The Mena star., 1899-04-27
[coNrIxrrp rnoM LAST WEEK. l

clled course on the chart showed the absurdity of the propositions; but while 1 was puzzling over it the cap tain drew another line which gave the problem more favorable aspect.
 Suppose we should change about tomorrow he said. Gall it a hun dred and thirty-one, twenty, cas-, by Ieven, fifty, no'th. On straight runs from there, we'd have forty-two hours to Tap and seventy-five or eighty to Guajan; that is, on a tweIve-knot ba- sis. But the mates are calculating upon the regular easy runs-Diaz thinks Mac raced her to-day in order to get the stiffness out of that fresh Babbitt metal-and they figure on at least sixty hours from the noon posi- tion, tomorrow. into Tomil bay. could cut the eighty hours to Guajan down to sixty-eight if he showed her"
 And that cura, Juan, is not only chap who seems to take things about as he finds them, but a pretty good sailor into the bargain. So that if any row comes of this it is most likely to be from people at Tap who are expect ing mail and supplies, or who are wait ing to leave for Manila. How long be- fore you will get back there?"
 'Well, let's sec" (We figured out the approximate runs, penciling them on the chart, until the whole voyage lay diagrammed before us.) we would anchor off the landing wharf at Apra about noon on Saturday; that's the 4th of April. We ought to get away from there Sunday and drop the padre at Saipan Monday morning Then, running straight for Kusaie, with the no'theas' trades helping us on our port beam, she'd make Chab- Ioi Harbor some time Saturday fore noon. It's a short run from Kusaie to Pouynipete; we'd strike Kittie har- bor about noon on Monday and leave there next day; that's the 14th. The navigation among these atolls in the Carolines is too dangerous to risk the group has never been surveyed, you see-so we go to the no'th'ard of them: but we ought to fetch into Tap by the following Sunday, easy enough. That would be the 10th, wouldn't 1t? Suppose us to be due there next Fri day night, something under 16 days late. As matter of actual fact, the regular steamer used often to leave Manila several days over time; and, as the colonies are run on the a inanana' principle, the mere being couple of weeks behind wouldn' make much difference. But if any of the gobernador's party should happen to be waiting for comfortable trip on the steamer, with good meals and baths, between Yap and Pouynipete or Guajan, they'd kick good deal on having to wait until after the wet monsoon had set in"
 Well, but wait bit. How many hours is it from Yap to Guajan?'
 Let's see. Four hundred and fifty two miles; call it 36 hours easy steam ing"
 That isn't so very much, and Mae has coal enough to make up heap of lost time over the regular nineknot rate. Suppose you find that any of these Caroline people do want to run mp to the Ladrones; what's the mat ter with taking them from Tap? It would make but little more than two days difference on the round voyage, and Mae could reduce that materially. Then they'd be under obligations to you, as well as the padre"
 That's pretty good suggestion, Harry; I hadn't thought of it. You would have nearly three weeks to work in, and could return with me if have 10 take your chances on there be- ing no one who wanted to reach Gnajan; in that case I wouldn't have an excuse for coming back, you know"
 "Oh, I understand that, of course. I'm prepared to stay on that island for six months, if necessary; it might take all of that time to really accomplish anything. When are you going to of fer the padre his passage to Saipan? nfter Macs little arrangement?
 "No. don't propose making any advances at all to him; he's too slip pery. I'm captain of this steamer, and if anything occurs which seems 10 ne- cessitate a change in the navigation, am supposed to use my own judg- ment. Any owner or any chartering company would be obliged to accept my decision in such a case, unless they could prove that the necessity did not exist. That is really where lay my self open. if there should be hitch in Macs bluff. But he generally knows