The times., 1897-08-08
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Twas second mate of the barque Rambler
when she warped out of the dock aG
Liverpool! TO begin the long voyage To
Australia. There were accommodations
for eight or ten passengers, but up To the
day before sailing no one had been booked
Then man who gave his name asGeorge
Hall came aboard to select cabins Tor
himself and sister. He was man or
forty, aud there was other blood mixed
with his EnGlis h-eit her Spanish or
Italian He was what women would call
handsome man, and yet TO many ne hsd
a crafty, evil look, and few would trust
him. He had a supercilious air and was
domineering in speech, and from the mo
ment he came aboard TO the hour ne lett
the ship, he had no friend, forw ard OF aIb.
Hall and his sister came aboard just De
fore We wen. out OF dock. She was girl
of about twenty, brunette AMI nan dsome
and refined, aud the luggage OF the pair
went to prove that they were people OF
means ard station. While they came by
daylight, the girl was heavily veiled and
her form disguised Hall had green glasses
on his nose and wore hat an d suit which
would have looked mole suitable on me-
ehanic These things were noticed but not
talked OF when they came aboard FOR
thirty-six hours Miss Hall kept 20 her ~ tate
rCom When she appeared none OF US art
needed a second glance at her face 10 know
that she was no blood sister TO the man
There wasn't even the faintest family re-
semblance, and IL by accident there had
been the demeanor of the pair would have
told another story. 1t was plain enoughthat
they Were lovers and yet when you had
sized tile ma1 up you felt that he hadother
rlotives than love to actuate him Capt
Smith, who was blunt and irnpulsive, no
sooner had his suspicious aroused than he
took the first opportunity u say to Hall;
You are booked as brother and sister,
but even the duilesu sailor forward can
see the deception. What sort OF game
are you playing, sir? II you are up TO
| trick, l warn you that you will find
| me hard man to blind"
| Hall replied as might have been ex-
| pected He had satisfied the owners as
/ to their standing and Identity, paid the
/ passage money, and it was not the cap
| tain's privilege To overhaul hu,. He would
| stand on his rights and dignity and the
/ man who interfered with him would have
] TO answer for it in a court OF law. He
| had the captain on the hip. He must
! have satisfied the owners or they would
! not have booked him; having satisfied them,
he had rights aboard which must be re-
spected. \ captain has much power aad
authority aboard his craft, and yet he
must answer To his owners and to the
/ law.
BLAST his peppers, but they are not
! brother and sister. There's something
| out OF the way here!' erowled the cap
! tain, after the interview. but be did not
! think it wise to pursue the subject fur
4 ther.
All went well with the Rambler, which
| was Ia good, stout snip and manned by a
willing crew. and nothing happened out OF
| the ordinary until we had been fourteen
/ days at sea. We had made a fast run to
the south, and were yet reehng off the
miles, when one day at noon sail was
/ sighted aStern. This was no novelty, and
no one gave her much attention until &c
was discovered tbaC she was a brig which
was overhauIng US hand-over hand. There
is always j feeling Of rivalry in such eases,
i but, as we Were carrying all the sail we
could stagger under, there was nothing to
be done The stranger came up us if pro-
PEELED by steam, and so dead in our wake
| that tie captain wondered if she had not
been sent after us by the owners We
hoisted our flag ana later on our number,
but she paid no attention. When she came
nearer we thought We recognized her as q
London brig called the Primrose, which
had gained great notoriety through a ma
tiny aboard, but tbename- boards had been
removed from her bows and quarters and 3
piece of canvas hung over the stern 70 con
ceal the name there. She swept right VI
TO within half a nile OF US before chang
ing her course by so much as a point.
Then she luffed and went to windward
though we were close hauled, and the
glasses aboard OF her could not have failed
to have made out our name and to have seen
the smiles on the faces of the men forward
Until the 'Black Ship" as the men came
to call her, vas within five miles of us, Hall
and his sister remained on deck. I think
be then became suspicious OF the stranger
for both went below, and the girl seemed
greatly perturbed. When the stranger haC
gone to the windward and was a mile
| away on our starboard bow, and had short
ened sail to hold her place, Hall reap
peared on deck. He was clad in a very
common suit we had not seen him veal
, before, had on the green gla sses, and coult
not have been identified for the man he wa
hundred feet away He brought glaS
up with him. and without a word to an,
$ one, worked away on the stranger for
, quarter OF an hour. Then he turned to m,
) with:
D ''Do you know the name of that Graf
out tbere9"
II think she is the Primrose, of Lor
don," I replied.
I'm certain of it. She has not an
swered our signals?"
! ''No."
And there's no telling where she
bound?"
: NO"
, "Humphl Well, odds is the differenc,
She seems to like our company"
Eyes"
He took a few turns up and down tn
!, | deck and went below, probably to T,
port to the girl. Neither of them came q
> deck again till long after dark, and the
) each was more or less disguised. The a.
) tion OF the BLACK Ship" was somethin
OF a mystery to the sailors forward, bt
. not difficult problem for Us of the cabi
to solve.
AL night long the wind held from th
4 same quarter and the craft maintaInedthe
relative positions. We had 10 call to fes
the stranger, nor could We have run ava
from her had we wished. I for one, e:
e pected to hear more from Hall on tt
matter before he turned in for the nigh
In this 1 " as not disappointed, aIthoue
he did not address his remarks to me. !