man's lips continually moved,
notwllhrtaiidlng the apparent stupor in
which he lay, and Parton, stooping over,
could distinguish above the creaking of
tho T-yddy's tlmVrrs and the soft twiab
of the water ulotrg her aides tho word:
muttered over and over s jilu:
"IV John Quln 1 B' John Quin-! li'
John Quin!"
Ho bathed tho old man's hands and arms
In hot water and gave him whiskey, al
though it was dilllriilt to make him take it
When the mate admitted to him that prac
tically nothing had been done before, ho
hail to shut his lips tight in order to re
vent himself from bursting out into a
stream of reproaches.
Not long afterward Parton looked up
from the captain's side to lind that tho
mate had gone on deck. A few nioini nts
after this he went to his own Utile cabin.
Ho had scarcely expected to find It In the
condition in which it was; but at the sanio
lime lie was not greatly surprised when ho
found evidences that It had been thor
oughly and hastily overhauled. The si our
It y which the mate had felt In this outrage
was shown by the fact that he had not
even attempted to rearrange the bid so
that traces of his trespass would be hidden.
Several days parsed after this with small
change in the situation, except for a bilef
period of incoherent consciousness for the
captain an the second day uftcr the strike,
but his struggles to make himself un h r
stood were fruitless. The mate was uni
formly friendly In a strained slid watchful
manner. When he called him "Carter"
there was always on his face a little nicer
as If he knew It to be a false mime, and
used It merely to save tho hot her of argu
ment. The CHptaln's vocabulary lest one sylla
ble at I. time, until he lay In his bunk all
day and a good part of the night, saying
over and over again with a ccasehss
monotuny which was terribly deprestpg
to Parton:
"By- By- By-, By-."
Parton real I. -.id that he had been nff-c'nd
In no ordinary way and talked the case
over with the mate speculatively. He as
sumed that the affair was due to romo
lesion of the brain anil that his stri rigo
pains and dizziness had been the prcminl
tory symptoms.
If the old man had been stricken with an
ordinary Illness, no matter how severe, ha
would have felt much less distressed by it,
for he could at leaxt have applied s mo of
those simple remedies which ho had learnal
of In his own experience or which were In
the simple knowledge of the s.Ulors, but
this seizure was so unusual that It was be
yond even the nurses of the wisest of
the men on bond. Thitre was something
almost uncanny about It.
The sailors1 talked of it ipiMly among
themselves and one of then dlffu ed ai
Indefinite siicrstitlous drcal anion.'; the
others by making thu sign of the cr.ss eaai
time he posscd tho cabin companlonway,
wliich so demoralized them that the mats
was prone to keep the man forward and
force him Into auch silence of f.ls terrify. nr
gabbling as he could by threats
Neither Parton nor tho mate had the
least idea whether or not the Illness would
terminate fatally. So far as they cou'.d
tell there wan no changn of real Importance
from day to d-ty Parton had hopo.l (hat
there might be some way of getting medi
cal assistant for the old man from some
passing steamer there were fw dnys whan
one or more were not sighted but tho mate
admired him that the big chip would not
stop for any such ptirso und that the
smaller vessels would be certain to have
no medical man on board. Thus Parton
became convinced that nothing tn'iro could
bo done for his old friend until the l.yclx
reached port.
It was Just after a con vera itloa on this
subject that tho mate really showed hi
hand. He was walking with Parton aft of
tho wheel, sometimes pau-lng to gaze over
tho after ruil and watch tho gently whirl
ing water us It was sucked under the ves
sel's clean-cut quarters in the lazy whirl
of its wake. Suddenly he straightened up
and fixed his eyes firmly and for a moment
unflinchingly on Parton's.
"Now, see here Mr. Mr. Carter," he said
with that unpleasant grin which bad an
gered Parton several time before. "I think
that you and I had better cuune to an un
derstanding. Of course, when the when
the old man was all right, you know, you
didn't really have to take me Into account;
but now, you've got to. I don't know how
much you were to give him for getting you
safe ashore In the states, but I know now
that you won't have to give him anything,
because he won't be In a condition to force
a divvy."
Parton was at first amazed and then an
gered. He was much too angry to be wor
ried. All his fear went out of him with the
growth of a hot Indignation. He went a
step nearer to the mate, and he looked
him steadily In the eyes as long as the
other could face the stare, and, after the
mate had lowered hlri eyes, he stared at the
lids which hid them.
"First of all," he said, very slowly and
distinctly, "I have some other things to
talk to you about. I want to tell you that
you are a cur. That is one of the things.
You are a cur and you know thut you are
a cur. The captain knew that you were a
cur and was sorry that necessity forced
him to havo you sail on his ship. He told
me so before we had been three days out of
Ixindon. You have a cur's rrputatioa
(Continued on Page Sixteen.)
