Methods and Luck of a Lucky Man By Win, H. Osborne
(Copyright. 1901. by William Hamilton Os
borne.) CIIAPTEU VII Continued.
A-1 N"I) ho listened ha began to
find out many, many things that
ho wa gind to VNirn. Answering
mechanically from time to tima,
" ' he learned, bit by bit. the history
f tho career of Constitutional Smith. Tha
captain, who had finished with bia win
and hnd . started In on rum, talked and
talked. O'Keefe heard what ho had to say.
lie found out that Cnptaln Jenks of the
"Sarah, Margaret" had led a questionable
Ufa omong the denizens of tho underworld
in the enatern metropolis, and had grad
Bated to assume the position of mate on
a smuggling craft; bad finally been Jailed
and Imprisoned for a serious offense, and
an hia liberation had sought the Pacltlo
coast; by aomo deal had bought the "Sarah
Karsuret." and had engaged In a quaal
legittmato freighting business; one that
rested always under suspicion, and that he
had acquired gradually but surely a repu
tation aa the greatest shanghaing captain
en the coast, a title of which he was justly
proud. O'Keefe was willing to acknowledge
that Captain Jenks bad earned it at any
tate.
O'Keefe gathered from the captain's con
versation, although the captain did not ac
knowledge. It, that Constitutional Smith was
fat his way a groator man than Captain
Jenks. nnd that lie was one of the very
few great criminals In the country. Jenks
pretended a familiarity with most of
Smith's exploits, though It Is doubtful
Whether ho really know of many. But
O'Keefe, allowing for the exaggerations for
which tho rum and the captain were re
sponsible, began soon to understand the
strength, the cleverness nnd the finesse of
this man Smith.
And as the captain talked and talked BIN
. Bngton O'Keefe gradually begun to under
stand the situation, or part of it at least.
And he realised, now that he had the con
fidence of tho captain, the very great im
portance of tils returning to Monroe.
While tho captain was In his very hap
piest mood O'Keefe touched him on the
knee. "Jenks," he Bald, lmpresslvely,"what
Is tho very soonest I can get a boat back;
to tho coast T"
"Back!" exclaimed Jenks. "What d'you
want to go back for? You're safo here.
There ain't no-cops behind you. You don't
Want to go back. Stay here, an' we'll have
a rood old time of It. That's what."
O'Keefe shook his head. "I want to go
sack," he answered, "to get even with the
fellow that did mo up. That's why."
This was a condition of affairs which
Captain Jenks appreciated. Revenge, he
considered, was one of the finest Inventions
f Providence, or of men. Tho ooslre for
revenge be knew to be ono of the finest
qualities of the human race. He under
stood it completely. But, nevertheless, he
wanted to keep hia old crony, Smith, with
btm for awhile. With men who were In
bis own class Jenks was fond of good
fellowship.
"But I'll tell you what. Smith," he finally
remarked. "It's all right. Wo can Bight a
venae! In a day or two, and we can put
you aboard by hook or crook. And I'll do
tf an fflad to, !f you'll give me your word
to take a cruise with mo the next time
I'm back at 'Frisco or Monroe. Monroe's
the htindiest, and I'll probably be back
there afore J expected to, an' you'n me
can tuko a trip an' have a time."
O'Keefe acquiesced, and It became a bar
gain. But for a day or two or three, no
sail hove In slsht. And when one did nt
last, the situation had changed to such a
greet extent that no one hailed It from
the "Sarah Margaret."
For there had come a sudden squall out
of a clear sky, and It was necessary for all
bands on tha "Surah Margaret" to turn
to nnd trim tho sail and oven clear the
decks. Fur a time even the "Sarah Mar
garet" found it necessary to drive along
under bare poles, so very fierce was the
feluat The squall Itself, did not last long,
however, but ita Indirect effect was fe.lt
aboard the "Sarah Margaret." And its
Indirect effect was internecine strife. And
It birrened In this wise:
It will be remembered that at the start
Billlngton O'Ketfo bad announced himself
by his true name. It will alo be remem
bered that be did not particularly insist
upon hia Identity because of fear that tha
captain 'might poasibly bold.iim for r.in
. sumo, or bleed hiui la some other manner.
JTe bad, therefore, been very careful to
hide any actual evidence of his Identity,
even though be had upon the second occa
sion reiterated that be was Blllington
O'Keefe,
Xmilngton O'Keefe an his life had been
CMed to more er less manual labor. In the
Klondike, wbea every shovelful dog out
of the banks at earth meant a small for
tune la Itself, perhaps, he had worked like
a beaver. And his methods of work were
like of those of mankind the world over;
he usually rolled up his sleeves, spat on
his hands and started In.
But ever since bis advent upon the
"Sarah Margaret'' he had been careful not
ment Then, making a sodden lunge, he
tore open tha stilrt of O'Keefe and gazed
upon his breast. There, also, waa a care
fully tattooed design.
"Hell an' biases!' shouted Captain
Jenks, "you're a damned impostor. You
ain't Constitutional Smith. Constitutional
Smith ain't got no marks like that. I
know Jut wbat he's got. He's got a dan
cing girl on his right arm and he's got his
initials, 'H. K.' Hezekiah. Smith on his
breast; that's what bo's got. An', by
George, you're an lmpoertor; that's what
you are. You ain't Constitutional Smith,
not by a derned sight Hay, Bullitt!" he
yelled to his mate.
Jenks o' the "Sarah Margaret" You're a
nice one, you are. Look at bis marks.
He ain't no Smith, an be knew it all the
time. Drank my good licker, by George;
smoked my tobacco, and ate my vittles
an' him a-sayln' that he was Constitutional
Smith. An' me a-fellin' him enough to put
Smith an me In the cooler, an' yon, too,
Bullitt, f'r ten'r fifteen year."
He drew away and spat viciously and
ominously upon his hands. Then he started
forward with a sudden spring. But ha
came to a full stop half way.
"Bullitt," he exclaimed, "I'll tell yoa
what. I ain't Just drunk enough to fight.
I see this feller's finish. But I'm a-goln
"BV
hiir s m r Offer
to observe one of these formalities. He
had worked, and he had with frequency
moistened his palms, blistered as they
were, in the old-time way. But be did
not roll up his sleeves.
But since the discovery by Captain Jenks
that he was Constitutional Smith, bis lot
had been so easy aboard the "Sarah Mar
garet" and his Identity so well established
and understood, that he had become easy
In bis mind and a bit more careless in
bis conduct.
And when the storm struck tha "Sarah
Margaret" and the captain and all hands
set themselves to work. Blllington O'Keefe
rolled up Jila shirt sleevea with, the rest
and sturted in.
After the storm abated tho captain
strolled over toward O'Keefe.
"Thunderin' big blow, Constitutional,
be remarked; "didn't last long, though."
He caught sight of the arm of Blllington
O'Keefe.
"Gee, Smith." he said, catchlrur hold of
It, "you haven't got the arm you used to
have. You got a good arm f'r a man o
your heavy build, but you haven't got the
arm you U3ed to have. But, by the lord,
what the hell Is thla "
He caught O'Keefe by both arms and
stood gazing at them. The arras were lib
erally ornamented with tattoo marks.
"What is this?" he repeated. Ho looked
first at the right arm and then at the
left and kept looking at each one in turn.
And Blllington O'Keefe knew then that
be had made the mistake of his life.
For on hia right arm in large, de.p blue
letters and in fancy scroll appeared the
one word, "Blllington." And upon the left
arm. with the rame amount of el-buratlcn,
appeared the word, "O'Keefe." The e were
the mark of Identity of the famuua Klon
dike king.
Tua captain gased at tbetu la &stc.nl;h-
TIIEN MAKING A SUDDEN I.UNUE HiS TORE OPEN THE SHIRT OB"
O'KEKKifi AND GAZED UfON HIS BREAST.
When Bullitt arrived Captain Jenks was
besidu himself with anger; he was once
more In a frenzy of rage. But he was
more deliberate thla time.
"Ilullltt," he yelled, "what do you think
of thla hero? Here thla son of a seacock
told me that he waa Constitutional
Smith "
' "I told you I was Blllington O'Keefe,"
protested the offender. "I told you time
and time again."
"You shut your mouth." exclaimed the
captain, lunging toward him; - "you ain't
got nothln' to say. Here's this fellow,
ICullltt. told me up an' dowa that he was
Constitutional Smithfooled me, by George
told me that to my face me, Captain
to do It up In style. I ain't gofn to be
In any hurry. You an" me, Bullitt baa got
to have some fun out o' this here thing.
I'm goln' to be scientific or nothln'. You
an me'll have a feast tonight all by our
selves. We'll get rarin', tearln' drunk.
It's goln' to be clear tonight, an' ca'm,
too, by the signs. We'll get drunk as
lords, an' then, by George. I ll tackle this
lyln' Impostor by the light of the moon.
We'll have a 5 o'clock tea. We'll do It all
deliberate."
He drew his flask and took a drink a
large one. Blllington O'Keefe stood silent.
He kept hia brain busy.
The captain grabbed him once more by
the arm with a firm grip. "Take holt of