Argosy, Vol. 1 (December 9, 1882) — page 76: what you’re looking at

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

THE FET'TERS OF IGNACIO. 69 tion of a cap above the face. The match was blown out, and the only light left was the tiny spark which glowed as the smoker puffed away contentedly. Crenshawe got down on all fours and crept on further. He was presently near enough to make cut several objects on the forward deck of the steamer, ‘and after his inspection had satisfied him he returned to his companions. “ Boys,” he said, “that steamer is a Spanish gunboat. There is one officer on duty. The others may be the men whom we saw going towards the mansion, and there are doubtless several of the crew on board. We will make a rush altogether and capture her.” “ What,” gasped the boatswain, “ capture a government vessel? ” “We have got to do it,” said Crenshawe. “ Nothing can be worse than staying here. Bos’n, have a couple of your men ready to cast off the lines, while the rest of us board the craft, overpower the officer, and get con- trol of the engine.” The boatswain needed a little persuasion to induce him to take a hand in this venture, and a few minutes therefore had to be spent in explaining to him the situation. Once he and his comrades understood it, they were as willing to make-this bold dash for liberty as were Crenshawe and Edwardes. Led by the American, the entire party reached the stringpiece on the pier opposite the sailing vessel without being observed, and then they went as noiselessly as possible down the narrow walk to the end of the wharf. The spark glowing at the end of a cigarette showed them that the officer was still on the forward deck, wholly unsuspicious of impending attack. He was not aware that anybody was on the pier until the attacking party had come to the very end. Then he stood up and remarked in Spanish: “You have returned early, sefior.”’ “ Now, boys, cast off in a hurry,” exclaimed Crenshawe, leaping across the short space that intervened between the pier end and the steamer’s deck. The Spanish officer, perceiving something hostile in this movement, at- tempted to draw his sword. At the same time he began to shout a command, but also at the same time Crenshawe’s hand closed over his mouth, so that no intelligible word was uttered before he was borne to the deck. “ Find a rope, Tony, and tie this man’s legs together.” Edwardes, seeing that Crenshawe was wholly equal to the task he had undertaken, leaped to the wheelhouse. Nobody was in it. The Englishman promptly reached for the signal to the engine room and pulled it. He gave what an English engineer would understand as the signal to go ahead, hoping that the man in th- engine room of this craft would so comprehend it. Meantime there was a great clattering of steps over the deck of the boat, and a moment or two in which there were the sounds of excited voices. Then one of the American sailors put his head in at the wheelhouse. “If you are all ready, sir,” he said, “ the bos’n has charge of the engine room, and he says with his compliments, sir, that he will have the machinery started.” | “ Tell him he can’t be too soon about it,” returned Edwardes. The sailor withdrew, and the next moment Crenshawe appeared. “I have got the officer fixed,” he said, “ so he can’t move.” GOGO CO