The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1906-02-02

nCuI ldISl IL CdLuc lulO view Ou Inc
crest of sea.
1t was heavy, turtle-ended govern
ment life boat, with eight cork-jack-
eted rowers.
The lee alley-way was crowded with
men eager to descend to the saving
iife-boat, and among those nearest to
the rope was Capt. Gray. as eager as
any.
why don't We waltz" growled one,
as he hustled him away and threw his
leg over the rail.
Get back" snarled another. Back
WI We. Yer cappen here. Stan by yer
ship"
We'll have to swim for it,
screamed the captain, above the din OF
wind, sea and crashing wood. Have
we any cork jackets?"
I'm Mr.. Actors ROOM"
Get them OUT
The third mate descended and reap
peared with but one, which he meekly
handed to the captain.
''All that's left, sir; my room is
washed away"
The captain began buckling on the
cork jacket.
mo, you DON'T" shouted the second
mate, climbing towards him on the
now sloping deck Leave us to drown.
will you? Not much. Give me that"
His eyes shone as though with incip'
Cnt insanity.
NO." was the answer. Then the
jacket was torn from the captains
shoulder He clinched the frenzied Of
licer and they fell, arising each with
a firm hold on the life preserver, the
straps of which were now broken. The
third mate watched them with a curl
Gus light in his eyes. The first mate
had gone to his room for cork ma.
tress which he knew Of
AS he appeared with it a sea swept
what was left of the half-submerged
hull just as the struggling men reached
The break of the poop When it had
passed over, two heads were discerni-
ole in the receding hollow to leeward,
and the struggle was continued in the
water; then again-loud and clear
above the bowling of the tempest
was heard the hooking laughter and
the frightful ending: die! Die!"
Actors done for" muttered the first
mate, as he sprang overheard with his
mattress.
But out of the demolished cabin
emerged the third mate, strapping on
cork jacket
The light from burning tar barrel
shone on his face. Looking to wind
ward, at the black outline of storm
swept coast, and at the shaking, grind.
ing fragment of a once stately ship on
which he stood, he smiled. But in that
smile there was no sweetness, no soft
hess. All the agony and despair, the
misery and degradation of his en-
forced voyage was expressed in it;
end in the dark eyes-1ashing again
end defiant-shone the triumph of pitt
less vengeance. Creeping down to the
rail, he sprang into the sea and. fol-
,Cwing his plunge by a half-minute,
the wrecked stern rolled shoreward,
and the light from the tar barrel went
out in a kissing cloud of steam.
8
Prospects were good for the first mate.
Mr.. Boswell. Hewas promised ship, but
he could not sleep. Insomnia had seized
him, for an Internal, hooking voice
was in his ears night and day. AS an
offset, after weeks suffering, he
thought of the theater. Any would do,
and he entered the first play house he
came to, where he sat abstractedIy
through variety performance. A
burst of applause aroused him.
The applause continued and in
creased and, when a man appeared.
there arose deaf ening roar. The man
was in evening dress and, contrasting
strangely, yet agreeably, with the
white expanse of shirt front, We.
face bronzed with the tan of sun and
sea to the hue of mahogany. From
this face flashed pair of magnificent
dark eyes, which wandered over the
audience. and, for moment, rested
On Mr.. Boswell. 1t was the third mate.
CT his ghost.
There was momentary hush of tho
audience, every face was turned up
ward; for from the dome of the house
came laugh-a little low iaugh--
which grew louder and varied it's tone
and volume from the litter of child
10 the guffaw of giant It ran up
the scale, and down it. 1t played Cd
every chord of human merriment un-
til, as Mr.. Boswell seized his hat ana
staggered from the theater, the cachin-
nation above, filing the whole house
with it's sound, changed into the hor-
rid, fiendish voice of glee that had
laughed a great ship on to the rocks
and two men to their Death.