Washington standard. [volume] (Olympia, Wash. Territory) 1860-1921, 1906-09-21
Chapter NIII-Continued.

Chapter VIII-Continued.
Nearer the sky Brand tended the
lamp and discussed matters with Chief
Officer Emmett. The sailor. with the
lterse dircctness 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-" he said, "as II we
dropped ON to the track Of that hurri-
cane after it had curved away to the
InOrrard 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 q 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. I knew it,
and the chief knew it'-he meant the
chief engineer-"but he wouldn't listen
to either Mac or me- Fact Is, he was
fair crazy to set up q new record for
the boat. She's been crossln' the At
lantic forty times year for upward
of twenty years, and the recent alter
ations, although they added fifty feet
to her length, only increased her en-
gine power in proportion"
You surprise me-" broke in Brand.
"You speak as II the Chinook were
NEARLY as old rs this lighthouse, yet l
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 rechristened her. too
always an unlucky thing to do. say.
Bless your heart. man. she Is tho old
Princess Royal Eth? What's thatT'
He guffawed mournfully at Brands
involuntary exclamation.
Certain! Well, surely ought to
know I have passed most Of my serv-
ice with the company In her. and when
I took q crew to Cramps to navigate
her to New York after she was smart
iened up 1 little imagined 1 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-drivin' her
full pelt to land the mails at South.
ampton twelve hours ahead of sched-
'ule. With that awful sea liftin' her
ana a 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
feared that more were lost"
ITS the of season, you know. The
passenger list was light. For the Lords
sake. think Of what it might have been
in May or Juner'
1T is bad enough as 1t is. All has not
ended with the disappearance Of the
vessel"
The sailor shot a 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 a broken
shaft! In that whirlwind! No, no. I
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 a quarter"
But we're only six miles from the
mainland" Mr.. Emmett had not yet
igrasped the true meaning Of the fg-
ures.
II have been here more than once for
six weeks at a stretch, when, for all
the assistance we could receive, we
might as well have been within the
arctic circle"
Again the sailor jerked his thumb to-
ward the reef.
"Is 1t as bad as all thatT' he queried
hnxiously.
"Yes."
"But six weeks! Good Lordr' Mr..
Emmett had done the little sum.
THAT Is exceptional. A week Is the
average, unless the unexpected hap
pens, after gale like this. And a
week will test our endurance to the
limit"
Mr.. Emmett whistled softly. A gris-
ly phantom was creeping at him. He
shivered, and not from cold.
by JOve!" he said. whats to be
aoner
I'm the first place you must help me
to maintain iron discipline. To leave
the rock today or tomorrow will be an
absolute impossibility. On the next
day, with luck and a steady modera-
hon Of the weather. we may devise
some desperate means Of landing all
the active men or getting fresh sup
plies. That is in the hands Of Provi-
dence. 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
can portion out the rations for six
days. think we had better fix on that
minimum"
"Of course will back you up in
every way" said Mr.. Emmett. Who felt