Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1901-08-17

room, from which strange bursting noises
periodically came forth. and finally start
ed timidy to go down the iron ladder that
led to the gallery above the cylinder heads.
He called cut Immediately from below
"Oh, Miss Annesley, you must not come
down here" He came up the ladder quick
ly and stepped out on deck Great beads
o. sweat hung upon his forehead and he
was painting.
oh" she said, really you must go
slower Haste is dangerous in this climate
and 1t is going to pc a very hot day." .-.
Yes" he answered, dryly, Il shouldn't
wonder-very hot. But let us go up to
the bridge --4s-8
He looked into the pinnacle and found
that the steamer was drifting with her
nose to the northwest. This just suited
his purpose. He unlaShed the wheel and
told the girl to hold 1t where it was while
he went below again, assuring her that as
soon as steam went into the steering gear
the little wheel Their SO stiff would be easy
to move And then he ran off, leaving her
standing comfortably under the awning
grasping the spokes. He was gone long
time. and she wondered what he was doing.
But presently the funnel of the tramp be-
gan to. vibrate like an immense drum and
to belch forth smoke. And suddenly the
wheel became piable toy. and she
realized that the boat was moving slowly
through the water. AT the same time
Wade came running back to the bridge
He was stripped to the waist and with his
upper clothes had gone the last vestige
of his ceremony. He took the wheel and
swung it over several points.
There he said, the course is to the
westnorwest. See, now, If you move this
wheel to the right-sO-her nose will turn
to the ieft-so-her nose will turn to the
right-there, see that. So, keep her here
at this point. until 1 come again But ii
anything goes wrong-if another vessel
comes In plain sight, call me at once
through this tube" And without further
ado he ran below again.
a n Ia
the bridge. At first there was the novelty
of feeling that the great moving mass I'M
der her was completely subservient to her
command, and several times she could not
resist the temptation to prove it's subser-
viency by making the steamer veer to port
or to starboard and back again to the
course. The glare of the water hurt her
eyes and made her head ache. The hours
dragged by YEARLY.
But If the morning seemed long to the
girl, 1t was an age to the man. The en-
CINE itself should have had all his time,
but having gone over it once with oil and
waste. he was compelled to leave 1t to the
| mercy Of the steam-oiling apparatus, for
the fires needed his constant attention. His
fined to what he had picked up on this
very vessel. and having establisher certain
danger limits on the gauges. he was careful
to keep within them. But his utmost eAer-
| ton was not likely to work the mechanism
up to the smashing point. The real dam
ger lay to himself. So he adopted a rule
of action to keep within bounds. He opened
| the bunker doors and let the coal stream
out on the floors. where he could get at 1t
more easily. Then as the fire doors
opened out of the ends Of the cube formed
by the f1rebox. he made 1t a point to
charge twice around the cube, working
door after door between each look at the
engine. He worked naked most of the
| time. and after each round of the fires
he turned on the hose from the water tank
| and sprayed himself from head to foot.
And thus in the terrible heat he dragged
through the morning. At noon he turned
off his drafts and stopped the engine.
dressed himself and went on deck. He
found the girl terribly concerned over the
wheel. which had suddenly refused to act
! with its accustomed ease. He pegged off
to get something to eat. During the meal
he told her that they were about seventy
miles nearer the coast than they had been
at dawn.
| After dinner they rested four hours to
get by the heat of the day, dividing the
went back to their work refreshed, and
when sunset took with It the glare and the
heat Of the sea they decided to keep at It
several hours longer. He lighted the side
lamps and turned on the electric lights to
| minimize the chance of collision, and while
| she sat up under the stars playing with
the wheel, he went below decks again to
deal with the fires. At 10 o'clock he told
| her to go to bed: but at they were OF
| again. for they found 1t more prudent to
lie to in broad daylight and do their run
ming in the evening and early morning. AT
D o'clock the girl was so exhausted that
Wade let her sleep until sunset. Then
| they hurried on again, but this time the
deck after the run he made several incohe-
| rent remarks about her father. and when
she replied to them he got very angry In
deed and ordered hex to bed. Now. the