Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-02-09

He was not. 1 can give you pretty fair
evidence CT its existence"
He went to a sort of writing table at the
head of the saloon, unlocked one of the
drawers and took out piece OF torn, dis
colored paper.
Read this" he said, laying it On the
table before me. You can take it on
shore if you like and show it to your sur
veyor. 1 think it will convince him"
The writing was blctched and blurred as
If the paper had been under water con-
siderable time. Nevertheless, l had little
ditfic ulty in making it out 1 have that
scrap of paper still; 1 keep it with a few
other curious relics of the sea. Here it is:
Nevada struck unknown rock in mid
ocean. God have mercy upon lis. We are
all lost. II. B. WEST.
"E!nra, L. S."
"A strange message said Capt. George,
and it came into my hands in very
irg off the west coast of Ireland. one
morning we put out a trawl, and in making
haul we captured an enormous goldfish
When the cook opt ned it he found IN the
NAV silver match box, plain gold ring
and small case of cedar wood. That
case, which bore the initials II. Ii. W.,
contained this scrap of paper Though the
water had soaked INTO it, fancy 1t must
have beeI. floating when the greedy fish
got hold Of it, l infer this from the fact
that there was an inch or SO of string
hanging from the case as if it had been
originally attached to a bottle, piece OF
CCFk, OF Oh tIlttl hiHu.
THE Nevada 1 said. repeating the
name. Il fancy I remember hearing Oh
that vessel
Very likely" he replied. "She was an
Atlantic boat, running between Boston ana
London. If I'm not mistaken. she was lost
in '1S-another of these ocean mysteries,
you see. for her fate is still a matter OF
mere conjecture in the shipping world.
Il suppose you endeavored to trace the
friends and relatives Of this Mr. West, for
it looks like mans kandwriting?
Not i. What good would it have done?
His friends or relatives, if he had any, had
long ago given him up for lost. Why should
open an old wound?''
But, at any rate, you communicated
with the owners of the vessel?"
Il did nothing of the kind. 1 should only
have brought their representative down
upon ME; probably he would have followed
me from port to port, and had no fancy
to be pestered in that way. Very possibly
a newspaper man would have been set on
my track, and 1 couldn't have given him
the slip so easily. If he failed to find me
in port he would have started off In chase
of the Wanderer, and tried to interview
me ON the high seas, one of them did,
you remember, in the case OF Capt. Morrell
of the Missouri
so you kept this information entirely to
yourself?'
Il made use Of it, 1 went and searched
for that rock; and l found it,
Where does 1T lie?"
You shall See for yourself; that Is, If
you agree to a proposition j have to make.
When l discovered the position of the rock
determined. some day or other, to make
careful survey of the spot on my own ac-
count by sending down a diver to examine
it's fol n:a ticn. The conversation this after
:loon has revived my-well, within, fad, or
whatever you like to call it, l am ready
to set out the expedition whenever l can
find diver bold enough"
I'm your man, Capt. George! l eX-
claimed.
Coed; / couldn't ask for better. I think
you W ill find it as profitable employment as
staying at home and taking your chance
of wrecks This is not exactly the best
time OF year for the enterprise, but no
matter! 1t will TAX, a week or so to get
the Wanderer properly fitted out and ship
sufficient stores. Can you be ready within
ten dcys|
1 told him 1 had no other work in view
once we had finished with the Magellan,
and, after that days storm, fully expect
ed she " ould give US little further trouble.
1 will drop into Iandport at the end of
next week." he said. Meantime, keep this
project to yourself; don't want 1T talked
about, or to have any fuss made in the
newspapers
He accompanied me on deck, the boat
was hauled up alongside and l returned to
the shore. When ] awoke next morning
and looked out over the bay the Wanderer
was gene.
On the 27th of September we commenced
our remarkable voyage. l felt somewhat
depressed, l don't know why, at leaving
home on that occasion. There was some
thing attractive in the idea of solving this
great Atlantic mystery, which, if it really
existed, must have caused untold disasters.
Still. l was not altogether carried away by
Capt. Georges views. and entertained con-
siderable doubt as to our success.
We Steered weSt-souweSt for several
days. We sighted some of the big Atlantic
liners IN the distance. One evening 4 huge
Cunarder passed within mile or so of us.
lights all agiow, her tunnels belching out
Cn n n
behind.
Making rush with the mails" Capt.
George remarked as we watched her.
Next day it was blowing rather fresh
and we hal a choppy sea. 1t struck me
as strange that, up to the present, Capt.
George had made no direct reference to the
object of our voyage. That morning. how
ever, after breakfast, he said to me-
1--WE must take our bearings at room,
Lawrenceson, or we may overshoot the
mark
We did so, and when we had picked out
our position on the chart, the course was
altered to sou'-sou'-west This brought Us
more out of the track of Atlantic steamers,
though we still sighted a number of sailing
ships. l noticed that Capt. George kept
close eye on the chart during the leXt
few days.
One morning, when he had made the
usual daily reckoning, he came down into
the saloon with paper in his hand, upon
which was marked the latitude and longi
tude.
Get your diving gear ready, Law
renceson," he said. You'll want 1t be-
fore long"
rs the rock In sight?'
mo nor likely to be. Probably 1T is sub
merged, as I believe is generally the case,
though at what depth is another question.
All the same, we are not far from it..
That evening the engines were slowed
down. Capt. George stood on the bridge.
and for upward of an hour he took entire
charge of the vessel, altering the course
from time to time. Then he gave the Sig
nal to stop.
The men in the bows were ready with the
anchor, and presently l heard it splash
into the water. We were provided with
special deep-sea cable, but 1 was rather
surprised to find the depth was not so great
as I had fancied. Capt George desc ended
from the bridge and Joined me.
Tomorrow morning we will get the long
beat out. If the weather holds fine,'' he
said "You will have to proceed more to
the south before you make your first de-
scent"
1 confess did not sleep much that night.
NV mind was too full of the mystery of
this ocean rock. Was the story true? Did
the terrible spot really lie within reach of
US? If so, what an appalling sight would
meet my view when 1 stood beneath it.
and gaZed around at the havoc it had
wrought. 1 felt 1 might be on the verge Of
some startling discovery.