Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1910-01-22
CHAPTER !.
In Which Begins Adventure.

face of the great deep, the constant
marvel of huge, heaving leagues OF
watery solitude, secret and profound,
must ever remain so vast, so mex
plicable, as to be beyond any interrog-
at Nv of the finite-the strange. the
urL pected, lurking everywhere. To
others, mere landsmen, confidently
imagining that all phenomena can be
reduced within the contracted limits
of human comprehension, l need say
no more than that witnesses still sur
vive to corroborate the principal incl
dents Of this story, which l now pur-
pose writing in the full glow Of mem
DRY still dominated by the events to
be recorded.
1t had come to be the 5th day of
April, the year 1879. l, John Stephens,
agA "a, occupied rather comfort
abb seat upon the shaded balcony of
tha6 large, ultra-fashionable hotel at
Valparaiso, which, as travellers will
recall clings to the steep hillside over
looking both the city and harbor be-
meath. / was alone, not having as yet
ordered the serving OF the evening
meal.
A gayly attired military band was
playing noisily in nearby plaza, and
through the intervening distance | was
able to distinguish plainly the patri-
otto notes of national music. l even
believed that medley of shouting
voices, mingled with an echo of
cheers, was borne to me on the rising
night wind, and l leaned above the
low railing to gaze down, slightly in
terested, as a regiment of Chilean in
fantry-regulars of the line, from
their white trousers and stiff hats
swept swiftly past the hotel corner in
rapid time, to disappear suddenly
over the steep crest in the direction
Of the quay. Far away, toward the
right, where the long row Of gray
stone barracks was still dimly visible
against the darker background of sur
rounding hills, was to be discerned a
glininer Of steel, as squadrons Of cav
alrt and artillery engaged in dress
parY1e their numerous banners flap
ping against the sky. At the moment
these several occurrences served to
rather to bring home to memory
freshening knowledge of the despera-
ton Of my situation.
1t can all be told in few words:
was persona non grata to the Chilean
authorities, with apparently every pos
sible avenue leading forth from the
country fully and effectively barred.
While personally unknown to those
officials, thus far successful in mask
ing my movements under the guise OF
q foreign gentleman of leisure tenn
porarily resident at a fashionable
hotel, | nevertheless discovered it i'm
possible to break through the Gordon
Of watchful government spies and
;f.ake the Chilean dust from off my
eet. rapid explanation will suffice.
native of Massachusetts, of excel
ent family connections, together with
prospects of furure wealth, | early de-
veloped the understandable propensi-
ties of rover, and after a vain effort
to turn my reluctant ambition toward
oneA pf the learned professions my par
ent2 despairing of ever doing better,
finllly consented to apprentice me to
the sea. Unfortunately for the reali-
cation of their more secret hopes,
took to that hard, adventurous life as
a duck to water, so that, at the end of
five years service, l had risen,
through the various grades, to the non
orable position of first officer In the
old Leyland line, my steamship being
theN Vulcan, trading between New
i and South American ports.
Soon after l attained this berth my
father died suddenly, leaving behind
him a fair amount of property, good
" share of which came to me In cash.
It CHANGED that, during a previous
voyage, a passenger on board had sue
ceeded in interesting me deeply in GER
tain mining operations which he was
conducting under a Bolivian conces-
sion. Finding myself In possession of
abundant means, and experiencing
that OCCASIONAL disgust for sea life
common toYall sailor-men, l embarked
With boyish enthusiasm in this new
4rsstprise, not only investing a con-
sidesable amount of money, but like
wisel giving the company my personal
services as assistant superintendent.
Beyond doubt our concession was
an extremely valuable one, but, as we
were soon destined to discover, it
came to us with an unfortunate flaw in
the title, there developing a spirited
controversy between the constituted
authorities of Bolivia and Chile. over
which country the territory involved
belonged. From harsh words in pub
lie. and the private exchange of dip
Jomatic notes, the argument rapids
advanced to blows, and was finally re-
ferred to the arbitrament of the rifle.
As our financial interests were en-
nottvtor and o,,r fnveaf cd monev