The Florence daily tribune., 1898-05-13

IOWarG inc nludle OF the afternoon
tho strength of tho gale began some.
what to abate, tho sea lost its greater
fury, and the barometer in u measure
recovered its stability. 1t seemed in
credible that the Lone Star could have
come through it so safely, for, with
the exception of one man washed over.
board, another who had three of his ribs
smashed in by marauding sen. por-
ton of the port bulwark and boat car.
ried away as above described, and an.
other crashed to atoms on the davits, we
had experienced no casualties worth
mentioning.
by the time darkness fell the sea was
almost its old calm, placid self again.
80 quickly do these terrible typhoons
spring up and die away. AS soon as we
We're certain all danger was past tho
yacht was returned to her course, and
we once more proceeded on our way
How wonderful and inscrutable is the
mighty deep! Next day tho weather was
rs peaceful as ever had seen it-bright
sunshine, gentle breezes and sea as
smooth as polished silver. After break
fast the awning, which ON account of
the storm had been unshipped the day
before, was rugged again. and. drawing
deck chair aft, | settled myself down
to read beneath its shade A few min
utes later Alie and her companion join
ed me. l brought them seats, and then
for the first time l saw the Beautiful
White Devil-for must sometimes call
her by her picturesque Chinese ccgno-
men-engaged in needlework. Why /
should have found anything extraor-
binary in such circumstance / cannot
say. Possibly it may have been because
l had never imagined that there could
be sufficient leisure in her life for such
homely occupation. AT any rate, /
know that to watch her bent head, with
its glorious wealth of hair; to see those
beautiful white fingers unadorned by
jewelry of any sort, twisting and twin.
ing among her silks, and to make out
ono little foot peeping beneath her snow
white dress sent a thrill through me
that made mo tinglel from top to toe.
Suddenly one of the hands engaged
upon some work i'll the fore rigging ut
tered cry in the native. Alio and her
companion sprang to their feet, and
though did not understand what had
happened followed their example. We
ran to the starboard bulwark, but moth
ing was to be seen there. Not being
able to make it out, l asked what had
ocoasioned the alarm.
"One of the hands reports boat
away to starboard. - said Allie.
She turned to ono of the younger off,
GERS. who was standing near, and order.
ed him aloft to take tho boats bearing
AS soon as this was discovered the yacht
was put over Oh tack that would bring
us close up with it, end after that there
was nothing for it but to wait patiently
Tor tho result.
For some time we could not see any.
thing; then s,uall black spech made It's
appearance about two points Off our star
board bow and gradually grew palmer.
Keep her MS she goes, said Allie to
the man Mt the wheel, while we strain
cd our eyes toward the tiny dot
Little by little it became more dis
tinct until we were sufficiently near to
make out with glass that it wns a
man wars gig pulled by two men
and containing three others. Ten min
utes later the yacht was hove to, and
Patterson clambered on to the rail of
the bulwarks.
Are you strong enough to bring her
alongside, do You think, " he beloved,
''or shall We send boat to tow your
The man steering, who was evidently
an officer, funneled his mouth with his
hands and shouted back that they
thought they could manage it. Then.
Us if to prove his words, the men who
had been rowing but had now stopped,
resumed their monotonous labor. Bit
by bit the tiny craft crept over the oily
surface toward us until she was close
enough for us to seq with our naked
eyes all that she contained.
AS she came alongside our gangway
was lowered, and within an hour from
the time of our first sighting her the
boats crew stood upon our deck. In
spite of their man-of- war dress a more
miserable, woebegone appearance could
not have been imagined than the party
presented. 1t consisted of one lieuten-
ant midshipman and three able sea-
men, and out of curiosity glanced at
the cap of the man standing nearest me.
1t bore the name II. NJ. S. Asiatic. Then
looked round for Allie, only to discover
| tbot ha had ,,1rctnr,oucly al ca t,naarad