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es 6s BRAVE AND BOLD. So og
Van’ saw the’ kindly face, of the mate looking in at
him, and he hailed it with a sigh‘of relief.
“Tes all. right, young’ feller; ther captain has put ye-
under my ‘charge. Come on out of yer prison, an’ take
breakfast with me.
yer quarters in ther -forecastle.”
Glad enough to leave the dingy place, “Van clawed
- through the hole, and found himself i in’ a portion oi the
ship’s cabin.
The mate showed him where the water was, and the boy
took a good wash.
After this he felt much better. aa
A few minutes later the cook entered with a steaming
breakfast, the sight of which made Van's mouth water.
He had not realized that he’ was hungry until’ now,
and he ate as only a hungry mortal can.
Van's first meal aboard the Mary Newnan was. his |
‘best, as he found out afterward. -
The table the captain and mates ate from was s far dif-
ferent’from that of the forecastle.
When breakfast was over the. mate conducted ¢ our hero
to the forecastle, and pointed cut his bunk. to. him.
‘From that moment the rough part of Van Vincent's
life began.
~The crew, for the most, part, were a grimy, villainous-
looking: set.
~ But Van was built of the sort of material that never
flinches, and he took things” as they came- in a philosoph-
ical way.
Almost the first person he saw when he went on watch
for the first time was a sailor with a heavy red beard that
nearly concealed his face. -
Van at once judged this to be the person who, came
aboard the vessel in such a mysterious manner, and when
he. got the. opportunity, he. broached the subject to him.
The sailor acknowledged such to be the case, but evaded
all the quéstions the boy put to him.
Van sized him up pretty well, and made up. his mind
that the fellow was a villain of the first water.
About an hour after his brief conversation with, the
red- whiskered sailor,- Van saw him coiling a length of
rope.
To catch on to the way. it was done so neatly , he watched
him keenly.
Suddenly Van gave a start.
-He noticed that the man was minus a thumb, and that,
too, from his right hand: :
He thought of Doc- Clancy, his uncle’s murderer, but
said nothing.
What if this man was the scoundrel in 1 disguise?
CHAPTER IV.
ON -THE CONGO RIVER.
‘Van kept a good watch upon the red-whiskered sailor
during the voyage, and every day he became more and
more satisfied that he was no. other than Doe Clancy, alias
John Moreland.
At length the stormy Atlantic was ‘crossed; ‘and one
day, when the sun was so hot that it fairly melted the
pitch on her decks, the Mary Newman came to anchor
at the mouth of the Congo River, on the African coast. '
Lank Edwards, the mate, had been as good as we word, ;
After that youw vill have ter: take up ’
and had indeed’ been a friend to: our hero during: the
voyage.
Though Van did not like the life of a sailor any too
well, he got along fairly cnough, thinking all the while
that he would yet corner’the murderer of his uncle, and be-
the means of having him convey ed to. the United States
to. stand trial. /
As it was past noon when the ship came to anchor:
the captain concluded to wait till morning. before he pro-
ceeded ten miles up.the river to a trading station.
/ A canvas awning was stretched over the deck, and the
crew of the Mary Newman lay under this in a listless man-
ner, waiting for the sun to go, down so they could get
the cool breeze which invariably comes after ‘nightfall i in
_ that latitude.
Van. noticed that the red-whiskered sailor appeared to
be. very uneasy, and he concluded ta watch him closely.
The afternoon: passed and darkness came, and with it
the cooling breeze they so much desired.
Van was m the second watch, and, consequently, he
turned into his bunk soon, after. mess.
But it was so warm below decks that he could not sleep,
and after tossing: about for perhaps an hour, he went on
deck and crawled into a fold of the main iib, which made
a first-class hammock.
It was cool ‘and refreshing, and the.boy soon fell asleep.
He was awakened perhaps two hours later. by a wild
commotion on deck.
In the twinkling of an eye he dropped from the sail
‘and gazed about him.
A “heavy ‘smoke completely blinded him for a moment,
and then he knew what was the matter. :
The ship was on fire! ‘
Even as this fact occurred to. him, a bright column of
flame leaped from the forward hatch, and the tarred rig-
ging catching fire,. it seemed as if a hundred writhing,
fiery serpents were shooting skyward.
Under the supervision of the captain and mates the
sailors were trying manfully to subdue the flames, and
Van_ rushed forward and joined them.
But the fire kept on. increasing, and at the end of fifteen
minutes the captain saw it was “useless to attempt to save
the ship.
Reluctantly he gave the order to lower the boats, and
convey what could be saved of the cargo ashore. - :
Van ran into the forecastle to get the few things he f
possessed before the ship, syas abandoned.
As he reached his bunk a cry. of horror escaped his li ps.
By the light-of the blazing rigging he saw the body
of a man Iving in a pool of blood i in the bunk he had so
lately occupied. |
“Great heavens!” exclaimed the boy, “this is the work
of the red-whiskered sailor, and I firmly believe he mis-
took this man for me. Poor. fellow.! he no doubt crawled
in my bunk after I left it, thinking it was cooler there. I
‘am now. sure the man. with the ‘thumbless hand is Doe
Clancy.”
\, But there was no time for any further speculation, and
Van knew this well.
Seizing his little bundle, he dashed up the companion
way, and 1 ran to assist the crew in loading the boats.
One of these was missing, as well as ‘twe of the crew,
and the captain was at a loss to understand it,