Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1906-05-31
Prisoners and CapfiYes
BY II. S. MERQTMAN
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! terials intended for molehill. l, for
! one, have no intention of leaving my
bones in the far North. There is no rea-
/ son why we should not all be back home
| by this time next year"
None at ALL" agreed Oswin somewhat
perfunctorily, adding, with a suspicion of
doubt the next minute: Suppose we
| succeedF"
We'll, what them"
Suppose we get there all right, rescue
the men and go on safely; we get over
the elemental danger, and then we have
to face the political, which is worse"
I do not see it." replied Tyars. I'VE
sell the ship at San Francisco. Half
the crew expect TO be paid off there, the
other half will dispense with their passage
money in their pockets, and very few of
them will find their way back to England.
Our doctor is a German socialist, with
several aliases; our second mate a sim
ple-minded Norwegian whaling skipper
The exiles do not know a word of Eng
lish, or pretend they do not, and none
of the crew speaks Russian. There viii
| be absolutely no intercourse on board,
and only you, the doctor and myself will
ever know who the rescued men really
are. The crew will imagine that they
are the survivors OF Russian ivory hunt
| ing expedition, and IL the truth ever
comes out, it will be impossible to prove
! that you and l knew better"
But it will not be easy to keep the
| newspapers quiet
We shall not attempt to keep them
quiet. 1t will only be local matter
The San Francisco papers will publish
libelous woodcuts of our countenances and
a column or two purporting to be bio
graphical, but the world will be little the
wiser. In America such matters are in
teresting only in so much as they are per-
Sonal, and there is in reality nothing
easier than the suppression of ones per-
sonality. There is no difficulty in kick
ing an interviewer out of the room. lust
as one would kick out any intruder; and
we are quite Indifferent as to whether
the American newspapers abuse us or not
after having been kicked As TO the de-
tails Of the voyage, l shall withhold those
with the view of publishing book, which
| is quite the correct thing nowadays. The
book shall always be in course of prepara-
ton. and will never appear"
In this wise the two men continued
talking, planning, scheming all the morn
ing, while they worked methodically and
prosaically.
The eleventh of March was fixed for
the sailing of the Argo, exploring vessel,
and Easton's chief thought on the sub
ject was a vague wonder as to what he
would do with himself after she had gone.
The Argo was to pass out of the tidal
hos into ha YiYra -
at half-past twelve Easton drove I'D to
the dock gates He brought with him the
last items of the ships outfit in the shape
of a pile of newspapers, and a bunch of
dollhouse roses for the cabin table, for
there was to be a luncheon party on board
while steaming down the river.
He found Admiral Grace strolling
about the deck with Tyars, conversing in
quite a friendly way, and endeavorins
honestly to suppress his contempt for
seamanship of so young growth as that
of his companion. The ladies were below,
inspecting the ship under Oswin's guild
ance.
"She is" he said addressing himself to
the admiral, with transatlantic courtesy.
"a strange mixture of the man-of-war
and the yacht-do you not find it so,
sir?''
"She is" answered the old gentleman,
guardedly, lone of the most complete yes
sells l have ever boarded though her
outward appearance is, of course, against
her"
"One can detect" continued the Ameri-
can, looking round with a musing eye,
1.-The influence of a naval officer"
The old gentleman softened visibly. At
this moment the ladies appeared, escorted
by Oswin Grace-Miss Winter first, with
a searching little smile in her eyes. Eas-
ton saw that she was very much on the
alert.
Il feel quite at home" she said to him,
looking round her, although there are so
many changes"
$50 do l; the more so because the
changes have been made under my own
directions"
They walked aft, leaving the rest of the
party standing together. As they walked.
Oswin Grace watched them with singu-
lar light in his clear gray eyes; singular
because gray eyes rarely glisten, they only
darken at times.
Presently the vessel glided smoothly be-
tween the Shiny gates out into the open
river. The towline was cast off, and the
Argos engines started. The vessel swung
slowly round on the greasy water, point
ing her blunt, stubborn prov down the
misty river. She settled to her work with
a docile readiness, like farmers mare
on the outward road