Rocky Ford enterprise., 1899-06-29
! DICK RODNEY:
; o..a Or The Adventures of
5 An Eton Boy.
( 1Y JAMES GRANT.

eY JAMES GRANT.


I fall. be sure 1t will become typhoon.
and then. with a short-handed craft.
heaven help us! But assure Tom It is
only as yet trade-wind gaie-to take
as much canvas of her as he can, and
to make all snug aloft. Well have
thunder directly. rick-such thunder
as you can only hear In the tropics"
He sank back. exhausted even by
these few words. while / hurried on
deck with his orders.
| l had scarcely conveyed them tn
Lambourne. who was keeping n look
out forward. when. amid the dusky
obscurity OF sea and sky. there burst
n sudden CLEAN Of wondrous light.
The men. who were spreading some
old. wetted sails over the sheet and
working anchors: the steersman Mt
the wheel. the watch and all hands
who were crouching to leeward, or
holding on by ropes and Delaying pins
10 windward. seemed for n moment TO
become white-visaged specters amid n
sea OF pale, blue flame-a sea whereon
the flying brig. with her brailed courses
and reefed topsails, her half-naked
masts and black cordage. were all dis
tinctly visible as at MONDAY, while
the polished brass on funnel, binnacle
and skylight all flashed and sho1e. rs
ship and crew, with oil their details
Of form and feature.
Were instant seen and instant lost. +"
For broad and binding sheet of
electric flame burst upon the darkness
OF the night. and passed away as rap
idly, when the livid brand burst in
the we!kin or in the wave, we knew
not which.
Then came the roar OF thunder
the stunning and appalling thunder Of
the tropics. every explosion Of which
seemed to rend earth. sea and sky, as
they rolled like a palpable thing, or
like the united salvo OF a thousand
echoes at the far horizon.
After n sound so mighty and be-
wi!dering, the believing OF the wind
through the rigging. the hiss and roar
OF the sea as wave broke against wave;
the Tapping OF the brailed courses;
the creaking and straining of the tim
bers, seemed as nothinE-the very ST.
lence of death-while the Eugenie tore
on. through mist and spray. through
darkness and obscurity, with the foam
flying white as winter draft over her
bows and martingale.
Again there was a palc-green gleam
overhead, right above the truck of the
mainmast, where the chambers OF the
sky seemed to open. The clouds diyid-
ed in the darkness OF heaven, and out
of that opening came the forked light
ming, zigzag. green and ghastly.
There was a dreadful shock. which
knocked every man down. except Carl
ton. who was at the wheel, and an
exclamation of terror escaped lis all.
A thunderbolt had struck the Eu-
genie!
With all its wondrous speed-instan-
taneous as electric light could bet
glided down the main top-gallant mast,
rending the topmast-cap and, the franz
ed grating OF the top to pieces; thence
1t ran down the mainmast. burst
through the deck and spent its fury
in the hold.
At that moment the main-topmast,
with all its yards, gear and canvas,
fell about the deck in burning brands,
and the brig was hove right in the
winds eye. while the sea twitched the
helm out of the hands of Ned Carl
ton, who became bewildered on find.
ing the compasses lose all their polar
ity by the influence of the electric fluid
the north point of one heading south
east and Of the other southwest.
Almost Immediately after this there
was a cry of Fire!"--that cry so ter
rible, so appalling on beard ship; and
then thick white smoke was seen to
issue from the crevices of the battened
main-hatchway.
All hands rushed to this point. The
long-bcat was unshipped from its
chocks and dragged aft; some stood by
with buckets of water, while others
struck off the padlocks and iron bars:
the tarpaulin was torn away-the
hatch lifted-and 10!
A column Of fire ascended in a
straight line from the body of the
hold-lurid, red and scorching, as the
casks of molasses and bales of cotton
burned and blazed together. A col
umn that rose UP between the masts,
scored through the mainstay. all the
braces of the foreyards, and filled the
whole vessel with light, announced
that all was over.
at is doomed ship" cried Tom
Lambourne; I'VE must leave her at
| last. Clear away the longboat. Be
cool, lads; be cool and steady! Your
lives depend upon your conduct now,
and your obedience to orders!'