The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1905-11-19
THE GHOST OF
THE GUN DECK
Continued from Page Sd

pale but practical Mr.. Clarkson, that
We starboard the wheeI?"
Yes answered the captain, slowly.
Wen see what is over there. Kick
ahead with the port engine, and stir
up the lookouts."
Tie lookouts in the fighting-tops
above reported that while the shore
line was visible above the fog on a
level with their eyes, nothing could be
seen below this level.
Man the forward eight and six inch
turrets, said the captain, as the ship,
under the impulse of rudder and screw
turned almost in her track I'VE don't
know what trick this may be. Our
masts are visible through this fog
| a trick it seemed a few minutes later.
| The voice was heard no more; but as
| the great ship, With engines again
| silent, forged slowly ahead in the direc-
| ton from which it had come, a slim
tube arose upright in the water, barely
discernible in the fog, directly in the
| ArgyIrs track, and not two lengths
away. And hardly had the word sub
! marine sprung to the lips of a hum
| dred watchers than a round cylinder,
| encircled with headlights, appeared to
| view at the foot of the tube, hatch
| in it's top flew open, and a mans head
|
| ing. He was bearded and swarthy, and
| on his head was the cap of the Russian
ma val uniform.
The submarine was crossing the Ar
gyll's path diagonally, and the man in
the coming tower, looking ahead did
not see her Immediately. 1t was only
when the forward eight and six inch
guns bleched forth that he turned and
saw the big steel monster bearing down
upon him-a fortune in government
property that might have been his prey
had not that ghostly voice called the
Argyll over to catch him unawares as
he arose. 1t was his last voluntary
action. Hardly had he turned to look
than he went out of sight in a cloud of
smoke and spray and scattering Of
fragments as the blast from the for
ward battery entered the coming
tower Then followed an uprising in
the sea that completely obliterated all
that was visible, and gave way to
huge, inverted cone of red, that in turn
gave way to smoke black and yellow
This thinned and faded into the fog,
the sea quieted beneath, and the Argyll
| rode slowly over the spot where the
| submarine. shattered by shelI-fire and
| the explosion of her own gasoline-tanks
| and torpedoes. was reeling to the bot
| tom.
Dead or alive said the first lieu
tenant, ''F'fnnegan is still helping US.
| Had we anchored. that fellow would
| have heard our chain going out and
found us first
Possibly" answered the captain,
dryly. Bring her head to tide again
| The ship was barely moving, just
| able to answer the wheel; but before
she lost all Roadway the beam from the
search-Hght, hardly reaching cables
! length through the smudge, lengthen-
ed perceptibly and under its glare the
| sea unfolded. The fog was lifting, and
| the search-light played about, ahead
and each side. Then it became fixed,
stationary, pinning something in the
[ path of the creeping ship-something
! strange to see in the broad light of
day, but weird and uncanny in the
night fog. with the brilliant effulgence
: illumining every detail 1t was the
! inert figure of a man, Waist-high in
the water, patting it gently with one
! hand and holding in the other a de-
! miJOhn that noated on the sea. Some
! body cried out. systematically, and men
! crowded to the deck and to gun-ports,
! looking silently at the vision rising
out of the deep-the figure and face of
Finnegan. The captain and officers
stared. pale-faced as any, and even
DR.. Bryce, who had returned to the
! bridge, clicked his teeth nervously.
! Slowly the big vessel crept up, the
! search-Ight lowering as the spectre
I drew near; then there came voice.
We'll. what the hell ye tryin' to do
now run me down."
( Drop that anchor said the captain,
eXplosiveIy and the ponderous weight
struck the water. drowning, with its
! splash and the rafting of the chain
that it dragged out the hawse-pipe,
the hubbub Of exclama ton that arose
from the whole ships company. Then
the ghost sank into the sea, but arose
Immediately. followed by the long
white anchor-buoy it had been riding,
and, head out and holding the deni-
john before il, slowly approached,
while the ship after slight forward
Jerk at the anchor sagged back with
the tide The ghost swan To ne chain
seized it. and tucked the demijohn I'M
der the left arm: then peerng up at
the row OF faces. said. complafningly:
Nov. don't We pay out on that chain
again while I'm in the hawse-pipe.
! Wait till l git out" and began climb
ing \ committee Of the whoIe-an un-
disciplined mob of yelling men-wafted
upon the ghost forward of the windIass
on the maindeck dragged it out of the
h"NSe-nine when it appeared and
stood it up before them. 1t was weak.
almost SpeeChless. hut it raised the
demijohn skilfully on its elbow and