Gilpin observer., 1899-05-18
DICK RODNEY:
Or. The Adventures of
An Eton Boy.
sx JAMES GRANT.

An Eton Boy.
BY JAMES GRANT.


brig beautifully. That ugly Spaniard
at the wheel was worth his weight in
gold just now!"
For nearly an hour the sea was
greatly agitated; but as the Eugene,
still braced sharp to the wind, flew
from one long roller to another, we
rapidly got into smooth water. The
barometer rose quickly; the vapors dis
persed; and when the setting sun gave
us parting smile from the far hori-
zon the storm-cloud and its water-spout
had disappeared together or melted
away in the distant sea.
The little eddies of wind which on
fine summer morning may be seen
whirling up the dust and dry leaves
in circles on a road are exactly on the
same principle as those mighty phe-
nomena which become tornadoes. cy-
clones, and water-spouts when they
reach the ocean, where they may cas-
lily dismast and perhaps sink the larg-
est line-of-battle ship.
These spouts rise from the sea ex-
actly like the moving pillars of sand
which the whirlwinds sweep from the
NV anu aiiu ueScIlS VI AlTlCd anu
Arabia.
About six bells Il. e., o'clock p. n.y.
this escape was followed by dead
calm, which lasted till midnight, and
during that time we talked of nothing
but the skill with which we had got
the weathergage of that column of
foam. AS the sun set, with a rapidity
peculiar to these latitudes, the bril-
liant tints he shed on sea and sky
changed with equal speed from gold
to saffron, from that to vivid purple,
phire.
The sensation of loneliness which
the departure of the sun excites in the
breast of landsman at sea is Pc
culiar; but this was soon changed from
mine by the splendor Of the rising
moon, which changed the sapphire
tints of sea and sky to liquid sill
yer and the clearest blue.
Above. no cloud nor even the tiniest
shred of vapor was visible. Sea blend
ed with sky at the horizon, and seemed
to melt into each other, so that no line
was traceable. Save a planet or two,
twinkling with less light than usual,
there seemed to be no stars in heaven,
for the glory of the full-orbed moon
eclipsed them all; her light fell bright
ly on the white sails of the Eugenie,
and in it the features of our faces were
distinct as at MONDAY, and now it
was the noon Of night.
About 12 o'clock a fresh breeze
sprang up. and the ships course was
resumed.
by keeping the weathergage, and
beyond the circle of the spout's attrac-
ton. we escaped without shipping a
drop of water!" said Weston, for the
twentieth time. Let me see how you
enter all this in the log. Hislop."
1T is no uncommon thing for craft
at sea to be deluged by a spout of
fresh water. which the whirlwind has
torn up from an inland lake." said
Hislop; land houses, far in-shore, have
in the same fashion been deluged by
salt water absorbed from the sea-and
hence the showers of dried herrings,
of which we have heard so much at
times. Now. Rodney. you will perhaps
be surprised when tell you that 1t is
the winds which produce a calm like
that we have had tonight"
1.-The windsw l reiterated, surprised
at such paradox from our theorist.
"Yes. The opposition of the winds
will at times produce a perfect calm,
and then when rain falls it Is always
gentle and equable; but when clouds
seem to move against the lower winds,
or when streams of air denote a va
riety Of the aerial current, and conse-
quently the approach Of rain"
What strange sound is that ahead,
or. at least, forward?" said Weston, in
terrupting Hislop. who would perhaps
have theorized for an hour.
'It is Antonio. groaning in his sleep
in the forecastle," said Ned Carlton,
who was at the wheel.
81 wish the ship were rid of him and
his Dreams" added Hislop. testify.
well, as / was saying. when the ad-
to denote"
Light ahead! cried a voice from
the bow.
rs that you. Roberts?" asked Wes-
ton. while Hislop stamped with vexa-
ton at the second interruption.
"Yes, SIR"
"How does It bear?"
"East-north-eas
"Then II is Cape st. Antonio light,
the most western point of Cuba" said
Weston. 81 thought / could smell the
land with the first cats paw, before the
breeze freshened."
The light. dim and distant, like a
star, was now seen to twinkle among
the waves at the horizon.
For more than an hour remained on
deck. with my eyes fixed upon that
fnehle hut increasing heacnn which In