Evening star., 1907-11-13
CHAPTER VII-Continued.


| captains pulse was beating a trifie more
| rapidly with a certain elation. They
! were undoubtedly passing White Horse
| Island. 1t revealed its presence by de-
| hecting the tremendous sea-river which
| ferried the Kansas onward at such rate.
| In fifteen or twenty minutes Courtenay
| expected to find indications of a more
| northerly set of the tide, and he watched
| the compass intently for the first sign OF
| this return to the former course. If the
ship crossed the current one way or the
| other she would certainly be driven
! ashore on some outlying spur of the
! island or detached sunken reef. Hence.
| Le must actua y gu ,ss his way, with
! something of the acquired sense of the
| blind, because the slight chance OF ulu-
! pants rested wholly on the assumption
| that some ocean byway was leading hef
| to a deep-water inlet, where it might be
| possible to drop the anchor.
! In eighteen minutes. or thereaoouts the
| needle moved slightly. Courtenay once
more assisted the ship with the helm.
| She steadied herself, and the compass
| pointed due northeast again
Walker, though an engineer, kne"
| enough o navigation to recognize the ap-
| parent impossibility of the captains being
able to steer with any real knowledge
| his surroundings. The Wheel-tW.sung
| therefore, savored of magic: but his
| orders We're to look ahead, and he obeyed.
Soon he thought he could discern an If
regular pink crescent, with the concave
side downward, somewhere in the black
ness beyond the bows. He rubbed his
eves, and said nothing, believing that tn
unaccustomed strain of gazing INTO the
dark had affected his sight. But the pink
crescent frightened and deepened, and
speedily it was joined by two others,
.qually irregular and somewhat lower.
Then he could bear the suspense no
longer.
Captain, dye see yon?' he asked, in a
voice tremuous with awe.
Yes. That is the sun just catching the
SUBMITS of snow-topped hills. 1t not only
foretells the dawn, but is sign OF fine
weather. There are no clouds over the
land, or we should not see the peaks
Walker began to have respect for the
Captain which he had hitherto extended
only to the experimenting engineer, an
eminent parsonage who never goes to sea
but inspects the ship when in port. and
draws fat salary and various commits
sions.
Ere long a silver gray light began to
dispel the gloom. The two silent watch
arS first saw II overhead. and the vast
dome of day swiftly widened over tn
vexed sea. The aftermath of the storm
spread a low, dense cloak of vapor ali
round The wind had tallen so greatly
| that they could hear the song of the rig
gng. Soon they could distinguish the
outlines of the heavy rollers near at hand,
and Courtenay believed that the ship. In
her passage, encountered In the water
several narrow bands of a bright red
color. If this were so. he knew that the
phenomenon was caused by the praWn-
like crustacea which sailors call 'whal
food" sure sign Of dep water close to
land, and. further, an indication that the
current was still flowing strongly, Will
the force of the sea must have been
broken many miles to westward
Suddenly ne turned to Walker
do you think you could shin up to the
masthead?" he asked.
4 used to be able to climb bit, sir.
We'll, try the foremast. Up there
am fairly certain you can see over this
bank of mist. Don't get into trouble.
Come back if you feel you can't manag
it. If you succeed take the best OBJ
servations possible and report
COurtenay was becoming anxious now.
/ he dared let go the wheel he would
have climbed the mast himself Walker
set about his mission in business-ik
manner He threw off his thick coat and
boots. and went forward. Half way up
the mast there was a rope ladder for the
use of the sailors when adjusting pulleys.
The rest of the journey was not Difficult
for an athletic man, and Walker was
quickly an indistnct figure in the fog
He gained the truck all right, and in
stantlv yelled sonnet hing. Courtenay
fancied he said:
My God! We-ah on the Wocks!
Whatever It was, Walker did not wait.
but slid downward with such speed that
it was fortunate the rigging barred his
progress.
And then. even while Courtenay was
shouting for some explanation, great
black wall rose out OF lne deep on the
port bow 1t was a pinnacle rock, high
as the ships masts, but only few feet
wide at sea level and the Kansas sped
past this ugly monitor as though 1t were
buoy in well-marked channel.
Courtenay heard the sea breaking
against it. The ship could not have been
more than sixty feet distant, little more
than her own beam, and he uny exp acted
that she would grind against some CUTLER
in the next instant. But the Kansas had
a charmed life. She ran on unscathed,
and seemed to be travelling in smoother
water after this escape.
Walkers dark skin was the color of
parchment when he reached the chart
| house.
Captain he said, weakly, "Ill do owt
! wi engines. but I'm no good at this game.
| That thing fairly banged me. Did ye Sc
it?'
Did you see land?" demanded Courte-
| ZACH of these thrills. H felt that it was
/ ordained that his ship should live.
/ Yes. sir. The-aw's hills, and pig ones,
long way ahead, but I'm no goin' up
/ that mast again. 1t would be suicid :.
/ I'm done I'll nev-ah fo-get yon stone
ghost, no. not if | live to be min ty.
! Then joey, shifting the morning. un-
! curled himself stretched, yawned loudly
| and thought of br akfast, tor he had
| passed a rather disturbed night, the sec
| ond in one week To cope with such ex-
| element a dog need d sustenance.