The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1909-07-15
CHAPTER XX}B.
In Which We Board o.r.Ii,.

IN winch we Board a DercIct.
| saw the Slecpers cast off heir Gov
erings and rise up startled and staring,
but could only gaze dumblv at the
apparition before us. doubling the evil
dence of my own eyes and unable to
utter sound At that first glance
believed the thing illusion. a mirage of
the deep, shadOw-ship hooking us
with semblance of reality. The cold
SilYerN light played along her glisten-
ing side, causing the whole extent Of
The vessel 10 CLEAN back into our eyes
like a great mirror. while the very
shape and form of the silently gliding
Specter appeared a survival from out
the dead past. a CHASTITY relic Of cen
turtles gone upliited from those som
ber depths below, The silence. gloom.
the dim outline of the great hull the
strange glimmer of ii from bow to
stern. all combined TO make il seem
ghost-ship, srorted with by the
waves. It moved slowly under the
impelling power of the wind beating
against the broad high stern. the
blunt bows scarcely ripping the wa
ter, passing almost directly across our
track appearing more like a painted
picture than anything constructed of
wood and iron. Out of the night. dim.
visionary. it swan before us. a weird
uncanny thing. chilling the blood with
its ghostliness. rubbed my eyes.
staring at the slvery reflection. nv
heart pulsing with horror which set
me trembling
Yet, little by little my mind began
to apprehend the truth. my reason to
grasp the details Mist or reality.
there directly before us f1oated what
appeared to be the outlines Of ship
battered, wrecked, odd in form-yet
ship, moving upright upon the surface
of the water. Good God, what a mad
dream of the past was represented Won
der. Those round blunt bows. the broken
bowsprit. heavy as a mast, forling
straight upward the great carveu
shapeless fgurehead beneath; the
wide, elevated forecastle deck: the
seemingly tremendous thickness of the
bulwarks; the strange slope OF deck
and rail amidships; the immense rem
nant of foremost towering in splint-
ers; the broad, square stern. even
overlapping the height of the peaked
forecastle. That was a grim thing to
meet with in those waters.
Stand by mem" | called. the trem-
BILE still in my command. IF the thing
yonder be wood and iron we'll board
her"
Not voice responded, their bodies
tense and motionless. every eye still
on that dim, phantom CLEAN With
cienched teeth | pressed the tiller
hard down, and the bows of the long
boat headed straight in. Suddenly De
Nova leaped to his feet.
Ship ahoy," he yelled the note of
fear sounding shrilly
In the intense silence could plain
ly hear the heavy breathing Of the ex-
cited men.
There will be no use hailing,"
said, strengthened by the sound of my
own voice. IF that be vessel her
crew are dead hundred years"
And by God, it is, sir" calculated
Johnson, who was on his knees in the
bow. It's real ship all right. That's
ice that glitters; she's sheeted in it
from stem to stern"
saw it myself then, every doubt OF
the real character of this drear yisi-
tant vanishing; my courage came back
In rush.
"Ay, ay, lads, Johnson has hit 1t
right. That's ship for us, and now
well see what she looks like on deck.
Get grip with your bost-hook. John
son, on that raft of stun trailing from
me forechains, when | lay her along
side. Strike the wood If you can. the
cordage is likely to be rotten"
He missed it at the first attempt.
the hook slipping on the ice but as
brought the lonGboat around once
more, he succeeded in getting a grip
upon something sufficiently firm and
held on the fellows staring up silently
at the bulging side. and touching the
thick sheathing of ice as though half
demented
Make fast Break the ice out of
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