The Richmond palladium. (Richmond, Ind.) 1906-1907, 1906-07-01
SECOND INSTALLMENT.

i must hurry up anu 20 oh ueSh,
said Miss Deane
"You will not be able to go on deck
until the morning."
She turned on him impetuously. en-
deed will. Captain Ross promised
me-that is, asked him
The doctor smiled. She was so charm
ingly insistent! 1T is simply impossi-
ble," he said 1.-The companion doors
are bolted. The promenade deck is
swept by heavy seas every minute. A
boat has been carried away, and sew
eral stanchions snapped off like car
rots. For the first time In your life,
Miss Deane, you are battened down"
The girls face must have paled some
what. He added hastily: "There is no
danger, you know, but these precau-
tons are necessary. You would not
like to see several tons of water rush
ing down the saloon stairs; now, would
you"
Decidedly not" Then, after pause:
sTt is not pleasant to be fastened up in
a great iron box, doctor. 1t reminds
one, Of a huge coffin"
mot bit. The Sirdar is the safest
ship afloat. Your father has always
pursued a splendid policy in that re-
spect. The London and Hongkong
company may not possess fast vessels,
but they are seaworthy and well found
insevery respect"
"Are there many people III on
boardT'
''No; Just the usual number of dis
turbedN livers. We had a nasty acct
dent shortly before dinner"
"Good gracious! What happened?
"Some. Lascars were caught by a sea
forward. One man had his leg bro
ken"
Anything eise?"
The doctor hesitated. He became
interested in the color Of some Bur
gundy. IT hardly know the exact de-
tails yet" he replied. Tomorrow aft
er breakfast will tell you all about
It,"
An English quartermaster and four
Lascars had been licked from or the
forecastle by the greedy tongue of a
huge wave. The succeeding surge flung
the FIVE men back against the quarter.
One Of the black sailors was pitched
aboard with a fractured leg and other
injuries. The others were smashed
: against the iron hull and disappeared.
For one tremulo,:s moment the en-
gines slowed. The ship commenced to
veer off into the path of the cyclone.
Captain Ross set his teeth. and the tele-
graph bell tangled Full speed ahead"
poor Jacksonv he murmured. Zone
of my best men. remember seeing
his wife, pretty little woman, and
two children coming to meet him last
homeward trip. They will be there
again. Good God! That Lascar who
was saved has some one to await him
IN Bombay village, suppose"
The captain fought his way to the
chart house. He wiped the salt water
from his eyes and looked anxiously at
the barometer.
'Still fallingw he muttered. IT will
keep on until o'clock and then bear
three points to the southwark. By
midnight we should be behind It."
He struggled back into the outside
fury. BY comparison the sturdy cita-
del he quilted was paradise on the edge
of an inferno.
Down in the saloon the harder pas
scngers were striving to subdue the
cnnui OF an interval before they sought
their cabins. Some talked. One hard
ened reprobate strummed the piano.
Others played cards, chess, draughts-
anything that would distract attention.
The stately apartment offered strange
contrast to the warning elements with
out. Bright lights, costly upholstery,
soft carpets, carved panels and gilded
cornices, with uniformed attendants
passing to and fro carrying coffee and
glasses-these surroundings suggested
floating palace in which the raging
seas were defled. Yet forty miles away.
somewhere In the furious depths, four
corpses swirled about with horrible
. uncertainty, lurching through battling
currents and perchance conveyed by
fighting sharks.
The surgeon had been called away.
Iris was the only lady left In the sa-
I, loon. She watched a set of whist play
ers for a time and then essayed the
perilous passage to her stateroom. She
found her maid and a stewardess
there. Both women were weeping.
"what is the matterT she inquired
The stewardess tried to speak. She
choked with grief and hvstily went
4 out. The maid blubbered an explana-
! ton.
n "a friend of hers was married, miss,
/ to the man who is drowned"
drowned! What man?"
Haven't you heard. miss? sup
pose they are keeping it quiet An
English sailor and some natives were
: swept Off the ship by sea. One native
was saved, but he is all smashed up
The others We're never seen again."
Iris by degrees learned the sad
chronicles of the Jackson family. She
was moved to tears. She remembered
the doctors hesitancy and her own
Idle phrase. "a huge coffin"
Outside the roaring waves pounded
upon the iron walls.
Two staterooms had been converted
Into one to provide Miss Deane will
ample accomoo dation. There were n
hunks. but a cory bed was screwed I
the deck. She lay down and strove t
read. 1t was a difficult task He
eyes wandered from the printed pag
TO mark the absurd antics of her gal
ments swinging on their hooks. 4
times the ship rolled so far that sh