The Mena star., 1899-03-16

III tDEet-QuaTlcTS or an hour Hal stead and I reached the quay with my luggage, and 20 minutes later we were climbing the Countess of Devon's ac- commodation ladder, out in the bay. The Spanish mate stood at the top and touched his cap. Halstead looked along the gangway and said:
 "All the passengers aboard, MT. Diaz?"
 "Si. senor."
 Pilot come ofr with Mir. McPher- son?"
 ''Si, senor."
 All right. Get your anchor up and find how much she's drawing. Tell MT. Moreno to be careful that iron buoy doesn't foul the screw this time, and have the quartermaster bring Mir. Stevens luggage up to my room. The steward can give the passengers bis cults and coffee if they want it before turning in-there are only a dozen, l think--and seat the ladies' party at my table in the morning. Now, old chap" Burning to mel, I'm going to give yom the extra berth in my cabin, and you can do as you please on board Go to sleep now, if you like, or bring a stool up on the bridge and smoke. l shan't turn in until after breakfast"
 ~If that's the case, I'll stay with you. Just to humor my fool curiosity, I wish you'd explain why you start at such an ungodly hour. There's nc bar to cross, so the tides can't make any difference"
 ''No; there's plenty of water, but after passing Cape Santiago there isn't another light in the strait. There are two dim ones on the no'theas' cor ner of Burias island, but they're not visible to west'ard, and I want to see where I'm navigating between Burias and Ticao. We'll get there about five o'clock tomorrow morning,-ought to pass Santiago at breakfast time to- day,--so that during the night well have plenty of elbow room"
 Suppose you strike rain or fog?"
 @.We won't. This is the morning of March .29, isn't it? We'll, two weeks from te-morrow it'll be sultry, and still, and hot as Tophet. After that the air'H smell like furnace until April 24. Then therell be a hurricane An this bay that will send pile of ships ashore and spread corrugated iron roofs all over the landscape, and from that time to about the first of October the weather'll be simply hellish-rain, Hurricanes, fever and mud. In other words, the southwest monsoon will have set.in for six months. You ought to know when the monsoon changes, If you've been out here two years"
 "Well, Il suppose I should, but I've spent the summers in Yokohama and Shanghai, and they don't make so D,nch difference up there."
 It was a perfect night. The wind had died down until there was scarce 3y rippleson the water and each par 4icular star was reflected in it. The lights of Cavite, on our left, were fast dropping astern; and, approaching Corregidor island at the entrance of beihay, abont three o'clock, the noun aains of the Piquito on the south head with the Sierra de Mariyeles on the north rose like dark blue ghosts 400O feet in the air. Corregidor itself stood over GOO feet above high water, the light on its summit filling the rocks with grotesque shadows as we passed close underit.
 Halstead occasionally called my at zention to some prominent point, but he was too closely occupied in watch dng the different bearings to talk very drnch; and, although we didn't drop tbe pilot until well past Cape Santiago, ' could see that my friend preferred to know himself just how his ship was being navigated. After a six-o' clock breakfast we turned in and slept un- iii noon. Then wa went below and sat down at our first meal with the passengers, only four of whom spoke our language, so that the conversation was mostly carried .orl in rudimentary Spanish.