Evening star., 1907-11-17
Bv LOUIS TRACY,
CHAPTER X-Continued.
Author of The Wings of the Morning."

a slip Of girl should need informing oil
so obvious fact. Don't you call 1t lucl
10 be given command of a ship like th'
Kansas at his age? An to get five hun
dred pounds an a gold chronometer be
cause the skipper of the Florida was to-
full to hold on to the bridge? You mari
my words. He'll be made commodore o
the fleet after he pulls the Kansas out o
this mess"
What happened to the F7orida?"
Haven't you heard that yarn? Bles;
my soul. she was our crack ship. Sh'
broke her shaft in a gale. an the skippe
was washed overboaTd-you always tel
lies about deaders. you know-so A. c
just waded In an saved the whole outfit
passengers an all"
But he has had reyerses, too. He wal
in the royal navy, 1 have been told, and
he had TO give 1t up because his peo'
pie"
More luck The royal navy. Huh. al
gold braid an buy your own vittals
There's no money In that game"
Money is not everything in the world
y mans career may be more to him than
the mere monetary aspect of it
If ever you meet my missus, you'll
hear the other side of the question. Miss
Maxwell. S'posin Courtenay was in the
navy, an had a wife an family to keep.
Could he do T. on his pay? Not he. As
IT is, he's sure to marry a girl with pile
and wind up managing owner"
Perhaps he is engaged to some such
young lady already"
Haven't heard so. You may be sure
there's one waitin' for him somewhere.
know. There's no dodgin' luck, good or
bad. l thought it was gon' to be that
friend of yours, but she's of the register.
lac i1y,'y hat
I'm an Idiot, for sure. You see, l don't
talk much as a rule Miss Maxwell or l
should know better than to chin-Wag like
a hlazin'-huh, like a babblin' fool"
Elsie turned her face aside when he
mentioned Isobel. 1t seemed to her sensi-
tive soul an almost unfair thing that she
should be gossping about trivialities
when the girl who had commenced this
uniucky voyage in such high spirits was
lying beneath that grim sea behind the
smiling headland. Yet she knew that
Boyle meant no harm by his chatter. He
was weak from his wound, and perhaps a
trifle ight-headed as the result of being
brought from the stuffy saloon to the
airy and sunlit chartToom. So she
crushed a sorrow that was unavailing.
and strove to put the sailor at his ease
again.
Il do not find any harm in your re-
mark" she said resoluteIy. Were 1t pos
stble, l should have been very pleased to
see Miss Barring married TO man of
strong character like Capt. Courtenay.
BY the way, who is keeping watch on
deck?"
The doctor was here with me until a
few minutes ago. Then the skipper tele-
phoned him. l guess there is some one
on the lookout, but you might just cast
an eye shorewards. I'm not supposed to
move yet"
He wriggled uneasily in his chair, tor
the spirit was willing, but Elsie made him
lie quiet; she rearranged his pillow and
stepped on to the bridge. BY walking
from port to starboard, and traversing
the short length of the spar deck. she
could command view of the bay and of
most parts of the ship. She heard tn =
dog scutttng down the companion; on
reaching the after rail she saw the cap
tain engaged In earnest, low-toned con-
They were standing on the main deck
near the engfne-room door, and examin-
ing something which resembled lump 0
coal: she saw the engineer take three
similar Jumps from a pocket.
Christohal appeared, carrying a bucket
of water. into which the Jumps were
placed by Walker. who handled them very
gingerly. After a slight delay, he began
to crumble one in his fingers. still keeping
1t in the water. until finally he drew
forth what Elsie recognized at once as a
stick of dynamite. Though 1t was black
certain of its real nature. She had visited
a great many mines, and the officials al
ways scared the ladies Of the party by
telling them what would happen If the
explosives shed we're to blow up. She
had even seen dynamite placed in the sun
TO dry. as 1t is very susceptible to mois-
ture, and she wondered. naturally enough
why such a dangerous agent should be
hidden in. or disguised as, a piece of coal.
She thought that the men should be
4 70.
over and said:
May ask what you four are plot
tirg?"
They looked at her in surprise They
were so engrossed in their discovery that
they had eyes for nothing else. Walker
stralghtway plunged the sausa ge- shaped
gray stick into the water again.
What are you doing with that dyna-
mite?' she demanded. DO you intend to
visit the Valley of the Golden Sands? If
50, please take me. am very poor"
II was Courtenay who answered
Are you alone?" he asked
My Boyle is in the charthouse
Il know, but is any one else up there?'
No"
Then we shall join you at once"
Notwitnstanding the serious demeanor
Of the men. Elsie was FAR from guessing
what had happened. But she was soon
enlightened.
In which bunker was the coal placed
which We shipptd at Valparaiso?' Courte-
nay asked Boyle
In the forward cross bunker" was the
instant answer.
And thz( was the first coal used in the
TurE~s?''
Yes, SIR
The captains tone was official. exceed
lngly SO. and the chief officer took the
cue from his superior in rank.
Did we get up steam with it?''
There might have been d hundred
weight or two lying loose in the stoke
hold. but, for all practical purposes we
have used nothing but the Valparaiso
bunker since we left port"
The rest of our coal was shipped at
Coronel?
Yes. SIR
You hear? It is exactly as I have told
you." said Courtenay. glancing at the
others Il must explain to you. Mr..
Boyle, that l wished you to state the
facts in front of witnesses before I gave
you my reasons for examining you
on the matter. Mr.. Walker and / have
been certain, all along. that the furnaces
were blown up wilifully. Now our sus-
picions are proved This morning, ter a
careful scrutiny. we came across a num-
ber of Jumps of coal cieverly constructed
out of small pieces glued together In
the center OF each lump was a stick of
dynamite. protected by an asbestos wrap
per 1t was undoubtedly the intent of
some miscreant that a number of these
Jumps should be fed into the furnaces.
This actually occurred. as we know, but,
by the mercy of Providence. the ship did
not experience the full power of the ex-
plosion. or she must have sunk like a
stone
Hun" grunted Boyle. who holds the
Insurance.
The shippers OF the cargo, of course
Th0rnnSnn e,