The San Francisco Call. Newspaper, November 26, 1905, Page 2

RS LS LEGOOOTSEGLY g B & ¥ something t will warm the ¥ wleod and lift you out of the § { ¢ (O % With this story published to- ¥ day—*The Guss for Cubu’— R comumences a xeriex of thrilling £ sea stories by Cuttliffe Hyne, % detalling “The Adventures of % Captain Kettle” If you want < dead level of every-day com-~ monpla: don’t miss these stirring cxperiences of Captain Kettle. One complete story of adventure will appear every week in the Sunday Call until the series is finished. tirely Captain t's mixed up with said bar counter how the law Gedg with the rmeo w consigned to Havar A her at interfere will meet rine ht of 3 ¥'d get their a orfolk, Va., or else from Cardiff or New- seem This © ot was placed iong before.a ship was asked for smuggle out the arms. , anyway.” said Gedge irrita- you the maked truth, usual, looks unlikely, Now have you got s to make?’ Cantain Kettle, “none said Gedge. “Do you m. ter for that eruise, cry off They'll hang me if I'm caught,” sald ik big, and sct you clear. You » Englishman for Cuba. And, besides, your serew from fourteen so as to cov risk? However, you won't get « owll find everything ready 1 the rifles ashore; a to Havana and ordinary 1 there's pull the thipg then, captain, said Kettic, gloomily wife and fa afiord can't swallow. 1 to lose a ber s up somewhere 1 bring about uble Which of cour anger t salc Den’t taunt me wit quite & * said Cap- Kettie. “I quite e kind e 1 am; with a crew a her sct of | men at sea is st Mmeat and dfink t , and I'm bit- riy ashamed of the taste. Every time sit underneath minister in the apel here in South wamed ds 1 grow more } poetical k. and green fields, and golden harps, you'd indérstand Yes, yes,” egaid Gedge, “but 1 don't want any of your excellent minister's ser- momns at second-hand 8L now, cuptain, or any of wour own poetry, thanks. I'm very blisy. Good morning. Help yourself CLPCL. haul alongside the coal g0 at 2 o'clock ce you at 6. Gedge rang a clgar and And Mr was busily dletat before Kettle was clear of the offi The e sallor went down the 'stairs and into the stree ward the smel Tyn cigar rested mouth wed butt with his eyeteeth fates as he walked. Why him so evilly that he was forced berths like these? As a bac! told himself with a sneer, he would have jump t the excitement of it. - As the partner of Mrs. Kettle, and the father of her children, he would have shud- dered when he threw his eyes over the future For a week or so she could draw his half and live suniptuously at the rate of seven pounds a month. But afterward, if he got caught by some Spa war steamer with the ed 1 under “his hatches, and or h or imprisoned, or other- 1 income at Kettle be for wise debarred from earning his craft, where irs then? Would Gedge her? He drew the cigar from his spat contemptuously at the would do anything and idea ard affatr he T ¥ nish Government and the Cuban rebels were to firms who offered different rates of freigt the risk, and he emvloyed as carrier by those who d the higher price. If there was any wrong about the question, it troubled was was a purely private matter between Mr. and nis God. He, Owen Kettle, rsonal the business as the Sultan of Borneo herse he was age . mere cog in some complex machinery; and if he was earning heaven, it was plety Inelde the chapel ashore, and st by vrofessional exertions (in the in- terests cf an earthly employer) else- where He ferry across the fiithy Tyne and walked down alleys and squalid streets where coal dust formed the mud the air was sour with forelgn va- And a valked hé champed still at the unlit cigar and brooded over the angglarity of fate. But when he passed between the gates of the dock company's premises and exchanged words with the policeman on guard, a change came over him. He threw away the cigar stump, tightened his lips and left all thoughts of personal matters outside the door sill. He was Mr. Gedge's hired servant in was devoted to fur- the: ige's interests, and all the acid of his tongue was ready to spur on those who did the manual work on Gedge's hip. Within & minute of his arrival on her deck the Bultun of Borneo was belng unmoored from the bollards on the quay; within ten. her winches were clattering and bucking as they warped her across to the black, straddling coal shoots at the other side of the dock, and within half an hour the eargo was roating down her hatches es fast as the raiiway wag- cns on the grimy ftrestie overhead could disgorge. The balo of cosl dust made day into dusk; the grit of it filled every cranny and settied as an amorphous scum on the water of the dock, and laborers hired by the hour tolled at plecework pace through sheer terror at their employer. If his other failings could have -been eliminated this little skipper, with the red peaked beard, would certainly have been, from an owner's point of view, the best commander sallitg out of any English port. No man ever wrenched #uch a magnificent amount of work from his hands. But it was those other failings which kept him what he was, the pitiful knockabout shipmaster, lv- ing from hand to mouth, never certain of his berth from one month’s end to another That afternocn Captain Kettle signed on his crew, got them on board, and with the belp of his two mates kicked the majority of them into sobriety. He re- ceived a visit and final instructions from Mr. Gedge at ¢ o'clock, and by nightfall he had filled in his papers, warped out of dock, and stood anxiously on the bridge watehing the pilot as he took the steamboat down through the crowded shipping of the river. Hie wife stood under the glow of &n arc lamp on the dockhead and waved him good-by through the gloom. Captain Kettle roceived his first fright outside the A man-of-war's launch up out of the night, and the rdirg officer examined his papers ‘znd asied questions. The little captain, con- scious of having no contraband 6f war on board just then, was brutally rude, but [} * THE SAN FRA e naval officer remained stolid, and re- fused to s the ins which twere pitched at him. He had an unpalatable to perform: he quite sympathized Kettle's feel over the matter, ) his nch, thanking got back stars that affair had ended so with and he m the easily. But Kettle rang on his engines again with very unpleasant feelings. It was clear to him that the was 00z~ ing out somewhere; that the Sultan of Borneo was suspected; that his course to’ Cut be beset with many well-armed obstacles, and he forthwith magle his first ruge out of the long ‘suc- ion which were to follow. He had been instructed by Gedge to m off straight from the Tyne to a 2 p in the North Sea, where a 1t would_meet him to hand over the nment of smuggled arms. But he felt the night to be full of eéyes, and for a Havana-bound ship to leave the usual steam lane which leads to the English Channel was equivalent to a confession of her purpose from the out- secre ce set. So he took the paraliel rulers and penciled off on his chart the Stereo- typed course, which just clears Whithy Rock and Flamboro Head; and the Bul- tan of Borneo was held steadily along this, steaming at hier normal nine knots; and it was not till she was out of sight of land off Humber mouth, and the sea chanced to be desolate, that he star- boarded his helm and stood off for the ocean rendezvous. A hand on the foretopsail yard picked up the yacht out 6f the gray mists of dawn and by eight bells they were ly- ing hove-to in the trough, ‘with 100 yards of cold gray water tumbling be- them. The transshipment was in two lifeboats and Kettle went s and enjoyed an extravagant breakfast in the yacht's eabin. The talk was all upon the Cuban revolution. Carnforth, the yacht's owner, brimshed with it. “If you can run the blockade, cap- tain,” sald he, “and land these rifles and the Maxims and -the cartridges, they’ll be grateful enough.to put up a statue to you. The revolution will end in a gnap. The Spanish troops are half of them fever-ridden and all of them dis- couraged. With these guns you are carrying the patriots can shoot their enemies: over the edges of the island into the Caribbean Sea. And there is no reason why you shouyld get stopped. ‘fhere are filibustering expeditions fitted out every week from Key West and Tampa and the other Florida ports, and one or two have even started frem New York itself.” “But they haven't got through?” sug- gested Captain Kettle. “Not all of them,” Mr. Carnforth ad- mitted. “But then, you gee, they salled in schooners, and you have got stéam. Bsides, they started from the Btates, where the newspapers knew all about thém, and so thelr arrival was cabled on to Cuba ahead; and you have the advan- tage of salling from an English port.” “1 don't gee where the pull comes in,” sald Kettle, gloomily. “There isn't a blessed country on the face of the globe more interfering with her own people than England. A Yankee can do as he darn well pleases in the filibustering line; but if a Britisher makes a move that way the blessed law here stretches out twenty hands and plucks him back by the tail before he's half started. No, Mr. Carn- forth, I'm not gweet on the chancés. I'm a poor man, and this means a lot to me; that's why I'm anxious. You're rich; you only stand to lese the cost of the con- signment; and if that gets confiscated it won't mean much to you.” Carnforth grinned. “You pay my busi- ness qualities a poor compliment, captain. You can bet your life I had money down in hard cash before I stifred foot in the matter. The weapons and the ammuni- tion were paid for at 50 per cent above list prices, so as to cover the trouble of secrecy, and I got a Gharter for the yacht to bring the stuff out hete which would astonish you if you saw the figurés. No. I'm clear on the matter from this mo- ment, captain, but I'll not deny that I shall take an interest in your future ad- ventutes with the cargo. Help yourself to a cigarette.” “Then it seems to me,” sald Kettle acldly, “that you'll ieok at me just as a bare set on to run for your amuse- ment?"”’ 4 The yaclit owner la “You put st brutally,” he said, “‘but that's about the size of it. And if you want furtber truths, here’'s ome: I shouldn't particu- larly mind if you were caught.” -, “How's that?" L A ‘‘Because, my dear skipper, if the Span- ish captured this consignment the patriots would want another, and I should get the Jm_m’ ISCO SUNDAY CALL. [ order. Whereas, if you land the stuff safely it will see them through to the end of the war, and my chance of mak- ing further profif will be at an end.” “You have a very clear way of put- ting 1t,” said Captain Kettle. “Haven't 12 Which will you take, green chartreuse or yellow?” “And Mr. Gedge? Can you tell me, sir, how he stands over this business?" “Oh, you bet. Gedge knows when 4o come In out of the wet. He's got the old Sultan underwritten by the Insur- ance and by the Cuban agents up to double her value, and nothing would suit his books better than for a Span- ish cruiser to drop upon you.” Captain Kettle got up, reached for his cup and swung it aggressively on to one side of his head, “Very well,” he said, “that's your side of the question. Now hear mine. That cargo's going through, and those rebels or patriots, or whatever they are, shall have their guns if half the Spanish navy was there to try and stop me. You and Mr. Gedge have started about this business the wrong way. Treat me on the square and I'm a man a child might handle, but I'd not be driven by the Queen of England— no, not with the Emperor of Germany to help her.” look here, cdptain,” sald Carn- “don’t get your back up.” “T'll not trade with you,” Kettle. “You're a fool to your own inter- ests.” “I know it,” sald the sailor grimly. “I've known it all my life. If I'd not been that I'd not have found myself in such shady company as there |is here now.” “Look here, you rufflan, if you fnsult me I'll kick you out of this cabin and over the side Into your own boat.' “All right,” said Kettle, “start in,” Carnforth half rose from his séat and measured Captain Kettle with his eye. Apparently the serutiny impressed him, for he sank back to his seat again with an embarrassed laugh. “You are an ugly little devil,” he sala. “T'm all that,” sald Kettle. “And I'm not goingito play at rough and tumble with you here. Wé've neither of us anything to gain by it, and I've a lot to lose. I bélleve you'll run that cargo through now that you're put oh your mettle, but I guess there'll be trouble for somebody before it's dealt out to the patriot troops. Gad, I'd like to be somewhere on 'hand to watch you do it.” “I don't object to an audience,” said Kettle. “By Jove, I've half a mind to come with you." “You'd better not,” said the little satlor with glib contempt. “You're rot the sort that cares to risk his skin and I can’t be bothered with dead-head pas- sengers.” £ “That settles it,” said Carnforth, { replied “I'm - B coming With you to run that blockade; and If the chance comes, my cantanker- ous friend, I'll show you I ean be useful. Always supposing, that is, we don’t mur- der one andther before we get there.” A white mist shut the channel sea into a ring, and the air was nofsy with the srunts and screams of steamers’ sirens. ‘aptain Kettle was standing on the Sultan of Borneo's upper vbridge, with his hand on the engine-room telegraph, which was pointed at “full speed astern”; Carnforth and the old second mate stood with their chins over the top of the starboard dodger; and all three of them peered into the opalescent banks of the fog. They had reason for their anxiety. Not five minutes before a long lean tor- pedo catcher had raced up out of the thickness and slowed down alongside with the channel spindrift blowing over her low superstructure in white hail- storms. An officer on the upper bridge in glistening oflskins haa sent across a sharp -authoritative hail, and had been answered, "Sultan of ‘Borneo; Kettle master; from South Shields to the Ha- vana.” “What cargo?’ came the next ques- tion, “Coal.” “What?" “Coal.” ‘“Then Mr, Tyne Coal for the Havana, just heave to while I send away a boat to look at you. I fancy you will be the steamboat I'm sent to find and fetch back.” o The decks of the uncomfortable war- ship had hummed with men, a pdir of boat davits had swung outboard, and the boat had been armed and manned with naval nolse and quickness. But just then a billow of the fog had driven down upon them, blanketlike .in its thickness, which closed all human vision beyond the range of a dozen yards, and Captain Kettle jumped like a terrier on his opportunity. He sent his steamer hard astern with a slightly ported heim, and while the forpedo catcher's boat ‘was searching for him toward.the French shore, and sending vain halls into the White banks of the mist, he was circling slowly and sllently round toward the English coast. - So long as the mist held the Sultan of Borneo was as hard to find as a needle in a cargo of bay. Did the air clear for so much as a single instant she would be neticed and stand self- ‘confessed by her attempt to escape; and as a result the suspense was vivid enough to make Carnforth feel physical nausea. He had not reckoned -on this complication. He was quite prepared to risk capture in Cuban waters, where the glamor of ) and the dazzle of helping insurréetionists would cast a glow of romance over whatever occurred. But to be caught in the English Channel as a vulgar smuggler for the sake of commercial profit, and to be haled back A SlAEF A4 a different matter. He was a member of Parliament, and he understood these details in all their niceties. But Captain Kettle took the situation differently. The sight of the torpedo catcher stiffened all the doubt and limp- ness out of his composition, his eye brightened and his lips grew stiff; the seheming to escape acted on him like a tonie; and when an hour later the Sul- tan of Bormeo was steaming merrily down charinel at top speed through the same impeneétrable fog the lttle skipper whistled dance music on the upper bridge and caught the notion for a most pleasing sonnet. That evening the crew came aft in a state of mild mu- tiny, and Kettle attended to their needs with gusto. He prefated his remarks by a slight exhibition of marksmanship. He cut away the vane which showed dimly on the foretopmast truck with a single bul- let, and then, after dextrously reload- ing his revolver, lounged over the white rail of the upper bridge with the weapon in his hand. He told the malcontents he was giad of the opportunity to give them his views on matters generally. He n- formed them generally that for their personal wishes he cared not one decl- mal of a jot. He stated plainly that he Had got them on beard, and intended by !their help to carry out his owner's in- structions whether they hated them’ or not. And finally he gave them his can- daid assurance .nat If any cur among them presumed to disobey the least of his orders, he would shoot that man neatly through the head without further preamble. This elegant harangue did not go home to all hands at once. because being a British ship, the Sultan of Borneo's crew naturally spoke in five different languages, and few of them had even a working knowledge of English. But the look of Kettle's sav- age little face as he talked and the red torpedo beard which wagged beneath it conveyed to them the tone of his speech -and for a time they did not require a more accurate translation. They had come off big with the inten- tion of ‘forcing him (if necessary with violence) to run the steamer there and then into an English port; they went forward again like a pack ot sheep, merely because one man had let them hear the virulence’of. his bark ard had shown them with - what gecuracy he could bite If necessary. “And that's the beauty of a mongrel crew,” said Kettle complacently. “If they’'d been !9r hard labor in an English jall, was BEnglish I'd have had to shoot at l_euc - A Y AR AN N Y OFFICER ON JHE UFFEE BEIDGE. W GLIITENING QILSKINS AT I ACROITS HOEATIVE F4L, & B - two of the beasts to keep my end up like that.” “You're a marvel,” Carnforth admit- ted. “Fm a bit of a speaker myself, but I never heard a man with a gift of tongue like you have got.” “I am poisonous when I spread my- self,” said Kettle. “I wish 1 was clear of you,” sald Carnforth with an awkward laugh. “Whatever possessed me to leave the yacht and come on this cruise I can't think.” “Some pdople never do know when they're well oft,” sald Kettle. “Well sir, you'rs in for it now, and you may see things which will be of service to you afterward. You ought to make your mark in Parliament if you do get back from this trip. You'll have some- thing to talk about that men will like to listen to, instead of merely chatter- ing wind, which is what most of them are put to 8o far as I can see from the papers. And pow, sir, here’s the stew- ard come to tell us tea’s ready. You_ g go below and tuck in. Ill take mine on the bridge here. It won’t do for me to turn my back yet awhlile, or else those beasts forrard will jump on us the whole lot The voyage from that time onward was for Captain Kéttle a period of comstant It would not be true ta say that he never took off his clothes or never slept: but whether he was In pajefmas in the charthouse, or whether he was ‘sitting on an upturned ginger beer case under the shelter of one of the up- per bridge canvas dodgers, with his tired eyes shut and the red peaked beard upon his chest, he was always the same, he was ever ready to spring instantly upon the 'alert. One dark night an iron belaving pin flew out of the biackness of the fore- castle .and whizzed within an inch of his sleeping. head, But he roused so quickly that he was able to shoot the thrower through the shoulder before he could dive back agaln through the fore- castle door. And anothler time When a powdering gale had kept him on the bridge for forty-eight consecutive hours, and a deputation of the deck hands raid- ¢d him in the chartheuse on the supposi- tion that exhaustion would have laid him out in a dead sleep, he woke Wefore their fingers touched him, broke the faw of one with a camp stool and so maltreated the others with the same weapeon they were glad enough to run away even with the exasperating knowledge that they left their taskmaster undamaged be- hind them. So. although this all-nation crew of the