The Paducah evening sun. [volume] (Paducah, Ky.) 1906-1929, 1908-03-18
CONTINUED from last Issue.)
CHAPTER "

SouTCe III luul Etdlnl VI inc uchNtil
securing trades came heavy mist.
Possibly volcanic action. deranglng by
its electric and gaseous outpourings
the normal course OF the winds, had
given birth to It, Be that as Il may,
II swept down upon the cruiser, thick
ening as 1t approached. until presently
It had spread a curtain between the
warship and its charge The wind
died. Until after fall of night the
Wolverine moved slowly. believing for
the schooner but got no reply. Once
they thought they heard distant
shout Of response, but there was no
repetition.
Probably doesn't carry any fog
horn" said Carter bitterly, volclng a
general uneasiness.
mo log; compass crazy; without fog
signal; don't like that craft Barnett
ought to hare been ordered TO blow
her up as a peril to the high seas"
Wen pick her up in the morning
surely" said Forsythe. This can't
last forever"
Nor did it hast long. An hour before
midnight pounding shower fell, lash
Ing the sea into phosphorescent white
ness. 1t ceased. and with the growl
Of leaping animal squall fu-
riously beset the ship. Soon the great
steel body was plunging and heaving
I'm the pillows. II was a gloomy COM
pany about the wardroom table. Upon
oh md oil n n eli ff
spirit. Captain Parkinson came from
his cabin and went on deck. Constitu-
tiopally he was nervous and pessi-
mlstic man with fixed belief In the
conspiracy of events, banded for the
undoing of him and his. Blind or du-
bious conditions racked his soul. but
real danger found him not only pre-
pared but even eager. Now his face
was picture OF foreboding.
"Parky looks as If Davy Jones was
pulling on his string" observed the
flippant Ives to his neighbor.
Worrying about the schooner. Hope
Billy Edwards saw or heard or felt
that squat coming" replied Forsythe.
giving expression TO the anxiety that
all felt
Hes good sailor man. said Ives.
land that's stanch little schooner by
the way she handled herself"
"Oh. II will be all right" said Carter
confidently. THE winds moderating
now"
But there's no telling how far out
Of the course this may have blown
him"
Barnett came down. dripping.
Anything new?' asked DIR. Trendon.
The navigating officer shook his
head
Nothing. But the captains in q
state Of mind" he said.
whats wrong with himT
"The schooner. Seems possessed
with the notion that there's something
wrong with her"
Aren't you feeling little that
way yourselfT said Forsythe. II am.
I'll take a look around before l turn
in"
He left behind him a silent crowd.
His return was prompt and swift.
Come on deck" he said.
Every man leaped as to an order.
There was that in Forsythe's voice
which stung. The weather had cleared
somewhat, though scudding wrack still
blew across them to the westward.
The ship rolled heavily. OF the sea
naught was visible except the arching
waves, but In the sky they beheld
again, with a sickening sense of disas-
ter, that pale and lovely glow which
had so bewidered them two nights
before.
1.-THE auroraw cried Mcclure, the
paymaster.
ooh, certainly" replied Ives, with
sarcasm. Dead In the west. Com
mon spot for the aurora. Particularly
on the edge Of the south seas, where
they are thickw
Then what is itf''
Nobody had an answer. Carter has
tened forward and returned TO report
Its electrical anyway" said Carter
"The compass is queer again"
Edwards ought 10 be close TO the
vi
gale should have blown him just about
TO the center of interest"
"If only he isn't involved in it," said
Carter anxiously.
"What could there be to involve
him?" asked Mcclure.
II don't know" said Carter slowly.
Somehow | feel as if the desertion Of
the schooner was In some formidable
manner connected with that light"
For perhaps fifteen minutes the glow
continued. 1t seemed to be nearer at
hand than on the former sighting. But
It took no comprehensive form. Then
1t died away and all was blackness
again. But the officers of the Wolver-
Inc had long been In troubled slumber
before the sensitive compass regaine@
It's exact balance, and, with the shifting
wind to mislead her. the cruiser had
wandered by morning no man might
know how far from her course.
All day long OF June o the Wolverine.
baffied by patches of mist and moving
rain squalls, patrolled the empty seas
without sighting the lost schooner.