Butler citizen. [volume] (Butler, Pa.) 1877-1922, 1899-02-16
CHAPTER XII.

CHAPTER XII.
Sebastiano looked like a wreck when
he appeared that morning. He ac-
counted for this upon the ground OF
illness to which he was occasionally
subject, and said that he would be
obliged 10 rest for several days-that
he had been working too hard upon
his book. But in some mysterious
way the story Of his night experience
leaked out The disappearance OF
MguePs proa started the inquiries;
then another islander. who had him
self received bad scare, testified to
having been wakened by a blood-curd-
ling scream in time to see Padre Sc
bastiano running before Miguels
ghost, which subsequently embarked in
his own boat and put to sea. This
yarn was ridnuIed by Bartolomeo
until he investigated his figure-cham-
Der and found the gruesome company
one apparition short; then he told Sc
bastiano about it and partook Of his
uncomfortable feelings. Their com
mon sense told them that wax fig
ure couldn't transport itself without
help; malicious human help; but their
conviction that every door had been
locked, and Sebastiano's positive as
scrtion that the thing had certainly
chased him Of its own accord and alb
solutely without assistance or visible
mechanism, simply couldn't be ex-
planned away. At first the churchmen
were at a loss whether to feel com
plimented or alarmed by the various
and peculiar manifestations with
which they had been favored; but the
more they failed TO account for them
On natural or scientific grounds the
more they became impressed with n
sense Of u1worthiness. As for Miguel
the native who had been at such ex-
pense to import a suitable efligy of
himself, he thought his time had come
But after rejecting upon his ghosts
departure from the island, which
could be interpreted in no other light
than as a solemn warning, he moved
his entire family to Saipan, where, hav-
ing no barangay to live upon, they
were occasionally forced to work.
Judging that il would now be safe to
leave Guajan for few days, / told Dor
otea of my intention. At first the at
tempt to reach Yap in an open boat
seemed little short of madness to her,
but after explaining that / was able to
find my position from the sun, as she
had seen officers do aboard ship, she re-
luctantly admitted that 1t 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
mJHteu nef.
Miguel's ghost had sailed away on
Tuesday morning, the 18th, and, ac-
cording TO our previous calculations,
IIalstead would arrive In Tomi bay
about daybreall 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, and 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 this--a possibility that /
might fail TO reach the island on time;
but | had "A good deal Of confidence
both in my ability as a navigator and
in the proa itself.
His nerves being completely upset,
the padre was resting In good earnest;
so, with Dorotea, | made two more
trips to the wreck, bringing back heavy
loads Of silver ingots, which we slowed
In the fissure. Then, early Saturday
morning, after telling the gobernador
Of my intention to sail among the Is
lands for a day or two md being most
provisioncd for the cruise,
! headed the proa out to sea.
All day long the boat sailed like
witch, holding beautifully to her
course, and It was not until after dark
that realization Of my position Inn
pressed me. | had then made, accord
ing to my log, over 25O miles, and was
consequently over 200 miles from the
nearest land-a mere pin-point upon
the open sea, with nothing but hol-
low trcc-truuk and a few sticks be
tween me and eternity. 1t was pc
culiar feeling, yet there was nothing
Of fear In it; the sense Of exhilaration
was too great for that. My chief dan
ger lay In the possibility Of falling
asleep. This | provided against by
half bottle OF wine and
pint OF cold, strong coffee; besides
which, | smoked incessantly; cigars
were good company about thnt time,
and stimulated the imagination. My
eyelids were pretty heavy toward day
break, in spite OF these precautions;
but, lowering the sail for few mo-
ments, | undrcssed and jumped over
board, rolling and floating In the cool
water until thoroughly refreshed.
Pretty soon II began to get gray In
the cast, and when the sun ,poltcd Its
rim above the horizon drew n great
breath Of relief; for there, 20 miles TO
the southwark, was the peak Of zap,
rising over a thousand feet from the
sea-leycl. II was impossible to mistake
II. With the exception OF one or two
reefs which scarcely showed above
their surf, there were no other islands
within hundred miles.
Eut still another stroke Of good for
tune was in store for me that morn
ing. I had noticed q peculiar haze
across the sun when it first came up;
and, looking again after heading for
Tomil, | could plainly distinguish the
smoke from q steamers funnel; there
being no other In that vicinity, ! knew
II must be the good old Countess. Ny
proa was going through the water
nearly two knots TO her one; SO, hold
ing on until was directly in her
course, | took in sail and let her over
haul me ON She came, nearer and
nearer; ] could make out her yards,
the boats at the dutits, one Of the
mates on the bridge; then | could see
Gulstcad come out Of his room, climb
to the bridge and fix his glass on the
island. As the steamer came nearer, ]
waved my helmet and shouted. They
recognized this with q salute from the
whistle, but paid no further attention,
which put me quite out Of patience;
I would show them their old tub wasn't I
IN 1t with nn island proa. Up went my
sail, and In fcw moments was along
side, near enough to shouts
whats that matter with you fell
lows? Can't you be civil enough to
stop and pass the t.mc of day with q