Ensign Merrill — page 64: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

al » - "*s « d 7 a * ba wo + » er so e Se, % a” - : eo © 3 ers . » < —_ © . ——. . om x whe 5 id ~* »A'e THE TRAITOR IS CAPTURED. Selah (ac: eeeeal tibck lamps had been brought from mie ae placed so their rays would fall upon the little group. There was not much light, but it was sufficient — to see that the prisoner’s face was pale and distorted by fear. He stood between the guards, secured by a rope which had been wound around his body and tied to the railing. Close by were the surgeon and Ned, while- Watson stood directly in front, holding a revolver ready for instant use. Crowded below, struggling to catch a elimpse of the scene, was the major portion of the crew, who, relieved from duty at the fire, had now been drawn to the bridge. Mark stopped in front of the fellow, and, holding a lantern close to his face, looked at him sternly for a moment. As stated before, it was the tall man with | the bushy whiskers—the man of Patrick’s story, and he whom the ensign had noticed that day in Shanghai, when the seven men discharged from an American bark had shipped on board the Badger. “There was truth in the Irishman’s explanation,”’ thought Merrill, but then bis mind reverted to the initials on the handkerchief, and he again scrutinized the prisoner’s countenance. What he saw there was not satisfying, but he dismissed the conjectures called forth by the memory, and proceeded with his investiga- tion. Turning to Watson, he asked for an explanation of the fight on the bridge. “Tl was standing just -in front of the sito house watching Mr. Gage start below with several men, when suddenly a bright light flashed up through the hale followed immediately by flames and a thick column of smoke. The first lieutenant jumped back just in time to escape being burned, and, turning to me, sung out to blow the fire signal on the fog whistle. I had already eyerved. back for that purpose, though, and was almost comicbooks.c o mn