The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1895-10-13

/ of my responsibilities and he scowled
] at the mass OF people forward
/ The commander and the man in the
I wide-awake passed swiftly into the cuddy.
/ After few minutes capt. Henley came
on deck and ordered the Windlass 10 be
manned. Amidst lofty, Iar-reaching
/ chorus. the anchor came 10 the bows: the
/ topsail yards were mastheaded. and the
little ship slowly broke the WAGER and be-
Il had before sailed with Capt. Henley
and knew the man. Al this hour i was
/ busy in the ship; and still l found leisure
10 notice that MS Impotence showed as
SORT Of uneasiness, as though, IN fact.
ne had come aboard scared. as that it,
Anyhow, he was for crowding sail; we
We're scarce clear of the sound when he
ordered studding-sails 10 be set-rather
unusual IN the channel even in those days,
and the broad-Deamed- craft, with her
crowded decks, rolled stately under three
spires great cloud of white upon the
sea.
"AH the while sail was making the cap
tain called out orders, with excitement.
When everything the ship could carry
was on her, he Gained down, and an
swered the questions of the passengers
thought he was i'll, or that the one last
drop in some bumper of farewell ashore
ndu proved 100 mucn.
The cuddy folk went TO dinner at
oclock, ana the matter of the captains
LOOKS and behavior passed out Of my mead.
/ had charge OF the ship. Everybody be-
longing art including the mate, was eating
at the cabin table, everybody. l mean. ex-
cept the sick. The land about Rame's
Head lay blue, faint and delicate, upon the
starbOard quarter. The breeze was merry
and the ocean rolled in frOth, and the shin
bowed a large head of foam out of every
sea she shouldered. A few vessels were
in sight. ] saw some blue square shadows
on the bow and some like pearl on the
horizon abeam.
"A sail was astern. her hull was out of
sight, but something in her looks even all
that way off caused me TO point the ships
glasses at her. and al the instant that l
ha1s TO he 1.r.ff 90
white smoke went shrcdding up off the
crystal edge of the sea under her fore
course, and presently the faint report
came along ike a single knock on door
over the way. To whom was she signall-
ing, and why M her fore? a whole string
OF fiags were there flying. l turned to put
down the glass and saw the captain. He
walked to the compass seemed not to OBJ
serve the ship astern at first, then started
on catching sight of her and called to me
TO hand him the glass he examined her
lond and searchingly
Il can't distinguish those signal said
he. Your men-of-war are always humbug-
ging with bunting
lie has fired a gun, sir said l.
lie made no answer. and after a steady
stare at the sail astcrn and an anxious
look alotti he went below to resume his
seat and his dinner.
After he was gone l watched the dis
tant ship through the glass, but did not see
that he again fred gun. He was under
great press, ana the nags gave look or
urgency to that lustrOus moon of milky
Whiteness rising slowly out of the sea, and
foot by foot gaining upon us. But / had
plenty of other things to think Of; the
voyage was begun: / was in charge of a
ship clothed TO the trucks and oVerhung
like a milkmaid with her can, and * was
blowing merrlly; and then again / was
exceedingly hungry and thought often
of my dinner which I should not get till
the people below were finished
Tine captain came up two or three times
whilst the passengers sat at table and on
each occasion stared long through the
glass at the white heap in the tail of our
wake. Presently the mate arrived. He
stood a moment looking around him, then
catching sight Of the man-of-war, he said
quickly, that ship wants us.
It's for us she heads, with signals
blowing and a gun just now, anyhow
Has the captain observed her?'
her..
And said nothing%
Nothing, sir
:" Then If ii IS not his, it's the business of
no other man in this snip
"He picked up the telescope nevertheless,
and | went below to get my dinner.
THE people had finished eating, and the
ladies' were mostly on deck or in their
cabins. a few gentlemen remained at
table nibbling at the dessert. one of these
was the man who had come aboard with
the captain at Plymouth. He was a rather
curious-looking person, bald, dark, black
bearded, darling nervous expression of
eye, a trick OF polishing his head as if to
paste down or comb his faculties together.
lie sat alone and was not addressed by
the others, and soon after l had taken my
place at the table he arose and disap-
peared in the captains cabin.
1T was all hands with us that first
day out; there was much to be done. 1t
blew fresh in the afternoon: we were out
Of sight of land, and the weight of the At
lantic was in the edged and curling surge
our bluff bows burst into smoke. The cap
tain had held on, however, with his stud
ding sails, though they were cloths more
canvas than we needed. The sailors saw
IL and often cast their eyes aloft with
gloomy looks of expectation; something
mess and trouble. Those of the passen-
gers who We're not seasick seemed well
pleased with the ships pace, and often
paused in their walk TO view the race of
froth alongside.
by one bell in the first dog-watch the
ship in our wake had risen her hull till
through the glass you could see the white
tremble of her line of hammocks above
the horizon as she scared on the heave
into the sunset red air. The crystal smoke
was flying from her forefoot, and the sig
nails of the morning still flew a the fore.
She had taken in her lower and topgallant
studding sails. and was surely the swifter
for being the easier. On the other hand
the Sally was dragging her channels I'M
der water, broad and massive platforms
filled with dead-eyes and shrouds; there
were three of them of a side. and as the
little ripped them through the roaring
green brine, flushed with the westering
light, you felt the desperate drag of them
in a sort of pause in the whole Keeling fab
ric
NO doubt the passengers had specu-
lated about the intentions of the ship
astern, and had asked the captain ques-
tons; they seemed perfectly satisfied.
They scarcely sent a look at her She was
a man-of-war bound our way, and present
ly she would shift her helm and be off on
some West African or Mediterranean
course. That's what the passengers had
been made to believe. and there was no
earthly reason why the view the captain
took should not be the right one; only to
whom and for what purpose was that
chap astern signalling in length of bunt-
ing from his fore royalmast head? At this
hour, nothing but a few dim specks of
ships were in sight. The bunting then was
unquestionably meant for u.s. And then
again, why was Capt Henley pressing his
little ship so furiously? The great square
of lower studding sail looked each time
the round bows scared to the rushing
ridge as if it must lift the whole ship
clean out of the sea, and l was thankful
when the captain told me to take it in.
after she had been eased of this, and
the tOpgallant studdmg said she seemed
to thrust through it more steadily. At
sunset, just a little while before ii fell
dark, the man-of-war fred a gun. She
had risen now TO the streak of her artil-
lery, and had hauled down her signals
A moonless night was at hand, the wide
Atlantic sDraad ahead ola.- ~,