Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1908-01-28

nanuS, leaving IOr record only u Iuel-
ancholy scrawl on bit of board to
meet the wondering eyes of a fisher
man on the far Cornish coast; of the
Great Queensland, which set out with
$50 souls aboard, bound by a route
unknown to a tragic end; of the Ma
ronic, with her silent and empty life
boats alone left, drifting about the
open sea, to hint at the story of her
fate; of the Huronian. which ten years
later, on the same day and date and
hailing from the same port as the Ma
ronic, went out into the void, leaving
no trace; of Newfoundland captains
who sailed, roaring with drink, under
the arches of cathedral bergs, only to
be prisoned, buried and embalmed In
the one icy embrace; of craft assailed
by the terrible one stroke lightning
clouds of the Indian ocet -, found days
after, stone blind, with their crews
madly hauling at useless sheets. while
the officers clawed the compass and
shrieked; of burnings and piracies, of
pest ships and slave ships and ships
mad for want of water, of whelming
earthquake waves and mysterious sue
tions, drawing irresistibly against
wind and steam power upon unknown
currents; OF stout hulks deserted I'm
panic, although sound and seaworthy.
and of others so swiftly dragged down
| that there was no time for any to save
| himself, and of q hundred other
strange, stirring and pitiful ventures
such as make up the inevitable peril
| and incorrigible romance of the ocean.
| In a pause Billy Edwards said musing
ly:
"Well, there was the Laughing
Lass"
How did you happen to hit on her"
asked Barnett quickly.
why mot, sir? 1t naturally came
| into my head. She was last seen
| somewhere about this part of the
] world, wasn't she?' After a moments
! hesitation he added, "From something
/ heard ashore l judge we've COM
mission to keep q watch out for her
as we'll as to destroy derelicts.'
what about the Laughing Lass?"
asked Mcclure, the paymaster, a New
! Englander, who had been in the serv-
Z ice but short time.
Good Lord, don't you remember the
Laughing Lass mystery and the dis
| appearance of Dr. Schermerhorn?
Karl Augustus Schermerhorn, the
man whose experiments to identify
telepathy with the Marconi wireless
pers?'
"Oh, that was only a byproduct of
his mindi He was an original inves-
tigator in every line Of physics and
chemistry, besides most of the natural
Sciences" said Barnett. 1.-The govern
ment is particularly interested in him
because of his contributions to aerial
photography"
"And he was lost with the Laughing
Lass?"
Nobody knows" said Edwards. "He
left San Francisco two years ago on n
hundred foot schooner with an assist
ant, a big brass bound chest and q
ragamuffin crew. A newspaper man
named Slade, who dropped out of the
world about the same time, is sup
posed to have gone along too. Their
schooner was last sighted about 45(
miles northeast of Oahu in good shape
and bound westward. That's all the
record of her that there isl
"Was that Ralph SladeY" asked Bar
nett.
Eyes. He was a free lance writer
and artist"
81 knew him WELL" said Barnett
"He was in our mess in the Philippine
campaign on the North Dakota. Wa
correspondent then. It's strange tina
I never identified him before with tn,
Slade OF the Laughing Lass"
What was the object of the voy
age" asked Ives.
"They were supposed to be afte
buried treasure" said Barnett.
1--WE always thought it more likel,
that Dr. Schermerhorn was on sci
entific expedition" said Edwards. .'
knew the old boy, and he wasn't til,
sort to care for treasure, buried or un
buried"
every time a ship sets out from
San Francisco without publishing t
is all the world thinks it's one o
those wild goose hunts" observed Ives
, YES" agreed Barnett. "Flora an,
fauna of some unknown island woul,
be much more in the Schermerhorl
line of traffic. Not unlikely that som
of the festive natives collected the TN
fortunate professor"
Various theories We're advanced. with
drawn, refuted, defended, and the dis
cussion carried them through the swift
twilight into the darkness which ha
been fastened by a high spreadin
canopy of storm clouds. Abrupt
. from the crows nest came startlin
news for those desolate seas: "Ligh
no! Two points on the port boww
The lookout had given extra voice t
it. 1t was plainly heard Throughout
/ the ship.
:! The group of officers stared in til
Il direction indicated, but could see notl
Ing. Presently Ives and Edwards
t who were the keenest sighted. mad