The Montgomery advertiser., 1905-03-23
TWO OF IA KIND.
nv l. C. PLUNIMER.

(Copyright, l3vo, Doils stravad
 ,,ar q map of the United kingdom hang,np against the office wall.
 ax ,danrerous coast the northeastern
 ,r. 1os Scotland, Captain Mcleod. no said carelessly. "a likely place Aor wreck" Mol sod
 "rhen there's the orkneys ana the shelands. bad places those In 'os' Captain" ,ooxea at Mir. Thompson, then he looReo ou' ' the window. .ha r,r,ew .a cottsnburg," continued Mir. Thomp- son. "and you'll come back in ballast. You'll probably take northern rou.e whicb will about bring you on that coast. It's autumn and the season TOT fogs. SO be careful, Captain.
 aEt wad be a bad thing for me. sheepwreck," said Captain Mcleod. AW might be year finding anotne. snp. ..r
 No. no," replied Mir. Thompson,
 L,o,v vou are a careful skipper, and II pro,yidence ordains that the Curlew sho,ld be lost I'd see you'd another shin. More, I'd obligate myself to pay vou A hundred pounds to tide you over until you did get a ship. Then you could pay 1t back. ,.,., r..
 "Wad ye put that in writing! h- quired the skipper.
 certainly: Give me shilling cap tain."
 handed the paper to the skipper. Cap tain Mcleod read, For the sum of one shifting. received. I insure Captain '1)avid Mcleod against the wreck or the steamer Curlew on the passage rom Gottenburg to Shields, in the sum or one hundred pounds.
 ,siened) Philip Thompson"
 There" he said, you sec what careful skipper I think you. Captain Mcleod read the paper careIuiy, put 1t in his pocket and went down to the docks.
 MT. Thompson put on his overcoat and attended a meeting of the vestry of St. Barnabas Church. .
 That evening Captain Mcleod went ahoard the steamer Moray, loading Tor Reval, She was commanded and owned by a fellow Scot, Fergus McCliesh. The two shippers talked, earnestly until late in the night and parted witn sleam Ill their eyes.
 The morning of his departure Cap tain Mcleod read prayers with his fam IIv and cautioned his daughters to avoid invitations to places where there was dancing.
 "Eet's the devils own game" he said. and wha eet's going on ees ma place for the daughters of godly man."
 Be very careful Captain" said MT. Thompson, as he bade the skipper farewell. Don't let anything happen to the old Curlew."
 "Ees she eensured. sir?" inquired the skipper. ,,,.., ,,. Thompson. "The Curlew is insured for live thousand pounds"
 Mir. Philip Thompson. who had been for a whole year vainiy trying to sell the steamer Curlew, watched her oe- parture thoughtfully.
 Captain Mcleod. standing on! the bridge, looked back at MT. Thompson standing on the wharf and shook his head. thoughtfully.
 Two days later the Moray. Captain McCliesh, cleared for Reval
 The Curlew had a prosperous pass age to Gottenburg but she was slow | in discharging cargo. When she had taken on ballast and was ready to re- turn to Shields, Captain Mcleod wired | that fact to his friend Captain Me- Cliesh, who was then at Reval and ready to sail on his return to England. The shilling which Captain Mcleod had spent in having Mir. Philip Thomp- son insure his safe passage from Got | tonbeug to Shields did not appear such | a bad investment that night of the goth | of October when the Curlew, enveloped | in as thick a fog as ever crawled over the German Ocean, tossed in an ugly swell off the northeast coast of Scot. l land
 That Captain Mcleod was a careful. conscientious skipper was evidenced by the fact that when night added it's 1 blackness to the fog hH would trust 1 the helm to no one save himself. He l telegraphed sc frequently to the engi- ueer that he must have been navigat- | ing with great care, but accidents will happen to the most careful, and the | Curley took the ground with a jar
 which threw the mate prostrate on the deck. . Sailors and stokers rushed on deck l nic-stricken, for a grounding on that l part of the Scotch coast meant, usual ly death to all or part of crew. | "There's ma use in standing by her. I'said the Captain, "get ava the boats. 1 With remarkable luck or skill Cap | tain Mcleod piloted his shipwrecked
 crew over that ugly swell safely into | a small fishing harbor and then it was 1 that MT. Philip Thompson heard that the Curlew was lost. and smiled, and old seamen visiting Lloyds in London read of the wreck and. shaking their { grizzly heads. wondered what ship