Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-11-20
CHAPTER XII.
Establishment.

ne captain was Enthusiastic Wnen ne
heard of Elsie's idea for the protection
of the main dech-''an excellent notion"
he termed it, but he secuted the sugges-
ton that she should undertake the work
herself.
you little know what hauling taut
heavy canvas MEANS" he said when they
met at lunch. TT would tear the skin of
your hands No. Miss Maxwell, we can
put our Chileans on to that job. I have
something better for you to do. Can you
map?"
II have copied heaps Of plans for my
father" she told him.
"Exeelient! At noon today I took an
observation. so intend to devote an hour
Joey is in the scheme already. Then the
admiralty will gracefully acknowledge
the survey supplied by Miss Elsie Max
well, Capt. Arthur Courtenay and Joey,
otherwise known as the pup"
Jose the Wine-bag." but Elsie thought
she would retain that tiny scrap of de-
tective information for the present. So
she simply said:
You will explain to me my part of the
undertaking, Of course?'
Certainly. You must first correct the
index error. Then you subtract the dip
and the refraction in altitude, take the
suns semi-diameter from the Nautical
Almanac and add the parallax. Do you
follow me?''
Perfectly; it sounds the easiest thing
But don't wish to hear the remarks Of
the admiralty when they see the result"
Il am interested in navigation, to the
slight extent possible to a mere yachts
man, may join you?" interposed Christie
bal.
"oh, yes said the captain, of hand
eddy.
Elsie repressed the smile on her IDS.
Did the worthy. doctor fear developments
if this harmless map making progressed
IN his absence? She imagined. too. that
Courtenay's acQuiesence in Christobars
desire to be present was not wholly in ac-
cordance with his ;innermost wish. She
promptly crushed that dangerous fancy.
The captain was only seeking for some
'xcuse to take her away from the rough
work of rigging the extra awnings. How
cropped up first!
''You still think the Kansas will win
clear of her difnculties?" she said, rather
hurriedly. II am. sorry to bring King
Charles head into the conversation but.
after all, the ships safety Is essential to
your survey"
Every hour strengthens my opinion"
was the confident reply. ''Suarez says
that there is a reasonable chance of occa-
sional brief spells of fine weather at this
PeIlOu u Tie year. Al any rate, the gaze
nay not be absolutely continuous, and
Walker is assured that he can patch up
he engines for half speed. Given a calm
day. day like this, for instance, we can
reach the straits in few hours"
And the 1ndians?''
Il leave them out of my reckoning.
What else can / do?'
Kill en-" said Tollemache.
Courtenay glanced sharply at his fellow
countryman. He disliked these references
to the Alaculof bogy in Elsie's presence.
1t was enough that it should exist with
the girl herself was the culprft, Tolle.
nache should have left the topic alone.
But Tollemache was man Of fixed
IDEAS. The device of canvas shields to re.
gel boarders had set him thinking how
much more effective it would be if the
savages were kept at distance. He well
knew that they would not be deferred by
a shotgun and few revolvers, once they
lad made up their minds to carry the
ship by assault To explain himself, he
and his swarthy face flushed under the
unusual strain.
I'VE have dynamite aboard" he said.
Why not construct a couple of Internal
machines which could be fired by pulling
a string. and let them drift toward the
eapoes when the Indians are near
nbugh?'
1T is worth trying" was Courtenay's
brief comment, though he saw later that
follemache's suggestion was very USE
ful one.
Elsie's first task was to prepare a large
scale drawing of the southern part of
Island, as set forth in admiralty
chart No. 1887 (sheet 2. Patagonia), which
is the only trustworthy record available
tor shipmasters using the outer passage
between the Gulf of Penas and the Straits
of Magellan. 1t was simple matter to
ill in the few contours given. The neigh
boring small islands were shown in rea-
sonable detail, but the whole western
coast of Hanover Island itself consisted
Of dotted line and solitary peak
Stokes mountain, the height of which
could be estimated and its position tri-
angulated from the sea. Even Concep-
cion straits on the north and the San
Bias channel on the south were marked in
those significant dotted lines. The coast
was practically unknown to civilized man.
One of the last fortresses Of the world
grim, inhospitable, 1t guarded its secret
with crag and glacier and reef
streWn sea.
1t was borne In on the girl, while she
worked, that the chiefest marvel in her
present condition was the triumph of SCI
nee over nature In its most hostile mood
The Kansas boasted all the comforts and
at the same table as herself was a skill
full sailor. using logarithms, secants and
polar distances and hour
angles as if he were in some university
classroom. Near the door, enjoying the
warm sun, Boyle was stretched on a deck
chair. while Christobal was Offering a
half hearted protest against hfs fiont,s