The Columbus journal. (Columbus, Neb.) 1874-1911, 1910-02-02
CHAPTER VII.
IN Which I Suspect Evil.

\ fV SoSpSSs SSs.
Eariy dawn reached us in solder
| gray. the sun a shapeless blob of dull
| red, with no yesiiee of its golden
light forcing passage through those
dense clouds of misty vapor closing Us
| in as between curtained walls. The
the pervaGing gloom gave to the sur
| rounding water a peculiarly sullen ap
pearance. through which We tore, reck
less of accident. at full speed. A new
hand was at the wheel, Johnson hay
| ing gone below an hour since, but
| still chung to the bridge. my eyes
heavy from peerirs forth into the fog
tank. my clothing sodden with the
| constant drip.
Only a few of the men were visible,
three or four grouped about the cap
stan On the forecaStle head. and as
many more gathered along the lee
side of The CharthouSe. Evidently reg
| ular watches Were already chosen, and
| portion of the crew had been turned
in for their trick below. futile him.
self. clad i'm wet. glistening oil-skins
and looking gaunt and cadaverous. his
chin-5eard fOriing straight out over
the high collar. was standing aft, be-
side the fellow who still kept guard
over the companion. l moved across
10 the starboard end of the bridge.
and. when he glanced around. made
signal for him to join me.
Not very much chance of any one
oVcrhauling us in this fog. Mr.. futile"
1 said. pleasantly. 1T would be like
hunting a needle i'm haystack."
"'ris rs the Lord wills" he re-
turned. rather souriy. Man proposes.
hut God disposes. The SUN will lift
that whole outfit in anotheT hour How
far do you figure we're off shore?"
Figure it for yourself. We're doing
all of 1G knots. and have been for
fOar hours al that speed. With an
other to be added. even our smoke
ought to be below The horizon. We've
given them the slip all right, and
from now on it's merely a question OF
steaming to keep ahead. l don't re-
call anything in the Chilean navy that
Can overhaul us. What discoveries
lave you made below"
He turned his crafty. Offering eyes
toward me. twisting the lump of tobac-
CO under his tongue. In some way. be-
Deati the revealing daylight. became
even more d;strustful OF the man.
more conscious Of his hypocrisy.
Not a great DEAL" his mouth at
tempting a grin: except that we've
got the crew Gagged. Everybody was
ashore but the harbor watch"
Then you foGnI the forecastle
empty"
"E2thin' there but du1nage and b:lge
waiar. regular ses-rarior. sir"
And no officer OF board?" ! asked.
scarcely believing il possible
None. barring the engineer. so far
rs know. The cabin Was locked up
Ivy your orders. SO let that alone"
And that. then. is all You have dis
covered. is if. Mr.. Tuttle?"
lie shifted his long legs, but made
TO effort 10 turn and face me.
Well. l guess that's about the
"EibI III 1at
though celebrating over the choice
Of words. Only I'm a bit puzzled
about some things what don't look just
right We started out. as understand
il. 10 run Off with q Chilean warship
named the Esmeralda. a schooner
rugged steam yacht. That was the con-
tract. wasn't il. Sir""'
7 nodded. sravely. wondering what
the man could possibly be driving at
THAT was my understanding" his
nasal tone becoming more pronounced
and diSagreeabie. And somehow
what we've got here looks just bit
odd This here is schooner-rigged
stcam-yacht all right. an guess the
tonnage isn't very FAR out OF the Es-
neralda class. but We haven't found a
blame Chilean on board-twO Swedes.
DutchInan. two Kanakas, an a
b!ooInin' English engineer"
Well. what OF that?" l broke in
impaiiently. You know as well as
do that the entire Chilean navy is
filed with foreigners"
Sure" he conceded. with a swift.
questioning glance toward me: that S
all true enough, sir. but I never saw
e whole crew Of those beggars an no
Chilean bossin' 'em. But then that's
| only a part OF it. Every one Of them
small boats down there. an the life.
preservers hangin' in front OF the
cabin. have got the name Sea Queen
painted on them. Dam If it amt. here.
too. on this tarpaulin."
/ bent over the rail looking down
al the lettering he pointed out. yet
with no feeling OF uneasiness.
''Beyond doubt. that was the yachts
name before the Chilean government
purchased her and renamed her Es.
meralda for their service. She was
| bought from English parties, I've
heard. Probably the new owners have
found no opportunity to repaint the
name"
futile drew forth 2 red bardanna
and blew his nose. his voice more SUI!