The Holly chieftain., 1899-07-28

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Manila too deeply 10 do more than obey
orders in purely mechanical way.
Ittook less than hall an hour to reach
ethe position. Then Halstead himself
climbed out upon the sounding perch
.yith hand lead and &c fathoms OF line.
he had stationed me at the telephones
on the bridge, hastily arranging 4
series Of signals. and. after watching
the waters surface closely for awhile.
waved his hand for half speed"
In about two minutes l saw him
swing the lead forward. paying out
the line rapidly as it tautened under
his feet. Five times more he cast II.
hauling in the entire length after each
one, then signaled: Full speed.
ahead" After which, mounting the
bridge. he ordered the heimsmap to
put her about and steer north by east,
quarter east. noticed great beads of
perspiration upon his forehead, and
was wondering II heaving a lead were
really violent exercise, when, beckon-
ing me to the end of the bridge as II to
point out the position Of Guaian, he
whispered:
Get below, quick, and pay out that
patent log; took the box down myself
at four bells. Then eat your breakfast
as II nothing had happened, and chat
with the senorita for awhile, but be
back here by six bells at the latest;
we've got q heap to talk about"
The change In feeling from despon-
dency to well grounded hope almost
made me lose my head. especially as
saw that we now had the game largely
in our own hands. watched my op-
portunity. and was paying out the log
line astern. through the bitt port. in
about ten minutes. Then l spent
good half hour over my neal, discuss
ing with the padre. who remained to
keep me company, the probability Of
Santa Rosa reef having sunk to the
bottom, but advising him not to state
this as fact in his forthcoming book
until he had persuaded the govern
ment to make more exhaustive
search with one of the cruisers. Then,
after delightful tete-a-tete with the
senorita, returned to Halstead, whom
found removing the fastenings from
large bundle which one OF the men
had just brought up from the lazareet,
There was also a sea chest, marked
with my name, upon one Of the tran
SONS. He nodded toward this and
said:
al suppose you don't remember
bringing that on board. do you?"
"Well, to tell the truth. don't. And
think was pretty sober, too. Where
did I get It? What's inside?"
Nothing at present. This diving
suit is going In II can make It. Now
draw the curtains and strip to your
shirt and drawers"
what for?"
ITO try the thing on, of course
Hustle. now; we'll be In by wo o'clock
I've read the directions over until
know them by heart. but 1 want YOU
to be boxed up in 1t once while I'm by
to help you. It's pretty risky busi-
ness, no matter how often man does
1t, and l don't want your death on
my hands. You see, it will be simply
out Of the question to depend upon a
pumper above water-you can't trust
anyone-and it's going to take all the
nerve you've got to go down without"
put the suit on, piece by piece,
obeying the printed instructions to
the letter and fastening every clamp
myself; for ! knew assistance would
be unobtainable when came to actual
ly use It. The screws at the back of the
helmet collar were the most difficult
to tighten, but finally adjusted them
to even Halstead's satisfaction. For
tunately, had not screwed on the
front lens OF the helmet until the last,
else think ! should have been suf-
located before the compressed air in
the reservoir began to work. The sick
ening nervousness / felt at being shut
up In such rig made me dread the at
tempt to go under water with It, but
the captain assured me that, having
had the thing on, II wouldn't trouble
me us much next time. Then we
packed 1t carefully away In the chest,
together with several dynamite cart
ridges, two light but powerful steel
bars. couple OF strong hatchets. and
some saws and knives.
From another locker Halstead took
square mahogany box, covered with
rubber and having lens in one side.
1t looked something like kodak, but
proved to be powerful rejecting
light, the electricity for which was
supplied by q chemical cartridge that
lasted six hours and produced o bril-
liant illumination. He said he had
used 1t when mate Of an oil tank run
ming to Batoum, the insurance regula-
tions prohibiting anything in the shape
Of an open lantern on board. A small
but reliable compass, 1000 feet Of half
inch braided linen line, spare sex
tant, the taffrail log then towing
astern. and chart of the two archl-