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mate to Wrecker Morton, of
whom ye may have heard."
I shook my head.
"Then ye have missed hearing
of the greatest scoundrel that
ever walked on two legs, and yet
gave up his wickedness, "which he
loved, for the sake of two bonny
bue eyes, and a rope of golden
-'hair. ' "
"sA.s I say, I was matt to him
to my shame be It said and we
were pearling in British waters,
where we had no legal jior moral
'right to be pearling, and fpr
which a gunboat; was liable to
blow us oit of the water if it
cbuld get pear enough.
"And a poor season "we were
making of it It seemed like there
Wasn't a pearl to 1P,000 oysters in
the place where we were left un
disturbed, and th,ere was' a British
gunboat sqoqpin' arpund wher
ever the haul was good.
""'One nighti after we had h'a'd
tof cram o.n all sail and ruu from
about the twentieth bjotch of
smoke that spelled gunboat.
Wrecker, Morton began to pace
up and .down the after deck, with
a' cigar tiltfed ou of the copier of
his iriouth,' brewing devilment,tas
I, who knew the signs, was well
aware.
'Suddenly he stopped m front
,of me. , ,
u Donohue,' he says, sharp
like, fye ha heard o' the station
on Tamakeetche?'
f "Taraakee&he, I may tell you,
is" an island in the Sandwich
group, which belongs tp ihe Bri
tish, and the station that used to
be there, vras a pearl istation,, J
oyer,
where the British: cached their
pearls till the end of the' seasonv
" 'I haye,' said I to Wrecker
Morton.
' " 'The seas'on is about
says he, 'a"n' the pearls there will
be plentiful as Salmon roe in tfie
Columbia.'
" fThey will said I, 'an' much
good they will do us
f' "Donahue," says Wrecker, in
a, quiet voice, 1 will lay you 20 to
1 that there is not a gunboat in
Tamakeetche harbor, nor more
"than two men on guard over the
pearls.'
" 'You cannot bet with' me
says .1 1 am riot a betting man,
and besides! knowthere is nejv
er a. gunboat at Tamakeetche un
HI the end of itp season They're
all on thegrounds lookin' out for
fche lUqesof us.'
" Then we'll go to TamaHeet
phe, an gather in the harvest,'
says Wrecker, as cool as if he
were sayin' he'd shave before din .
ner. . ,
'"I s. tared at him. with -my eyes
sticking out of my,head.
"'Are you. cray?' Tasked
'They'll, turn "the whole- British
navjr after you, if you touch Ta
makeetche statipn
" 'Maybe they will,' says he
'butjirst we'll get the pearls, and
then wprry about the British
navy.'
"I said no more. 1Twas as
much use arguing "with Wrecker
Morton as with the ship's anchor,
and more unsafe
"So that night, our course was
set for Tamakeetche-.
"We drew in sight df.it on the
IK-
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