The Dawson news. (Dawson, Ga.) 1889-current, 1894-03-21

he added that he felt under oDngaulons
to me and would see that had decent
treatment from both ends of the ship
That decided me, and was aboard OF
her at o'clock the next mornings
Things went very well with us as we
ran to the south, but mystery had set
tied down over the fo'castle which deep
ened day by day. Our provisions were
too good; there was too little work to be
done; the captains whole makeup show
ed him to be rough old bear, and yet
he was trying to be father to us.
We were well down to Cape Blanco,
and no voyage had ever run smoother,
when in the afternoon watch one day we
got a bit of scare. 1t was Mr.. Smiley's
watch, and I had been drafted into his
watch at the outset The Juno was
slipping along under light breeze, and
the men of the watch were engaged IN
| light Jobs about the deck when the mid
ships hatch cover, which was battened
down before we left London, was sud-
denly blown off. and cloud of what
| looked like steam poured out of the open
| ing. said blown off, but it was not so
violent as that. The cover was lifted up
and thrown over as if by human hands,
and after one great puff of steam moth
ing followed.
''There has been an explosion of some
sort, said Mr.. Smiley as we gathered
about the opening, "but there is nofre
and no damage, as I can make out. Some
of you Jump down and see what there is
to it,"
Had the explosion been more violent,
or had the cloud Of steam continued, an
alarm would have bsen given and all
hands aroused up. AS it was, there was
no excitement. After two of the sailors
had gone down | slipped after them.
/ There was a smell of ammonia in the
hold, doubtless the result Of the explo-
sion, but we could make no further dis
covery-that is, we could find no box,
bale or barrel which had been shattered.
and as for fire there was not even the
smell Of it, While the two men worked
forward I worked aft. On the port side
of the keel and within two feet of the
cabin bulkhead / made curious discov-
cry.
found the planks wet and traced the
water to a certain spot where [ found a
heavy iron rod with its lower end hooked
into an eyebolt and it's upper connecting
with lever which passed through the
bulkhead into the captains stateroom.
This lever passed over standard firmly
set up, and as I had never seen such q
thing in a ships hold before Twas curious
about it. It wasn't light enough for me
to make out all the details, but | was
positive that the eyebolt was the center
of trapdoor about inches square, and
it was around this trap that the water
oozed in. Mr.. Smiley called us out of the
hold before ] had investigated further.
4 l. was curious about the queer object
below, thinking it to be some appliance
ought#to learn the use of, but it was 80
hours before [ mentioned it to Mr.. Smi-
lev We still had a light breeze, and |
was at the wheel when he spoke to me
so kindly that / plucked up courage to
ask him if the object l had seen was a
pump and how it was worked. When |
came to describe it in detail as near as l
could. his face turned as white as wonl-
ans, and it was plain that he was upset.
He asked me a score of questions, and
when he realized that was sure Of my
details he came a step nearer and whis-
pered in my ear:
boy, if you want to put your feet on
land again, don't mention this matter to
another soulr'
but what is it. for, Mr.. Smiley?' I
queried.
''No matter nov, but remember what
I've told you.
Next day VEAL noticed that change
had taken place in the demeanOr Of the
three officers aft. 1t was as if Mr.. Smi-
lev had had a ''tiff" with the captain and
second mate. As matter Of fact, as
came to know afterward, he had asked
the captain about the value Of the ship
and CARGO. the amount of insurance and
other questions which were fair enough
in their way, bat which led Captain
Stout to believe that his secret was sus-
pected; hence his change of deneanor to-
ward Mr.. Smiley, and his change was re
fected by his fellow conspirator.
We had left the Cape Verde islands 200
miles behind us when we got white
squall one morning and had three or four
sails blown to ribbons and lost fore and
main topgallant masts. The damage
had not yet been made good when it was
discovered that the Juno had sprung q
leak. Mr.. Smiley was for taking off the
matches and trying to get at the leak, but
Cantain Stout opposed him. At the end
| .a7a.as aza
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