El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1900-03-10

81 didn't kHolC about the steamer" said
Kettle.
is and brings out whole blessed navy
at her heels we may find the contract
outside our size OF course if you are
going to fit out a real big steamboat
with a gun or two and hundred
mem
Carnforth laughed. ''Wait bit.
said he. You re going ahead too fast
There's no question of fighting a whole
navy. In fact, we mustn't fight at all
if there's any means of wriggling out
of it. 1 believe fighting would amount
to piracy, and piracy's too lively even
for my tastes. Besides. if we got very
noisy we'd have some cruiser of the
British China squadron poking her ugly
nose in, and that's thing we couldn' t
afford to risk at any price
''Then how are you going to manage
it?'
.+What we must hope for is to be left
undisturbed. There's every chance of
it. The reef is ont of all the steam
lanes and circle tracks, and the .Jap's
gunboat patrol is not very close. In
fact, the place has only been newly
charted. 1t was found quite by acci-
dent by the skipper of sea sealing
schooner, and he missed the plum be-
cause he happened to have been a brute
to one of his hands. -
''But L thought you said this reef
was out of all ship tracks? p
Don't hustle me. The schooner had
been sealing off the Commander islands.
She was coming home and got into
heavy weather. She was blown away
three days by gale and picked up the
surf of this reef one morning at day
break, ran down into the lee and lay
there till the breeze was over. The reef
wasn't charted, and the skipper. who
was 'on the make, wondered how he
could gather dividends out of it In
the off sealing season he was in the
Thursday island trade, and his thoughts
naturally ran upon pearls and she'll
He'd diving suit on board, and he
rowed into the lagoon, made one of his
crew put on the suit and sent him
down.
''Now observe the result said earn
forth, with sly relish, '.of being too
severe on ones hands. This sailor, who
was sent down in the diving suit, had
been having a dogs time of it on the
sealing schooner, and when he got on
place round him literally packed with
shell that had never been touched by
human fingers he made up his mind
that the time had come to repay old
scores. So, when he came mp out of
the water again, he said sull1ily enough
that there was nothing Eelow but sea-
weed and mud, and the beat rowed
back out of the lagoon. and the schoon-
1.,f. l,..--
ran away on her course The skipper
the new reef, and in dne
course 1T got on the charts, and the
sailor kept on holding his tongue till he
could find Il market for his informa-
ton. He didn't find one at once He
had to wait two years, in fact, and
then he found Inc. l guess that skipper
would be easier on his hands in future
if he only knew what he'd lost. eh
Kettle?'
The sailor frowned. "A shipmaster
sir, has to get the full amount of work |
out of his hands or he's neglecting his |
duty. | can picture that schooner, Mr. |
Carnforth, and | can picture her old |
man hearing what he's missed and still |
carrying on the driving game The |
things we have to ship as sailors are
beasts, and You have to treat them as |
such, and if you can show me a master |
who's popular in the forecastle | can |
show you a man who's letting his |
hands shirk work and not earning his |
owners pay
'H mr. said Carnforth. I've seen |
you handle Il crew. and L know your
theories and little ways, and 1 know |
also that you're far too obstinate an
animal to change your opinions in