Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1895-11-30

the skipper unearthed some stale ropy
paint Of the loathsomc green that they used
LOT Inc lnsldes OF sailing ships, and Mr..
Wardrop spread it abroad lavishly to give
the engines Self-reSpect.
His own was returning day by day, for he
wore his loin cloth continuously; but the
crew having worked under orders did not
Feel as he did; the completed work satisfied
Mr.. Wardrop. He would at last have made
shirt TO run to Singapore, and gone home
without vengeance taken, but the others
and the captain forbade him. They had not
yet recovered their self-respect
1t would be safer to make what We might
oall trial trip but beggars mustn't be
choosers an if the engines will go over to
me handgear the probability-I'm only say
ing ITS probability-the chance is that
they'll hold up when we put steam on her."
How long will you take to get steam?"
asked the skipper.
God knows! Four hours-a day-half a
week If / can raise sixty pounds I'll not
complain"
BE sure of her, first; We can't afford to go
out half mile and break Gown" said the
skipper
My soul and body, man. we're one con-
tinuous breakdown fore and aft! We might
fetch Singapore, though
Vel break down at Pygang-watai.
where we can do good" was the answer in
voice that did not allow argument. She's
my boat, and-fve had eight months to
think in
No man saw the Halotis depart, though
many heard her. She left at in the morn
ing, having cut her moorngs and it was
none Of her crews pleasure that the engines
should strike up laundering half-seas-
over chanty that echoed among the hills.
Mr.. Wardrop wiped away a tear as he lis
tened to the new song
She's gihbern'-she's just gibberin'," he
whimpered- It's the voice of a maniac"
And if the engines have any soul, as their
masters believe, he was quite right. There
were outcries and clamors sobs and bursts
of chattering laughter, s:lences where the
trained ear yearned for the clear note and
torturing reduplicat:ons where there should
have been one deep voice. Down the screw
shaft ran murmurs and warnings while a
heart-diseased futter without told that The
propeller needed rekeying
How does she make it?' said the skip
per.
''She moves, but-she's breaking my heart
The sooner we're at PygangWatai the bet
town"
rs she at all near safe?''l
What do l care how, safe she is? She's
mad. Hear that, now! To be sure, moth
ings hittin' anything. and the bearin's are
fairly cool, but-can we hear?"
IF she goes said the skipper, II don't
care a curse, and she's my boat, too"
She went, trailing fathom of weed be-
hind her. From a slow two knots an hour
she crawled up to astr,umphant four. Any
thing beyond that made the struts CULVER
dangerously and filled the engine room with
steam Morning showed her out of sight OF
land, and there was a visible ripple under
her bows: but she complained bitterly in
her bowels and, as though the noise had
called 1t, there shot along across the level
sea a swift dark prau, hawSlike and
curious which presently ranged alongside
and hailed; wished TO know if the Haliotis
were helpless. Ships-even the steamers of
the white men-had been known to break
down in those seas, AMI the honest Malay
and Javanese traders would sometimes aid
them in their own peculiar way. But this
ship was not full of lady passengers and
well-dressed officers. Men--white men
naked and savage, swarmei down her sides,
some with iron bars red hot at the ends,
and others with large hammers, threw
themselves upon those innocent, inquiring
strangers, and before any man could say
what had happened were In full possession
of the prau, while the lawful owners bobbed
in the water oversize. Half an hour later
the prau's cargo of sage and tripang, as
well as doubtful-Tn:pisd compass, was in
the Haliotis. The two huge Triangular mat
sails, with their seventy-foot yards and
booms. had followed the cargo and were be-
ing fitted to the stripped masts of the
steamer.
They rose, they swelled, they filled, and
the empty steamer visibly laid over as the
wind took them. They gave her nearly
three knots an hour, and what better could
men ask? But if she had been forlorn be-
fore. this new purchase made her horrible
to see. Imagine respectable charwonap