The Mena star., 1899-05-04
[coSrINurD FROM LAST wrrk.l

me wish. Not now, I am quite sure But if the people you do make to think so, you would me have to take or else the duello to fight with mi padre. They would say: Behold, el senor the gran admiration has for la senorita. But un honorable he is; the respects he does not pay 10 su padre: much alone it is permitido that he does her see. Then he does find that she is not as he did think; remain he will not with her; and su padre must the senor then kill DOT la honra de Ia familia.' Do you not see, Enriquito mio?"
 ''I'm beginning to, dimly You know I'm not as familiar with your Andalusian customs as I should be. But see, the sun must be at the zenith Here, let me adjust the sextant for you. Now look Isn't the lower edge just touching the water?"
 stead, on the bridge, took the sextant from his eye and said: Strike eight bells, quartermaster." Then he and the mates went into the wheel-house to figure up the reckoning.
 For perhaps half an hour longer we stood talking in the shadow of the for svard life-boat. Then, just as the stew ard came along with the luncb-gong, there was the muffled sound of crash from the engine-room gratings, and the machinery stopped. In an in- stant heads appeared atsvarious win dows and doors; the passengers, with pale faces and questioning looks, crowd ed out upon the decks. Echoes of voices shouting excited orders came from somewhere below, and the good old ship, having lost her headway, rolled uneasily upon the long, glassy swell. Halstead stepped quickly down the starboard ladder and aft to the engine-room gangway. The senorita clung tightly to my arm with one hand, while with the other she fished her beads from their warm concealment and held them ready for instant use. Her bosom was pressed so closely against my side that I could feel her heart beating about a hundred and forty to the minute. She looked aft with dilated eyes toward where the captain had disappeared. then beseech- 5ngly into my face, as she wlrispered:
 .'Madre de Dios, Enrique! what is it? Shall el vapor in the water sink? Is it la nuerte? Ricardito-why goes he below into the danger? tell mel For Dios, tell mel"
 was beginning to think, myself, that for bluff it was pretty realistic. Per haps I may have caught some of the senorita's nervousness. The crash be- low was what puzzled me; that hadn't been on the programme. I comforted the girl as we'll as I could by saying didn't think the steamer was likely to sink right away, though there was certainly something wrong with the machinery, and then suggested our go- ing along 10 the engine-room, where we might look down and see what the trouble was. I was considerably more shaken up than l cared to admit. es- pecially as the quartermasters and stewards, in obedience to the disci- pline which Halstead always enforced at sea, had taken their stations for the signal: "All hands stand by to aban- don ship"
 When it came to actually approach ing the vicinity of danger, the senor- ita's curiosity, with possibly an un- confessed anxiety for the captain, got ghe better of her fears, and she fol- lowed me as far as the gratings over the cylinders. No one else had the temerity to accompany us, if, indeed, they knew where the gangway led to.
 From the depths under our feet we could hear McPherson and the captain sn earnest conversation, broken now and then by a dull tapping, as of Hammer on hollow or fractured steel. Occasionally enc of the Spanish as 6istants would shout some order to the oilers, at work upon the high-pressure cross-head. Presently we heard Hal stead say: Turn her over once or twice, Mac, while keep my hand on Abe shaft:" and in moment one of the great oily pistons stretched itself up fo within a foot of Garcia's pretty nose, as she leaned over the steel rail- startling a subdued squeal of surprise from the girl, who had no idea the thing moved. Up and down, greasiIy <nsinuatingly, they slid. while we could hear little sharper tapping from the shaft-alley; then. with q slippery sough of content, they rested again. Another period of eonsulta- dion below. while the steamer rolled in