St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1904-03-26
" LOG u
OF THE r.. n. s.
TONBRIDGE
CASTLE
BY s. n. LAURENCE

r. IGHT days since the last glowing
It., embers had gone, with Kissing
and snarling voice, to add the name Of
the good ship Southern Cross to the list
of deralicts at anchor in the ancient port
of Missing Ships. The sun blazed from
white tropical sky On the oily surface
Of fiat calm. From rim to rim the
sea was dead level of cleaning gray,
broken only by the occasional flash OF
flying fish or the dull black dorsal fins
of the sharks.
Two parched and sun-baked figures,
all that were left of crew Of 20, sat
staring at each other from opposite ends
of half-charred ships boat, their eyes
glowing with the fever of madness and
their lips and tongues swollen and
blackened with the tortures of thirst.
The clothes hung in folds from their
wasted frames as they crouched, num-
bling ard jibbe ring to themselves, in the
sweltering heat Of the calm.
Eight days of the cursed sun and
not sail to be seen! Where have all
the ships got tor
For the hunGredth time since dawn
the mate worked the horizon with his
glass in the vain hope of seeing some
thing Nothing broke the lonely mo-
notony of that wide expanse of silent
ocean beyond the equator.
Things are coming to an end" he
muttered. sinking back on the thwart.
I'VE squeezed the last drop out OF
the breaker yesterday morning, and that
idiot for'ard spilled them, blast him."
Look at him, there, chewing his fin
gers. Why does he stare at me SO? His
eyes are like red-hot gimlets; they seem
to bore right through me. He thinks
I'll go of my head. and then he'll kill
me as he would have done the last II
I'd not choked him off. Said lot about
the survival of the flttest and that the
weak should be given for the strong. l
wonder who'll go next, he orI? Wegave
the others to the sharks one by one at
night. poor boys, and tried not to see.
And now. who'll help me with him, for
he's sure to go, he's got to go, he's got
to get move on him; won't have any
sodgerirg.
Hi! there. you! Yes, you for'ard
there! Who are you looking at? Get
on with your work! Do you think this
Is pleasure yacht. you flounder-footed
son of a deck-walloper! Come to sea
to get fat. do you? I'll soon take some
OF that OF you! None of your back talk.
now! I'll have no sea-lawyers on this
ship!
There, there, this won't do! Keep
grip on yourself. Mister Mate, If you
want to get out of this mess! believe
was beginning to feel bit queer just
then!
'tNow, let me see. I'll try to think
bit and get my mind off this little picnic.
Where were we when the fire broke out?
Oh! know. Wehad passed st. Helena,
and were beginning to make little east
ing. SO as to pick UP the sou'east trade.
Hang it all, he's looking at me again!
It had Just gone eight bells at the end OF
the middle watch. and the old man had
been up in his pyjamas to look at the
card he was always rolsing about when
I should have been asleep, so had the
watch aft to take a pull at the braces to
make all ship-shape before turning in,
when Forsyth came 10 me and said the
air in his cabin was that thick he couldn't
sleep, and wanted me to go down with
him and see what could make Of it.
Thought he smelled smoke: said he was
so used to bad smells in the ship. he
couldn't be sure. Just then the second
came up to take over the watch. and we
went below. Talk about smells. Why.
the air was as thick as peasoup with
smoke, and the fuddle-headed old sotch-
man couldn't smell 1t! We'll. We reused
the old man out ard turned the hands up
and got the matches open. The place
was a merry hell down there! She was