Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1906-08-01

derous racket was mere tidal trick,
a bogy, which each passing minute
would expose more thoroughly.
"All right, miss, an Gawd bless yer!"
/: iowled one who had not spoken hith-
4rto. There was IL chorus Of approval.
'onstancc gave IA little gulp. The cul-
t..;eI and delicate lady lying In the
ilnk above had not spoken SO.
Indeed" she gasped, God has
blessed some of us this night"
Then she fed, further utterance fail-
ing he?.
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 ran
into bad weather about 400 miles west
of the Lizard
ut seems to me-" lie said, "as IL we
dropped on to the track of that hurri-
cane after it had curved away to the
norrard and that the blamed 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 clinched fist
with thumb jarked toward the reef.
II wouldn't breathe word II he
wasn't gonc.' he said, but the old man
was drivin' her too hard. knew it,
and the chief knew THE meant the
chief engineer-"but he wouldn't listen
to either Mac or Inc. Fact Is, he was
fair crazy to set up II new record for
the boat. She's been crossin' the At
lantic forty times year for upward
of twenty years, and the 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 US If the Chinook were
nearly MS old as this lighthouse, yet
have never even heard her name be-
fore"
You know her well enough oil the
same" said the other ruefully. "This
is her maiden voyage since she was al
tered, an they rechristened her, too
always an unlucky thing to do, shy.
Bless your heart, man, she is the old
Princess Royal. Eth? What's that?'
He guffawed mournfully at Brands
involuntary exclamation.
Certain! Well, surely ought to
know. have passed most Of my serv-
Ice with the company in her, and when
took crew to Cramps to navigate
her to New York after she was smart
ened up little imagined would see
her laid by forever the next time we
saw the lights of old England. My
goodness, even what was left Of the old
girl ought to know her way better'n
that"
but what did really happen?"
"Drivin' her, tell you-driyin' her
full pelt to land the mails Mt South
ampton twelve hours ahead Of sched-
ule. With that awful sea liftin' her
and shaft twenty feet longer, what
could you expect? Poor Perkins! A
rare hard worker too. Now he's gone
down With his ship an over 200 passen-
gers an crew."
Judging by the number saved l
feared that more were lost"
ITS the off season, you know. The
passenger list was light. Tor the Lords
sake, think of what it might have been
in May or June!"
ut Is bad enough as 1t is. All has not
ended with the disappearance Of the
vessel"
The sailor shot sharp glance at
Brand.
You can't be thinkin' any one was to
blame he commenced. But Brand
waved aside the fancied imputation.
"Blamew he said. with broken
shaft! In that whirlwind! No, no.
sent for you to talk over the new diff
Guilty which has to be faced. There are
food, water and fuel here for three
men for two months. If you do little
sum you will find that the available
stores on the basis Of full rations will
maintain eighty-one people for two
days and quarter"
But we're only six miles from the
mainland" Mr.. Emmett had not yet
graspcd the true meaning Of the fig
ures.
II have been here more than once for
six weeks Mt a stretch, when. for all
the assistance we could receive, we
might us well have been within the
arctic circle"
Again the sailor jerked his thumb to-
ward the reef.
SIS it as bad as all thai? 2. he querietl
anxiously.
YES"
"But six weeks! Good Lord" Mr.
Emmett had done the little sum.
"rhat is exceptional. A week Is the
svcrasc, unless the unexpected hap
pens. after gale like this. And a
week will test our endurance to the
limit"
Mr.. Emmett whlstled softly. A girls
ly phantom was creeping ut fnm. He
shivered, and not from cold.
by Jovc! he said. whats to be
lone?"
SIN the first place you must help me
to maintain iron discipline. To leave
the rock today or tomorrow will be an
absolute lnpossibility. On the next
day, with luck and steady modera-
ton Of the weather. we NAV devise
some desperate Eieans OF LANDING all
the active men or getting fresh sup
plies. That Is in the hands of Provi-
dehce. l want you to warn your off,
GERS and others whom you can trust,
either sailors or civilians. Better ar
range three watches. My daughters
will have charge Of the stores. By 60
ing through the lists in the storeroom
l can portion out the rations for six
days. think we had better fix on that
minimum"
"Of course l will back you up in
every way" said Mr.. Emmett, who felt
chillier at this moment than at any
time during the night. II know you
are acting wisely, but. admit l am
scared at the thought Of what may
happen-if those days pass and no
help is available"
Brand knew what would happen and
1t was hard to lock the secret In his