The Red Cloud chief., 1906-08-31

shaft Of stone. Surely 1t must be
pounded into fragments.
Said one with indefinite below amid
the black turmoil: II can't stand this.
mates"
up aloft for mer'' cried another.
Lets die with our eyes open, any
how" chimed In a third.
But a light flashed In the rolling orbs
OF the man who vas already OF the
stairs. Astounded, he drew back.
Constance stood in their midst, n mere
girl, radiant, smilingly unconcerned.
addressing them I'm calm words broken
only by the ftful noises.
Sorry your quarters-so very I'M
pleasant. Only last a-cOuple OF hours.
Twenty-Five years-far worse gales.
Want any more cocoa?'
Thank you kindly, miss, we're quite
comfortable" This from the man who
wished to die with his eyes open.
please. miss, may W. smoker" said
he who couldn't stand it.
Constance hesitated. Blithely uncon-
scious that a Whit of mutiny had
swept through the storm tossed fold,
| she pondered the problem. She saw no
harm in it.
YES" she said. 'Smoke by all
means. I will ask my father, and II 1t
should be dangerous l will come back
| and let you know. In a few hours 1t
will be daylight and IL the sea falls he
will come and open the door,"
BY sheer inspiration she had uttered
the formula destined to annihilate the
necromantic buster of the hammering
waves. Open the door! So this pom
derous racket was a mere tidal trick,
a bOgy, which each passing minute
would expose more thoroughly.
"All right, miss, an Gawd bless yer!'
growled one who had not spoken hith-
erto. There was n chorus of approval.
Constance gave a little gulp. The cul-
tured and delicate lady lying in the
bunk above had not spoken SO.
Indeed she gasped, God has
blessed some of us this night"
Then she fed, further utterance fail
ing her.
Nearer the sky Brand tended the
lamp and discussed matters with Chief
Officer Emmett. The sailor, with the
terse directness of his class, told how
the Chinook had made an excellent
voyage from New York until she raj
into bad weather about 400 miles west
of the Lizard.
ut seems to me-" he said. 'as II we
dropped on to the track of that hurri-
cane after it had curved away to the
% nj anI that tho h1nn,nI thing
swooped down on us again when we
were abreast Of the Bishop light"
Brand nodded. This surmise agreed
with his own theory of the storm as
indicated by the sea.
Mr.. Emmett held out a clinched fist
with thumb jerked toward the reef.
81 wouldn't breathe a word II he
wasn't gone" he said, but the old man
was drivin' her too hard. / knew 1t,
and the chief knew THE meant the
chief engineer-"but he wouldn't listen
to either Mac or me. Fact Is, he was
fair crazy to set up a new record for
the boat. She's been crossin' the At
lantlc forty times a year for upward
of twenty years, and h recent alter
atoms, although they added fifty feet
to her length, only increased her en-
CINE power in proportion"
you surprise me- broke in Brand.
"You speak as If the Chinook were
nearly as old as this lighthouse, yet |
have never even heard her name be-
fore"
you know her well enough all the
same" said the other ruefully. This
Is her maiden voyage since she was al
tered, an they rcchristened her, too
always an unlucky thing to do, l say.
Bless your heart, man, she is the old
Princess Royal. Eth? What's thatT'
He guffawed m~ournfully at Brands
involuntary exclamation.
Certain! Well, surely I ought to
know. I have passed most Of my serv'
ice with the company in her, and when
took a crew to Cramps to navigate
her to New York after she was smart
ened up I little imagined / would see
her laid by forever the next time we
saw the lights of old England. My
goodness, ever what was left of the old
girl ought to know her way better'I
that"
"But what did really happen"
"Drivin' her, l tell you-drivln' hei
full pelt to land the mails at South
ampton twelve hours ahead Of SEIZED
ule. With that awful sea llftin' hei
ana a shaft twenty feet longer, wha'
could you expect? Poor Perkins! \
rare hard worker too. Now he's gon'
down with his ship an over 200 passen
gers an crew"
Judging by the number saved
feared that more were lost"
cts the off soason. YOU know. Thl