Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1898-08-13


badly they would not object to this.
And he finished up by inviting them
to step down stairs into his private
sitting room and drink bottle of wine
with him.
Whether it was that these poor
Spaniards were guileless souls, or that
offer of drink was one that could not
be declined, I know not, but the invi-
tation was accepted with avidity
Hospitality is one of Georges strong
points, and it is needless to say that
he spent delightful time with his
two new friends. After while the
steady, regular throb of the engines
began to make itself felt, but this in
no way interrupted the harmony of the
proceedings. Presently, however, the
merry little party was startled by the
boom of gun. They all rushed u2-
stairs on to the deck.
The Crocodile was steaming as fast
as she could toward the mouth Of the
harbor. George turned and looked at
the Spanish warship. An angry puff
of white smoke appeared on her side,
and the screeching of the shot as it
passed overhead told him that she was
really in earnest this time. One of the
unhappy custom house officers gave q
yell and leaped into the sea, where he
was presently rescued by friendly
boat. The other, having a distaste
for cold water, ran down stairs and
hid!
George Williams ut once made his
way on to the bridge. This is another
of those perplexing nautical terms. 1t
means n sort of perch near the middle
of the ship, from which the captain is
accustomed to give his orders. An
other gun from the warship, and this
time the shot fell into the sea quite
close to them.
"Steward," said George, "fetch me
my glasses. You will find them on
the table in my sitting-room.
1t was the bnocular glasses that he
meant, not the other ones. But there
was no time to explain. Fortunately,
the steward was clever man and un-
derstood perfectly. He ran down
stairs, found the glasses and cane
back as quickly as he could. While
he was making his way up on the
bridge the warship fired again. The
shot just whisked off the stewards
cap, and passed on without doing
further damage.
A friend of mine has asked me to
suppress this fnct on the ground that
in story of this kind some such Incl
dent invariably occurs. There is Il
great deal of force in this criticism,
but cannot comply with my friends
request. I feel bound to tell the story
as George Williams told it. And he
assured me that it was true.
The Crocodile had by this time got
clear of the harbor and. though the
man-of-war continued firing for some
little time longer. none of the shots
took effect. But George Williams
knew very we'll that as yet he was by
10 means out of his difficulty. He
had seen that the Spanish battleship
was getting up steam rs fast as she
could, and he was quite aware that
once started she would gain upon him
steadily. So he steamed away west
ward as fast as his ship could carry
him. 1t was all in vain. Far away
in the distance black smudge of
smoke on the horizon told him that his
enemy was in hot pursuit.
Hour after hour passed, while the
Spanish warsliip came gradually nearer
and nearer, and George Williams was
enabled to experience those delight
full sensations which all true sports
men declare that the fox so thoroughly
enjoys when he hears the hounds i'll
full cry. At length Gibraltar mp
peared iii sight. George, in his play
full way, told me that he ''mude the
Rock" But, of course, this was only
his humorous exaggeration. George
is high minded gentleman, and in
his more serious moments l have
never known him to deviate from the
truth except when he was talking
Spanish. And that is language
which lends itself to allegory.
When he was within mile or two
of Gibraltar, George suddenly stopped
and allowed all his steam to blow off
through something which, believe,
is called the exhaust pipe. have not
an idea what this is, but I do know
that the noise was simply hideous.
The captain of the Spanish battleship
very naturally concluded that the
Crocodile's engine had broken down
and prepared in triumph to seize upon
his helpless victim.
Meanwhile, George was making
signs to the lookout station at Gibral-
tar. He asked for no sort of help. All
he said WAS
"Please make a note of the exact
position of this ship, the Crocodile.
And the officer in command OF the
lookout station very kindly signalled
back to say that he had done so.
Then the Spanish man-of-war came
up in all her majesty, and immediately
took possession of the Crocodile.
There was nothing for George to do
but to submit, and so he and his ship
we're taken back to Cartagena.
But directly they arrived there,
George telcgraphed the British am
bassador at Madrid TO say that the
Crocodile had been illegally arrested
by II Spanish man-of-war. For the
sea within three miles of the coast is
held, by international law, to belong
to the nation which owns that coast;
and, as George had been within three
miles of Gibraltar Mt the time when he
was caught, his ship had been seized
| in British waters. He also scut IL
similar one to Messrs Evans and Har-
rison in London.
In matters of this kind the British
foreign office acts with great prompti-
tudo and firmness. They communi-
Gated mt once with the authorities at
Gibraltar, who confirmed Georges S
statements in every particular, aud in