, 1909-05-20

COHl-ldllS " SIT uo"h oS'A
then twiddling his long fingers with
his gaze bent on the deck. l take II
that his intellectual operations were
naturally slow, although he was swift
enough in all matters appertainins TO
seamanship. Anyhow, he sat there Tor
so long, his whole appearance SO sleek
and oily, that l lost all patience, shuf-
fling my feet on the deck. The noise
served to arouse him.
1T commenced somethin' like over
two years ago SIR" he began. mouth
ing each word with care, "A little
earlier in the season than this is now.
was master of the whalin' bark
Betsy, sailin' from Province town,
an we were homeward bound after
about IS months cruisin' in the South
Pacific. carryin' a fair cargo of oil an
whale trimmings. We were roundin'
the Horn, being about 20 degrees west
and Sc degrees south when the real
trouble began. l know that was rath-
err a low latitude, but we had been
buckin' against head winds an a high
sea for more'n a week, an besides
were sh~ort-handed, five of the crew
havin' skipped out at Somers island,
where we put in after fresh water.
Anyway. it was about there that a
storm hit us from out the nor'east. |
guess il must have been one end OF a
hurricane. | never see nothin' f%iercer.
even in those seas. There was nothin'
to do but turn tail an scud. the ropes
and canvas being so stiff with ice.
Well, we battened down. an tnok
chances. but for a while | thor mt
every wave was goin' to do for the OIL
hooker an send us all to Davy Jones.
| couldn't see five e q from the rail.
IN l had to keep diggin' ice u o.
my eyes TO see at all. The wind had
the feel of a solid wall, sir"
futile was leaning forward now. his
elbows on the table. His lean. solemn
'~countenance had lost its listlessness,
and ! also noticed the eager interest
fn"rinted on the faces of his two com.
rades.
W was jest roundin' the point"
he vent on as soon as he took a long
breath. tile Betsy keelin' over SOS
he" deck was half awash. an with no
mere thin maybe 100 yards o clear
water to the good. Back O. an ugiy
iookin' hoad'end the coast seemed to
fall away sudden into a sort O. cove.
which was ni,ed high with great ice
hummOcks. behind which the ice wall
rose up sheer almost TO the top o. the
ass, rs a sorter shelf along
h e. ul il. an a-settin' up there in
49,. ~
vessel ever | saw in 80 years O Sc,
fa1n'. So help me God, sir, | saw
II with my own eyes as plain as I'm
lee kin at you! 1t WAS h'isted up all
q 20 feet above the lower ice.ield, an
SOFT o careened o.e where ii was
foze fast so as to show the decNs
AN idsl FPS olrar to the inner rail. You
remember them ships what Columbus
sailed in! Wen. this hooker was that
kid. only a blame sight bigger. |
gu 'ssed her at $50 or 800 ton, but she
had the same sort o build-a big high
81, IN. with an after-cabin clear acrost
1t, The waist sunk down in a curve. an
the fo'castle raised up like a house.
wi h blunt bows. an a monster bow
SifAb W. NV 'i' CIV
The whole outfit was so casel with
Ice an glittered so in the sun that ii
seemed like a part O. the ice cliff
which lad took that queer shape from
thuwin' an freeZin'. Damme II |
didn't think 1t was somethin' like that
for a minute-a blame freak o nature
but when | grabbed the glasses, an
got a good look through them, it was a
ship all right, the kind you read
about in the books what navigated
these waters a hundred or more years
ago. | was still a-starin' at it with all
my eyes when we raised the stern.
which stood h'isted up a bit higher
than the bow, an where the steady
dash OF the waves didn't break clean
over it, an the sun fell Just right so
| read the hooker's name. By God, |
did. Sir! 1t was there plain as day:
Donna Isabel. Cadiz."
Tie change in the man speaking
held NE ~breathless; his cant his usu-
ally oily method of utterauce had
merged into an ~earnestness full of
fascination.
well, that vas about all, sir his
voice sinking back into commonplace.
In two hours We were out o. sight.
an feelin' our way through a blindin'
snow squat. Bu it was such a rum
thing, |discoverin' them islands out
there all u%ncharted. with that queer
gfost ship perchin' on EN-. that |
wrote down the latitude an longitude
an the hooker's name in my log. book,