, 1909-07-08
CHAPTER XIII.

| saw the sleepers cast off their GOV.
erings md rise up startled and staring.
but | could only gaze dumbly at tie
apparitiun before us, doubling the evi.
'ence of my own eyes and unable to
utter a sound. At hat first glance /
believed the thing Illusion. a mirage o.
The deep, a shadow-ship mocking us
With semblance of reality. The cold
silvery light played along her glisten
ing side. causing the whole extent OF
he vessel TO CLEAN back into our eyes
Ike 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 urlifted from those som
Der depths below The silence. gloom
The dim outline OF the great hull, III,
t"anEe gl'mmer of It from bow "a,
tern: all combined 10 make it sect
shCJt-ship. sTorted with by tie
waves. 1t moved sl-wly urder ,I.a
'-Grslling powr of TIE WIND beating
a. inst Tho bread III stern. no
, INT bows scarcely riprling the We
Ter passing aiHus, & ly across or
track. Gppea rin@ '0"re Ike a painted
nicture than rnyiE'lg constructed OF
wood and iron. Out of the night. dim
~is'olary. it wan before us. a weir1.
a thin". chilling the blood with
its ghostlincsi. | rubbed my eyes
turing at the silvery reflection. my
heart r%ulcin~ with a horror which set
ne t-cmblin9
Yet. little by little. my mind began
20 apprehend HE truth. my reason 10
;rasp the details. Mist or reality.
mere directly before us fioatad what
appeared to he the outlines of a ship
battered. wrecked. odd in torm-yet a
ship. moving upright upon the surface
If the water Good God! what a mad
dream Of the past was represented yon-
der, Those round. blunt bows. the broken
bowsprit, heavy as a mast. forking
straight upward: the great carven,
shapeless f%igurehead beneath; the
wide, elevated forecastle deck; the
seemingly tremendous thickness of the
bulwarks; the strange slope Of deck
and rail a%midships; the immense rem
nant Of a foremost towering in splint-
RS: the broad, square stern, even
p~ver-topping the height of the peaked
forecastle. That was a grim thing to
meet with in those waters.
stand by. men!" | cal I'D, the trem-
bic still in my command. IF the thing
Wonder be wood and iron well board
her"
Not a voice responded. their bodies
tense and motionless, every eye still
IN that dim, phantom CLEAN. With
clenched teeth l pressed the tiller
hard down. and the bows of the long
boat headed straight in. Suddenly De
Nova leaped to his feet.
Ship shoy," he yelled. the note Of
fear sounding shrilly.
In the intense silence / could plain
ly hear the heavy breathing of the *
cited men.
There will be no use hailing.' |
said, strengthened by the sound OF my
own voice. IF that be a vessel. her
crew are lead a hundred years"
And by God. it is, sir" circulated
Johnson. who was on his knees in the
how. IT'S a real ship. all right. That's
ice that glitters: she's sheeted in II
from stem to stern
saw II NY otIl lhcht O'tif hP'c "
the real character OF this drear visi-
tant vanishing; my courage came back
IN a rub.
"Ay. ~. lads, Johnson has hit 1t
right. TfEi's a ship for us. and now
we'll see what she looks like on deck.
Get a gr'p with your boat-hook. John
son on hat raft OF stun trailing from
,bo ~forachains when | lay her along
side strike the wood If you can. the
| .ortage Is likely to be rotten"
We missed il at the first attempt.
m, ook slipping on the ice; but as !
brought the longboat around once
more. he sue 'eeded in getting a grip
! upcn something sufficiently firm and
held on. the fellows staring up silently
at the bullying side. n touching the
tNisk sbeait''nt Of ice as thoGgh half
" nontinuad Mart Veal