e "Cotton" box he had burst in his descent, and worked
at it frantically.

"Winchesters! Winchesters!" he cried, dragging out two of them. "Whoop!
Now for the cartridges--there shore must be some to go with these
guns!" He saw a keg marked "Nails," and managed to open it after great
labor--and found it full of army Colts. Forcing down the desire to turn
a handspring, he slipped one of the six-shooters in his empty holster
and patted it lovingly. "Old friend, I'm shore glad to see you, all
right. You've been used, but that don't make no difference." Searching
further, he opened a full box of _machetes_, and soon after found
cartridges of many kinds and calibres. It took him but a few minutes to
make his selection and cram his pockets with them. Then he filled two
Colts and two Winchesters--and executed a short jig to work off the
dangerous pressure of his exuberance.

"But what an unholy lot of weapons," he soliloquized on his way back to
Johnny. "An' they're all second-hand. Cannons, too--an' _machetes_!" he
exclaimed, suddenly understanding. "Jumping Jerusalem!--a filibustering
expedition bound for Cuba, or one of them wildcat republics down south!
Oh, ho, my friends; I see where you have bit off more'n you can chew."
In his haste to impart the joyous news to his companion, he barked his
shins shamefully.

"'Way down south in the land o' cotton, cinnamon seed an''--whoa, blast
you!" and Hopalong stuck his head through the opening in the partition
and grinned. "Heard you shoot, Kid; I reckoned you might need me--an'
these!" he finished, looking fondly upon the weapons as he shoved them
into the forecastle.

Johnny groaned and held his stomach, but his eyes lighted up when he saw
the guns, and he eagerly took one of each kind, a faint smile wreathing
his lips. "Now we'll show these water snakes what kind of men they
stole," he threatened.

Up on the deck the choleric captain still stamped and swore, and his
crew, with well-concealed mirth, went about their various duties as
if they were accustomed to have shanghaied men act this way. They
sympathized with the unfortunate pair, realizing how they themselves
would feel if shanghaied to break broncos.

Hogan, A. B., stated the feelings of his companions very well in his
remarks to the men who worked alongside: "In me hear-rt I'm dommed glad
av it, Yensen. I hope they bate the old man at his own game. 'T is a
shame in these days for honest men to be took in that unlaw