The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1903-01-01
sir. l was waiting till there's more

long look at the distant strangers head
ing down on their port quarter.
''They're none of ours, What are
they doing there? l just reckon the
leading boat s a smart thing, an u
take some lickin'," he snapped out,
quick as his heart was beating.
The acting lieutenant nodded empha-
tically That's my way of thinkin', -
he screeched against the furry of wind:
1.-The look l got before that streak OF
cloud came up, gave them away: GueSs
the Alliance have run out flynn squad
ron also Keen lookouts they must
have They've sighted us. They shift
ed nine points to the west'ard, and put
on speed. Looks as if they know some
thing about u.s."
''They've taken the pass as we clear
ed the Caicos. Running for Santiago
and the transports" cried Durey, and
snatched the binoculars out of the lieu
tenants hands.
AS he stared at the enemy, envy, We
hement and despicable, swept into him,
for we'll he knew the Speedy's comman-
der was cool and collected while he was
growing Hurried and painfully appre-
hensive Was he a coward physically
as we'll as morally, he asked himself,
and instantly was eating his heart in
bitterness at his Unborn puslllanimity.
He was moving to the pinnacle when
sharp cry broke from the acting lieu
tenant "By the Powers, they've OPEN
ed fire." and the smothering report al
most overwhelmed his voice. There
was a volcanic eruption OF red-hot
splinters and sparks amidship as the
night-spent projectile Topped against
the base of the mainmast, crushed
through the deck, and wrecked every
thing in the after-part of the vessel.
Durey recovered himself from the
port bridge-rails against which he had
been hurled with the sudden topping
of the thrashed hull. The acting lieu
tenent lay in a bloody heap beside the
wheel, and from aft came shrlll cries
and hoarse yaps of tortured bodies.
For the moment he WINGED, and felt
a hopeless feeling possess him, but the
next he was bending over his insensible
junior. A second projectile ricochetted
over the seas wide to starboard, send
ing up great showers of snowy brine
visible in the night; third plunged
short by 10 feet off the port quarter.
The enemy could play good game at
long bowls.
castle men," Durey ordered. aft,
there report the wreck" as, with the
poor grooming lump of humanity in his
arms, he tried to stanch the flow Of
blood from the mangled arm and ribs.
Jagged segments and splinters OF steel
make ugly wounds.
Warm, sticky blood smeared his hands
and wrists; it made him feel very sick.
Disgust swept through him at his own
weakness, and with tender but Shaky
hands he bound up the CHASTITY lacera-
tons. Only a little more, and the act
ing lieutenant would have been evils
cerated.
As Durey turned from assisting the
seamen to lift him down the ladder, the
tight feeling in his throat became more
choking when lie realized that the enc
nv were now visible to the naked eye.
The flashing from the foremost vessels
bow chaser struck his senses like blow,
though not another shot hit his vessel.
Between 300 and 5000 yards distant
he was from the leading cruiser. Four
points off the bow Great Anagua began
to loom low and distinct in the dark
ness for the squally wind chopping about
had cleared the starry heavens of cloud
and the thin drizzle of rain.
Onward rushed the Speedy, throwing
herself mp the great swells and slapping
down into the hollows as if lashed on
by the great guns laundering out be
hind her. Had the enemy surmised her
errend?
Lieutenant Durey had returned to
the bridge from attending the wounded.
Though pain gnaWed at him he gave no
heed to it. Sense of the responsibilities
now lying on his shoulders had revived
his selt-respect and induced an obliv-
iousness to suffering hitherto foreign to
him. He was streaming with salt water
and his eyes and nostrils were stung
with brine ard salty northeast wind
that roared and eddied about, smelling
of the deep, gray Atlantic surges and
storm-lilled weather. Its sharp tang
pelmeated his brain. 1t revived the
dominant instint of his stock.
Durey was TRANSPORTED by its magical
influence. His face settled in stubborn
lines; a grim joy lightened it; his weak.
seEsuous lips became hard as iron bars.
He had the omnipotent look OF the man
who goes forth to death knowing it is
the best fight of all
Crash went "a heavy projectile through
the cap Of the port Smoke-stack, and
name poured IN luTlQ ClOuu 10 Wluu-
ward.
AS Durey threw a defiant look at the
cruiser again spouting fire, the second
reported water rising fast in
the after stokehold. The projectile
which had wrecked the after-part of
the boat must have started some plates.
Durey now had no hesitation. He
bent over the bridge rail. ''On deck,
there. The gunner to the bridge. Il
Calmly and incislvely he issued his
orders. Then up helm" electrified
the gun crews, yet their hoarse cheer
ing brought no change to their officers
iron-clad expression; his voice but rang
the harder and more despotic as he gave
the sighting ranges to torpedo and gun.
For his line had claimed him heart and
soul.
Who can tell how many fierce-hearted
forebears' blood sang joyously in his
pulsing body as he thrust his weak
vessel against the enemy, now opening
a terrific cannonading: And what
thoughts thronged his cluttering senses |
as the four great, laundering cruisers
doomed large upon his bows. Who of
his forebears claimed him then?
1t was not till the war was over that |
the Speedy's fate was known.-The |
Criterion