The Republican journal., 1898-12-22

He stepped on the main hatch, brought
his weight on the ball of one foot. and
turned around. The canvas crumbled to
threads, showing the wood beneath.
Let's 90 below. If there were any Span
iards here they'd have shown themselves
before this The cabin doors were
latcbed, but not locked, and they opened
| them.
| 'Hold on said the doctor: this cabin
may have been closed for years, and gen
Grated poisonous gases. Open that upper
door, Bost, n.
Boston ran up the shaky poop ladder
and opened the companion way above,
which let a stream of the fresh morning
air and sunshine into the cabin, them
after a moment or two, descended and
| Joined the other, who had entered from
| the main deck. They were in an ordi-
nary ships cabin, surrounded by state
rooms, and with the usual swinging lamp
and tray; but the table, chairs and floor
were covered with fine dust.
| ''Where the deuce do you get 50 much
| dust at sea?' coughed the doctor.
Nobody knows, Doc. Let's hunt for
the manifest and the articles. This must
have been the skipper's room" They
entered the largest state room, and Bos
ton opened an old fashioned desk. Among
the discolored documents it contained, he
found one and handed il to the doctor
| ''Artioles.' he said; 'loos at it Soon
he took out another. owe got it. Now
Wei find what she has il her hold, and
if it's worth bothering about
''Great SeottM exclaimed the doctor
this paper is dated 1914, fifty years ago. "
Boston looked over his shoulder.
That 5 So; she signed her crew at Bos-
ton. too. Where has she been all this
time? Let see this one
The manifest was short, and stated
that her cargo was ), 900 barrels of
lime, 81 600 kids of tallow, and ?, 300
carboys Of acid, LOO of which We're
( sulphulic, the rest of nitric acid. 'That
cargo won be much good to us,
| Doc. I'd hoped to find something We
could use. Let's find the log book, and
see what happened to her" Boston num-
mayed what seemed to be the first mate S
room. "Plenty of buds here he said !;
"but they're ready to fail TO pieces.
Here's the log
He returned with the book, ana, seated
at the dusty table, they.turned the yellow
leaves. First departure, Highland
! Light, March 10, 1S44,' read Boston.
Ntohing but the ordinary incidents Of a
voyage were found until they reached the
date June LIST. where entry was made of
the ship being caught aback" and dis
masted off the Cape of Good Hope, in a
sudden gale. Then followed daily re
marks" of the soutbeastery drift, of the
extreme cold (Which, with the continu-
ance of the bad weather, prevented saw
ing the wreck for jury masts), and the
facts that no sails were sighted
June 9th told of her being locked in
soft, slushy ice, and still being pressed
| southwark by the never ending gale; June
10th said that the ice was hard, and at
June 18th was the terrible entry: FIRE
in the holdr'
On June 10th was entered this; ''kepi
matches battened down and stopped all
air holes, but the deck is too hot to stand
on, and getting hotter. Crew insist on
lowering the boats and pulling them north
ward over the ice to open water in hopes
of being picked up. Good bye" In the
position columns of this date the latitude
was given as 81 deg. A min. S, and the
longitude as 30 deg. 80 min. f. There
were no more entries.
"What tragedy does this tell of?'' said
the doctor. They left this ship in the
ice fifty years ago. Who can tell if they
were saved?'
"Who ndeed?' said Boston. ''The
mate hadn't much hope. He said Good
bye But one thing is certain; we are
the first to board her since. take it she
stayed down there in the ice until she
drfted around the Pole, and thawed out
where she could catch the Cape Horn
Current, which took her up to the Hope
| III. Al = E,,n
Current till she got into the EquatoIia
drift, then west, and up with the Guiana
Current to the caribbean Sea to the south.
ward of us, and this morning the flood
tide brought her through. 1t isn't a
question of winds; they're too variable
It's currents, though it may have taker
her years to get here. But the surprising
part of it is that she hasn't been boarded
Let's look in the hold and see what tn,
fire has done"
When they boarded the hulk, the sky
with the exception of tilmy haze over
hanging the eastern end of the island
was clear. Now, as they emerged from
tie cabin, this haze had solidiied ant
was coming-one of the black and vicious
squalls of the West India seas.
s'No man can tell what wind there is il
them," remarked Boston, as be viewet
it. "But it's pretty close to the waite
and dropping rain. Hold on, there
} Doc. Stay aboard. We couldn't pull
ashore in the teeth of it, The docto
had made a spasmodic leap to the rail
''If the chains we're shackeled on, W,
might drop one of the hooks and hold her
: but it's two hours work for full crew.
| ''But we're likely to be blown away
, aren't we?' asked the doctor.
s'Not far. | don't think it'll last long
Well make the boat fast astern and ge
out of the wet" They did SO, and enter
ed the cabin, Soon the squall, comm,
with shock like that of solid blow
struck the hulk broadside to and careen
ed her. From the cabin door they watch
ed the nearly horizontal rain as it swish
] ed across the deck and listened to tn