Gloucester County Democrat., 1908-04-16
The Captain Of
the Kansas.
By LOUIS TRACY.
Author of .'Tbe Wings Of the Morning.
THE Pillar Of Light" Etc.
fsoas.rissft 1aaa iar I,d,s.srd I l.lade

Copyright, 1906. BY Edward J. clode.

How are things up heref"
@Better The barometer has risen an
inch In less than two hours. Possibly
uearness to the land has some effect,
but wind and sea are subsiding."
You surprise me, yet that is moth
ing. / have had several surprises to-
night. What is the position? OF
course we must hit the South Ameri-
can continent sooner or later. Can
you fix an approximate timer"
"We are making about six knots, |
fancy If we are lucky and avoid any
stray rocks we should see daylight be-
fore we reach the coast. That is our
sole hope. The ship is in a powerful
tidsI current. and it is high water at
$50 a. M. At a rough estimate Han
over island is twenty knots distant.
Now you know all. The outcome is
mere guesswork.'
'Why did the furnaces blow up?"
81 was cross examining Joey on that
point when you came in. He reserved
his opinion. Ny own view is that, by
accident or design, some explosive sub
stance found its way into the coal"
'Shem, Ham and Japheth! Explosive
substance. Do you mean dynamite or
gunpowder or that sort of thing?'
Something of the kind. That is
only supposition, but when whisper
ed it to Walker he agreed"
Walker! Is he the man who speaks
so queerly p
s'If you ever go to Newcastle, don't
put it that way l told him to take
Miss Maxwell to her cabin. Did he do
SOP
Eyes. have not seen her since, SO
assume that the bromide plus the
wine was effective Well. l must re-
turn to my patients Can I get you
anything? am storekeeper, you
know
mo, thanks
Nothing to eat or drink?"
Nothing. I shall be ready for a
square meal when I am able to come
below, not before"
Christobal smiled. Though he was a
brave man, he thought such persistent
optimism was out of place. Neverthe-
less he could emulate Courtenay's cool
ness.
LET me know when you are ready
] am an excellent cook. he said.
Then The captain OF the Kansas re-
sumed his smoking ana hamming. with
occasional glaaees at the clock and
the compass aud the barometer. At 2
O'Clock he felt the sAii' slipping from
under the wheel The compass show
ed that she vas heading a couple Of
points eastward IIe helped her and
telephoned instantly 10 Walker:
Go forward and Try If you can
make out anything Report to me
here
,iAye. aye. sir!'' came the reply, and
anon Walker appeared.
.Its main thick ahead, sir, but /
think we-aw passin' an island to port, "
said he.
.sI thought SO. You had better re-
main here, Walker. We have not long
to wait now for the dawn, and four
eyes are better than two
Walker imagined that the skipper
was ready for chat.
Things are In a dweadful mess be-
low, sir. | can't make head or tail of
the smash"
ssWell, that must wait, Don't talk.
Keep a sharp lookout"
The engineer could not guess that
the captains pulse was beating a tri1e
more rapidly with a certain elation.
They were undoubtedly passing White
Horse island. 1t revealed its presence
by DETECTING the tremendous sea river
which ferried the Kansas onward at
such rate. In fifteen or twenty min
utes Courtenay expected to find indica-
tions Of more northerly set of the
tide, and he watched the compass in
tently for the first sign of this return
to the former course. If the ship cross
ed 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 he must
actually guess his way, with some
thing Of the acquired sense Of the
blind, because the slight chance Of ulti-
mate escape for the ship and her occu-
pants rested wholly on the assumption
that some ocean byway was leading
her to deep water inlet, where it
might be possible to drop the anchor.
In eighteen minutes or thereabouts
the needle moved slightly. Courtenay
once more assisted the ship with the
helm. She steadiad herself, and the
compass pointed due northeast again.
Walker, though an engineer, knew
enough OF navigation to recognize the
apparent impossibility OF tho captain
being able to steer with any real
knowledge Of his surroundings The
wheel twisting therefore sayored of
magic. But his orders were to look
fhead, and he obeyed.
Soon he thought he could discern an
Irregular pink crescent, with the con-
rave side downward, somewhere In the
III, ,Iyv,<,ca havand fhn hows SDeedily