The morning call., 1892-07-03

was nothing but the sheer labor of drawing
IN the breath. The pitch was as soft as
melted glue in the seams. If you touched
anything of melai-a brass rail- pin, the
wire over a skylight-a blister rose upon
your hand. and for two or three days after
ward you felt the pain, till the skin peeled
of and the place healed. Men, the soes Of
whose feet were tOughened into cOwhide by
use, danced away in agony for their shoes
II they yentuTed TO put foot down upon
the blazing decks.
For my part could think Of nothing but
spontaneous ignition. | heard one Of the
mates say that there was a quantity Of fire.
Norks slowed away among the cargo, and
remember thinking to myself that If a few
hours OF such sunshine as this did not scat
ter snap, passengers ana crew abroad amid
seurry of rockets and catherine-wheels, IL
would have 10 be because the powder wasn't
Of a catching kind. There was no use In
grumbling. In fact the temperature made
one too lapgud for what sailors call growi-
ing. The passengers turned in dismay from
! any kind of food, and / never thought
Jacks lot harder one than when, ut n oon,
looking forward, / spied an ordinary sea-
man leave the galley for the forecssil with
gallon or so Of boiling pea-soup the steam
of which rose up past his sweltering face
into the brassy dazzle overhead.
All that dey the ship lay In trance.
Nothing moved but the sun and the shad-
ows which cra"le led along our decks and
upon the sails In the morning | had noticed
gangway, and when / locked over the side
at sund0wn that bottle was In the same
place. ave. as If it had been anchored and
we moOred head and stern When the sun
went down behind the sea the sky was in
fiames as IL city as big as London were on
fire there. The heavens filed rapidly with
stars, and night wonderful for beauty and
awful for stiffness came on. Ii was sitting
below and sleep was impossible. | do not
know how the ladies Jared. The men
N N haH in loVn oil ahafr
on deck under the awning, which the cap
tain allowed to remain spread all night. |
heard some one speaking to the man at the
wbeel-the mockery, though, of a ahelmsmRn
in such a caIm-Rbout a shark close over
the quarter. / went TO look and saw the
beast outlined In pbosphoTic fire, stealthily
swimming forward. The creature swan
round and round the ship half score of
times, till, upon my word, it made me feel
as II 1t were some hide0us sea witch COM
pleting the spell that was to hold us bound
and slowly rolting upon that stagnanr,
silent sea.
Four days passed in this breathless man.
ner-fOur such days and nights as i hope
never TO experience again. IL was the night
of the fourth day. We were sick OF looking
for the wind; our eyes, strained In search
of the faintest blur in any quarter upon that
brilliant and shining plain of quicksilver,
were sore with the fruitless search, and with
the light that came off the water, feTcer /
think. than the etfulgence into which the
masts lifted their heights. -Four bells had
heen struck-10 o'clock. The second mate,
whose watch II was, stood aft whistllng
faint and low for breeze. Forward, some
figures on the fOreeastle blotied out the stars
under the nauled-up course as they paced
with naked feet to and fro upon the dew
cooled deck.
was leaning upon the rail, smoking
cigar, looking into the mighty. distant hush,
made so puzzling by the mirroring Of the
stars going up to the sea line and blending
IN white flakes TO as far rs the eye seemed
able 10 penetrate with the consultations
and starry dust of the armament that IL
seemed TO me as IL l were the spectator of
some unfamiliar universe; when all on a
sudden the ship trem bed 80 violently that
you heard the rafting of crockery in the
cabins and the clanking OF the links Of the
chain sheets. i instantly thought of tho
fireworks, and made up my mind to find N.Y.
self In breath borne sky-high. There
was pell-mell tumble on deck of all who
happened to be below
What was that?"
'What has happened? ?"
HAS anything struck us?"
as the ship toucned ground?"
A dozen such exclamatiOns were abruptly
sllerced by similar thrill, this time more
violent. Ii was, indeed, as though the keel
of the ship was grounding over some hard
substance, yet that was impossible, as she
was mOtionless, and there was not a stir in
the atmosphere. A minute after there was
dull moan, as of thunder miles distant.
This mysterious sound raised the utmost
CONSERVATION among us, for, l tell you,
such had been the character Of the calm
Of the last four days that 1t had come 10 act
upon our supeTstitious feelings, and we all
seemed TO fOrebode something unearthly
The half-stified, thunderous note was re-
peated, and then there leaped out Of the
sea, al distance of about quarter of a
mile from us, mass of red fire that flashed
and vanished, binding the sight as vivid
lightning does. Though could not see for
some moments, i could hear, and l was
greatly startled by furious sound of hiss
ing. as though there was a small tenn est
raging close to the ship. Where the flame
had leaped there was 10 be seen large cir
cumference of heaped-up water, white as
milk with boiling, and a vapor going up
from it, looking yell0wlsh as 1t fioated past
the stars.
"A submarine earthquake" exclaimed
the captain, in cheerful, encouraging
voice; nothing TO cause the least anxiety,
ladies'"
As he said this the boiling mass OF, water
fiatteBed TO the black level and then seethed
out altogether. leaving the surface pure.
After little strange smell of sulphur
gathered about the vessel, and, looking over
the side we noticed a quantity OF stuff that
heard somebody say was lava.
But, Lord, ha' mercy; see herel see
here4 yelled the fellow who was standing
at the wheel