The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1903-03-15

seas, and when more of her three
deckers lay rotting in the Midway than
were to be found in Brest Harbor But
her trigates and corvettes still secured
| the ocean, closely followed ever by those
of her rival. At the uttermost ends of
the earth these dainty vessels, with
sweet names of girls or of flowers, man
| gled and shattered each other for the
honor of the four yards of bunting which
| Tapped from the ends of their gaffs.
1t had blown hard in the night, but
the wind had dropped with the dawning.
and now the rising sun tinted the fringe
| OF the storm wrack as it dwindled into
the west and glinted on the endless crests
OF the long, green waves. To north
and south and west lay a skyline which
was unbroken save by the spout of foam
when two of the great Atlantic seas
dashed each other into spray. To the
east was rock island, jutting out into
craggy points. with q few scattered
clumps of palm trees and pennant of
mist streaming out from the bare
conical hill which capped it, A heavy
surf beat upon the shore and, at a safe
distance from it, the British thirty two
gun frigate Leda, Captain A. p Johnson,
raised her black, glistening side upon the
crest of wave or sWooped down into
an emerald valley, dipping away to the
nor ard under easy sail. On her snow
white quarterback stood n stiff little
brown faced man, who swept the horizon
with his glass
Mr. Wharton" he cried with a voice
like a rusty hinge.
A thin, knock kneed officer shambled
across the poop to him.
Eyes, sir"
I've opened the sealed orders, Mr..
Wharton"
A glimmer of curiosity shone upon
the meagre features of the first lieuten-
ant The Leda had sailed with her con
sort, the Dido, from Antigua the week
before, and the admirals orders had
been contained in a sealed envelope.
I'VE were to open them on reaching
the deserted island of Sombriero, lying
in north latitude IS, Sc, west longitude,
Go. 2S Sombriero bore four miles to the
northeast from our port bow when the
gale cleared. Mr. Wharton"
The lieutenant bowed stifiy He and
the captain had been bosom friends from
childhood, They had gone to school to-
gether, joined the navy together, fought
again and again together and married
into each others families, but so long
as their feet were on the poop the iron
discipline of the service struck all that
was human out of them and left only
the superior and the subordinate. Cap
tain Johnson took from his pocket q blue
paper which cracked as he unfolded it,
1.-THE 92-gun frigates Leda and Dido
Captain A. p. Johnson and James Mum
ro) are to cruise from the point at
which these instructions are read to the
mouth of the Caribbean Sea in the hope
of encountering the French frigate La
Gloire (4S), which has recently harrass-
ed our merchant ships in that quarter
II. M. frigates are also directed to hunt
down the piratical craft known some
times as the Shaping Sal and sometimes
as the Hairy Hudson, which has plum
dered the British ships as per margin,
inflicting 'barbarSties upon the crews.
She is a small brig carrying ten light
guns, with one 24-pound carronade for
ward. She was last seen upon the 23d
uIt. to the northeast of the Island of
Sombriero. (Signed)
JAMES MONTGOMERY,
Rear Admiral"
"H M. s. Colossus, Antigua"
1--WE appear to have lost our con-
sort" said Captain Johnson, folding up
his instructions and again sweeping the
horizon with his glass "She drew away
otter we reefed down. 1t would be
pity if we met this heavy Frenchman
without the Dido, Mr.. Wharton, eh?'
The lieutenant twinkled and smiled.
"She has 1S-pounders on the main and
twelves on the poop, sir" said the cap
fn
two hundred and thirty, and Captain
de Milon is the smartest man in the
French service. Oh Bobby, boy, I'd
give my hopes of my flag to rub my
side up against her!" He turned on his
heel, ashamed of his momentary lapse.
"Mr. Wharton" said he, looking back
sternly over his shoulder, get those
square sails shaken out and bear away
point more to the west.
"A brig on the port bow came
voice from the forecastle.
"A brig on the port bow said the
lieutenant.
The captain sprang upon the bulWarks
and held on by the mizzen- shrouds,
strange little figure, with flying skirts
and puckered eyes. The lean lieutenant
craned his neck and whispered to Smea-
ton, the second, while officers and men
| came popping up from below and clus-
tered along the weather-rall, shading
their eyes with their hands-for the trop-
zeal sun was already clear OF the palm
trees. The strange brig lay at anchor
| in the throat of a curVing estuary, and
it was already obvious that she could not
get out without passing under the guns
of the frigate. A long, rocky point to
| the north of her held her In
Keep her as she goes, Mr.. Wharton"
said the captain. Hardly worth our
while clearing for action, Mr. Smeaton,
but the men can stand by the guns i'm
case she tries to pass us. Cast loose
The bow-chasars and send the small-arm
| men to the forecastle."
A British crew went to its quarters IN
| these days with the quiet serenity Oh
men on their daily routine. In lew
minutes, without fuss or sound, the sail
ors were knotted round their guns the
| marines were drawn up and leaning on
| their muskets, and the trigate DOW
| spirit poi2ted stsaight for her little VIC
| tim.