Young Man Who Finally Won Out By Edward Marshall
(Copyright, l'JCfl, all rights reserved, by F.
I,. Marshall.)
CHAPTER XII.
A ro-kI llckin's the only text some tnon
ch.ii unilwstanri a wrmon" from. The Log
,pk of tint Lyddy.
yZllIK CI'KN defiance of the. mate
I I hnil bevn a great relief to l'arton.
ordered them to ilo for him with
out tlio lca.st habitation thereafter
and they dl.l It.
It ran, Indcod, scarcely bo said that the
new nltuallon was wholly without a certain
curious enjoyment for Parton. He had been
a coward In his lllnht from Ixmdon, and ha
knew It; but that flight hail not been from
any Individual or any clearly definable dan
ger. It bad bo;-n from a great. Indefinite
thing; hln fear had been bom of a vast,
lowerliiK, confusing danger of attaek by a
loathsome enemy Injustice. Now, when ha
had a human enemy to light, when the
wrong that he resented waj a deflnab'e
one, and when he felt that he must match
wit atra.inst wit, muaclo against muscle,
courage against courage, he felt almost
elated by the, struggle. He had faced death
many a time In Africa, and his nostrils di
lated this direct presence of tangible dan
ger. The mate wan wholly his Inferior, men
tally find physically. He treated him as If
ho had not ever dared to dream himself
that he. was anything else. He spoke to
him when they met upon the deck, but he
spoke calmly and Indifferently as one might
epenk to a servant deserving of courtesy,
and no more.
Thut the mato f!t It and was Infuriated
he could not doubt. The man showed the
strain of his pcullion every day a bit more
plainly, and he nuule the great mistake of
drinking In an effort to overcome It. That
helped to lose for him tho respect of the
men. The entire crew guessed that some
thing hud happened between their acci
dental commander and l'arton, and recog
nized that l'arton had won a victory of
some eort.
l'arton tcok complete chargo of the rick
man. Once or twlco tho mate gavo orders
concerning him which l'arton quickly coun
termandedand the men obeyed him. After
that the mate Interfered not at all with
him, and rarely showed enough Interest In
the old man's condition even to Inquire
about it.
I'urton ate his meals as ho had before
the captain's affliction, at the captain's
table. There was no further suggestion,
that he should have them oil deck.
Somehow tho trouble with the mnta
seemed to have clear d a good many cob
Webs out of his brain. It had routed him
from the fear of being caught, that had
bung over him with the depressing effect
of a pall ever since he hud first startid on
his lllght. It had lestored him to tho lami
spirit of adventurous willingness to take
his chances In his battle with the world
which had won for him all that he had
won In South Africa.
It had changed his mental attitude to
ward himself and toward the world, and It
had changed It for the better. He regained
the mind-control which he had lest during
the nightmare of his llight from London.
Iiruve men nnd strong men sometime
suffer from panic, and l'arton had leen
panic struck.
He was so no lunger. He felt amply
strong to fitund up and fight whatever bat
tles might llo waiting for him in the future,
. And with the return of this more normal
frame of mind ' came something eUe, Infi
nitely wctt and very puzzling to him.
For the first few weeks of the voyage ha
had forced buck the thoughts which came
to hi in about the big-eyed, graceful-limbed
Irish gill who had Unshed ko suddenly Into
his life and then flashed so suddenly out
of it Hgain. Ho took from his pocket a
dozen times a day that odvt rllai'mcnt
which he hud cut from the newspaper and
which showed to him that she at It-ast was
In sympathy with him, und did not ques
tion tlit: right ot the course which ha had
taken.
His heart beat a little faster, and he
went to the rail and leaned over It, gaili.g
at the Lydlu's wake, and thinking about
Norah.
l'arton had never been in love before, but
It seemed to him that this passion must
have lain unsuspected, but still existing,
ill his heart evei since that heart had first
had power to love. The fact that he had
not known the object upon which It now
poured Itself out until that day when he
went dally to his mother's boua In Lon
don made no difference. It was a part of
the arrangement of eternal things.
The love for her had been there waiting.
He reflected that the rose does not know
the bosom which God fashioned it to adorn;
but that It grows for it, and waits for It,
and blooms for It, nnd yields Its fragrance
for It Just the same, beginning with tho
moment when the first send Is dropped into
the ground. And he felt now that thit
love had been growing in his heart, not
bestirring Itiwdf and making itself known,
even to him, but growing and waiting
calmly nnd peicefully, but with unalterable
certainty for her Norah.
He know that many difficulties lay In the
pnth which might eventually take him to
her again; but he could And In his mind no
doubt whatever lh.it they would be over
come nnd th.-it he should go to her and find
her waiting for him.
From such plea; Ins reflections as these
own small cabin on the other side of the
ship and scarcely fifteen feet away from
him. He stepped toward It, and, through
the half-open door, saw the mate bending
over his berth and pulling and hauling its
sheets and blankets about in evident
search.
Parton's rage was quick and furious. lie
stopped not a single moment to consider
what he was about to do; but with two
bounds cleared the space which Intervened
between him and the stooping man.
In an Instant he had the astonished
mate by the collar and had dragged him
backwards out of tho stateroom to tho
floor of tha cabin itself. The mate, at first
too astonished to exclaim, was prevented
from doing gf by tho tight grasp of Tar
ton's fingers on his windpipe.
For a moment the two men rolled on
tho cabin floor. The mate struggled val
iantly. Neither made any sound the mate
Then he loosened his hold, rolled the man
about a bit to be sure that his unconscious
ness was real and not assumed, and i-obo.
On the tablo In the cabin always stood a
pitcher of drinking water. It was one ot
those great silver-plated affairs which
swings on a pivot between two uprights
and stands on an ornate tray, bestrewn
with flourishes and other evidences of tha
silver chaser's art. It had been given to
tho captain by admiring townspeople. Par.
ton started for it, but It was not in Ita
usual place. Ho had hardly had time to
wonder at this, when a calm voice said:
"Was you lookln" for th' water, sir? I'll
throw somo in his face. He looks like ha
needed it bad. I Just got some fresh here.
I come down a while ago and took it up to
fill it. I'm mighty glad I come down agin
Jest as I did I got hero in time to see th'
hull thing. It was an all-right scrap. He'll
be crazy when ha wakea up IX he's got
FOR A MOMENT OR TWO THE MEN ROLLED ON THE CABIN FLOOR. THE MATE STRUGGLED VALIANTLY.
he turned to go below to the cabin. His
attendance on tho captain had been almost
all that the old man had had the mate
gave him none, and while the sailors un
questionably felt a desire to look after him,
there was also the feeling among them that
the mate would resent It If they did, and
so they kept away from him unless ordered
to do something for him by cither Parton
or the mato.
When Parton entered the cabin he
thought that there was no one there ex
cept the captain. The letter's presence
was at once made manifest by that cease
lessly reiterated "John John John John
John," which came from his lips as regu
lurly as the ticking of a clock.
Parton went to his berth and leaned over
him. He had made no effort to be espe
cially quiet In his entry into the cabin; but,
as a matter of fact, he had made no noise
so loud that it was not overcome by the
gentle swishing of the water along the
sides of tho vessel and the monotonous
creaking of the timbers which every ship
gives forth when at sea, and which to those
who love to voyage becomes a pleasant
sound.
For a moment Parton bent over the sick
man. Then a sound, louder than any that
had before reached his ears, came to him.
It was the half-suppressed voice of the
mate cursing to himself.
Th so audit unmistakably cam from bla
could not if he had wished to, and Parton
waa too thoroughly engaged to feel that
waBte of breath would be wise.
They were not unevenly matched; but
Parton had the advantage of position,
and the other and great advantage of
having taken his opponent unawares. Be
sides, the grasp which he had closed on
the mate's windpipe was beginning to de
crease the vigor of the man.
Gradually, however, the mate's steady
pull downward on the back of Parton's
neck began to tell and bring their faces
closer together.
Then with a snap as vicious as a dog's,
the mato's teeth closed on Parton's hair,
and as Parton Jerked his head upwards,
a great sheaf of it was literally pulled
from his head.
The spirit of the animal Infuriated broke
loose In Purton, and once, twice, three
times he struck full, hard fist blows on
the corner of the mate's Jaw. Gradually
the man's hold relaxed, his eyes turned
upward and he went limp there on the
floor.
Parton knew exactly what had happened
to him, and was neither frightened by the
ghastly look which the mate's face as
sumed nor sorry for the knockout blows
which had put it there. He waa filled with
the exultation of an animal which has
won a fight, and for a moment looked
down at his foe with real and aboriginal
satisfaction In bis rapidly beating heart.
enough left In him, but I don't beliw
ho'U tackle you. Not him. No, sir, V
John Quincy Adams, as th' cap'n uset to
say; not him!"
Parton had not had breath er.ough t
permit him to reply to this speech, even
if he could have found words. He fancied
that he had done something now which
would bring things to a climax, and a very
disagreeable for him, without delay. Tha
fact that there had been a witness mada
it worse. The fact that the sailor had teen
his humiliating defeat would undoubtedly
drive the mate to the extreme measure of
assuming a commander's prerogative and
in some way make Parton pay for the aav
oault.
Tarton wondered if he would order hint
put Into irons. Of course, If he did ha
should have to submit as gracefully as ha
could, for the whole crew was under lh
orders of the mate.
"Yes, sir," the Impassive sailor went on,
"I saw the hull business, and I'm dum glad
you licked him. If there was ever -a man
a-needin' of it, he waa that man. Thrca
of us had fixed it up between us to take
turns a-llckln' of him after we got ashore;
but out here to sea we can't do nothln',
you know. We can't do nothln" out to sea.
I've see him In your bunk before a
haulln' over your stuff. We've most of us
that's been down here at all seen him there
at one time or "nother. He must a thought
you had aomethln' good an' worth whil