Worcester morning daily spy., 1898-01-16

cents a vial. Personal letters to Prof.
Munyon sos Arch Street, Philadelphia,
Pa, answered with free medical advice
for any disease.
realized that 1t must be caused by fire
somewhere near, and sitting upright in
the bunk, I looked out through the open
orifice of the port.
/ The spectacle which greeted my sight
was startling, wild, lurid. It was nothing
more or less than the brig have prev
iously described as lying becalmed
abreast of US, all abla7e fore and aft.
She made great crimson
glow, which lighted up the
whole Of the sea and sky with a
smoky, rudy flush and l could dis
tinctly catch the low roaring of the
flames, like muff1ed thunder heard afar.
1 watched for moment or two fascin-
ated and transhNed by the scene, then
sprang out of my bunk, hastily drew on
my clothes, and ran upon deck. The
glare from the burning vessel rendered
all objects plainly visible and the out
line of our motionless bark stood out in
crimson proportions. The captain and
two mates stood together near the miz-
zen rigging, staring and conYersing,
whilst forward all hands seemed to have
turned out to have a look at the weird
r
through the companion-way a large
giobular bright-burning lantern was run
up to our fore yardarm and made fast
there l guessed the meaning of it we'll
enough-the signal was intended to be-
token the whereabouts Of our ship to the
crew of yonder Inflated craft, although
one would have imagined she should
have been visible enough in the glare,
without the necessity for such beacon.
.f,r1,t va
seen before, Mr.. RUSSELL" said Captain
Tarbuck, pointing with shadowy arm.
Its the first ship on fire that ever
saw in all my years at sea-
"She burns cruel fierce, SIR eX-
claimed Mr.. Bullmore. 1T can't be
above half an hour ago since I first
took notice that she was alight, and
now she's just one sheet of flame from
knightheads to taffrail"
yet the fire can't have got much
hold upon her either, in 50 short a time.
said the skipper. ITS her sails and the
rigging that make the blaze. But, any
way, fear she's a doomed ship
Are there any signs to be seen of her
people?' | inquired.
Captain Tarbuck raised a nightglass
he held in his hand, and swept the tract
of waters between our ship and the
burning brig.
here comes orc VI the DUdlS. Stlu
he suddenly, with little tone Of excite
ment in his voice.
I knew where she was although
could not then perceive her~outline with
the naked eye by reason of the phos-
phorescent sparkle in the water made
by the dip Of her oar blades. She came
along rapidly, looming into view like
vast spider crawling toward US over the
stagnant surface, and when she was
within a cables length a voice with
Yankee drawl hailed us.
''Barque ahoy! VIII you take us
aboard, sir2 No need to tell you what's
wrong with our poor little hooker, I
allow"
con, come on board by all means,
answered Captain Tarbuck
The boat swan alongside, the bow
man took a turn with the painter round
one of the mainchain plates. and her
occupants, to the number OF about a
dozen, swarmed up on to our deck. One
man, a tall thin figure in knee boots
and a slouched hat STROBE out of the
group and advanced toward where we
stood
"Air you the cap'n Of this packet,
mister?" said he, accosting me.
I'm the master of this vessel, sir
Captain Tarbuck-at your service" said
the skipper. stepping forward
"Cap'n" said the tall, thin man, setz-
ing his hand and wringing it, Il thank
you muchly for receiving Of US. Our
plight must have been a bad one else,
adrift on this part of the ocean in that
bit of boat. My name is Nathan
Frisk, mister and ! was the master of
that there brig which rs now dom
record job in the way of blazin'--the
Invicta of New Orleans, as pooty a
little hooker as was ever roasted to
death by the bhstering clumsiness of
some tarnation critter at present on
known"
Then you don't know how the fire
originated?" asked the captain
"Ain't got the ghostess of a notion,
onless so be as it was spontaneous COM
bustion as done it. But I'll tell you
what, mister: there's a-gong to be
darnation great blaze directly; some
thing ash make you reckon that the
day O judgments come along at last
Dye know what's in that there hook
er's hold? Well, then, selp me Bob,
but there's four thousand barrels Of
crude petroleum, and say! Jist you
wait till the fire reaches EN- if YOU
want to see a big thing in the hare-up
way"
Captain Tarbuch gave a long, low
whistle at this piece of intelligence -Four
thousand barrels of crude petroleum.!
Here was promise OF an appalling con-
fagration indeed something to fill the
heavens with lurid glare which should
be visible for countless leagues like the
effulgent vomiting of a colossal crater.
We'll be none too far away when the
smothering stuff catchesl" exclaimed
Mr. Bulmore, with an uneasy look
around. when once petroleum and the
likes of that stuff takes fire, there's
nothing in water that's going to quench
it,"
by the Great Anchor, then!" cried
our skipper, as though the mates re-
mark had suddenly put an idea into his
head, I'VE may be finding the sea all
round US on fire, floating in the midst
of ID great snapdragon, without
wind enough to flicker a. candle flame
so as to give US a chance of escaping!
A pleasant prospect, by Joyel What do
you think, sir?" he added, rounding al
most flercely upon the Yankee skipper
''Wail guess I'd rather be midtown
t'other side of the horizon than where
we are responded the American, coolly
enough. I'm mighty Altered that the
stuff will spread on this smooth water
there's such tarnation lot Of it,"
why didn't you scuttle the ship when
you found the fire gaining on her?'' in-