Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-02-20

the chief steward, lowering watchful near
the captains table, darted forward. Pale
with anger, he Kissed:
Report yourself for duty in the second
saloon tonight" and he hustled his subordi-
nate away from the judges chair.
Miss Deane, mirthfully radiant, rose.
Please don't punish the man, Mr.. Jones"
she said, sweetly. ut was a sheer acct
dent. He was taken by surprise. In his
place 1 would have emptied the whole
DISH
know exactly what had happened; never
theless, great though Sir John Tozer might
be, the owners daughter was greater
Certainly. miss. certainly" he agreed
steward to be sent aft miss. 1t makes
such difference in the--er-the little
gratuities given by the passengers"
| The girl was tactful. She smiled com
| prehension at the official and bent over Sir
John, now carefully polishing the back of
| his skull with a table napkin.
Il am sure you will forgive him." she
whispered. 81 can't say why. but the poor
| fellow was looking so intently at me that
! he did not see what he doing"
| The ex-ehief Justice was instantly mol
| lifted He did not mind the application of
! ice in that way-rather liked it. in fact
| probably ice was susceptible to the fire in
| Miss Deane's eyes.
! Lady Tozer was not so easily appeased.
When Iris left the saloon she inquired tart
I ly: How is it. John. that government
| justice only knight"
| That question would provide an inter-
| esting subject for debate at the Carlton,
! my dear he replied with equal asperity
Suddenly the passengers still seated eX-
! per1enced prolonged sinking sensation, as
| If the vessel had been converted into a gil
gantic lift. They were pressed hard into
| their chairs, which creaked and tried to
swing round on their pivots AS the ship
yielded stiffly to the sea Whit of spray
| dashed through an open port
There" snapped her ladyship, II knew
| we should run into a storm, yet Captain
| Ross led us to beleve-John, take me to
| my cabin at once
| From the promenade deck the ]istless
| groups watched the rapid advance of the
| gale. There was mournful speculation upon
| the Sirdar's chances of reaching ~Singa-
| pore before the next evening.
I'VE had 29S miles to do at noon," said
| Experience. IF the wind and sea catch US
on the port bow the ship will pitch awfully.
| Half the time the screw will be racing. l
once made this trip in the Sumatra, and
we were struck by a southeast typhoon in
this locality. How long do you think 1t
was before we dropped anchor in Singa-
pore harbor?"
No one hazarded a guess.
Three days! Experience was solemnly
pompous. Three whole days. They were
like three years. BY Jove! | never want to
see another gale like that.
A timid lady~ventured to say:
Perhaps this may not be typhoon. 1t
Her saved her from jeer. Expert
ence gloomily shook his head
THE barometer resists your plea" he
said. II fear there will be good many
empty saddles in the saloon at dinner
The lady smiled weakly It was feeble
joke at the best. You think We are in for
a sort of marine steeplechase?" she asked.
We'll, thank heaven, l had good
lunch" sniggered rosy-faced subaltern,
and a ripple of laughter greeted his en-
thusiasm.
Iris stood somewhat apart from the
sN akers. The wind had freshened and
her hat was tied closely over her ears.
She LEANED against the taffrail, enjoying the
cool breeze after hours of sultry heat.
The sky was cloudless yet, but there was
a queer tinge of Furnished copper in the
all-pervading sunshine. The sea was eOldly
blue. The life had gene out of it. 1t
was no longer inviting and translucent.
That morning were such thing prac-
ticable, she would have gladly Owed into
its crystal depths and disported herself
like frolicsome mermaid. Now some
thing akin to repulsion came with the
fanciful remembrance.
Long sullen undulatiOnS swept noiSeleSSly
East the ship. Once, after a steady climb
up rolling hill of water, the Sirdar
quickly pecked at the succeeding valley,
and the propeller gave couple of angry
flaps on the surface, whilst a tremor ran
through the stout iron rails on which the
girls arms rested.
The crew were busy, too. Squads of
ent to the short, shrill whistling of jenna
dars and quartermasters. Boat lashings
were tested and frightened, canvas awnings
| stretched across the deck forward, venti-
| lator cowls twisted to new angles, and
matches clamped down over the wooden
| gratings that covered the holds. Officers,
| spotless in white linen, fitted quietly to
| and fro. When the watch was changed,
| Iris noted that the chief appeared in an
old blue suit and carried oilskins over his
| arm as he climbed to the bridge.
Nature looked disturbed and fitful and
the ship responded to her mood. There
coming ordeal, of restless foreboding.
| Chains clanked with a noise the girl never
noticed before; the tramp of hurrying men
on the hurricane deck overhead sounded
heavy and hollow. There was a squeaking
of chairs that was abominable when people
gathered up books and wraps and stag
gered rather ungracefully toward the COM
panionway. Altogether, Miss Deane was
| not wholly pleased with the preliminaries
of typhoon, whatever the realities might
be
And then, why did gales always spring up
at the close of day? Could they not start
after breakfast, rage with furious grandeur
during lunch, and die away peacefully at
dinner time, permitting one to sleep in
comfort without that straining and groan-
ing of the ship which seemed to imply
| sharp attack of rheuma tism in every Joint
Why did that silly old woman allude to
| her contemplated marriage to Lord Vent
| with such malicious emphasis? For an in
slant Iris tried to shake the railing in
comic anger. She hated Lord Ventnor She
| did not want TO marry him or anybody
| else, just yet. OF course her father had
| limited approval of his lordship's obvious
| Intentions. Countess of Ventnorl Yes it
was nice title. Still. she wanted another
| couple of years of careless freedom in any
| event, why should Lady Tozer pry and
probe?
| And. finally. why did the steward-oh,
| poor old Sir joint What would have hap
| pened If the ice had slid down his neck t?
| thoroughly comforted by this gleefuI hy-
| pothesis, Miss Deane seized favorable
opportunity to dart across to the star
| board side and see If Captain
| Ross's heavy bank of cloud in the north
west had put in an appearance
| Ha! there it was, black omlnous. sipan
1 tic, rolling up over the horizon like some
| monstrous foot ball Around 1t the skv
deepened into purple, fringed with a wide
belt of brick red.N She had never seen such
| a beginning of a gale. From what she h
| read in books she Imagined that only in
| great deserts We're clouds of dust gener-
| ated There could not be dust in the dense
| Fall now rushing with giant strides across
| the trembling sea. Then what was IL?
| Why was ii so dark and menaclng? And
where was desert of stone and sand to