The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-09-16

calculation before he said anything. 1t
was II in the morning.
81 can get to sea by five o'clock this
afternoon, sir. Will that do?"
Mr.. Van Torp was careful not to be-
tray the least surprise.
YES" he said, as If he were not
more than fairly satisfied, "that'u do
nicely"
Very we'll, sir, then I'll be off, It's
about 5000 miles, and she's supposed
to do that at 1S knots with her own
COAL Say eight days. But as this Is
her maiden trip we must make allow
ance for having to stop the engines
once or twice. Good-morning, SIR"
"Good-day, captain. Get in some
coal and provisions as soon as you ar
rive in Venice. l may want to 60 to
Timbuctoo, or to Andaman islands or
something. I'm that sort of a man.
I'm not sure where I'll go. Good-by."
The captain stopped at the first tele-
graph Office on his way to the Water
loo station and telegraphed both to his
chief engineer, Mr.. MCosh, and his
chief mate, Mr.. Johnson, for he
thought it barely possible that one OF
the other might be ashore.
Must have steam by p. m. to-day
to sail at once long voyage Coming
next train. Owner in hurry Send
ashore for my wash. Brown, Captain" :"
When the clocks struck five on
shore that afternoon, and the man at
the wheel struck two bells from the
repeated them on the ships bell, all
according to the most approved mod
ern fashion on large steamers, the
beautiful Lancashire Lass was steam
ing out upon Southampton water.
Out of the merest curiosity Mr.. Van
Torp telegraphed to Cowes to be in
formed of the exact moment at which
his yacht was under way, and before
six o'clock he had message.
Yacht sailed at 4:39."
The new owner was so much
pleased that he actually smiled, for
Capt. Brown had been 81 minutes bet
ter than his word
81 guess he'll do," though Mr.. Van
Torp. Il only hope 1 may need him."
He was not at all sure that he
should need the Lancashire Lass and
Capt. Brown; but it has often been
noticed that in the lives of born finan-
ciers even their caprices often turn
out to their advantage, and that their
least logical impulses in business mat
ters are worth more than the sober
judgment of ordinary men.
AS for Capt. Brown, he was a quiet
little person with rather pink face
and sparkling blue eyes, and he knew
his business. In fact he had passed
as extra master. He knew that he
was in the service of one of the rich
est men in the world. and that he COM
manded a vessel likely to turn out one
of the finest yachts afioat, and he did
not mean to lose such berth either
by piling UP his ship, or by being slow
to do whatever his owner wished
possible; but 1t had not occurred to
him that his owner might order him
to exceed the limits of anything but
mere possibility, such, for instance,
as those of the law, civil. criminal, ma.
tional, or International
Mr.. Van Torp had solid nerves, but
when he had sent his yacht to the
only place where he thought he might
possibly make use of it, he realized
that he was wasting valuable time
| while Logotheti was making all the
running, and his uncommon natural
energy, finding nothing to work upon
as yet, made him furiously impatient
1t seemed to hum and sing in his
head, like the steam in an express en-
gine when it is waiting to start
He had come over to England on an
impulse, as soon as he had heard Of
Cordova's engagement. Until then he
! had not believed that she would ever
accept the Greek, and when he learned