he locked it and returned it to its' place. ' Then he carefully retied
the key on its silken string and placed the corpse in a reclining
position on its side. Then with great care he drew the knife from
the gaping wound and cleaned it with a rag of sail cloth taken
from the chest. This rag he burned in the grate and scattered
the ashes. Then from the inexhaustible contents of the oak chest
he brought out an Italian stilletto. This he twirled in the pool of
blood on the floor until it was reeking, and then dropped it care
lessly, yet methodically, by the side of the dead captain, near his
outstretched right arm. Then, as though satisfied with his work,
lie gave a glance about the room and disappeared through the
yawning blackness of the window, which he let fall noiselessly
into place behind him. But he had forgotten one thing Satan,
the parrot.
Next morning when Captain Bascom failed to show himself at
the village inn, as was his wont, there was consternation among
its idler hangers-on. Never in the history of the town had the
captain failed to make his appearance promptly at eight. As the
minutes passed and the old sailor did not come, conjectures as to
his absence arose in many minds.
" Mebby he's sick and can't come," said the landlord, whose
daily duty it was to serve the captain's grog.
" Sick nuthin'," said another. " Why the captain ain't had a
sick spell since he's been here."
" But lie's not young any more," insisted the landlord. " When
sech takes sick they goes mighty quiCk."
So, finally, as the morning wore on, three of . the captain's
'cronies were detailed to inquire into their comrade's unusual
absence. In a few moments they returned, with blanched faces,
to tell the news. They had found him dead upon the floor, a
victim, apparently, of his own will.
The report spread 'through the village like a tempest, and in
less than a half hour the little room which had been the captain's
sole lodging was crowded to the utmost with awe-struck, gaping
village folk.
About the' walls'hung various objects of strange and uncouth
design, collected during the captain's rambles over land and sea.
'Here stood out a rosette of assegais; there a bank of Zulu shields;
in a corner the white serrated weapon of an enormous swordfish;
on the mantlepiece, strangely carved and hideous Chinese gods;