Ensign Merrill — page 123: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

he CAS Shs ete het eto at eet a des en any a5 Aur < te : ace ry at fear; w Le ae rae samt x? M5 CY ~* - ; 1 ~ : > e) 4 tet. 4 ~~) Ah \ te ; => os ete « © . . . i» m 4 ’ « ; + ' — s - & As * » no r > a : he * + . - , ex ‘= A a. 4 f ; é y ane > a ¥" ~ ~ “ « “. * : ash | re ‘ , > % 5 ‘ * Me ¥ . ~ - ¥ »*> * - : 4 Th 0} — wn > | vt ; * Py > % ; 4 . + | 4 . . ’ , — ~ Y « * ‘ > . ers,’’ he continued. “Of. course, a man outa be sure of anything he sees by a flash of lightning, but the ex- — traordinary clear glimpse I obtained of his face makes me almost certain he is the man I first saw in the - Shanghai restaurant. I am positive enough to think it a good idea for us to steam round the island and try to head that junk off.’”’ _ The young commander’s determination met with the approval of the others. It was certainly advisable to try some plan to counteract the error of that evening. All felt that Merrill had made a mistake in not board- - ing the pirate craft and finishing the combat by captur- - ing the crew. But none really blamed him for doing what his innate kindliness of nature had prompted. However, Mark still felt deeply chagrined, and after giving the necessary orders to have the Badger steam around T’sin Chu, he walked up and down the bridge buried in thought. Presently the middy joined him, ° and the two talked for awhile over the plans for the morrow. “*There igs one thing we can congratulate ourselves upon,’ said Ned. ‘‘That is the total destruction of the junk, anyway. Now, if we capture the other to-mor- row, we can say a good start has been made.’’ ‘‘f am afraid we will not find it so easy to pick up this junk,’’ replied the ensign, shaking his head dubi- ously. ‘*They certainly know we are in this neighbor-, hood somewhere, and the chief will fight shy until he can manage to muster a stronger force. If we are for- tunate enough to head him off before he can communi: cate with his gang, we can hope to accomplish a great deal right away. He may have a reserve force near some of the other islands. In that case he will no doubt call there first and then look us up.”’ re At that moment Merrill’s attention was - taken ‘up yt : a if Pe a WI ot Bee b aya te i+ oe . ay a, PP - « fy F * - *, ‘ ster fe . Y Ji) SGA eae get * . > | \ V 4 e A ' PN y yX% mim | | ~ ‘ = ia q a Z my a ' : + / . - rej 7 “4 ey ~ * ee a s mes > Tae ‘¢ : . a he ude tt shee