The Princeton union., 1900-01-04
ln.yy awake that mig hit heard the ominous
sound Of the pumps, and the swishing Of
water sulashing down into the ocean.

lay awake that night heard the ominous
sound Of the pumps, and the sWishing Of
water FLASHING down into the ocean.
5 CHAPTER TX.
Most Of the passengers awolle next
morning with bewildering feeling Of
vague apprehension. The absence of all
motion in the ship, the unusual and in
tense SILENCE, had depressing effect.
The engines had not yet started: that at
least was evident. Kenyon was one of
the tirst on deck. He noticed that the
pumps were still working at their full
speed, and that the steamer had still the
ominous list to port Happily the
weather continued good. SO far as the
quietness of the sea was concerned. A
slight drizzle of rain had set in, and
the horizon was not many miles from
the ship. There would not be much
chance of sighting another liner while
such weather continued. H j.. 49,. r. ...,.
! Before Kenyon had been many min
| utes on deck Edith Longworth came up
the ,companionway. She approached
him with smile on her face. .....
Well" he said, '".you, at least, do not
seem to be suffering any anxiety be-
cause of our situation"
Really" she replied, II was not
thinking of that at all, but about some
thing else. Can you not guess what
it is?", .-
NO" he answered. hesitatingly.
"What is it?' ...
"Have you forgotten that this is Sun
day ymorning?" .,:4.n T.. Ii nj .g..5s.,Y
"Is it2 Of course it is. So far as
am concerned, time seemed to stop when
the engines broke down. But do not
understand why Sunday means any
thing in particular."' ~.s...-..:<.. :, o*t=+
."Don't you? Well, for q person who
has, been thinking for the last two or
three days very earnestly on one partic-
ular subject, / am astonished at you.
Sunday morning, and no land in sight!
Reflect for a moment" ,. .-
Kenyon's face Frightened.
"Ah," he cried, II sec what you mean
now. Miss Brewster's cable message
will not appear in this mornings New
York Argus" .,s... .z,..
."Of course it will not; and don't you
see, also, that when we do arrive you
will have an equal chance in the race.
If we get in before next Sunday, your
telegram to the London people will go
as quickly as her cable dispatches to
New York; thus you will be saved the
humiliation of seeing the substance of
your report in the London papers be-
fore the directors see the report ITSELF
1t is not much, to be sure, but still it
puts you on equal terms, while if we
had got into Queenstown last night that
would have been impossible"
Kenyon laughed.
SWELL" he said, .'for such result the
cause is rather tremendous, isn'tit? It
is something like burning down the
house to roast the pig!"
Shortly after ten o'clock the atmos-
phere cleared and showed in the dis
tance q steamer, westward bound. It
evidently belonged to one of the great
ocean lines. The moment it was sight
ed there futtered up in the masthead a
number of signal flags, and people
crowded; to the side of the ship to watch
the effect on the outgoing vessel. Min
ute after minute passed, but there was
no response from the other liner: Peo.
pie watched her with breathless anx-
iety, as though their fate depended on
their noticing their signals. Of course
everybody thought that she must SEE
them. but still she steamed westward
A cloud of black smoke came out of he1
funnel and then a long, dark trail, like
the tail of q comet, foated out behind
her, but no notice was taken of the f1ut-
tering flags at the masthead. For more
than an hour the steamer was in sight;
then She gradually faded away into the
west, and finally disappeared.
This incident had very depressing
effect on the passengers of the disabled
ship. Although every officer had main.
tanned there was no danger, yet the
floating away of that steamer seemed
somehow to leave them alone, and peo'
pie, after gazing toward the west, until
not vestige of her remained in the hor
izon, went back to their deck chairs
feeling more despondent than ever.
) Fleming, however, claimed that il
people were to drown, it was just as
well to drown jolly as mournful, anG
so he invited everybody to take drinl
? at his expense; generous offer, which
all the habitues of the smoking-roon
took advantage of.
? my idea is this" said Fleming, as hi
slipped the cocktail which was brough,
: to him. If anything happens let il
happen; if nothing happens, why the1
: let nothing happen. There is no ust
: worrying about anything, especially
something we cannot help. Here W.
: are on the ocean in q disabled vessel
:. very good; we cannot do anything
about it, and, SO long as the bar remains
open, gentlemen, here's to you!" y
And with this cheerful philosophy
; the New York politician swallowed
down the liquor he had paid for.
Still the swish Of water from tn.
pumps could be heard, but the metallic
!. clanking of steel on steel no longer
| came III, from tho onoriuo vr>o,,,% rNb ;s