The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1890-11-02

they are full you cannot tell on dark
night whether you a a point or two off
the wind or not. Well, it cannot be
helped, but l wish we could have kept TO-
gether"
For three days the gale continued, blow
ing In turns on all points of the compass.
The sea was a terri 10 one, and half the
men by turns were kep5 bailing, the empty
meat tins serving we'll for tae purpose. All
on board were we to the skin day and
night from the spray that dashed over them,
though Philips two waterproofs spread
over the women kept much of the water
from them.
II think it is nearly over" Philip said on
the fourth morning. ''Tne clouds seem
breaking upn
"Yes, think the worst Is over. Thank
God for it. thought several times yester
day that the end was come"
80 did l." Philip agreed; II thought
nothing could have saved her once or twice;
but she Is a splendid sea boat"
An hour later he got up, and said
cheerily:
Ladies', you can look out now; the storm
is breaking. and we shall have the sun out
In minute or two"
There was movement among the mass
or wraps. Constance was the first TO sit
up.
II do not see much Charge" she said,
looking round, ''the waves are as high as
they Nere yesterday. l peeped opt then for
a minute or two, but it was too terrible to
look atn
at will be some hours before the sea be-
gins to go down, but look, there is the sun. u
and as he spoke the clouds cleared away and
the sun burst out from among them.
That is better, indeed" Constance said.
"Get up, Annette, here is the sun out. You
will soon get warm and dry now. There,
lei me pull you up"
III you will pass me the kettle and
spirit lamp will make you some tea, Con-
stance"
Indeed, you will do nothing Of the
SORT" Constance said. You and Mr..
Solden have been working for us for the
last four days. 1t is hard indeed if we can
not mage to boil some water for our
selves, or rather for You, for l shall insist
that you take the first cups. Now put UP
the rug, please. while we tidy ourselves up
a Bit"
They were indeed four dishevelled look
ing women. For three days and nights
they had beencovered up, expecting ms ant
death, wetted by the spray which in spite of
waterproof and wraps found its way IN.
Thrice in each day they had had ration of
biscuit and meat passed to them, and water,
qualified with brandy from Philips flask,
which they received peremptory orders to
drink. But the heat of the sun speedily re-
vived them. Handbags were opened, and
combs and brushes taken out, and by the
time the water was boiling they looked
comparatively fresh and bright. Tremen-
dous as the sea still was it had lost its terrors
for them.
Constance kept to her determination.
Mr.. Sollen and Philip had to drink the first
cup of hot tea. Then the four women par
took Of it, and by the time they had done
the kattle was boiling again, and Mr.. Clifford
aud his companion were served. The Kettle
was kept at work until all the crew had
been provided with pannikin of hot grog
By midday the wind had dropped greatly
and the sea was sensibly calmer. The sun
had not again been obscured, aud his DOW
erful rays had completely dried all the wet
clothes, and With a renewed sense of
warmth and comforts the spirits of all rose,
and even the woebegone looking Lascars,
who had lain almost without moving
through the gale, began to look cheerful,
while the Seady boys, in group forward,
cha ted and laughed in high glee. The
screen had long since been taken down.
"Where is this island, Mr.. Sodens You
said two days and half, and it is now mora
than four days since we left the ship. We
ought TO have been there long ago. l am
sure we have been going fast enough
You are asking m re than ] can tell
you." the engineer said. "We have been
going east, west. north and south, to say
nothing of the other points of the compass,
and ha no more idea where the islands
are than the man in the moon. You see, my
bu ,iness is to drive ship along but not to
navigate it, and even if were navigator
| could do nothing without a quadrant or
sextant"
'Then do you mean to say that we are
quite lost, Mr.. Solden." Constance asked in
disnay
''Well, it Is not SO bad as that. We have
got our compass, and we know where bouts
Java lies, and we have W got our head
in that d rection. Java is biz island, you
see, and we are sure to hit it. We may
not hit it just at the port we want to find,
which is Batavia. but we are safe to strike
it somewhere, and must coast along until we
do find port. But hope that we shall be
picked up long before we are there. You
see all the shipping between Australia and
India comes somewhere along in the line
where we are, and it will be hard il we
don't manage to get sight of something or
other before long"
Il will set to work and pack these things
little more ship shape" Philip sad, "they
have shifted bit during the gale"
So saying he again packed the barrels of
biscuits and cases of preserved meat, which
were piled across the boat just aft of the
stro 9 oars thwarts, forming a sort of low
barrier between the passengers md the
crew. Between the next thwarts were four
eighteen gallon barrels of water.
Just tap them with that thole pin, Mr..
Brown" The first tapped was the one in
use. which was already three parts empty.
The next two gave hard sou ID. Full TO
the bung," Mr.. Solden said approving ely,
but as Philip struck the fourth he uttered
al explanation OF dismay Empty, by
thuude', here take the HEINZ
He threw the rudder lines into Mr.. Gift
fords hands ADD sprung forward.
What has happenedP' he asked.
II don't know" Philip SAID, "here is the
bunghole at the top all right
The engi eer passed his hand along the
barrel, the hoops at one end were loosed
There Is the mischief. y he said. at may
have been they were loose before they filed
them, it may be that as the boat rolled
these two casks may have bumped bit
each time. However, there it is; ii has
allowed the slaves to open a little. aud
every drop Is lost. This is a most un fortu-
nate affair, Mr.. Brown. most unfortunate.
Our supply before was short enough in all
CO science, and the loss Of this water may
cost Us all our lives. You see, we have Il
now only thirty-six gallons. and say eight
gallons ln the cask we first broached-forty-