United States or Marshall Islands ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Harding that he had been compelled to concoct this other scheme to obtain their assistance against Simms and Ward; then they could throw the three into irons and all would be lovely; but now that fool Ward had upset the whole thing by hitting upon this asinine fire hoax as an excuse for boarding the Lotus in force, and had further dampened Theriere's pet scheme by suggesting to Skipper Simms the danger of Theriere being recognized as they were boarding the Lotus and bringing suspicion upon them all immediately.
Theriere's words came back to her now as they had when she was struggling in the water after the wreck of the Halfmoon: "but, by George, I intend to go down fighting." Well, she could do no less. She could hear the movement of several persons in the next room now. The voices of women and children came to her distinctly.
Springing to Byrne's side she whipped Theriere's revolver from his belt, where it reposed about the fallen mucker's hips, and with it turned like a tigress upon the youth. "Quick!" she cried. "Tell them to go back that I shall kill you if they come closer."
Byrne called to his companions to close in, back to back, and thus, the gangster in advance, the three slowly fought their way toward the end of the narrow street and the jungle beyond. The mucker fought with his long sword in one hand and Theriere's revolver in the other hewing a way toward freedom for the two men whom he knew would take his love from him.
His voice broke, and two big tears rolled down the cheeks of "de toughest guy on de Wes' Side." Barbara Harding stepped to Theriere's side. "Good-bye, my friend," she said. "God will reward you for your friendship, your bravery, and your devotion. There must be a special honor roll in heaven for such noble men as you." Theriere smiled sadly.
Divine assures me that he, too, has been forced into this affair, but by threats of death rather than deception." The expression on Mr. Theriere's face was eloquent of sarcastic incredulity. "How about the note of introduction that I carried to your father from Mr. Divine?" asked Theriere. "He says that he was compelled to write it at the point of a revolver," replied the girl.
The duty which necessitated him acting in the capacity of Theriere's servant was about as distasteful to him as anything could be, and only served to add to his hatred for the inferior, who, in the bottom of his heart, he knew to be in every way, except upon the roster of the Halfmoon, his superior; but money can work wonders, and Divine's promise that the officers and crew of the Halfmoon would have a cool million United States dollars to divide among them in case of the success of the venture had quite effectually overcome any dislike which Mr.
Theriere's stock went up by leaps and bounds in the estimation of the sailors of the Halfmoon, for degraded though they were they could understand and appreciate physical courage of this sort, while to Barbara Harding the man's act seemed unparalleled in its utter disregard of the consequences of life and death to himself that it entailed.
"Lord help the deer that gets within range of this old gat of Theriere's, and you may not get even a mouthful I'm that hungry I'll probably eat it all, hoof, hide, and horns, before ever I get any of it back here to you." "You'd better not," laughed the girl. "Good-bye and good luck; but please don't go very far I shall be terribly lonely and frightened while you are away."
Theriere's words came back to him: "Good-bye, Byrne; take good care of Miss Harding," and his admission to the Frenchman during that last conversation with the dying man: " a week ago I guess I was a coward. Dere seems to be more'n one kind o' nerve I'm just a-learnin' of the right kind, I guess." He had been standing with eyes upon the ground, his heavy hand still gripping the girl's arm.
Word Of The Day