Middletown transcript., 1898-04-30

fn
at lust listened aohite he talked"
shares in the gem and all the rest Of the
degrading, money grabbing rubbish. !
might have admired that stone myself
il I'd been given fair chance and
even have worshiped it as mild sort
Of god, but the talk about it killed all
my interest, and if it hadn't been for
the profit it was bringing the steamer
as carrier should have gone very near
hating it. And 80 things were. was
Just driven into cumming with man
called Farren out Of sheer disgust for
every one else. on the passenger list.
"I tell you straight that on any other
trip this Farren was not a man should
have had anything more than nod for.
He was q little slip Of a fellow with
hockbottle shoulders and wandering
eyes, and he'd sort Of missionary no
tions that I'd no use for whatever,
but he didn't talk diamonds; thought
they were sinful or something, and, !
tell you, after spell with the others
that mans society used to come to me
like visit to the country. I'd tip him
the wink, and he and I'd slip away from
the rest and go down to my room and
put up our heels and rest. He'd stretch
himself out on the sofa, and I'd slip
my shoes and lie on the bed and just
listen while he talked. At times I'd feel
that grateful to him I almost wished
he'd hand round the hat for a collection
after he'd finished.
"Well, gentlemen, things went on
this way-diamonds diamonds, dia-
monds, with short refreshing spells Of
Farren, till after we'd left Madeira and
had made half a days steam toward
home, and then q queerish thing hap
pened. We came across steamer lying
to right in our track.
"There's nothing in that, you'll say.
Well, perhaps not, but wait bit. This
steamer, az soon as we drew abeam,
made steam and bore away on our
course, keeping parallel to us, about .
quarter of mile of, to port 1t doesn't
take much to interest people on long
voyage liner, and you can guess it was
not long before most pairs Of eyes
| aboard Of us were turned on to the 9TH
er steamer, especially as she happened
to be yacht. Who was she? plenty Of
people were asking, and the answer to
that was simple. She was Lord Ray
bury's yacht, a brand new 16 knotter.
Her picture had been In all the illus
trated papers, and two of our officers
had seen her before she left the yard,
SO there was no mistake about that mat
ter. But what she was up to no one
could say, and our passengers made Q
regular industry out Of betting over it.
"We officers Of the ship didn't wor-
~ our heads much about the matter. II
you were to try to find out the why
and wherefore Of all the queer things
you see in the two Atlantics, ] guess
you'd go first gray and then bald and
| then into 1unatio asylum within three
years time. And 30 we looked at the
yacht, hanging always in the same
| place on our port beam, without worry
ing our heads particularly as to what
her little game might be. But, as I say,
the passengers were different; 1t was a
brand new interest to the lot Of them it
was an Al topic to gamble on, and I
tell you the talk in that smokeroom be-
/ gan to get interesting. We'd got some
really imaginative and accomplished
liars on our passenger list that trip, and
they were always ready to back up their
talk with good, solid bets.
''They became regularly amusing to
listen to- Diamonds were not spoken of
once after Lord Raybury's yacht Joined
us, and / began to think that our passen
gers could make themselves as nice and
CHEEKY lot as any man might want to
meet. just let Farren slide. I'd no
use for any more Of his sermon and wa
ter talk, and the day after the yacht
turned up, when he asked himself down
to my room while was making up
some accounts after lunch, let him
know sharply enough that people who
came in there had to wait for an invi-
tation. A purser like me doesn't t chum
with cheap teetotaIers Of the Mr. Far
rem type unless he's pretty hard up for
D mate. But, mark you, that man was
no fool, and he got around me two days
later in way don't think anybody
could conveniently have guessed at.
'From what turned out afterward ]
suppose he intended to play his little
game directly after the yacht Joined us,
but the weather was a bit dirty then,
and it freshened ID TO snorting breeze
directly afterward, which we carried
with us all the road through the bay.
There was big, ugly head sea running,
which knocked couple Of knots OF oul
pace, and the yacht was making very
wet weather of il indeed. A careful
skipper would have slowed her down,
but hers didn't. He rammed her at II
and risked carrying everything away.
He hung on exactly in his place, anc
our passengers bet Lord Raybury him
self was on board forcing the old man *
drive her.
sBut when we rounded Ushant ant
opened out the channel the breeze LEI
us, and the sea went down bit, al
, though IL was still ugly enough, ant
that was the time Farren came on th'
carpet again, and although, as ! say
what he did got me the sack from tn
company I'll own straight out that ~
man could have shown more real dare
devil, armor plated pluck.
WILL BE coNTINUED NEXT WEEK.
4 THE TRANSCRIPT. 81. 90 per year,