The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-11-19

with the Argyll charging along under
forced draught in pursuit of a battle
snip nearly as heavy as herself, with
every gun that would bear belchins;
away at the quarry, with every man
on board, from captain down to mess
boy, at station, and every nerve in
every man worn to a FRAGILE from the
lcng-continued tension of watching and
waiting for submarine attack-the
latest and deadIiest feature of this
deadliest of all wars-it was certainly
no time for old man Finnegan to drink;
and there was something to be said
for Mr.. Thompson. He was gun-deck
master-at-arms. one of the ships
police; his duties were concerned with
the manners and morals of the crew;
and being a strict abstainer himself, he
could not, in the nature of things, SYM
pathize with Finnegan, nor with the
unspoken, unwritten policy of the Of
ficers in winking at his weakness. It
was nighttime, and his sense of duty
was keener; and so when Finnegan, who
ought to have been asleep in the sick
bay, appeared on the gun or main
deck, carrying a gallon demijohn and
reeling preceptibly, his sense of
duty took charge of him. With a yell
of panied amazement he started for the
old man, who, with a yell nearly as
loud, fled along the deck, toward the
bow, which had been his original direc-
ton. But the master-at-arms was
gaining, and realizing this when he
reached the forward hatch ladder, Fin
negan turned and doubled back along
the mainydeck, where were his friends
the gun crews at stations. Aft he went
now, with men laughing and shout
ing as he passed some encouraging
him, others jeering the irate petty Of
ficer, then up the after-hatch to the
upper deck and to the superStructure
door leading out past the big after
turret to the quarterback, where sail
ors were not supposed to be- But he
W as thoroughly frightened; he was pur-
sued by his only critic and enemy, one
who would not spare him-who de-
lighted in combining him in the brig.
He whined his fear as he fled, and went
blindly in the darkness, with the pur-
suer close at his heels, until he reached
the stern, which, stripped of it's protect
with the precious jug locked in his
arms he went overheard. Mr.. Thomp
son barely saved himself; then, with
an agonized cry of ''Help!" ringing in
his ears, he shouted, Man overheard"
and ran forward. where on the cap
tain's bridge, was the only life buoy
left on deck in the general dismantle-
ment of the ship for action. 1t was
thrown before he arrived. but whether
F'innegan got it or not no man could
tell The ship went on: for in time of
war and in pursuit of an enemy she
could not stop, even for poor old Fin
negan. Mr. Thompson was an unhappy
man; he did not love Finnegan, but he
would not have killed him; and in the
rumble of supposed execration that
marked his passage along the main
deck he detected menace to his own
life should he, in the heat of action, get
too close to an open port clouded with
smoke So, while the Argyll chased the
quarry into a bay too shallow for her
own draught, he remained forward of
all portS-near the windlaSS: but when
the anchor was dropped at the entrance
he put distance between himself and
the awse-pipes-big round holes slant
ing downward from the main-deck for
ward of the steam windlass; big enough
to admit the passage of his body should
those angry-faced men choose to
throw him on to the chain, which
whizzed out with rattle and roar that
hardly drowned the sound of their ours
es. Things are done in time of war
past the scope or understanding of
grand juries, and Mr.. Thompson knew
the universal love for Finnegan His
of no haG re-
ceived in silence by the captain and
officers on the bridge, and with not
nearly the interest aroused by the re-
port of the surgeons assistant that the
Genijohn, pilfered from the sick-bay
stores. was full of whiskey.
WELL" remarked Mr.. Clarkson, the
executive officer. as he weariedly turn
ed his back upon the wretched master
alarms. ''if he is properly primed there
is hope for hin-that's ALL
But when, in the dim gray of the
morning light, they saw the buoy
floating past into the bay, they gave
up hope-and F'innegan: for what man
of his age could swim six miles in
seaway, even with the tide in his favor?
For reasons connected with wireless
telegraphy and the state of the adj
miraPs liver, the Argyll remained a
anchor through the day, while lookouts
watched as much for floating bodies as
for battle-ships, and the ships people,
as a whole, went moodily through the
routine work with occasional soft
words for the lost Finnegan and many
black looks and bitter words for the
misguided master-at-arms who had
killed him-their mascot. And Mr..
misery and fear increased
to such an extent that, when hammoc'<s |
were piped for the night, he thought !
best to wait and sling his bed in a new |
place. one where revengeful men nigh |
not find him without searching; and in |
so doing chose a vacancy which. though |
he did not know it. was the one Oc |
cupied by Finnegan when there to ans
wer hammock call. Only his neighbors !
recognized the late conner, singing his !
hammock in the dark. and these did /
not betray him. one merely responding |
to the situation to the extent of grunt- |
ing an opinion that its flynn in the |
face o. Providence. Finnegan Orter |