The Beaver herald. [volume] (Beaver, O.T. [Okla.]) 1895-1923, 1899-09-14
CHAPTER XII
Copyright. 'sp, BY J. B. upplneou Co ]

CHAPTER XII.
Sebastiano looked like n wreck when
he appeared that morning. lie ac-
counted for this upon the ground Of
illness to which he was occa sionally
subject, and said that he would he
Obliged to rest for several days--that
he had been working too hard upon
ms book. But in some mysterious
way the story OF his night experience
leaked out. The disappearance OF
Miguers proa started the injuries;
then another islander. who had him
seh received bad scare, testified to
having been wakened by blood .curd.
ling scream IN time to see Padre Sc
bastinno running before Miguers
ghost, which subsequently emba rkc ed In
his own boat and pu, TO sen. This
yarn was ridiculed by Bartolo,neo
untii he investigated his fgurc-cham-
Der and found the grucsomc compnny
one apporition short: then he told Sc
pas'iano about II and partook OF his
uncomfortable feelings. Their com.
mon sense told them that n wax fip.
hre couldn't transport itself without
heip; malicious human help; but their
convection that every door had been
locked, and Scbastiano's positive as
sertion that the thing had certainly
chased him of its own accord and nb.
solutcly without assistance or visible
mechanism. simply couldn't he ex.
planned away. At first the churchmep
were at loss whether to feel com
pliinentea or alarmed by the various
ana peculiar manifestations with
which they had been favored; but the
more they failed 10 account for them
en- natura, or scientific grounds the
more they became impressed with n
sense Of nnworthiness. As for Miguel.
the native who had been at such ex.
pensc TO import IA suitable et,igy Of
himself, he thought his time had come.
But after rejecting upon his ghosts
departure from the island, which
could hr interpreted In no oiher light
than as u solemn warning. he moved
his sentire family TO Saipan. where, hav-
ing no bnrancay to live upon, they
were occasionally forced to work.
Judging that II would now be safe 10
leave Guajan for few days, told Dor.
o'ca of my Intention. At first the at.
tempt to reach zap In an open bont
seemed little short Of madness 10 her
hut after explaining that I was able TO
lind my position from the sun, as she
had seen officers do aboard ship, she re-
luctantly admitted that II might be
done. We were beginning TO under
stand each other pretty well by this
time. Making me look straight into
her beautiful eyes, she let me see why
The thought Of my possible danger tor
Inented her.
Mignels ghost had sailed away on
Tuesday morning. the iith, and, ac-
cording to our previous calculations,
Halstend would arrive In Tomil bay
about daybreak of the following Sun
day. Figuring that, before the wind,
my proa would cover the 452 miles
between Guajan and zap In % hours
at the outside, aud not wishing to hang
about Tomil among strangers who
might ask dangerous questions con-
cerning my strange appearance, post
Poned the start until Saturday morn
ing. There was, of course, an element
OF risk In thls-a possibility that l
might fnil To reach the island on time;
but | had good deal Of confidence
both In my ability Us a navigator and
In the proa itself.
His nerves being completely unset.
the padre was resting In good earnest;
10, with Dorotea, l made two noie
trips to he wreck, bringing back heavy
loads Of silver ingots, which we slowed
In the hssure. Then, early Saturday
morning, after telling the gobernador
OF my intention TO sail among the is
lands for day or two and being most
Hospitality proyisioncd for the cruise,
j headed the pron out 10 sen.
All day long the boat sailed like n
witch, holding beautifully to her
course, nnd IL was not until after dark
that realization Of my position i'm
pressed me. | had then made, accord.
Ing to my log, over 25O miles, and was
consequently over 200 miles from the
L'arest lnnd-a mere pin-point upon
The open sea, with nothing but a hol.
low trce-trunk and a few sticks he
tween me and eternity. II was a pe-
culiar feeling, yet there was nothing
of fear In IL, the sense of cNhilnrntlon
was too great for that. My chief dan.
ger lay In the possibility OF falling
asleep. This ! provided against by
drinking half a bottle of wine and a
pint OF cold, strong coffee; besides |
which, l smoked incessantly; cigars
were good company about that time,
and stimulated the imagination. My
eyelids were pretty heavy toward day |
break, In spite Of these precautions; |
hut, lowering the sail for n few mo- |
ments. ] undressed and jumped over
board, rolling aud floating In the cool |
water until thoroughly refreshed.
Pretty soon Il began 10 get gray In |
the east. and when the sun poked Its |
rim above the horizon drew n great |
breath OF relief; for there. 20 miles TO |
the southwark, wns the peak Of zap,
rising over u thousand feet from the |
sea.level. II was impossible 10 mistake !
Il. With the exception Of one or two
reefs which scarcely showed above |
their surf, there swere no other Islands
within a hundred miles.
But still another stroke Of good for |
tune was In store for me that morn
ing. ! had noticed u peculiar hnze
across the sun when II first came up;
and. looking again after heading for