Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-16
THE BURNING SEA.
BY HERBERT RUSSELL,
Author Of TRUE Blue" THE Long
shoreman," "The Mystery of
Whitelady Island Etc.
CCopyright,)

-ALldnIlc, nlnSlnS tne SpafhnnS plAlOWS
back as they welled trimming to the
bows in crystalline mounds Of snow,
and twanging a thousand melodies out
OF the salt shrill breeze as it rolled from
out of the swelling spires Of canvas, or
split upon the taut rigging. Then sud
denly, and without warning, one fore
noon the glorious wind fell, expiring in
hot puff, and leaving US sluggishly
heaving upon long-drawn CLASSY swell,
which flashed back the brassy sun-glare
like FURNISHED copper Our ship was a
nlmble little clipper barque Of seven
hundred and fifty tons, named the Mid
night, and we We're bound for Melbourne
from the River Thames with a general
cargo. | was a passenger on board,
making the voyage in a sailing vessel
with view to Warding off an incip-
lent lung trouble. But ! was beginning
to find the prescription desperately mo-
notonous in all conscience. Captain Tar
buck was a good enough sort of fellow,
but as ] had travelled pretty exhaust
lively over his mind within the first
week Of our being at sea, conversation
between US was necessarily d trifie te-
dious The chief mate, Mr.. Bullmore,
was a bit of a seadog of the olden
school, who answered questions in mon
osyllables, and preferred trudging the
lee quarterback alone. The most intel
ligent of the three was the second Off
Ger, Mr. Nathaniel Fox; but he was a
aiffdent and retiring young fellow; so
that altogether my companionship was
distinctly limited and by the time that
We had crossed the line ! was begin
hing to feel very heartily bored
The prospect of q spell Of stagnation,
therefore, was assuTedly not very pleas
ing, and / cast a yearning eye at the
horizon, above the hazy rim of which
A thin film of smoke denoted the pas
sage of some swift steamer midtown
that way, probably Cape liner out
ward bound. Captain Tarbuck came up
out Of the companion hatch in his shirt
sleeves and a Wide-brimnned sun hat
which, together with the long church
warden at which he leisarely puffed.
gave him very much the aspect of a
typical Dutchman
"A clock calm, Mr.. Russell" SAYS he,
after surveying the scene over the taft
rail-. Whenever you hear the canvas
holloWing in to the masts with dull dead
thuds, like a gravedigger's spade strik-
ing INTO the cold earth, you may reckon
that you're booked fer a spell of dold-
rum weather"
Well, | hope we are not in for an
Ancient Mariner like business" said I
lighting cheroot. II have not the least
disposition to undergo what neWspaper
men call an experience
what have we got out here? ?" ex-
claimed the skipper; and he stepped
over TO the hood of the cabin hatch to
1etch the glass. We were not the sole
occupants or that stretch of CLASSY
me port. beam floated the motfonless
shape Of a brig, dwarfed to the propor-
IONS OF mere toy, her shining white
canvas exquisitely mirrored in the sill
yer water alongside, and her glossy
black broadside relieved bv a. row If
painted ports. The captain returned
WIN WIN the telescope, which he focused
t.asn leFehed, steadying it against
oe s.s sy, and took prolonged stare.
a LoIelgner. said he presently, pass
rug me the glass. by the cut of her can
vas and the amount of cotton in II, T
should say an American
LOOK the telescope, and pointed Il
INTO the clear circular field there leaned
the shape of the vessel, magnifled n
me dimensions she would have present.
ca nad ! been viewing her at a biscuit
eoss WIN my naked eye. She was a most
Efaceful little fabric, with long tanerire o
ltbbooms, keenly arched cultivate. and
taA' raKlng masts, could even read her
name IN elongated white letters upon
nef DOW, InVicta; and the copper-hIled
races or couple Of men, Iouneing over
ner DulWark forward, looking orr wav
were brought startlingly close by the
powerful glass, A flag of some sort hung
at ner gaH-end; but 50 utterly stagnant
was the atmosphere that the folds of
the color We're motionless, haIf-hidden
behind the peak of the shining trysaiI
ana could not make out the nationality
Of the bunting. - ioii''i''s
To give you some idea of the utter
stagnatlon Of that calnl--at dinner-time
the red-capped cook came out OF the
ganey and tossed bueketful of potato
parihgs ana coffee grounds overheard,
ana at sunset the patch Of discoloratio73
made by the stuff still floated in +
iaentlcal same spot upon the quicksil-
Eer-llke surface, with nyriads of fash
Iul, Wrlgghng shapes darling at it, and
the steel-colored body of a shark hover
ing mouonless fathoms deep in the
translucent brine.
me night came down breathless and
glonously fine, with a armament full ~
stars high among which glinmered tbe
constellation of the Southern Cross. n
was progressively not Away out TO port
tw1nkled solitary point OF light de-
notlng the presence of the brig on orr
neaIn. The darkness was of that pro
round yet penetrable quality which the
ltanans term the clear OBSCURE" the
sven came flowing out of the gloom in
we sWayed with leisurely rhythm. rails
ing no other sound than an occasional
gufghng sob of water under the counter.
or the dull flap of the swinging canvas /
went below at two bells in the first
night watch-nine oclock-to sit with
the skipper in the cabin. He was seated
At the table, upon which the steward
mao set grog and biscuits; not satisfied
with having discarded his coat and
waistcoat, ne had now rolled up his
shlrtsieeyes to above the elbows of his
heefy arms, and puffed at his cigar la !
boriously.
"Whew! It's hot down here" said /. I
with a glance up at the stirless heel Of
me wlndsail coming down through the
open skylight
don't mind the heat so much" ex-
claimed CAPTAIN Tarbuck: "but this
tarnation listlegsness bothers me. rye
known a calm like this to last six weeks, /
SIR. Pleasant lockout for man who's
expected to make prompt dispatch. isn't
~ These things are the worries of a. i
snipmasfers life; they make him look
AZ old man at fifty-if the ocean let's
MIN live so long. Take a glass Of grog. /
Mr.. Russell A doctor once told me maj
spirits act as depressant-I think /
.nat the word-they seem to heat the |
piood, but they really lower the temper- |
allure Of the body"
mixed myself a little tot of Hollands. (
lighted cigar and sat down at the
table facing the skipper. ! was trife !
apprenenslve lest he should suggest
draughts or two-handed wiltshire dual
resources with which he sought to en-
terrain me upon every occasion How
ever, ] managed to divert his attention
from these two topics by leading the
conversation round to the subject Of his
nautical experimentation which old
Tarbuck, like every other sailor. was
really interesting So we sat together in
the SIlalterinp little 1nc,, ,f -. 49, I