Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-26

TAKEN IN, gave nef Duoyancy tndt AeP'
from sinking outright
Never give up the ship" cried Joe, glee-
fully. Il guess we'n get out OF this scrape
yet. somehow other"
But just at that moment a long, wild, un-
earthly sound, half moan and half howl, came
waing up from below, sounding SO olsmai
and ghostly amid that tomb-like silence, thaI
even our stout-hearted Joe was startled anu
scared by it.
In another instant it was heard again; but
this time Harris appeared to recognize the
sound, for he burst into a loud laugh -,
Its the. cap'n's big dog singing out, saio
he. Il reckon he feels kind O. lonesome down
there all by himself. I'll just go and have
look at him.
Poor old Neptune had, in truth, good cause
to howl; for, having been tied up when the
storm began, he. had had no food for two
days, his master being disabled, and every one
else too busy to attend to him. i,
Joe let him loose and gave him some, 1000
and water, which the poor fellow swallowed
greedily; and the companionship OF this trusty
ally. with the feeling Of having helped "a q
creature more forlorn than himself, ralseo
our hero's spirits wonderfully. =,
Joe's next move, after satisfying himself
that there was no immediate danger of the
schooner sinking, was to run up a signal OF
distress by hosting the flag upside down
He next lit and hoisted the masthead Ian
tern, and then, having thus done all that he
could do to help himself, rummaged out some
provisions, and made hearty meal, which
he very much needed.
This done, he sat down on spare-sail to
keep watch, and the dog nestled up beside
him. But, after three or four hours watch
ing, the great fatigue of the last few days
began to tell upon him in earnest, and, over
come by WEAKNESS, he fell asleep once more
While Joe was thus engaged the sailors who
had SO hastily and cruelty deserted him were
having anything but an easy time. They had
hoisted their sail hoping to make considera-
BILE progress during the night; but hardly had
they lost sight of their forsaken vessel, when
the breeze died away utterly, leaving them
becalmed; and they could not hope to do
much by rowing, for, in their hurry, they had
brought away only four oars; instead OF eight:
But even had they had the full number it
would have helped them little, for the night
was SO dark that they soon lost all idea of
their bearings and knew not which way to
turn. Worse still, as the night wore on, a
cold, damp mist closed around them, chilling
them to the very bone.
All these successive mishaps had their nat
ural effect on the superstitious seamen. They
shook their heads despondingiy and mutter.
ed gloomily among themselves, while some OF
the older men growled, quite loud enough for
the heartless second mate to hear, that the
curse of the boys death was upon them, and
find themselves spellbound forever near the
fatal spot like the ''Flying Dutchman" of
the Cape.
It seemed to the weary, half-frozen, despair
ing men as if that dismal night would never
end; but day came at last, and the first gieam
of sunshine revealed to their startled eyes
very unlocked for sight.
The mist had begun to break by this time,
and, as it rolled away, they saw, barely a
mile distant from them, vessel lying motion
less upon the smooth water with reversed en-
sign and broken foretopmast, which they all