Daily camera., 1901-09-03
msotA. tloesy nouhta!u Il looks fron

ameetA, eioasy mouhta!d It looka fron
shore, Of from u vessel deck, was 1nf
| all the world like nuy range Of hills On
the dry land, full of peaks and smooth
places and valleys. The coracle. left to
herself, turning from side to side.
threaded, so to speak, her way through
these lower parts, and avoided the
steep slopes and higher, toppling sum-
mits OF the wave.
swell. now" thought to myself, ut
is plain I must lie where am, and not
disturb the balance; but it is plain, also,
that can put the paddle over the side,
and from time to time, in smooth places,
give her shove or two toward land"
| No sooner thought upon than done.
There lay on my elbows, in the most
trying attitude. and every now and
| again gave a weak stroke or two to turn
her head to shore.
1t was very firing and slow work, yet
! did visibly gain ground, and as we
drew near the Cape Of the Woods.
though I saw must infallibly miss
that point, had still made some hun
dred yards of costing. was, indeed.
close In. l could see the cool, green
ltree-tops swayipg together In the
breeze, and l felt sure l should make
the next promonotory without fail.
1t was high time, for now began
to he tortured with thirst. The glow
Of the sun from above, its thousand
| ~. kU -.
water that fell and dried upon me, cak.
ing my very lips with salt, combined
to make my throat burn and my brair
ache. The sight Of the trees so neal
at hand had almost made me sick with
longing; but the current had soon car
ried me past the point, and us the next
reach OF the sea opened out behelt
n sight that changed the nature Of my
thoughts.
Right in front Of me, not half q mile
away. beheld the "Hispaniola." under
sail. made sure, OF course, that
should be taken; but was 30 dis.
tressed for want Of water that scarce
knew whether to be glud or sorry at the
thought. and long before Ind come
to conclusion surprise had taken en-
tire possession Of my mind and could
do nothing but stare and wonder.
The "Hispaniola" was under heI
mainsail and two jibs, and the beautiful
white canvas shone in the sun like
| snow or silver. When l first sighted
her all her sails were drawing; she was
lying course about northwest, and
presumed the men on board were go
ing round the island on their way back
to the anchorage. Presently she began
| to fetch more and more to the west
ward. so that thought they had sight
ed me and were going about in chase
| At last, however. she fell right into the
winds eye. was taken dead nback. and
stood there awhile helpless, with her
sails shivcring.
Clumsy fellows" said l. "they mus,
still be drunk m owls" And thought
how Capt. Smollett would have set theru
skipping.
Meanwhile the schooner gradually
fell of. and filled again upon another
tack. sailed swiftly for a minute on
80, and brought up once more dead
in the winds eye. Again and again
was this repeated. To and fro. up and
down, north, south. east and west the
"Hispaniola" sailed by swoops and
dashes, and nt each repetition ended
as she had begun. with idly Tapping
canvas. 1t became plain to me that
nobody wns steering. And. il so. where
were the men? Either they were dead
drunk or had deserted her. l thought,
and perhaps II could get on board
l might return the vessel TO her cap
tain.
The current was bearing coracle and
schooner southwark at an equal rate.
As for the la.er's sailing. It WAS SO wild
and intermittent. and she hung each
time 80 long in irons, that che certain
~ gained nothing. II she did not even
lose. II only dared to sit up and pad.
die I made sure that ! could overhaul
her The scheme hnd an air OF adven-
ture that inspired me. and the thought
of the water breaker beside the fore
companion doubled my growing cour'
age.
Up I got. was welcomed almost In
stantly by another cloud Of spray. but
this time stuck to my purpose. and set
myself with all my strength and eau
ton to paddle after the unsteered His
paniola." Once shipped sea 20 heavy
that had to stop and bail. with my
heart flutterinR like bird, butgradual-
iy got into the way of the thing. and
guided my eoraele among the waves,
with only now and then a blow upon
her bows and dash Of foam in my face.
was now rapidly gaining on the
schooner; could see the brass glistcn
on the tiller as it banged about, and
still no soul appeared upon her decks.
could not choose hut suppose ohe
was deserted. II not, the men were
living drunk below. where might bat
ten them down. perhaps, and do what
chose with the ship.
For some time she had been doing the
worst thing possible for me--standing
still. She headed nearly due south,
yawing. OF course, all the time. Each
time she fell OIL her sails partly filed
and these brought her. in a moment
right to the wind again. ! have said
this was the worst thing possible for
me; for helpless as she locked in this
situation, with the canvas cracking
like cannon, and the blocks trundline
and banging on the deck. she still con.
tinued to run away from me, not only
with the speed OF the current, but BY
the whole amount OF her leeway, which
was naturally great.
But now. at last, | had my chance
The breeze fell. for some seconds. very
low, and the current gradually turning
her. the "Hispaniola" revolved slowly
round her center, and at last presented
me her stern, with the cabin window
still gaping open, and the lamp over the
table still burning on into the day
The mainsail hung dreoped like ban
ner. She was stock-still, but for the
current.
For the last little while had even
lost; but now. redoubling my efforts
| 7 a. Akn