"CAPTAIN SHEEN, ADVENTURER.”

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXVI, Issue 5294, 4 June 1904, Page 2

"CAPTAIN SHEEN, ADVENTURER.”

AX HISTORICAL ROMANCE OF XEV ZEALAND. (BY CHARLES OWEN.) CHARTER VII. (Continued). Coulh.hed’s yellow faeo paled, but lie showed no temper. Being an accomplished sailor ho know our latitude and longitude as well as Sheen or Morgan did'. Realising that tinder present conditions Rorl Jackson would be passed in a week at the outside, ho was making a last and desperate effort to gain his cuds. "It would mako little difference to the expedition to call at I'ort Jackson, Dan,” ho urged warmly. "It might mako a logger difference than you or 1 bargain for,” answered the Captain, dwelling on his words. "At anyralo I don't intend to mako that, a port of call, so that’s sculled, Martin. '.ll lO Captain closed tho discussion by rising qniekly and stamped up tho com-pauion-wav to the. deck, whither I followed him' direct ly I had finished breakfast, Conlished eyeing mo furtively. Coiilishod looked on mo as the Captain's tool and did not divulge any of his plans to mo. So far as that goes I was ono of Hie only two people on hoard ho had never approached with his confidences, a reticence which dated from the first night wo wero at sea. Tho rest of tho day following this stormy breakfast ho spent with the mate, a circumstance the Captain, laughing triumphantly, drew my attention to. .

“Ills last throw, Caspar,” lio said. "Poor fool! Tho last throw of the loaded dice. Morgan ’ll blab all that lie’s said to him in loss than half-an-lionr, and if it’s what I think it is Pll give tho treacherous skunk a lesson he won’t forgot. Tie's on a Ice shore, that’s what ho is.”

Tho Captain's eyes gleamed a threat from dark pent-house brows and his voice trembled with rago. After this he seldom, under any pretext, missed an opportunity of bullying Coulishod.' ‘■'Plot and counterplot,” ho continued indignantly; “ho couldn’t livo without it. Well, ho laughs loudest who laughs last, and by God 1 reckon I'll do that! You’ro a bolter-hearted lad, Caspar, but if you stick to mo I’ll make a man of you. You lay by ami keep your oyns open and your mouth, shut, that’s all.' With this insufficient explanation tin Captain loft mo. There was a storm brewing'in more senses than one. Down iii the west lay a low bank of clouds and ovory now and then the sea was ruffled by a rapidly growing hroezo. Tho wind began to lash tho sea into foam; with .ovory sail close hauled tho brig pitched heavily. By nightfall this had increased to u .gale. Despite the fury of tho elements, a brightness down on the ho'rizonprophosied that it was likely to provo only a passing squall. Wo spoko little during our evening meal, and when it was over I loft the cabin again for tho deck, loss from any sense of fear Ilian from a pleasurable pride in tho tight little craft that was bearing us over tiro, heaving sea, in tho teeth of tho storm. Tho Captain and Coullsbod remained below.

Tho night was wild and chill. Scudding, clouds raced each other across the darkening sky; the starsyWbro hid and there, was no moon ; tho rigging creaked as tiro gusts of wind strained at the sails, and tho wako of tho plunging ship gleamed with whirling masses of phosphorescent’ foam. Nothing was hoard save tho howhng of tho tempest. ■ For upwards of half an hour tho strange scene held mo spell-bound. At length thinking of turning in, I made tho com-pahion-way with difficulty, owing to tho pitching of tho vessel, when n cry reached my oars. Fearing from its note 01 terror something was amiss I dashed below.

There was Sheen, sitting at the table, a levelled pistol at full-cook in Ills uplifted hand, determination stamped on every feature, with Couhshod cowering haolc in his seat in utter helplessness, livid with abject fear and trembling all over. Kven as I rushed towards them. I fully expected the Captain to pull the trigger—-to «oe the flash of the pistol; to see his shivering victim roll from his seat a lifeless heap ; and high above the voices of the storm —above tho creaking timbers of the ship, to hoar tho piercing death cry.

“Sheen I” I cried. The Captain looked round at tho sound of my voice but did not lower tho weapon. Coulishod sat staring like oiw stupdied, chnmed to the diawu face, and eyes starting from his head. . The Captain showed no sign of flurry. , •'-Hallo, Caspar!” he said, coollv. ‘‘Como and sit down!” lie motioned me-to a seat beside him and once more turned his attention to the weapon in his 'hand. Never had a man, a calmer resolution, never such a cadousness to the .seriousness of murder. “Put ' down that pistol, Captain Sheen!” I demanded, with all tho foive I could muster.

Taking his eyes off Conlished for a moment, ho turned to me. I noticed there was a sinilo on his face, half surprise and half amusement. . .

‘ Are you commander hero?” he said v.ith no resentment in his voice. “If* a!! up; I’ve inn him down; I’m goiim to turn a broadside on and I moan to sink him.”

"Oh, no you don’t,” I answered firm ly-', Sheen raised his eyebrows.

“Another damned mutineer.” ha grumbled. ’

‘There can hardly bo a question ot mutiny among partners,” I urged, using the only argument that came’into iry mind.

“Oh, can’t there?” he asked, with the simplicity of a man who was learning an- interesting but unknown factT “What about the one who’s Captain and has the safety of the ship upon his shoulders during a voyage. Doesn't he rule, partners just as he does hands before the mast. Even the owner of r. ship has to acknowledge the Contain cock of the walk. That’s as good sea law as you’ll meet with in a day’s sail. - H< looked at mo with quizzical triumph in his eyes.

“Perhaps,” X said, for what other - only was possible; “still you are hardly justified in shooting a man m cold

Wood, yourself being both judge and jury. Put the pistol down, I say, before X call for help.” bring in such a mood it was a wonder h- did not turn the weapon against nu>. Ho playfully poked the barrel end in Cm lished’s white face, finding a cruel jo\ in the poor follow’s utter misery am! distress.

‘•lf you move a muscle. Caspar, that moment I make shark’s meat of him, it; exclaimed.

Then ho began slowly circling the muzzle round Coulished’s face, making it pitiful to see the wretched man’s eyes roll as they followed its motion. ‘•Look at him 1” sneered Sheen. ‘'The man that would raise a mutiny on my ship ; a bravo leader, ho! A leader lor bumbont women, not for men! Try v< bribe ray mate, would you, you swab? Try to bribe ray men —try to get the windward side of me? Go to hell with you! Do you think I can’t see through your little scheme. Hope me would you, oh? and rob mo of my share by gome' on tho treasure-hunt alouo? You lily-hvcrod skunk! Why tho blazes didn’t 1 plug you?” Ho clicked tho trigger after every sentence, which only intensified tho agonv of suspense. So" withering was tho Captain’s rage that Couhshod hung his head in silencA Tho tension was telling on mo, and as I stood almost within reach of the menacing pistol, I thought for ono mad i£pment of springing forward and grasping lira Captain’s arm. Then I remembered what sort of a man I had to deal with, ami that such an action would bo iho signal for him to fire. IV lint could I do? There was no way of saving the wrecked Coulisftod except by strategy. Prompted by the gravity of tho situation, I ventured to appeal to Ins reason, of which for the time his passion had bereft him. ‘■Why sit the ghost of murder on tho threshold of our enterprise?” I pleaded. “Why do you mak? So much of this dog’s life?” he growled back;- “ho wouldn’t care a hang about taking yours if it suited him.” ’ “Very likely,” I said, agreeing with him as tho best policy under tho circumstances, “but that makes no difference. Don’t stain our path to fortune with even guilty blood. It would only serve to make it more slippery than it is already. And there’s a fuller harvest to reap before his day is ended.” Sheen chuckled quietly to himself, an evidence that my -uggestions carried some weight. Ho did not, however, lay the pistol down, or for that matter oven lower the hammer. . “Do you think so, Caspar?” ho asked. “But,” with a laugh, “dead men tell no tales and tho fire of Hell’s-hot.” Coulished suffered tho keenest agony of suspense; his eyes wore fixed with a strained intentness on the murderous .weapon which at any moment might speed tho death-dealing bullet homo; his bony fingers gripped tho edge f the table as he leaned forward, as though attracted by some invisible magnet to his doom. ■ Opposite his, Sheen’s face, with a mocking smile playing; over it, formed a strong contrast.. His hold on tho pistol never yet for one moment relaxed. “If he’s so much to bo despised,” I said, “why trouble yourself whether ho lives or dies.”

Sheen continued to cover Coulished with the pistol, taking no notice of my question. "To do him justice I ought to have shot him years ago,” he growled. The uncertainty of liis manner was such thatqafc any moment,' I feared ho might carry out Ills deadly purpose. “Bor God’s sake, Dan,” cried Genii-, shod, speaking for the first time in a voice of pitiful entreaty, “have mercy i" " “Morey!” mimicked Sheen. “Have mercy! You 1 flint-hearted wretch,” he went on. “How dare yon spenlk of mercy? Did you over show it when mercy was in yonr hands and. would havo cost you nothing. No! Nevoy! ‘Dead men toll no tales’! What about that devil’s phrase of yours? Dead men ! There’s a bigger reckoning to bo paid. Y'ou closed yonr oars to tho try of the woman and child !”

“Damn yon I” Ji-o cried suddenly. “I'll let you oil this time, but you can take that tp remind you of my leniency.” Ho threw the pistol, full-cock as it was. straight at Conlished. It struck him in the month; the shock loosened tho trigger; there was a flash, and the' bullet smashed into the side of tho cabin just above my bunk. Coulishcd was yolhng with fear and pain, blood streamed from his mouth and Sheen sat in his chair beaming-with brutal and fiendish glee. For some moments ho indulged his revengeful vein; then, jumping to his foot, went on clock, whither I followed, him, first giving Coulishcd a stiff glass of grog and helping him into his bunk. Tho storm had passed; tho patch ol light visible earlier on tho horizon had ‘spread itself over tho sky; and once more tho stars shone dimly overhead. A filmy vapour hung about the brig; the sea heaved with a long slow swell. .“There’s something brewing, Caspar,” said the Captain,- with a nod to windward, as I reached him where ho stood in tho bows. “There’s wind or calm near, but I don’t know which. Calm, 1 fancy, perhaps a fog.” I was somewhat relieved at tho cheeriness. of tho . Captain’s tone after tho bother wo had had below. Ho .proved to bo right, for sure enough when we woke m the morning the brig lay becalmed, with drooping sails, enwrapped in tho heavy gloom of a mist "which soaked her from masthead to waterline. The dock was wet and slippery, and as for seeing, the keenest eye could not perceive a thing a ship’s length away. The sailors stood in groups upon the dock, tho moisture hanging in bonds on their rough guernseys. Wo lay idly rocking, the water gently lapping against tho brig’s sides and thorn was no hope of further progress until tho breeze should come. CHAPTER Till. The sameness of tho days which followed and tho prolonged inactivity, filled me with dire forebod.ngs. The dull, dreariness of the heavy curtains of grey ‘mist that enshrouded the brig, and the deadly calm which checked her motion, depressed our spirits and cast a gloom over us all. Stuck in the midst of tho wide ocean, tho winds asleep, unable to-soe or traverse the leagues that lay between us and our far-otf goal, wo were well nigh ready to give up in despair. What could we do but wait. Tho Captain, impatient as a thwarted child, cursed tho fate that robbed us of a wind. At times tho mist would shift, raising our hopes but never once did it lift during those seven long days so much that you could see half a cable’s length. After the fourth day wo became partly demoralised. The Captain had taken refuge m a sulk -. Coulished sat below fuddling himself with rum; one old salt came up to mo and volunteered tho cheering information that he had seen a fog that lasted for weeks, for which in my moodiness I was ungrateful enough not to thank him. I.ate on the seventh day wc hoard a sound to starboard that promised to relieve the tedionsness of the situation. It was tho

rattle cf a block upon a ship’s deck. X was standing by tho Captain, leaning over tho gunwale, and saw his start of alarm.. By some intuition Speoring flashed across my mind. “My God!” cried Sheen. “We've got a male here! Nothing above a whisper till we see what colours she carries!” He gave those orders to all tho crew, passing as silently as possible from one to tho other. The conversation ceased as every man peered into tlio mist .1 the direction of tho sound before meutionod and listened with great intentness. By this time we could hoar voices quite plainly. “Masqiiod women are dangerous, whatever they say,” whispered the Captain. which drew a suppressed laugh from the crow. Tiio stranger neared us till wo thought that we could almost see her, so distinct became the noises on her dock. Sho was evidently drifting our way. Tho Captain, quick to discover the fact, was filled with the gravest apprehension. At lust she approached so closely that the crow anxiously whispered among themselves, fearing tho possibility of a collision. As luck would have it this did not happen. Once, while waiting in suspense, I could havo sworn that. 1 saw a ship’s cufliiie-iu the fog, a delusion wholly conjured tip by tho excitement'of tho moment." At' last wo got her hearings by a question being asked in a tone of command that floated back to ns. It was clear she had passed and was already ahead. “Any lift in tho mist, Mr Troop?” I at ouco recognised tho voice of tho man 1 had tulked with in tho street at Bristol and looked at Sheen. Ho stood staring into the fog, the crow grouped about him in silence. By the lessening voices wo were .assured tho stranger .was outpacing us and wp breathed more freely. But our escape was not to bo so easily jofi’octed. Wo had not reckoned with Coulished. Ho had remained Wow in tho cabin all the day drinking, and had not shown himself on deck. His debauch had so deprived him of his senses that ho was utterly unconscious of tho danger we were in. At this moment ho tried to ,get on dock, clambering with difficulty up the companion. Beaching tho ton. ho steadied himself with both hands and looked around with bleary eyes. Sheen’s back was turned and for the moment ho did not sea him. Then Coulished, unwitting of tho situation, bogan to sing in his thin falsetto voice. (To bo Continued.)