Courier Democrat. (Langdon, N.D.) 1891-1920, 1897-07-22

amuss you Ia the sight Of az tfsse
casks and cases. N 81 ii i8 sssssI
TT u the thought 81 what they con.
tain that fascinates me- replied the
colonel. who was II . humo rous mood.
yvhat!' cried Dick, stores and aflt-
ttngss fascinate you7 That's . dry
faster .s.SS
.Ah!" said M. de Montaut, .'but /
have the poets vision: K look beyond
the mere articles themselves to the re-
suits they may effect. These packing.
cases, you say. are but necessarles for
the renting OF your ship. see more
than that. From the parts reconstruct
the whole In Imagination. see. rising
from these fragments. an entire vessel.
with q fate Of her own, and fraught
with many destinies. Nay, who knows"
he added, with mock sententlousness,
"but the ship that lies hidden in this
desplsed cargo OF yours may change
the course Of history!''
Dick laughed again. My dear COLI
onel." he said, "you see good deal
more than do: find 1t uncomfortably
dark down here.
"Ah. that's because I'm standing be-
tween you and the light" replied tho
colonel. taking up the lantern. Come.
let's so upstairs again." And he led
the way back to the middle deok.
During the night Of the 22d the wind
fell to steady breeze. and on the
following morning they saw the sun
again at last, standing over headland
that lay on the larboard quarter.
The colonel appeared at breakfast
with chart. and Dick. borrowing It
from him, explained the position Of the
speedwell- to Gambia.
Here" he said. putting his finger up
on the map. lis the stretch Of COAST
along which the wind and the Guinea
current have been hurrying US so fast.
Here is Cape Palmas. which we have
just passed. and now we shall see no
more Of the shores Of Africa. You see
we have been carried a little too far
to the east already, and Ascension lies
right below US in mid-ocean there"
"And how far is it?" asked Camilla.
twelve or thirteen hundred miles,"
said the colonel. who was also looking
on with interest.
Hardly SO much as that; I wish It
WERE" said Dick. But am afraid
eight or nine days from the outside will
take us there"
"And from there" asked Camilla, still
pOAAH6 ONSA LAG SAdA - AOW AdE - ~ "
st. Helena?"
II can't say exactly. To the Cape it
Is about two thousand five hundred
miles, but that Is the straight course,
by which you so some way outside Of
st. Helena, and don't even pass near
enough to see the famous pigeons"
What are they?"
"oh, they're only kind Of pigeon
peculiar to that island; but they're
rather well known for their beauty and
because they're found nowhere else.
They often come circling around ship
at an immense distance from the land,
and the sailors catch them to take home
to their friends; but they mostly die
before the voyage is over.''
"Have you ever seen them?" asked
the colonel. what are they like?"
They're small gray birds. very grace
full and light on the wing, with bright
pink legs and curious band Of white
| under the eye"
mo-" replied Camilla; ''dian't you
hear Captain Estcourt say that they are
peculiar to St Helena7"
But surely they must hava kaAe
their way acrcss at some s1;..s1e or other;
the two islands are not 80 very far
apart"
at is curious" sa::. Dick. ''but as
Go BE Continued.)