Beadle's Dime Library No. 162 — page 10: what you’re looking at

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

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Mad Mariner. a a aE captain’s baggage, sir,” he said with a polite “So went my plans, and the result is your ps ar fearful danger. ‘* Allright, I see no reason why he should not ‘* A seaman, on one of the prizes you sent in, have his luggage; I’ll send it beluw to |.im.” reported the hanging of Leroy Townsend to “* Might | p.ease carry it, sir, as I have a mes- | the Commodore, and thus it went to the Navy sage for him from Lieutenaut Nevil?’ | Department. ‘Yes; here, Mr. Va:.ce, show this man down | ‘* This in itself would not have been so bad to Captain Gregory’s quarters, and tell the | but that you could have explained it away, guard to permit him to pass in with his bag- | had it not been that the wakeful housekeeper gage,” called out the officer of the deck to a | at the Hall saw me in the grounds, and went to young midy, the room of her raistress, believing it to be her ‘“Ay,ay, sir; this way, my man,” sung out | walking about in the moonlight, and almost the gay young middy, and he led the sailor be- | suffocated by the burning herb, bebeld Mrs, low. Townsend lying upon the bed, and dragged ber In a s'ate-room on the gun deck the unfortu- | out into the hail just in time to save her life. nate prisoner was seate|, one wrist stillin irons, ‘* Thus the secret came out of an attempt to and the chain attached to a heavy pun. kill her; the absence of the judge set on foot in- His head was drooped upon his breast, and he | quiry, and no stranger was found to be dying sat so still that one mig it think the monotonous | at the village tavern, and your vessel was dis- tread of the marine guard. before his door, | covered standing seaward with all speed. might have lulled him to sleep. ** Your sister accused you at once of instigat- But he waked up as the miady and sailor ap- | ing the murder of herself, and I was felt to be proached, and the latter said: your ally, and orders were issued for my ar- “Guard, permit this man to pass in with | rest, but the young sailor who rowed you out to Captain Gregory’s baggage, are ordersfrom the | the vessel heard all and came and warned me, officer of the deck.” and led me to a safe retreat. The guard saluted, and while the middy re- “The judge not being found, and my dis- tired, the sailor stepped within. appearance, convinced all that you had laila There was a battle lantern burning in the vias to ki?nap him and kill your sister, to hile state-room, and by its light the officer and the | the fearful secret, and at once she gave it to the sailor saw each other, and the form«r started, | world in all its sadness and shame, and sent a while involuntarily from his lips broke a sup- | full account to the Navy Department, adding pressed cry. that she felt her husband bad been taken off on “’*Sh—!” whispered thu sailor, placing bisfin- | your vessel to be put to death by you. ger upon his lips, and then sayicg aloud: ‘*Upon the top of all this, came your prize ** Lieutenant Nevil, sir, sent me on board | officer in with the pirate schooner you cap- with ated baggage, sir, and told mo to givo his | tured, and he was sent for and questioned, and compliments to you, sir, and say that himself | admitted that you had brought a prisoner on and the crew gave you their sympathy, and hoped to see you back all right.” s the strange sailor spoke he quietly slipped into the hands of the prisoner a letter, unseen by the guard. “I thank you, my lad, for bringing them; and the lieutenant for sending them; give my compliments to him.” **T will, sir, andI hope all will come right, . for you have friends ashore, if not on ship- “These statements settled the entire accusa- board, and they’ll serve you,” was the signifi- | tions against you, and you were to be arrested cant reply, and t'.e strange sailor looked into by any naval officer, wherever finding you, and the eyes of the officer in a way that ho could | placed in irons, to be tried and summarily not fail to understand bis meaning. dealt with. “Good-night, sir.” ‘** Knowing that I had to save you, for 1 alone * Good-night, my lad.” got you into your trouble, by wy silly action in The sailor turned and left the prisoner, and | trusting to smoke instead of steel, fo end the s20n after departed from the sloop-of-war., life of Grace Townsend, I determined to save Rapidly his oarsmen pulled back in the di- rection of the Arrow, until out of sight of the Dolphin’s deck in the darkness, and then the coxswain put his helm aport and headed di- rectly for the shore. ** You saw him?” asked the starboard oars- man, ‘* Yes, and gave him my letter.” ‘** Did he recognize you, Mrs.—” “Hold, Carl, and keep your wits about you,” was the stern interruption. ‘Pardon me; did he recognize you, Bond?” **Yes, and he knows that I will not let him die; now while 1 go up to the tavern, you and Maddocks drop in among the grog shops, and sea if you can hear any rumors whether he is to be taken to Washington for trial.” **Wewil!, and then join you,” answered Carl Carter; and tie pretended coxswain springing ashore, the gig rowed further up along the wharves, ‘*That was a bol game to plav on both ves- sels; but it was successful, and gives me hope that I may yet save my poor boy, for I brought all this trouble upon him.” So muttering, in a low carnest tone, the wo- man, Clarice Bond, disguised as a sailor, wend- ed her way up into the town to her boarding- place, there to plot aud plan the escape of her unfortunate son, Duke Gregory, over whom the shadow of death hung with all its horrors. CHAPTER XX. WHAT THE PRISONER FOUND. THe discovery which Duke Gregory had board when anchored near your home, and had bim hangad a few hours after, without allow- ing the gag to be removed from his mouth; a'so, when pressed, he admitted your holding an interview with the prisoner, and his calling loudly for help. ** Again, he remembered that you called bim Lanny In addressing him before he was swung 9) LLLP L LLL LLL LL LL LLL ALLL LLL LLL ttt — ou. “IT had saved up some money, and with it knew I could work well; and I engaged as m allies the same young sailor I havo spoken of, and another who aided him to kidnap the judge. ‘We went to Salem at night iu a shallop, and from there took passage for Boston, where we cauzht a vessel bound to Baltimore, as I felt sure yow would run your schooner in here, as you had said. ‘IT recognizod from an eminence, your vessel far down the bay, and got ready to act at once. ‘*T was already disguised as a sailor, but to rig out as man-o’-war’s men was short work, when I saw you conveyed on board the Dol- phin, and observing that you carried no bag- gage with you I took this excuse to see you. “One of the cases, the leather one, which I leave with you, contains a brace of pistols, a knife, keys to fit your irons, and files if they fail, a wire to lower yourself from the port with, and gloves to prevent your cutting your hands thereby. ‘There is, we have decided, that is my allies and I, but one life, the guard’s, between you and liberty, and the port cau be easily opened. “In the dead of night release yourself of the irons, ask the guard to approach you for some reasou, drive your knife to his heart, and then it isan easy matter to raise the port and lower yourself into the water by means of the wire. ‘‘We will hover near in a boat and pick you up. ‘* The tide will be running up, and the star- board side, on which you are, will be presented made regarding the strange sailor being none | to the Baltimore shore, so swim directly for the other than his mother in disguise, with her long | high point of land you See relieved against the ay hair cut short and dressed in man’s attire, | western sky, and we will be in your track. ad well nigh exposed the deception; but the ‘If you do not come to-night, we will be on warning of Clarice had checked the words on | hand each night, in fact, we wiil not desert you his lips and he had remained silent, but won- | until you are once more a free man, and esca dering what strange freok she was playing, and | will alone save you, as the Government will what bold game she was planning. | cut your career short with a rope. When she had gone and he was left alone, he ‘If you cannot live among honorable men, looked over his baggage, and at once discovered | when no fault of your own made you what you that there was something tbere that did not be- | are, you had better take your father’s advice, long to him, and become a Pore, It was a leather roll containing articles that ‘Tt is also the advice of your mother under wero quite heavy. existing circumstances,” Seeing that the guard would not intrude, he Such was the letter of the strange woman, turned bis back on him, and took from his breast | whose life had been so warped by the cruel act pocket the letter, which his disguised mother | of Neil Gregory, that she had become a perfect ad thrust into his hand, fiend. ys / lt had no address or signature, and was writ- After reading it, he said firmly: r. ten ina teminine hand, which, though he had| ‘No, I will bide my fate, be it the gallows. never seen his mother’s writing, he felt confi- dent was hers. ”* CHAPTER XXI. With strange emotion he read: ~_ A Seayon, ae d her alli _ “The best laid plans of mice and er promise Ularice nd and her alles Oft gang awry.’ Aah. 1 Carter and Maddocks were in their boat, / | hovering between the sloop-of-war Dolphin and the shore as soon as they left the vessel. But hoar after bour dragged wearily along and no sound came from the waters, no swim- mer was seen upon them. ‘Perhaps he can’t swim,” suggested Mad- docks. ‘* He was the best swimmer on the coast when be was only a boy of twelve,” answered the mother. ‘*He may have been discovered reading the letter, and thus caught he could not ecome,” again said Maddock-, who was somethirg of a croaker, unless things went immediately as he wanted them. * Nonsense; had my letter been seen we would have been captured hours ago, for it dis- tinctly stated we would be here. Maddocks ge zed uneasily around bim. ‘Perhaps he has suffered so much he is will- ing to die, to end his misery, and will not at- tempt to escape,” suggested Car) Carter. ‘* That may be, Car], for he isa stranye youth; is not that a dark object upon the water?’ and she pointed off about sixty feet. ~ Fos, it is, and it looks like a. man’s head, and comes toward us.” Nearer and nearer came the object, and all three of those in the boats felt their heorts throbbing with hope; but with a sigh the dis- guised woman sunk back, as Carl Carter said; " It is only a log the tide is carrying up with it And thus they continued their watch through the long hours of the night, and until the gray dawn stole over the waters, when they sadly headed their boat landward, and sought shelter in their bumble quarters, While the two men, utterly worn out with watching, sought rest, Clarice Bord left the house and went down to the shore, gazing out upon the harbor, and at the Dolphin, as she lay quietly upon the waters, At last she saw a boat put off the shore, and in it were several cflicers, She watched them land, saw one, a lieutenant, throw a piece of gold to the coxswain with which to treat his half-dozen oarsmen and walk away. A moment after, the coxswain walked away, Clarice Bond well knew, to get a bottle of grog and some fruit for the Jads, and swiftly she fol- lowed him. ‘‘ What’s the chance, sir, of getting a berth on board Uncle Sam’s fine sloop Dolphin?” she said politely, yet in an off-hand way, addressing the coxswain, as she overtook him. ‘*Ob! the chances are always good for a wowed seaman; do you want to ship?’ was the reply. fe Vve been off on a cruise in southern waters, under as pent a captain as ever trod a quar- ter-deck; but, poor gentleman, I fear he’s got to the end of his cable, and I don’t care to reshi A schooner, so thought I’d try the Dol- in. ‘* What schooner were you on?” “The Arrow.” ‘‘Ah! Captain Gregory’s.” "58, Or.” ‘*T expect, as you say, her commander has got to his cable’s end.” ‘Do you think they’ll hang him?’ ** Certain.” gies ‘ ‘‘ But can they prove all that is said against im.” ‘ Overything, r fellow.” - Yond say poor fellow, and those are my senti- ments, sir; sol beg you to come in end trya glass of spirits with me; we'll have breakfast, if you say so, and have time, for I haven’t had mine yet.” itis “Nor I, as some of the Luffs were invited ashore, to breakfast with friends this morning, and we came before grub was called; but tie senior Luff gave me a gold-piece to treat the lads with, as we had to wait a couple of hours or so. ‘“ Well, you’ve got time, so come in and we'll have a good breakfast, and, as I’m flush, I'll send the lads a good spread and a couple of bot- tles of grog myself.” ‘Why, you’re a prime fellow, and I will breakfast with you; what name do you cruise under, messmate?” said the delighted cox- swain, who saw in the treat of bis stranger friend, a chance to put in his own locker the gold-piece. ‘* Bond is my name, coxswain.” ‘‘And mine is Coxswain Roe, of the third cutter, and twenty years on blue water; where shall we go?” ‘‘In here is where I got supper last night, and ry feed well.” And into the balf saloon, half eating-house the two men went, and Clarice at once called for two brandies with mint in them, and a breakfast as good as could be gotten up. She felt, after her night on the water, and loss of rest, that she needed the liquor, and wished it to unloosen the tongue of the cox- Swain, so that she might learn all that had ned on the Dolphin, to prevent the escape of Duke Gregory, and discover if he had an ink- ling of what was to be done with the prisoner. EGOmicbooks com