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Faf* Tm •X1™ Her crew was orderly and tractable. There were shore drunks, to be sure, because they were sailors but they were at work. They moved about briskly, lor they were on the point of calling for the Bahamas—perhaps for more onions. Presently the wlndlais creaked and shrilled, and the blobby links, much In need of tar paint, red as flsh gills, clattered down Into the how. Sometimes they painted the chain as It came over but paint waa oostly, and this was done only whea the anchor threatened to stay on the bottom. There waa a sailor among this crow, and went by the name of Store Blossom and he was one of his kind. A «mhedime my novel protruded raUsbly his hip pocket, and his right cheek was swoUen as with tho tooth dne, probably, to a. generous *chaw" of Seaman's Dflight He was real tobacco chewer, foFhe rarely spat He wasltf peaceful as a bagfe summer non-argumenta yre and piaslfr Jie stood his watch to falf^ather No on attention after If dOBo to reat. Tbe great city oyer the way was fglry-ltke' fn Its hailneSr and softened UnSJT Tt pas poetrjr of angles, ot shafts i®i fg$ pMn, bating a liaon\§nt toTiimstrtfj leaned against tEe nil and stared re gretfully. He had been generously drunk tbe night before, and It waa pleasant recollection. Chahte led his glance to trail down the cutwater. His peck stretched from his collar like a turtle's from its shell. "Well, ril be hornswoggled!" be ynurmured, shifting his cud from star board to port. Caught on the fluke of the anchor was the strangest looking box he had fver laid ayes on. There were leather and steel bands and diamond-shaped Ivory and mother of pearl, and it hung Jauntily on the point of tbe rusty fluke Anybody would be hornswoggled to glimpse such a droll jest of fate. On the fluke of the old mudhook, by a hair, you might say. In all the wild sea yarns he had ever read or heard there was nothing to mateh this. Treasure! 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Diamonds and rubles and pearls and old Spanish gold all bang lng to the fluke of the anchor. "Hornswoggled!" In a kind of awe some whisper this time. "An' we aheadln' for th' Bahamas!" For under his feet he could hear the rhythm of engines. "What'U I do? If I leave It, some one elsell see it" He scratched his chin perplexedly and the cud went back to starboard. "1 got it!" He took off his coat and carefully dropped it down over the mysterious box. It was growing darker and dark* er all the time, and shortly neither coat nor anchor would be visible with out close scrutiny. Treasure: greed, cupidity, crime. Steve saw only the treasure and not its camp followers. What did they call theadf—doubloons and pleces-of-eight? He ate his supper with his mesa mates, and he ate heartily as usuaL It would bare taken something mors vital than mere treasure to disturb Steve Blossom's appetite. jie was one of Ul9*£ £,1Tl*hlelndividuairwhosl Imagination jnft j»ftriy juices^ work timeT And wSfie he* ate pTanned. In the first lace, he tirould buy that home at Bedford then he would take over the Qlison hous? and live like a l«d. If HTfKKda drink, all be would have to do would jo turn the spigot or tip a bottle &nd more than that, hei'd have a bar tender to do it. Onions! He swore fea "frould not have a^f^ioa within a a S?, bo The Master Villain and Hie Adviser. mile of the Oilsen house. "Onions!" Quite unconsciously he spoke this word aloud. "Huh? Well, if ye don't like onions, find a hooker that packs violets in ber hold," was the cheerful advice of the man at Steve's elbow. "Who's talkln' t' you?" grunted Store. "Wha' did I say?" "Onions, ye lubber! Don't we know whut onions Is? Ain't we smelt 'em ao long that ye could stick yer nose In th' starboard light an' never smell kerosene? Onions! Pass th' cawffy." Steve helped himself first. The man who spoke bunked over him, and they were not on the best of terms. There was no real reason for this frank antagonism simply, they Mid not splice any more effectually than cotton rope and hemp splice. Sailors are moody and superstitious at least they genera ally are on hookers of the "Captain Manners" breed. Steve was supersti tious and Jim Dunkers was moody and had no thumb on his left hand. Steve hated the sight of that red nubbin. He was quite certain that it had been a whole thumb once, on the way to gouge out somebody's eye, and had Inadvertently connected with some body's teeth. Spanish doubloons and pearls and diamonds and rubies! It was mighty hard not to say these words out loud, too blare them into the sullen faces grouped around the table. He was off watch till midnight and he was won dering if he could get the box without attracting the attention of the lookout, who had a devilish keen eye for every thing that stirred on deck or on water. Well, he would have to risk it but he would wait till full darkness had fallen over the sea and the lookout would be compelled to keep his eyes off the deck. The boys wanted him to play -wire- mm ......... t. I I S il» \L" cards. "Not for me. Busted. How long d* y' thing |40 '11 last In Now York, any how t" And he stalked out of the fore castle and went down Into the waist to enjoy his evening pipe, all tha while keeping a weather eye forward, |at the ratty old pilot house. It was ten o'clock, land time, whea be rammed his cutty Into a pocket and resolutely walked forward. If fcny one watched him they would think he was only looking down tho cut water. The thought of money and the pleasures it will buy makes cun ning the stupidest of dolts and Steve was ordinarily a dolt. But tonight his brain was keen enough for all pur poses. It was a haxardous Job to get the box off the fluke without letting It slip back into the sea. Steve, how ever, accomplished the feat, climbed back on the rail and sat down, wait ing. A quarter of an hour passed. No one had seen him. With his coat se curely wrapped about his precloua find he made for the forecastle. His mates, save those who were doing their watch, were all In their bunks. An oil lamp dimly Illuminated the for ward partition. Steve's bunk was al most In darkness. Very deftly he rolled back the bedding and secreted the box under his pillows, and then stretched himself out with the pre* tense of snoosing till the bell called him to duty. He was rich and the moment a man has money he has troubles there Is always some one who wanta to take it away from you. His bunk was on the port side, and there waa plenty of hiding space between the Iron plates and ue wooden partition. He lntented to loosen three or four planks, and then when the time came, slip the box behind them. Some tima .during the morning the forecastle would be empty, and then would bo his time. But he suffered the agonies of dam*" nation during the four hours' watch. Supposing some fool should go rum maging about his bunk and dtldove? the box? g»£B9«e But he dared not8\Hpoaej J&exg w^s nothing to do out Wall. If he created any curiosity Sl&ovi stiis He would have to divide with them all, from the captain down to the cook's W. IT was a heart-rending thought From being the most open and frank man aboard, he became the most cun ning. From being a man without 1 enemies, he saw an enemy even in his shadow. At four o'clock he turned in and slept like a log. In thek. morning he found his oppoiv tunity. For half an hour the forecastle was empty of all save himself. Fever ishly he pried back the boards, found the brace beam, and gently laid tbe box there. It was a migbty curious looking box. Once he had stoked up the Chinese coast from the Philip pines, and he judged it to be Chinese in origin. He tried to pry open the cover and feast his eyes upon the treasure but under the leather and ivory and mother of pearl was imper vious steel. It would take an ax or a crowbar to stir that lid. He sighed. He replaced the boards, and became to all appearances bis stolid self again. But all the way down to the Baha mas he was moody, and when he an swered any questions it was with words spoken testily and Jerkily. "I know whut's th' matter," said Dunkers. "He's in love." "Shut your mouth!" "Didn't I tell yuh?" laughed the tan talizer, dancing toward the compan ionway. "Steve's in love, 'r he didn't git drunk enough on shore t' satisfy his whale's belly!" A boot thudded spitefully against the door jamb. "You fellahs let me alone, 'r I'll bash in a couple o' heads!" "O, yuh will, will yuh?" cried Dunk ers from the deck. "If yuh want a little exercise, yuh can begin on me, yuh moonsick swab! Whut's th' matter with yuh, anyhow? Where'd yuh git this grouch? Whut've we done t' yuh? Huh?" "You keep out o' my way, that'a all. Tm mlndin' my watches, an' don't ask no odds of you duffers. What If I have WILLISTON GBAPBC A y]S$£Wr'- a grouch? "Bit any o* your~busIneeat All right. When wo step ashoro at th' Bahama, Mister Jim Dunkers, I'll tear the ropes out o' your pulley blocks. But till we git there, you t* th' upper bunk an' me t' mine." "Leave th' ol' grouch alone, Jim. Th' mate won't stand for no serappin' aboard. We'll have th' thing done right In th' custom sheds. We'll have a finish fight, Queensberry rules, an' may th' best man win." "I'm wlllin'," said Jim. "So'm I," agreed Steve. But his In tentions were not honorable. He pro posed to desert before any fight took place. Not that he was physically afraid no he wanted to dig his hands deep into those doubloons and pleces-of-elght. So the four days down passed other wise uneventfully, amid paint pots and iron rust and three meals a day of pork, onion soup, potatoes, and strong, bitter coffee. The winds became light and balmy and the sea blue and gen tle. The men went about in their undershirts and dungarees, barefooted. Of course the coming fight was the inaln topic of conversation, it prom ised to be a rattling good scrap, for both men were evenly matched, and both had a "kick" in either hand. Even the captain took a mild Interest in the affair. He was aa old sailor. He knew that there was no such word as arbi tration In a sailor's vocabulary his disputes could be settled only la one planner, by his calloused fists. When the old mudhook (and soma day Steve was going to buy It and hang it over tbe entrance of the Gil son house) slithered down Into the smiling waters of the bay, Steve con cluded that discretion was tbe better part of vaIo£ H£ jrould steal ashoro on the quarantine tug^yhich lay aloof plde. He was willing fight under grdlnary circumstances, bu^.^o must get tliTBSSure In safety flrsC Xfcej? could call him a welcher if they wanted to devil a bit did he care. So hie pried back the boards of his bunk wall, took out the box, eyed It fondly, and noted lor tho first time the let teringonttT STANLEY HARGREAVE. He'wrinkled his brow in the effort to recall a pirate by this name, but was unsuccessful. No matter. He hugged the box under his coat and made for the gangway, and inadver tently ran into his enemy. Dunkers caught a bit of the box peeping from under the coat "What 'a' yuh got there?" he den manded'tyypilentl^ "None o' your damn business! lemme by hear me?" "Ain't none o' my business, huh? Where'd yuh git a box like that? Steal it? By cripes, I'm goin' t' have a loofe at that box, my hearty. It don't amell like honest onions." "You lemme by!" breathed Steve, with murder in his heart. You Suddenly the two men closed, surged back and forth, one determined to take and the other to hold this mys terious box. Dunkers struggled to up fertA Us word: not that he really £ez *kt to prove thgt he was strong "SnoiigK to take" it if he wanted to. The name on the bos flashed and disappeared. It was a kind of shock to him. He and Blossom went battering against the rail. DunkerB1 grip slipped and so did Blossom's. The result was that the box was catapulted into the sea. With an agonizing cry, Blossom leaned far over. He saw the box oscillate for a moment, then sink gracefully in a zigzag course, down through the blue waters. Fainter and fainter it grew, and at last vanished. "I'm sorry, Steve but yuh wouldn't let me look at it," said Dunkers, con tritely. "Damn you I'm goin't' kill y' for that!" It became a real fight this time, fist and foot, tooth and nail one mad with the lust to kill and the other desper ately intent on living. It was one of those contests in which honor and fair play have no part. But for the timely arrival of the captain and some (Continued on page 12) Use Graphic Want Ads. & i*vM Id to I Old HICKORY COAL The Huaebye & Ellithorpe Mine RYGG The Tailor guarantees satisfaction, as he employs only experienced workmen. Our patrons are our boosters. Phone 14 Williston, N. Dak. USE GRAPHIC WANT ADS. &»«.•: jm 4 1 The Northwestern Fuel Co. First Avenue East—Just South of City Scales. Williston, North Dakota Thursday, Nwmbir 5, ttli AHEquestionsome «A hmM icaclfp/ times is asked, "Why 4^ don't you perfume Ivory Soap for bath and toilet pur poses?" Our reply is this: "We think that the delightful, natural odor of the high grade materials we use should not be concealed by a stronger, artificial per fume. We think Ivory's natural odor is more pleasing than any perfume. It is a fragrance that suggests purity and cleanliness, a fragrance that people like from the beginning and never tire of." 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