- , .- WEATMEfeBY CHESMET AUCK 6HT 1989. * THE CHAPTER I. THP. YKl.UlW M\M SI-ROT. Two iiirn Hut ami i-iiioked in a ninnll room in Sh.iftoe htnct llii-i.il It wag n niiii.lv room. Mini ll. roii^-h the pun- gent in. -us- of dup ii pluu. which one of tin-in wan mihikiiii.'. there htrnggled another and inure unpleasant odor, the luunty spirituous mm II of a badly kept oatoiny museum iliini.-ni ttkullti and mi IKHI-M littered the tallies. luomttroei- tics in wide moutli'-d bottle* jostled other Ntnffeil ami moldy monstrosities on the .-Ii- h . iinl a . HI;. if of bloated ser- peoUtwioed themselves into el i HIT knot* III a glara ca in one corner. And where there were none of these thingB there were books books everywhere even III thi- corners of tile dn-p nrinrliiiir in winch une of the men i lie of the nhip'1 pluK) wan sitting Their Hhurp edge* IM.I.I.- dimples iu the comfortable rniiinl MM uf Inn figure, bat he was excited, and if tin y hurt him be did not seem to noli. it Hi' wan a big num. red faced and heavy, and tin- hair growing in a cluM in;,! down over hi* wrists gave a sug- gestion of bnrly outdoor strength strangely incongruous io inch a room - tin-. MM drew*, which wan that of a c.i| run in the merchant service, bore out tin- appearance . f iin-oiigrnity I'rently he reniov.-d the pipe from In- in nth mid. leaning forwaid. tapped tin i.th-r niHii'i knee with the stem ' in we do it. doctor?" he axkrd arm ; .> "The gold mii-l lie tin re. ni-..uli of it to in:ike an Inith million- m -t likely The point in can We lay our hands on it 7' At thin t;iiestioM the other man roae friiin Inn chair and walked over to the gliiw c-aiie where ther| mi- were. For fully hve minute* bo w.it.m.l their low piirpoM-leiM contortions withont peaking Then h r. tun,. .1 to the ta- ble, reached for the tobacco jar and roller] him* If a thin and very tight i !.tt- Now. whether it wiutii.it I )r Tring did not ttbare Inn comrudH'i ex- dt. tin nt or that hiii leathery brown face wan too thickly wared with deep, permanent liuea to allow any panting motion to iiftVi-i bin expression it is imp, ip-ible. to suy. but the fact remain* that even Captain Nicholas Colt-pep- per* -.I'.l .r'n eye WHH iinatile to reuu Dything. whether of encouragement or the reverse, on the ibriveled. chartlike (ace of hia friend The doctor took a long pull at bii cigarette., drew the Hinoke deep down Into In* lungs and kept it there for hunt hnlf a minute.: then he N[Hike, and with each word the iinprioned -moke crept furtively in broken spurts from bin month and went to join forces with the heavy cloud* which the captain wa* blowing with impatient energy from ti- pip- ('iiptainColt'iM-pper. ir. yon nsk me whether we can rai-c tliat Spani-h gold (a w-h-,i" shipload of it. if your dory in triii i (rum when- it now lies, imhed- ili I -I- p in the i i./e of the Atlantic. I answer you tluit I don't know- T!IM captain had evidently expected i morn encouraging reply, mid the \ .1 i. ,11-, way in \\ huh lie hit nt his pipe ptem showed how nun li ha WIIH di.iap |IOllltl-l| "You've thiinght over what I told fun P' Maid he "Ye* I'vn thonght it over. " "And y.. ii don't think it i nil bodotie! Man. it .1 hound to lie, 11 nnlliou at least I And it'i< tin-re, I tell you. jut waiting |i,r 'ii to take it " "I don t go so fur auto Bay that it ran t In- done. " rrplied the doctor with une h. -.nation "It may be. I'nlepi p PIT it may lie. But Idou't like to com nut myself until I'm Mnre. " "Oh. come, tlmt'H tielter!" exclaimed the captain with returning animation "If yun Bay it's piwmblu at all, that'n fiioiiuh for me. If Dr. Tring say* a thing can l>e done, then Dr. Tring and i aptani < 'ole|m]iper between 'eui will do If "Umphl" eaid the doctor shortly "A million of gold or two million*, niaylw," went on the other, uiou;!>ing the Ing numbers as thoogb the very manner of aa>ing ihetu would make them higer "We nhall be able to do thing* with that. " "No donht. "HHid the doctor dryly, "if we get it, hut it M ems to me that If WR try we're more likely to lone the little wu have and our live*, too, per- tia|M "Hut the inaiiiiHi npt, doctor, the maniiiu-riptl" It's all down t'>re a* plain a* the rnle o the road at ca. " "Who was thin Nicholas Cnlepeppflr. in. I where did yon timl liin log?" "I found the log in a lumber client down at our idd fiirnihonm in De >n hire, and the Nich.il is ..h-peppc. who wrote it wan an iinccHtor of i.nne I \ expect," added tin uptain meditative h "I'm called aid r him in a way. a* ; inv name'* Nicholas too Hut, for the matter ' that, my griindfiither'ii name ' wan N ichohiH Them alway* IIAB been on in the family, yon *ea " "Anil thin Nicholas the Firat what Wan het' "Pirate." replied the captain ahortly "He doexu't aay no hiiuelf. of course ' ill- hinmelf an hooent buccaneer in i - I....- hut I expect pirate waa about i... real i/.u of it' Yes.' aaid the doctor "The law i. it so Hqueaminh in those days an it i- now I don't fancy yon m-i-d lie ii.ml that yon are doing an ni.|uMi<-- v.,.ir anci-ntor meuiorT Piracy wu* an eminently respectable calling in the 1 1 me of good Queen liens. ' ' "Of conrxe it was!" agreed Captain Colerepiier excitedly. "And. don't yoa ee, that's just what makes me M> cuck sure that the btorr in true I" Dr. Tring nodded, and. toying an- Fi-ntly with a human thigh bone which WUH lying on the table, nmoked for a little time in thoii^httul hilence. Cap- tain Coli-p.-pp, r iinauwhile fidgeted incexHatitly in the big chair, and with f nuibliug lingers cut another fill of plug and rammed it into hia pipe with .-.i ranch unnecessary violence that the shining black clay was in imminent danger of breaking under the strain. All of which i* merely an evidence that the captain'* agitation wa* overpower- ing, for he loved hia cutty, and would have grieved for a month if he bad broken it. HIM action in filling hia pipe was, however, apparently just MM nnconscioni a* the doctor'* in playing with the thigh bone, for when be bad done h did not light it, but laid it on thetaMe. and. renting hi* elbows on bis knee* and bin chin in bin hands, leaned for- ward and anzionnly watched his com- panion's face. Hin whole attitude be- tokened an excitement the auppreasioD of which waa actually painful. Dr. Tring'a face, bowevvr, betrayed nothing He might have been engaged in deciding what he wonld have for dinner, so utterly calm waa his expres- sion. It waa a terribly anxioui moment for the Milor. for on his friend'* de- ii rested everything. Excellent sea- man though be wan. Captain Colepepper knew well enough that without the other's assistance he could do nothing. He could fit out a nhip, it is true, and take her to the very spot where tin fralleon with all her precious freight bad foundered : that much he knew h could do. bat that waa nnt enough. And for the rest he relied absolutely on the scientific skill of bis friend Dr Tring If Dr. Tring said "No." then the Sp.ini-h gold iiiti-t stay where it WHS, and Captain Colepeppt-r wonld f pi ml his life in the sailing of ahlp* and die at last a bnuible merchant cap- Tht enptatn tpreail th icript out on the tulile. tain. If Dr. Tring raid "Yes," Captain Colepepper wonld cheerfully spend every penny ho bad in the world in fit- ting out a veaael in which to make the venture and would be content to die in the end a panper. if only be conld first have a fair shot at being millionaire. Meanwhile the nunpense was slowly driving him frantic. Ueada of perspira- tion were rolling unheeded down hi* nose and dropping on to hi* beard. At last he conld M: ml the strain of inac- tion no longer, and. throwing himself back in the chair, began, utterly un- conscious of what he was doing, to whi-per strange sailor oaths beneath bis breath. These turgid muttering* had the effect of rousing Dr Tring to speech: "Have yon got yonr respected ances- tor's log with yon?" he asked. For answer the captain produced the tained yellow Bheetn from hi* pocket and handed them across to hi* com- panion "Head it to me again," aaid the doc- tor "I want to get a clear grasp of all the details. " "The whole of Itt" "No. Only where he tells about th* plateship. " The captain spread the yellow mann- icript out on the table before him and read aa follow*: "From the log of Nicholan Colepep- per. Esq.. master of the snow [brigl Lucky Venture. "TiURHDAT, iij February, 1891. * "The night had been a thick ode. and mayhap our lookouts, being somewhat tired of their tn-k, had not betn overspry in their watch Three weeks of peering through the weather for a vessel that never heaves in sight dulls the frer.li glanccx of nny mariner's aye. and w* bad l,r, n h ing hove to or landing on and , il I'm the galleon for fiv* days over that time So when dawn sicklied over ' the wiitern. mid the great hip WM spied li.iv. i.n; iil.'ir; ^oi.d live mile* to windward I wai al lii-l nniid d to (boot the fcllnw i,n th i i vi-H for keeping inch Im ', ily watch, bat re- membering that v.i -'lonld presently need all the hiimU we could get I anointed him with a few shrewd blow* from a culker'a nialh t h ing handy, and set the watch to trim ..ml make sail, that we might gut ,,,! the pace out of on* tight little nnow of which she wa* ca pahle. "The Spaniard's lookout was smart enough. His sail trimmers were hard at work when first we espied him, so be must have known of our presence before we knew of hia Now, it is the custom of the yearly plat hip to sail only dur- ing the day and t, n main hove to dar- ing the night hours, but this fellow must have been under weigh all through the darkness, having been advertised of our snow'* presence, probably, and so from this departure from custom w* judged that be feared as. and oar lad* took heart accordingly. "A chase to windward i* always tedi- ous work, but as we sailed better and fa-ter on every point than the Span- iards, 'twas only a matter of time, and we conld tell the hour to a nicety when we should be able to bring them into action The thing that vexed some of my men was the disparity in number*. We bad been at sea, off and on, for two years, and had lost half our number through wounds, scurvy, calentnie- and other sickness, and so con Id muster but a poor t)3 all told, and many of them half disabled and brought scurvy rotten from their bunks by the rustle of prepa- ration. The don was a 1 , 000 ton galleon newly out of port, with all her comple- ment bale and sound, and with well nigh 500 men fit to carry arms. "Aa we rose her hull above the plain of ocean we saw it wan pierced for ord- nance innumerable, for pieces both great and small; but. though this was some- what discomforting, her lowness in th* water was such that fears weroswami>ed as they rose to the surface, for there wa* snrely yellow ballast enough in her holds to make us all rich men for life, even inpposing that none of us WM killed, and a* out of oar small 83 third, or perhaps a half, might lose th* number of their in ens during so hot an i; ;ngi n. nt a- f,- n- h. r, on w* were entering pr, iiuim-d to be, then wonld be the greater share for the sur- vivors. So all were eager for the cast of fortune's dice box. which might bring them their death or might render them independent of mariner's trafficking for the remainder of their natural live*. "The don was ablaze -with banner* and ancients [ensigns], and on the am- ple belly of her fon-coiirsfl was depicted the head of St. Catherine, her patron- eas. with all the gamin and embellish- ments of the master painter's art. Sin waa replete with carvings and gilding*, with high fore and after castles, with close quarter* ami with all the Spaninh devices for naval fortification, and in good Booth sbu was as brave a ship a* ever breasted Atlantic or lured honest English buccaneer to plunder "Thus far had I writ before we came within shot range Our fellows, a* i* alway* their wont, bad act a cask of trong ale abroach in the waist and were feasting and making tuerry, for fear lent the hap of war should tak* from them other opportunity of doing that siiine again. The don. seeing that bis heels were too dull to give us the lip. triced boarding nettings up to hi* lower yardarms, opened his ports and ran out the guns, and in fine made all ready for action. He waa willing enough to run had chance been given him to do so. but now that he was cornered bad no notion of yielding his treasure with- ont a battle, lint as this fell out as w* had anticipated we were in nowise di*- rnayed nor surprised, but cleared onr pipes with a loud voiced drinking song, worked round to windward of him and held on to within musket range with- ont throwing a shot. "The don had been burning powder for a good half hour before our cnlverin* and falconets hurtled back their me*- *agn. Indeed his great ordnance on both broadsides had been -pitting away at one and the same time, so that w* giiensed at the confusion that was raff- ing in his 'tween decks and took com- fort therefrom mightily, remembering that one small bull driven home is worth a dozen score of heavy one* which miss their bourne. Owing to th* closeness of onr approach, the don'* gunners conld not well depress the inni- rles of their pieces, by reason of th* narrowness of the gun ports; so that even the few shot whose direction wa* true bad too great elevation and whis- tled harmlessly over our mastheads or ang through the upper rigging, and save for a cheeaehole punched in th* main topsail and a lee fore topmast backstay shot in twain we were not whit the worse for his pelting when at length we began our own. "Having run up into such short rang* before I gave the word to fire, we hacked him through and through with our very first broadside, and the groans and yell* from bis 'tween decks told us that w* had made commendable slaughter, bat by this time the arqaebnsier* in hi* roundtop* had iteadied down to their work and war* browning my gnn crew* somewhat too cavalierly. 80 I bad* my fellows load up with bar and chain hot, knock oat some of their quoin* and have at the don'* rigging -for all their skin* were worth, which saint* th* galleon acknowledged by bowing to n* with hi* foremast head, which had been twice hit by a shot from my main deck culwin*. Roundtop and hsrp- Hhooters, foreyard and the great belly- ing course with its gaudy painting came down by the run; the galleon slid up head to wind, in spite of her tinio- neer's every effort, and we had her at onr mercy. "After this 1 ran ahead and in a erie of short tack* raked her with alternate broadsides, to which she conld hardly reply with a gun ; for her bow chasers were masked by the raffle of wreckage, and when any of her people sought to remove this they, too. were mown down by onr incessant fire. And Ii nl the fates permitted me to carry on tl.i- game of Iring txjwls. she innt per- t, in-e have yielded unconditionally "But when another half dozen broad- -idi -s mu-t have reduced her word was passed that the powder had run c,.n. [,! -tely out. for we had cnme into action with hut a poorly st. .eked magazine, out having found opportunity to re- plenish it of late. Forgetful of thi. v-.-t- h id ben burning the pn -cinns zrain.- with feverish haste, and the uriiii!;!]^ little powder nionlo-y who brought me fie tidings declared that there was not another tub left " 'Tif truly vexations when an hon- 'i< caneer finds himself in a strait l.ke this, but there was no help for it We could not get more powder by HUT wishing, and we could not firo shot without it We had naught therefore hut cold steel left to rely npon. but cold steel has laid many a Spaniard low at my hands (and will, pl-ase heaven In the like to many more). So. trust ing in that. I sang out. 'Up helm!' and cried for boarders. [To u,. I PARSON'S CLOTHE-- -. . in Ik, *ttl llr 111 .11 k >l>lr ItlMi Itl It l-h I ...... Hue even i nc \\lu-n In 1115 in I.i.inl-.i loil.ll u- 111. l.llllli.tiU .'|| ' 11 U.lltil'. JOU. 1 .ll'll Vl\ - i,e IS ,| tl.TH.\ 111,111. I - d.,ii I look 11." 1 ran iln\\ u il/i- .u. ., Ill , l.-imil II . : k- ions, all the while that tin- lui.il- l.nh was following my \\ itii glum ;. ,,K>. Uli.-i, I >.i\\ |, nil 1 loa,!- IIIU.IIHC fi>r pre.iiiiln v. II.- ,-d all in L:I.<'. . l,iil neither rs imr ' i he had on u red lie-. 1 look him up to m\ rooms, but I \\.is conscio.is ih.il I inil J,,M i.iM,- \\ilh lin l.inol.iil . . .tnd wiinltl iM-M-r n-j;iiiii it. .". In my cluli xiiioki'ig-riMiin one i when u couple ol persons in miit'u. a nautical fin-mi came in und down liCMile n> line oi m\ n lemls liski-ll U l|UfMlllll US 10 pill'MIII!! US pass. -liters, winch iinloosi-il On- sail- ors tonkin- II. ilenoiinceil |II--.OI,K (.ut sen) .11, il their ways in such plan I-'.imll-li as n-inimleil one of our army in II. in. I. r- and told stories not redounding to ileinal credit . At length h s tales liocainft so di- i iil,-d in ii, .ii'ii. i. and telling him tliii'. I kick'-d him gently. 1'i.n don't stop linn " suid one friend, who unluckily had noticed the man- oeuvre; "thiiunh we HI* parsons w* like to h.., i ih,. truth. imux-U. ther* is nothing \M- enjoy so much as stor- ies to tin.- tlisiiedit of the cloth." In the dre.ss ol I In- ehiirth clcrK}' of ^" or .'Id year* ugn there were subtle differences, which enl,lod one to de- cide at nrst M^ht whether the wear- er In-longed to the school of Puscy or \\n* a follow .-r of (say) Daniel Wilson. I beln-xc thrr* wa* once a time when th well set parson was accustomed to wear swallowr-ta.il* nil day long. If I re-member rightly, th Ue\ . Septimus Uardmg, Uie vw*t old precentor of llarchMter, alway* did. I used to know a clergyman, very recently dead, who, till within the last half elo/en years when Ml last dress coat got too old for scr- v ,- -never won- any nther kind of coat It need hardly he said he .-< hvper-e\ aniielii al. I hv noticed that in the matter of rents nnd trousers there is gelling to be a clw- tic.il !H\II\. >horl roam eM'ti in I on don an- <|iiili- usual, duu, I np- PHSI-, lo the leveling influence of the bicycle At the last Church Congress them was one parson who appuiired in cycling costume of black, except that his KI tickings were variegated and his cup t,io\vn As he wore a short surplice he "us quits a nmrki-d tig tire In the robed preclusion to chin, h. Not so long ago in llolborn, I saw an elderly rleru\mn I kn\v , habited in n cassock. t-rn\ely wali/- n, n by hiinsi-li to ihu niutic of a pia- no o tx. in. Me had aduiirutg a crowd around him that I thought it best not to speak. Afturward 1 found Hint there wu lu be a douce In con- nection with his church that night, and hearing the organ grinding out a wall/., thought it would he u -nod opportunity in practice his -t,-ps Tin cassock seemed to art in his Wa] a great den! Broad Churchmen il.i not can; whether their ties an- vhii-> or black, inileeil, 1 met on,- i n* - da\ who sporictl an up anil ilnwn collar nnd a lavfinlrr tie Thu Church Ca/etlr I "i. o( Three forlalleta. "No, m.v child, you cannot marry Ha- vonswootl flunks. " "Hut iiapa. what Is yonr objection to KMMI-?" "Mr child, ho is one of the most objec- tionable s,,, Liiists I PTT met" "A socialist, papa? Surely 700 are mistaken!" "No. I'm not. He actually demanded tn shine air we.dth with me!" "itiivie ilid that? Why, papa, what ii.l he s;n r* "lie sniil he wanted to be my eon In- t , ' M u i HUM IHU. ii -in HfKf. ll.i;..l tn ll<i>. n..,.,, wired I r,, I'rrlorla to \ % ork. N.-w York. Nov. (i. The Journal yeM. day piililishes lln; following -J ,, < I. I I I'retoria, .Nin . .'!. Five thousand BtMtl hM crosse<l l.lip Itiver, south of I ..idvsnnlh. tfnis cutting ofT While frtnii loli-nso. I jiilysmith willhirvig- nrii.s|\ aMacki-d to-iiiorni\\ , Satur- day, at il.iun from all .-ides. '1'ho ll,,,-!s hope 10 reduce l.adysmith n t!,, III-M few il.-- I Iluavy -Hi from Pretoria, to it's .ml In) '. -mi* now In Pretoria I. ill ,.!i a h.ir^e of i-nli.si ing men in ,! l.i^ht llors,. t,, *erv* an. mist the Tr.ll'SVaal. lie \\lll lie ire.ileil US *, |,ri-,.n-r of war nnd not tried for "n. Ml is rpnet .it .lohaiineoburg. Co- II-IIMI will n- lie attacked unless mull I, , nnd if the Doers aro torc.-il to re' ire in the near future from Natal it will l.e.-oiiie nwessary I., ii-sir,,\ \,-\\casilc. Dundee and rh.irle.siuwn. The general belief la v\lute will sally out and make ., il.ish for tin- south \n ninisnally lart'e proportion Of w nil-id. -tl Km-lish prisoners have died i-i Pretoria jail. liners lost :i2 killed and 60 w-iiiinl-il in the Karquhar Farm fight. Kr-n;i-r is in excellent health. I. el .1.. BrllUH i ,,r,-l, I li.-m. P. u is. Nin. (i l.'Kclair says that - -, I .,] s\.i.il 1,,'M-rnmi-nt has isauodj I, -it. -is of marque, and has already d many oilers of privateers, in- cliiiliti-^ a iiiiinlM-r o/ ship owner* in tin- I nit. -t Mi-- T ps corroborates the state* of The F.ii.nr that the Boer* h.i\.- di-i-uleil 10 employ privnt.ii-rs. -.- Month YValr* I ,,..,, There. '.ipe Tov.n, NO\ . ti. i|ii-iny,-d in Ir.iiisinission i The I'.ntish -rina- i,,rt Niin-viih arrivi-tl to-duy from Kiiejland, liringiiijr the New South - Lancers from Aldcrshot. Th) Ijincers on landing were enthusias- tically w-,-lcoiiii>tl by the municipal authorities and the populace. t > -I. in.- si,, n, ., ,| le -War. Ixjmlon, .N,,\. ii. Transports have jUSt I.eeli S.-i lln-ll for the Woolwich llowit.-cr Itnu.nle. which will behur- i|>c. The brigade ha* H'.udO rounds of tiv,-inch lyddite shells await i:iir it. According ta the estimates a sin-lo shell, falling Into a compact body, will kill :{ ( )0 men. t was demonstrated in the battle of Otndurman. which d.-strn-. -d the army of Khalifa Abdullah, that large numbers of I lervish.-s worn killed by sull. .cation, while hundreds of vult- ures- f,-ll upon the battlefield from the same cause K IM.I,. , i, . ,,, om ThBreday. Orange River. Cape Colony, Nov. 8 - tPclaj-etl in transmission.) Kimberley was safe on Wednesday nicht, but an nttnck was expected at any time A H.L., ,.., From Cab*. Havana, Nov. o. A regiment la in process of formation here, tho ser- vices of which, when its organiza- tion Is coinpk-tcd. will be onVred to* Britain against the Boer*. About 250 Americana arc aJrondy en- rolled on its lists, and many more are expected tu join. A former offi- cer of tho Chilian army is receiving applications for membership and ubacriptions for the eipupment of the regiment 3.000 Were OB Board. London. Niu. "1 Tin- sailing of transports for South Africa, loaded with tn.ps and supplies, continue*. The departure Saturday evening of the Killonan Castle, from Southamp- ton, excited special notice, as she ia the largest tron|,shi;, m the world and has more thaji a.ooo souls on board, with their kits and weapon* balloons, bridge pontoons, machine puns, ammunition, wagons and hun- dreds of tons of other military neces- saries The transport takes a maa- cot Kottt. presented to tho 1st Welah Kegiment hy M,. r Mai-sty the IJueen S.OOO Mrm I ..., I .,,!,, London. Nov. (i. The order for the mobilization of the militia calls out R.two men i n London alone. Among th.s- ,, r - several members of Parlia- ment. BAYONET POINTS IM.-u.-.i I> From n.. -r and Brltoa Over ,i Wide- I ,.,,, of I in i ii I .1 ,,,,,,, Several small detachments ij Eng- lish country yeomanry arc gouig out, Independent of tin- \\ar oiiu-e. to the aeat of war, on the chance of joining the Imp-rini Li-Jit Horse. Lord Lonsdule and L,.ui Harris, both yeo- manry officers, are aiding this move- ment . I be heavy losses among the British ollaers m Natal have led The Mili- tary Journal to suggest that the word be abolished, not only on ao- count of its uselessness but also be- cause its glitter attracts tho aim of an t-iiomy u nd indicates the officer. Cok-nso, which was evacuated by the British on Saturday, is the point where the railway from I adysnnth crosses the Ttigela Kiver. which t* now in flood. U is a small village miles from Inirlnui, where a bridge crosses the Tugela Kiver. In Thursday's artillery duel no damage, was done at Lady smith. On Tuesday the British prisoner* of the Boers at 1'retoria were engag- ed playing foot hall when Col. Moeller of the Hussar*, was being Interview- ed. Conimandant-Ocncral Joubert sen* word lo l-adysimth that Gen. Syi mons waa uuned with the fulleetl honors. 1