Thomas County cat. [volume] (Colby, Kan.) 1885-1891, 1885-05-07

lonely voyage; and some who
were strong of heart tried to
laugh down the notion: and others even
made as if they would desire such a
meeting. that they might wreak ven
geance upon such demons. Our good
little CAPITA n said nothing, or at any
rate but little; but, as we afterward
found. he made every inquiry that was
poss BILE as to the appearance, size,
armament and habitat of the pirate
ship to which this deed was ascribed.
Then we sailed; and for the first time
experienced the delic Gus pleasure of
sweeping down Channel with a fresh
and fair wind, the English coast spread
ing out before us from the Forelald to
the Start, as We rushed along hour after
hour, bright sun overhead. tight tile
sh p underfOot. young blood in my
veins. and all the world before m ;.
What wonder, then, that ere we We e
clear of the Channel the CHASTITY mys-
terry OF the Morning Star was pretty
nearly erased from my memory, crowd
ed out by the thousand new SEN atoms
consequent upon this new depart Ire in
my life.
"All went we'll W tn us: no hurricane
came down to drive Us struggl NO in
the W Id whirl of waters: the wind was
not always fair. nor the sky always
bright but the monotonyo OF the voyage
was disturbed by no menace of disaster.
At last day came when our little Cap
tain at breakfast announced to us that
! If the W nd held fair and strong. we
might hope to reach our destination in
another fOrty-eight hours; and to us,
more than satisfied as We We're with
our experience of the sea. weary of be-
ing cOoped up in so small a vessel, and
full of ca ger desire to see the wonders
of the foreign land. the announcement
was delightful: and often and anXiously
d d we pop up from below and ca #
glance around to see if the wind still
held fair. On one of these Occas ons,
when had for the twentieth tine in
the last hour put my head upthe hatch
way to see if all was well. | noticed the
| skipper standing aft with h; glass to
his eye looking long and hard at some
distant OBJ .ect; and following the drec-
ton of his telescope. saw spcck
which could be nothing else but ship.
H Ito! Captain said l, "a stranger
| in sight?'
YES sa d he. quietly; she is COM
ing up with Us fast. She must be bring
ing up a bre ,ze with her. or we are
running out of the wind, which she It II
holds. A short me ago. we could
only see her tOpsails, and now her hull
! is sing. Take look at her, as he
handed the glass to me.
Il looked. She seemed small brig
or brgantine, with very square yards,
and she was. as he SAID. overhaul NO us
fast; but other than that | could not
tell.
THE wind is falling fast said our
| skipper; 4 am afraid it will end in a
| dead calm
II did not answer; l merely rushed
down b low with the eagerness of
youth. Il say, sail! you fellows-that
looks like nearing land. eh?-Miss
Dash, sail. You'll see it right aft
the Cai tim thinks the wind is fall =
aand away rushed on deck again to
inspect anew the interesting stranger.
Il was surprised not to see the SIX p
per anywhere about the deck: but fol-
low nc the eve of the man at the wheel,
looked aloft, and saw him
settling himself down in the
crosstrees and leveling his glass once
more. He. too, was interested in her,
! that was evident. Presently he clio ed
! his glass, came down from aloft. and
sad to the First Mate: Mr.. Brown,
stunsails!'
How glad we were. We loved to
see the stunSailS set. and to feel that
the little ship was doing her best to
bring her long voyage to an end. aud
our CAPITA was evidently anxious to
be in port. The extra canvas pulled
her along considerably faster than she
had gone before; but it was evident
that the breeze was fading away DO h
with us and with the stranger, for the
glass showed that she. too. had set
stunsails. As the evening came down
the wind fell to almost nothing, and in
its place an exceedingly heavy ground
swell got up, on which our tile ship
rolled and squattered in most restless
and uncomfortable manner
''As it was impossible t. remain con-
fortably on deck, the sh p rolled so in
cessantly and wildly, | went below,
turned in. and tried hard to sleep, but
the motion of the sh p made it almost
impossible. Again and again | woke
through the hot night. and in the oc-
casiOnal intervals of no Sc. fame ed |
heard the shippers voice giving orders
on deck, but this supposed was mere
ly imagination. AT last, at about five
a. M, could stand it no loncer-mv
bunk was intolerable: and, tossing on
my clothes, scrambled as best | could
up the ladder and staggered cautiously
aft.
Good morning. Captain. Not a
breath of wind, Ell? and she is rolling
worse than ever. think. All, there
our friend.' l added. as looked in the
direction of the strange vessel. Seems
nearer than last N; ght after all. What
do YOU make of her9'
II don't ike the look of her at ALL
SAID he very gravely and in low
voice. i don't wish to alarm YOU
unnecessarily, but l never saw craft
of more suspicious appearance. She
is showing no colors. though ours
We're hOisted at daylight: she carr es
great number of guns for vessel en-
P'oleu IL ihue, she mas IeIect
swarm of men on board: ana what is
more added he, sink NC his voice
SO that not even the man at the wheel
could hear h m. she is terr.bl. Ike the
description of the craft VIII oh is sup
posed to have taken the Morning
Start
= For an instant my blood seemed to
rush back to my heart and CONCEAL
there: but mastered my exc tement
and concealed il as best | m Git