The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1902-08-17

1nan-of- war-1ike aIacrity with which her
| numerous crew furled the creamy sails
and spread the snowy awnings, showed
that she was no clumsy "country-wallah
and attracted every nautical eye in range.
A smart looking whaleboat was lowered
from the starboard davits and, manned
by muscular Lascars dressed in white
smocks and trousers, their heads crown
cd with bright red turbans, pulled swift
Nv ashore. The man at the yoke lines,
wearing suit of snowy jeans and a big
sola topee or pith helmet, steered the
boat with rare skill through the polilns
surf, SO manoeuvrinE that she was borne
shorcward on the crest Of q big comber.
AS soon as her stern touched the Sane
ont sprapg her crew and, GrasplnS at
| the gunwales, they bore her up bodlly
high and dry on the beach, the heims-
mans white jeans emerging sprayless
| from the watery ordeal. The captain
| hasted TO the custom house, transacted
! his business and at the same time mace
| such favorable impression upon the
| Master Attendant that he relaxed ut
tie of his official dignity and invited the
commander of the Sea Sprlte TO dlhe with
him that very evening.
AT the hospitalbe board Of Mr.. Fother-
gill CAPTAIN Halstead met his fate in the
form of the fair Minnie. lie had never
met a maiden so Fascinating. From mat
moment he was her slave. lie invited
her and her father aboard the Sea Sprlte,
and both were astonished at her luxurl-
Gus fittings and perfect accommodations
Halstead had been an officer IN ths
British navy. Coming into large Tor
tune he was living a life Of adventure
atloat on the vessel he had built for the
purpose Like many Englshmen OF fam
ily and position, he had gone into
made but it was of a. nature more at
tractive to a man OF his temperament
than the smelling of iron or the curing
of hams At the time I write of he was
collecting 'curios' in the chief ports OF
the Indian and China seas. buying them
| for cash and intending to either take
| them or send them to some port In Eu-
| rope or America. for a market. This pro-
| ject furnished amusement as well as oc-
| cupation. Whether it would be profit
| able was question that did not trouble
| the young fellow much
On the occasion OF this particular visit
of the Sea Sprite to Bimlipatam our
skipper was anxious to .,ing his love
| affair to a crisis. Landing carly in the
| morning, he FASTENED to the Bungalow
! here his sweetheart and her father Nved.
| hc found the girl upset nervous and dis
tlcssed. She was lamentinS The loss of a
valuable pearl necklace, which was I'M
aCOfUt3DlN MISSING, 1IGiil II lille cdIillSt
in her bedroom. where she kept all her
treasures. There were sentimental rca-
sons for pricing this string of pearls as
it had been a present from her mother,
in whose family it had long been an heir
loom. And now it was gone. with no
clue as to the nature of its disappearance
She did net wish to worry her father by
telling him, although she felt that it was
her duty to inform him Immediately. The
necklace had been missing since dinner
tine the previous evening. Minnie had
passed a sleepless night. disturbed by her
loss and trying to muster up sufficient
courage to break the news to her father
whose temper, though usually serene, was
Of the kind to become furious on great
| occasions, such as this
In the early informing when her ayah
reported that her bath was ready She
also Informed her that the ..Kuptan Halsy
Sahibs s. ship had anchored in the roads
during the night. and might be plainly
seen from the window. Peering through
| the wooden Stats of the jalousies she
| looked seward. and there at anchor she
heheld her lovers handsome vessel
There was no mistake. 1t was really the
Sea Sprite- A great weight seemed to
lift itself from the girls heart. In her
JOY she blew a kiss to the beautiful,
schooner. She thought that Jack, in
whose capacity she had boundless faith
"o1iu surely ueNISe some POSITIVE method
| of recovering her lost necklace. At any
rate she decided not to breathe word
to her father until she had consulted her
| .'Kuptan Sahib''
In high spirits she plunged into her
bath and bestowing more than usual at
tcntion on her morning toilet. sent or
ders to her syce that he would not need
the mare that morning. Then she looked
after the modest wants of her father
| gave him his early breakfast of fruit
and coffee, picked out from the box a
particularly we'll made Lunkah cheroot.
petted the old chap after her own de-
| liehtful way and sent him off to his
Custom House in a charming temper
| AS he departed he happened to glance
out to sea, and recognizing the newly
arrived Sea Sprite, turned round and
shook his finger with a gesture OF mock
menace at his blushing daughter, re-
| marking:
Now know what's the matter with
you. There's that scamp, Captain Hal
stead. here again. It seems to me that
| he sailed away only last week!
Last week, papa! No. he has been
gone fortnight, next Tuesday Really.
papa dear. a whole fortnight! May I
ask him to stay to tiffin 2"
1 Mr.. Fothergtll chuckied, gave a srnil-
4 il.o