Young Man Who Finally Won OutBy Edward Marshall
(Copyright, i:m3. All Rights Reserved, by
K. U Marshall.)
CHAPTER XIV.
Whon the devil first net a wooden ship on
lire he looked nt It nnd grinned. "There,"
snld he, "that'B nearer hell than nny
d 'vilmrnt hn I've invented yet." The
Ixk Book of The Lyddy.
IIV.ttR rntild he no hiding the fnt
I I from the crew now. The tiews
I mi.'nari llko wildfire nmnnff the
men, and most of them secretly
partisaned Parton's cause.althnugh
the en Dor who had icm the first" encounter
kept Ids word and said nothing, or almost
nothing, about It.
The mitte, knocked unconscious for the
second time, recovered slowly, and was too
weak from loes of blood and too slckeVed
by pal n to make it possible for him to do
anything particularly aggressive that after
noon or nlRht.
Fnrton's plnre waa a puzzling one. He
momentarily expected that the mate's fury
over his second defeat would result In at
least an attempt to cnrry out his threat
and order Pnrton Into Irons; but the hours
pnssed nnd nothing of the sort whs done.
Parton nursed his bruised and swollen
neck nnd face us well u lie could; but tho
prospect seemed to him to be a most un
utterably gloomy one. He could have fared
little worse If he had stayed ashore and
taken his chances with his stepfather and
Scotland Yard.
The situation on hoard was almost an
Impossible one. It seemed out of the ques
tion that It should remain tn statu quo
intll the ship landed In New Tork. And
"ven then Farton could not predict In his
nlnd what was likely to occur when that
time came.
A new and Imminent worry also grew out
f tho captain's condition. That wild shriek
had meant that some change had come In
It It crossed Parton's mind once that the
rry might have been caused hy the fact
that the old man had witnessed from his
bunk the stnijrgle on the cabin floor, and
that he had used this shriek because It was
hla only way of expressing horror nt what
ha may have bran convinced was Impend
ing murder, but this seemed too Impossible
to be worthy of serious consideration.
The period of the captain's apparent loss
of reasoning power had extended over al
most two weeks. During that time Parton
had been sure that he had not rnly been
totally Incapable of expressing himself,
but that he had been unable to Intelligently
Interpret In hla mind the events that
pasard within the very limited range of
hla vision.
Farton learned that the captain had
fallen into a deep stupor after the episode,
bat when he went to the companion way en
trance to go dow.i to see him he was In
formed by the sailor who was on guard
there that the mate had given orders that
ha was to be In no circumstances permitted
to go below.
This angered him, but It did not sur
prise him. lie could hardly feel that the
situation had changed for the worse, ex
cept In so far aa the personal Inconvenience
which the fight and the resulting exile from
the cabin caused might be considered an
aggravation of Ita discomfort.
He kntw now that for the remainder
of the voyage he would have to look out
for hts safety with exceeding care, but
the mere tact that the mate had attacked
him ahowrd that he recognised the strength
f the- rharge which Parton held over htfl
head an a price for his own immunity
from disclosure.
It was evident that be was po longer so
certain us he had been that Parton was
wholly In his power. He could still bring
the charges against Farton; charges which
he could not be entirely certain would be
sustained or would even have a serious
effect on the young man after he had gone
ashore. But, on the other hand, he must
know that there could bo no such possi
bility of doubt in his own case If Parton
should make an accusation of theft against
Mm.
The mate did not know which of the men
It waa who had seen him rifle Parton's
berth, but that he had actually been seen
at it by aome one of them was certain
otherwise Farton would have known noth
ing about it.
Bo. therefore, there would be the testi
mony of the sailor against him, and added
to this would be Parton's own statement
that he had afterwards caught him In the
very act of overhauling hla traps and that
this had been the cause of the tight.
The mate's position was not wholly en
viable, but he was too angry to look after
fcjki own boat Interests. Resides It waa
reasonable to suppose that he had now
gone too far to make It possible for him
to have a reconciliation with the ship's
passenger.
Tim discipline of the ship also demanded
that he must make at least a show of
punishing Farton for having thrashed him.
He had an uncomfortable conviction that .
what small respect the men had for him
before the unfortunate encounters In the
cabin was now lost, but he felt that he
must do all that he could to regain It by
exhibiting the firmness of a commander.
Before these unfortunate episodes had
occurred, Parton had looked forward with
considerable dread to the day when he
should land In Boston. He had decided
that If he was to be arrested there he
would certainly be arrested on the very
day of his landing. But tho situation on
the ship had become so uncomfortable
that he actually longed for landing day
understood him and made a desperate at
tempt to reply to him In some way, but
ho failed utterly.
Two sailors who had descended Into the
cabin after Farton, and who were standing
close behind him as he leaned over the
captain's berth, were at this Juncture
ordered roughly out of tfie cabin by the
mate. That they should have come In at
all, Parton reflected, was an evidence of
how completely the discipline of the ship
had gone to pieces. After they had
slouched away, to the accompaniment of
much angry expletive from the mate, tho
man turned curiously on Parton.
"What In hell are you doing down here I"
he Bald wickedly. "I gave orders that you
were to stay on deck until this voyage
was ended. If I catch you down here
again I'll hpve you put In Irons. Now
get out!"
Parton did not strike him again, al-
A reason for this might have been that
a sailor who had quietly entered the cabin
silently went to the side of the young
Knglishman and ranged himself there,
while the two men who had descended Into
the room In response to the captain's un
canny cry turned back in evident defiance
of the mate's orders, and were but too
obviously prepared to take the side of tho
passenger in any tight letween him and
the unpopular man who had, through the
captain's illness fallen into the supreme
command of the ship.
Parton stood waiting for him, not with
standing the evidently friendly Intentions
of the sailors and there was in his face
that iron look which made the mate cower
before. It made him cower again and with
a muttered oath he slouched out of the
cabin, the two sailors who were standing
in tho compunlonway entrance retreating
before him. After he bad reached ths
HUM
A ROARING MASS OF FLAME SHOT HIM OFF FROM REACHING THE HOLD.
and Ha possible perils, as promising a
welcome relief.
About o'clock a sailor came to him
where be waa sitting aft of the wheel, and
asked him If he wished to have hla meal
brought to him there. He was not to be
permitted to enter the cabin again. Even
while Parton was considering what reply
he should make, there came through the
skylight a repetition of that alow, blood
curdling cry. The shrill, vibrating shriek
quavered upward, not loudly, but with a
strange, penetrating quaver that made
Parton half start from his chair and
brought more than one sailor running from
the forward deck where they were gath
ered after their evening meal, smoking
their pipes and gossiping about the day's
exciting episodes.
Entirely disregarding the mate's orders,
Parton dashed to the companlonway and
down the four or five steps with long,
Jumping strides. No one offered to de
tain him and there was no one on watch
at the cabin entrance. Parton went on,
paying no attention whatever to the mate,
who, he saw In the dim light of the cabin,
was standing near the center of the little
room, leaning on the table and gaxing as
If struck dumb toward the captain's berth.
Parton, turning his head neither to the
left nor to the right, went at once to the
sido of the old man.
He lay to all appearance quite as he had
been, but Parton saw with delighted won
der that as he approached there came a
change of expression, slight but unmis
takable, on his face, and It seemed to him
that there was a still further change aa
he Unt over him and asked him slowly
and with an effort to make hia words yery
distinct, if there waa anything which bo
wished to have done for him. It was evi
dent to Parton that the old mail beard him.
though the temptation waa strong In him
to do so. But he wheeled on him so sud
denly and so fiercely that the mate almost
fell backward In his effort to avoid what
he thought would be a blow.
"Damn you and damn your orders,"
said Parton grimly and quietly. "Your
orders! Give them to the sailors, who have
to obey them and who can't strike back.
Don't give them to me, you cowardly
thief." .
He had advanced a atep toward the mate,
who by this time had placed the width
of the cabin table between the- Infuriated
but quiet young EngtUhma and himself.
"If you dare to make any remark to me
or about me on this voyage, from now until
tho time it ends," said Parton, "I'll thrash
you again, and I'll thrash you so thor
oughly that It will be many a day before
you'll command anything bigger than a
bed In a hospital bay.
"I came down here because I heard the
captain of this ship cry out as If he were
In pain. I thought that you were hurting
him, and I had reason to believe that you
are not the kind of a man to hesitate even
at torturing a sick man. Now, from this
time until this voyage ends X shall be In
this cabin as much as I like and out of
It as much as I like.
"If you don't want my company here
stay out of It yourself. If you bother me
In any way whatsoever I will first call on
the crew to put you in irons, and will get
It, too, and then, when we go ashore, I
will see to It that you are locked up for
robbery on the high seas."
He made another move toward tho mate
and again the roan fell away from him.
His body crouched and that his muscles
were tense aa steel wus vbnibie even
through his shirt and ye JaokeC But he
truck no blow.
deck Parton could hear him cursing the
men and giving various bullying orders.
For a moment Parton stood quietly listen
ing to him, and then went to the captain's
berth, rendered anxloua by the strange
cluuige which he saw had occurred in the
appearance of the old man.
There were still muttering, but they
were no longer confined to the words of the
queer oath which he had substituted for
more offensive swearing In order to please
his wife. In fact, the noises which now
came from his lips were not words at all.
but mete Incoherent, unconnected, almost
inarticulate sounds.
But Purton scarcely felt that the change
was for the worse, for there was unmis
takably a gleam of real intelligence In the
eyes of the prostrate seaman. His skin,
too, which had been ghastly white, glowed
as with a fever, and the hands now moved
spasmodically and with an uncanny ra
pidity. There seemed to be something desperate
In their conticuai struggles to open and
shut quickly.
Their movement was so strange and so
great a change was indicated in it that for
a moment Parton kept his eyes fixed upon
them, scarcely glancing at the captain's
face, and paying small attention to the tor
rent, slow moving but ceaselees, of uncon
nected words which bubbled from between
his lips. From these words it was apparent
to Parton that the old man's mind waa
dwelling, in Its enfeebled state, on the fact
that he had violated the insurance regu
lations, and had amongst hla cargo the In
voice of explosive. For over and over again
came the words:
"Amidships! Amidships! Amidships!
And then, ever with the three Iterations,
came the word "Humbert Humbert Hum
bert" At first Parton did not conceive Caw